FOLLOW THE LEADER - Chapter 44

 Chapter 44



I gassed up the Suburu and drove onto Highway 190, heading west. In the distance I could see great sand dunes reflecting the reddish hue from sunrise.

Twenty-five miles later I pulled into Stovepipe Wells, a one-horse village with an old general store that reminded me of a western movie set. It had a hitching post that ran the length of the front porch and a gas pump. A sign said “Hotel,” but I didn’t see one.

Travel trailers sat in a dusty lot in no kind of discernible arrangement. It was spring, so the campers wouldn’t burn to a crisp once they stepped out of their trailers. Were any of the wells still working? I mused.

I kept going. 

Ranger Rick told me it was one hundred miles from the Furnace Creek station, and the last leg would challenge me.

“You gotta navigate a shit road through a mountain pass just before you get there,” quoth the ranger.

Some long miles down Highway 90 I saw palm trees towering over another village. Panamint Springs. Its junction had a hotel with a restaurant and the last gas station for many miles, according to the ranger. From here I would be travelling southbound on Panamint Road, which would become dirt.
A growing sense of dread came over me, as if some kind of reckoning lay just ahead.

One hour later I was battling a rocky road inside a narrow mountain pass. After some nasty bumps I made it through and arrived at the site, which sat in a little valley. I parked the car and got out.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

FOLLOW THE LEADER - Chapter 83

  Chapter 83 Downstairs in the hospital’s cafeteria, Chief Howell and Detective Colin Kelly nibbled on sweet rolls and drank coffee. Happy Donuts in Noe Valley would have been preferable, but they were now on the other end of 24 th , and the coffee was decent. “What’s the real story, Detective? After you found the bodies inside the house.” Colin took a sip of coffee, deciding how to spin his own narrative without getting his little brother in trouble. “I had just missed him when I got there. I was pretty certain there was nowhere he could go to hide except Glen Canyon Park. Sure, he could have broken into a neighbor’s house and hidden there, but that would be risky. Burglar alarms. Shouts. Other kinds of noise. On the other hand, the Park would be dark and silent except for the birds and critters.” “So this came to you out of the blue?” Colin hesitated. “Well, not exactly. Francis thought of it first.” “Ah.” “He reminded me that we used to play in the Pa...
Read more

FOLLOW THE LEADER - Chapter 85

Chapter 85 Colin broke his promise to the chief the next evening. He was barbecuing ribs for Mike Rollins and his ex, Joy, Amy Feingold and me. I watched Mike Rollins and Amy, who had come in together. I thought they might be a couple, but then I remembered the powerful bond they shared. Katherine. Not to mention they were still neighbors and running partners. Joy looked fabulous in her designer jeans and silk blouse. Mostly she looked relieve d. Linda told me later that Joy had been crying before she came. No surprise there. And Linda? She wore a Stanford sweatshirt and a pair of jeans and played hostess, as if nothing had happened. Perhaps it was my imagination, but she appeared to tense up when she looked at Colin and me. Clearly, the get-together was not her idea.  The idea was to eat ribs and drink beer and then listen to the Official Story, as told by Detective Colin D. Kelly. Along with Linda, I wasn’t sure that having bereaved folks over in this way was such a g...
Read more

FOLLOW THE LEADER - Chapter 82

Chapter 82 It turned out that Colin’s bullet missed both the heart and lungs of Jason Powers, but it hit his spine. The attending physician said it was too early to tell if he would be able to walk unaided. Late afternoon of the next day he was fully conscious inside SF General Hospital. Chief Howell signaled the attending nurse to leave the room.  She did. He hovered over Powers. “There are a lot of people who want to hear from you,” he said. “They want to know what happened to their daughters.”  “I’m not talking without my lawyer,” Powers said. “Speaking of lawyers, the D.A. might cut you a little slack if you cooperate.” “Define slack. ” “No death penalty.” Powers said nothing. “Some guys would rather be put to death than spend long years in prison for the rest of their lives. That’s what they say . But many years later, when that final morning comes around and the con eats his final breakfast and the priest comes in, he falls apart. H...
Read more