The Dummy Line (21 page)

The four-wheeler strained under the load that was Tiny. He finally got up enough speed for it to shift into a higher gear. Halfway down the Dummy Line, Tiny remembered a spare key that he’d wired to the truck’s frame a couple of years earlier.

“Yes!” he yelled, slamming on the brakes as he turned the wheel, sliding into a one-eighty. He goosed the throttle. He felt energized.
If the key’s still there, I can get the hell out of this life…right now.
He drove as fast as possible.

When he reached the truck, he jumped off the four-wheeler without turning it off. He bent over at the back of the truck, feeling underneath the truck body. He found clumps of dried mud but no key. “Dammit,” he muttered as he strained and grunted. Finally, he lay flat on his back and fished the flashlight from his pocket. Turning it on, he searched the underside of the back bumper. Solid mud. He hadn’t washed the truck in months.
There!
Under a thick layer of red mud was the wire. Tiny grabbed it and pulled. Nothing. He pulled with all his strength, and the key popped out.

Tiny scrambled up. He jumped into the truck and cranked it, letting it idle while he quickly loaded his four-wheeler. With no thought of Reese or Sweat’s body, Tiny dropped the shift lever into drive and stomped on the gas. His oversized mud grips threw gravel as he scratched-off, heading home to pack and grab his starting-over cash. The last thing he planned to ever do in Sumter County was to toss his pistol into the Tombigbee River as he crossed it.
I finally got some options.

“Dad, I’m thirsty,” Katy whispered into Jake’s ear.

Jake and the girls were making much better time now. Jake guessed he had about another five or six hundred yards to the Little Buck Field. He was having difficulty keeping his cool but knew their lives depended on it. And he couldn’t let the girls know he was scared to death.

“I am, too, baby…just try not to think about it,” he said, realizing just how thirsty he was.

“Don’t you have a bottle of water in your vest?”

“No ma’am. Just don’t think about it, OK?” he whispered back.

“I’ll try,” she said, not really understanding.

Jake stopped and, without taking Katy off his back, waited for Elizabeth to catch up. “How’s your foot? Is the crutch helping?” he asked in a low whisper.

“Yes sir, it is.” Elizabeth grimaced.

Jake could see his breath when he exhaled.

“Are you still cold?” Jake asked Elizabeth, knowing Katy was warmer than anyone because of her camo outfit.

“I’m freezin’, but I can make it.”

Jake took a fleece neck warmer from his vest and pulled it over her head, then back up over her chin.

“That’ll help.”

“Thanks.”

“We’ll be outta here before you know it,” he whispered, then looked behind them for lights.

“Come on, we gotta keep movin’,” Jake said, shifting Katy’s weight on his back as he trudged farther though the swamp.

As Hale County Deputy Sheriff Lewis Washington turned his cruiser into the hospital parking lot, he noticed the crowd gathered in anticipation of his arrival. He quickly checked his rearview mirror to made sure his hair looked good. He glanced into the back seat. The girl was still passed out. Lewis didn’t know why she had fainted. He’d let someone else determine that. His job was done. He turned off the siren but left his blue lights flashing as he pulled under the hospital’s ER awning.

Ollie had almost caught up with Lewis. He was about sixty seconds behind him. Ollie knew there’d be a horde of people waiting. He kept reminding himself that this was about Elizabeth Beasley. Whatever else happened or whoever got credit for the rescue was immaterial compared to her well-being. The focus had to be on her. He just hoped that Marlow wouldn’t pull his usual stunts, getting his kicks at Ollie’s expense during the news conference.

“I’m here, Miz Martha,” he informed her, then put the microphone on its hanger.

“Ten-four, Sheriff.”

Ollie parked his Expedition to the side of Lewis’s car. As he got out, he watched the scene develop. Nurses and orderlies gathered around Lewis’s car trying to get Elizabeth out of the back seat. The news media were jockeying for position to get video. In front of the car, Lewis was describing the events to Sheriff Marlow. He was using his hands to describe how dramatic and dangerous the past twenty minutes had been. Ollie walked by as the chaos reached a fever pitch.

The crowd gasped when they saw that the woman was still bound and had duct tape over her eyes and mouth.

Marlow immediately got in Lewis’s surprised face. “You idiot! Why in the hell didn’t you take the tape off of her?” he asked furiously. “That looks real bad.”

“I was in such a rush…I didn’t even think about it, Sheriff,” Lewis tried to explain.

Ollie was halfway across the covered area when a man screamed. He saw Zach and Olivia Beasley hugging each other like something was wrong.
What the hell’s going on now! They oughta be excited,
Ollie thought as he rushed to their side.

“What’s the matter, Zach?” he asked, watching the orderlies lay the woman on a gurney.

“That’s not Elizabeth!” Zach Beasley screamed.

“What!” Ollie exclaimed.

“That’s not her!” Zach Beasley replied. “That’s not Elizabeth!”

“Where’s my baby!” Olivia Beasley screamed at Ollie. Zach put his arm around her, trying to calm her, but he couldn’t clear his head fast enough to think straight.

Ollie stood in shock. The gurney with the mystery woman was being wheeled past them. She was obviously traumatized.
Who the hell is she?

Ollie’s eyes caught those of Steve Tillman, who had just watched the gurney roll by. His eyes said it all—that this horrible night was worse than anyone could have imagined. Ollie was totally confused. He needed to determine who this woman was and where she had come from. He needed to restart the Beasley investigation. He stood in the center of the automatic doors wondering what to do first.

R.C., humming a tune, walked with purpose toward the ER when he arrived. As he passed under the awing, he started to sing out loud, “His name was Rico; he wore a diamond.” At that moment, he saw Ollie’s face and immediately stopped singing. “What’s wrong, Chief?” he asked.

Ollie looked at R.C. and then down at the ground. “It’s not Elizabeth.”

“What? No way!”

“Go in there and find out who it is and what the hell’s going on. I’ll be right there. I want to talk to the Hale County boys first.”

“Yes sir!” R.C. turned and charged inside.

Ollie looked inside across the lobby to see Sheriff Marlow already in damage-control mode with the editor of the Sumter County Journal. Marlow was at a loss for words, Ollie could tell.

“Sheriff?” Ollie asked, walking up to the pair.

“Excuse me, but I need to conference with Sheriff Ollie Landrum.” Marlow was thankful to get away from the barrage of questions. This was not going as planned.

Ollie skillfully ushered Marlow and Lewis to a supply closet inside the hospital. Before Ollie went in, his eyes met Zach Beasley’s and Steve Tillman’s. “I’ll be right back and we’ll talk.”

“What’s going on, Ollie? You got missing girls all over this county!” Marlow demanded aggressively, in a transparent attempt to shift the focus of the situation.

“I don’t know, Marlow, but I’m damn confused. I want to hear
his
story,” he said, jerking his head toward Lewis, who began babbling about having a gut feeling and driving on up to the trailer to look around. Ollie glared at him. He knew a line of crap when he heard it. This wasn’t making sense. Years of being around R.C. and Larson had fine-tuned Ollie’s BS meter. “Marlow, who tipped the newspaper?” he asked, clearly angered.

“I had to call him about something else and mentioned why I was in the county…that’s all,” Marlow explained.

“Look, fellas, I got a mess on my hands, and I need your help. I need some serious investigative work done. I need to know who that girl is and how she figures into this chaos, and then we have to start all over. Marlow, have your guys ready to go back out,” Ollie ordered, taking charge.

Marlow sheepishly nodded.

Ollie opened the door, then hustled down the hall to find R.C. and the mysterious victim. As he passed, he asked the Beasleys to wait just a minute longer, he’d be right back. It didn’t take long to find everyone. The hospital was small, and a crowd was gathered around the door to Exam Two. Ollie opened the door and saw Dr. Sarhan listening to the woman with his stethoscope. He saw the camo duct tape lying on the floor. R.C. was trying to ask questions of the medical staff but wasn’t getting any answers.

“Let examination complete. You can ask question then,” Dr. Sarhan said in a thick Indian accent to R.C. but looking up at Ollie.

Ollie understood and motioned to R.C. to stop. Ollie bent down and grabbed the pieces of duct tape. The woman appeared to be at least thirty years old, maybe older. She was just waking up. He didn’t recognize her.

“Please allow few minutes, Sheriff,” Dr. Sarhan said.

“Come on, R.C.” Ollie let out a deep breath and motioned R.C. out into the hall.

“Did you get anything?” Ollie asked R.C.

“Doc doesn’t think she was raped. He was pissed that she was still taped up. He about bit my head off. What’s up with that…what was that deputy thinking?”

“Youth,” Ollie replied. “Anything else?”

“No sir.”

“You don’t know her, do you?” Ollie asked, rubbing his aching head while holding his hat.

“Never seen her before—and I think I would remember,” R.C. replied, alluding to her good looks. “Want a Tums?” R.C. flipped one into his mouth then held out the roll out.

“Yeah.”

“Whaddya need me to do?” R.C. asked as he handed the roll to Ollie.

Ollie saw the Beasleys charging up the hall straight to him. He knew he had stalled as long as he could.

“Call Miz Martha and bring her up to speed; then meet me right outside,” Ollie instructed. “Have her call and wake up everybody available, including the county game warden. We’re gonna need everybody.”

“Ten-four,” R.C. replied, reaching for his cell phone as he walked hurriedly toward the exit.

“Ollie, what the hell’s going on…what are you doin’ to find Elizabeth?” Zach launched into him.

“We are trying to determine where to concentrate our efforts right now. All this is very confusing. Everybody assumed that was Elizabeth.” Ollie broke eye contact and looked at the floor. “Please give me a few minutes to determine who this woman is and how she fits into all this.”

“Sheriff, you need some help. You should call in the FBI or something. This is serious. This is my daughter we’re talking about,” Zach Beasley said sternly.

“Yes sir. I have…we are…just hang on for a minute,” Ollie stuttered as he searched for the right words.

Zach didn’t wait for Ollie to finish. He walked off to look for Sheriff Marlow.

Ollie raised his head to see R.C. hanging up his phone as he walked back into the hospital. He motioned to him; then the two of them went over to Steve Tillman.

“How’s Tanner, sir?” Ollie asked, holding his hat in his hands.

“No change, but he is stable…I sure was shocked that wasn’t Elizabeth, Sheriff.”

“Yes sir. Me, too. Are you still willing to ride out to your property?”

“I’ll do anything to help out, Ollie,” and he meant it.

“R.C., Mr. Tillman owns some land on the Dummy Line. That may be where the kids were. Take Mr. Tillman and y’all go look around. Be careful. Call me if you see
anything
.”

“Sure thing…let’s go, Mr. Tillman.”

“I have to tell my wife. I’ll be right with you,” Tillman said, walking away.

Ollie peered back in Exam Two. They were still working on the mystery woman.
Who the hell is she?
Then he watched R.C. walk out through the automatic doors and the Beasleys round the corner, about to explode. “Where’s Sheriff Marlow?”

Ollie only had to take a step toward the exit to see the television truck and the camera focused on Sheriff Marlow. “Damn it,” he muttered under his breath and pointed toward the exit. Ollie turned back toward Exam Two as Dr. Sarhan waved him in.

“I think she will be fine…physically, but mentally, she has been through much trauma.”

“Has she been raped?” he asked softly.

“No, she has not. I see no signs of physical abuse.” Dr. Sarhan pulled off his exam gloves and threw them into the trash.

“You may talk to her,” he said as he walked out of the room.

Ollie was alone with the mysterious woman. Their eyes met. He pulled out his notepad, sat down on the stool next to her, and smiled kindly. “Ma’am, I’m Sheriff Ollie Landrum. I need to know who you are and what happened?”

“Where am I?” she asked.

“You’re at the hospital in Livingston.”

“Livingston? Alabama?”

“Yes ma’am,” he replied, noting her confusion. “Why don’t you tell me who you are?”

“My name’s Lindsay Littlepage. I live in West Point, Mississippi…I need to call my husband,” she explained slowly.

West Point!
he thought. He was certain that wasn’t a coincidence. He thought about Mick and his friend.

“How did you get here? What happened?”

“My husband’s out of town on business, and my kids were at a spend-the-night party, so I was home alone and this…this…this…” She was beginning to get emotional.

Ollie needed information. He would have to go slow. “It’s all right, ma’am. Take your time, but you need to know that there may be more lives in danger. Do you understand?” he asked gently.

She nodded and continued. “This guy broke into our house and threatened me. He taped me up and put me in the back of his van, or maybe it was an SUV. He said my husband killed someone…and that…that makes no sense.”

Ollie listened carefully and took notes.

“We drove for hours, and then he put me in a dark…a dark room.” She was crying again. “I need to call my husband,
please
.”

“Yes ma’am, you will. I promise. I just need to know the rest first.”

She wiped her eyes, and a nurse walked in to check on her. Ollie insisted she continue.

“Well, he left me and came back…and he said he was going to get his buddies…then he came back and he taped my eyes and told me to walk straight away and I would live. He insisted I walk straight away, but I couldn’t see anything but a little bit of my feet. It was horrible.”

“Yes ma’am,” Ollie responded.

She started crying again, “That’s when the policeman found me. Please thank him for me.”

“Do you know…” Ollie flipped back a few pages to make sure he had the right name. “Do you know Jake Crosby?”

Her eyes widened, and she said, “He’s my next-door neighbor…he and my husband are good friends…they hunt together.”

Ollie let out a deep breath.
Damn it. How could all this be connected?
He needed to call Mick.

“Mrs. Littlepage, why don’t you rest now. I’ll have a deputy come by to help you call your husband, OK? You said he was away on business. Where is he?” he asked, preparing to write down her answer.

“Biloxi. At a convention. He sells pharmaceuticals.”

“Thank you, ma’am…I know you’ve been through a heck of an ordeal tonight. We’ll help get in touch with your husband, I promise.”

Ollie stood. He patted her hand gently to say everything is going to be all right and walked out as a nurse came in holding a small clear plastic cup containing a little peach-colored pill.