by Rita Karnopp
“You sure?”
“I ought to know. She yells at me if I don’t pull in just right. I’m telling you, this is all wrong.”
“Okay. Jamie, do you have any friends you hang out with at school. I’m talking close neighbor here?”
“Sure, Sally Parks right next door and I are best friends. Well, I mean, after Pete and me.”
“Okay. I want you jump out and head to Sally’s house. Wave to Pete and yell, thanks for dropping you off and add something like you’ll call him after you and Sally study… whatever you’d say that sounds like you. Go straight over to Sally’s house.”
“Got ya,” Jamie said, leaning over to give Pete a long and meaningful kiss. She slid back over, grabbed her bag and slammed the door. She ran around the Jeep and waited for Pete’s window to lower. “Thanks for the lift. I’ll call you after Sally and I watch Revenge.” She ran across the yard, stopped and turned back. “Go straight home so your dad doesn’t get mad.”
“Yah, ya … bye.”
They both waved naturally and Cooper was surprised by their cool. “Nice job. Drive down the street in your usual fashion.”
“Usual fashion? What the hell’s that supposed to mean?”
“Fast or slow … what do you usually do?”
Pete stepped on it, squealing the tires slightly and honking the horn at Jamie. “Like that, you mean?”
“Right,” Cooper shook his head and smiled. “Drive about two blocks and turn right.”
“Why?”
“Because if something is wrong at Sally’s house, we need to … let me rephrase that, I need to go check it out.”
“Let me help.”
“Tell me the layout of the house. I’m thinking back door.” Cooper listened, taking mental notes. “You come with me until we get to Sally’s house. I want you to go there and stay until I come for you. Under no circumstances allow those girls to leave that house. Is that understood?”
“Yes, Uncle Cooper. You want me to call my dad and tell him what’s going on? Maybe we should call for back-up?”
“That’s what I’m here for,” Dallas said, adjusting her shoulder.
“Maybe it would be best if you wait it out here in the truck, Dallas.”
“Really? Because I’m not capable?”
“Don’t give me that shit. You’re hurt and I don’t want to have to worry about you. I’ve got enough to deal with right now.”
“Well, screw that. Half a back-up is better than none. I’m going, and that’s final. Now, we going to talk all afternoon or are we going to get this thing over with?”
“You must be that IA lady dad’s been talking about. He said you don’t take shit from no one.”
“Pete, watch the mouth,” Cooper said. “Let’s get going. Pete, stay behind Dallas.”
“Let’s head up the alley. It connects behind both houses. You can make your way on Sally’s side of the hedge that separates the two lawns alongside a chain link fence. Then there is a gate on the far side of the patio. That gate squeaks so move it slow.”
“Thanks, Pete. No more talking. Dallas, is that shoulder okay?” He glanced her way and she nodded a confirmation. Nearly squatting along the hedge, Cooper waited and motioned for Pete to make his way to Sally’s house. The kid followed the hedge and nearly undetectably moved into the confines of Sally’s protected backyard.
Assured Pete no longer was a concern, Cooper motioned forward and edged his way to the gate. He flipped the metal hinge up and inched the gate open. Low and slow, he pulled himself up alongside the house. Dallas moved alongside him.
“Wait while I see if we can get a hint of what’s going on inside,” Dallas whispered.
Cooper nodded and waited while she made her way to the first set of windows on the west side of the house. His heart pounded in his chest, increasing the pain to the back of his head. He glanced over at Dallas and breathed easier as she made her way back to him.
“She’s in trouble all right,” Dallas said. “She’s sitting at the table with her back to the window. It appeared she is tied to the chair. I couldn’t see the perp. Why would he be waiting for Jamie—“
“He’s waiting for Gulchinski’s son.” Cooper struggled not to storm into the house.
“What?”
“How do you get an honest police captain to break the rules or cover up the evidence?”
“By kidnapping or threatening his son? He would know Pete’s girlfriend lives here? Who is this guy? He has to be someone you know.”
“If you’re right in thinking it’s someone who is trying to ruin my life, then this makes sense. Gulchinski is like a father to me. There would be one way and only one way to force Gulchinski into a compromising situation. I wonder what evidence the killer wants Guchinski to tamper with. It could shed some light on the killer.”
“Once Gulchinski does the deed, he’s going to be exposed. It’s not about the evidence or tampered case files or reports, it’s about making sure Gulchinski is discredited, dishonored, and removed from his position. It’s about destroying those you love … one at a time.”
“Okay, I’m going to move in from the patio. You watch from the window. He may have seen Pete leave and he split before we even got here.”
“Which could mean he’s observing us right now or he’s long gone.”
Cooper thought for a moment, then motioned for her to head toward the window. He gave her a few more seconds, then eased onto the patio. The drapes were pulled, but he didn’t doubt his silhouette would appear like a beacon light if the killer watched for him.
A slight pull on the patio door opened it without much effort. Cooper stepped inside and eased the door shut. He parted the drapes just enough to step past them. With three quick steps, he approached the adjoining kitchen area where he knew Jamie’s mom sat. He paused and listened. Other than a few sniffles, the house fell silent.
Stepping into the room, he glanced at the woman gagged and tied to the chair. Her tears streamed down her cheeks. He pointed to himself and mouthed, “Police.” Then asked the question, “Is anyone here?”
She shook her head.
Quickly he rushed up to the woman and pulled the gag from her mouth. “You’re sure there isn’t anyone here?” He asked in a low tone.
“He left after Pete dropped Jamie off and left. She went right over to Sally’s house. I think he was planning on taking both the kids. I left the car in the garage and hoped Jamie would —“
“That’s what tipped us off,” he said, pulling on her ropes and motioning at the window for Dallas to come in.
“Who are you? Were you with the kids?”
“I’m Detective Reynolds. Actually Detective Fortune and I were coming here to get a little first aid from you. Jamie said you were an ER nurse. What’s your name?”
“Betty, Betty Winslow. First aid from me? Isn’t that what hospitals are for?”
“Well, Dallas has been shot and we didn’t want to call any attention—“
“Shot? What have you involved the kids in? Are you crazy—“
“No, actually this all happened before Pete and Jamie picked us up. The perp thinks we’re both dead and we’d like to keep it that way. Jamie suggested you could patch us up without drawing attention to ourselves at the hospital. That’s why we were in Pete’s Jeep when we arrived here. Jamie said your car parked in the middle of the garage wasn’t right. We immediately changed our plan to protect the kids and make sure you weren’t in any danger.”
“I’m truly grateful you did. Where is this Dallas you mentioned?”
The skin on the back of Cooper’s neck prickled. He rushed from the kitchen, out to the patio and around to the side of the house, nearly dropping next to Dallas in relief. For a moment he thought the killer had taken her. She lay on the grass, just below the window. He scooped her into his arms and carried her into the house.
“You have a bed I can lay her on?” he looked at a mortified woman. “She’s not dead, she just collapsed. She was shot in t
he shoulder, the bullet went right through. At first she lost a lot of blood, but now I think it’s doing quite well. She’s weak and tired. It’s been a hellacious couple of days.”
“Come this way. I have a spare bedroom upstairs. I noticed some dried blood on the back of your head. You okay?”
“Might need a couple of stitches. Got hit with the butt of a pistol.”
“Have you been having any headaches, dizziness, or nausea?”
“You might say that. Just didn’t have time to worry about it. We’ve been running for our lives, and I mean that literally.”
“Lay her down on the bed. Careful now. Let’s get little Detective Dallas fixed up, and then we’ll see about fixing that hard head of yours.”
Cooper smiled. “We should call Jamie and Pete so they know everything is okay here. I think they’re both pretty worried.”
“Would you go downstairs and get my cell phone? It should be in the outside pocket of my purse which is always on a chair in the kitchen.”
“Sure,” Cooper said, heading out the bedroom. Half way down the hall he heard a click from the front door. Pulling his gun, he edged the inside wall and quietly inched his way down. A shadow on the opposing wall revealed the intruder was close to the stairs. In an instant, Cooper dived at the intruder and slammed him to the floor. Gun raised, Cooper pulled back, then released a heavy breath.
“What the hell, Arnott, I nearly let the air outta you.”
“Damn it, Cooper, you know I hate it when you say shit like that. My God, what the hell is going on with you? You couldn’t have called me for back-up? Pete said you and a half-dead Dallas were entering a possible hostage situation. I was to keep my mouth shut and come alone. You’ve got some explaining to do. Would you mind getting off me?”
“I thought maybe you were enjoying it!” Cooper laughed and moved off his partner.
“You’re hopeless. Well, if you’d shut up for one minute, maybe I could. Right now I want to check with Betty and see how Dallas is doing.” He grabbed her cell phone from her purse and headed up the stairs with Arnott right behind him.
“Betty, this is my partner, Detective Josh Arnott. Josh this is Betty Winslow, Jamie’s mother. “
“Jamie?”
“Oh, Pete’s girlfriend’s mother.”
“Nice to meet you, Betty.”
“You’re a bit slow on the partner end, huh?”
Cooper laughed, but noticed Arnott didn’t find it as funny. “Here’s your cell phone.”
“Use it. Both kids’ numbers are in my contacts.”
Cooper waited while the phone rang.
“Hey.”
“What took so long to answer?”
“Oh, the girls were tossing my phone back and forth. Pissed me off … I mean ticked me off. They finally gave it back. I told them this was serious sh … serious.”
“Everything is okay here. If you want to come back over it’s fine—“
“Tell Jamie to spend the night with Sally. Don’t tell anyone she’s staying there. She’s to call me before she goes to bed and I’ll see her in the morning before school.”
“I heard that,” Pete said. “I’ll be over in a bit. That okay? I’ll sneak over from the back in case anyone is casing out the house out front. You want me to go get my Jeep and park it in the alley?”
“No, Arnott is here and we’ll drop you off to pick the Jeep up when we leave here. I don’t want you going anywhere without a crowd.”
“What? This is crazy. We have a fu … a football game tomorrow night. I’m not missing it. You two can run around the field with your guns pulled if you want to. But I’m playing.”
“Didn’t say you couldn’t and last time I remember, a football team would constitute a crowd. Get your skinny butt over here in the next half hour. Okay?”
“Damn straight.”
“Pete, you and I need to have a talk about your mouth. Girls don’t respect guys who swear all the time and to be honest with you, neither do men. An occasional damn, shit or even fuck might be warranted. But you, young man, are getting carried away with it. You hearing me?”
“Okay, I’ll work on it. Don’t tell my old man … my dad you gave me this talk. Shit … I mean … dang it he just bitched me out for it last night. I’ll try. It’s habit, you know. I don’t really mean anything by it.”
“You’re almost a college man. If you don’t want your professors commenting, I’d advise you work harder on cleaning things up. Getting into forensics school takes more than just smarts. And, Pete?”
“Yeah?”
“Thanks for sending Arnott over. If things were serious, we would have needed him. I should have called him, and it was mature and smart to have called for back-up.”
“Anytime, uncle.”
Cooper smiled and pushed end. “How is she doing?” he asked, handing Betty her phone.
“Exhaustion is the biggest culprit. The wound is looking good. A mighty lucky lady. That bullet missed every major concern. The wound is coagulated and already starting to heal. It must hurt something fierce without pain meds. She really needs to get on antibiotics, but there is no sign of infection yet. In lieu of the situation, I think I can have a side-chat with Doctor Burghoust and see if we can get him to prescribe something … let’s say in Jamie’s name for a rusty nail in her foot.”
“You’re one smart lady, Betty.”
“You might not think so in a few minutes. Let’s go downstairs and let me take a look at that head of yours. Josh, would you to in the bathroom and grab a razor, some rubbing alcohol and cotton. Also grab the box of Band-Aids.”
“Razor? You’re really not going to save my hair, are you?”
“Men are such babies.”
“Seems I’ve heard that a time or two lately. It’s just that … well, I’m a little attached to my—“
“It’ll grow back. I’ll need to clean the wound area and make sure it’s more of a cut than a crack. You might be taking this lightly, but I’m not. Have a chair detective.” She pulled a chair to the middle of the floor.
Cooper screwed his lips to one side and took a chair. Just when he was beginning to like Betty.
Arnott dropped all the items on the kitchen table and straddled a chair facing him. “Where the hell have you two been? Two days and not a single word from you. I must have called you and Dallas a thousand times.”
“Don’t stop dialing.”
“What?”
“Keep trying. The killer has both our cell phones. If you suddenly stop calling, he’ll wonder why. I’m sure Maxwell must have told you we were heading to Missoula to personally take some evidence to the lab. To make a long story short, we were forced off the road into a mud slew. Dallas was shot and I was pistol whipped. We were taken to a cabin for the night and were nearly eaten by wolves and blown up.”
“I don’t think he wants you dead … or you’d be dead already.”
“That’s what Dallas was thinking. I’m asking myself, who the fuck wants to destroy me?”
“Uncle Cooper, that’s some bad language for a detective. Hi, Mrs. W.”
“Not funny, Pete. Don’t you knock or something? And Mrs. W. isn’t exactly the kind of respect your girlfriend’s mother deserves. She is either Mrs. Winslow or Betty.”
“Right. Hi, Mrs. Winslow.”
“Hi, Pete. Are the girls okay?”
“They aren’t taking this too seriously. I do, on the other hand. I know this wasn’t a joke. If they would have taken Jamie and me … well, I’m just glad they didn’t. Was it one guy or more, Mrs. W … ugh, Mrs. Winslow?”
“One man, Pete. He left after you drove away. He was definitely waiting for both of you.”
“What did he look like?”
“He wore a ski mask and gloves. His eyes were … green, I think.”
“How tall what kind of build?” Pete asked, grabbing a handful of Oreo cookies from the jar.
“I don’t know. I was sitting down most of the time.”
“O
kay, then was he my height or maybe tall like Uncle Cooper?” He grabbed Cooper’s arm and pulled him up for comparison.
“Oh, I’d say he was about the same height as Cooper.”
“Nice job, Pete,” Cooper said, sitting back down. “Matter of fact that was superb.”
“Was there anything peculiar about him, say an accent or a smell?” Arnott asked, leaning forward on the chair.
“No, I don’t think so. He seemed calm and that worried me more than anything. He was calm, cool, and collected as they say. It was like he had it all planned right down to the—“
“How about when Pete drove away?” Arnott interrupted.
“Now that was a different story. I was afraid he was going to kill me on the spot. He kicked the front door and threw his gun on the floor, I think. He paced for a couple of minutes and the next thing I heard was the house garage door open and close. Then silence. He was gone and within minutes you appeared.”
“Is there anything else you think we should know? Oww!” Cooper jumped.
“Oh, sorry. Did that hurt?”
“Just a little. Please tell me I don’t need stitches.”
“If this wasn’t so old, I’d say yes. But I wouldn’t do it now. I’m going to shave around the cut and butterfly it together. I’ll put some antibiotic ointment on the wound and we’ll hope for the best. You’re going to live, Mr. Reynolds.”
“That’s good to hear.” He couldn’t help liking Betty Winslow.
“See, I told you Mrs. Winslow was good,” Pete swallowed his cookie. “Umm … did this guy come to the house and knock on the front door or was he waiting for you or what?”
“Oh, that was strange. I was driving up the lane when he came out from the tall bushes by the drive and pointed a gun at me. He seemed surprised it was me, now that I think about it. I didn’t see his car or anything. That’s when I decided to pull into the middle of the garage.”
“Are you usually home this time of day?” Arnott asked, grabbing a cookie from Pete.
“Well, now that you mention it, no. We had an emergency early this morning and I was called in. So I finished my shift earlier than usual. I knew Jamie was getting a ride from school with Pete, so I came home.”
