Hazy View: Souls of the Vanished (18 page)

*~*~*

*XI*

Frank Godwin was short and overweight.
His gun belt hung low, his legs short and awkward looking, and his
hair reddish and short. Andrew and Helen followed him into his
small lightly furnished office.

Frank sat behind the desk with a
grunt. “I’m ready to hear your story. Please take a seat.” He
invited.

“
Well it’s a little hard
to explain and as far as proof goes, I don’t really have much of
that, but I’m working on it.”

“
But still you drove all
the way from Hazy View to do what?”

“
To find someone...”Andrew
started and paused.

“
What does this have to do
with my office, how do you need our support?”

“
We’re investigating two
counts of murder.”

“
And I suppose your
suspect’s hiding here?”

“
It’s believed that a
couple of months ago our old sheriff, Martin Parker had killed his
son and wife and had thrown their bodies in our lake. He would’ve
gotten away with it because nobody noticed the crime. It became
evident that the victims ghosts had started to haunt the lake and
attacking whoever came around the water.”

“
Really and no one noticed
that they were missing?” Frank asked shocked but
intrigued.

“
Martin told everyone in
the town that his family had left and was staying at her family
house. His wife’s parents had a farm around here. As far as I know
the house had been standing empty for some time. They passed away
some time ago and his wife hadn’t sold it, not as far as I know,
although she might have had someone looking after the grounds. We
believe that Martin’s hiding out there.”

“
Martin who…?”

“
Martin Parker.” Andrew
informed quickly.

Frank sat backward deep in thought. “I
don’t know him.” He finally admitted.

“
He would’ve arrived a
little more than a week ago.”

Frank rubbed his chin still thinking.
“Doesn’t ring any bells, who were the wife’s parents?”

“
Holloway.”

Frank sat up again. “Yes, now I know
who you’re talking about. Their farm’s about three miles from here.
Wait a moment. You aren't talking about Lisa are you?”

“
No the other daughter,
Janet Holloway...”

“
You think he killed her
and she’s haunting your lake?”

“
Yes and she’s haunting my
house. I just bought it from Martin before he left town.” Helen
informed.

“
So if you bought the
house recently, how does this make you a witness?”

“
Janet appeared to me with
her son and insisted that I help her find the man that had killed
them.”

“
So you didn’t witness the
actual murder?” Frank turned his attention to Andrew. “What proof
do you have that this man staying on the farm had actually
committed the crime?”

“
He was the last person to
see them. He had lied about them leaving town and he had used
Janet’s credit card to establish that she had left town. There had
also been dramatic changes in his behavior before he left. I’m
waiting for the forensic lab to get back to me regarding test done
on the house, his vehicle. There’s also evidence found where we
believed he had dumped the bodies.” Andrew brought him up to
speed.

“
When’s forensics supposed
to get back to you?”

“
I need to contact them so
they can send me the reports.”

“
You can receive it here.
This is the number.” Frank offered. He handed him his business
card. “When do you want to go to the suspect?”

“
As soon as I receive the
fax, at least I’ll have something to wave at him.”

“
To tell you the truth I'm
very interested in hearing what you have. It’s not every day that
we hear about ghosts pointing out their killers.”

Andrew picked up the phone and dialed
the number given to him by Yvonne. After a short conversation he
replaced the receiver and turned back to Frank.

“
They said they would fax
it through first thing in the morning. Could one of your vehicles
just make a turn past the farm, just to make sure he’s still
there?” Andrew asked disappointed.

“
Sure. Do you have your
case file here? I’d like to see it, purely out of interest if I
may?” Frank asked excited. Clearly this was just another small town
where nothing ever happened.

Walking out of the sheriff’s office
Andrew handed Frank the case file through Helens vehicle window.
With directions from the sheriff they found the bed and breakfast
with ease. Helen and Andrew ordered dinner in and settle down for
the night in two separate rooms. Within minutes the rooms were dark
and quiet. Early in the morning a well-rested and refreshed Helen
decided to wonder around town while Andrew returned to the
sheriff’s office.

*~*~*

Chapter Six

*I*

Martin woke early with the sound of
birds chirping in the large trees outside. A dog barked. It sounded
like a vehicle passed close by the house, too close to be on the
main road. His head was drumming. His ears echoed dull in the empty
house. His mouth was dry and his eyes felt like sandpaper, every
blink almost blinded him.

He heard something
upstairs.

A hissing moan echoed from above
bouncing off the walls. He turned sharply to the stairs. Something
was stomping, knocking and echoed a cry so filled of rage that it
made the hair on the back of his neck stood on end. Martin’s body
was numb and stiff by indecision. Should he hide? Should he run?
Should he ready himself for the fight of his life?

“
I left you behind.
There’s no way you could’ve made it here. It won’t work. I will not
let you do this anymore.”

Another bump, a loud stomp and scream
so horrid burst through the silence it made Martin’s skin
crawl.

“
I will go again to where
you will never find me.” He screamed and threw an overflowing
ashtray toward the stairs.

The sound silenced the hissing stopped
and the stomping faded.

A thick cold atmosphere hung in the
air.

Martin grabbed clothing scattered
around filling his hands as much as he could. “I need to leave.
I’ve got to leave before they get me. I need to find somewhere far,
where she can’t find me. I can’t let her find me again, not her or
the darkness.” He pauses. “I need a bag.”

Martin headed for the stairs then
paused.

He stood for a moment listening,
staring into the upstairs shadows. Going upstairs meant he would
face whatever’s up there.

“
Leave it.”

He headed out the door with bundles of
clothes wrapped in blankets from the couch.

*~*~*

*II*

Andrew sat scanning the forensics
report. He felt a strong sensation in the pit of his stomach.
Something was wrong, very wrong. For some reason he felt the need
to hurry. He needed to leave now, enough time’s wasted.

“
My men who went out had
assured me that there’s someone there. Now what do you want us to
do?”

“
I have this nagging
feeling that we need to go. Actually I have the feeling that we
should’ve been there already. It’ll be great if you and your men
could back me up.”

“
What do you mean?” Frank
said upset. “You drove out here to come and spitball on my
residents on a hunch that’s true. You have proof right there in
your hands that he did what you claimed. Now you want me to stand
by and watch you have all the fun?”

“
I believe he’s in a
fragile state.” Andrew answered.

“
Fragile my ass, he’s a
murderer. We go pick him up. If he sneeze in the wrong direction or
just even thinks of fighting. Well I’ve a lot of men if you catch
my drift.”

It seemed like Frank had been waiting
a long time for some action, and by the look of it he had been
spending his time in the diner.

All Andrew could do was smile. He
could never have expected this reaction. “It wouldn’t be necessary
for brute force. Thank you.”

“
It’s not just that we’re
bored, but a man that kills his family doesn’t breathe the same air
as us.” Frank’s voice was strong.

“
Fine, but I still believe
there will be no need for force. Can we get going now please, I
have the feeling we might already be too late.” Andrew said eager
to get on the road.

Frank headed for the door.

“
You’re riding with me,
it’s the fastest vehicle we have. My men will follow
us.”

Andrew followed Frank out of the
office. A group of officers were getting ready to leave.

Frank turned to his men. “Are you
ready to leave? Try to keep up.”

Andrew hurried to the sheriff’s
vehicle in the parking lot with the case files and forensics
reports in hand. Frank started the journey slow. At first Andrew
was under the impression that he didn’t want to race through town,
causing a scene. Once they reached open road, the speed only
increased by a few miles per hour. Andrew felt nervous and the
stress mounted.

“
At this pace we’ll never
get there.” Andrew remarked and leaned over to view the
speedometer.

“
What’s the rush? He’s
already been here for a week he doesn’t expect you or any of us to
show up. Why would he flee?”

“
I’ve got this feeling
from early this morning. I need to get to Martin before it’s too
late. I can’t shake it. Haven’t you ever gotten such a gut feeling
that you just know something’s wrong?” Andrew steered a
conversation to get his mind off the speed.

“
Can’t say that I have,
very little ever goes wrong here.”

“
It’s the same in Hazy
View, although it’s smaller than your town. I just don’t know what
to make of this feeling, maybe its excitement or simply nerves.
Martin and I were the closest of friends. I think it’s just that
playing on me. But I’ll feel better if I get to see
him.”

“
My men went out there
last night and this morning. They saw his vehicle parked outside
the house and there were lights on in the house. He’s still
there.”

Andrew shuffled nervously in his
seat.

“
Maybe he saw your
vehicles and noticed something’s wrong, something unusual. But I
can feel, no, I know something’s wrong.” Andrew continued
insistently.

Andrew glared out of the windshield,
his eyes burned with the sun shimmering off the tarmac. He didn’t
want to miss anything should Martin came driving past.

The windscreen spotted with small
insects that had met an untimely death. A thin strip appeared along
the windscreen as the wipers tried to sweep them away, leaving only
a clearly noticeable oily, slimy drag mark behind. Water cleared
the distraction until yet another bug splat against the
glass.

“
What’s it with these
dammed bugs?” Frank remarked and sprayed more water. Let it soak
and wiped the windscreen a few times.

Andrew smiled and unwinds the window
halfway letting in a cool refreshing wind. He took out his
cigarette and offered one to Frank.

“
Not for me thanks, but I
think it would calm your nerves.”

“
My nerves will calm when
I’ve got Martin in custody.”

Frank turned off the interstate and
continued south toward farms on the banks of a river. The vehicles
following looked like a long train as they followed closely and
kept up to the sheriff’s vehicle.

On the one side of the road planted
fields stretched for miles. The plants were still too small to
identify them. On the other side green grass fields gave lush
feeding for a herd of about two hundred cattle, grazing lazily with
the sun beat down on them.

Andrew expected the trip to Martin’s
farm to be quicker than this, considering that the sheriff’s
vehicle was the fastest as he had claimed. Now he wasn’t so sure.
He recognized most of the way, but the crops soon confused him,
looking different from the last time he had been here. If he had
made the trip himself he would’ve taken a wrong turn. It would
surely have taken more time.

On this almost deserted road the
convoy of vehicle advanced with no traffic to slow them down yet
they’re still moving to slow for Andrew. He glanced at the
speedometer again.

They were clocking sixty-eight miles
an hour. They could go faster.

The tarmac ended and a dirt road
snaked through more crops and grazing fields. He was more eager,
getting more nervous. Clearly the trip was taking too long. ‘Martin
left and was miles away. Maybe he knows that I’ve arrived in town.
He could have friends in the sheriff’s office. He could’ve seen us.
It could’ve scared him and now he’s miles away.’ Thoughts started
to race through Andrews mind.

Every time he tried to convince Frank
to put a little pressure on the gas he blew him off. Still there
was little or no traffic on the roads.