Chapter 17

Amish Country, Ohio

"OK, guys," said Jack. We are going to have to stay here until we get this mess straightened out. Thank God Mr. and Mrs. Johansen are understanding about our following them. We would be in real trouble if we didn't have his landline. God I hate cell phones."

Jen placed a hand on Jack's. "It's not your fault, Jack. No one could have followed that BMW without being seen. You did the right thing. This way we have a chance of following them after they pick up the ransom money. Thanks to you, there is still hope."

Cindy simply sat on a chair and cried quietly with Mrs. Johansen trying to calm her down. "Here, Honey, take a little brandy. It will settle your nerves."

"My sister is out there waiting for me to save her, and I let her down. I listened to the wrong people. I should have gone to the FBI. Paul talked me out of it. This is that son of a bitch's fault. I hate him."

Teresa moved to Cindy's side. "This is not anyone's fault, Cindy. The FBI would still be trying to figure out what to do, and would have most likely done the same thing Paul did, but not as well. Remember, Paul is a member of the state police, so he really does know what he is doing."

"Oh, fuck you! You can talk nice. It's not your sister that's missing."

"No, but Sally is very dear to me. I have almost as much emotional baggage as you."

Mr. Johansen walked into the room. "I know that you are tired, and you don't know what all you're saying. Why don't you try to get some sleep on the floor? I'll stay up and wait by the phone and then wake you up when something happens. Momma, get some blankets for our guests."

Jen looked at Mr. Johansen and replied, "That's a good idea, thank you."

Goodyear Heights, Ohio

Rhonda and Shawn walked into the convenience store and started gathering junk food for the night's expected vigil. They chatted away like magpies. "TC gave me a Placida Domingo box set for my birthday, and I haven't had a chance to hear it. Hobo hates opera, so I have to wait for him to leave the house before I can play it. He's still in the hospital so we have all night to listen to good music before I call him in the morning. I want to call him now, but I don't want to disturb him. He leaves the hospital tomorrow. You are really going to like my man."

"That is a great idea. I just love Domingo. He is so great."

"Is that spoken as a professional or a woman?"

Rhonda blushed and replied, "Both!"

Both women started laughing and gave each other a platonic hug. In the middle of the hug, Shawn froze and started shaking.

Rhonda felt the change in Shawn and pushed out of the embrace. "Shawn, what's wrong?"

After a second of hesitation, Shawn grabbed Rhonda and pushed her behind a shelf as she leaned around the shelf and starred at the man talking to the store clerk.

"What in the hell are you doing?"

"Shush, Rhonda!" whispered Shawn.

Rhonda felt the urgency in Shawn's voice and quickly became concerned, but she kept quiet.

The man at the counter was dressed in black slacks, and had on a black sweater with black loafers and black socks. His long black hair rested on his shoulders in small clean curls. The beard was long and well kept. The black of his hair and clothing contrasted sharply against his pale almost fragile looking frame.

As the man left the store, Shawn put her beer down, and told Rhonda to lay down her junk food. She grasped Rhonda's hand and pulled her to Paul's SUV.

When Rhonda and Shawn were belted into the SUV, Rhonda asked, "Want to tell me what is going on now?"

"Did you see the guy in black at the counter?"

"Yes."

"Well, he butchered my mother in front of me."

"Are you sure?"

"Some things you don't forget."

"What are we going to do?"

"We are going to follow him and notify the police. No, wait, call Paul. Here, use the satellite phone. The number is 330-555-5555. I'll keep back and try not to lose him."

Rhonda dialed the phone.

"Paul Brown!"

"Paul, this is Rhonda."

"Hi Rhonda, are you OK?"

"Not really, but that can wait until later. We have a problem. Shawn thinks she recognized the guy who killed her mother. We are following him now."

"Did he see you and Shawn?"

"I don't think so."

"If she is right, this guy is dangerous. Do you know how to use a hand gun?"

"I was weaned with a Colt .38 in my hand. We Oklahoma girls are tough stock."

"You can say that again. Open the glove compartment. See the weapon?"

"Yes."

"That's a Glock .40 cal. Do you think you can figure it out?"

"After Jamie's history lesson tonight, this will be a piece of cake."

"Good. You have two 17 round clips. There is also a 9mm Beretta under the driver's seat. TC tells me Shawn has one of those at home, so she should not have any trouble with it. Now, just because you two broads are armed, is no reason for you to take any chances. I want you to be careful. Two women missing are enough. Keep me informed of where you are, and I'll get Jim to follow you on Lojack. Where are you now?"

"OK. We just pulled onto a freeway and we are heading... What direction are we headed, Shawn? We are heading west. No, we just turned south..."

"What's he driving?"

"Looks like a black Honda Acclaim. Late model, 4-door. I can't get the plates."

"What did this guy look like?"

"Curly black hair. It was well kept, but it was shoulder length. Black beard. About 6'2". About 150 to 160 pounds. White skin. Black sweater, slacks and shoes and socks. He was also carrying something that looked like a bible."

A chill ran up Paul's spine. "A bible?"

"Sure looked like it. He just took the freeway west again. He's not going over the speed limit. Are we going to lose cell contact?"

"No. You are on a satellite phone. I could talk to you anywhere in the world. Are you two up to this?"

"What do you mean by up to this?"

"Well, you have been through quite a bit lately."

"If we have a problem, I'll let you know, but don't worry for now.

"OK. I need to make some phone calls. I'm still in the command center. If you need me, the redial button is on the bottom left hand side of the phone, or you can speed dial by pressing star 01."

"Got it. Don't be gone long."

"Don't worry, Kiddo, I'll be back faster than you can say 'Supercalifrajalisticexpialidocious'."

Akron, Ohio

Paul pressed the speed dial on his phone.

"Jamie Prince."

"Jamie, Paul Brown here. Are you with the Smiths?"

"Yes. Vivian is in surgery. I'm in the waiting room with Paul."

"Please hand him the phone."

"Smith here."

"Paul, Paul Brown. I need to ask you some questions. First, how is you wife?"

"Well, they said it's bad. If she is lucky, she will get about 75% of the use of her hand back. She could lose up to 90%. This surgery will take about 4 hours. They will know more when they get out. Nothing is life threatening, though. Thanks for asking."

"Good. I need to ask you about any dealings you may have had with the seeder side of humanity. Did you notice Burton doing any thing weird? Let me rephrase that. Did you notice him doing anything illegal?"

"Well, you know about the drugs. We got those from two slime ball bikers buy the name of Ratso and Sleazy. They seemed to be working for some guy they just called the boss."

"Did you ever meet this boss?"

"No, it was enough to work with the two bikers. I had to wash my hands every time I talked to them."

"I know what you mean. I had a problem with them myself. Did you ever meet a guy by the name of Hobo?"

"No. Never heard the name. Wait a minute. I remember one time they were laughing because some guy told them he wouldn't do anything he felt was wrong. They were laughing because the guy lost his job and still would not break the law. Ratso said he was going to ride his high horse all the way to the poor house."

"So you don't think this Hobo was the boss?"

"No way. This boss was really a bad ass. Sleazy said something about the boss skinning them alive if they tried to cheat him. Said the boss really liked to do that."

"Do you know if Burton ever met the boss?"

"Could have, but I don't know."

"Do you have any idea where we could find this boss fellow?"

"All I know is that Bill told me he had some farm southwest of Akron. Wait. Here come the doctors. I'll hand the phone back to Jamie."

"Jamie. Did you hear any of the conversation we just had?"

"Yes, I did. Isn't Ratso and Sleazy friends of Shawn?"

"I wouldn't call them friends, but she knows them."

"Paul, Smith wants to talk to you."

"Yes Paul. What is it?"

"My wife's hand could be as much as 90% useable with therapy. She is going to be out for the rest of the night. There is no sense hanging around here. Is there anything I can do to help on this thing. I really didn't like Heather, but I don't want her hurt. Especially after what Vivian and I just went through."

"Thanks, Paul for the offer. We don't know what you can do right now, but let Jamie know where and how we can get hold of you if we do need you."

"You got it. You need Jamie again?"

"Yes. Jamie, did you check in on Hobo? He might be able to let us know where we might find Ratso and Sleazy."

"I did, but he checked out this afternoon. He should be home in bed."

"I'll check with Shawn. She's trailing a guy she thinks killed her mother. Did you hear TC's story?"

"Yeah! Extreme wasn't it."

"Yes, but I have a hunch he is involved with Burton Ministries and Sally and Heather. At this point, it is just a hunch."

"Paul, I would rather trust one of your hunches than a car load of witnesses."

"Hang on, I'm going to conference a call to Shawn and Rhonda." Paul dialed his phone.

"Rhonda!"

"Good, Rhonda. I have Jamie on the other line. Can you hear?

"Hi Rhonda!"

"Hi Jamie. I am glad you guys are back. Nothing is happening, but I feel better with you there."

"Rhonda, did you guys go to Shawn's apartment after you left us?"

"Yes. Why?"

"Was Hobo there? Shawn's husband."

"No, he is in the hospital."

"He checked out today at noon."

"Check with Shawn and see if she would have any idea where he would go."

"She doesn't know. She is worried about him now."