Hard to Kill

by C. M. Sutter

  “Shit. That changes everything. When we picked him up, we were under the assumption that he beat his wife and fled. That’s it.”

  “Well, now you can charge him with murder. So where is my detective, Jesse McCord?”

  “Sorry, Commander, but when we breached the home, Mr. Stanley was asleep in bed. There wasn’t anyone else around.”

  “What kind of vehicle was there?”

  “One second. It’s in my notes. Ah, here it is. His black Dodge Ram was in the garage.”

  “So he beats his wife within an inch of her life, leaves her behind to die, abandons his trailer, and just goes home as if nothing happened?”

  “Sir, we’ve been to the Stanley house at least ten times already this year. The wife calls 911 but refuses to file charges against that piece of shit because she knows when he’s released, he’ll just beat her again.”

  “Well, he isn’t going to get out of murder charges. You need to get back in that holding cell and interrogate him. My detective is missing, and Leon Stanley was the person who kidnapped him. I want to know what he did with Jesse, and I want to know now! Make sure to tell him he has murder charges hanging over his head, and he won’t see the light of day again unless he coughs up the location of my detective.”

  “You got it, and I’ll call you back as soon as the interrogation is complete.”

  Lutz ended the call and stormed over to Frank and Hanna. “What did you find out?”

  “Not much, Boss. Leon Stanley was raised in Decatur. He only lives four blocks from the family home he grew up in.”

  Lutz slammed his fist against the workstation. “Decatur PD has Leon in custody.”

  Hanna’s eyes bulged. “What? Then where is Jesse? Why hasn’t he contacted anyone?”

  “I don’t have those answers, Hanna. The detective said Leon was in bed asleep when they stormed the house. Nobody else was there.”

  Frank pushed back his chair and paced. “That means Hanna’s SUV is here in the park somewhere—it’s the only thing that makes sense. Leon bound Jesse, threw him in the back of his truck, and dumped him somewhere along his route home. How far is Decatur from here, and what back roads can get him there?”

  Lutz raised his palms toward Frank. “Hold on, Mills. Detective Chesson is going to question Stanley about Jesse. The man is on the hook for murder now, not just domestic abuse, so he better start talking.”

  Minutes later, Owens and his sergeant, a Terry Ludwig, entered the business center. Owens made the introductions, then the sergeant took over.

  “We used the registration department’s list of all the vehicle owners that have paid for their campsite. We’ve done a drive-by of those sites and every one in between. None of those vehicles match the two in question. We’ve also checked the parking lot at the lodge and the spaces in front of every cabin. The results were the same. I had two of my officers drive the roads that weave in and out of the park. No abandoned vehicles. We found a black Corolla on that road along the ridge across from Jesse’s campsite, but nobody was around. The owner might be out hiking or fishing.”

  “So no red Explorer?”

  “Sorry, Commander, but no.”

  Chapter 23

  The vehicle stopped, and the driver’s-side door opened. I heard footsteps, then a shadow passed the rear window. I knew the liftgate was about to open. What I didn’t know was my fate once it did. I bent my knees in hopes of kicking Leon in the gut, but in that tight-fitting bag, I couldn’t coil back like I had hoped. When he lifted the gate, a flashlight blinded me, making it impossible to see him. I was about to get hit with a stun gun—I heard it first and knew the sound—so I braced for it. The only things exposed were my head and neck, and either one would hurt pretty badly. The jolt went through my body like I’d been hit with lightning, then I felt myself go limp.

  The next thing I remembered hearing was “Wake up, Detective. You’ve had enough sleep. Funny how well zolpidem knocks you out when it’s ground up, mixed with water, and then injected in your vein.”

  I couldn’t think clearly, but I knew I wasn’t in the Explorer any longer. I was sitting upright, and it was daylight. Hours must have passed. A hard slap across my face got my attention.

  “Snap to it, damn you. I want you to listen closely so you can process your fate. You’re up shit creek, McCord, and your paddle is just out of reach.”

  “Who are you? You don’t sound like Leon.” I was surprised by my own voice. My tongue was thick, and my speech was slurred.

  He laughed. “Who the hell is Leon? I’m calling the shots, not some shithead named Leon.”

  I was in trouble. The person who’d turned his back to me wasn’t who I thought he was, and even though he was large, he definitely wasn’t Leon’s size.

  It has to be his accomplice. They’re messing with my mind.

  The man walked to the darkened side of the room and took a seat. I faced him, but with a fifteen-foot space between us as he sat in the shadows, I couldn’t make out his features. If he was a friend of Leon, I wouldn’t know him, anyway.

  “What do you want?”

  “That’s a loaded question. How about this? I want to watch you die a slow, painful death. Kind of how it is in prison, you know? We sit in our concrete-walled pens and spend twenty-four hours a day thinking about why we’re there.”

  “Probably because you broke the law.”

  He stomped his foot. “Whose law? Who makes the rules? We live in a free country, and I have the right to do whatever I want, whenever I want.”

  I ignored his rant. “So you’ve spent time in prison? That means I must have been the cop who put you there, or you wouldn’t be singling me out.”

  “Ding, ding, ding. You win a gold star, Detective. Let’s take a journey back in time—say twelve years ago.”

  It took only a second for me to realize who my abductor was, and my gut instantly knotted.

  “You worked Narcotics then, and you were doing your damnedest to take me down. Problem is, McCord, I’m just smarter than you. Was then and still am now. Look around. Do you know where you are?”

  I scanned the room, and familiarity kicked in. We were in Hanna’s house, and nobody would look for us there. Her Explorer was likely tucked away in the garage, safe and sound, and putting out a BOLO on it would be useless. As far as her mom and Dean knew, we’d gone camping for a week and wouldn’t be back until next Saturday night. Nobody had a reason to stop by, and Hanna had mentioned having her mail held at the post office so her mom wouldn’t have to bother with it. Josh Stevens had me all to himself.

  “Remember how I nearly killed you back then? You were seconds from death, but that son of a bitch partner of yours got to us just in the nick of time. I hear he was shot and killed a few years back. Such a pity. It couldn’t have happened to a more deserving person.”

  “Shut up! Jim was a great partner and saved my life more than once.”

  “Yeah, that’s the problem. You’re hard to kill, McCord, but we’ll try again. Practice makes perfect, you know.”

  “How did you find me, and how did you know where Hanna lived?”

  Josh grabbed the back of the chair and slid it within a few feet of me, then he took a seat. “There, now we’re face-to-face again after all these years. I can’t even begin to count the times I’ve dreamt of this moment.” He rubbed his hands together. “I’m already getting excited. Aren’t you?”

  I sneered at him. “You don’t scare me.”

  “Ha! You’ll rethink that soon enough.”

  “I asked you a question.”

  “Go ahead and remind me again. It isn’t like I care what you’re saying. It’s all just babble to me.”

  “How did you find me, and how did you know where Hanna lived?”

  “Ah, that’s right. Uncle Harold was my gopher. He followed you and your lady friend to and from work for several days. When the time was right, I took off the ankle bracelet and was ready to go. Remember what I said about being smarter than you? Look
s like I’m smarter than the 2005 technology that’s still being used on those ankle monitors too. Piece of cake getting out of that sucker.”

  From the way his face lit up when he spoke, I could see he enjoyed telling his story.

  “After that, I killed the old man since he’d served his purpose, and then I drove to your house and watched from across the street. My plans were to take you out then, but when I saw the woman show up with her backpack and sleeping bag, well, I knew it would be fun to tag along.”

  “You followed us to the park? It was you who stole our food and Hanna’s sleeping bag?”

  “Another gold star is coming your way, McCord.”

  I thought about what it would be like if Hanna walked in and found me dead in her house. I’d likely be bloating by then, and the smell would be horrendous. I remembered our conversation months back when I’d suggested living together. She said she’d consider it in due time, but she was enjoying her new home and wanted to live there a bit longer. I would ruin those plans, and once she found my decomposing body, she’d never stay in her house again.

  I spat at Josh, but he was out of my reach. “You’re a sick son of a bitch, you know that?”

  He swatted the air as if he couldn’t care less. “Your words are second grade stuff, Detective. I’ve been called much worse. For now, you can just enjoy being bound. You aren’t going anywhere.”

  I considered my situation. My hands and feet were duct-taped to a heavy armchair. Looking left and right, I saw ropes that extended to eye hooks anchored in the ceiling beams. Those ropes were fashioned as slipknots around my neck. If I moved too much, they would squeeze my throat and cut off my airflow.

  “Yep, like I said before, you’re up shit creek, and your proverbial paddle is just out of reach.”

  He cocked his head to the left, and I looked in that direction. A large knife sat on a table ten feet away. He knew I couldn’t get to it, but I would try my best, anyway.

  Josh laughed. “You look like a dog staring down a T-bone steak. Go ahead and give it a try. Woof, woof.”

  Chapter 24

  The commander, sergeant, Frank, Hanna, and a handful of officers sat in the lodge’s meeting room to compare notes. Every vehicle in the park had been accounted for and connected to the owner, according to the sergeant.

  “Except for the black Corolla,” Owens said.

  “That’s right. Let’s follow up on that, and then we can check the vehicle situation off our list.”

  Lutz pressed his temples. “If that car is a dead end, then we’re back to the only other theory that makes sense—Leon had an accomplice.” He scanned the table. “And no BOLO hits anywhere?”

  “Sorry, Commander, but not yet.”

  “Leon Stanley grew up in Decatur, so he hasn’t wandered far from his roots. He must have relatives in the county or state who can give us more information about him and who his friends are. I guess until we learn more, that’s the next thing to check into—anyone in Illinois with Stanley as their last name.”

  Frank offered his two cents. “Why doesn’t the Decatur PD start searching his house? I’m sure there’s a wealth of information inside if they just look for it.”

  Lutz tipped his chin at Hanna. “Can you check the difference between the distance from here to Decatur and the precinct to Decatur?”

  “Sure, I’ll check.” Hanna asked her phone those questions and had the answers within seconds. “Chicago is about fifteen minutes closer than Giant City is—almost a horse apiece.”

  “And we only have one vehicle—mine. Frank, call Henry and tell him and Shawn to head to Decatur. I’ll let Detective Chesson know that they’re coming and will do a thorough search of Leon’s house. I don’t want them to think we’re stepping on toes, but it is our detective who’s missing. Henry and Shawn will know what to look for.”

  Sergeant Ludwig said they would widen the search. They planned to enlist the help of the sheriff’s department and go out farther than the park parameters.

  “They have a chopper that would notice a red SUV from the air much faster than we would from the road.”

  Hanna took her turn. “Jesse’s been missing since yesterday. If Leon had an accomplice and he was already back home, why would anybody think my Explorer is still in the county?”

  Frank nodded. “She does have a point, but it has to be stashed somewhere. Otherwise, the BOLO should have hit on it by now.”

  “Can that vehicle be tracked through the GPS?” Owens asked.

  “Not unless it’s engaged by the driver and synced to their phone, which is missing,” Lutz said.

  The sergeant told Owens to follow up on the Corolla and to let Lutz know as soon as he found out something. In the meantime, they would widen the search for Jesse to include all of Jackson County. It was the best they could do.

  The group parted ways. Lutz, Frank, and Hanna, along with Bandit, went outside.

  “Commander, can I go to our tent? Bandit’s food and bowls are inside. I’ve been giving him bits and pieces of my own meals, but he really needs to eat dog food instead.”

  “Yeah, let’s head over there. I’m sure it’ll be okay.”

  An officer sat at the campsite’s picnic table to keep out anyone who might get too curious. Lutz flashed his badge, told him why they were there, and received the go-ahead.

  “You can take whatever you need, Hanna. If we don’t find anything in the area today or get leads of Jesse’s whereabouts, we’ll likely head out.”

  She jerked her head. “Without him?”

  “There’s no evidence that Jesse is still in the area. We may get more by going to Decatur ourselves and interrogating Leon Stanley and everyone he knows. We have a bigger dog in this fight than the Decatur PD does. Jesse is one of ours, not theirs.” He glanced at the tent and its surroundings. “Other than the bloody branch and bloodstained ground, which has already been tested, there was no forensic evidence here. When we’re ready to go, we’ll load all of your belongings in my trunk and take them along.”

  Lutz heard a voice call out to him and turned in that direction.

  “Up here, Commander. I have something to show you guys. Take the road, not the hill.”

  “What’s up with him?” Frank asked.

  Lutz shrugged and headed for the car. He looked at Hanna. “You have everything you need for Bandit right now?”

  “Yes, thanks.”

  “Okay, let’s go see what Owens wants.”

  The three of them and Bandit climbed into Lutz’s car and turned up the hill at the Y in the road. Owens met them at the campsite where the black Corolla had been parked—and still was.

  “What’s going on, Todd?” Lutz asked.

  Owens scratched his forehead. “This car hasn’t moved an inch from when we were here last, and it doesn’t look like the owner has been back. There’s no signs of a campfire or any of the usual things a person would have at a campsite—just the car. What I did notice while looking around was a path worn in the ground that led to the ridge. I found a log with more worn spots in the dirt in front of it, and a snag from a piece of clothing on some tree bark. The thing is, where that log is perched gives a voyeur a perfect view of Jesse’s campsite.”

  Frank peered in the car windows. “Doesn’t the registration office have a record of when the owner of this car got here and what his name is?”

  “We asked earlier, and the person hasn’t checked in yet. Paying doesn’t have to be done at the counter. The camper has twenty-four hours from when they arrive to register, and they can pay at the registration payment drop box.”

  “Humph, almost like an honor system setup.” Lutz pointed his chin toward the path Owens had mentioned. “Show us what you were talking about.”

  “Sure, right this way.”

  They walked with Owens down the side of the ridge.

  “There’s that piece of cloth, Commander.”

  Lutz moved in closer and gave it a look. “We might need your county forensic team out here.
They can print the car and examine this piece of cloth.”

  “I’ll make the call, but let me show you that log first.”

  They walked another fifty feet down the path until they reached the spot. Owens pointed through the bushes. “There’s Jesse’s campsite right there, and look how flattened the ground and grass is right in front of this log, as if somebody sat here and watched them come and go.”

  “That makes complete sense, guys. Every time we left the site, something went missing.”

  “Okay, Frank, go down the hill over there, cross the road to Jesse’s site, and see if you can see us up here.”

  “Copy that.”

  They watched as Frank sidestepped the loose rocks and dirt a short distance from where they stood. He crossed to Jesse’s campsite and looked up the hill.

  “I can’t see you guys,” he shouted.

  Lutz stood at the ridge and waved. “Okay, now I’m going to sit on that log. Tell me if you can see me there.”

  “Yep, just yell when you’re in place.”

  Lutz cupped his hands around his mouth. “Okay. Can you see me now?”

  “Nope. I can’t see shit.”

  Owens excused himself to make the call to the county forensic lab, and Frank climbed back up the hill.

  Lutz waved him over. “Let’s go up to the car. We’ll see what pops after entering the plate number into the DMV database and pulling the VIN.”

  Owens met them as they came up the trail. “The forensic team will be here in a half an hour.”

  “Great, thanks. Go ahead, Frank. Enter the VIN and plate number into the DMV site on your phone and see what pops.”

  “Yep, trying to get a signal out here, but the tree cover doesn’t help.”

  “Go stand on the ridge. It’s a bit higher.”

  Frank did and gave Lutz a thumbs-up. “Okay, read me the plate number.”

  Lutz did.

  “And now the VIN.” Frank tapped that into the DMV database, too, and waited. “Got it. The car is registered to National Ride Rentals.” He walked to the car. “It’s a rental.”