Chapter 19

I followed the guys out and watched as they put the mines in the trunk of the car. I told Bob to drive them back to the department and then to take time to eat before coming back. I had to wait for the team to move the bodies and for the refrigerated truck.

I was hoping against hope there was maybe only a couple of bodies in the house but I guess deep inside I knew I would be wrong. I had smelled that type of decay before and this was stronger than I had ever smelled. I knew that there would be at least fifty or more bodies and would bet that there would be more. I wondered if this was a dump of some kind and why there were no reports on missing people. I now knew I would be charging Trent with enough murder charges to get him executed. I still wanted the whole story from Doris besides the tape. There was something there that I hadn't been told and I wanted to know what.

I heard the truck before I saw it and when it went by I radioed the unit following it and had him turn it around. They pulled into the drive and were followed by a passenger van then my unit with Jim driving. This was one briefing that I didn't want to give or be part of. I felt sick inside that I had opened up this can of worms that everyone called a town. I thought that I had seen and did everything a law officer did during his career but this place was a sore waiting to be squeezed. I had all of them come into the front room and have a seat.

"What we are about to get into is everyone's nightmare. I am going to suit up also because I want the make sure there are no more booby traps to threaten anyone. I hope you brought a large amount of body bags because you're going to need them. We have cleared the hallway of booby traps but without masks we couldn't enter the house itself. That will be my job and none of you will enter until I clear the whole place. I am going in blind because I have no idea how many rooms or how big it is. Are there any questions?"

"I have one sheriff. If you haven't been inside how do you know how many bodies we will be dealing with?"

"I spent three tours in Nam and I have more experience with this type of thing than any of you do. I am sure you were told that I was in charge but if any of you think you can do a better job then stand up and go for it."

They all looked at each other but none of them stood up. I went back outside with them and got my suit and told them that we would suit up inside so the neighbors wouldn't get upset or panic. I told Jim to guard the front until Bob got back from his break then he would help carry the bodies to the truck. He gave me a shocked look and dropped his head without saying a word.

I led them into the basement and of course they all had something to say about the dope growing and how big the buds were. I gowned up and said I would keep in touch on the built in radio in the suit. I walked down the hallway wishing I didn't have to face what I was about to see.

I went down the hallway and opened the door to the underground house and immediately noticed that all the lights were on. Then I saw the first body. It was leaning up against the doorway leading to another room. I didn't see any marks or bullet holes upon close examination. It wasn't that old and hadn't started to decay yet but was starting to swell. I moved further in and came to a large room where bodies were in rows and stacked two and three high. What the hell was this and where had all these bodies came from? I bent over and examined a few of them and there wasn't any sign of violence on any of them. Some were just skeletons while others looked fresh. I went to another room and it was the same way. No signs of violence. I checked the other rooms and made sure there were no booby traps. I saw several blocks of C-4 scattered about and gathered them after taking the detonators out of them. I had gathered twelve blocks in all the rooms and roughly counted one hundred and ten bodies from skeletons to fresh corpses.

I was totally stumped as I walked back down the hallway to meet with the team that would be hauling them out. I walked into the basement and they all were suited up except for the headgear. I took mine off and could smell the death on myself.

"There are by rough count over a hundred bodies in there. The most puzzling thing to me is the fact that none show any signs of violence. Some are fresh and some look like they have been there for years. I really don't know what to make of this. I want one of you to take photos of everything in there. If you can get clear shots of the faces that are intact I want them taken. I don't know which one of you is the team leader but you are going to need a lot more help than what you have right now."

They were all looking at me like I had lost my mind.

"Sheriff there is no way that many bodies could all be in one place. My name is Thomas Reasoner and I don't want you to think I am calling you a liar, but I worked for five years in Bosnia. Are you sure of the count?"

"Tom, I have more experience than you and take my word for it when I say there are over a hundred bodies in there. There are also fifteen blocks of C-4 stacked in one corner. I think I found all of them but tell your people to be careful. I have the detonators in this bag. Tom, why don't you suit up and go on in and verify what I told you and then you can call for more people and a bigger truck. Remember, this is your operation but I want photos of every body and of the faces that are still intact."

I stripped off the suit and went upstairs and into the fresh air. Jim came over to me and said Shorty had been trying to reach me. I got on my walkie and called him.

"One to three."

"This is three, where you been one, I was starting to worry."

"I have been counting bodies three, why were you calling?"

"These ATF guys want to work through the night. My guys have been going strong all day and we are tired, and none of us have had anything other than coffee all day."

"Let me talk to Sikes three."

"This is Sikes. What can I do for you sheriff?"

"You can cut the smart ass attitude Sikes. Wrap it up for the night and report back to the department."

"You can forget that sheriff. I am running this investigation and as of now you don't give me orders."

Now I was pissed off royally. I told Jim I was taking his car and I headed for the gun store with lights on. I slid to a stop in front of the store and went in and told the first fed I ran into to get his boss up here right now. I waited till the short heavyset man came up to me and he had that superior smirk on his face that seemed to go with the feds because they thought they were smarter than all the locals.

"Sikes, I said we were wrapping it up and unless you want to keep your job as team leader you better listen when I give you an order."

"Sheriff, you can kiss my ass because you don't tell me or my men what to do."

I almost hit him but I held myself in check and pulled out my cell and called the director of homeland security. He answered on the second ring and asked what was wrong and I proceeded to fill him in telling him that his man was about to be ran out of my county along with his team. I told him what he told me word for word and he said to give Agent Sikes the phone. I smiled at him nastily and handed him the phone. He turned away and then he started stuttering and saying he had no idea, and that he would cooperate in any way and yes he liked his job. He looked at me and handed me back the phone.

I told the director that either he get this asshole out of my sight or I would call the commander of Nellis and have him take all the weapons to his base and he could run the investigation. I handed the phone back to Sikes and he simply said two words, yes sir.

He handed me the phone and all it had was a dial tone on it. He called his men together.

"Gentlemen, we are no longer investigating this case by order of the director of Homeland Security. My attitude to our boss here on site had caused this case to be taken out of our hands. This team will be reassigned and I will be sent to another duty station. A new team will be flown in tomorrow to resume where we left off. Let's close it up and seal it up."

I took my men and thanked them all for the help and called dispatch and asked that men be assigned to the store and the house for the next two shifts. I had Shorty take me to the motor pool and my unit was ready to go, almost as good as new. I told him it was in his hands now and that I was going home and would be back in the morning and not to bother me unless it was an emergency.