Classmate Murders - Bob Moats (ready player one ebook .txt) 📗

a while, everyone had their fill, and they had started a bonfire, in the firepit that Buck had in the front yard, just as the sun was sinking.

I took a blanket off a chair from the back porch, and spread it out for Penny and I. We sat by the fire, just dreaming. I kissed her cheek and she put her head on my shoulder and sighed, "Could this get any better?" I didn't think so, but I would try to see if we could top it. Deacon had pulled his patrol car across the front drive, by the road, to discourage any bad guys or local cops snooping around at a party of bikers. Besides, we were fairly secluded as the neighbors were spread far apart. So we weren't going to bother anyone.

Around midnight, most people had drifted off to their tents, or fell asleep on chaise lounges or blankets. Penny and I got up, she kissed Buck on the top of his head, while he was trying to do a yoga mediation position on the ground. We said good night, grabbed a couple of beers, and toddled off to the back bedroom.

In the near dark of the room, the only light coming in through the thin curtains was from the floodlights, in the back yard, we stood facing each other. She kissed my cheek and I kissed hers, then she kissed my neck, I kissed hers. She slowly unbuttoned my shirt and kissed my chest, from the neck down to my waist. We sat on the bed and I unbuttoned her blouse and proceeded to slowly work my way around her bra with my lips and tongue, tasting her sweetness. I tugged at her bra strap with my lips and pulled it down one shoulder, then worked the other off. She reached around and tried to undo the bra clasp, I reached around and moved her hand and popped open the fasteners with one hand. She looked surprised and said, "Handy aren't you?" I undressed her, she undressed me. We lay together in silence, and took our time pleasuring each other, more and more until our sweaty bodies could take no more. We lay in silence again and she slept, I laid back, popped open a beer, and was thankful for such a woman. Who said old folks couldn't make love?

I think I finally drifted off around 2 A.M., as it was the last time I looked at the clock. I woke in the morning, and reached over to Penny, she wasn't there. I pulled on my clothes and went out to see what was going on, as it was so deathly quiet. Penny and Buck were sitting at his small dining table, having coffee and donuts. Buck asked if I wanted some and I told him what I thought about coffee. He took that as a no. I bent down to Penny, gave her a smooch, sat next to her and grabbed a donut. I saw Deacon was passed out on the couch, his feet hanging off the end. I asked if everyone else was still sleeping, looking at the clock in the kitchen, it was 7:40 A.M., a time I'm not usually up by.

"Yeah, most of these people don't open their eyes till around noon," Buck yawned.

That caused Penny to yawn widely, I stuck my finger in her mouth and she bit it. I pulled back yelling, "Hey, not nice."

"Well, sticking your finger in my mouth isn't either." she grinned, then leaned over to say in my ear, "I remember things you did with that finger last night, sailor."

I smiled sheepishly and changed the subject. "I'm going to call Trapper at a decent hour, and fill him in on our findings. Maybe he has some news for us, like both Waters and Morgan were killed, in a shoot out with the law," I hoped.

Buck laughed, "I have a feeling those two will be a bit hard to catch."

"Maybe you can talk them to death in their sleep," the voice came from Deacon on the couch, "I know it's killing me, listening to you while I'm trying to sleep."

Buck threw a donut at Deacon, it landed on his neck, he picked it up and started eating it.

"See, you put a donut in front of a cop and they shove it in their mouths," Buck roared.

Deacon pulled his service revolver out of it's holster, and held it up in the air yelling, "Say that one more time, scumbucket!"

Penny piped up, "Now boys, stop fighting or I won't have sex with either one of you."

Buck's eyes went wide and Deacon sat up on the couch in a flash. She laughed out loud.

They couldn't top that, so we sat in silence, for a while, as Penny grinned and giggled.

Around 11 A.M. everyone was up and straightening the mess they made last night. Luther was supervising, making sure it was as clean as they found it. Deacon, Buck and I were looking over the list of references the apartment manager gave me, as we decided how we wanted to handle it.

To take a line from Buck's philosophy, I said, "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead". I told Penny we were heading out again, she gave me a kiss and subtlety brushed my crotch, saying protect yourself. I just stared at her as she ran off laughing. I was getting hard, covering myself with the file folder I got to keep our papers in. I would get back at her.

We drove Deacon's patrol car down to Roseville, where the first address was, from the references. It was a bust, the address was a bump and paint shop, and the person named wouldn't be there. The manager said he had no idea who we were talking about when we mentioned Morgan. We left, the second address in Fraser was also a bust. It was a dollar store. We had to ask anyways, in case Morgan worked there, they said he hadn't, didn't know him. Our boy was playing fast and loose with references, shows no one checks them.

We sat in the patrol car feeling a bit annoyed. I pulled out my Palm cell phone and dialed the next reference. It was a massage parlor, I laughed, said he was stroking everyone. I dialed the next on the list, back in Clinton Township, and a woman answered, it sounded like Waters. I couldn't be sure, but I had the tingle. You know the tingle, it comes through intuition and paying attention. I felt it came from when I heard the voice on the VHS tape, it sure sounded like her on the phone. I waved at Deacon and pointed to the address on the list, signaled him to go. He did.

I asked to speak to Davey, she paused a long time, then asked who this was.

"I'm a friend of Mick's. He said he was having trouble with his van and couldn't let Davey use it, but asked me if I could let him use mine. I don't like loaning out my wheels to just any one, but Mick vouched for Davey." I was working off the top of my head.

She paused again, then said, "Davey isn't here right now, your number doesn't come up on my caller ID, give it to me and I'll have him call you."

I had three cell phones, don't ask why, I gave her the least used one and said I would be at that number later in the day. She paused for a moment, hopefully writing down the number, then said she'd give it to him and hung up. I told my team about the call.

Deacon asked why she didn't wonder where we got their number from, it was a good question. I had a feeling she might be suspicious now.

I called Trapper and hurriedly explained what was going on, I gave him the address, he said to not do anything till he got there. He also said he'd shoot me in the balls if we did.

We parked down the street and waited for about 10 minutes, when three township patrol cars came roaring in, followed by Trapper and Becker in their unmarked car. We got out and followed everyone up to the house. The police covered the front and back of the house and Trapper banged on the front door, yelling the usual police line, "Open up, it's the police." There was no response, he called again. Nothing, so they took a battering ram to the door and stormed in. The police scoured through the house yelling clear in each room. Nothing and no one in the house.

Buck, who stayed by the car, Deacon and I went back to the car, waited for Trapper. He stormed over and said the bitch left. The coffee was still warm, the TV still on, cigarette in the ashtray, but she was gone. I didn't know if he would yell at us, but he just looked at our ragtag little group and said she was on the run. Then he just strode off. I was a bit shocked that we wouldn't hear a blast from him, and Deacon just whispered, “Fuck”.

The cops inquired at the neighbors as to the type of car Julia may be driving, and got a fairly decent description. They put out out a BOLO, "Be On (the) Look Out", and searched the house.

I asked Deacon to check, with the other cops, to find out what kind of car Waters fled in. Trapper waved me over to him, and said he appreciated the heads up on the killers, but warned me not to get too close. He didn't want to have to scrape me up off the pavement. I said he'd be the first to know anything we find. He was called to the house, and left me standing alone. Deacon and Buck came over, the big cop said the car was identified as a Blue Dodge Charger, about 2004 or 2005. I said the black Bonneville must belong to Morgan, or he borrowed it.

A car pulled up to the house as we stood there, a man of about forty got out and asked us what the hell was going on. Deacon asked he who he was, the man said "I own this house, I got a call from a neighbor, friend of mine, saying the cops were crawling all over the place. Are the renters in trouble?" The man evidently was the landlord. I walked to him and asked who the renter was, he said he rented it to a man, named John Stafford. I pulled the list of references out and the name was on the list. At least Morgan had one real friend on the list.

I pointed out Trapper to the man and told him he was in charge, the man hustled off. We heard a lot of commotion from the back yard and went there. There was a lot of yelling, from the cops, and found that they had discovered a body, in the garage, under some tarps. Trapper brought the landlord over and he identified the body as that of John Stafford. Well, so much for staying with friends, I mused.

I looked at my partners and said, "They are now no longer just killing cheerleaders." That worried me.

Buck said, "Could be Stafford was getting too nosy as to their intentions. So they took him out."

We got back in Deacon's patrol car, and left before anyone questioned why we were using it for unauthorized purposes.