One Strange Accident

by Kay Wyont

  “What do you mean?” Randy exchanged glances with his partner.

  “Okay, here’s what I find strange. I talked to Mrs. Babcock and Mrs. Johnson. That’s the mother and teacher who were on the bus at the time. According to them, the driver just stopped the bus. He stopped the bus right on the track and then sat there as the signal arms came down right on top of the bus and he didn’t even move. He just kept staring straight ahead. Mrs. Babcock went up and practically yelled in his face, but she said it was like he was lost in another world. He wouldn’t budge, so she ran to the back and opened the emergency exit, and they got the kids out as quickly as possible. Barely got them out, I might add. The train whistle sounded, kids were screaming, and still no reaction from the driver.”

  “Was he on drugs or something? Have they finished the tox screen?” Randy casually took a bite of his hamburger.

  “Nothing. He was clean.”

  “Bus malfunction?” Danny asked.

  “Nope, nothing.”

  Randy tried not to show his excitement. “I’m not questioning your policing abilities, so don’t take this wrong. But did you ask the women if the driver had been acting strangely during the trip? I mean prior to him stopping on the tracks.”

  “I did. They said he was acting perfectly normal. The kids had been singing some silly song and he joined in. Then all of a sudden, he came to the tracks, stopped the bus, and that’s when everything changed.”

  “It certainly does sound strange,” Randy said. “And I don’t think you’re a bit crazy for questioning it.”

  “Ditto,” Danny agreed.

  “So, you both agree that it seems weird?”

  “Yes,” they said together.

  “If I tell you something else, do you swear you won’t mention it? Do you promise not to spread it around that I’m crazy? Or use it to pull my chain?”

  “I’ll promise, but I won’t speak for Danny on that chain pulling thing.”

  “How about if I promise I’ll try my hardest not to?” Danny asked.

  “I guess that’s close enough. Something’s not right, and I can’t be the only one who thinks so. First, we had Caldwell and I can’t seem to shake the feeling that something is going on with him, other than him just wigging out. I don’t believe for a minute he intended to drive his car into those people. I know you’ll say it’s because I got too close to him, but that’s not the case at all.

  “Then there’s Veronica. I met Hank at her unit barbecue, and he seemed like a decent guy. He interacted with everybody, and I didn’t pick up on anything weird about him at all. He didn’t seem mad at anyone and was joking around just like the rest of them. And now, we have the bus. Another incident of a normal person doing something abnormal. Something’s going on, but I don’t know what it is.”

  “Wow, that’s quite a tale,” Randy said, looking at Danny.

  Frank winced. “I knew you’d think I was crazy. I haven’t even mentioned it to Ronnie, er, Veronica.”

  “You call her Ronnie, huh? That’s cute,” Danny said.

  “Don’t you start calling her that, too,” Frank warned. “She says it doesn’t sound professional.”

  “I can see that. I mean Randy and Danny sound so intimidating. Like Sheldon or Tim,” Randy said, chuckling.

  “You can sure tell you have kids. That’s from the fourth Ice Age movie,” Frank said.

  “And you would know that how?” Danny asked.

  “I watch them,” Frank admitted, blushing. “I guess I’m just a big kid at heart.”

  “One of your more endearing qualities,” Randy said.

  “I’m crazy, aren’t I?”

  “For watching kid movies? Not necessarily,” Danny said. “I like them, too.”

  “That wasn’t what I meant!”

  “We know it wasn’t, Frank.” Randy looked at Danny, who nodded. He’s on board. At least I’ll have company on my meter maid detail. “Okay, we’re going to let you in on a little secret. But I swear, if you breathe a word of it to anyone—Veronica, your sergeant, your mom, I mean anyone—you’ll find yourself permanently walking a beat. If you’re lucky. And that’s the best-case scenario.”

  Frank hesitated. “Not even Ronnie?”

  “Nope. Not even your priest... We learned that one the hard way. Capiche?”

  “All right.”

  Randy plunged in. “We’re not here totally by accident, Frank. Chief Sanchez told us to talk to you.”

  “Why?”

  “There is something strange going on. Caldwell, Veronica, the bus driver...and that may not be all.”

  “What? What do you mean?”

  Randy gave him the rundown of the other two cases.

  “There’s five? Could there be more we don’t know about?”

  “I don’t know,” Randy said. “But I know this. We’re all going to be shot, or worse, if we don’t tell the chief we told you, and you’re coming with us. We’re not facing him alone.”

  “What’s worse than being shot?” Frank asked.

  “Parking meter duty,” they replied in unison.

  THE CHIEF WAS NOT HAPPY. Randy hadn’t had a chance to tell him anything other than Frank knew before he blew up. “Let me see if I have this straight. I swear you two to secrecy, threaten you, and you go blabbing to the first person you talk to? Do I have that about right? What happened to the mum’s the word thing?”

  “Calm down, Chief, or Frank will pass out,” Randy nodded toward Frank. The young officer’s forehead beaded with sweat, and it seemed he’d forgotten how to breathe. “Let me explain.”

  “This better be good. Sit down, Jenkins, before you keel over.” The relief on Frank’s face didn’t go unnoticed. “Don’t read too much into that Jenkins. I just don’t want to deal with the paperwork if you hit the floor in my office.”

  “Chief, we did what you asked...”

  “Really? I asked you to keep your trap shut. I could look up the definition of the word discreet, if you’d like.”

  “Okay, except for that, but let me finish. When we were talking to Frank, he opened up to us. He also believes something weird’s going on. He brought it up to his sergeant after the bus accident, but nobody bought it.”

  Chief Sanchez turned his rather forceful glare on Frank. “Tell me what you told your sergeant.”

  Frank nervously looked at Randy who nodded his head, giving him the go-ahead. Taking a deep breath, he said, “Well, sir, I talked to the parent and the teacher who were on the bus. They both said the bus driver had been acting perfectly normal prior to stopping on the tracks. But when he got to the tracks, it was like he shut down. Even when the arm came down on top of the bus, he didn’t move. They tried to get his attention, but he wouldn’t answer, so they got the kids out of the bus right in the nick of time. The whole thing seems hinky to me.”

  “Uh, Frank, try to stay away from the word ‘hinky,’ if you would. The chief has some kind of personal aversion to that word. Trust me on that one,” Danny said.

  “Sorry, sir. Okay, strange. I mean, the driver was fine, then bam, he turns into a space cadet. That doesn’t make any sense.”

  “I agree. Is that all?”

  “Not quite.” Frank’s tone became stronger and more confident. “I had met Hank. You know, the guy who shot Veronica. I was around him for a few hours at a unit barbecue, and he was perfectly fine. So why did he suddenly go bonkers and start killing people who I really did think were his friends?”

  “Anything else?”

  “No, except I didn’t know about the other two, the plane and the fireman, until today. It just reaffirms my opinion that something is seriously wrong.”

  “Couldn’t this all be a coincidence, Frank?” the chief asked.

  “I suppose it could, Chief, but I don’t think so.” Frank faltered, but he took another deep breath and plunged ahead. “Okay, I spent a lot of time with Rick while I was pulling guard duty, and he’s just not the type of person to do something like that. From what I gathered
from Veronica and what I saw, neither was Hank. And Mrs. Babcock and Mrs. Johnson said they couldn’t believe Jesse did what he did. It seems to me like there’s something bigger going on here.”

  “How long have you been on the force, Jenkins?” the chief asked.

  “Over four years.”

  “And, you’ve been patrol the whole time?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Well, if you keep going like this, you’re probably going to find yourself promoted pretty quickly. Good job. You’re saying what we’re thinking,” Chief Sanchez said. “By the way, Monroe, you’re off the hook for blabbing. So, what do we do now?”

  The conversation skidded to a halt, but an idea started taking shape in Randy’s mind. “Frank, what is Veronica doing while she’s at home?”

  “Nothing. She said she’s going stir crazy. Why?”

  “Chief, I have a suggestion. We need to bring one more person in on this.” Sanchez opened his mouth to protest, but Randy cut him off. “I promise, just one more. Frank’s concern over whether we may have missed a case got me to thinking. Veronica’s got a good head on her shoulders and a lot of time on her hands. She could search through news articles online from the last eight to twelve months. Look for strange cases. What do you think? It would save us a lot of time, and we could start checking the other incidents.”

  The chief turned to Frank. “Is she up for that?”

  “She’d jump at the chance to have something to do.”

  Chief Sanchez threw up his hands in resignation. “Okay, bring her into the loop. But that’s the last one. If we keep going like this, we might as well just take out a front-page ad in the Express-News. And make sure she knows about keeping it quiet.”

  “Got it,” Randy said. “Thanks, Chief.”

  “And, Monroe? Don’t let this go to your head, but you did right by including Jenkins.”

  “Hey! What about me? I was there, too,” Danny said.

  “Probably eating lunch would be my guess, Beckman. I’m talking about using your head, not your mouth. Now all of you get out of my office.”

  “Doesn’t the chief like you, Danny?” Frank asked when they were outside.

  “He does,” Randy answered. “That’s what’s known as friendly ribbing. We are really going to have to work on your sense of humor, or lack thereof.”

  “Oh. I guess I didn’t think he’d have a sense of humor.”

  “Getting promoted doesn’t make you less human. Remember that in case it ever happens to you.”

  “He’s gotta make himself useful, first,” Danny said.

  “Seems to me like I already have been, Danny. I’m working with you guys now,” Frank replied.

  “God help us all,” Randy said as the makeshift task force walked down the hall. “Let’s go tell Veronica the good news together. She’s got an assignment.”

  NINE

  When Randy walked in the next morning, Danny took one look at him and burst out laughing. “What happened to your face? That doesn’t look like a shaving cut. Did Margaret finally have enough and throw something at your ugly mug?”

  “Very funny. No, it was Button.”

  “How did a button scratch your face? They’re normally round, aren’t they?”

  “I didn’t say ‘a’ button, I said Button. As in the name Button. She’s a kitten,” Randy patiently explained.

  “That’s a strange name for a cat.”

  “Margaret named her that because she thinks the kitten is as cute as a button.”

  “Why’d you let her get another cat? Keep this up, you’ll end up on one of the newscasts about people being arrested for hoarding pets. How many is that? Five or six hundred? I’ve lost count.”

  “Four. It’s just four, you idiot! And somebody dropped it off outside the house.”

  “Okay, but still, four hundred is a lot, don’t you think?”

  “I swear! One of these days. It’s four, not four hundred. Although with Boo around, it seems like four hundred.”

  “Who’s Boo? I thought you said she named the kitten Button. Did they drop off two cats? If so, you guys need to seriously consider moving. Or getting rid of that sign.”

  “What sign?”

  “The one that tells people to drop all their unwanted pets in your yard.”

  Randy rolled his eyes. “Now why didn’t I think of that? And did I mention you’re an idiot?”

  “Once or twice. But where did Boo come from? You’re confusing me.”

  “Easiest thing I did all day,” Randy replied. “You know how she is. All her cats have multiple names. Boo is Button.”

  “Why Boo? Did the cat scare her?”

  “No, Margaret named her after the little girl in the Monsters, Inc. movie, because the kitten runs amok all over the place.”

  “That’s cute, I suppose. Well, if you’d stop kissing cats, you wouldn’t get your face all scratched up.”

  “I wasn’t kissing a cat! Button was running across the bed and used my face as a launching pad.”

  “Perhaps you should consider keeping Boo Button off the bed. Just a thought.”

  “You’ve obviously never had a cat. They pretty much do what they want.”

  “If only there was an invention that could help. Oh wait. There is. It’s called a door. You might consider getting one for your bedroom. I understand they come in handy.”

  “Right. Close the door and listen to them scratch on it all night, trying to get in. Not gonna happen. And for your information, we do have a door on the bedroom. And we do close it. If we didn’t, I’d never be able to make love to my wife. I think you can figure out why.”

  Danny chuckled. “Yes, I can. I’m not into voyeurism, but I’d pay to see that.”

  Frank pulled up a chair by Danny’s desk. “What’s so funny?”

  “We’re talking about cat toys. And Randy’s sex life,” Danny replied.

  “Oh. I’m allergic to cats,” Frank said.

  “So is Randy. Check out his face.”

  “That looks pretty nasty. I guess that’s another reason to not have cats. I didn’t know they were that vicious. But why were you having sex with a cat? Never mind, don’t answer that. I’d rather not know.”

  Randy scowled at Frank. The kid had obviously gotten the hang of chain-jerking and was having a little too much fun with it. “They’re not vicious. They’re just active, for lack of a better word. But I doubt you’re here to discuss cats or my sex life, which was NOT with a cat, so what do you want?”

  “Veronica found some pretty interesting stuff,” Frank replied, handing a folder to Randy. “Look at that.”

  Randy glanced through the folder, letting out a whistle.

  “What’s in there?” Danny craned his neck to see.

  “See for yourself. Let’s get this to the chief.”

  Danny flipped through the pages as they left. “Wow.”

  “WOW.” CHIEF SANCHEZ spread the papers out on his desk. “Four other suspicious cases? How many does that make? Eight?”

  “Nine. But I’m not sure the VIA bus accident counts. I remember that one,” Danny said.

  “Veronica said she included anything in the past year that looked similar to Caldwell’s or the school bus accident, and those that seemed suspicious,” Frank explained.

  “I remember the VIA bus, too, now that you mention it.” The chief tapped Veronica’s printout. “The driver appeared to drive straight off the overpass. Four people died and six were injured. Luckily the bus wasn’t full at the time. I also remember they found drugs in the driver’s system. I don’t think that will turn out to be the same thing as the others.”

  “This shooting at UTSA doesn’t fit, either,” Randy said. “The shooter was on academic suspension. He took out his professor and one of the teachers before turning the gun on himself. There’s some sort of an explanation for that one. Everyone else seems to target strangers, he didn’t.”

  “I’m surprised Veronica listed that one,” Frank said.

&nb
sp; “I’m not. On the surface it looks the same, but I remember it. Working from home, she doesn’t have access to the official records. So, she’s doing a good job. She just needs to put it down and we’ll take it from there.” Randy leaned back in his chair. Hah! And you say I can’t remember anything, Margaret. That’s so not true.

  “Right. Let’s see what we can find out about the other two in our database,” Chief Sanchez turned to his computer. “Jesus Alvarado...shot up a jewelry store at the mall. He killed himself, too, so it’s closed.”

  “Oh yeah,” Randy said. “That case went to Tom Edwards. We could ask him about it, but I don’t remember him mentioning anything strange.”

  “Then, let’s leave that one for now. I don’t want to bring in anyone else unless we have to,” the chief replied. “What’s the name on the last one?”

  “Lloyd Carter.”

  The chief typed it in. “He’s not in here.”

  “What happened there?” Danny asked. “I don’t remember it.”

  Sanchez scanned the article. “He ran his car into the Pastry Palace over in Alamo Heights. That explains it. It’s not in our jurisdiction. The article says he was charged with vehicular manslaughter. He’s currently in jail awaiting trial. It happened in March.”

  “Can we get access to his arrest record from the Alamo Heights PD?”

  “Let me call their Chief. Ryan’s a friend of mine. Sit tight.” Chief Sanchez flipped through his Rolodex and dialed.

  “Is there anyone he doesn’t know?” Danny whispered.

  “Pretty sure there’s not. He’s been around for a while,” Randy quietly replied.

  “I’m going to tell the chief you’re calling him old,” Frank whispered back.

  “Hey! New kid on the block is finally getting a sense of humor.” Danny slapped him on the back. “Way to go, Frank! Good one.”

  “What do you mean? I’m not kidding. I’m really going to tell him,” Frank replied. “That seems like something he’d want to know, if one of his detectives thought he was too old to do the job. I know I would if I was in his place.”

  “Really? Why would you do that? Are you intentionally trying to get Randy in trouble?” Danny asked.