The Drifter

by MacShayne

  The Drifter

  A Mitch Crowne short story

  Written by: MacShayne

  (2017 re-issue)

  Copyright Page

  Copyright 2017 by MacShayne. Smashword Edition

  Copyright 2014 by MacShayne. Original Edition

  Edited by: MacShayne

  Coverwork by: MacShayne

  All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, persons (living or dead) are coincidental. All rights reserved.

  Smashwords Edition, License Notes

  Thank you for downloading this eBook. You are welcome to share this story with friends and family, although I’d appreciate it if they would download a copy themselves. This book may be reproduced, copied and distributed for non-commercial purposes only, provided the book remains in its complete original form. If you enjoyed this book, please return to your favourite eBook retailer to discover other works by this author. Thank you for your support.

  Table of content

  Chapter 1: The Case

  Chapter 2: The Arrival

  Chapter 3: The Affair

  Chapter 4: The Suspect

  Chapter 5: The Shotgun

  Chapter 6: The Savage

  Chapter 7: The Specialist

  Chapter 8: The Goodbye

  About the author

  Contact me

  Chapter One:

  The Stranger

  Easing, March 17 2009

  Mitch Crowne ordered a dark coffee. It was past twelve o’clock. The bartender was nervous with a stranger in his bar. Mitch was about 1.85 metres tall and weighed nearby 82 kilo. He was average build but underneath his clothes, he was all muscle. His hair was dark brown, half long, like Henry Cavill in Immortals. His blue eyes were impressive. Like he could see right into your soul. Blue jeans, black leather boots, a brown suede jacket with a hoody. He also kept a 3 days beard which made his face look older than he probably was.

  The bartender brought him a cup of coffee, dark as he had ordered. But before he put the cup in front of the stranger, he saw a glimpse of three intimidating bullies who lived in the neighbour. Normally they were a pack of four, it seemed that Rusty Wood’s condition was pretty bad. Yesterday, someone had attacked Rusty in his own house, police hasn’t given specifics about who could have done it.

  First there was Butch McCools, he was forty-one and had a wife named Holy. Holy was by far the most beautiful women in town. She could have been a model fellow locals say. Butch however, was a rude but strong asshole that was suspected of domestic violence. Right behind him was the gang’s brains, Simon Wilson. Now he was a guy you should not mess with. About a quarter of the locals were related to this guy. The Wilson’s were the richest and most influenced family in Easing. Simon was thirty-nine and the eldest of his brothers. His sister Sistine was only twenty-two. But, no one dared to date the beauty. Except a guy called Doug Raid, he has been missing since three years. Number three of the gang was the driver, also known as the funny guy. His name was Richard Red. According to Butch, that was just a nickname, because he likes the colour red. The bartender saw them walking towards the bar, he hoped they didn’t saw him putting a cup of coffee in front of the stranger. Here in Easing, it was a closed community. Especially, since the departure of the Barnes brothers.

  Simon took a seat left of the stranger. Butch stepped behind him, like he waited for a sign to attack, while Richard spoke to the bartender. Besides them, there was only Wendy Wayne sitting next to a window in the far corner of this establishment, she was the town’s doctor and an assistant in a nearby hospital.

  ‘You should be taught a lesson Darby.’ Richard said to the bartender.

  ‘Now we have to break something, you know how it works.’, Butch said.

  ‘Wendy, go with mister Darby here towards the back okay? Me and the guys want to have a little chat with mister nice guy here.’ Simon said.

  Wendy and bartender Darby went to the back of the building where the kitchen was located and closed the door. The next thing they heard was pure silence. No voices, no fight and no breaking things. Wendy looked toward mister Darby. They were both frightened but also curious. Who was that stranger?

  Back at the bar, the setting hadn’t changed. Simon was still sitting next to the stranger while Butch and Richard were waiting impatiently. Probably, for when things got out of hands. But, the stranger didn’t look that tough in their opinions.

  ‘I have something to say to you Mr. Crowne, I don’t like you. No, we don’t like you. You see.. we are happy with how things are going around here. Now we have a death body and our buddy Wood is in the hospital. And you know like me, that this is suspicious. So, we are offering you a chance. Get out of here by tomorrow.’ Simon said politely.

  ‘I don’t know, you’re voice sounds really nice and the offer is quite appealing. But, I like the hospitality here.’ Mitch answered.

  ‘That’s a real good joke Mr. Crowne. But the way I see it, it’s either gone tomorrow, or gone forever. Understood?’

  The stranger didn’t respond.

  Butch lay’s his left hand on the Stranger’s shoulder.

  ‘Okay, I will accept you’re kind gesture. Let me get my stuff.’

  The three were watching how Mitch grabbed his jacket and left the cafe. He drove away in an old ford Escort 1.6 CL 1987. Colour grey.

  Somewhere outside the village, a police car was parked near a crime scene. Agent Lisa Neagley is the leading investigator. Yesterday, a body was found at this place. At this moment, the body hasn’t been identified yet and her chief thinks that it’s not the man that disappeared three years ago. While Neagley is investigating the crime scene, she thinks to know what had happened to this poor man. He was probably killed when somebody hit his head with baseball bat or something. Then he was put into a hole right here. Eventually, she finds a stick which she decided to take with her to the police station.

  Lisa Neagley was driving through Easing and looked at herself in the mirror, her appearance had tired written all over. Lisa has blonde hair, brown eyes and is 1.72 metres long. She has an athletic build body and because of that, she isn’t always taken seriously by her colleagues. But she doesn’t wear make-up while at work. And still she looks astonishing. She arrived at this area just after the disappearance of Brody Barnes. One of the investigators reassigned, so she was his replacement. Brody was never found again though.

  Back at the office Lisa presented her theory to her colleagues. She claims that the body was indeed the guy who disappeared three years ago and explains how he could have been killed. She even lets him take a look at the stick, no blood traces are on it. Chief Roberts seems to be impressed and offers her the opportunity to investigate further. Later in the evening , she takes the stick back into her car and leaves the parking lot around 21 o’clock. An old black Ford was driving by a little bit too fast, but she decided to let the person go.

  Mitch arrived in the neighbour of Richard’s house around half past nine in the evening. He walks the last hundred metres and goes right to the back of the house. He could see that Richard was making himself a sandwich and grabbed what seemed to be his seventh beer, by counting empty bottles on the kitchen. Mitch shook his head and walked toward the backdoor. It’s not locked, real tough guy, no one nearby dares to break into this house, right. Mitch placed a wire under his telephone. Richard did almost catch Mitch in the living room, if he didn’t went to the bathroom first. Mitch dropped six pills of laxatives in the beer bottle and left the house via the back. There he found a shotgun right next to the kitchen door, he decided to take it with him.

  After a while, Richard was being phoned. It’s Simon. They talk about a guy they have taken care of in the past. They don’t know that Richard’s phone is wire
d. Mitch records the conversation and watches how Richard drink’s his bottle of beer while talking with Simon. The conversation is short lasted when the pills start to work. Richard doesn’t even hang up and rushes to the toilet. Mitch enters the house again and goes to the phone. ‘Rich?’ he hears Simon saying a few times. Mitch cuts off the phone and takes his wire. Richard heard someone was in the house and threatened to kill the intruder. Then suddenly something in fire is thrown into the bathroom where after a chair was put in front of the door. Mitch left the house not knowing if Richard would die.

  Easing, March 17 2009

  The next day, Lisa arrives in the morning at Richard’s house because one of his neighbours alarmed the police. Richard has one burned hand and is a little bit mixed up about what happened. But, he makes clear that he doesn’t want to press charges.

  ‘So you deny someone has broken in last night?’Lisa asks ultimately.

  ‘Yes, yes I do. Just leave me alone.’

  ‘Nothing broken or stolen?’

  Richard remembers his stolen gun and broken television.

  ‘Nothing.’

  As Lisa leaves his porch, the mailman delivers an envelope. Richard takes it and throws his door into its locks. In his living room, Richards decides to open the envelope. One of his own bullets drops out of it and a letter is send with it.

  “You’ve been bugged.”

  At the office Lisa is met with funny faces. Her chief demands her to come into his office.

  ‘What’s going wrong chief?’ She asks.

  ‘Listen Lisa, we all like you, but really, drop you’re stupid story okay?

  ‘What! You said it was good theory yesterday.’

  ‘That was a joke Lisa, A JOKE!’

  ‘I don’t understand, this case is as easy as they come.’

  ‘No, you’re wrong Lisa. The case is not yours to make, but to solve.’

  Lisa left the office quietly afterwards.

  Chapter Two:

  Arriving in Easing

  Easing, March 15 2009

  Mitch Crowne is what they call a drifter. He appears and disappears before you know it and he doesn’t stay long at any place. His expired drivers licence tells us that his birthday is eleven October 1980, which makes him 28 years old at this very moment. But if you would see him, you probably guessed he’s over thirty years old. Crowne also has a briefcase full of money. This briefcase is leather black and has two lockers on both sides. His car is an old grey ford Escort 1.6 CL 1987. But, because of the weather, it looks like a lighter shade of grey than it probably is. You see, at this moment it is still snowing in the North of the Netherlands, which is an exception compared to previous years. The roads are slippery while the surroundings are white. Not even one shade of green can be seen.

  It wasn’t crowded on the road Mitch was driving, but then again, it was Sunday. Like every vehicle, Mitch car runs on fuel, diesel. The last time he filled the tank was almost four hundred kilometres ago when he was still somewhere in Denmark or perhaps Germany? Well, he decided to fill the tank at the first possibility he would get. A traffic sign explained that Mitch was 1 kilometre away from a village named Freewerd. But eventually, he discovered that this place had no gas station. So, he drove further. Two kilometres further he entered a village called Easing. The village looked old, like it had a lot of history. In the present day, it appeared more like a god forsaken place. A place you wouldn’t book you’re holiday. But, there was a gas station. Mitch drove toward the shop and parked his car next to a Diesel pump.

  While Mitch was filling the ford’s petrol tank, another car pulled over. Probably for gasoline, since Mitch already used the Diesel pump and there was really only one Diesel pump. The guy who got out of the car looked like a mechanic or something. His clothes were messy. Mitch looked at the fella when the man coughed. This man that pulled over next to Mitch was not the type of guy who went to church, that was sure. He had brown hair and a ponytail. He wore a thick winter jacket and black leather boots which looked like he always wore them. Well, he also looked like hell, a few scars above his shoulders, probably from a few bar fights and he definitely had broken his nose two or three times. His face was still a bit bruised. He was approximately 1.89 metres long, which made him longer than Mitch. But the guy was slim, by far not impressing Mitch. The aggressive look he gave Mitch was nothing more than the look of a poor man who perhaps had nothing to lose.

  After Mitch had paid the bill and left the shop, the local was leaning against Mitch’s car. Mitch stopped one meter from the shop’s door and took a look around. A canal ran right through Easing and Freewerd. He could see the border of the village, there was nothing but countryside in the far distance.

  ‘So, you’re here for pleasure or fun pal?’, the local said.

  ‘Maybe I like the view.’

  ‘Nobody likes this view, not even us.’

  ‘So why you’re asking me?’

  ‘Don’t play funny with me punk.’

  ‘That’s not very friendly of you… (looking at the man’s name card attached to his chest) Mr. Wood.’

  ‘We don’t like people like you. You see, we live in peace, we want to keep it like that.’

  ‘Do you like my car?’

  ‘What did you say?’

  ‘The car, do you like it?’

  ‘This piece of crap, get lost boy! This piece of crap belongs on a scrap yard.’

  ‘Just like you mister Wood.’

  ‘Aah, do you know where you belong?! In a freekin’ body bag. Yeah! Thats where we gonna put yah if you don’t drive fast enough away from here. You got that pretty boy?’

  ‘I can’t’

  ‘Why dammit!?

  ‘A sack of bones is standing in the way.’

  The man walks away from the ford, coughed twice, while giving Mitch the space he needed to get in the car. Mitch passes Wood on his left where after Wood spits just before Mitch’s left shoe. Mitch get’s in the car.

  ‘Get lost boy, or else we gonna cut you up in pieces.’

  Mitch left…

  Somewhere, a few kilometres outside Easing, three of the four police cars were surrounding a crime scene. A fourth appeared driven by a female police officer, Lisa Neagley. Lisa pulled over next to Chief Roberts vehicle.

  ‘Who is it Chief?’, Lisa asks.

  ‘No identification yet Neagley.’

  ‘Jees, there is not much left of it sir.’

  ‘No, my guess it’s been lying here for more than two years.’

  ‘Who found it? Better said, how?’

  ‘I don’t know, Miss McCools was heading home when she saw a sand hump. Next thing she saw, was this body in that hole. Someone has dug it up this night we think.’

  ‘Why would someone dig at the exactly same place a body has been dumped?’

  ‘Good question Neagley, you would be a hell of a reporter.’

  ‘Thanks for the sarcasm boss.’

  ‘Neagley, if you’re so interested, I suggest you’re taking lead in this case.’

  ‘I don’t know chief, never have been involved in such a case.’

  ‘Neither have I Neagley, only a disappearance of two locals.’

  ‘Barnes?’

  ‘Interested or not Neagley, could be a leap towards promotion.’

  ‘Oh, yeah.. Thanks for the opportunity Chief.’

  ‘Just.. don’t let us look bad Neagley.’

  ‘Boss’, officer Holland said. Who joined the two.

  ‘Have you got something useful to say this time, Holland?’

  ‘Could it be the one that disappeared three years ago? You know, Doug.’

  ‘The way I see it, it could have been Jesus himself. Lets pack it up folks.’

  Mitch was driving on main street where he pulled over nearby a pauperized Motel. It was just a little bigger than a bed and breakfast, probably five or six rooms at the most. The Motel ‘s outer walls was build with white bricks, while the rooms all had one small window next the door. These used to be t
wo or three normal houses, but were probably re-used as motel. There was space for eight cars. As it seems, one room was occupied, the owner drove a Toyota Starlet 1.3 made in 1996 or so. Business wasn’t that great obviously. So, Mitch left his car with only a twenty euro’s note and a fifty euro’s note. Inside the office was only room for one couch, it was placed in front of a desk. The owner was sitting behind the desk, watching Ado Den Haag versus NEC Nijmegen. Mitch put his arms on the desk which caused a noise that gained the owner’s attention.

  ‘One room, one person.’

  ‘Okay, that will be thirty.’

  ‘Thirty of what? (The owner looked surprised.) Let me put it this way, I have two bills, one of fifty and one of twenty. You may take both, but that means you will only ask me for more if I’m still here after the fourth night. Deal?’

  ‘Uuh’

  ‘And maybe when I’m in a particular mood, you’ll get a big tip.’

  ‘I don’t know sir.’

  ‘Listen you can wake up next week smiling in the mirror because you took a certain gamble on a certain night in a certain situation, or you end up next week with the thought of having a customer that staid longer than one day. You’re choice.’

  ‘Room six it is.’

  ‘I prefer number four Alan.’

  ‘Number four hasn’t been cleaned the last week. (moment of silence) Okay, number four it is. If you register here, you’ll get the key.’

  Mitch wrote his name on a registration paper and received the key from Alan. ‘Have a good evening Alan.’

  After Mitch left, Alan looked on the paper. “Mitch Crowne”, he read. Odd name, Crowne with an E. ADO won the game with 3-0.

  Easing, March 16 2009

  Early in the morning, the police held a press conference about the found body. Lisa Neagley was given the floor after Chief Roberts talked about the current situation and having introduced Neagley. Besides some journalists, about hundred locals were present at the conference. Including Rusty Wood, Butch, Simon and Richard.

  (…)

  ‘So all that we know at this moment, is that the corpse is a male’s body. There are no further details yet, so, we can’t give an identification nor the details of a certain cause of death.’