The county had gone through three sheriffs in six years. With the murmur of a new election season stirring, the Mayor and several other area leaders had asked him out to lunch. He still remembered the mayor’s words.
“Zack, we like you, so we’ll come straight out with it. If you’ll run for sheriff, we can almost guarantee your victory. Hell, with our support and the lack of competition, it’s a done deal.”
And they were right; Zack had won by a huge majority. Now, he was not only responsible for his family’s welfare, but for 12,894 county residents, too. What had he gotten himself into?
He stood off to the side of the stage while the mayor introduced him, telling a story similar to the one going through Zack’s head. He looked out into the audience, packed with his loyal supporters, the voters who had put him into office.
His wife, Kate, stood in the front row. She didn’t smile but shot him instead a look of, “I’m still pissed at you.” They’d had another fight. Kate’s hands rested on Jimmy’s shoulders, as he waved excitedly at his father.
Zack looked at his beautiful wife and tried to remember the last time they’d made love, or even laughed together. The past few years had been hard. First, he’d gone to school at night while working full time; then, she’d gotten her degree while he watched Jimmy during the daytime and worked second shift. It seemed like they hadn’t spent much time together, just the two of them, in years. Then when things had begun to settle down, the election began. Elections led to parties and parties involved alcohol consumption. Soon after, the fighting with Kate had begun. He remembered how much in love they’d been.…
“And without further ado, let’s hear from our new sheriff!”
Zack stepped up to the podium as the clapping and cheering filled the room. He motioned for them to quiet down as he adjusted the height of the microphone and cleared his throat. “Thank you. Thank you everyone. Please sit. I promise I won’t be long.”
The crowd shuffled to their seats and the hushed voices died down after a minute or so.
“I want to thank all of you for coming here tonight to help us celebrate, and for your support during the election. I can’t believe I’m standing here as your new Sheriff. If it wasn’t for my lovely wife Kate,” he nodded toward her and the crowd buzzed, “I may never have become a member of your community six years ago. I’ve gone from love at first sight, to county sheriff.” The crowd stirred with hushed laughter and comments like “Oh, how sweet,” from many of the women.
Zack looked at Kate and when their eyes met, she looked away. She half-smiled for the crowd.
“But seriously, I accept the challenge of being your sheriff. I will do my best to keep this town and county a safe place for its citizens. I look forward to serving you all and seeing each of you around the county. Thanks.” He waved to the crowd. “Refreshments are served,” he called out with a smile as he left the stage and began shaking hands.
Zack worked the crowd. He small-talked with the high school principle, paid his respects to the local church pastor, and shook hands with each of the city officials.
Jimmy had come over to Zack and was standing patiently at his side hugging his leg as his father worked the crowd. Zack glanced over at Kate who was also being congratulated by the town’s people. She looked up briefly and their eyes met. Then she looked away again. Zack turned and faced the mayor and several of his cronies.
“Let’s go to my house and have a proper celebration, Sheriff.”
His alcohol induced red nose told Zack what the mayor meant by a proper celebration.
“I, well… I have Kate and Jimmy with me.”
“Bring her along. She and the wife can entertain each other. Your boy can take a nap in the guest room if he gets sleepy.”
Kate appeared next to Zack. He looked at her. “The mayor has invited us --“
“You go ahead if you want. I’m taking Jimmy home.”
“See, Zack.” The mayor slapped him on the back. “You’ve got permission from the boss.”
Kate gave him a disgusted look, took Jimmy’s hand, turned and walked away. Jimmy looked back at him with sad eyes until they disappeared into the crowd.
Three hours later Zack, drunk again, got a ride home from a deputy. He passed out alone in the guest room.
Chapter 3
Outside the bug-stained windshield the moon floated above the blacktop road that appeared to unravel before them. He looked up at the moon’s grey continents and dark craters, standing out to his naked eyes as if magnified by a telescope. Its eerie light turned the scene ahead into a black-and-white movie. He watched a dark cloud drift across the sky and slowly obscure the moon’s glow. Out beyond the headlight beams, the grays turned to black. Lee let off on the accelerator.
He wondered if blood would appear black under this dim light. Soon, they would know.
He slowed the truck and pulled up close to the trees lining the gravel shoulder. He cut the ignition and killed the lights. The low-hanging tree branches wrapped the truck in a strange darkness, making him feel like they had entered a tunnel. Cool air brushed his elbow as he cranked open his window. Slowly, the noises of the night filled the emptiness.
Are we really going to do this? Lee’s hand shook as he reached up and unsnapped the plastic cover of the dome light and removed the bulb. He took a deep breath into his tight chest, held it for several seconds, and slowly exhaled.
“Are you ready?” he asked his partner, Donnie.
“Let’s do it, man.”
Lee felt a trickle of warm sweat run down the back of his neck. “Don’t do anything stupid.” No mistakes. Not tonight. “We follow the plan. Okay?”
Lee looked over at that this moron who’s actions could determine his future. “I didn’t have to bring you in on this job, Donnie. Don’t make me regret it by screwing this up. I mean it.”
“Don’t worry, man. I’m cool. I got it!”
Lee reached down and grabbed the wooden stock of his 12 gauge pump shotgun. As he opened the door, he smelled the lingering scent of sweet gun oil. Donnie got out on the passenger side holding a double-barreled shotgun in his hands. When he closed the door a little too loudly Lee shushed him and whispered, “Quiet!”
Their eyes slowly adjusted to the low light; objects appeared like ghosts around them, and slowly came into focus.
They moved through grass covered with a layer of fallen leaves, making it feel like damp shag carpeting beneath their boots. Keeping to the shadows, they worked their way along the boundary of the plowed fields and trees, parallel to the house, where their prey slept. The old-style white farmhouse sat at the end of a long straight gravel driveway running through an open front yard. A covered porch fronted the building and wrapped around the far side. The house and yard occupied about two acres of at least thirty acres of mostly open farm land. Several large oak trees stood out front, one in the back, and a barn stood off to the right rear. Thick woods lined the edges of the fields. Across the road more plowed acreage held fall crops of pumpkins or Indian corn.
Lee and Donnie paused at the edge of the woods adjacent to the farmhouse. They would have to leave the protection of the trees and cross an open seventy-five yards or more to get to the house.
Lee surveyed the area. All was quiet except for the damned crickets, and the soft whining of a jetliner soaring a mile high overhead. He looked up at the faint flashing light moving slowly across the sky and wondered if those passengers up there were watching some new sequel to Chevy Chase’s Vacation movie while sipping five dollar beers and discussing the latest trends on Wall Street. Los Angeles, Seattle or Tokyo. Must be nice. He pushed the thoughts away and regained his focus.
No cars moved along the road. The interior lights of the house had gone out an hour ago as they had driven past for the third time. They had been watching the house since the previous night, and thankfully, the family followed pretty much the same evening routine. At 10:00 they turned off the lights and went to bed. Lee hoped everyone was asleep
by now. He squinted as he looked down the road at the dark outline of the nearest other house, a quarter of a mile west, far enough away that he didn’t expect any interruptions while doing the job.
“Well?” hissed Donnie. “Are we going to do this freakin’ thing?”
A minute later they stepped up to the side of the house and leaned their backs against the white painted wood siding. They waited and listened. Then Lee caught sight of movement farther back along the woods at the edge of the field. He could just make out shadows of several slowly moving objects. The moonlight leaked through a break in the clouds, illuminating the scene. Lee knew that even in this light, he and Donnie still would be hard to detect, especially if they moved slowly and hung to the shadows. Looking back across the field, he made out the dark outline of a group of four or five deer grazing along the grassy edge of the field. He let out the breath he had unconsciously been holding.
Lee whispered to Donnie, “Let’s go, back door.” They worked their way along the side and turned to the back of the house. A four foot high child’s plastic playhouse stood in the backyard twenty feet from the kitchen window where a mother could wash the dishes and watch her children play.
Donnie slipped a small spray can of lubricating oil from his pocket and sprayed the hinges on the screen door. He waited a few seconds. Slowly, he eased open the door and held it for Lee.
Lee first tried the doorknob of the inner wooden door to see if they’d gotten lucky. No, it was locked. He removed the twelve inch pry bar from the right thigh pocket of his camouflaged pants. Silently slipping it between the door and the frame near the doorknob, he applied pressure. With a soft crack the jam gave and the door opened. With the door opened slightly, he took the oilcan from Donnie and sprayed the exposed inner door’s hinges through the small gap along the door jam. He opened the door and stepped into the kitchen.
He looked back at Donnie and motioned with his head. “Check the living room,” he whispered. He held a finger to his lips. “Quiet.”
Donnie nodded and slowly moved off through the door to the right, his gun held in a ready position.
Lee stepped through the other door leading into the dining room.
---
Deputy Harold Priestly turned onto Riker’s Road and headed south. He fought to hold back a yawn but couldn’t. He needed to get off second shift. He looked at the clock’s glowing numbers on the dashboard clock. 11:05. He then scanned the silent, still countryside surrounding his vehicle. Other than the occasional group of teenagers driving around smashing mailboxes or getting drunk at the lake on weekends, every night was pretty much the same: cruise around and try to stay awake while nothing happened.
“Sally, its Harold. Anything exciting going on?” He released the transmit button on his radio microphone.
The second shift dispatcher at the county police station turned down the volume on her small TV and pressed her transmit button. “Nothing's happenin’ around here, Harold. I just saw on the news there was a convenience store hold-up in Cincinnati, though.” She released the button and smiled.
“They get all the luck,” groused the deputy good-naturedly. “Let me know if a cat gets caught up a tree or anything important like that.”
“I thought that was the fire department’s job,” she called back.
“Not a chance. You give me that call. I’ve got to have something to keep me awake.”
“That call is yours when it comes. I feel so safe knowing you’re out there protecting us, Harold. Wanna have breakfast after your shift?”
“Sounds good. Talk to you later.” He snapped the mic onto its dashboard clip and pulled off the side of the road near an intersection. Maybe someone will run the stop sign. He could only hope.
Chapter 4
They stood in the foyer looking up the wooden staircase. Lee knew these old stairs would probably creak with every step, but they had no choice. They had to hope everyone upstairs was asleep.
Lee went first, keeping his footsteps close to the wall to reduce possible noise from loose boards. Surprisingly, there was very little sound; however, when Donnie followed: creeeeek, creeeeeek, creeeek. Lee shook his head and exhaled deeply, disgusted. At the top of the stairs they turned left toward the master bedroom and ever so slowly moved down the hallway. They would both be needed for the adults. The little girl would have to wait.
The hallway doors were all open. They already knew their targets slept down at the far end on the right. Lee had planned everything down to the last detail, and so far, the plan was right on track.
---
Sharnita heard a sound and opened her eyes. She had been trying to sleep, but this old house made too many scary noises. She imagined monsters lurking in the darkness. Looking across at the closet door, she wondered if they hid in there in the blackness, waiting to sneak out and get her once she fell asleep. Her head turned when a sound came from the stairs down the hallway. She lay still and stained to hear. Another creaking sound disrupted the eerie silence. Someone or something was climbing the stairs. She slipped out of bed and crouched at the side, peering over the mattress toward her open bedroom door.
Then she heard them taking slow steps down the hallway. Step, pause. Step, pause. They moved in the other direction, toward her parents’ room. She wanted to crawl under the bed and hide, but she wondered what might be waiting under there. Instead, she crawled toward the bedroom door. Her big t-shirt, which she always wore to bed, caught under her knees, and she pulled it free. At the door, she froze, afraid to look out. After a few seconds, she forced herself to lean her head out and peer down the hallway. In the darkness, she saw two shadowy figures slowly moving away from her, toward Mom and Dad’s room. She pulled her head back inside and leaned against the doorframe. Fear immobilized her again. What should she do? Hide? Run? She sat there, thinking for several seconds. Mommy, Daddy? She had to warn them about the monsters coming toward them. She leaned back into the hallway to look, just as they went through the far bedroom door.
Edging out her door, she stood looking down at the other end toward her parents’ bedroom. As she crept along the hallway, a loud BOOOOM and bright flash of light erupted from her parent’s doorway. She reached up with her hands and covered her ears. The sound had hurt them. Now she couldn’t hear anything except a ringing. Then she saw another flash and another. Still covering her ears, she turned and ran down the stairs.
---
“This is dispatch. Come in Harold.”
“Sally? What’s up?”
“I just got a report of gunshots out near your 20.”
“Really, where?”
“Rikers Road.”
She explained that an older couple had called to report hearing several gunshots just up the road from them. They weren’t sure, but the shots may have come from the nearby farm.
“Okay, I’m on my way to check it out.” The deputy headed for the address she had given him. He figured someone could be out spotlighting deer, blinding them with bright lights, and while they stood frozen, shooting them. Some people were just too lazy to hunt the legal way.
A few minutes later he pulled into the driveway and a couple in their early 70’s dressed in their night clothes came out to meet him.
“Officer, the shots came from there.” The lady pointed up the road.
Harold could just make out in the moonlight another farmhouse in the distance. “How many shots did you hear?”
“Three I think,” said the lady. The old man remained silent.
“Okay, go back in the house and I’ll go check it out.”
Two minutes later the deputy pulled into the driveway and slowly drove up toward the white farmhouse. He turned off his headlights as he drove. No lights shown from inside the house. He cut the engine and listened through the open driver’s side window for a minute. All seemed quiet. He saw no movement in the house. Only moonlight and a small light mounted above the door on the outside of the nearby barn lit the scene. A late model Volvo was parked near the
Barn.
He picked up the mic and pressed transmit. “Sally, I’m at the farmhouse at 97 Rikers Road where they think the gunshots came from. So far I don’t see anything suspicious. I’m going to check it out. Call for backup just in case.”
---
“Where the hell is she hiding?” Lee stood in the living room.
Lights flashed from outside. “Shit, someone’s coming.”
Donny stood nearby. He edged up to the window and peaked outside. “It’s a cop.”
“Let’s go.” Lee hurried into the kitchen, Donnie at his heals. He quietly opened the back door and slipped outside, looking toward the driveway and the direction of the barn. He heard the police cruiser’s engine cut off. Donnie followed as they turned back in the direction where Lee’s truck waited across the field. Once they turned the corner on far side of the house, they paused and listened. Lee strained to hear any signs of the cop. He heard what might have been a car door softly closing.
---
He exited the car and turned down the volume so he could just hear his hand-held radio as Sally called the one other unit on duty that night.
Drawing his 9mm Berretta pistol from his waist-mounted holster, he held it along his pant leg in his right hand. His flashlight in his other hand, he waited to turn it on.
He listened and looked for any movement as he approached the porch. Nothing.
Climbing the steps, he looked through the window before approaching the front door.
The door handle didn’t turn--locked.
Kentucky Murders: A Small Town Murder Mystery Page 16
