Riverton Pt. 02

I couldn't see anything at first but I could hear the two men approaching the house. From their conversation I knew that they hadn't seen me. I was able to clearly hear what they were saying as they climbed the steps and entered the house through the back door.

"I am not looking forward to facing Big Tony when he gets here," Porky said. "He's pissed and it's your fault."

"How's it my fuckin fault?"

"You're the asshole that let him get away."

"I couldn't help it. Those fuckin' ants were biting the shit out of me. Look at my fuckin' leg. It's all swollen and it hurts like a mutha-fucka," Slim said. "Then the asshole hit me with the shovel and I think he broke my fuckin' hand. And what the fuck were you doing? Sitting under that fuckin' tree stuffin' your face. You shoulda been watchin' him too."

I could hear them walking around in the house talking but I couldn't catch every word. What I was able to hear told me that this guy they called Big Tony was coming to the house with three other guys that Porky referred to as Bagger, Meatball and Guy.

After a few minutes my eyes adjusted to the limited light in the cellar. It was still quite dark but I could see that I was in what appeared to be a small room. Upon closer inspection I could see that it wasn't actually a room because the walls didn't go all the way up to the ceiling. They were only about four feet tall. As I moved along the wall I stepped on something that felt like a rock. I picked it up thinking I might be able to use it for a weapon if I had to. I couldn't see it very well but it looked like a piece of coal. That made sense. The small room I was in must have been the coal bin for the house when it had a coal furnace.

There were only a few pieces of coal lying around because the owner had converted to a propane gas furnace at some point. The little door I crawled through must have been for the chute when they were getting a load of coal.

I felt my way along the low wall until I found an opening wide enough for me to step through. Although my eyes hadn't yet adjusted to the limited light in the cellar I could make out a staircase going up to the first floor and at the top of the stairs I could see light coming from under the door.

I moved to the bottom of the staircase being careful not to bump into anything that would alert the two dim bulbs upstairs to my presences in the cellar. From there I could hear their voices much better although I didn't have a clue what they were talking about.

I had just about figured out that Porky was telling Slim about some new all you can eat restaurant he had gone to recently when I heard a cell phone ring.

"It's Pug," Porky said. "Yea, were both here... Okay... See ya in a few..."

"What's up?" Slim asked.

"Big Tony and Bagger will be here in a few minutes. Guy and Sammy are hanging out near the cop house. "

"Why they hanging out there?"

"In case the big dumb shit tries to turn himself in."

"They gonna shoot him right there in front of the cop house?" Slim said.

"How the fuck should I know? Big Tony didn't tell me and I didn't ask."

"Did you tell Big Tony I broke my hand and I need somethin for my fuckin' leg?" Slim said.

"Did you hear me tell him that?"

"No. That's why I asked ya."

No, I didn't fuckin'tell him. You can tell him yourself when he gets here."

"Is he still pissed at us?"

"What do you think?"

Yea, I guess he is."

Except for Slim's complaints about his hand and the pain in his leg from the fire ant attack my two friends didn't say much more. I sensed that they were both worried about Big Tony's arrival at the house. I had no idea who this Big Tony was but I almost laughed when I thought about Porky and Slim trying to explain how I got away from them. Maybe Big Tony would shoot them both and get rid of two of my problems.

Chapter 9 – Big Tony

It got quiet upstairs, which gave me a little time to think. I was hiding in the basement of the house my would-be assassins were using as a base of operations. I wanted to leave but if I tried to climb back out through the coal chute the two geniuses upstairs might hear me. Besides, it had gotten so dark that I could no longer see my way back to the coal bin or the coal chute door. The smell of mildew in the damp cellar was making it difficult for me to breath. I heard a noise in the corner farthest away from me and decided that it was either a rat or a big mouse. My situation was not very comfortable.

The only positive was that I might hear something that would explain why these people shot Holly and why they wanted me dead. I moved carefully until I was directly under the landing at the top of the stairs. Once there I sat down on the floor and leaned against the wall and waited with Slim and Porky for the arrival of Big Tony.

"Car's comin'," I heard Porky announced.

"Is it Big Tony?"

"Think so."

"When he comes in, don't try to blame everything on me."

"Why the fuck not?"

"Cause it's not all my fault. If it wasn't for those fuckin ants he never would a got away. And you weren't any help, sittin on your fat ass eatin' a candy bar."

A few minutes later I heard a door open then a loud voice with a strong east coast accent said, "Hey Bagger, look what we got here. It's Pug and Bean, the moron twins."

"We ain't twins, Boss," Slim said. "Shit, we don't even look alike."

From what was being said I guessed that Bean must be what they called Slim and Pug must be Porky.

"Jesus Christ, I give you two mental defects a simple assignment. Just go to the house, cap the two of them and make it look like a murder suicide. Which one of you wants to tell me how you managed to fuck it up?"

"It wasn't our fault, Boss," Porky said. "We went to the house at 5:30, just like you told us. The bitch was home alone. She told us that Blanchard was supposed to be home at 5:45 but he still wasn't home at five after six. Then Bean said he thought he heard a car outside and when I turned to look the stupid bitch made a break for the back door. I had no choice but to shoot her before she got out of the house."

"So why didn't you cap the asshole when he came in the house, like you were supposed to?"

"The car Bean heard wasn't him and we were afraid that someone might have heard the shots so we split," Slim said.

Listening to them talk about shooting Holly and their plan to kill me as if they were talking about a blown play in a football game was unnerving. It made the hair on the back of my neck bristle while at the same time I felt a level of anger that I had never had before. For one insane moment I thought about charging upstairs and attacking them. Luckily I got my anger under control before I did something that stupid. After all, the only weapon I had was the piece of coal I still had in my hand.

"So, what the fuck happened at the diner? All you had to do was put him in the trunk of your car, put a bullet in his head and then bury the body someplace where it wouldn't be found for a long time. Instead of doing that you shot a cop." I think it was Big Tony that was speaking.

"The cop showed up before we could get Blanchard in the trunk," Porky said. "I shot the cop in a way that would make it look like Blanchard shot him."

"And you fucked that up too," Big Tony said. "The cop was wearing a vest. You managed to knock him off his feet but you didn't kill him. Luckily for you two bozos the impact knocked him unconscious so the cop does think that Blanchard shot him but if Blanchard ever gets a chance to talk and explain what really happened you two are fucked. I just hope you two understand this, I will personally bury both of you before I let your fuckups bring me down."

Big Tony was one cold blooded son of a bitch. It was obvious that this guy was some kind of gangster but what I could not understand was what could I have done that would make him want to kill me and why did they have to shoot Holly?

"So, after you popped the cop why didn't you finish Blanchard right then?"

"We wanted to get out of there before anyone came out of the diner and saw what was going on," Porky said.

"Okay, I'll buy that but how did he get away from you? All you had to do was take him out in the country, open the trunk and shoot him in the head and then bury his body. How the fuck did you let him get away?" Big Tony said.

"We had the perfect place to bury him but it was on top of this big fucking hill. We didn't want to have to carry him so we made him walk up the hill?" Porky said.

"Okay, okay... So he walked up the hill and then ran away?"

"No." Porky said. "Bean didn't want to dig the hole so he gave the shovel to Blanchard and told him to dig his own grave."

"And you thought this was a good idea because no one would ever think of trying to get away if he knew he was digging his own grave? You two fucking idiots take stupid to a whole new level," Big Tony said.

"It was the ants," Slim said.

"The aunts? What the fuck are you talking about?" Big Tong shouted.

"I was watching him and being careful to stay far enough away from him to make sure he couldn't attack me with the shovel when I was attacked by the ants," Slim said.

"Attacked by the aunts? Who's aunts and how did they get there? Are we going to have to kill his aunts now?" Big Tony shouted.

"Not his aunts, Boss, red ants. I stepped on a fuckin ant hill and thousands of the little fuckers attacked me. Look at my fuckin leg. It's still hurtin like a motha fucka."

"He got away because you stepped on and ant hill? " Big Tony said. "What the fuck were you doing while this dip shit was playing with the ants?"

"Well, I ..."

"He was sittin under a fuckin tree eatin a candy bar," Slim said.

"Jesus Christ, between the two of you, you don't have a whole fuckin brain to share."

"Sorry Boss," Porky said. "We tried to do it right but things just got fucked up."

Slim said. "If Blanchard tries to turn himself in are you going to have Meatball and Guy pop him right there at the cop house?"

"Is that what you would do, Bean?" This from a fourth voice I hadn't heard before. This person had a British accent.

"I don't know Bagger. I just do what you guys tell me to do," Slim said.

"You do? Doesn't sound that way to me," Bagger said. "When Meatball was down here a few months ago he managed to find a couple of the local constabulary who were quite willing to assist us for a few bob," Bagger said.

"What did he say?" Slim asked.

"We have two Riverton cops on the pad," Big Tony explained. "They will let us know if Blanchard tries to turn himself in. They're well paid and will help us make sure that Blanchard doesn't survive long enough to say anything."

"How we gonna do that?" Slim asked.

"Blanchard already tried to shoot one cop didn't he?" Big Tony said.

"No that was me..."

"But the cops think he did it, right?"

"Oh, right."

"The good news is that the police consider Blanchard to be armed and dangerous. If our two boys do their job, Blanchard will be found dead with a gun in his hand before he ever gets to the police station," Big Tony said. "Meatball has a police scanner and will let us know if the cops find Blanchard but I would rather we find him first and bury the asshole like we planned. If they never find him they will believe that he killed his wife and ran off after shooting that detective."

"But that bitch ain't dead," Slim said.

"She will be. We got eyes in the hospital too. If she shows signs of coming out of her coma she will be taken care of."

The realization that Holly wasn't safe in the hospital hit me hard. I had to find a way to protect Holly but how could I? On one side I have the police who think I tried to kill my wife and Detective Olson. They consider me to be armed and dangerous so they will be prepared to shoot me on sight. On the other side I have Big Tony and his friends that by my count totaled six. There were the four that were sitting upstairs and the two watching the police station. On top of that two of Riverton's finest are on Big Tony's payroll and would gladly kill me if they got a chance to.

"What did you do with the asshole's car?" Big Tony asked?

"It's in the barn," Porky said.

"Make sure it stays locked up in the barn for now. We will need to find a way to sneak it out of town. Maybe rent a car hauler from U-Haul and tow it down to St. Louis and leave it on the street with the keys in it," Big Tony said.

"What do you want us to do now Boss?" Porky asked.

"Can I go to the firkin hospital? I think I have some broken bones in my hand and my fucking leg feels like it is on fire." Slim said.

"Pug, you take Bean to that emergency treatment center we saw on the way into town. I don't want you guys anywhere near the hospital. When you are done there I want the two of you to go sit on Blanchard's house."

"Won't the house be crawling with cops?" Porky said.

"They should all be gone by now. Just park somewhere near the house and watch just in case Blanchard tries to go back to the house," Big Tony said.

"Why would he go back to the house?" Slim asked. "Wouldn't the cops be watching the house?"

"Where else can he go?"

"How long should we stay there?" Porky asked.

"Till I call ya and tell ya to leave. Can you handle that?"

"Yea Boss."

Bagger and I are going to watch the hospital in case Blanchard tries to sneak in and see his wife. Okay let's move. I don't want that bastard getting away while we're sitting her with our thumbs up our asses."

I could hear them moving around upstairs and then the light went out and I heard a door open and close and then there was silence.

Chapter 10 – Diversion

When I heard the door upstairs close I crept up to the top of the stairs and pressed my ear against the door. Hearing nothing I tried the door and it opened into the kitchen. I quickly searched the house but I couldn't find anything that would help me.

I left the house through the back door and ran down to the barn hoping to find my car unlocked with the keys inside. No luck there. The car was locked and the keys were gone.

I sat down on the floor of the barn and reviewed my options. I could still go to a neighbor's house and ask them to call the police for me. I decided against that because I was afraid that the cops that came to get me would be the ones that Big Tony had on his payroll. I couldn't go to my house because Slim and Porky would be waiting for me there. I was tired and hungry and was having trouble thinking straight. I needed food and that would be safe for me. The best thing for me to do would be to get out of town but I had no transportation. Then an idea began to form in my mind. I wasn't sure if it was a good idea but I felt better just having a plan of action. Doing something was much better than doing nothing.

It was 9:30 PM when I left the barn and turned down the old farm road and headed back the way I had come. I passed the point where I had come out of the woods earlier in the evening and a few hundred yards later passed under the Union Pacific railroad tracks. At the end of the farm road I climbed over the rusty old gate and walked out onto Rayburn Road and turned right.

A half mile down the road Rayburn intersected Commerce Road and I turned left on Commerce. Commerce Road was home to some local construction companies and trucking companies. Both sides of the road were lined with large garages and warehouses. There were no people around at that time of night but there were security lights and cameras so I had to be careful. Two blocks farther down Commerce Road intersected Industrial Drive and that is where I was headed.

I approached the intersection carefully, staying in the shadows and listening for cars. There was a large oak tree on the north-west corner and I stood behind it as I looked both ways on Industrial. It was a good thing I looked because as I peeked out from behind the tree I saw a Riverton Police car coming toward me on Industrial Drive. My heart was pounding as I prayed that I hadn't been seen when I peeked out from behind the tree. I pressed my body against the tree and waited, holding my breath, until the police cruiser was completely out of sight. When I felt it was safe to cross Industrial Drive I ran diagonally across the intersection and hid behind a U-Haul truck in the parking lot of Riverton Secure Self Storage.

From my hiding place I looked for any movement on either Industrial Drive or Commerce Road. Seeing none, I turned my attention to the security gate for the Riverton Secure Self Storage facility only twenty yards away place. I didn't feel that the security camera above the gate would be a problem. Renters are allowed access to their storage units twenty-four hours a day, so as long as I didn't show my face to the camera I wouldn't have any problems going through the gate. I made another check to be sure that the patrol car was not coming back and then I hurried over to the gate and punched in the access code.

Riverton Secure Self Storage has ten rows of storage units of various sizes. Luckily, my brother's storage unit was in the second row facing away from the road, out of sight of passing cars. I removed the combination lock from Jack's unit and raised the door just enough so that I could slip under it. I closed the door again before flipping the switch for the single sixty watt light bulb that was the only source of light for the twelve by twenty foot unit.

I worked my way around the stacks of boxes and stored furniture to the back of the dimly lit storage unit. Along the back wall I found Jack's leather sofa which was covered by an old bed sheet. Exhausted from my ordeal, I collapsed onto the sofa and closed my eyes, hoping for a few minutes rest before tackling what I needed to do next. There was no chance of falling asleep as I wondered and worried how this was all going to work out. Was I going to end up dead, buried in a shallow grave on top of Parker's Hill? Who would protect Holly if they killed me? Or, would I somehow manage to save us both? With Big Tony and his goons and the police all looking for me, the odds were not in my favor. Suddenly my body began to shiver and the more I thought about my situation the worse the tremors got. I began to shake so uncontrollably that my joints started to ache. It took me several minutes to get the tremors under control and slow my heart rate down.

Realizing that if I didn't begin to act soon I might have a complete meltdown, I forced myself to get up off the sofa and begin executing my plan. I opened my brother's wardrobe cabinet and looked through the clothes he left behind and found everything I needed. Jack and I are about the same size so his clothes fit me. I striped off my sweaty clothes and put on clean underwear, a pair of Levi's and a blue tee shirt. I would have liked to take a shower first but that wasn't an option.

I found one of Jack's backpacks and filled it with another change of clothes. From a small drawer in the wardrobe I retrieved Jack's motorcycle registration, his Missouri driver's license and the keys to the bike and put them in my pocket. Next I put on Jack's riding leathers, boots and helmet and then slipped my arms through the straps on the backpack. Knowing that helmet would hide my face and doubting that anyone would expect me to be riding a motorcycle I felt that I would be safe going back out onto the street. I moved to the front of the storage unit and turned off the light before lifting the door just high enough for me peek out. Seeing no one in the alley outside, I opened the door the rest of the way and rolled Jack's Honda ST 1300 into the alley and then locked up the storage unit. I hadn't used the bike in a several weeks but it started with no hesitation. The fuel tank was nearly empty, so my first stop was at the Exxon station on the corner of Industrial Drive and Iowa Street. I kept my helmet on, paid cash and didn't do anything to draw attention to myself.