Bug Out! Part 12: RV Alliance (8 page)

Malcolm turned on the flashlight on his phone and shined it into the freezer. “Holy shit.”

“Who?” Ted asked.

“I don’t recognize the other guy who’s cut up, but the one on the bottom is Howard.”

“Well, that explains some things,” Ted said.

Agent Williams took a closer look. “Son of a bitch, didn’t recognize him right away. He was on those YouTube videos, at the scene of the foiled abduction.”

“Yep, that’s half of the Nighthawk Road clan,” Malcolm said. “The other one is heading west on Route 36 in northern Missouri.”

Agent Williams pulled his phone out of his pocket. “I’ll call that in.”

“Sheriff Branson is already there watching, so I’d tie in with him,” Malcolm said.

“Branson? He’s the other guy Agent Keith said was after him,” Agent Williams said.

“You know that’s bullshit, I hope,” Malcolm said. “Agent Keith was dirty. He wanted to set a trap for George Franklin and me.”

“Dammit,” Agent Williams said. “All right, we’ll get this sorted out. You guys will have to go in, though.” He punched a contact on his phone.

“Mind if we look around now?” Ted asked.

“Go ahead,” Agent Williams said. Then he walked away, talking on the phone. Agent Weiss walked back over.

“You all right, son?” Malcolm asked.

“Yeah,” he said sheepishly. “Sorry, wasn’t expecting to see that.”

“This your first crime scene investigation?” Ted asked.

“The first one like this,” he said.

“You’ll get used to it,” Agent Simone said.

Ted and Malcolm started inspecting the room. Malcolm stopped when he got to the corner and squatted, looking at the floor.

“What do you see?” Ted asked.

“See those round spots with no dust? There was something here until recently. Probably got moved in the last few weeks.”

“Looks like the size of film cans,” Ted said. “Did you see that projector out in the studio?”

“Yeah,” Malcolm said. “Scott’s into all of this history. I’ll bet there’s films of the torso murders in those cans.”

“He obviously took them with him,” Ted said. Malcolm focused on the floor leading away from the corner.

“Look, dolly wheel tracks. He wheeled them right out. That’s what those lines of blood were from out in the studio.”

“Wonder where they are?” Ted asked.

“Well, they might be in Scott’s rig, but he’s in a pretty small Class C now, from what the reports say.”

“Shit, I’ll bet he stashed them at the storage yard,” Ted said.

“You’re probably right,” Malcolm said, grinning. “You know what might be on some of that film, don’t you?”

“What?” Ted asked.

“Black Dahlia,” Malcolm said.

“What are you talking about?” Agent Simone asked, walking over when he heard that.

“Did you guys check to see if Scott had a storage locker at that yard?” Ted asked.

“I don’t know,” Agent Simone said. “Hey, Agent Williams.”

“What?” he asked, taking the phone away from his ear.

“Did the cop killer have a storage locker at that yard where we found the station wagon?”

“Don’t know,” he said. “Let me finish this call, then we’ll talk.” He went back to talking on his phone.

“Could be something on the gravel pit murder too,” Ted said. “If he brought his camera gear with him to California.”

“What the hell are you guys talking about?” Agent Simone said.

“Yeah, what
are
you talking about?” Agent Williams asked, walking over as he stuck his phone in his pocket.

“See there?” Malcolm said, pointing to the corner. “Film cans. They were removed recently. Look at the dust. They were wheeled out on a dolly. Look at those bloody tracks.”

“There’s a projector in that front room,” Agent Weiss said. “Old one. Collector’s item for sure.”

“You’re thinking there’s some old crimes on those movies?” Agent Williams asked.

“Yeah,” Malcolm said. “You guys check to see if Scott had a storage unit at that yard?”

“We don’t even know for sure if it was Scott,” Agent Williams said.

“C’mon,” Ted said. “Who else could it be?”

“I can’t believe you’d hesitate,” Malcolm said.

“All right, we’ll check on it,” he said. “Meanwhile, I got to take you two in for questioning. My SAC insisted.”

“SAC?” Malcolm asked.

“Special Agent in Charge,” Ted said. He sighed. “For how long? We talking a couple of hours?”

“Don’t know,” he said. “Oh, and give me your cell phones.”

“Why?” Ted asked.

“We don’t have to tell you anything,” Agent Williams said. “It’ll be better if you cooperate. Please?”

Ted sighed and handed his phone over. Malcolm did the same. “We following you over there?”

“No, you’re being taken in my car,” Agent Williams said.

“This seems kinda like an arrest to me,” Malcolm said. “We get a phone call?”

“Not yet,” he said.

Ted started to get his dander up, and Malcolm saw it. He shook his head no.

“What about my Jeep?” Malcolm asked. “I don’t want to leave it on the street around here.”

“Agent Weiss will follow us in your vehicle. Don’t worry, we have an office close by.”

***

Gabe and Dobie sat in the car, watching the house. It had been almost half an hour since the FBI stormed the house. There were agents sitting on the front porch, and people walking around inside the house.

“Think we should go in there?” Gabe asked.

“No,” Dobie said. “Let’s just wait. I haven’t heard any guns go off or anything.”

“Look, movement,” Gabe said. A large agent walked out the front door with Malcolm and Ted. They came down the walkway to the curb, where a black SUV was parked. Malcolm looked right at them and shook his head no.

“He doesn’t want us to follow him,” Dobie said.

“Crap,” Gabe said as he watched them get shoved into the SUV. It drove off.

“What now?” Dobie asked.

“Let’s go back to the RV Park,” Gabe said. “I’ll call George on the way.”

“Good idea,” Dobie said. He started the car and headed for the freeway as Gabe took his phone out of his pocket.

“George?” Gabe asked.

“Yeah, Gabe,” he said. “Anything wrong?”

“Malcolm and Ted were inside the house,” Gabe said, trying to stay calm. “The place got raided by FBI agents. We just watched them being taken away in one of those black SUVs.”

“Son of a bitch,” George said. “I was afraid of that. They didn’t call you?”

“No, but Malcolm made sure he made eye contact with us and shook his head no,” Gabe said.

“He doesn’t want you to follow him,” George said. “What are you gonna do?”

“We’re going back to the KOA we spent the night at. The fifth wheel is still there.”

“Okay, I’ll call Sam Hinton and see if he can help. Did it look like they were arrested?”

“They didn’t have their hands tied,” Gabe said. “Nobody had a gun on them.”

“Good, then they’re probably just being brought in for questioning,” George said. “Sit tight when you get to the park. I’ll call you.”

“Okay, thanks,” Gabe said. He put his phone away. “You got the gist. He’s going to call his buddy Sam Hinton. He said to sit tight at the RV Park until he calls us.”

“All right,” Dobie said. “I don’t like this.”

“Me neither.”

***

“We probably should find a place to stop,” Scott said. “We shouldn’t be on the road during the day, at least until we’re further away.”

“I’m getting tired anyway,” Cindy said. “I’ll look for a place.”

“Good. Let’s go to a real RV Park instead of boondocking this time.”

“You don’t think we’ll get recognized?” she asked.

“Nah, we’ll probably be okay,” he said. “There still isn’t a good picture of me out there.”

“If there were news stories, maybe there’s pictures of me. Wouldn’t they have found pictures of you?”

“Nah,” he said. “The conventional wisdom is that I’m dead.”

“You said you’d tell me who you are,” Cindy said as she studied his face. “How about now?”

“I guess I can trust you enough,” Scott said. “You
did
help me clean up the mess at the boondocking spot. Sure you really want to know?”

“Yeah,” she said.

“Ever hear of the Nighthawk Road Killer?”

Her eyes got big. “I had a feeling it was something like that, when you mentioned Malcolm Davis. You sure you aren’t going to kill me?”

“Trust me,” Scott said.

“Heard that before,” she said.

“Really?” Scott said, laughing. “Name a woman who hasn’t heard that before. Anyway, it was a family thing. My dad started the killings, but I took over.”

“How many have you killed?” she asked.

“Lots,” he said.

“Who?”

“My most recent victim was the coed who got shot on the jogging path,” he said.

“But you just killed several other people at the boondocking place, and the people back in my town.”

“Those weren’t victims of the
Nighthawk Road Killer.
Those people were all victims of circumstance. I didn’t even mark any of those bodies.” He paused for a moment. “Maybe I can’t really count the coed, either. I didn’t have time to mark her. I just blasted her so she couldn’t identify me.”

“How do you mark?” Cindy asked, getting fascinated now.

“It’ll be easier to show you than to describe it,” he said. “Next time we snatch somebody, I’ll let you watch.”

She got a sick look on her face. “You think I’m going to help you with this?”

“Yeah, if you want to stay alive,” Scott said, a wicked grin on his face. “You’ll like it. I can tell. You’re a lot like Bailey. I wasn’t sure until you blew away that woman in the Class B. You didn’t have to do that. I saw the look on your face when you did it.”

“What look?” she asked.

“Glee,” he said, the grin back on his face. “You’re getting excited talking about this. I can see you squirming in your seat.”

She looked at him, her face flushing. Then she looked away.

“C’mon, admit it,” he said.

She was silent for a moment, then looked back over at him, her eyes dilated. “Yes,” she whispered.

“Good, glad we settled that,” he said. “No more secrets. I’ll tell you anything you want to know.”

“Why do people think you’re dead?” she asked.

“My house was in northern New Jersey,” he said.

“Where the nuke went off?” she asked.

“Yep,” he said.

“But you weren’t there.”

“No, my wife and kids were, but I was in my second residence in Columbus, Ohio at the time. There was no record of me being there. I drove, luckily for me.”

“You don’t look too upset about your family,” she said.

“They were a front,” he said. “Things got too hot at my home base in Kansas, so I had a very public courtship and marriage, then moved to Jersey and got a job in New York City. Made a bunch of money as a stock trader.”

“Who was the other guy you mentioned?”

“Howard,” Scott said. “He was a friend of my dad and me. I recruited him to re-join the game. He was killed by a corrupt FBI agent in the basement of my place in Columbus.”

“You were running from there when you showed up in my town?” Cindy asked.

“Yeah,” Scott said. “I had a unit at that storage place. I saw your motor home for sale, and called you. That pretty much brings us up to date.”

They rode along silently for about ten minutes, Cindy looking more and more agitated.

“You okay?” Scott asked, watching her face.
Am I going to have to kill her after all?

She looked back at him, drawing a deep breath. “What do you do with your victims? The real ones, that is?”

“Use them for at least a few hours, and then strangle them and dump them with the markings,” Scott said. “When I’m at one of my home bases, I can keep them for days.”

Cindy shuddered, looking at him, eyes glassy. “I need to find a place for us to stop,” she said. “Now.”

“Why the rush?” Scott asked.

“Why do you think?” she said, a wicked grin washing over her face. She looked at her phone for a few moments, and laughed. “Oh, we got to stop at this place.”

“You found something?”

“Yeah, Uncle Jasper’s RV Park and Resort,” she said.

“You’re joking,” he said.

“Nope, and it’s coming up soon, too. I’ll call for a reservation.”

***

Frank and Jane watched out the front window of their rig, still enjoying the road trip. They were behind Jerry and Jasmine, making good time.

“I’m glad we’re able to take I-70 now,” Jane said. “Much better road.”

“Yeah, it is,” Frank said, watching the road as he drove. “How long should we go today?”

“I think we should be able to get to Grand Junction,” Jane said. “I’ll text Jasmine and see what she’s thinking.”

“Good,” Frank said. “I think it’s a martini night.”

“Well, it appears we won’t have to battle our way through this time,” Jane said, looking at her phone. “Good, Jasmine and Jerry think that Grand Junction would be fine.”

“Too bad we can’t swing by Gabe’s place,” Frank said.

“We couldn’t get there from I-70 anyway,” Jane said. “We blew up the bridge, remember?”

“Oh, yeah,” Frank said, chuckling. “They’ll have to replace that eventually. Any good parks by Grand Junction?”

Jane didn’t answer. She was looking at her phone, ignoring him. Then Jerry and Jasmine’s rig started to slow down.

“Uh oh, what’s happening,” Frank asked. “Trouble with their rig?”

“Road block,” Jane said, looking over, nervous.

“Shit,” Frank said, his heart beating faster. “Wish we could see around him.”

“They’re making everybody stop,” Jane said, still looking at her phone.

“Well, Jerry’s stopping,” Frank said.

“Maybe it’s okay,” Jane said, looking a little relieved. “They’re pulling people over to give them small pox vaccinations.”

“Oh,” Frank said. Then he saw two soldiers walking up, rifles in hand.

“What kind of uniforms are those?” Jane asked.

“Son of a bitch,” Frank said. “That’s the UN.”

“You think they’re just helping with the vaccinations?”

“I hope so, but I don’t like them waving their guns around,” Frank said. “I’m calling General Hogan.”