Текст книги "Detective Jason Strong: The Early Cases"
Автор книги: John C. Dalglish
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Текущая страница: 14 (всего у книги 21 страниц)
For My Brother
by
John C. Dalglish
Prologue
Donnie Jarvis stepped off the school bus with his friend Tim Brown and waved at the driver. Donnie and Tim were in the same sixth grade class and lived just three houses apart in their south San Antonio neighborhood. The day was warm but not uncomfortably as the two boys turned for home.
They cut across the corner of Mr. Lander’s perfect green lawn. It was a game the twelve year olds played almost every day with the retired man. Could they get across without him seeing? If he was outdoors, he would yell at them to get off the grass and if he was indoors, he’d pound on the large glass window overlooking the manicured lawn. Today was a win for them, he wasn’t watching.
Tim swung his left arm and hit Donnie lightly across the chest.
“Hey, what’s all that about?”
Donnie looked up to see what his friend was talking about. At the end of the block, in front of Donnie’s house, was a chaotic scene. Blue and red lights seemed to be everywhere, reflecting off dozens of windows, signs and cars. Yellow tape was being stretched across the front yard, wrapped around the big oak on the corner of their lot and down along the side yard to the back fence. People, most in some kind of uniform, were going in and out of his house.
“I don’t know….” Donnie’s voice trailed off as fear took hold of him.
Instantly, he was running. His heart beat wildly in his chest and he could hear the throbbing in his ears, as his feet pounded the pavement towards home. The closer he got to his house, the wilder the scene seemed to become. People, the neighbors mostly, were standing at the edge of the yellow tape. Some were crying, others in small groups were talking and pointing at the house. It seemed as if every head turned towards him as he ran up.
Donnie stopped at the edge of the crime tape, as still another police car with lights flashing, rolled up to the scene. The passenger door swung open before the car could get stopped. Donnie’s mom flew out of the car and rushed towards the house, tears streaming down her face. When she got to the front door, a man in plain clothes barred her from entering.
“Billy! Billy!” She tried to see over the man blocking her way. “Let me by!”
Donnie watched as the man held his mother in a bear hug and said something into her ear. She shook her head back and forth, as if trying to clear the words out of her head.
“No. Nooooo!”
She slumped against the man and he had to hold her up to keep her from collapsing on the walkway.
“Mom!”
His mom straightened up at the sound of Donnie’s voice and turned, looking for where she’d heard it. When she spotted him, she broke loose from the man, ran to Donnie, and wrapped her arms around him.
“Donnie! Are you okay?”
“Yeah. What’s going on? Why are all these policemen here?”
His mother’s face was drawn and almost gray. Pain welled up in her eyes and Donnie realized he had seen that look before. The last time their world had crashed around them, the last time tragedy had visited their home. It was just two years ago, when his dad passed away. The connection scared him even more and he started to cry. His mother brushed at his tears.
“Something has happened to Billy. There’s been an accident.”
Billy was Donnie’s seventeen year old big brother, and Donnie worshiped him. Billy, a senior in high school, would keep an eye on Donnie after school until his mom got home from work. They would throw a football around or play a video game and Billy never complained that it took time away from things he could be doing with his friends.
“What happened? Is he okay?”
“No. I’m afraid he’s not okay.”
She paused, seemingly gathering strength for what she was about to say.
“Billy is dead.”
She stared at him and Donnie could tell she was waiting. Waiting to see how he reacted, what he would say, expecting him to scream. But Donnie didn’t have a reaction because life suddenly stood still. The words ‘Billy is dead’ bounced around the walls of his soul, looking but not finding some place to grab onto, some place that could understand and let the truth settle inside him.
Instead, he refused to let the words be part of him, to take root, and when Tim walked up with the book-bag Donnie had dropped, he turned to him and acted like it was just another day.
“Oh thanks, Tim. I probably won’t be at school for a few days.”
“Okay...” His friend glanced at Donnie’s mother and back at his friend. “See ya’ later.”
****
Donnie sat on the grass with his mother as the house slowly cleared of personnel. He had seen the body bag containing his brother wheeled out on a stretcher and watched as it was loaded into a coroner’s van before being driven away. Most of the police cars were gone, one by one shutting off their lights and driving off into the early nightfall. The yellow tape, now sagging towards the ground, still flapped in the breeze but it no longer held onlookers at bay. People had returned to their homes to look for themselves on TV in the evening newscasts.
It turned out, the man in plain clothes that blocked his mother’s path, was a detective. He brought each one of the kids, who had been in the room with Billy, outside and asked them the same questions.
Donnie sat and listened intently as Billy’s friends recounted what had happened in his brother’s final moments. He recognized two of them. Billy’s best friend, Ed Garland and Billy’s girlfriend, Suzanne Cooper. The other two Donnie had never seen before. They told the detective their names were Dexter Hughes and Chelsea Burt. Both girls were crying and the boys wore a stunned, almost vacant look. Donnie wasn’t crying, he was listening.
Each one of his brother’s friends described a game called ‘Russian Roulette’ and how his brother had spun the chamber of the gun, put it to his head and pulled the trigger. Donnie couldn’t understand what kind of ‘game’ could involve shooting yourself. It wasn’t a game Billy would ever have played with him. They said no one else had taken a turn, only his brother had played.
Donnie was listening to the fourth account when his mom realized he was hearing these details and took him into the backyard. They sat at the picnic table and someone brought them each a cold soda. Donnie looked at his mother, her eyes red from crying, and it dawned on him that they were alone. It was just the two of them.
“What are we gonna do, Momma?’
“I don’t know, Donnie. I don’t know.”
Chapter 1
“Donnie, it’s time!”
Donnie Jarvis shut down his computer and pushed back his chair.
“Coming!”
He stopped at the bottom of the stairs to take a quick look in the mirror. Brown eyes stared back at him. He ran his hand through black hair that never seemed to lie down in the same place twice. His t-shirt was clean, as were his jeans.
When he reached the top of the stairs, his mother was waiting for him in her wheelchair. Diabetes had taken its toll on her health, her legs in particular, and walking even short distances was difficult.
“Let me look at you.”
He posed for her as she swept him up and down with her eyes.
“Well, you’re clean anyway. What are you doin’ downstairs all day?”
“Just playing on the computer. Nothing special. You ready to go?”
“Yes.”
It was Sunday and for the past ten years, rain or shine, Sunday meant a visit with Billy at the cemetery. If the weather was good, like it was today, they would spread a blanket out and sit for hours. His mother would chatter on telling Billy the latest news and who was doing what to whom in her soaps. She was always happiest when they were with Billy. Of course, she never heard Billy speak back to her, it was just her way of staying connected to her oldest boy. Donnie on the other hand, did have a connection with his brother. They did speak and they had a plan.
“Okay, I’ll pull the van around.”
Donnie went out the back door to the garage. The white metal building had two parking bays but they only had need of one. Inside was parked the blue Chevy Astro. It was old and ugly but his mother could manage getting in and out of it better than most cars. Donnie had sold his Chevy Impala when his momma couldn’t drive anymore. He just took to driving the van.
He backed out and drove around front where his mother was waiting on the porch. Getting out, he helped her stand and get hold of the rail. She struggled, taking one step at a time down to the side door of the van. When she was settled, he went returned to the porch, folded the wheelchair, and put it in the back of the van. One day he hoped to get her an automatic chair lift.
Climbing back into the driver’s seat, he headed out the lane.
“Nice day for our visit, Momma.”
“It is. I so enjoy our time together as a family. A day like this makes it all the nicer.”
The driveway was a quarter mile dirt trail leading out to the county road. Their home was an old farmhouse on seven acres, located ten miles east of San Antonio. It was white with a green roof, as was the matching garage. There was an old barn that was just barely standing. It, too, used to be white but hadn’t been painted in years.
They had moved here right after Billy died. In fact, neither Donnie nor his mother had gone back inside their house after his brother’s death. His mother had enlisted a real estate friend to clean up and sell the house. His mother didn’t ask much for it, just wanting to leave it and the memories behind. She had used some of the money to pay for the funeral and the rest to buy the farm.
“I made us some ice tea to enjoy while we visit.”
Donnie hadn’t noticed the bottle in her purse but now he saw it and some styrofoam cups.
“That’ll be nice.”
The cemetery was just a few minutes from home and they arrived just after three in the afternoon. Donnie turned right into ‘Gates of Heaven Memorial Cemetery’. A fifteen minute drive on I-10 east from San Antonio, it was a small rural cemetery that relied on donations to keep the grass mowed and the gates from falling down.
As usual, they were the only ones there. He followed the dirt track to the back, around to the west and stopped in front of several stones indicating the final resting place of the less fortunate. Donnie had seen some of the nice cemeteries in the city, the ones he and his mother hadn’t been able to afford, and despite the name, ‘Gates of Heaven’ was a far cry from what his brother deserved.
He removed her wheelchair from the van and put it where she could get into it. Holding her arm to steady her, he got her seated, and pushed her over to Billy’s grave, stopping where she could reach the headstone. She leaned over, brushing the leaves away from her son’s name, before laying a single red rose across the stone.
“Hi, Billy. We’re here. I missed you this week.”
Donnie watched as his mother carried on the conversation. His mother had never heard Billy, she just pretended. Donnie’s relationship with his older brother was different. He could hear his brother. Not on these visits with his mother, but when he came on his own to make their plans.
Today, Donnie would watch, drink tea and enjoy his mother’s smiles as she shared and laughed with Billy. He would return tonight, after dark, when he could hear the voice of his brother clearly. They had further plans to make. Donnie sensed something big was coming and knew Billy would tell him soon.
Today’s visit was short, they had been there just ninety minutes, when his mother turned to him.
“I’m ready to go.”
She looked back at the rose and her son’s name.
“Bye, Billy. See you next week. Love you.”
****
When they arrived home, Donnie helped Momma back into the house and parked the van before going back to the basement.
“Don’t you want dinner, Donnie?”
“No. I’ll make a sandwich later.”
Shutting the door behind him, he descended the stairs. Switching his computer on, the password request window loaded up and he typed in ‘Brothers’. A file popped up with the names of four people listed across the top. Donnie clicked on the first name. Suzanne Cooper.
Another screen opened with a full biography of his brother’s former girlfriend. One of the first tasks Billy had given him, in their early talks, was to start a file on each person present that day at the Russian Roulette game. Donnie had made notes on the things Billy told him to look into and how to find all four people.
It had taken Donnie several years, but as he got better with his computer, he used social networks and identity searches to build each file. Now he had the address, family relations, work place and much more for each name on his list. Billy had been proud of how well he’d done gathering the information.
Billy had not given him his mission yet, just to gather the information, but Donnie could already feel the time was coming when action would be necessary. He looked forward to it. He stared at the girl’s face on the screen. Would she be first in Billy’s plan or would it be one of the others. Donnie was sure he would know soon.
Chapter 2
The sun had set by the time Donnie returned to the cemetery. His mother usually questioned him about where he was going. He always said the same thing.
“Just gonna hang with a friend.”
He would be out the door before she could ask who.
For many, a cemetery is no place to be after dark, but Donnie loved the solitude. It allowed him to hear his brother, and his brother to hear him. They were never interrupted in the cemetery at night.
“Hi, Billy.”
Donnie stood looking down at the rose his mother had left. The petals were bathed in the waning moonlight but he stared at it without seeing, his mind listening intently for his brother’s voice.
“Billy, I need to know what the next step in our plan is. I’ve got the files complete and update them regularly, just as you asked, but I’m sure there’s more I could be doing.”
Donnie started nodding his head up and down.
“Okay.”
He reached into his pocket, pulled out a pencil along with some scrap paper, and began to draw. In the low moonlight, his picture was poorly drawn, hardly recognizable but he felt he knew what Billy was saying.
“I understand, Billy. I’ll begin immediately.”
He finished the drawing and looked back from the paper towards his brother’s name on the stone.
“No, I won’t tell mom. It’s just between us.”
He tucked the pencil back in his jeans and folded the sheet of paper up, sliding it into a shirt pocket.
His face turned sad. It always did when the time came to leave his brother.
“I gotta go, Billy. I’ll be back in a few days. Miss you.”
Donnie turned and walked slowly, head down, back to his car. He always looked forward to visiting his brother and sharing with him, but each visit tore at him, overwhelming him with sadness. It never got easier.
He started his car and turned it towards the exit.
****
“Where have you been?”
“I told you, Momma. You know you don’t have to worry about me.”
She was sitting in her chair watching ‘America’s Funniest Videos’. She had probably seen the same episode a dozen times but she stilled laughed at the same clips. Donnie kissed her on the top of her head but she was not appeased.
“You’re either off running around or hiding in the basement. I don’t know the name of any of your friends, we never talk about your outings and you never keep your mother company anymore.”
“Oh come on, Momma. I’m 22. I’ve got things to do, people to see, worlds to conquer.”
She refused to smile at his joke.
“I never see any friends come over, the phone doesn’t ring. Whose worlds are you conquering?”
Donnie laughed and started for the stairs to the basement.
“Where you goin’?”
“Downstairs. I’ve got something I need to do before going to bed.”
His mother made a pouty face and turned towards the TV. Donnie smiled to himself. She couldn’t stay mad at him and he knew it. He hurried down the stairs, excited by the new task.
With his computer open, he made a new file. He typed the name ‘Containment’ on the description line and opened it so the required material could be entered as each measurement was taken.
Donnie needed to get the drawing Billy had given him onto the computer while it was still fresh in his mind. The drawing done at the cemetery would help but he knew it was only a rough approximation.
Taking a tape measure, he stretched it the length on the basement. The measurement went into the file. Next, he stretched it crossways in the room. That measurement was entered. He multiplied the numbers together and got the available square footage in the room. He subtracted the space he needed for his desk and divided the result by 4, which gave him the size of each cell.
He smiled to himself. 4 foot by 8 foot would be the size of each one, more than enough for them to lie down. It was easy for him to envision the layout and he spent the next hour making a materials list for the project. It had to be done right and it had to be strong. Billy was counting on him.
****
The next morning, Donnie was up early getting ready for work. He had a part time job with SUMMIT CONSTRUCTION. He couldn’t work full time because he needed to be around for his mother but the extra money helped to supplement her disability check. Mostly, he was a gopher for the regular guys and the work was spotty, but he was looking forward to going this morning.
“Bye, Momma. I’ll see you later.” He kissed her forehead as he always did and rushed out the back door.
“Wait! When you comin’ home?”
He didn’t hear her; he was already at the garage getting into the van.
Donnie arrived at the job site about twenty minutes later. SUMMIT was building a condominium complex in the northeast suburb of Windcrest. He found his boss, Gary Maddox, in the construction site trailer.
“Morning, Gary.”
“Hi, Donnie. You ready to get to work?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Okay, I need you running wheelbarrows of gravel to Smitty and Dixon. They’re prepping the sidewalk from Building One to the parking lot.”
“Yes, Sir.”
Donnie left the trailer and went to find the wheelbarrow. He knew he was in for a long day, hauling gravel was hard work, but lunchtime would give him an opportunity to focus on his real mission for the day.
****
After a long hot morning, Donnie took lunch with the rest of the guys but he didn’t eat with them. Smitty saw him leaving.
“Where you goin’?”
“Gotta run an errand.”
“Better be back in an hour.”
“I will.”
Donnie got in his van and drove around the block, parking just out of sight of the construction office trailer. Leaving the van running for the air conditioning, Donnie waited for his boss to leave. Gary Maddox took lunch downtown with his girlfriend and Donnie was going to use the time his boss was gone to sneak into the site office. Gary kept a .38 caliber revolver, which he called the ‘Texas Deal Maker’, in an unlocked desk drawer.
Donnie had seen the gun dozens of times, every time Gary told his favorite story. He would pull the gun out of the drawer, show it to the latest visitor and then tell the same story.
“Some guy who worked for me said I cheated him out of a day’s pay. Of course, he was wrong but he refused to leave the job site. I got this gun and went out to talk with him.
I said, ‘This is called the Texas Deal Maker’ and I’m going to use it to make you a deal. You leave now and I won’t use it. He didn’t move so I asked him if he was married and he said “yeah, so what?” So I said, if you don’t leave now, I’m gonna have to change the name of this gun to ‘Texas Widowmaker’. He left.”
At that point, Gary would laugh like it was the first time he’d told the story.
Donnie thought it was funny the first couple times but the story had lost its charm. None the less, he knew it meant that many people knew where that gun was and that worked to his advantage.
A few minutes after he parked, Donnie watched the grey Dodge truck owned by his boss leave the construction site. He shut the van off and climbed out. Checking his watch, he stepped through a gap in the fence and came around from behind the trailer. Making sure no one had wandered near, he slipped into the office.
A blast of cool air hit him as he shut the door. Avoiding the windows, he walked over to the desk and slid the drawer open. The gun was still sitting where he expected it to be. He picked it up, opened the chamber and looked for bullets. It was loaded. He clicked the chamber shut, checked to make sure the safety was on, and stuffed it down the front of his pants.
Moving quickly back to the door, he cracked it open. The sound of tires on gravel stopped him cold. Was it his boss back early? Did Gary forget something?
Donnie could put the gun back and get it another day but he knew he might lose his nerve if there had to be a second try. He waited and the sound of a vehicle turning around started his heart beating again. When it left the lot, he stuck his head out, saw no one, and retraced his steps to the van. Once inside, he hid the gun under his seat and started the vehicle. He still had an errand to run.
****
“You’re late!”
“Am not! Got ten minutes left.”
Donnie smiled because he knew the guys liked to give him a hard time. He set his Burger King bag down and pulled out a hamburger.
“So Donnie, what was your errand?”
Donnie reached into his back pocket and pulled out new set of work gloves.
“Just needed new gloves.”
Smitty grinned at Donnie.
“Hands hurt? Must be getting soft, Donnie.”
“Not soft, just working harder than you and wearing my old gloves out.”
Donnie smiled to himself. His old gloves were fine, laying in his van, but the guys ribbing him meant no one had seen him and he’d accomplished his mission for the day. Billy will be pleased.
