Alone Again_After the Collapse

by John Sullins

  “He looked at the pistol a second or two, put it back into the holster, “I see why you liked this gun great grandma!”

  Chapter 82

  Keith was worried about the big Caddy getting stuck in the snow so he returned to the lake house and grabbed the big key ring. He went into the barn to see if the all-wheel drive Tahoe would start. When he got into the driver’s seat and looked for the key slot, he discovered the vehicle did not need a key, it used a key fob. He checked the key ring again and found two key fobs, neither of which was labeled with the type of vehicle.

  He put the key ring down on center console and pushed the start button on the dash. The Tahoe started instantly and ran smoothly. He looked at the many buttons on the steering wheel and dashboard to familiarize himself with the features before backing it from the barn.

  He let the engine run while he moved his night vision gear and other equipment from the Caddy to the Tahoe. The last thing he did was use the gas from one of the five gallon cans in the barn to fill the gas can he and ED Roy had found in the woods which they believed was used to burn Ed Roy’s house.

  It was just past midnight and there were no vehicles on the road. The snow was still falling. He parked the Tahoe beside Ed Roy’s burned house, unloaded the gas can and other gear, put on the white coveralls, secured the night vision goggles to his head, and headed off into the trees.

  Carrying the heavy gas can through the woods in the dark in over a foot of snow was difficult and slow but he was in no hurry, he moved cautiously and quietly between the trees. He spotted a light from a window of the house when he was about sixty or seventy yards away. He sat down the gas can and knelt on both knees in the snow.

  He took a pair of small binoculars from his pocket and focused the view on the window with the light. He watched for a few minutes but saw no movement in what he thought was the kitchen. There were no vehicles on his side of the house or at the rear which made him question if Dick Head was there. Thirty yards behind the house was a flat roofed shed which was large enough for a car or truck, but he would have to move between the house and shed to see inside.

  He put the binoculars back into his pocket and lowered the night vision goggles over his eyes. He picked up the gas can and moved from the cover of the trees to the back of the shed. He was careful to walk as close as possible to the building so the tracks in the snow would be close to the buildings heat when it began to burn. He was counting on the falling snow to cover his tracks through the woods and the heat from the fire to melt the snow and his prints on the property. But even if there were tracks remaining when Dick Head found the fire, they would surely be gone before the fire department or sheriff would arrive. If they did arrive soon enough to find tracks, his tracks would lead them to Ed Roy’s burned down house but he would be back home by then. Ed Roy would initially be a suspect, but he would have a perfect alibi, he was in intensive care at the hospital. There would be no evidence leading the authorities to the lake house.

  He moved around the end of the shed, and raised the night vision goggles off his eyes to look for movement in the kitchen again. He saw no movement so he went into the open end of the shed and used a small flashlight to find out what was there. Sitting in the middle of the shed was a puke green pickup truck. He moved around the truck to the passenger’s side and aimed the flashlight beam at the front fender. There was no doubt in his mind when he saw red paint, that matched that on Ed Roy’s new truck, on the fender from just behind the headlight to almost the front of the door. The fender was also dented, obviously from where Dick Head rammed it into the side of Ed Roy’s left rear fender.

  He moved to the driver’s side door and pulled on the door handle. Luckily, he found it unlocked. He quietly opened the door and looked for the hood release under the dash. It made a soft click when he pulled the handle and the hood lifted open a few inches. As he was about to move out of the truck he noticed the knob end of a baseball bat sticking out from under the front seat. He pulled it out and saw that about one third of the end of the bat was cut off, leaving it a perfect size for a weapon. He held it in his right hand as he backed away from the truck. He stood motionless for a long minute watching the house. He saw no movement so he slowly raised the truck’s hood, opened the spout of the gas can, and poured gas over the top of the engine. He put the lid back on the spout, sat the can along the wall of the shed, a couple of feet from the truck and lit a match. He tossed the match under the hood as he pushed it closed.

  There was a loud “puff” and a fireball illuminated the shed. Within seconds the flames had spread from the truck to the old wood rafters of the ceiling.

  Keith quickly moved out of the shed and pressed his back against the outside shed wall on the side away from the house. The night was so dark, and the flames so blinding when looking from the direction of the house, he knew he would not be seen.

  He was beginning to feel the heat from the fire on his back through the wall when he heard the back door of the house open and slam shut. He leaned forward only far enough to see a man wearing only a pair of pants, no shirt, running toward the shed. Keith stayed where he was until the man was standing at the entrance of the shed only six or seven feet to his right.

  The man was looking at the flames and did not see Keith until Keith moved out from the side of the shed and say, “Richard!”

  As Richard jerked his head around to see who had called to him, Keith swung the ball bat striking him across his nose and face. Richard staggered backwards towards the flaming truck but did not fall. Keith grabbed him by the back of his neck with his left hand and spun him around as he pushed his face down hard onto the truck’s front bumper.

  Keith heard a bone in Richard’s face crack as he slid lifelessly onto the ground. Keith backed away watching the flames roar from the truck’s engine compartment of the truck and spread to the wood roof of the shed.

  Keith backed away from the shed and leaned forward resting his hands on his knees, still holding the ball bat, and breathing hard as he watched pieces of the roof collapse onto the truck and Richard who had not moved.

  He moved back to the edge of the trees and continued to watch until the shed was totally engulfed in flames and the gas can exploded. Richard never moved.

  The snow continued to fall heavily as he moved through the trees back to Ed Roy’s and the Tahoe. The night was quiet and he listened intently for the sounds of cars on the road or sirens. He heard nothing but his heavy breathing and an occasional stick snap under his feet.

  When he got to the Tahoe and started the engine, he asked aloud, “Did I do the right thing great grandmother?”

  Chapter 83

  Ten days later……….

  Keith was sitting in a chair beside Ed Roy’s hospital bed watching a nurse while she changed a bandage on the side of Ed Roy’s face. Ed Roy had regained consciousness the day after the crash and Keith had visited him every day. He had not mentioned anything about what he had done.

  Keith was telling him about the truck being pulled from the ditch and taken to the dealer when Keith looked up and saw a large man in a wrinkled grey sport coat standing in the door.

  The man looked at the nurse and then at Ed Roy.

  “I am detective Provost of the sheriff’s office, do you feel up to talking?”

  Ed Roy looked at Keith as if asking for his approval. Keith stood up and held out his hand to the detective.

  “I am Keith Hunter, a friend of Ed Roy’s. He was hurt in a traffic accident but he is able to talk. Do you want me to leave the room?”

  Provost shook his hand, “Makes no difference to me. You can stay if you like.”

  Keith nodded and sat back down in the chair. The nurse picked up the old bandages and left the room.

  Provost stepped to the side of the bed.

  “How are you feeling Mr. Short?”

  Ed Roy looked up and said, “I’m feeling better.”

  “When did you have your accident?”

  “About ten days or
so ago.”

  “Where did it happen?”

  “A couple of miles from my house. I lost control of my truck in the snow and it rolled over in a ditch.”

  “Did you report it?”

  Keith interrupted, “No sir. He was expected at my house and never showed up. I went looking for him and found the truck upside down in the ditch. He was unconscious so I brought him to the hospital.”

  Provost listened but did not respond. He looked back at Ed Roy.

  “When did your house burn down?”

  Ed Roy shifted his weight and sat up straighter in the bed.

  “I can’t remember the exact date, but it was a few days before the accident.”

  “Did you call the fire department?”

  “No, I was not at home at the time. When I came home the next day, it was already destroyed.”

  “Did you report it to your insurance company?”

  “No, I did not have any insurance on the place.”

  “Do you live alone?”

  “Yes, just me and my cats. They all died in the fire.”

  Provost lifted a small note pad and pen from his pocket and made a few notes. Ed Roy starred at him waiting for the next question.

  “Do you know what caused the fire?

  “No sir, no idea.”

  “You lost everything in the fire? No insurance?”

  “That’s right. Is there a problem?”

  “Well, I’m here asking questions because there was also a fire at one of your neighbor’s about a week ago. When we went to your place to ask if you had seen the fire at your neighbors, we found your place burned too. We first thought you might have died in the fire.”

  Ed Roy chuckled. “No sir, I’m alive.”

  “Do you have any enemies Mr. Short? Have you had any problems with people causing damage to your property? Any reason you can think of why someone might have set your house on fire?”

  “I have no enemies that I know of. I’ve lived there for years, never had any problems.”

  Provost flipped a page on his notebook and studied whatever was there.

  “Do you know your neighbor, Richard Head?”

  “Yes, we went to high school together.”

  “Do you know if he has any enemies? Has he said anything to you about people messing around his property?”

  Ed Roy’s hands were beginning to shake slightly so he pushed his fists onto the bed and lifted himself up slightly higher against the pillows at the head of the bed.

  “I don’t see him much. We’re neighbors, but we are about a mile or so apart.”

  Provost looked at Keith and then back at Ed Roy. Keith did his best to act uninterested.

  Provost said, “I guess you’ve not heard that Richard Head was found dead two days ago.”

  Ed Roy’s eyes got wide in surprise. “I didn’t know that. What happened?”

  “When he did not show up to work a co-worker went to look for him. He found the shed behind the house burned and Mr. Head on the ground, under the remains of the shed. Apparently the shed roof collapsed on him.”

  “That’s awful.”

  Provost studied Ed Roy’s face. There was no doubt in his mind that Ed Roy was genuinely shocked to hear that his neighbor was dead. He then looked at Keith who answered the next obvious question before it was asked.

  “I never met the guy. I am new to this area.”

  Provost made a few more notes in his pad.

  “Where are you from?”

  “I have been in the Army. I got out last year. A couple of months ago I learned I had relatives in this area. I came here looking for them and found out I had inherited a house from my great grandmother. As a matter of fact, she was sheriff in this county years ago.”

  “Really, what was her name?”

  “Sue Davis Lang Hunter.”

  Provost shook his head slowly. “We have photos in one of our hallways of all the previous sheriff’s. I’ll have to take another look at them.”

  She was Sheriff in about 2004 or 2005.”

  Provost made another note on his pad before putting it and the pen back into his pocket. He held out his hand to Keith again and patted Ed Roy’s leg under the sheet.

  “I appreciate your time gentlemen. I hope you heal up enough to get out of here Mr. Short. I’ve been stuck here a couple of times myself, I know it is no fun.”

  “Thank you sir. I think I might be going home in a few days.”

  Provost’s eyes narrowed. “Going home? Have you found a new place already?”

  Keith interrupted again, “I have offered him a room at my place. Other than my attorney, Joni Chade, he is the only person I know here.”

  Provost nodded and started to leave but stopped at the door. He turned back to face the bed.

  “Is there any connection to your house burning and your accident?”

  Ed Roy did not hesitate, “No sir, maybe I was not concentrating on my driving because of thinking about having no house anymore. But I just lost control of my truck because of the slick road.”

  Chapter 84

  Ed Roy waited until he was sure Detective Provost was gone and no nurses were close by.

  “Keith, close the door and tell me what happened?”

  Keith got up and closed the door.

  “All I know is what the detective just told us.”

  “Come on Keith. You said I was like your brother, don’t lie to me. I know you did something.”

  Keith thought seriously about it for almost a full minute before answering. He thought about the videos his great grandmother had made. He remembered how she coldly talked about the people she had killed and that in every case it was the right thing. When he thought about how good it had made her feel to deliver justice herself, he started to smile. That feeling of satisfaction and the adrenaline rush he had felt when he hit Head in the face with the bat, and the same feeling again as Detective Provost told them of Head’s death, had to be similar to the feelings she described in the videos. She had said it felt like she was re-born. He was experiencing the same feeling.

  Then he thought about that one paragraph in the will.

  If you find my confidential files, be careful how you handle the information. Every person who died deserved it. What I did was the right thing.

  Finally, he stepped close to the bed.

  “Ed Roy, there is a saying that what you don’t know won’t hurt you. There is also a saying that the less you know, the better off you are. Both of those quips fit this situation. I suggest you just accept the fact that Dick Head is gone and the sheriff’s office believes he was killed when the burning roof fell on his head.”

  Ed Roy stared at Keith but said nothing.

  He leaned over the bed and hugged Ed Roy.

  “I am going to find the doctor to see if I can get you out of here.”

  “I feel great, I’m ready to get home.”

  He started for the door but stopped, turned back to Ed Roy and said, “One more thing, if I did do something to him, it was the right thing, for me and my brother.” But what he was thinking was, “I feel great killing that son-of-a-bitch. As a matter of fact, I feel so good, I might have to do something like that again.”

  To be continued……………

  Characters

  Bradley, Ann – an alias of Keith’s great grandmother

  Brockman, Barry- robber aka Betty

  Callahan, Harriett - an alias of Keith’s great grandmother

  Castle, Lilly - an alias of Keith’s great grandmother

  Chade. Joni – attorney

  Child, Leigh - an alias of Keith’s great grandmother

  Cooper, Jim – Keith Hunt’s friend

  Davis, David – Sue Davis Lang Hunter’s cousin

  Deanna – aka Squeaky, Dale Pottinger’s sister

  Demario, S. - police officer in Bangor

  Ernesto – truck driver

  Ellie – hospital nurse

  Gleason, Jack – Post Office worker

&n
bsp; Gloria – Dale Pottinger and Deanna’s aunt

  Goodwynn, Morgan – David Davis’ wife

  Hamlett, Wendy - an alias of Keith’s great grandmother

  Hunter, Brandon - Keith’s Grandfather

  Hunter, Forest - Keith’s father

  Hunter, Keith – a lone traveler

  Hunter, Ralph (Buck) - Keith’s great-grandfather

  Jones, Ron – Sue’s second victim

  Jordan, Michelle - an alias of Keith’s great grandmother

  Judith – hospital nurse

  Kathleen – hospital nurse

  King, Brenda - an alias of Keith’s great grandmother

  Lang, Sue - Keith’s great-grandmother (Sue Davis Lang Hunter)

  Massey, Jim – Sue’s first victim

  McDonald, Rhonda - an alias of Keith’s great grandmother

  Nevel – Keith’s childhood friend

  Norton, Elvie – power company man

  Parker, Thomas – Sue’s third victim

  Pottinger, Dale – retired marine

  Provost – Detective in Maine

  Queen, Donna - an alias of Keith’s great grandmother

  Raymond – Dale Pottinger and Deanna’s uncle

  Rebecca - Jim Cooper’s sister

  Rosie – hospital clerk

  Savage, Vicki – Sue Davis Lang Hunter’s friend

  Short, Ed Roy - caretaker

  Stanley, John- County prosecutor

  Todd, Mary - Keith’s grandmother

  Warren, Joan - Keith’s mother (maiden name)

  Watkins, Candi – Sue’s fourth victim

  The Right Thing Series

  Book 1 - Remembering The Beginning

  A grandfather who went to the woods of Maine to bow hunt never returns. A few months later several of his grandchildren travel from Atlanta to the grandfather’s lake home in Maine to go through his belongings and prepare the house to be sold. One of the grandsons, Brad, could not accept the fact that his grandfather’s body could not be found. He encouraged his siblings to help in his search the local forest for their grandfather’s remains. Brad develops a personal relationship with a young female Sheriff’s Deputy, Sue Davis, who helps him search the forest after the other grandchildren give up the search and go home.