Frozen Past (16 page)

201106172012 OUTGOING MESSAGE SENT TO 555-432-2020

MESSAGE COMPOSITION AS MMS

BODY OF TEXT:

I KNOW WHERE HIS EARS ARE. YOU’LL HAVE THEM SOON. MY GIFT.

END OF MESSAGE.

“What the hell is this?” Luke asked no one in particular.

“Oh,” John said. “That same kind of thing popped up when he called Ellie’s phone. Her phone number showed up along with all these numbers and then went away when the call ended.”

“He just sent this text message to this phone,” Luke said pointing to the screen. The telephone number bothered him. He knew he’d seen it before and wondered if the killer was playing games with other kids. He looked down at the business card and saw his mistake.

“What the hell?!” he said.

“What’s wrong?” Ellie said.

“He just sent that message to Jaxon’s phone.” He held up the card so they could see.

“What?!” Ellie came up and looked at the card, then the computer screen, then back at the card in disbelief. “Why would he be texting Jaxon?”

“Apparently to send this message,” Jimmy said.

“I wonder what the hell it means,” John said looking over their shoulders. “Whose ears is he talking about?”

“We need to call Jaxon now!” Ellie said.

“Right,” and Luke dialed the number. It went straight to voice mail. “Crap! It went to voice mail! What do I say?”

“Tell him to call us right away,” Ellie said.

Luke did just that. “Now what?”

“We wait and watch, I guess,” John said.

* * *

“Dammit! Turn that thing off, Jaxon!” Victoria chided. “I thought you knew better.”

Jaxon stood there staring at the message. He looked up at Victoria and his face must have betrayed what he felt because she came over to him and said gently, “What? What is it?”

He showed her the message. She looked like she had been slapped.

“Is this from him?” she said.

He nodded. He was afraid to speak. Not because he felt like he couldn’t. He was scared to hear what his own voice would sound like right now.

“They’re about to move in,” Scoggins said. “What’s the deal, here. You two gonna stand there gawking at each other or do your jobs! Let’s go!”

Their earpieces came alive. “Moving in…Now! Now! Now!”

Jaxon finally spoke. “He may know we’re here.”

“Shit!” Victoria said. “Come on!” She turned and ran across the street with Jaxon, Sally, and Scoggins in tow. “And turn that thing off!”

* * *

Luke sat and watched the blip on the screen waiting for Jaxon to call back. It had only been a few minutes but it felt like hours. Jimmy was using the bathroom and John was talking to Ellie while they waited and watched.

Another window popped up on the screen and Luke said, “He’s doing something on the phone again.”

John and Ellie walked up and looked over his shoulder. The window filled with letters and numbers they couldn’t understand.

201106172017 OUTGOING MESSAGE SENT 015552319000

MESSAGE TYPE MMS

BODY OF TEXT: EXECUTE *##*

END OF MESSAGE

“Where did that one go to?” John asked

“I have no idea,” Luke said. “I wonder what ‘EXECUTE’ means?”

“Maybe he’s getting ready to kill his next victim,” Ellie said.

“But he hasn’t moved,” Luke said.

“I don’t get it,” Ellie said.

Neither did Luke. “Come on Jaxon! Where the hell are you?!”

* * *

The swat team had just entered the structure as Jaxon was crossing the street at a run. He trailed behind Victoria, Sally, and Scoggins, in that order. Victoria was just about to the front door when the house self destructed and a giant fireball filled Jaxon’s world as he was tossed backwards into the street. The concussion knocked the wind out of him, his ears ringing from the blast.

Jaxon lay on his back, dazed. Things swam in his peripheral vision, but the world around him remained eerily silent. The stars above winked down at him as an orange glow began to wash them out. Suddenly a face was above him, the lips moved, but no sound escaped them. Another face appeared next to the first and Jaxon recognized the two detectives from the van. One was gesturing frantically at something beyond Jaxon’s vision while the first continued to shout something at Jaxon he could not hear.

A low roaring began to rise in his ears and faint voices bled through the noise. Jaxon tried to sit up, but pain in his back forced him back down again. He realized he hadn’t taken a breath in a long while and opened his mouth, breathing in. He choked on something and spasms racked his body as he coughed uncontrollably. He rolled over on his side, gasping for air and saw the destruction laid out before him.

 The shack was nothing but a burning pile of rubble on the ground. Fire shot up in a plume thirty or forty feet in the air and Jaxon’s mind was having a hard time wrapping itself around what it was seeing. Maybe a ruptured gas line? One of the detectives from the van shouted in his face and Jaxon barely made out “…alright?!”

Jaxon nodded and tried to sit up again taking it slow. Pain shot up his back but it was bearable. Something was laying across Jaxon’s legs and when he realized it was a severed arm clad in black with the words ‘SWAT’ stenciled on it, he kicked at it frantically, ignoring the pain that shot in spasms up his back. He saw blood dripping on his shirt and realized it was coming from somewhere on his head. Reaching up, he felt warm liquid ebbing from his nose, though he could not feel his fingers touching it. His face felt numb. He went to a kneeling position and tried to stand.

“Don’t think you should try that, Detective,” a voice said, faintly, through the roaring that continued in his ears.

He tried his voice. “Victoria?”

“What?” the detective yelled, but to Jaxon it sounded like he was whispering through cotton.

“Where’s Victoria?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t found her yet. It’s chaos. Are you ok?”

He nodded and stepped toward the burning wreckage. He had to find Victoria. The detective grabbed his arm, trying to hold him back. “No Sir! It’s too dangerous!” Jaxon shook him off and stumbled through the debris toward the fire.

“Vick!” he shouted, but his voice sounded so far away. “Victoria!” He tripped over something and saw a leg protruding from under a piece of siding. Ignoring the searing pain in his back, he bent and flung the siding off to find Sally staring face up at him, her eyes open and vacant. Her face was calm and unharmed. No dirt, or soot, or even a scratch could be found, but the lower half of her body was a mangled mess. Jaxon knelt and retched to the side. She was gone.

“Oh shit! Sally! Dammit!”

Scoggins was just to the left of where he and Sally were, or at least what Jaxon thought was Scoggins. He looked back down on Sally’s face and a feeling of emptiness swept through him. He could not believe how wrong this had all gone. This son-of-a-bitch had set them up and led them right into the lion’s den and now Sally lay dead in front of him, the SWAT Team more than likely suffering the same fate, and Scoggins in pieces scattered across the yard. He had to find Victoria, though he was terrified at what he might discover.

One of the detectives came up next to him. “Oh Damn!,” he said. “I’m sorry Detective. Shit!” He then saw Scoggins and took a step toward him, but stopped. He turned and vomited all over his shoes.

Jaxon stood, pain shooting down his legs now, and scanned the area. A small swatch of white caught his eye in all the destruction and he shambled toward it. Victoria had been wearing a white blouse that evening but had covered it with the blue FBI jacket. He hoped he was not seeing part of her in the wreckage. Stepping over a piece of burning door, he saw an arm and hand sticking out from underneath it. He lifted the door and pushed it over out of the way exposing Victoria laying face down in the weeds. She was bleeding from her head and her FBI jacket was torn half off. He knelt and placed a shaking hand on her back. She was breathing.

“Hey! You! Detective! Help me. She’s alive!” His voice still sounded far away, but he could see the detective react to his voice and step quickly through the debris toward him.

“The ambulances should be here soon,” he shouted. “We called them as soon as the blast went off.”

“Help me carry her away from here,” Jaxon said.

They picked her up carefully and lay her by the street. Her hair was matted with blood and she had small spots of it soaking through her clothing scattered all along her back, but Jaxon could see no other injuries. He was relieved. She had been the one closest to the front door, yet had survived while Sally and Scoggins had not.

She came to and rolled onto her back, moaning. Jaxon knelt down next to her and smiled at her when she looked at him. “Hey there,” he said.

“Are we dead?” she asked, and though Jaxon’s hearing was starting to come back, he still could not hear what she said, but could read her lips.

“I was worried there for a minute you were,” he said.

“You were worried?”

He nodded.

“About me?”

“Scared shitless,” he said and she finally smiled, but then winced in pain.

“What the hell happened?”

Jaxon looked up at the destruction and shook his head. “He must have rigged it to blow. He must have some surveillance cams around here somewhere. He knew exactly when we were going in.”

“Sally?”

Jaxon shook his head and looked away. “Scoggins too. I don’t know about the SWAT team. I haven’t seen anybody else come out of there but me and you.”

“Aw shit, Jaxon.” She looked angry, even with all the blood streaked on her face.

He saw flashing red lights and watched as the ambulance pulled up followed by a fire truck and two squad cars.

“You look like shit,” she said.

“Thanks. So do you.” But he smiled at her and reached for her hand. She clasped it in hers and held it tight to her chest.

“Stay here with me?” she asked.

“Sure.”

Chapter 30

“He’s moving,” John said suddenly, startling the others out of their own thoughts. It had been an hour since Luke first called Jaxon and he had tried every fifteen minutes since, but Jaxon had not called them back. Luke was starting to get worried and Ellie kept looking at him with her sad eyes, as if asking him to come up with something. He was just about to try Jaxon again when John spoke up.

Luke went to the computer and watched the blip slowly move across the map. He was heading past the tennis courts in the direction of the pool complex.

“Do you think he’s on his way to do it?” Ellie asked.

“I have no idea,” Luke said, but was worried she was right.

“We need to call somebody,” Ellie said.

“Nobody will believe us,” Jimmy said. “We’re just a bunch of punks to them.”

“It’s their job,” Ellie said. “They’re supposed to believe us.”

“Come on, El,” Jimmy said. “If somebody called you with this crazy story, would you believe them?”

“Jaxon’s the only one who knows what’s going on,” Luke said. “Jimmy’s right. Nobody will take us seriously.”

“We have to do something!” she said. “We can’t just sit here and watch.”

“I know,” Luke said, frustrated, “but what can we do?”

“Call 911," Ellie said.

“What do I tell them?” Luke said.

“I don’t know,” she sounded frustrated. “Tell them we think somebody is going to be killed.”

Luke shrugged and dialed 911.

“911. What is the nature of your emergency,” the operator said.

“Uh…yes. I’d like to report a killing,” Luke said.

“You want to report a murder?”

“Well…not yet. I mean it hasn’t happened yet. But we think it’s going to.”

“What is your name and how old are you?”

“My name is Lucas Harrison and what does it matter how old I am?”

“How do you know there’s going to be a murder, sir?”

“We don’t know for sure. He told us he was going to kill someone tonight.”

“Who told you?”

“The killer. He calls himself William Smith, but I don’t think it’s his real name. We’re wasting time. He’s moving now!”

“I’m not following you sir. Where is this so called William Smith moving to?” Luke could tell the operator wasn’t believing anything he was telling her.

“We’re not sure, but we can track him.”

“Uh huh,” she said. “How are you tracking him?”

“By his cell phone.”

“Right. You know it’s a felony to prank call 911 don’t you?”

“This isn’t a prank! He said he was going to kill someone tonight. One of our friends.”

“Who?”

“He wouldn’t tell us that.”

“Tell her he’s the swimming pool killer,” Ellie said.

“He’s the one who’s been killing the kids and putting them in the pool at The Woods,” Luke said.

Silence on the other end for a second.

“Detective Jennings told us to call if we had any information, but he won’t answer his phone,” Luke said.

“Alright,” the operator said. “Jaxon is out of town, but I’ll have the officer in charge look at it. Where is this going to happen?”

“He’s currently…” Luke looked at the monitor. “He’s moving through the neighborhood of The Woods toward the pool area. Aren’t you supposed to have some officers in this area?”

“How do you know that?”

“Jaxon and Winston promised my girlfriend’s mother there would be.”

“We’ll send someone to check it out.”

“Thank you,” and Luke hung up. “They’re going to send someone to check it out.”

They all looked relieved. Ellie sat on the edge of the bed and sighed.

“They’re not going to know where he is,” John said, looking at the computer screen.

Luke walked over and looked. “Where is he?”

“It looks like he’s in this house,” John pointed, “but I can’t tell.”

They were all standing around the computer now.

“Should we call the police back?” Ellie asked.

“No,” Jimmy said. “I think we should follow him and see where he goes.”

“We’re the only ones who can see what he’s doing,” Luke said.

“This is stupid,” John said. “We should call them back.”

“We don’t have anything to tell them. We could follow him and see where he is and then you could call the police and let them know.” Luke pointed at John. “You’ll stay here, like before and stay in touch with us over the phones. Me and Jimmy will find out where he is.”

“I’m going too,” Ellie said. “I’m not sitting here, waiting for all of you.”

“No,” Luke said. “It’s too dangerous. He talks to you the most. If he gets the chance, he might hurt you.”

“I’m going and you can’t stop me.”

She was right. What was he going to do? Tie her up or knock her out? Luke could think of nothing that would change her mind so he just went along with her. “Alright,” he said, “but you’re with me.”

“What if he does something?” John asked. “What are you guys gonna do?”

“I don’t know,” Luke said, slowly. “I guess we’ll think of something.”

They all looked at each other, and Luke could see the fear in their eyes. He wondered if they saw it in his.

“Let’s move,” Luke said and stood.

The three of them made their way down stairs and were opening the door when Luke’s mother called to them from the kitchen.

“Who’s going out this late?”

“It’s me Mom.”

She peaked around the corner and then stepped into the foyer. “Why? It’s kind of late to be playing outside.”

Luke glanced at Jimmy who was staring off into the distance shifting from one foot to the other. “We’re going over to Jimmy’s for a minute to grab something,” Luke said quickly. “John’s still upstairs on my computer. He’s gonna wait for us.”

He must have sounded funny because she stepped toward him with that look only she could produce. The look that said,
You’re trying to pull the wool over my eyes and I’m not buying it
.

“What’s at Jimmy’s?” she said.

“It’s a…” Luke stammered.

“…game.” Jimmy finished for him.

Luke looked at Jimmy and nodded. “Yeah—it’s a game. We’re bored and Jimmy’s got this new game we were going to try.” Luke smiled, trying to look sincere. Ellie shifted closer to him. He could feel the tension in her body. It was like an electrical field around her and it made him feel jumpy. His mom glanced at Ellie and wrinkled her brow.

“Eliana, are you alright?” she asked.

Ellie’s head snapped up and she nodded quickly. “Yes—uh—yes ma’am.”

Luke’s mom stepped to Ellie, reached her hand up and felt her face. “You look feverish,” his mom said. “Are you sure you’re feeling ok? These boys aren’t getting you into any trouble are they?” and she glared at Luke.

“No, Mrs. Harrison—no. I’m fine, just a little hot.”

Luke’s mom let her hand fall to her side and she glanced at Ellie again, quickly, seeming to come to some conclusion in her mind that everything was ok. Her face relaxed a bit and she seemed to lose interest in the three. She turned back to the kitchen and said, “You three stick together. Don’t make me come look for you.” And she disappeared through the doorway.

Luke let out a big breath, not realizing he had been holding it. Ellie grabbed his hand and they went outside.

“That doesn’t give us much time,” Jimmy said. “Your mom will be looking for us soon.”

“I don’t think so,” Luke said. “She’s probably already forgotten about it.”

“I hope so,” Jimmy said.

John broke in on the earpiece, “What are you guys doing?”

“We’re outside,” Luke said. “What is he up to?”

“He’s stopped at that house on the other side of the pool. I can’t tell if he went into it or not. He’s just sitting there.”

“We’re gonna take a look,” Luke said. “Let us know if he moves.”

“Got it.”

The three made their way down through Luke’s backyard and out the hole in the fence. They stayed to the left of the tennis courts and followed a path past the pool and then stopped, staying hidden from the street the front of the pool house faced.

“Jimmy,” Luke whispered, “see if you can cross the street and hide in those bushes.” Luke pointed to a house across the street from them with a large hedge that ran perpendicular to the street, separating its yard from the one next to it.

Jimmy nodded and ran at a crouch to the bushes Luke had indicated.

“John, can you still here me?” Luke said.

“Yeah,” John said. “He hasn’t moved. Where are you guys?”

“We’re right next to the pool along the side fence. Jimmy is across the street from me in the bushes.”

“You guys are really close to him then. I wouldn’t move any more. He’s right across the street and up a little bit. Can you see the house that’s right across from the pool house?”

“Yep,” Luke said.

“I think he’s hanging out at the house right next to that one.”

Luke stood slowly and stretched his neck up looking for the killer. “I don’t see anything. The street and yard are deserted.” He crouched back down. “Jimmy, can you see anything?”

“Nothing,” Jimmy said. “It’s quiet.”

“Alright,” Luke said, “we’ll wait a little bit and see what he does.”

“What’s that red light on top of that house?” Ellie asked.

Luke peered through the dark, straining his eyes and could just make out what looked like a camera mounted to the roof of the house directly across from the pool. “Looks like a security cam. I wonder if it’s one of those dummy ones or it’s real?”

“A dummy one?” she said.

“Yeah—they make fake ones with lights on them to keep people out of the yard. It doesn’t really work, just lights up.”

“I bet it’s real,” she said. “Mr. Lolly has problems with people messing with his lights at Christmas. I wonder if William Smith knows it’s there?”

Luke shrugged. If they got him on tape, then that would be a good thing. Out of the corner of his eye Luke caught movement. Two kids were walking down the street toward them. Luke didn’t recognize them. “Do you know who that is?” he whispered to Ellie.

Ellie raised up a bit and then knelt back down. “I think it’s Jenny Hipps and Ames Bledsoe. They’ve been together for a while.”

“I wonder what they’re doing over here,” Luke said. “Don’t they live in Hollowbrook?”

“He does. I don’t know where Jenny lives.”

“Should we warn them?”

Jimmy could hear the conversation over the phone and he said, “No. We don’t want to alert him we’re here unless he does something. Let’s see what happens.”

“Where are the police?” Ellie asked frustrated.

Luke shrugged his shoulders.

The couple passed in front of them talking softly and holding hands. Luke could see Jenny’s face now and recognized the slump of Ames’ shoulders. They called him Quasimodo because he had such a bad hunchback. The other kids called them the grenade-face ugly couple.

Luke watched them pass by and continue on up the street where they eventually faded from view. William Smith had not moved.

“What’s happening?” John said through the earphone.

“Nothing,” Luke said. “The grenade-face ugly couple walked by and he didn’t do anything.” He could hear John chuckling. “They’re gone now.”

Ellie tugged at his shirt and pointed up the street. A kid about their age was slowly making his way down the street on his bike. He was weaving back and forth across the width of the street making long arcing turns from one side of the street to the other. As he got closer he could hear the kid humming to himself.

“Hold up, John,” Luke said. “Somebody else is coming.”

The kid passed in front of them, oblivious to anything around him. Luke thought it strange that someone his age would be out on the street all by himself this late, especially with all that had been happening lately. The biker weaved his way past the pool house and then suddenly stopped. He turned toward the house John had been talking about, the one next to the Lolly’s, and Ellie took a quick breath in, digging her fingers into his arm as she tensed.

“Oh no,” she whispered.

Movement caught Luke’s eye and he looked at Jimmy who was frantically waving his arms. Luke moved his hand up and down, trying to tell Jimmy to stay put. Jimmy reluctantly squatted back down but peered out around the hedge and watched.

The biker kid was just standing there straddling his bike. His head kept looking left and right, and his feet shifted uncertainly. He laid the bike down, moving slowly toward the house, bent over as if straining to see or hear something. He stopped again halfway through the yard and stood up straight.