The Drifter Page 4

  ‘Maybe, you should wait a little longer before you put a shirt on Alan.’

  ‘Room six is available.’

  ‘Do you love me Alan?’

  ‘I loved you since I met you in high school Holy.’

  ‘Great, because I love you too.’

  ‘And what was that with Mitch?’

  ‘The same thing I should have kept things with Butch, curiosity.’

  ‘I can’t think straight after all that happened, but I’m glad it brought us together.’

  At the police station

  ‘Lisa, I have something that might be interesting for your investigation.’

  ‘What is it boss? I’m on a short time span now.’

  ‘You have at least two more days before provincial police takes over Lisa. Maybe I can get a third day out of it.’

  ‘Okay, what do you have for me Chief.’

  (Throws a photo of Mitch on the table.)

  ‘That was taken at the day Rusty was killed. Mitch was around. Wendy Wayne send it to me personally.’

  ‘Okay, but that doesn’t help I’m afraid.’

  ‘Yes it does. First of all, it proofs that Mitch was there at the same time that Rusty has been killed. Second and most important, we did a little research on this guy. Since he’s our prime suspect in a murder, we were in a situation that gained us more access to a classified file. Mitch Crowne’s. You’d be surprised it’s even his real name. But, it’s not bright and beautiful I assure you.’

  ‘Let me guess, Mitch Crowne was a former cop turned bad?’

  ‘No Neagley, not by far. Mitch Crowne disappeared three years ago. The last time he was seen, was the moment he left a Swedish penitentiary. Mitch Crowne has been accused of a few still classified incidents. He got out after five years, serving half of his sentence for reasons unknown. But, during his detention, he was quite a rough one. Its proven that he put at three different occasions a fellow inmate in a coma. That was in the books. Rumours spread viral easily in the criminal life. And some of his inmates told stories about Mitch, of what he had done during those five years. Those rumours are in this file. The shit he did Lisa, damn I don’t even want to say all of that crap. Eventually you could say he was some kind of caretaker. If an inmate caused trouble, Mitch was used to deal with the problem. He was in a super max prison Lisa.’

  ‘Damn, that’s quite a background. And that guy is in our town.’

  ‘Yes he is, this is a picture of Mitch when he was in prison and a last one where he left prison. Heck, his nickname in prison was The Savage! How terrifying does that sound.’

  ‘The Savage? I think he did just well for a guy with his physique.’

  ‘Yes he did. So, you’re getting a partner from now on Lisa. I don’t want you to get your nose in too much trouble with this madman. Holland, you’re up.’

  At the hospital in the evening

  The security man wakes up in the male bathroom. He can hear the siren in the building and rushes back to the security room. There he discovers why the siren is on. The security room is covered in flames. A fire squad can be heard from a distance.

  Chapter 7:

  Loose Ends

  Easing, March 20 2009

  It was almost midnight when Lisa was informed about the fire in the hospital. She had a feeling it was Mitch Crowne and she wanted to get that man behind bars quickly. At this moment she drove into main street where she was on her way to the motel. This town was already shaken up when Brody Barnes disappeared in March one year ago (7th Sunday). A week later, Chief of Police Peter McDonnell retired and was replaced by Roberts. Everything was one big blur for Chief Roberts, but Lisa knew what was going on from the beginning. She wanted to get this done and take a promotion. She pulled over in the parking lot and left the car.

  At the same moment, Holy and Alan left room number six, hand in each other’s hands like a couple in love. They were smiling, even when they saw a police car standing next to the motel. Then Lisa Neagley appeared.

  ‘I am going to need your help Alan.’

  ‘Why would I want to get my ass into your investigation Neagley, I’m done with this.’

  ‘Because it’s time this shit needs to stop right now Alan. Mitch, you don’t even know the half of him.’

  ‘I consider Mitch as one of my best customers, he’s kind and friendly deputy.’

  ‘Yeah, kind my ass, you’re going to help me find that man.’

  ‘How am I supposed to know where Mitch is hanging out, have you tried the bar?’

  ‘No, did he told you he’d go there?’

  ‘No, but he likes a drink when it’s past midnight.’

  ‘Just get into the car Alan, don’t make me arrest you.’

  ‘Well, let’s waste our time searching for a ghost, Holy, will you pick me off from the police station?’

  ‘Yeah Alan, I know what to do.’

  Easing, March 21 2009

  Mitch Crowne arrived at Richard Red’s place. This time, he just went towards the front door. Richard was home again and is somehow surprised to find out that Mitch is on his doorstep. Richard wants to get his shotgun but only is reminded of the fact that it was stolen a few days ago. Mitch in the mean time, knocks again.

  ‘I know you’re in here Richard.’ (Richard walks towards the door and opens.)

  ‘What do you want Mitch?’

  ‘I don’t need anything but your confession.’

  ‘A confession of what?’

  ‘The murder you helped Butch getting away with three years ago.’

  ‘How do you know? That’s impossible.’

  ‘Let me say I’m one of god’s angels that is here to fix things.’

  ‘Why would I confess about something that can put me away for a long time hah? Are you stupid?’

  ‘Because if you want to see your buddies Butch and Simon again, I advise you to cooperate Richard. Now you look like a wise and smart man, so help yourself and you’ll get to see them again. Be a dick and you’ll never see them again Richard. In the end, they already spoke the phenomenal words of I am guilty.’

  ‘How, what have you done to them?’

  ‘I played a little game with them, in different conditions.’

  ‘So, you bring me to my friends if I’ll confess and then you leave?’

  ‘Yes, that’s what I said. You’ll never see me again. But first, I’d like a drink Richard.’

  ‘Help yourself.’ (Mitch pours in a scotch and walks back to Richard.)

  ‘So, you’re ready? I won’t record it.’

  ‘Okay, I’m guilty, I didn’t kill Doug but I also didn’t stopped Butch from doing so.’

  ‘Which makes you guilty of being a pussy Richard.’

  ‘Now you’re going to get me to my friends Mitch, or else…’

  ‘Get in the car, I’ll bring you to them.’

  (Richard gets into Mitch’s car while Mitch takes his bugs where he recorded every conversation Richard made on his telephone with. Then he puts the evidence in a different kind of suitcase.)

  ‘What did you do?’

  ‘I needed to finish my drink, you’re ready?’

  At the police station around 1.30 a.m.

  Chaos, is the right word to describe the situation at the police station. The whole team is present now when Lisa and Holland arrive with Alan. There’s also another man in the building. He’s old and is slim, possible a former cop. Alan is put into a chair behind Lisa’s desk while Lisa walks to her Chief. Holland keeps an eye on Alan.

  ‘Chief, why is it such a mess in here, what is everybody doing here?’

  ‘I called in everybody to catch Mitch Crowne, this guy is a psychopath who happens to be intelligent too. He’s a living murder weapon Neagley, we need to get this person off the street.’

  ‘Yes I know, he probably set fire in the hospital.’

  ‘Neagley, have you ever took a look again at Simon Wilson’s house? I guess not. It’s a complete battlefield inside that house. Bullets everywhere, I mean,
that guy first scares the shit out of his victims!’

  ‘Chief, you need to calm down, he’s the suspect of killing one person, and on top of that, we have nothing!’

  ‘I don’t care Neagley, I want this guy put in a hole and never have to see him again.’

  ‘That’s not how the law works.’

  ‘Can you come to my office in a few minutes, I need to talk to you under four eyes.’

  (Chief Roberts walk into his office.)

  The former cop walks towards Lisa. ‘You’re not dealing with just a madman Neagley.’

  ‘I already knew, but how did you?’

  ‘I’m a specialist when it comes to fires. The fire in the hospital, was pure art.’

  ‘Explain.’

  ‘The one who did that, knew how to do stuff. I mean, nothing else but the security room could burn down. The fire stopped, just like it had a timer.’

  ‘So we also deal with a former fireman?’

  ‘Such guys we call a specialist.’

  ‘Damn, so we had the savage who is now also the specialist. Thank you for sharing.’

  ‘No thanks, but I might stick around and help you tonight, I’m city police by the way.’

  ‘You’re help could be very useful tonight.’

  ‘Lisa, I am going to reassign after all this is done. Now I know this must come to you as a surprise, but I didn’t sign up for this shit and I’m not the perfect fit for such extreme situations.’

  ‘Then who is going to replace you?’

  ‘I don’t know yet. I have done a good word for you. You have everything a chief of police needs. Heck, I even think you’ll be out of here within three years.’

  ‘I don’t know sir, that’s a lot of guessing.’

  ‘You’re going to have a great career in law enforcement. Young, athletic and real smart.’

  ‘Thank you sir. What are you going to do?’

  ‘I didn’t give much thought yet. Perhaps a mailman or something further south. I don’t know the names and the place yet, but I’m sixty-one. It’s time for me to step down.’

  Alan in the meantime receives a message. “Done and done. See you soon. xxx H” Alan takes a look around in the office, everyone has their minds elsewhere except deputy Holland. Alan surfs on the net on a site called sunweb.

  Somewhere a few kilometres outside Easing, Mitch pulls over next to an old barn which isn’t occupied by anyone. Richard takes a look around and finds out that they are in the middle of nowhere, between two villages.

  ‘What’s that funny smell in this car, like really, what is it?’

  ‘You don’t want to know Richard. I’m back in a minute, I need to get something from inside the barn.’

  Mitch walks towards the barn while Richards stays behind in a locked car. Normally, you should think there is something wrong. Richard didn’t know his side of the car can only be opened from outside. Mitch enters an almost empty barn where there is only one table with another suitcase on it. The rest of the space is filled with weeds and what looks like a car. Mitch grabs the suitcase and walks back towards the ford.

  Back at the police station

  Lisa Neagley calls out to everyone that are in the police station. Alan knows this is his chance, now that Deputy Holland pay’s full attention to what Lisa has to say. Alan clicks away the site he was on, only to book two tickets to the Bahamas. Alan sneaks out of the office at the same moment that Lisa is in the middle of her speech.

  ‘At this moment we know that Rusty Wood is killed, Simon Wilson has been involved in a shooting and Butch McCools has been missing for a few days. On top of that, the missing and murder of Doug Raid could be linked to these actions. Maybe a vengeance mission. We think that our prime suspect, Mitch Crowne knew Raid. Mitch Crowne is probably armed and is very dangerous. I don’t want anyone to go out there like Rambo, don’t be a hero, be smart! Holland and Snow, you two try to find Richard Red who could be the next victim. Chief Roberts and I are heading towards Simon’s house while the rest of you are going to set up a roadblock on two places where our suspect is likely to go when he leaves Easing.’ (…)

  In the meantime, Alan has left the building and walks towards Holy’s car. She’s waiting on him and it looks like they are going on a holiday. Holy sits next to the driver’s seat which means that Alan will be driving. After Alan gets in the car, they take one last look at the police station and then they drive away.

  Mitch opens the door on Richard’s side and puts his suitcase on the car’s roof. Richard leaves the car and walks towards the road before he goes back to Mitch.

  ‘You made me a promise Mitch.’

  ‘I did, which I’m going to keep.’ (Mitch opens the trunk of his car where two corpses are laying in.)

  ‘You sick f*ck!’

  ‘I don’t think so Richard. But now that I have kept my promise..’

  ‘You killed them! You didn’t keep any promise!!’

  ‘I did, you would confess, I would bring you to your friends. I guess they were the smell that was inside the car.’

  ‘You will die Mitch, for what you have done.’

  ‘Funny how things come full circle, isn’t it. But as you see, there’s room left for you. Would you mind and get in, or do you want me to do this the hard way?’

  ‘I kill you!!!’ Richard screamed out.

  ‘Wouldn’t bet on it.’

  In the distance, a car with blue lights is coming their way. Richard attacks Mitch but misses his head. Mitch dodges another few attempts of Richard to hit him while the car is almost about to pass them.

  Alan and Holy were leaving Easing in a hurry. Holy had packed two suitcases full of clothes and took all the money which was left in the motel’s save with her, before she picked up Alan. They kiss a few times while they are heading for the next village. It’s also beginning to snow again while they witness in a blink how one man hits another. The one who received the punch falls on his back. Alan and Holy both didn’t see who they were, but they also didn’t care. For them, Easing is a place to forget and never to go back.

  Chapter 8:

  Goodbye Officer Neagley

  Easing, March 21 2009

  ‘I kill you!!!’ Richard yelled.

  ‘Wouldn’t bet on it.’

  In the distance, a car with blue lights is going in their direction. Richard attacks Mitch but misses his head. Mitch dodges another few attempts of Richard to hit him while the car is almost about to pass them. Just when Richard prepares for his next attempt, Mitch attacks him and breaks his nose causing Richard to collapse. At this point the car passes by.

  ‘What are you going to do now Mitch? Is this the moment you finish what you started?’

  ‘I am not going to kill you Richard. You are going to kill yourself.’

  ‘Why did you did all of this shit? For what? I don’t understand.’

  ‘Let’s say it was purpose. From the moment that I took this car in Denmark. From that point I just wanted to know where its former owner lived. Or according to the book, the owner lived.’

  ‘Doug Raid.’

  ‘Yes, so here I am. Taking out the trash of Easing and avenging someone I really didn’t know. But, when Rusty was threatening me, I knew something was wrong. And so I began shaking trees which eventually got me into a particular situation.’

  ‘You wouldn’t even be here if you didn’t met Rusty, what a shame.’ (Grab’s a stick.)

  ‘But now that I solved the mystery and you guys are dealt with, I’ll be happy to continue my journey.’

  ‘I’m not done yet.’ (Tries to attack Mitch.)

  Mitch dodges Richard’s final attempt and then teasers him in the neck.

  At the motel 7:30 a.m.

  Lisa Neagley and Christopher Holland arrive at the motel where no living soul can be found. They find out that the office is still a disaster and that the safe is open and empty. The rooms are all unfinished except for room four and six. Room six hasn’t been cleaned up since the last visitor while room four loo
ks like its unused. In the register they find out that Mitch was using room four.

  ‘Lisa, we can wait for as long as you think is needed, but I don’t think Alan or Mitch have plans to come back.’

  ‘Alan and Holy are not here, the safe is empty, should we put out an APB?’

  ‘Let’s get back to the office and ask Chief Roberts.’

  At this time, two of the three roads that lead to Easing are blocked. The third one eventually leads back towards one of the other two so everyone that goes to or goes away from Easing, will be stopped. Just before the roads were blocked, Alan and Holy were far enough that they didn’t have to pass a roadblock. There hasn’t been sign of Mitch Crowne as of yet.

  But at this time (7:30), almost no one is present in the Police building. Only an assistant that’s behind the reception. She is in her forties and probably married for more than ten years and has children Mitch thought. Mitch had disguised himself with a PSV Eindhoven cap and a black scarf. His sunglasses covered his eyes while he was still wearing the same outfit.

  In his car, he put all the evidence he had into one briefcase. This evidence included some phone recordings between Simon and Richard and a tape with Butch’s confession, before Mitch killed him. Within the briefcase, is also the owners papers of the car in which Mitch drove the last days and a note addressed to Lisa. There’s also a letter on which coordinates are written. Mitch walks with the briefcase towards the door, which is locked. Then the receptionist informs Mitch that the office is closed.

  ‘Hello sir, we are closed as of now. Please return in an hour.’

  ‘I’m afraid that will not be possible madam. I have a briefcase here for deputy Lisa Neagley, would you be helpful and take care of it?’

  ‘No sir, that’s not how we operate. Come back in an hour.’

  ‘I’ll put it right here against the door so you can keep an eye on it. It’s not a bomb, I guarantee you.’

  ‘Please sir..’

  ‘Thank you for helping me out Mrs. Holland, say hi for me to your husband and kids.’

  Mitch leaves the briefcase behind and walks away. After he left main street, he got into his car and drove away again. At the same time, Wendy Wayne left the groceries store and saw Mitch taking a right when he left main street. The receptionist was too curious and went outside to get the briefcase. She didn’t had the nerves to look inside, but put the briefcase on Neagley’s desk. Wendy Wayne followed Mitch to the other street but only saw how Mitch got into a car and drove away. This time, it wasn’t a ford, but then again, Wendy didn’t have much knowledge about cars. This car was black.