BODY COUNT: Killers (a novel): Chapter 53. Homecoming

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Blake was in his SUV. “Peter, we have him. He’s a teacher at Aline High School. I don’t have a first name but his last name is Thacher, T-H-A-C-H-E-R. Get me all the information in the world you can find on this guy. I’m moving my people to the high school; we’ll use it as our staging location. Oh! Let June know what’s going on. I’ll need warrants, both search and arrest – and ASAP.”
    He made a group call and had everybody assemble in a parking lot of the high school. A large oak tree provided shade as they awaited Peter’s call. Wayne asked, “Are you sure this is our guy? Is it possible the kid could be wrong?”

BODY COUNT: Killers (a novel): Chapter 52. Last Tango

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On Monday afternoon, with the artist’s sketch in their phones, Blake, Tony, and Wayne headed to Cary to join Shelley and Taylor. June had chartered a small jet to fly them, because time was running out, and they needed to get to Cary before the killer. Blake wanted to find out who he was and where he lived before he learned they were in town looking for him.
    But there was a potential problem. Taylor had posed a question that had been in the back of his mind: “What if the killer ran for home after the encounter in Dallas? That would mean he is already at home, or packed and gone.” Blake had no answer.

BODY COUNT: Killers (a novel): Chapter 51. MIA

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Blake called June as his bus pulled away from its next stop, but it went to voicemail. He told her to call him back. He still hadn’t heard from her at the next stop, so he got off and called her phone again – three times in a row, but no luck.
    He called Peter. “June is missing in action. I need you to track her location.”
    Peter hit a few keys on the computer. “Blake, I’m getting a signal almost two bus stops back from you. The signal is stationary, not moving.”

BODY COUNT: Killers (a novel): Chapter 50. Killer’s Back

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It had been a long ride from North Carolina and a longer winter, but it was the beginning of his hunting season and he was nervous and excited at the same time. He made his way off the bus in Dallas, a town he was looking forward to exploring. After all, it wasn’t just about the hunting – he was on vacation!
    The number of people on the ground around the buses doubled as another bus began to unload. He fought his way inside the station only to be pushed against the wall. It was then that he saw her across the way, over the heads of the other passengers. He knew her face but couldn’t place it at first.

BODY COUNT: Killers (a novel): Chapter 49. Killer in Town

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Saturday morning came and June and Blake were at the Dallas bus station at 5:15, in the waiting room sipping coffee from paper cups. Blake caught himself touching his gun more times than was necessary – he was nervous. He knew that plans on paper could look great, but in real time, shit could go wrong very fast. June also knew what was at stake, and she reached over and gripped his hand every so often.
    The station had been empty when they arrived, but as the 6 o’clock hour approached, two lines began to form at the ticket counter, and a few of the seats were taken by folks waiting for their people to get off incoming buses. A loud bang from behind them caused them both to jump. It was a man opening one of the little shops. Blake thought about going to the bathroom and checked his watch. It was 5 minutes to 6, so his bathroom break would have to wait.

BODY COUNT: Killers (a novel): Chapter 48. Surprise

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After the video conference, Tony got with Wayne, Shelley got with Taylor, and Blake got with himself to begin pulling up their assigned maps on their computers and phones. Every one of the five jumped at the sound of a knock on the front door. It was the first time anyone had come calling.
    Blake hollered at Wayne, who was closest to the door, “See who that is, would you? Probably some drunk who thinks this is still a bar.”
    Wayne walked to the door and looked through the peephole. “Blake, it’s a woman with short auburn hair. You want me to let her in?”

BODY COUNT: Killers (a novel): Chapter 47. The Hunt Begins

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The party on the lake hadn’t been planned, and Blake was at first put out by the invasion. But the team needed the weekend to bring them back together, and their bonding strengthened as the evening wore on. Blake was happy to see them laughing and joking with each other. He broke out his two big camping tents and everybody crashed for the night.
    On Saturday morning, the very hungover but smiling crew, including Tony, packed up and went home. Blake spent the day drinking beer, fishing, and eating leftovers. On Monday morning, refreshed after a restful Sunday and a good night’s sleep, he parked outside the Hideaway next to Taylor’s car.

BODY COUNT: Killers (a novel): Chapter 46. Countdown

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The FBI plane had a bar, and Wayne and Tony toasted a lot in flight. They were in a much better mood as they drove back to the Hideaway, Wayne in his car and Tony on his 1942 Indian Flathead motorcycle.
    A meeting was in process as they walked in. Blake, Taylor, Shelley, Peter, and Mary were gathered around the big screen. Tony shouted, “What, no welcome for the returning heroes?”
    Blake stood and walked toward them. “Glad you’re back! I guess we can put another case to bed.”

BODY COUNT: Killers (a novel): Chapter 45. Shelley Saves the Day

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It was late at night by the time they parked at Wayne’s apartment. They had had a good, wild time in Destin Beach. Now they both crashed and didn’t move until their cell phones went off around 8:00 the next morning. Wayne headed to the shower and hollered at Tony on the couch, “Roll out! Blake wants us at the Hideaway ASAP, with our go-bags. Looks like our vacation is over.”
    They parked in front of the Hideaway at 9:40. Taylor was pouring coffee behind the bar. “Do you two want a cup?”

Duel with a Demon? Or a Streak of Crazy Coincidences?

By Paul Clark
(aka motomynd)

It was a quiet Sunday night at home, the winding-down of a great weekend. We had finished the house projects on our list, enjoyed a wonderful three-mile Sunday-afternoon walk/run along the shore of our favorite local lake, and were settling in for a quiet dinner.
    And not just any dinner! This was our post-hike family-tradition greatest-dinner-ever: a vegan, gluten-free, Mediterranean style Daiya frozen pizza, to which we added extra mushrooms, olives, and pineapple before cooking it absolutely perfectly in our air-fryer pizza oven. It isn’t often we have a perfect weekend and get to top it off with the perfect meal, but this weekend we achieved the near impossible.

BODY COUNT: Killers (a novel): Chapter 44. Louisiana Blues

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It took Wayne and Tony two weeks to cover all of the shifts at the truck shops east of Baton Rouge on I-10. It was time-consuming work. They were able to cover only a few miles of interstate highway in a day, what with having to check three shifts at each of the truck stops. Then they had to backtrack to check the weekend crew. The frustrating thing about the slow progress was that outside of the one girl – Tammy – no one knew anything.
    After that they went all of the way to Sulfur, Louisiana, and began to work their way back to Baton Rouge. Tony was happier now that it was April. The rains still came but it was warm rain, and flowers were coming up everywhere. Tony estimated that at the rate they were going it would be into May before they would have hit all the shifts along the freeway.

BODY COUNT: Killers (a novel): Chapter 43. More Killers

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Taylor and Wayne dropped their rental cars off in Memphis and picked up their own cars. By the time they reached the Hideaway – Blake had decided the bar didn’t need his name on it – Rainbow’s 1942 motorcycle was parked outside. Wayne and Taylor pulled in beside it.
    Inside, at the big table, were Peter, Blake, and Tony, aka Rainbow. They all had beers and were laughing. Taylor jokingly shouted, “So this is what goes on when I’m not here!”
    Blake hollered back, “Get a beer from behind the bar and join us. We were just talking about your latest case.”

BODY COUNT: Killers (a novel): Chapter 42. Crosshairs

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Rainbow flew down the road on his way back to the mill. His job, now that the killer was caught, would be to protect his cover story, and the sooner he warned Kirk, packed his clothes, and hit the road, the better off he would be.
    When Kirk saw Rainbow race through the gates and on to the shed, he looked back down the road to see who was chasing him. No one was to be seen there, but when Rainbow hurriedly jumped off the motorcycle, Kirk rushed to join him.
    Rainbow threw open the half-closed doors of the shed, hoping to find a tarp to throw over the motorcycle. He grabbed one that was spread across the work table next to where the bike had been parked for years. The tarp dragged a couple of shoe boxes and a hammer off the table, and they fell onto the dirt floor.

BODY COUNT: Killers (a novel): Chapter 41. Confusion

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Rainbow managed to complete the framework for the new boathouse, but he was having a hard time keeping his mind on the job. It kept popping into his head that he was riding the getaway vehicle used in a double murder. He felt like a pawn on a chess board. He believed that one of the two sons was the serial killer, but what kind of game was the killer playing? Kirk Johnson had to know that when Ted Banks saw that motorcycle there would be a reaction from him. Banks’ telling Rainbow to paint the bike meant that he knew the danger of having the motorcycle show up again on the streets. So why did Kirk give the bike to him in the first place?
    He was deep in thought when a car pull into the drive. The sheriff got out and hollered, “Send the Mexicans home and come to the house. I need your help with something.”

BODY COUNT: Killers (a novel): Chapter 40. Taylor on Site

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Taylor checked into the Roadway Inn at 3:15 the same afternoon. He called Wayne as soon as he got to his room, and 10 minutes later there was a knock on his door. “Man, I’m glad to see you!” Wayne said.
    Taylor went back to the bed and got a file from his suitcase. “Here’s everything we have on Banks, but there’s nothing that says serial killer.”
    Wayne sat down at the table by the window and quickly perused the file. “It’s the only lead I have,” he said. “Nobody will talk to me here, black or white. The one and the only person who has spoken to me about the murders is a drunk, but I believe him when he said Banks picked up his friend that night.”

BODY COUNT: Killers (a novel): Chapter 39. Carpenter

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Rainbow knew that a crooked sheriff would have more information than a lumber mill owner, so what better way to get close to the source of the information than to work for him?
    By the time he and Carl reached the mill, Banks had made the call to Kirk about hiring a carpenter. Rainbow stepped down from the truck and Carl drove off. Kirk had seen them pull into the lot and walked over to Rainbow.
    “Well, it looks like you made a hell of an impression on our sheriff. He wants you to start carpentering tomorrow.” He put his hand on Rainbow’s back and nudged him toward the shed on the side of the cabin.

BODY COUNT: Killers (a novel): Chapter 38. Long Road Ahead

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Things were quiet around the new office. Peter and Mary would video-chat with Taylor and Blake each morning, but the noise level was very low without Shelley, Tony, or Wayne. Blake had heard from the people taking care of Shelley and the report was good. Tony hadn’t reported in and Wayne was overdue. Blake hated not being in the field.
    The four still in Memphis were working on the June Killer case. Everybody wanted to change the name but no one’s suggestions impressed the others, so “June Killer” had remained. They were working on a computer prediction of five routes that the killer might take on his next vacation. Amazingly, the computer had started all five routes from the same town in North Carolina. It was a sprawling suburb of Raleigh called Cary. Blake and Peter were in an ongoing dialogue as to how the computer came up with that town.

BODY COUNT: Killers (a novel): Chapter 37. Wayne and the Klan

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Wayne pulled out of the Kroger parking lot and took a left at the corner. He crossed over the railroad tracks and went from the white world into the black. Other than the older buildings, the most noticeable thing was the roadway. It went from being well maintained to being full of potholes, and some side streets were still gravel. Wayne felt as though he had stepped back in time – nothing had changed in that part of town since 1950. He had stopped at a church in this part of town earlier and spoken to a number of people on the street. He had been told that the Short Rib Café was the place to go. It was the heart of the community. It was sort of his last hope.

BODY COUNT: Killers (a novel): Chapter 36. Rainbow and the Klan

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Kirk Johnson was a big man. He wasn’t just tall at 6'-2" but also broad across the shoulders and chest. His family had been in the lumber business since the first Johnson set foot in Morgan County in 1832. The first Johnson, Hugh Johnson, ran the sawmill with slaves and supplied the South with railroad ties during the North’s invasion. After the war, Hugh Johnson’s son, Herman Johnson, helped form the Morgan County Ku Klux Klan and they hanged three of Grandpa Herman’s slaves from the tree at the entrance to the mill. The slaves had thought they were free and started their own logging business. It was the first and last black-owned business for 100 years.

BODY COUNT: Killers (a novel): Chapter 35. Career Decisions

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Once back in Memphis, Blake was on the telephone all morning setting up a retreat location for Shelley. He was kicking himself for not sending her to one after the Betty Walker shooting. He had watched her closely on the trip back from Seattle and noticed some classic signs of PTSD. He wondered whether the signs had been there all along and he had missed them.
    He reached out to some of his friends from the past and was told of a ranch buried deep in the Smoky Mountains whose specialty was treating people suffering from PTSD. They could have a room waiting for her.