“So what else can you tell me about the bones?” Dan asked.
“The bones were disturbed, so it’s hard to tell the exact position of the body. I think the hands were tied behind the back,” she said and then hesitated a moment. “Mind you, I’m not positive.”
“You think the same person did this?” Dan asked.
“Not exactly,” she said. But then quickly added, “There are similarities. Maybe it’s just getting the bodies so close together.” She shook her head. “Both victims were found in the same proximity of each other. Both were tied from behind possibly and the same age group. A knife was involved in both killings. You don’t run across something like that very often.”
“You’re talking serial killer, who has been at it,” Dan studied Nancy a moment before continuing, “Twenty years or so?”
“It’s only a theory,” she added.
“What about the rope?”
“There was no trace. You realize it’s hard to determine something after a person has been buried for so long, with basically no protection from the elements.”
Dan looked at his steak a moment then leaned forward. “Jason? I can hardly believe it.”
“You knew him?” Nancy asked.
“It’s a small town. We graduated together. I went into the service, but my mother would send me clippings,” he added and then paused for a moment. “I just figured he ran off to Little Rock like he always talked about. He was supposed to go away to college but his parents didn’t have the money. The way I heard, they worked out some deal with the Senator to pay for his schooling.”
“A lot of people probably figured that. But the fact remains, he never made it out of town.”
Dan sat there, too stunned to eat. It bothered him that at every turn the Senator’s name was coming up, and if not his, then his son’s name. He was sure that somehow they were involved. In all his years as an officer of the Law he never knew a killer personally, so it was hard for him to comprehend that these two men whom he knew could be cold-blooded killers. That thought bothered him.
CHAPTER 13
Dan walked into the darkened house. He was careful not to make any noise, not wanting to wake Kelly. He really did not want to talk to his daughter about the date he had just been on. Somehow he just was not ready for that yet.
Dan quickly entered his bedroom and shut the door before turning on the light. Slowly he took off his shirt. He studied his reflection in the mirror. Dan sucked in his stomach. For a middle-aged man he did not look too bad. Dan walked over to the dresser and opened the top drawer. He rummaged through the socks until he pulled out the pocketknife from years earlier. Dan opened it and stared at the broken blade.
Why he kept it all these years, he did not know. It could have been to remember how vulnerable he had felt that night on the dark lonely stretch of road and the fear of the unknown. He had never again felt the kind of fear that was so intense that night.
* * *
The sun shone brightly, the temperature was in the high eighties already. Mac was at his desk operating the radio as he always was in the morning when Dan walked into work. Dan was curious if Mac ever went home at night. He was always the first one in in the morning and the last one to leave at night. If anyone did not have a life, it was Mac.
Dan walked over to his desk and read the log sheet from last nights shift. Once done, he stretched while yawning, as he was still tired from a sleepless night of tossing and turning. He slowly glanced over at Mac.
“Anything I should know about before I make my run?”
“Had some excitement.”
“What, pray tell?” Dan asked. Not really wanting to know because it was sounding like one of Mac’s embellished stories.
“Maria Maxwell stopped by. She had a flat and needed help.”
Dan appeared puzzled when he heard this because he didn’t figure Maria for being an early riser.
“She’d be enough to excite you. Did you call the garage for her?” Dan asked.
“No! I changed it myself,” Mac snapped. It bothered him that Dan didn’t think him capable of doing it himself.
Dan has a concerned look on his face. “Who watched Junior?”
“I was only gone a half-hour.”
“Have you checked on him recently?” Dan asked. Suddenly he had a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach.
“What for? He was okay when I got in this morning,” Mac said, not understanding Dan’s concern.
“Because he’s in protective custody. That’s what for!” Dan said irritably.
Mac jumped to his feet as Dan rushed over for the key for the cellblock.
Dan and Mac hurried into the cellblock and once inside they stood there in silent horror as Junior dangled from the shredded sheet attached to the ceiling light fixture. Dan just shook his head as he grabbed hold of the cell bars and screamed.
“Oh my God,” Mac said, looking up at Junior.
Dan quickly turned to Mac and yelled. “Get me a knife.”
* * *
Dan gently set Junior on the bunk and then turned to Mac.
“You had better get Ms. Davie over here,” he said, shaking his head in disbelief.
Mac appeared defeated and filled with guilt. “Sheriff, I couldn’t have been gone more than twenty minutes,” he said.
“Did you see anybody on the street?”
“I don’t know.”
Dan turned to Mac and snapped. “Think!”
“There was so much going on. When I got back in, there was an accident on Old Mill Road. Conroy was on the other side of the county line. Billy Bob finally took the call. I never thought to check on Junior.”
Mac hung his head and dejectedly walked to the cellblock door. “Maybe I’m too old for this job. Maybe you should…” he said, but then stopped.
Dan looked up at Mac. “No more maybes. Just don’t let it happen again.”
Mac shook his head while looking at the sheet tied to the light fixture. He slowly turned and walked out.
“I better go tell Junior’s father what happened,” Dan said and then turned to the cellblock door as it closed and yelled to Mac. “Don’t mention this on the radio. I don’t want half the county knowing before I get there. And from now on, scramble the calls.”
Mac looked through the door and nodded as he wiped his eyes.
* * *
Dan stood on the Senator’s porch. He rang the doorbell again and lost his patience in that moment. John Youngblood had not taken the news of his son’s death very well. Although John assumed it was suicide, Dan did not volunteer his theory on Junior’s untimely demise. Dan pressed the doorbell again.
The door finally opened. Maria nervously tried to hide the bruise on her cheek, but it was useless. There was not enough makeup in the world to cover a bruise that size.
“Is the Senator in?” Dan asked.
“You just missed him,” Maria said. Gone were her usual flirtatious mannerisms.
“Damn,” Dan said staring at the bruise. “You wouldn’t happen to know if the Senator was in town this morning?”
Maria avoided looking at Dan and finally asked. “Why? What is this about?”
“A simple yes or no will suffice,” Dan snapped. He had lost all patience at that point.
Maria fidgeted a moment and then finally responded. “No.”
But in the way she said it Dan doubted she was being truthful. He also wondered how soon after Maria’s stint in town that the Senator took out his vengeance on her.
“He’ll be back before dark. Should I have him call you?” she quickly added.
Dan nodded. Maria slowly turned and walked back into the house.
“Maria, how did you get the bruise on your face?” Dan asked.
Maria turned to Dan and shrugged while trying to smile. “I guess the Senator isn’t so dumb after all.”
“Do you want to press charges? There are laws against spousal abuse.”