Zeke (42 page)

Will forced a small smile. “I’m
okay.”

Favoring his injured leg, he slowly
made his way to the waiting area and sank into a seat in the corner of the
room. Only a few other people were present; one man slept in a chair, head
back, mouth open. The others huddled together, dealing with their own personal
demons. A television droned softly in the background.

Will put his head in his hands and
let exhaustion wash over him. The pain pills in his pocket called to him, and
the urge to lie down and sleep was overwhelming. He refused to rest until after
he’d seen Sue.

He rubbed his eyes and sat up just
as Dane Alter appeared in front of him with a Styrofoam cup. “Black okay?”

“Perfect, thanks.” Will reached for
the coffee and blew on the surface before taking a drink.

“You lied to me, Falstaff.” Alter’s
face was stony.

“Not technically.” Will took
another sip. “I told you I was on the road, and I was.”

“Don’t be an ass.” Alter relaxed
his posture a bit. “I’m not saying I blame you for what you did; I’d probably
have done the same thing. But I don’t like being deceived. Don’t do it again.”

“Doubt I’ll ever have a reason to.”
Will set the cup on the table next to the chair and rose slowly to his feet.

“You might.” Alter reached out a
hand, almost reluctantly, to steady Will. “After you talk to the victim.”

“No, sir.” Will waved away his
assistance. “If I have any sway with her at all, I’m going to encourage her to
tell you everything she knows.”

“You’ll have sway.” Alter stood
close, deliberately crowding Will. “When we were in there earlier, she was
asking for you. Asking to see the man who
saved
her. Referred to you as
Superman.”

Will was discomfited more by the
moniker than by the detective’s wry tone. He hadn’t known if Sue would even remember
his intervention on her behalf, given the circumstances. “I’m no hero,” he
said. “It was chance that got me there in time, that’s all. Timing’s everything
in life, don’t you think, Alter?”

“Lucky for you.” Alter backed away
a step. “But one misstep and you could’ve been another corpse for us to clean
up. You should have left it to the professionals.”

“I really got on your bad side,
didn’t I?”

“I don’t like cowboys.”

Before Will could respond, Nolan
signaled them from the doorway. “We can see her now.”

Will gave Alter an indifferent
shrug before walking away, wishing he could swagger. The best he could do with
his sore leg was shuffle.

Sue’s eyes were closed when Will
entered her room; the detectives hung back, giving him at least the illusion of
privacy. Her eyes opened and she cringed away from him in an instinctive
gesture of self-preservation before realizing she was safe.

“Hi,” Will said softly. “Remember
me?”

“Yes. You’re Superman. I wanted to
talk to you, wanted to say thank you.”

“Well, it was nothing really. I
just happened to be in the neighborhood,” Will joked mildly, and was rewarded
with a drawn smile. “How are you feeling?” His heart ached at the sight of her
split lip, bandaged nose, and all the other visible wounds.

“Sore. But the nurse said I’m due
for another pain shot soon.”

Will thought she had fallen asleep,
but then heard her whisper. He leaned closer. “What?”

“How? How did you
really
happen
to be there? You’re not a cop. Who are you?”

Will slapped his forehead in mock
disbelief. “That’s right. We haven’t been properly introduced. My name is Will
Falstaff. I’m a private investigator, hired by your parents to find you.”

“They wanted to find me?”

“In the worst way. In fact, they’re
on their way here, right now.”

Sue covered her mouth as tears ran
down her cheeks. Reaching out she took his hand and held it tightly. “I can’t
see them.” Her tone was urgent.

“Why not? They’ve been so worried
about you.”

“I’ve done things,” she whispered.
“Things I’m so ashamed of.”

Will sighed. “Honey, I’m sure your
parents can handle it. They’re so damn relieved that you’re safe, that’s all
they can think about. I mean it, Susan; you don’t need to worry about that
stuff right now. We all make mistakes. Every human being walking this earth has
screwed up at one time or the other.”

“Not like I have.” She released
Will’s hand as tears washed her cheeks. “What about Zeke? Where is he?”

Will shook his head. “We don’t
know. He got away. But, I’m fairly certain he didn’t hang around. He’s bound to
be long gone by now. Still, to be on the safe side, the police have an officer
guarding your door. There’s nothing to worry about.”

“Thank God for that.” Sue leaned
back and turned bruised eyes toward the ceiling. “Oh lord! How could I have
been so stupid?”

“Young lady, you were played by a
master. A con man, an out-and-out sociopath. Guys like Zeke are experts at
manipulating people.”

“It’s worse than that. He’s a
murderer. He’s killed people.”

“I know. And the police know it,
too.”

At mention of the police, Sue again
evidenced agitation. “I don’t want to talk to the police. I’m so afraid they’ll
arrest me. Zeke said I’ll go to jail.”

“For what?” Will kept his voice
soft, unthreatening, but he heard the detectives’ subtle movements in the
background.

“Helping him. Helping him find a
woman to kill. I didn’t want to do it; he made me. It was awful. The
screams...” She pressed her fingers to her temples, as if the woman’s cries
still resounded in her head.

“Susan, calm down now and listen to
me. Do you understand what coercion means?”

“Yes.”

He had her attention now. “You were
a victim, too. The police know that. They’ll be in here soon. They want to talk
to you again, and this time you need to tell them everything you can remember.
Even the embarrassing parts. Even the bad parts.”

“I’ll go to jail.” She moaned a
little.

“I can’t make any promises, but I
don’t think that will happen.”

She tried to sit up and a look of
pain etched her face. She abandoned the effort. “Do you know everything that
happened?”

“I know a lot of it, probably not
all. But remember this: Zeke is a liar, a very accomplished liar. Susan, talk
to the police. Take your chances with them. Believe me, it’s Zeke they want,
not you.” Will prayed he was right about that.

“Alright, I’ll talk to them. I
promise.” The sheets rustled as she shifted slightly. “Mr. Falstaff?”

“Yes?”

“I’m glad you were there.”

“Me too.” Will felt his throat
tighten. Exhaustion was making him emotional. “Now I think you should get some
sleep. Your folks are on their way, and the police are probably going to bother
you a lot before it’s all said and done. You better grab your rest when you
can. We can talk more later on, okay?”

“Okay.” Her eyes were heavy, and
she drifted off before Will tiptoed from the room, giving the detectives a
pointed stare on his way out. They took the hint and followed him into the
hallway.

“Can you at least let her rest for
awhile before you start your interrogation?” He kept his voice pleasant and
focused his attention on Lemond Nolan, ignoring Alter for the time being.

Nolan shook his head. “I wish we
could. The sooner we get information on this Zeke character, the sooner we can
put together a plan to catch the bastard. But, don’t worry; we’ll be easy on
her. Hell, we both have daughters about her age and it makes us sick to think
of what she’s gone through.” Patting Will on the back, Nolan entered Sue’s
room, with Detective Alter at his heels.

The cafeteria was busy, and Will
had to wait in line to get his food. The meal was reasonably good, and he ate
slowly, relishing the calm aftermath of what had seemed like a long, arduous
ordeal.

In a motel room later, he spent
nearly an hour on the phone with Roxie. They went over the particulars of the
case. “I’ve tracked a lot of missing people, but never a serial killer. Let me
tell you, it’s harrowing.”

“Bet you’re wiped out.”

“Feel like somebody beat me with a
stick and then ran me over with a truck.”

“Thank God it’s over.”

A pregnant pause followed before
Will spoke again, “But the bastard got away.”

“Will, you stop that right now,”
Roxie commanded. “I won’t have you tormenting yourself. You had to let him go.
If you’d gone after him, Sue could’ve died. You made the only decision you
could.” Roxie’s voice softened. “You did the right thing, Will.”

“I know that, but it doesn’t mean I
have to like it.” He shifted the conversation to a lighter tone. “By the way,
tell Melvin I’m giving him a bonus.”

“He’ll be thrilled.” Roxie said
with unconcealed sarcasm as she grinned into the phone. Will’s bonuses were
generally rather small. Changing subjects, she asked “How’s Susan holding up?”

“She’s shaky. I don’t even know the
whole story yet, but I can tell you already that girl is going to need some
serious counseling. On top of everything else he put her through, he royally
screwed with her head. She’s fragile.”

“No doubt.”

“But she’s alive, she’s young, and
she has the loving support of her parents. She can recover from this and put
her life back together.”

They spoke a bit longer about their
other cases, and then hung up.

Will swallowed a couple of pain
pills and fell into bed. This would be his first good night’s sleep since he’d
accepted this assignment. The next day, he planned to visit Sue one more time,
talk to her parents, and then hit the road for home.

Epilogue

Nineteen-year-old Darcy Willingham
slid into a chair at the public library in Webster, Nevada. Ever alert for a
potential boyfriend, she couldn’t fail to notice the sexy guy at the next
table, his blond head bent over a thin book. She averted her eyes but raised
them again, unable to stop staring at the attractive stranger. She had never
seen a more gorgeous male, outside of movies and magazines. The small jagged
scar on his cheek took nothing away from his looks; in fact, it added appeal, a
sort of exotic intrigue.

He lifted vibrant blue eyes to hers
and she felt an electric shock of attraction.

“Hi,” he said quietly.

“Hi,” she replied, thrilled he’d
taken notice of her.

“Sorry to bother you, but would you
happen to have a pen I could borrow?” His voice was well modulated, hypnotic,
and sensuous.

“Sure.” She eagerly dug in her
purse, walked over, and handed him an ink pen with an insurance company’s
advertisement on it. “Will this work?”

“It’s all good,” he said. “Thanks.”
Their hands touched briefly as he took the ballpoint, sending a small thrill
racing over her. She glanced down at the book he was reading.

“So, you like poetry?” she asked,
cursing herself internally for sounding so lame. But, his answer set her at
ease.

“I do,” he said. “In fact, I write
poetry myself. Of course, I’m not published yet. You know how it is for the
starving artist; I’m keeping my day job for now. How about you? Do you write?”

“Oh, all the time,” she gushed. In
fact, her notebook was full of rambling juvenile love poems and starry-eyed
prose.

“I’d like to see your stuff
sometime.” His gaze traveled down her body, warming her.

“Okay. I’ll show you mine if you’ll
show me yours.” She giggled when she realized how that had come out.

“Well, we’ll have to arrange something.”
His smile was dazzling. “By the way, I’m Ian.”

Notes of
Interest

Cover photo for
Zeke
by artjazz
(©Depositphotos/artjazz)

Special thanks to authors Douglas Wickard, Kathleen Patel,
and Michael K. Rose for taking the time to read and review
Zeke.

Setting
:

The authors took artistic liberty with the locations,
geography, and highways in this novel. Most of the towns and all of the roads
mentioned are fictional.

Coming soon:

Tangerine
by Wodke Hawkinson. Set in a future time when
aliens are a natural part of everyday life and travel to distant planets is
commonplace.

Available now:

Betrayed
by Wodke Hawkinson

Betrayed
- Alternate Ending
by Wodke Hawkinson

Catch
Her in the Rye, Selected Short Stories Volume One
by Wodke Hawkinson.

Blue,
Selected Short Stories Volume Two
by Wodke Hawkinson.

Alone,
Selected Short Stories, Volume Three
by Wodke Hawkinson.

Ghost
Writer
, a short story by Wodke Hawkinson.

Half Bitten
by
PJ Hawkinson. A tale of vampire revenge.

James
Willis Makes a Million
by K Wodke. A book for young readers about a boy
who refuses to stay poor.

Contacts
:

Author Website:
http://wodke-hawkinson.com

Authors/Readers Website:
http://findagoodbooktoread.com/

Blog:
http://wodke-hawkinson.com/blog1/

Like us on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/people/Wodke-Hawkinson/100001056580850

Follow us on Twitter: @WodkeHawkinson

Enjoy this preview of
Betrayed
, the exciting novel by
Wodke Hawkinson

Chapter 1

As they entered their six-car
garage, Brook reached for the keys to the Cayenne Turbo S. With its 520
horsepower, it was capable of handling even the most extreme conditions and Clark
always insisted Brook drive it in the winter. Now, however, Clark placed his
hand over hers to stop her from taking the keys.