FOLLOW THE LEADER - Chapter 59

 Chapter 59



Sheriff Calder said, “Come on, ‘Country.’ At least tell me your real name.”

“Rhonda.”

“Now that is a pretty name. Why would you want a dumb nickname like Country?”

“It’s not dumb. He put a lot of thought into it.”

“If you say so.”

She saw headlights blinking in the rear mirror and immediately freaked.

“We’re being followed,” she said. She saw the car’s image in her outside rear mirror. “It’s not a cop car.”

“How do you know? Cops and feds often drive unmarked cars,” he said.

“Pigs!”

He chuckled softly. He had not heard that one since the late Sixties. He glanced at his mirror.

“Feds, I think.” he said.

“What do they want with me?” she asked.

“Same as me. The truth.”

She said nothing to that.

“Tell you what, Rhonda slash Country. I’m gonna tell you about this girl I met. She was waiting for me beneath some trees, just between two cornfields. I had all kinds of questions to ask her, but I never got the chance.”

“Why not?”

“Someone had cut off her head.”

She gasped. Then recovered.

“So?”  Defiant now.

“All I saw at first was her severed head. I had to shoo away the flies so I could make out her features. Her killer had thrown her body into a trough. The buzzards led me right to it.

“That’s gross! Why are you telling me this?”

The sheriff ignored her question.

Rhonda shook her head and began to cry again. “I let him down,” she bawled. “I’m such a coward!”

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