“Good idea, we’ll do that,” Donna lied. She might go to Europe all right, she thought, but not with this guy. He had no idea that she had stored a million bucks inside of her car and that would be all she needed to start a new life alone. His usefulness to her was close to ending.
“Before we even think about going to Europe, I have to take care of Fred. I’m no longer even going to worry about killing Maureen. I did check Fred out, and it appears you’re correct; he no longer appears to have the device in him. He’s as vulnerable as he can possibly be. He still seems to have some limited natural ESP skills. I’m sure they have always been with him, but I can easily defeat them.”
“When are you going to go after him so we can plan our life together? And, in fact, why even bother with him at all?”
“Because you idiot, that bastard is the one responsible for me spending four years in that hellhole of a prison. And I swore each day in those four unbearable years that I would get even. Tomorrow will be soon enough. I’ll check him out after he returns from work. And when he’s home, I’ll make sure he’s unprotected and then I’ll strike.”
“Right after that you and I can go to Europe, huh, babe?”
“Yes, Polish. Just you and me and Europe.”
Chapter 65
Fred was at his desk when he received a game changing phone call.
“Fred, this is Chief Patterson.”
“Hi, Chief, what’s new from the panhandle?”
“A lot, Fred. Late last night we brought in Slim Woods.”
“So he returned to your area from Sarasota, huh?”
“Not really, he had been deer hunting in the vicinity of Toronto, Canada. He was up there before the time that Donna Lang and Jane Doe escaped from prison. We checked out his story, and it’s solid as it can be. He also insists he hasn’t heard from Jane since she escaped from prison. And, Fred—I believe him.”
“So there’s no chance that Slim is lying?”
“None, we got in contact with the general store where he has been buying his provisions and we talked to some of the nearbys where he rented his cabin. They all attest to his being there, and the timeline checks out.”
“Thanks, Chief, if anything else happens here I’ll let you know.”
Fred had expected news similar to that. He had become quite sure that Slim was not the murderer of Anderson and Don. Now he had to move forward quickly.
He knocked on Jim’s office door and entered without waiting for a welcome.
“Jim, I just got a call from Chief Patterson in Tallahassee. He told me he found Slim and he could fully account for his time prior to Donna’s escape, and since then as well.”
“So Slim didn’t murder anyone?”
“He might have murdered a few deer in Canada in the last few weeks, but that’s about it.”
“So that’s leaves us with no suspect,” Jim said.
“Not exactly. I know this might sound crazy, but I want you to arrest one of our own men and charge him with murder. But, of course, there is a story that goes with it.”
Fred noticed he had left Jim’s door opened a hair. He could also see through its upper glass segment that Jim’s secretary Judy was listening intently to their conversation.
Fred pushed the door shut and continued his secretive conversation with Jim.
Damn, Judy thought, I wish I knew what was going on.
As Fred was exiting the office, Jim said, “I’m still not sure of this, it goes against the grain of everything I’ve been taught.”
“Jim, you trusted me previously; now trust me once again. Please!”
Chapter 66
A few minutes after Fred exited from Jim’s office, Jim called for both Sergeants Lewis and Stewart.
Both entered the office at the same time. “What’s up, boss?” Stewart asked.
“Plenty. I’m sorry to have to tell you this, Stewart, but I’m placing you under arrest for the murders of Doctor Anderson and Don Stead, the security guard at AU.”
“You’re kidding! You gotta be kidding! Slim Woods killed those two, you said so yourself.”
“No, I wish I were kidding. Slim has been cleared; there was no way he could have committed those crimes.”
“But why me? What reason would I have to kill them? Hell! I didn’t even know them!”
“But I have reason to believe you did know Dr, Anderson. In fact, you helped keep him prisoner and you were the partner or lover of Donna Lang.”
“That’s crazy!” Stewart turned to Sergeant Lewis for support.
Lewis said, “That’s insane, Chief; he’s a good cop, this makes no sense.”
Jim said, “Damn it, Lewis, I didn’t bring you in to argue with me; you are here to take Stewart into custody.”
Stewart was now pleading. “For Christ’s sake, Jim! What evidence do you have that I did it?”
“You are the only person who could have done it. We had no police guard at the AU Company the night they were killed. Fred took Anderson there based on Anderson’s request; he felt he would be protected there. But Anderson was in the building only a short time before he was killed. The only person who could have been there in that short a time frame was you. Sergeant Lewis contacted you to go to the building to protect Dr. Anderson, did he not?”
“Sure he did, and that’s where I went. And when I got there the front door was unlocked.”
“No, Stewart, the door was locked when you arrived. And Don unlocked it and let you in because he knew you. You then proceeded to kill Dr. Anderson because he could identify you as his captor. And you also killed Don because he could identify you as Anderson’s murderer. Sergeant Lewis, read him his rights. And book him on two murder charges.”
“C’mon, Boss, he’s my friend, I hate to do this.”
“Goddamn it, do as I said! I’m not asking, I’m telling you!”
* * *
Later that day Jim’s secretary knocked on his door.
“Sir, I heard about Sergeant Stewart being arrested. There’s a lot of buzz about it around the station.”
“So?”
“Well, it may not be any of my business; but you’ve always asked you to give you feedback on how your policemen are feeling about your leadership. You recall that, don’t you?”
Jim nodded yes.
“Well, I think your arresting Sergeant Stewart has become a morale issue; the officers expect you to always act in their best interests. So maybe it might be wise just to talk to Sergeant Stewart? After all, he has been on the force for over four years; and he’s always been loyal to you.”
“Thank you, Judy, for your advice. In fact I think I’ll go see him now.”
Jim entered the holding cell where Stewart was temporarily being held. He said to Stewart, “I want to talk to you.”
It was quite obvious that Stewart was in no mood to speak to the bastard that had him arrested.
A police guard was stationed at the edge of the hall. Although he couldn’t hear the conversation, he could observe the facial reactions of Stewart. He noticed as the captain left the cell that Stewart seemed to be smiling. Damn, the captain’s got a way with words, the guard thought. No way would I be smiling with two murder charges hanging over my head.
Chapter 67
Donna parked her car almost a block away from Fred’s house. Her powers had started to exponentially develop. She recognized that they were significantly greater now than they had been, even prior to her incarceration. She could with ease, conduct a mental scan and pick up the cerebral footprints of anyone in within a 20 miles radius. And the closer they were, the stronger the signal.
As she walked in the direction of Fred’s house, she mentally jumped forward, entering his home. There were three people in the living room; none of them seemed to present a threat of any kind to her. One by one, she mentally entered the rest of the rooms in the house. The house was clear, no evidence of cops anywhere. The only people in the house were seated in the living room area.
She saw Fr
ed seated in a green corduroy chair. Opposite him on a sofa was a handsome man dressed in casual jeans and a Minnesota Twins tee shirt; the final member of the threesome was an attractive blonde in tight blue jeans who sat on the same sofa. They all seemed to be engaged in an animated conversation, totally unaware of the fate that awaited them.
Donna mentally peered around the living room; she detected no traps. She could not pick up the presence of any weapons either in the room or in the house, but she identified something strange and out of character. There was a large hypodermic needle resting on the table next to where Fred was sitting. What the hell is that? she thought. What purpose could it possibly serve? Maybe Fred has developed diabetes, she reasoned.
After she was mentally finished casing the house, she physically entered it. The front door was unlocked. Foolish of him, she thought. She pulled her revolver from her handbag and walked into the house.
As she entered through the living room door, the two strangers on the couch saw her immediately. A look of shock replaced the calmness that had been on their faces a second ago.
Fred did not turn around, but he knew the moment that Donna had arrived. Without turning he said, “You won’t need the revolver, Donna. None of us have any weapons.”
Donna was confused. How did Fred know that she was holding a pistol? Had she been misinformed about Fred’s loss of powers?
What Donna had failed to notice was that Fred had positioned a small mirror on the other side of the room that would reflect back a view of the entry to the living room. He hoped that she didn’t see it; and if he kept her occupied with conversation she might not look for it. He recalled an earlier conversation with Maureen when she diagnosed Donna as being highly literate. I’m counting on Maureen’s accurate diagnosis and the fact that Donna can’t perceive beyond that which is in front of her, Fred reflected.
Fred turned toward her, his voice authoritarian and confident. “That weapon will do you no good, Donna; you should know that by now.” This was the most critical bluff that Fred had ever concocted; if it failed he was a dead man.
“What do you mean it will do me no good?” she asked, still confused. “You forget, Fred, that I hold all the advantages.”
“Really, Donna? But you haven’t realized that the good doctors in the CIA have provided me with what is a greatly enhanced paranormal device, one that is much superior to the flimsy prototype you carry in your head. Plus, I’m sure you must know that I had some fairly impressive powers even before I had the operation. So in tandem they are an unequaled force.”
Donna recalled that when she worked in AU that Atwell had mentioned the impressive powers that Fred had, powers that Fred himself didn’t even know about at the time.
“But you went back to the CIA hospital to have your device removed; you didn’t think I knew that, did you?”
“You mean because Sergeant Lewis told you that?” Fred laughed. “I had Captain Hebert put that seed in Lewis’ head. Actually I did return to the CIA, but just to have some fine-tuning done, as well as some additional sophisticated software added. Now, Donna, I’m more powerful than ever.”
“You’re bluffing, you didn’t know about Lewis.”
“Of course I did. He left some careless clues when he killed big Don and Doctor Anderson.”
“But you arrested Stewart for that killing; there’s no way you could have known.”
“That was for your exclusive benefit, Donna. If you and Lewis thought that he was no longer a suspect, we could use him as our bait. The trap worked better than I expected. He led us directly to your condo in Punta Gorda.
“And, by the way, Lewis is being arrested at this very moment. He’s no longer of any use to us in helping to get a fix on your location. If you like, you can call your landlady to verify my story.”
For the first time Donna appeared concerned.
“Oh, yes, Donna, we do know where you’re residing and we’ve known for quite a while.”
“You’re bluffing, I know you are.”
“Call your landlady if you think so. In fact, I insist.”
Donna continued to hold her weapon on Fred as she picked up the living room phone. She dialed, and her landlady answered on the third ring. Donna asked for Lewis under the assumed name he had been using.
“I’m so sorry,” the landlady said, “but about fifteen minutes ago he was apprehended by the police. There were several police cars here. I asked one of the policemen why he was being arrested and they said for murder. They put him in handcuffs and took him away. I’m sure there was a mistake. I tried to tell the police that, but they ignored me. Honey, if you need me, you know that—”
Donna slammed the phone down.
“Donna,” said Fred, “you’ve been a problem for this city for a long time. Now I will give you a choice—I can eliminate you, to put it delicately, so we don’t have to worry about you ever again, or you can return to prison. Who knows, in prison you might even get the opportunity to escape again.”
“How can you eliminate me? You don’t even have a weapon,” Donna said bitterly.
“Donna, my weapon is my mind which is much stronger than anything you have ever witnessed in the past. But you didn’t let me finish. If you choose to surrender, I want you to put your weapon down. See this hypodermic needle?”
Donna said nothing.
“I’m going to give you a strong sedative, Donna, which will give us time to have that goddamn device removed from your cerebrum.”
“You’re nuts! You have no powers, you’re bluffing!”
“Your last chance, Donna. Watch this. And if you don’t surrender your weapon immediately, you’ll be next.”
Donna tried to transition into Fred’s brain to determine if he was telling the truth. She was blocked; he wouldn’t let her in. The fact that she encountered a mental firewall made her feel more ambivalent. Good God, maybe he does have all of his powers, she thought.
“Finished with that futile mental exercise, Donna? Now watch this.”
Fred concentrated and slowly pointed his fingers in the direction of the two sitting on the couch across from him. In an instant they were both gone.
Donna’s mouth fell open in surprise. Her fingers loosened on her weapon. “That’s not possible! Where did they go?”
“Oh, I just sent them a close distance away. However, when it’s your turn you will find yourself on some iceberg in Alaska or, in the Sahara desert miles away from civilization, or perhaps in the pit of a volcano. I wouldn’t have the heart to kill you directly; but I have no problem if the environment where I send you does that for me. What’s it going to be, Donna? You have two seconds.”
Donna dropped her weapon.
“That fucking Lewis, he told me you no longer had powers! Otherwise I wouldn’t be here.”
“I know Donna; he never was too smart, was he?”
Fred grabbed her arm and deeply inserted the needle. She became lightheaded immediately.
“Where are the two that were on the couch?” she asked weakly.
Fred drew the window blinds and held her weakening body up as she looked across the street. Both the man and the woman, who had been on Fred’s couch a few seconds ago, were smiling and waving.
Donna said, “You know I’ll be back. You couldn’t hold me before, and you won’t be able to now.”
“Yes, Donna, now go to sleep.”
Fred called Debra Black. “We got her, make sure you get her to the CIA operating room right away. And for God’s sake, make sure she doesn’t wake up in the interim!”
In a short time Donna was in a helicopter with medical and CIA personnel surrounding her, heading full speed toward the Washington D.C. area.
Chapter 68
Early the next morning there was a knock on Jim’s office door.
“Come in,” Jim said.
Fred entered. “Jim, I want to you to meet a couple of friends of mine.”
Entering behind Fred were the two people who had mysteriously disappear
ed from his couch the previous evening.
Seated next to Jim was Sergeant Stewart.
“Are these your CIA friends?” Jim asked.
“No, actually I would like you to meet the Leslie the Great; he’s an exceptional magician, and this is his gorgeous assistant. They perform a host of different complex magic tricks; but their best is their human disappearing act. Maureen once literally dragged me to see his show, but I must admit I was impressed with his disappearing act. I had no idea how he did it.
“Jim, when I lost my special psychic ability, I felt that it was just a matter of time before Donna would kill Maureen and me. There was no way I could counter her. God knows how many more people would die if she had remained free.
“So I contacted Leslie, and together we set the stage for Donna. I had one advantage, I knew even with the feeble powers I had that I could still block her from entering my mind. But I couldn’t do much else. Fortunately, she had no idea what I had cooked up for her. I felt that if we could contrive a great bluff, I could convince her that I still retained superior psychic powers. Leslie’s disappearing act provided the coup de grace.
“Of course the fact that we knew Sergeant Lewis had murdered Anderson and Don, but we didn’t disclose it to anyone, helped us feed some false information to him. We knew he would pass it on to Donna.
“Sergeant Stewart, you helped us immensely by allowing us to keep you confined so that Lewis thought he was home free.”
Stewart said, “Jim, I must admit that I was flabbergasted when you arrested me. But later when you explained your plan when we were alone in my cell, I figured the worst case was that I’d get a few days off from my beat. And in the meantime I had some free, but not too delicious meals on the county.”
Jim said, “Knowing that Lewis was the murderer, and he not having any idea that we suspected him, made him an easy target for surveillance. I didn’t feel too good, Fred, when Donna left her house and we tracked her heading to your house. At that point, I radioed to put Lewis under arrest and we informed the landlady at the same time. We, of course, called you when we found out Donna was heading in the direction of your house.
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