Hazy View: Souls of the Vanished (19 page)

“
Are you sure your men can
keep up?” Andrew said sarcastically and dumped his cigarette bud
out of the window.

“
It’s not that I don’t
want to go faster, but his bucket of bolts can’t.” Frank finally
admitted.

“
What if Martin’s
gone?”

“
His not, he has no reason
to leave.”

A sudden and overwhelming thought
ripped through Andrew’s mind. The thought chilled him to the bone.
“It could happen eventually, when the alcohol breaks him completely
or he goes insane past the point of return then he could do it.”
Andrew thought out loud. “What if Martin has ended it and all we
find is a body a few days old? You said there was a vehicle and
lights burning, it could be he’s dead.”

“
He didn’t.” Frank
said.

“
How would you know?
Nobody will hear a gunshot so far in the middle of nowhere. Nobody
goes out there. Who’s to say he didn’t hang himself or slit his
wrists?”

“
If he wanted to kill
himself he would’ve done it way back when he started to unravel.”
Frank assured.

Frank didn’t know Martin but he was
right. “Martin’s not a weak man, nor is he the person to take a
quick exit. He’s not a coward. However he did kill two people. He
killed his own flesh and blood. Nobody thought he would do that. No
one knows what he would do next. He had become completely someone
else. He didn’t sound, act or behaved like the Martin I’ve know
most of his life. He had become completely unpredictable. I know
something’s wrong if we can just get there. How far do we still
have to go?” Andrew started nagging again.

“
We’re close. We’ll be
there sooner than you think.” Frank assured.

*~*~*

*III*

By the time the large oak trees
appeared Andrew’s nerves were dangling by a thread. A small dirt
road snaked through deserted lands to where a house stood some
distance away. The land hadn’t seen crops for some time and no
cattle grazed in the weed invested overgrown fields.

The house was in serious need of
maintenance and the lawn around it long, thick and overgrown. More
oak trees stood watch around the house. The house seemed deserted.
All the curtains, doors and windows closed. There was no vehicle in
the front yard.

Andrew got out of Franks vehicle and
joined the men gathered on the front lawn. Martin managed to slip
through his fingers again. Andrew suggested some of the officers
search the area following as many small roads as possible between
the house and the town. Martin would need gas and other supplies.
The sheriff had called neighboring towns and told them of the
vehicle description and asked to detain and notify only. Hopefully
they’d find Martin before he got too far.

“
Sheriff Foster. I’m truly
sorry. If we got out here sooner we could’ve captured him.” Frank
apologized.

“
Don’t sweat it. I think
he had already left before we even received the fax.” Andrew
assured deeply disappointed.

“
We will find him. I can
promise you that. All the sheriffs of the towns work together very
closely. It’s just a matter of time.”

“
Yes, oh yes we
will.”

“
Let’s look around, we can
find a way into the house. Maybe he left something behind that
might give us a clue to where he would’ve gone to. You know maybe
he just gone to town. I’m sure if he’s not expecting anyone to come
here he’s more at ease.”

“
No. He wouldn’t chance
it. He didn’t even leave the house for alcohol. He ordered
everything as deliveries. No, something spooked him and he
ran.”

Andrew passed by the side of the
house, testing each window he passed. All of them properly secured.
He tried to peep into the windows without success. At some places
he fought his way through overgrown shrubs and stepped deep into
dead flower beds. He looked at upstairs windows but none were even
the slightest open.

He neared the corner. A soft cursing
met him before he turned into the backyard. He paused, everyone
paused.

Andrew turned to Frank following close
on his heels. “I think your men might have found a way in. I can
hear them.”

He turned the corner. Andrew froze for
a moment surprise had rendered him motionless.

*~*~*

*IV*

Martin was pacing. The darkness had
pinned him down. He stopped to rethink his position. He needed to
repair the damage to his vehicle although he couldn’t see what the
problem was. He checked everything, tested and tried again. The
engine wouldn’t fire. The vehicle had purred like a kitten earlier
but now hours had passed and he hadn’t made any
progress.

He stepped out of the shaded comfort
into the bright sunlight. The darkness didn’t scare him now, the
sun was too bright. The darkness did what it could. It moved in
unnoticed and snuffed the life out of the engine.

He cursed softly.

He paused, stood silent and listened
hard.

He could hear something behind him.
Someone was stalking him, creeping in on him.

He whirled around.

He had misjudged the direction of the
sound.

A twig cracked.

Dead leaves crushed as footsteps drew
near.

Martin saw nothing behind him. The
noise came from next to him.

He turned, he looked, and he
froze.

He could hear something, someone was
talking to him. He felt dizzy, weak and deafened. He was about to
pass out.

He sunk to his knees. His hearing
returned slowly, blood started to circulate. He still couldn’t get
up.

He heard the voice again.

“
Martin Parker, you’re
under arrest for the murder of Janet and Christopher
Parker.”

He looked up. He couldn’t speak or
think straight. The one person, that one thing he hadn’t feared now
stood in front of him.

*~*~*

*V
*

The backyard to the old Holloway farm
was just as overgrown as the front. It’s large and wide spread
trees gave just the right amount of shade from those hot summer
barbeques. In the center was a pool long dry and cracked. It was
easy to imagine how beautiful this property would’ve been, if kept
to a least a decent standard. There’s enough room to stretch out.
Children could play ball games without breaking every window in
sight. There wasn’t any fencing surrounding the property. To the
one side, probably corn or wheat field, now weed infested. To the
other side was a small yellow wood forest. Lots of oak trees dotted
the entire property.

Andrew stepped forward placing his
hand firmly on Martin’s arm. He pulled him upward, almost
encouraging him to get his mind back to reality. The sun was
blinding as Martin squinted to look up at Andrew, even so he got to
his feet with great difficulties.

“
Do you understand what
I’ve told you?” Andrew repeated.

“
Where did you come from?”
Martin responded with a weak voice.

“
Martin you’re under
arrest.”

“
I heard that.” Martin’s
voice was hoarse.

“
Do you understand that
you have the right to a lawyer?”

“
I know, I know.” Martin
replied in submission.

“
Right, now I need you to
tell me what happened to Janet and Christopher.”

“
They’re right there.”
Martin informed pointing to the bottom of the yard without facing
that direction. His arm and hand trembled with the weakness that
had grabbed him so suddenly.

Andrew heard what Martin had said. He
glared wide-eyed into the direction Martin was pointing but saw
nothing.

Had Martin gone completely insane?
There’s no one around. Andrew turned his attention back to Martin.
He was distant and captivated as he was the last time he had seen
him, only worse this time around. He was waiting for something to
happen, he kept looking around nervously. He had lost weight and
his eyes were sunken and withdrawn. His beard had grown wild and
untrimmed. His hair long and his clothes stained with some food
which seemed recent.

“
Where are they
Martin?”

“
Come I will show you.”
Martin said forcing the words out of his mouth.

He led Andrew through long grass to
the edge of the lawn. A trail of officers followed as Andrew walked
curiously next to Martin. He knew that Martin could pull a few
tricks out of his sleeve, but somehow he felt like he had no intent
to flee or try to fight back.

“
What are you playing at
Martin? You know where they really are, don’t you?”

Martin didn’t answer, just stumbled
through long grass and into a small ditch. He continued through the
ditch without incident. A few steps forward he stopped and turned
to Andrew.

“
I tried to keep at least
that clean.” Martin said pointing to the ground.

It wasn’t something you would see from
the backyard. It’s hidden in long grass and too low to the ground.
There’s no indication that it was there. Except if you actually
make the journey down the lawn you’ll notice the ground slightly
elevated from the rest. It appeared recent. It was evident that he
did some work around the homemade graves. He didn’t place a
headstones or side not even a cross. Few flowers scattered the
ground from about a week ago. It’s impossible to imagine that
Martin was here more recently. There was no footprint that would
suggest it.

“
What is this
Martin?”

“
It was bad, such an
unnecessary waste of life.” Martin started softly. “They had taken
my son and wife. They didn’t even stand a chance. The truck’s
brakes failed and ran right over them. I don’t know what the driver
did, but he didn’t even try to avoid them.” Martin fell to his
knees again and sobbed until his whole body trembled.

“
When did this happen.
Martin!” Andrew pulled him by the arm. “When did this
happen?”

“
I came to meet them, I
was going to start over with them, but instead I had a visit from
the police. They are gone and will never come back. They took
them.” Martin sobbed again.

“
What police?” Andrew
asked and had to swallow the lump in his throat.

“
Police officers from
Dayton, she wanted to go to get special things for the house. They
tracked me by her license.” Martin berried his hands into the rain
harden soil and sobbed uncontrollable.

Andrew stepped back, almost fell but
managed to stabilize.

‘
This is not true. He
killed them and dumped them in the lake.’ Andrew thought, trying to
find reason in the developments.

Andrew looked hard at Martin. Tears
build in the corners of his eyes.

‘
No this is another one of
his lies. This is not true.’ He continued thinking.

“
I don’t believe you, this
isn’t true.” Andrew repeated himself. “You’re lying Martin tell me
the truth.”

Martin looked up at him. His face
seemed to have age a few years.

“
Martin tell me the truth,
please I’m begging you. You know this isn’t the truth. What have
you done? What happened in Hazy View? Please tell me so I can help
you.”

Martin stopped sobbing and got to his
feet.

He was silent only starred blindly at
Andrew. He started walking back to the house without a
word.

Andrew followed. His minds confused
and raced. Is this another way from Martin to escape what he has
done? He could’ve made the graves himself. He could’ve made himself
believe this lie. Had he gone so far into madness that he was
trying to block what happened in Hazy View from his
mind?

“
Where’re you
going?”

“
You don’t believe me, so
I‘ll proof it.” Martin called coldly.

“
I want to believe you, so
if you can proof it I’d like to see it then we can clear your name
and leave you alone.” Andrew said hopeful.

If Martin’s innocent then he would
review the case and he’ll be happy to do that.

Martin walked into the house through
the back door with Andrew and the officers hot on his heels. He
continued to the upstairs room, and turned left at the top of the
stairs. He passed two doors and opened the third. His steps creak
as he stepped on the old wooden floors. All the men crowd the small
room where Martin stopped at a small desk. He opened the top drawer
and produced death certificates and an accident report. He handed
it to Andrew without a word. His eyes were bloodshot from the
sobbing and he still wiped away a lone tear.

Andrew looked down at the death
certificates in his hand. The one name of the victim’s misspelled,
but these things happened especially when a foreign doctor tried to
write a name like Christopher. The name where added later as the
ink pigment and handwriting didn’t match. The document seemed
odd.

“
What’s with the names,
who wrote it?” Andrew asked looking suspiciously at
Martin.