Chapter 75

SEVENTY-FIVE

The paramedic checks Lucas's bandage and they try unsuccessfully to get him to go with them. Ronnie and I go to see Lucas and he fixes me with a gimlet eye. "What do you want?"

"Aren't you glad to see me?" I say.

"No."

That's pretty plain. It's also not true. His ego demands I acknowledge what a fine specimen of detective manhood he is. He's still a dick. A dick-tective. He mistakes my smile for bonding. The only thing I feel like bonding with him is my fist to his face. Except I can't do that since he saved Ronnie's mom from being killed. Not until I confirm my suspicions.

"Inquiring minds want to know, Lucas," I say.

"You mean, how did I find them?"

"Sure, start with that."

He speaks as though he's in court, running through a prepared statement.

"In a nutshell. I learned Thundercloud was deeply involved in this. I checked and he worked for the company that owns this bunker. It was one of their old storage places for hazardous materials. Long since abandoned. What better place for a hideaway? I followed Duke here. I heard shooting. I came in and saw Duke pointing a gun at Mrs. Marsh's head. Vinnie and Thundercloud and Milligan were dead. Or at least I thought so. Mrs. Marsh was on the floor pinned under the body of her brother. I didn't know if she'd been shot but Duke was ready to kill her. I shot him. I got Mrs. Marsh out to my car and went back in to see if there were others. Maybe more kidnappers. Maybe more victims."

He touched the bandage over his abdomen and winced theatrically.

"Milligan surprised me. She had somehow gotten to Duke's gun and shot me. I shot her. End of story. I'll send a copy of my report to your sheriff and you can read it. If you have any questions please feel free not to ask on your way out of town."

While he was reciting this, the medic was giving me annoyed looks. I was annoyed too.

"Can I go inside and take a look, Lucas?"

"No. It's a crime scene. Mrs. Marsh has been found. Your services are no longer needed."

The medic tells him, "Sergeant, we need to take you with us. I want a doctor to look at that wound. There's an entrance and exit but part of the bullet could still be embedded and can cause you some real damage if it gets infected."

"Listen to him, Lucas. There are two other officers here and you've done your bit. Let your crime scene people take it from here. We're going to the hospital."

Ronnie says, "Thank you."

Lucas looks at me and grins. "You'll be her junior partner someday."

I don't care but that's never going to happen. "Probably. She's pretty sharp. For instance she noticed there's no bag of money out here. What happened to it?"

His eyes turn to slits. "There was no money when I got here. Thundercloud must have hidden it after he took it from Jack Marsh. I guess Thundercloud wasn't going to share the loot. He shoots Missy and Vinnie and then shoots Duke, but Duke didn't die. Duke kills Thundercloud and goes in to finish Mrs. Marsh off but I stopped him. I heard gunshots when I arrived. Good thing I got here in time."

"Wow. It sure was," I agree. "I guess it must have happened the way you said."

Lucas smiles in acknowledgement. The smile evaporates when he realizes I'm not done.

"But I'd still like to see the scene. We've come this far together. And you'll need me to write a report verifying what I saw and heard. Right?"

We look at each other a long time. He's lying. It was probably Thundercloud who shot Jack's car up and took the money. If he planned to kill them all why hide the money? And why isn't Lucas putting together a search party to find it? He could be suffering a little shock after getting in the fracas here. But I prefer to think of him as a lying corrupt cop. It's just as likely that Lucas is the ringleader. No matter what he says, the investigation isn't over. It's just beginning.

The paramedic reappears and starts examining Lucas, and I take the opportunity to walk away from the ambulance with Ronnie.

"You don't want to go in there," I say. "But I have to."

"Don't tell me what I want," she says sharply, and then puts a hand to her mouth. "Sorry Megan. I didn't mean that."

Lucas was right about one thing. Ronnie wouldn't need me much longer. I'm glad and sad.

"No, I'm sorry," I say. "This is your show, Ronnie. How do you want to do this?"

"Lucas didn't give you permission to go in," she says, casting an anxious glance back at the ambulance.

"He didn't say we couldn't. And we're still deputized."

Just then, we see an officer dressed in a white Tyvek suit with a hood approaching the building. I show him my badge. Ronnie says, "Sergeant Lucas wants us to go in with you." The officer looks skeptical then shrugs.

"Don't track through any of the blood. And don't touch anything." He walks ahead of us mumbling, "Why not make it a party?"

"We really appreciate it," Ronnie says brightly.

The officer slows and says, "Just stay to one side and walk where I walk. It's just that Lucas was all over this place and it looks like it was more than once. He knows better than to muck up a crime scene. I guess he's getting short-timer syndrome."

There are numerous bloodstains on the concrete floor in the shape of a shoe sole. They all look like the same shoe until we come to a steel door set into a concrete wall. The door is open and there are several sets of bloodstains on the concrete floor.

The bodies of three men and a woman are sprawled on the concrete floor. Missy is unrecognizable. Her face is destroyed, and she has two bullet wounds in her chest too. Vinnie is in a pool of blood. He's been shot in the stomach. The two men were shot several times, head and stomach. I recognize Duke by his white shoes. Overkill. Anger. Psychotic. It's all the same. I can relate. I shot a serial killer and rapist in the crotch once. Actually several times. I gave him a man-cave where his man-hood used to be. Maybe I went a little overboard. Nah.

One of the male bodies was shot—I count them—seven times. His face is destroyed and he's wearing a leather jacket. Thundercloud. Jack said the person who took the money and shot at him was wearing a leather jacket.

I examine the bodies again. Missy is lying on her side, right arm laid out along the floor with a semi-automatic in her right hand. Her other arm is behind her. Her head is turned slightly as if she was looking at Thundercloud. The gun bothers me. I could swear Missy was left-handed when I interviewed her. I squat and look more closely at the gun hand. The forefinger is on the trigger. I would have thought she'd drop the gun when she was shot, but I'm not a forensic expert.

Lucas said he'd gone back inside after he brought Victoria out to his car. He told Victoria he was checking on the kidnappers. That would explain why there are so many sets of shoeprints in this room, but only one set entering or leaving. Missy was armed and shot him. He shot her. Plausible. But why was Missy holding the handgun in her weak hand?

"How many guns did you recover?" Ronnie asks the crime scene officer.

"Two. Why?"

"In here or outside?"

"Both guns were in here," he says. "I can give you pictures when I'm finished and file a report."

"How many shots were fired?" Ronnie asks.

"I haven't gotten that far. There are shell casings all over the place. And don't touch anything."

"Was she just like this when you got here?"

"Why?"

Ronnie stares him down.

"Everything was just as it is except for detectives walking through my crime scene. Now I have to eliminate those pieces of evidence from the rest, so I'll need you to come to the station and let me get casts of your shoes."

"What's your name, officer?" Ronnie asks.

"Corporal. Corporal Wiener."

I hold back a smirk. The name fits so perfectly.

Ronnie says, "I'll tell Lucas you were very helpful. You seem to very good at this so I don't blame you for being a little impolite to us. I know it's only because you want to do the best job you can. If you can bear with us a few minutes, we'll be out of your hair."

He looks embarrassed. "Sorry. I just don't want to make a mistake. Lucas knew better than to track blood around. I'll have to take his shoes and he'll be pissed off and yell at me. Never mind. What do you need from me?"

While Ronnie's blowing smoke up his butt, I'm looking around at the blood. I take my cell phone out. "Do you mind if I take a couple of pictures?"

"Be my guest."

I take a dozen photos, and when I can't reach an area without walking over his scene, he takes my phone and shoots the pics for me. He takes pictures of each face, and a full body shot of the one wearing the leather jacket. There's also an area beside the door that's especially interesting, because it's completely free of blood spatter. He sees what I see and takes shots with his own camera.

"Good eye, detective," he says to me, and I get a smile.

We thank him and go back outside. Ronnie kept her composure when she saw the mayhem, and didn't slip even a little when she saw her uncle Vinnie's corpse.

We get outside and Ronnie says, "The money was in the room during the shooting. Dad said it was in a black bag."

"I agree with you."

There was an impression on the floor where no blood spatter had hit. The same bloody shoeprints as the rest led to the spot and then to the door.

"We need Lucas's shoes," Ronnie says.

My thoughts exactly.