Over Her Dead Body (11 page)

“Not so fun when your face is in his shit is it?” Michael said as he reached around Gary and undid his belt and pants. Gary didn’t respond. Michael dropped Gary’s pants and boxers. With the exception of Gary’s t-shirt, and their socks, both officers were naked and vulnerable. Michael stood and looked around. He spotted two more jugs of water by the far wall. He went and grabbed one and brought it to the table. He unscrewed the cap and started at Frank’s head and worked his way down to his feet, going right over Gary’s head, drenching them in water. He threw down the jug and grabbed the other one. Gary had turned his head sideways in order to breathe.

“What
,
you think you need to breathe? That’s more than you let me do. You guys are the ones that should be behind bars, not me.” Michael went around to the other side of the table, unscrewed the cap and poured it over Gary’s shirt until he was soaked. “Stand up!” Michael shouted at Gary. He grabbed Gary by the cuffs and pulled him backward hard. Gary winced and cried out in pain. “Doesn’t feel so good does it?” Gary was standing up now and Michael poured the rest of the water over the front of his shirt. Gary shivered. Michael pushed him toward the front of the table and made him lean forward again. This time, he was lean
ing
over the back of Frank’s neck. Michael picked up his legs and hoisted him the rest of the way on top of his partner so he was lying on top of him. Michael reached down and grabbed the strap they had used on his neck and threw
it over Gary’s shoulder
s. The strap fell to the floor and Michael reached down and grabbed it and fed it through the ratchet and pulled until it was tight. He ratcheted it until it was tight enough where they couldn’t move but not so much that they couldn’t breathe
. Frank and Gary had their head
s turned toward the wall away from Michael. Michael picked up the other strap and threw it across the back of Gary’s legs above the knees. Michael grabbed the other end and began to ratchet it tight. “This might sting a little bit.” Michael warned as the strap came taught. He cranked it tight and Frank screamed out in pain with the pressure on his broken knee.

“Owww…oh you fucking asshole. You fucking prick asshole. You are going to pay! I am going to fucking kill you! You hear me? Fucking kill you asshole!” Frank yelled. Michael just ratcheted the strap that much harder.

Both officers were grunting and trying to move. Michael had a feeling if Frank kept wiggling long enough, karma was going to get him in the ass…literally. Michael grabbed Gary’s pants and slipped into
them
. It was a tight fit, but it would keep him warm. He felt better right away. He picked up Gary’s shirt and put it on, buttoning it up. And here April thought it was funny that he
was in cuff
s…if she could see him now…the thought reminded Michael that he needed to call her. Gary had a cell phone attached to his belt. Michael grabbed the cell phone and tinkered around with the buttons until he found the one he was looking for. Michael went to the end of the table and pulled off Gary’s socks. They were damp from the water but not completely so
aked. “I’m going to ask you guy
s some questions” Michael began. “And how honestly you answer them will determine how long I decide to wait before calling you some help.”

“Fuck you.” Frank managed to get out underneath the weight of Gary.

“Ok, never mind. I’ll see you boys later.” Michael acted as though he was going to leave.

“No…no…ask.” Gary said. “I’ll be honest. I swear.”

“Shut the fuck up you idiot.” Frank said.

“I ain’t gonna die here man. I’m fucking shot. Don’t you get it? He leaves and doesn’t call for help…we die!” Gary said. Frank didn’t respond. Michael turned around and headed toward the table. He was tinkering with the cell phone again.

“Whose idea was it to bring me here?” Michael began. There was a pause. 

“It was my fucking idea. You happy?” Frank said.

“What’s the address?” Michael asked. There was only silence. Frank didn’t speak and Michael figured Gary didn’t actually know. “I can’t call you an ambulance if I don’t know the address.”

“514 Lincoln Street.” Frank mumbled.

“Ok. Good. Now why did you bring me here?” Michael asked. He moved the phone to his left and ran his right hand through his hair shaking out water and debris.

“Are you fucking stupid? We brought you here to find out who the girl is. Who
you
fucking killed.” Frank said.

“And you thought torturing me and waterboarding me would get you that information?”

“Well, it worked didn’t it? We found out you killed Angela Jacobs. Between that and what you’ve done to us, you’re going to fry asshole. You resisted arrest, escaped custody, kidnapped and tortured two police officers, and shot one.”

“First, you kidnapped me. Second, I haven’t tortured anyone, and third, I didn’t shoot anyone, he was hit by his own ricochet.”

“That may be true. But do you think they’re going to believe you, a felon on the run for murder, or the word of two law abiding police officers who got hurt trying to keep a murderer off the streets?”

“Last I knew, law abiding police officers don’t torture people into confession. And they sure as hell don’t rape them.”

“Ya, well good luck trying to prove it.” Frank said.

Michael hit a button and put the cell phone back in the holder on his belt. He’d have to wait until he was outside to call April. Michael grabbed Frank’s pants and emptied the pockets. There was change, a zippo lighter with a confederate flag on the front, a receipt, keys, and a pack of smokes. Michael pocketed the lighter
, keys,
the change
,
and pulled Frank’s wallet out of the back pocket. Michael quickly thumbed through it. There was eighty three dollars in it which he took out along with a debit card. He dropped Frank’s belongings on the floor and stood up and took out Gary’s wallet. Gary had forty six bucks. Michael added in the eighty three and the debit card. A hundred and twenty nine bucks wasn’t going to get him very far. He stood up and approached the two officers who were throwing their arsenal of cusswords into
the
air. Most directed at Michael.

“I’m out of here boys. Here is the deal.” Michael held up a cell phone and snapped a picture of the two officers lying naked on top of each other. I’m heading straight to the
ATM
with your cards. I’m going to withdraw 300 from each account. That’s the least you can do for me after torturing me. Consider it a victim’s severance.”

“Fuck you. You don’t know our pin numbers.” Frank still had enough energy to be a wise ass.

“And after I have entered the pin numbers that you are about to give me,” Michael continued “I will call an ambulance for you. But…if the pin numbers aren’t correct, no ambulance, and this picture I just took will be on the front of tomorrow’s paper.

There was more swearing but both men gave up pin numbers. Michael knew he couldn’t return home. He figured if both the numbers were correct, and the officers weren’t sitting on empty accounts, he would have close to eight hundred dollars. That would buy him a little time to figure out what the hell was going on. Before he left, Michael picked up Frank’s phone, dialed a number and hit the speaker button
. He moved to where the officer
s were facing and as he tested the straps to make sure they were taught, he quickly slid the phone underneath the strap but out of site. His own cell phone would be turned on silent and charging next to his bed. By calling his cell phone and letting it go to voicemail and leaving this phone on speaker, he thought he might get to listen to an interesting conversation someday. He wasn’t sure how long it would record though if it did at all. Michael picked up the
Maglite
and the two guns. He knocked both bulbs out of the lamps leaving the basement pitch black. Both officers immediately began yelling at him, but their voices faded as Michael climbed the steps out of the basement. Naked and cold, strapped to one another in a dark basement in a bad neighborhood. Karma. Michael smiled and stepped out of the house.

The first thing on Michael’s agenda was to call April. She would be worried sick about him. There were probably cops crawling all over the place asking questions. M
ichael hopped in the police car
and fumbled through the keys until he found one that worked. He started the car and took out Gary’s phone. He dialed the number to the house phone and waited for April to answer.

Chapter 13

The sheriff had given April a few minutes before continuing on with his questioning. She had begun crying uncontrollably. He knew she wouldn’t be able to answer any questions confidently in this state. He offered to get her a tissue but she waved him off and used the sleeve of her robe to dry her face. Her eyes were beginning to puff up and swell. It took a little bit, but the graveness of the situation had sunk in. Her soon to be failed marriage, her failed first home, the center of a scandal. She would always be known as the girl who was married to the murderer. She would have to leave her home town…and her family just to get away from it all. She could live with all that. What was destroying her right now at this very moment was Michael. She loved him so desperately. She couldn’t believe that the sweet man she loved would ever harm another human being. She missed him so much and he’d only been gone for a few hours. She needed him. She needed him right now to help her through all of this. He was her rock. She felt like she was betraying him somehow, sitting here talking to the sheriff. But, if she believed in his innocence, couldn’t she somehow convince the sheriff? But she was torn between how she felt, what she knew of Michael, and the evidence. How did he know where a girl was buried? And right on their pr
operty? Is that why he wanted
her to look at this house to begin with? Is that why he went along with her so easily when she said she wanted it? Was he simply trying to make sure that the girl’s body was never found? Were there other bodies? Why would he risk exposing himself by digging her up? Was he really sleepwalking? Did his guilty conscience drive him there? Did he want to be caught? She just didn’t understand. She dried her cheeks off with her robe again and looked up at the sheriff.

“I’m sorry
ma'am
, I know this is tough. I just have a couple more questions.” The sheriff said. April nodded and looked down lost in thought. “How long have you lived here?” The sheriff continued.

April looked up. She was quiet for a moment and then “About four weeks.” She said quietly.

“Did the two of you buy the house at that point or had you owned if for a while?”

“No. We had just bought it.”

The sheriff remembered the detective saying the girl had been shot about seven months ago. That meant she was buried here before they bought the house. “Was it Michael that led you to buy
this
house?” The sheriff continued. He knew the question was going to sting. The answer could further implicate her husband.

She looked up eyes wide, mouth slightly ajar. She wasn’t sure how best to answer the question. “Well…I…um…the thing is…” Her home phone rang. She looked up at the clock on the wall. Two-thirty in the morning. Who would be calling at two thirty in the morning?

The sheriff gave her an inquisitive look. “Go ahead.” He said. “You can answer it.”

April looked at the sheriff and then back at the clock puzzled. She got up and crossed the room to the cordless phone that was standing upright, nestled in
its holder. She looked at the ca
ll
e
r id. She didn’t recognize the number. “Hello?” She said.

“Don’t say a word.” It was Michael’s voice. Her heart did a flop in her chest. She about lost her breath.

“Mi…”

“Not a sound.” He said sternly as he cut her off. She stopped, glancing at the sheriff who seemed to have her full attention.

“If you have company, say ‘yes mom’”

She glanced at the sheriff again. “Yes, mom.”

“Now say everything is fine.” She did. She was facing the wall. She wanted to go into the other room but didn’t want to arouse any more suspicion than she already had.

“All I can tell you right now mom, is
Michael
…,” She paused, “sure has a lot of explaining to do when I see him.”

There was a pause on the other end of the line. April began to feel nauseous. There were butterflies in her stomach and she could feel prickles running up her neck.

“I just…” Michael paused. “I just want you to know that I love you. I don’t know what is going on, I swear. But I didn’t do this. You’ve got to believe me.” There was a pause. April didn’t say anything. “Remember where we had our first picnic?”

“Yes.” April said quietly.

“Two o’clock. Tomorrow. Meet me there. Make sure they don’t follow you.” There was another pause. He was in police custody. How was he going to meet her? Her mouth was half ajar
,
confused. She glanced at the sheriff and she could tell her reaction was causing some concern. He stood up and stretched his back. He was trying to hear the conversation.

“Just say I’ll call you tomorrow mom.” Michael said as if understanding.

“I’ll call you tomorrow mom.” She said, a tear running down her cheek.

“I love you.” Michael said quietly.

“I love you too.” She said. She heard a click. He was gone. She set the phone back on the charger and turned around and shrieked. The sheriff was standing right there not even inches from her.

“Who was it?” He asked.

April stammered for a second. She wasn’t sure whether or not he had heard Michael’s voice on the earpiece. “That was my mom” she said as she reached up with her sleeve and dried the remaining tears on her cheek.

The sheriff looked at the clock and then back at April. “At two thirty in the morning?” He asked accusingly.

April’s heart about stopped. She felt like she was going to vomit. He didn’t believe her. Should she tell him? Was she going to be an accomplice? Wasn’t this obstruction of justice?
You’ve got to believe me. You’re my mommy silly
. The voices ran through her head. “She listens to the scanner. I told her what happened yesterday. She’s worried about me. That’s all.” She lied.

The sheriff nodded. “Well, I think I’m done here for the night. You call me if you think of anything you need to tell us.”

April nodded and showed him to the door. After he left, she closed the door, leaned against the back and slid down to the floor crying uncontrollably.