Atrocity

by C. M. Sutter

  “Not the worst idea. I’ll go into town and pick up some hair dye at the pharmacy later. You stay out of sight and keep your eyes on her and make sure those ropes are tight. We got lucky last night.” Cole returned his focus to the television. “Hey, here’s the latest on Candy.”

  They watched as the news showed Candy Dennis being taken out of the hospital in a wheelchair. Her head bobbed against her chest with every bump. Brian glanced at Cole, who grinned with what looked to be pride.

  “Candy is about twenty-five percent worse than what I did to Trish. All we can do is wait and see what kind of condition she’s in when she wakes up.”

  The camera panned the crowd of people outside the Lutheran Hospital in downtown St. Paul. Well-wishers stood along the sidewalk with bouquets of flowers, signs, and balloons while they waited for her release.

  A reporter stuck his microphone in the face of Candy’s father. “Mr. Dennis, can you tell us Candy’s prognosis? Will she ever recover from her injuries?”

  “Please, leave us alone. My daughter is suffering a horrible brain injury, and the doctors are stumped. Some maniac beat her within inches of her life, and three other women died at his hand. Only time and the grace of God will give us the answers we need.”

  Cole roared with laughter. “They’ll never figure out what caused her brain injury. Isn’t it amazing what an ice pick can do?”

  Chapter 32

  Kate and I took the hallway back to the bull pen. Our lunches of prepackaged salad and tuna sandwiches from the vending machine would hold us over until we went home. Then, I’d warm my delicious homemade manicotti in the oven and serve it with toasted garlic bread. I couldn’t wait.

  The number of no-motor lakes in the three-county region was larger than I had thought. We had been searching only the more tourism-oriented lakes up to that point. We realized now that our focus would have to shift. Clayton and Billings continued trying to contact the popular resorts while Kate and I searched for phone numbers and websites for the smaller lakes that didn’t allow motors. Since those were less popular with the seasonal crowd, I was sure somebody would answer the phones.

  Clayton put his hand over the receiver’s mouthpiece. “I may have something at Loon Lake Cabins and Kayaks.”

  We waited with bated breath as Clayton was put on hold.

  “Why are you waiting?” Kate asked.

  “Because the woman who answered said she remembers seeing a gold Lumina in the parking lot yesterday. She’s going back outside to see if it’s still there.”

  Kate frowned. “Why would she remember that? It isn’t a remarkable car.”

  Chad shrugged. “Maybe she knows somebody who owns one.”

  “But Mark’s Lumina is tan not gold,” I said.

  Clayton swatted away my comment. “Same difference. The colors are close enough, and it’s subjective, anyway.” He tapped his fingertips on the desk.

  I raised a brow. “Nervous?”

  “Yeah, why don’t you do something useful like look up where the hell Loon Lake Cabins and Kayaks is located?”

  “Sure thing, Chad. I’m on it. Just stay calm.” I gave him a smile, but inside I was just as nervous. We needed something positive to happen, and I prayed this was it. I typed the name into the search bar and found the resort. It was between Eagle River and Three Lakes—the right area according to the parameters we had set. I was hopeful, but it did look like a very popular resort. The picture gallery showed the rental shack for every kind of watercraft known to man, people out on the lake waterskiing and jet skiing, a bar and grill, tennis courts, bocce ball courts, and dozens of cabins. I wasn’t getting the right feel with the place.

  “Yep, I’m still here.” Chad grabbed a pen and began writing. “Yes, I have the plate number written down. Uh-huh, registered to cabin number nine. And what is the name of the guest?” I saw him jot that down too. “And my final question is, when did they arrive, and how long are they staying? Okay, thank you very much. Your name is? Dottie Conway. Got it. Thank you, Dottie.” Chad hung up and looked toward Jack’s office door. He pushed back from his desk and stood.

  “Chad, hold on. I don’t want to get Jack overly excited just yet. Come and look at Loon Lake’s website. I don’t think this is the right place.”

  Kate stood, and Chad took her seat. “What’s wrong with it?”

  “Almost everything. The website says the resort is just east of Clearwater Lake off State Highway 32. They show a full-service resort with tons of activities and watersports. Did she say how many cabins there are in total?”

  “Well, yeah.”

  “And?”

  “Twenty-two, along with campsites and an RV lot.”

  “Do you really think Brian would hide in such a public place? What if by a stroke of luck Trish escaped? He’d be caught in a second.”

  “Haven’t you ever heard of hiding in plain sight?”

  “Sure but not in a kidnapping situation.” I again brought up the two photographs that Todd had enlarged for me. “Does this place look anything like what’s on Loon Lake’s website?”

  Chad let out a long groan and cracked his knuckles. “Yeah, you have a point. I’m still going to run it past Jack. It wouldn’t hurt to have a couple of patrol units check it out and see who’s actually registered to cabin nine.”

  “Of course the plate number is irrelevant. If it is Mark’s Lumina, the plates have probably been replaced with stolen ones. Why don’t you just look it up and save everyone’s time?” Kate asked.

  “I’ll have Todd check it out quick while we keep plugging along.” Chad made the call downstairs and rattled off the plate number to Todd. He waited several minutes while Todd looked it up. “Yeah, okay, buddy. Thanks.” Chad hung up and rubbed his forehead.

  “No luck?”

  He shook his head. “Plates are registered to a 1999 Lumina owned by Tim Franklin of Green Bay. It isn’t the right car, and he isn’t Brian. I guess it’s back to the drawing board.”

  With the long list of no-motor lakes in the three-county area to work on, Kate and I had split it in half before lunch.

  I brought up the map of Oneida County on my computer and compared it to the printed list I had lying on my desk. “I wonder why there are so many lakes in that county.”

  Kate shook her head. “Vilas County is even worse. How about lending a hand, guys? Jack thought it was a good idea to work on the no-motor lakes. Places like that are everywhere, but they do offer a lot of privacy, and that’s exactly what Brian would want.”

  Billings stood and walked to Kate’s desk. “I’ll give you a hand, and Chad can help Amber.”

  “Sounds good.” Kate drew a line halfway down the sheet. “Make a copy for yourself and start under that line.”

  Billings took a look at the paper and whistled. “No shit. There are that many no-motor lakes in Vilas County? How are we ever going to narrow this down?”

  Chad took a look at my sheet. “We’ll be here until fall if we check every lake. There has to be a way to speed up this process by finding out which lakes have residences around them and which ones don’t.”

  “I have one better than that.” I pulled up the picture of Brian and Mark on the porch. “See that coach lamp by the front door? That tells me there’s electrical power going into that cabin.” I pulled up the second picture and noticed a coach lamp on the nearest cabin down the path too. I jerked my head toward Billings. “See which electric company services the area in the grid we set up for Vilas County.” I did the same with Oneida County. “WPSC services Oneida County, and according to the map, it services Vilas County too.”

  Billings confirmed what I had just said. “They sure do. Now what?”

  Clayton spoke up. “I’ll work with Todd and Billy on that. I’ll have them call WPSC and ask the right questions. There has to be a way to see which no-motor lakes have power in the area and which ones don’t. That’s also going to tell us if there’s homes back there and who owns them.” Clayton stood and crossed
the room. “Keep me posted on your progress, and I’ll do the same.”

  Chapter 33

  When he heard footsteps on the porch, Brian jerked his head toward the door. Seconds later, Cole crossed over the threshold and into the cabin, and Brian whispered a curse.

  “What’s going on? Got a case of rattled nerves?”

  Brian pointed at the TV. “Wouldn’t you? They’re still running that news segment on me. It’s getting in my head.”

  “Of course they are. Law enforcement can’t find you, so they’re relying on the public’s help. That’s why the hair dye was a good idea.” Cole tossed the box to Brian. “I went with dark brown. It’ll be a nice change of pace.” He smirked and walked to the table. “How’s Sleeping Beauty doing?”

  “She was making gurgling sounds a few minutes ago, and she’s already pissed her pants.”

  “That’s to be expected.”

  “Yeah, well, I’m never eating at this table again. It can go on the bonfire.”

  “The gurgling is a good sign. She should wake up soon. I’ll keep an eye on her while you take care of your hair. Nobody is ever going to recognize you after the change.”

  Brian yelled back as he walked down the hallway. “If it turns out like shit, I’m shaving my head.”

  Cole shined the light in Trish’s eye again. That time, her pupil constricted. “Damn it.” He tried her right eye, and it did the same.

  Her brain is telling her she’s looking into a bright light, and her pupils are reacting to it. She has a certain amount of brain function, but I won’t know how much until she wakes up.

  Cole reviewed his notes. The amount of alcohol he’d used on Candy the second time was twice that of his earlier attempt. Her first go-round was only two teaspoons. She had six teaspoons total squirted into her brain.

  I only used three on Trish, clearly not enough. I may have to start over and add another two teaspoons and be a tad more aggressive with the brain stimulation, just not as aggressive as I was with Candy.

  Cole pulled out a fork from the silverware drawer and ran the tines along Trish’s inner arm. She flinched. He flicked her cheek with his thumb and index finger, and her eyes opened. Cole took the hallway to the bathroom, where Brian was finishing up with the hair color. “Wow, it looks—”

  “Dark?”

  “Yeah, very dark. With a little beard growth, you should stay well under the radar. We have to figure out what to do with that car of yours, though. By the way, Trish is awake.”

  “What?” Brian sped past Cole to the kitchen, where Trish was struggling against her restraints. “What is she doing?”

  Cole laughed. “What do you think, moron? She’s trying to get away.”

  “So it didn’t work?”

  “Not fully, but we’ll try again later. I’ll give her half of what I gave Candy on the second round and do a bit more prodding in her frontal lobe. Don’t worry. It’ll turn out just fine. You’ll have the wife you’ve always wanted. Now, go dry your hair so we can see the true color.”

  Chapter 34

  Clayton returned to the bull pen at three o’clock. Kate, Billings, and I had been staring at resort gallery pictures for the last two hours and hadn’t found anything that looked like the photos we had in our possession.

  “Damn it, I give up.” I pushed back my chair and walked to the water fountain next to the coffee station. I filled a plastic cup and returned to my desk, where I plopped down in my chair with a thud.

  “Don’t get angry,” Billings said.

  “Why not?” I couldn’t hide my frustration. “We have no idea what he’s doing to Trish or if she’s even alive. Brian has to have an accomplice. How would he go out for food or risk being seen in public after we’ve aired his face on the news multiple times?”

  Jack stepped out of his office. It was the first time I had seen him since lunch. He took a seat on my guest chair. “I’ve checked with the state patrol, Vilas County, Lincoln County, and Oneida County sheriff’s offices, and the larger city police departments. The Lumina and Brian Cox haven’t been seen anywhere. I hate to say this, but maybe he isn’t in that area at all.” Jack gave us a discouraged look. “We may never find Trish Cox, alive or dead. There are a lot of remote places you could dump a body in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and the UP.”

  “True, but Brian still has to live on something. He has to eat, and he needs shelter and gas. We’ll find him sooner or later, won’t we?”

  Jack gave me a frown. “I imagine so, but it could take years. Remember, Brian knows how to hunt and fish. He could probably live off the land.” Jack fisted his eyes. “But that doesn’t mean we’ll ever find Trish.”

  “You can’t live off the land in the winter in North Country. You’d freeze to death. Somebody is providing food and shelter for Brian, but who and why?” Billings asked.

  “Haven’t any tips come in on the news hotline?”

  Jack turned to Kate and shook his head. “Nothing with any merit. I’ve followed up on phone calls for the last two hours, and they were all dead ends.”

  Clayton handed a sheet of paper to me and tipped his head toward Jack. “Pass that to him.”

  I glanced at what looked to be a detailed list of roads with power lines leading in. I felt hopeful and handed it to Jack.

  “What’s this?”

  “When you came out of your office, I was about to tell everyone what Todd got from the electric company. I decided to wait my turn. It’s a list of all the roads in Vilas and Oneida Counties that have live electrical service running to them.”

  “And how is that going to help us?”

  “We can match them up with the names of the roads that lead to no-motor lakes. It’s a process of elimination. Once we narrow that down, we can see which ones have rental cabins around them. That’s how we’ll find out who owns them, especially if the resort doesn’t have a website.”

  “All right, let’s work together on this. Either we’ll find what we’re looking for or we’ll eliminate the resort theory altogether. Let’s get at it. Divide up that list, and let’s see what shakes out.”

  It was closing in on six o’clock by the time we matched the no-motor lake roads to the roads that had electricity running alongside them. Horbeck and Jamison had just entered the bull pen for their evening shift.

  “You guys look spent,” Jamison said as he took his seat.

  I pushed away from my desk and squeezed my eyes in hopes of clearing my vision. “You have no idea. I’m going to need my magnifying glass just to see normally from now on.”

  Jack rose from his office chair and joined us in the bull pen. “My portion is done. How about the rest of you?”

  “I think we’ve covered everything, boss.” I looked at my colleagues. “Has everyone finished their list?” I heard groans that sounded as if they could pass for yeses. I cringed when I asked my next question. “Between the two counties, how many no-motor lakes have power running on their access roads?”

  We each counted the numbers on our lists. Billings spoke up first. “I have nineteen.”

  I wrote that down then turned to Kate.

  “I have twenty-three, and that takes care of Vilas County.”

  “Clayton?”

  He ran his finger down the list. “I have sixteen.”

  I turned my head. “Jack?”

  “I have eight.”

  “Okay, and I have fifteen. That totals—”

  “It’s eighty-one in total, forty-two in Vilas County and thirty-nine in Oneida County.”

  “Thanks, Clayton. How do they come out so evenly when Vilas County has twice the number of lakes as Oneida County?”

  “Because towns like Rhinelander and Minocqua that are in Oneida County are better known and more touristy. There could be dozens of small homes and cottages on those no-motor lakes. Homes in that area are in high demand.”

  “Okay, that’s enough for today. The night shift can narrow down the list even more by finding out which of those lakes have rental cott
ages on them. In the morning, we’ll attack that list hard and heavy and get to the bottom of it once and for all. With any luck, by this time tomorrow, we’ll know exactly where Brian Cox is hiding.”

  I was happy to go home and prepare that manicotti and garlic bread I wanted to make for dinner. It would be an early night if all went according to plan. We’d eat, clean up the kitchen, and then I definitely wanted to be in bed by ten o’clock.

  Kate and I drove home in silence. I was tired of talking about the Brian Cox case all day and half of most nights. I wanted to relax my brain.

  “How about some background music?” Kate asked.

  “Yeah, I like that idea as long as it’s soothing. I’m not feeling the loud, classic rock vibe tonight. Peace and quiet over a delicious meal sounds like heaven right now.”

  Kate smiled. “I’ll second that.” Ten minutes later, she pulled into the driveway and parked. “Um, isn’t that your mom’s car?”

  “Shit! There goes our night of pure, restful bliss. Let’s leave. Nobody will know the difference if we don’t go inside. Drive to the nearest hotel, we’ll get a room, and we can order in for dinner.”

  Kate laughed. “And leave Jade here on her own with your mom? She’d kill us, and I’m sure it would be a slow, painful death. Come on. Let’s suck it up and go inside. Maybe your mom is about to leave.”

  I jerked my head at Kate’s nonsense. “Apparently you don’t know my mom as well as you think you do.” I reluctantly followed Kate to the front door and entered our house. I heard voices I didn’t recognize. It sounded as if we had a houseful of people, and I visualized my dinner plans going to shit. Kate and I rounded the corner.

  “There she is!”

  I saw my mom jump off the couch and head toward me. I gave Jade a scowl, and she shrugged.

  “Amber, look who’s here! It’s our long-lost best friends and neighbors.”

  I was tugged forward by my mom’s grasp on my wrist. In the living room sat Carolyn Connor, her pregnant daughter, Natalie, and Natalie’s five-year-old son, Finn.