voice
already. It made the acid reflux return and he finished off the
bottle.
All he had on
this Carl Reiner was what Jerry had told him. He was an ex-Navy
Seal and he was in Chicago somewhere. He ran his name and saw that
he had one conviction a couple years back, a DUI. It was his only
offence and it was just after he’d been discharged. Since then it
looked as though he’d been keeping his nose clean… well not really,
if he was wanted by the Mob. The licence plate for the vehicle he
was in at the time of arrest was in the file and he ran that too. A
result popped up quicker than he thought. He grabbed his phone and
called Jerry back.
“ Hey. I got somethin’,” he was eager to finish this whole
thing.
“ Gimme it,”
“ His SUV was found on the edge of St Louis two days
ago,”
“ St Louis? Was he there?”
“ Nope it was just the vehicle. And it was burnt to a crisp. I
mean destroyed,”
“ I see….” Jerry was in deep thought. “And a girl?”
“ There were no bodies in the vehicle. It was really just the
husk left,”
“ Can you gimme the exact location?”
“ Yuh… Two seconds,” there was a ruffling noise on the line as
Callahan searched through the file. “It was really in the ass end
of nowhere pal. I mean two point five miles northwest of a town
called Brunton on Gibson Rd. Nothin’ but fields
everywhere,”
“ Hmmmm….” Jerry’s mind went blank. “I wonder where the fuck
they went,”
“ Well if you don’t mind me havin’ a say. I have a brother in
law in St Louis. Drove down there plenty of times. If he’s not
hidin’ in a field, which I suppose he’s not, then he’s probably
wondered into one of those quaint motels on the edge of
town,”
“ Are there many near where the car was found?” Jerry asked
desperately, his excitement was palpable.
“ Hang on,” frantic typing sounded. “Yuh… well four miles away.
A little place called Evergreen Motel,”
“ Thanks Callahan. I owe you one!” and Jerry hung up
abruptly.
Suddenly a
heavy feeling swept through the detective as he became riddled with
guilt. Something told him this Carl was a good guy. A military boy
that got himself in with the wrong crowd and he wished he’d never
said anything. But what could he have done? He reached into the top
drawer again and pulled out a hip flask. He sipped from it gingerly
and felt the burn as the liquor washed down his gullet. As soon as
the winter was up he was going on holiday.
~
The sun was
shining bright through the window of the little VW Beatle. Anna had
seen one of these cars once in a movie, but she’d never been in
one. She soon realized it was a rather disappointing experience.
The seats were hard and each tiny pebble that went under the wheels
felt like a bolder. Still, she was appreciative of the ride and she
looked down to her feet in her new sneakers and felt the blisters
throb.
She looked
over to Carl and saw him sleeping heavily. His eyelids were
twitching as he dreamt and she wondered what was going through his
mind.
“ Gerald?” she broke the silence.
“ Yuh?”
“ Do you always pick up hitch hikers?”
“ Hmmmm… not always. But I’m always on the road so maybe every
week or so I’ll pick up someone nice like yourself and help them
out,”
“ That’s real nice of you,” Anna smiled in the rear view
mirror.
“ Oh really it’s nothing. It’s just what the scripture teaches,”
and he smiled happily.
She had never
met anyone so innocent and carefree before and figured he’d never
had a bad experience in his life.
“ So do you travel for work?” she asked.
“ Uhuh… I’m a good old fashioned Bible salesman,”
“ You’re kidding? I didn’t know those actually
existed,”
“ Well,” Gerald shrugged. “Here I am,” and he smiled that goofy
grin again.
He was so kind
and friendly that Anna couldn’t help but be suspicious. She’d seen
enough horror movies in her lifetime to know how scenes like this
ended. She looked out
already. It made the acid reflux return and he finished off the
bottle.
All he had on
this Carl Reiner was what Jerry had told him. He was an ex-Navy
Seal and he was in Chicago somewhere. He ran his name and saw that
he had one conviction a couple years back, a DUI. It was his only
offence and it was just after he’d been discharged. Since then it
looked as though he’d been keeping his nose clean… well not really,
if he was wanted by the Mob. The licence plate for the vehicle he
was in at the time of arrest was in the file and he ran that too. A
result popped up quicker than he thought. He grabbed his phone and
called Jerry back.
“ Hey. I got somethin’,” he was eager to finish this whole
thing.
“ Gimme it,”
“ His SUV was found on the edge of St Louis two days
ago,”
“ St Louis? Was he there?”
“ Nope it was just the vehicle. And it was burnt to a crisp. I
mean destroyed,”
“ I see….” Jerry was in deep thought. “And a girl?”
“ There were no bodies in the vehicle. It was really just the
husk left,”
“ Can you gimme the exact location?”
“ Yuh… Two seconds,” there was a ruffling noise on the line as
Callahan searched through the file. “It was really in the ass end
of nowhere pal. I mean two point five miles northwest of a town
called Brunton on Gibson Rd. Nothin’ but fields
everywhere,”
“ Hmmmm….” Jerry’s mind went blank. “I wonder where the fuck
they went,”
“ Well if you don’t mind me havin’ a say. I have a brother in
law in St Louis. Drove down there plenty of times. If he’s not
hidin’ in a field, which I suppose he’s not, then he’s probably
wondered into one of those quaint motels on the edge of
town,”
“ Are there many near where the car was found?” Jerry asked
desperately, his excitement was palpable.
“ Hang on,” frantic typing sounded. “Yuh… well four miles away.
A little place called Evergreen Motel,”
“ Thanks Callahan. I owe you one!” and Jerry hung up
abruptly.
Suddenly a
heavy feeling swept through the detective as he became riddled with
guilt. Something told him this Carl was a good guy. A military boy
that got himself in with the wrong crowd and he wished he’d never
said anything. But what could he have done? He reached into the top
drawer again and pulled out a hip flask. He sipped from it gingerly
and felt the burn as the liquor washed down his gullet. As soon as
the winter was up he was going on holiday.
~
The sun was
shining bright through the window of the little VW Beatle. Anna had
seen one of these cars once in a movie, but she’d never been in
one. She soon realized it was a rather disappointing experience.
The seats were hard and each tiny pebble that went under the wheels
felt like a bolder. Still, she was appreciative of the ride and she
looked down to her feet in her new sneakers and felt the blisters
throb.
She looked
over to Carl and saw him sleeping heavily. His eyelids were
twitching as he dreamt and she wondered what was going through his
mind.
“ Gerald?” she broke the silence.
“ Yuh?”
“ Do you always pick up hitch hikers?”
“ Hmmmm… not always. But I’m always on the road so maybe every
week or so I’ll pick up someone nice like yourself and help them
out,”
“ That’s real nice of you,” Anna smiled in the rear view
mirror.
“ Oh really it’s nothing. It’s just what the scripture teaches,”
and he smiled happily.
She had never
met anyone so innocent and carefree before and figured he’d never
had a bad experience in his life.
“ So do you travel for work?” she asked.
“ Uhuh… I’m a good old fashioned Bible salesman,”
“ You’re kidding? I didn’t know those actually
existed,”
“ Well,” Gerald shrugged. “Here I am,” and he smiled that goofy
grin again.
He was so kind
and friendly that Anna couldn’t help but be suspicious. She’d seen
enough horror movies in her lifetime to know how scenes like this
ended. She looked out
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