“After you sir?” invited the policeman with a wave of his hand towards his cruiser. They both trod carefully back through the slush towards the flashing red and blue lights and as Mr Mackenzie was in front he couldn’t see that the policeman had placed the man’s driving licence in to the pocket of his uniform. As they neared the police cruiser the officer came up closer to Mackenzie and opened the front passenger door for him, with a wave of his wrist he beckoned the man to enter. As the lawman stepped back to allow Mackenzie to enter he stepped in behind the driver just before he got in the car, he got a firm grip of the man’s head with both hands and gave a sharp twist to the neck. The policeman heard the crack as Mackenzie’s neck snapped, his body going instantly limp. The lawman took the weight of the driver and slipped him on to the front seat of the cruiser, tucked his legs in and closed the door behind him. He unhurriedly walked around to the driver’s side and got in behind the wheel. He looked briefly across at the body next to him; John Mackenzie’s eyes were still wide open and showed a look of complete shock. The officer picked up the transmitter for the CB radio that sat next to the police radio and depressed the talk button. “Ash, you there, come in?” then let go of the button. Eight miles away in the office of the local junkyard Ashley Barrett looked up through the fog of his cigar from the sleaze mag his was reading. Back in the patrol car, the driver waited and after a brief second or two of static, a voice replied through the ether. “Yeah, I’m here, what’s up?”
“I got a car broken down on the 42 about 6 miles from town, need you to come get it right now.”
“Now?! You kidding me right?!”
“Yes now! It’s causing an obstruction on the road so get your greasy butt up here and pick it up then crush it, quickly, d’ya understand?!”
The voice of recognition came back over the airwaves “Oh, I see, I’ll be there as soon as I can.” Barrett clicked off, shook on a big winter jacket and headed out to his wrecker truck. Back in the cruiser the officer looked across at his dead passenger and said “Do you know what John? Can I call you John? Well, that guy Barrett, he’s as useful as a one legged man in an arse kickin’ contest, you know what I mean?!” He chuckled to himself as he got back out of the car and walked back to the station wagon and the girl waiting patiently for her father.
THIRTY-TWO
Josh had been reluctant to leave the pick-up and stay with John’s wife Tabitha but Ed reinforced his promise that he would bring his mom over as soon as possible although it might not be for a few hours yet. Ed made sure Josh was comfortable in John’s house with a hot chocolate drink and Tabitha fussing over the boy. The men then headed straight for the hills as fast as they could.
The pick-up bumped and lurched as it climbed further into the woods and further from the metalled roads, making the going slower. Everyone on board was well aware that they could be caught up at any moment. They wanted to be followed by the killers but not too soon. Ed directed John past where he and Linda had parked before until they came to a clearing large enough to stop some three hundred yards further on. The group jumped out before John drove deeper into the trees, giving some cover from the track. The group took some branches and leaned them against the truck. They stood back and admired their handy work. If someone were to give a casual glance to the left while walking on the track, the truck could not be seen. It was good enough. Ed lead the way back down the rutted track to where he had first entered the woods. Buster was right behind him, acting like a human bulldozer, clearing the way for the other two. They paused near the stream to catch their breath. Ed looked up at Buster in the moonlight and could see the big man was starting to get agitated the nearer he got to his daughter’s body. Ed put his hand on the giant’s arm.
“Buster, you going to be okay?” he asked softly.
“I think so boss, but I be honest with you, I’m right scared. I want to see my baby girl again but… well, I don’t reckon I wanna see her layin’ in all that dirt you know, I don’t think I can do it.”
“That’s not a problem my friend, me and guys will take care of what needs to be done won’t we?” he said glancing at the other two.
“For sure Buster.” Mumbled John.
“No problem.” Came the reply from George.
“But remember we got to wait ‘til they make the first move Buster, we are all the witnesses. Them digging proves it was them.”
“I unnerstan sure enough, I’ll be fine.”
“Alright then” Ed began, but as he turned back towards the stream he stopped. “Wait!” He paused. “D’ya hear that?
The small group listened intently.
George spoke up, “Yep, I heard that, cars, maybe a few of ‘em, getting closer.”
“Sound travels more at night but I don’t think they are that far off,” said Ed, “we got to get moving, let’s go!”
They ignored the stepping stones and splashed across the stream hurrying to the clearing.
Linda heard them long before she saw them. They were making quite a noise as they moved swiftly through the last of the trees. Ed entered the clearing first and purposely guided his group around the edge, away from the burial site in the centre. As the men neared the other side he called out as quietly as possible, “Linda? Linda, where are you?”
“Shush!” came the reply, “over here.” The guys followed the voice and found the others almost exactly where Ed had sketched on the envelope. The two groups reunited with the fanned out defence getting up and coming together. Linda spoke first in an urgent whisper.
“Did you find him, did you get Josh?”
John answered, “Yes ma’am, we sure did, he’s safe and sound back at my place.” Linda threw herself at the group, trying to hug all of them at the same time. “Thank you, thank you so much, all of you. I’ve been so worried, I can’t thank you enough!”
The group reluctantly untangled themselves from her embrace. Ed spoke to the others in Linda’s group.
“Things have changed some, for the worse I’m afraid. There’s more than one of them, in fact, it’s nearer a dozen.”
“Who are they? Do we know them?” asked Linda.
“I recognised one of course, but not the rest”, replied Ed, “but John and George, you knew most of them, right?”
“That we did”, said John sadly, “and it ain’t good. We saw Sam from the Motel, Bill from Grogan’s bar, the head guy from the newspaper, Ash from the junkyard, a couple of farmers and…”
“And who?” she asked.
John just shook his head in disbelief.
“Mayor Willets.” answered George flatly.
The group that had been in the woods stared at each other blankly. Finally one of them said, “You must be mistaken, Willets, the Mayor, no way!”
“It was sure enough,” offered John, “it’s some kinda coven or somethin’, wearin’ hoods ‘n gowns like the goddamn Klu Klux Klan. Willets looked to be in charge.” The group fell into silence as the news sunk in; their town was being run by a secret society with a penchant for torture and murder. The sound of distant motors getting closer brought them back to the present.
“Right!” said Ed, “time to get organized.” He looked towards Linda’s group. “You guys go back to where you were, we’ll take this side. Remember; wait ‘til they start digging before you turn your flashlights on them, and no shooting. I know your feelings about what this bunch of freaks have been doing over the years, but we can’t turn this into a turkey shoot. We get the evidence, catch them if we can, and hand them over to the state police. Got that?”
In the darkness, the silhouettes nodded or murmured agreement. John was the only one that voiced a question “What if they start shootin’ at us? Son’s a bitches gonna have guns for sure and I ain’t just gonna sit on my ass and let ‘em try and take ma head off!”