Slender Man Ch. 04

"Giving a statement to the Press?" Cindy said to me, her voice mocking. "I just don't even know you any more, Commander." Everyone in MCD laughed.

"If the Press thought about it," I said, "they'd know I was using them like the 'useful idiots' they are. But no more on that for now..."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"Nothing through the night, Commander." said Cindy, as she, Lt. Masters and I met in my office. "Our people watching the mother and the child reported nothing. Also, there was nothing regarding your primary suspect. Our people watching him said he came home from work and stayed in his townhouse all night."

I nodded. "Well, if he follows the pattern he's set, then it won't be until this afternoon or this evening that he strikes. Do we still have people watching him?"

"Yes sir, from an empty home across from his." said Lt. Masters. "The guard at the gate during the evening is an off-duty TCPD Officer; he let us in without a fuss. Our guy approached the place as if he lives there."

I nodded. I was going deeper and deeper into thought.

"Commander?" I heard Cindy say. I looked up. I'd gone into a reverie for several minutes.

"I am missing something." I said flatly. I got up and began pacing, which I rarely do. "I am overlooking something; something is getting past me, I just know it."

"Sir," said Cindy, "we've got every base covered. We have a couple of layers of Patrol cruisers on the Hammondsville Road. We have people stationed at Point Hollow. We have people at Mountain Valley Golf Course and the Cemetery. And we have people on the inside, as you know." She was referring to the Widow Athena Jones and others from the 'Crowbar Irregulars' of the Veasley Community Center.

"I know." I said. "That's not it. I've missed something..."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"Your primary suspect did not go to work today." said Detective Teddy Parker at 1:30pm. "His car hasn't moved since he came home yesterday. We called the location where he's been working, and they said he'd called and said he would not be in today."

I nodded. "Do our guys watching him have infrared detectors?" I asked.

"No sir." said Parker. "Want me to get someone to take one to them? Via a 'pizza delivery'?"

I shook my head. "No. I don't want anything to draw attention to them." I got out of my chair and began pacing, my lower back beginning to ache. What am I missing? I thought to myself over and over...

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The sun was beginning to set. I was in my office with Cindy. MCD was quietly being transformed into a 'War Room' for tonight's missions. I used my personal cellphone to call my mother, a.k.a. 'the Widow Athena Jones'.

"No, she's doing fine." said my mother of the mother of the intended child victim. "No, the child is at Rachel Kelly's house with Rachel and her mom... no, Rachel's mom picked her up..."

"OH SHIT!" I gasped out. "MOM! Quickly! What car was Rachel's mother driving?... silver Toyota Camry... okay, Mom, you need to go over to the Kelly house, stat! No, right now! I gotta go, bye!"

"Come on!" I growled at Cindy as I tore out of my office.

"What is it?" Cindy said as she ran after me down the hallway.

"I told you I overlooked something!" I cried out. "I hope we're not too late!"

I practically crashed through the Duty Desk as I ran up to it. "Get on the radio!" I gasped. "Silver Toyota Camry! Nina Kelly! Don't let any silver Toyota Camry cross the State Line!" The Duty Desk Sergeant quickly got on the radio and relayed the instructions.

Meanwhile Cindy ran up with my outer armor and my trenchcoat. As I put the armor on in the hallway, I barked instructions to Teddy Parker. Then Cindy and I rushed to my SUV.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"An affair!" I all but shouted. "A fucking extramarital affair! THAT is what I overlooked!"

"Ah." Cindy said. "So Nina Kelly is involved with this sleazebag, and she's got the kids... hers and his."

"Yes." I said. My blue lightbar was burning, the flashing blue lights making things eerie from inside the Police SUV as we headed west towards the State Line. Cindy was on the phone with Jack Muscone...

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"Uh oh," he said. "Roadblock ahead. And we're a mile away from the State Line. I'll bet there's another one up ahead, too."

"No way they know." said Nina Kelly.

"Know what?" asked one of the children in the backseat.

"Nothing, sweetie." he said. To Nina he said "Let me out just up ahead. If you're stopped, I'll create a distraction while you go for the State Line. If we get separated, we'll rendezvous in Hammondsville..."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"May I see your drivers' license, ma'am?" asked Patrolman Barker at the checkpoint.

"Sure, but what is this about?" asked Nina Kelly.

"We're searching for that escaped bank robber, Leonard Lotz." said the Officer. "But I think those kids in your backseat are a little young to be robbing banks." He looked at the I.D., then gave it back. "Have a nice evening, ma'am."

"Thank you." said Nina. She resumed driving west.

"Hey, Barker!" called out Sergeant Abram. "Listen to this!" They listened as the radio called out to be on the lookout for a silver Toyota Camry.

"Hey, that was a Camry that just went through!" said Barker. Abram practically lunged into the car to grab the radio mike.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The second checkpoint was almost within site of the bridge over the 'other' river that was the State Line. The officer held out his hand to stop the silver Camry. Nina Kelly looked ahead, seeing two Police SUVs at the entrance to the bridge, ready to block the road if need be.

"Can I see your drivers license, ma'am?" asked Lieutenant Irwin. Mrs. Kelly noticed he was very tense, as was Sr. Patrolman Hicks, who was observing from the right rear of the vehicle.

"You guys just checked me back there." Nina Kelly said, letting some of her exasperation show.

"Yes ma'am." said Irwin. "We appreciate your cooperation. It's a very serious situation." He glanced up to see a Police SUV flying up, and knew who that vehicle contained. As I pulled up behind the other vehicles, I signaled to Irwin.

"Ma'am, would you step out of the car, please?" Irwin said in a commanding tone.

"Why?" asked Nina Kelly.

"Please, ma'am." said Irwin.

"No." said Nina. "I want a female Police Officer here before I get out of the car." She was well-versed in police stops, Irwin noted.

"You've got that now." said Captain Cindy Ross, coming up to Irwin. "I'm Captain Cindy Ross, Chief of Detectives of the Town & County Police Force. Get out of the car, Mrs. Kelly. Now."

"Look!" said Nina, pointing across the road. Everyone looked. About 150 feet away, in the farm field, was Slender Man!

"I've got him." I called out, motioning to other officers. "If Mrs. Kelly thinks she is driving away, she has another 'think' coming. Place her under arrest!"

As Cindy did so, I began walking towards Slender Man, my red crowbar in my hand. There were Officers lining the edge of the field, so that Slender Man could not run for the State Line.

"Don!" I heard Cindy call out. "Watch out! Don't let him shock you!"

I saw that Slender Man was standing erect, his arms and hands pressed tightly to his sides. I could feel something; it felt like an aura... around me.

"It's over, Larry!" I called out as I approached him. "I know you are Larry Lance, and that this has all been a ruse so you can kidnap your daughter Heather and take her out of State! But it's not going to happen, Larry! Put your hands in the air, slowly!"

Slender Man, a.k.a. Larry Lance, did not move. The sense of that electric aura got stronger. Of course, the Iron Crowbar did not stand by idly. The Iron Crowbar attacked!

I rushed him, crowbar ready to swing, hearing Officers scream out for me to stop. I saw my prey extend his hands as I approached.

*WHOOSH!* *BZZZZ!* *ZZZZT!*

"AAUUGGGHH!"

A blinding shower of sparks enveloped us. But the scream was not from me. It was Lance. I'd swung my crowbar and connected squarely with his abdomen, short-circuiting and all but exploding the electrical device he was wearing like I was wearing my bulletproof girdle.

"AAAUUUGHH! OH GOD! IT HURTS! IT HURTS!" screamed Lance as he writhed in agony on the ground. I felt no mercy.

"Shoulda thought of that when you damn near electrocuted my Officer." I said as I forced his hands behind him and handcuffed him, then tore off the white mask covering his head.

As Officers rushed up, Sergeant Rudistan said "How did you not get shocked, Commander?"

"Wearing rubber gloves may not be playing according to the rules," I said, as I exhibited them on my hands, "but I'm tired of playing games with this cat. Take him to the Hospital. Maintain a guard on him. He is under arrest." I also had on rubber soled boots, which helped prevent me from being a circuit for Lance's electrical device...

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"Heather and Rachel were checked by your wife, then returned to the custody of their other parents." said Cindy. "Nina is in I-1, and has demanded a lawyer. Larry is at University Hospital, and probably will be there at least overnight. His burns weren't as bad as Teresa's, but they're not insignificant. He's under guard, already ankle monitored, and there will be no Ned-like escapes for him. I have impressed upon Lt. Irwin my strongest desires that Larry Lance face a judge and of course get his fair trial."

"And speaking of Teresa," said Cindy, "she'll be out of there in the morning as long as her white cell count stays low, i.e. no infections crop up. I'll personally make sure she goes home and rests."

"Belay there." I replied, using good old-fashioned Navy language. "Todd's taking care of that, and I have impressed upon my young nephew my strongest desires that Teresa gets rest and heals up quickly, which will require resting in bed at home."

Cindy nodded, and I could see the relief on her face that things with Teresa would be okay.

"Okay," I said, "who is interviewing Mrs. Kelly?"

"Teddy Parker," Cindy replied. "When her lawyer gets here."

"May I make a suggestion?" said a voice. It was Paulina Patterson as she came into my office. "May I suggest that you, Commander Troy, at least sit in with Detective Parker? No offense to him, but this one... could get tricky."

"Y'all sit down." I said, then went behind my desk and sat in the comfortable Command Chair. "So, Paulina," I asked, "what are the issues?"

"We've got Larry dead to rights." Paulina said. "Tire impressions near Point Hollow matched his car. You obliterated him near the State Line. But Nina Kelly is not so easy. The only thing we have on her is trying to take her child across the State Line without her husband's and the Court's permission, which violates the Divorce Decree. But even kidnapping is thin."

"I think we can fill in some gaps and create enough of a case to get a conspiracy charge." I said. "Let's put her in a holding cell overnight. Ross, who do you want to do some interviews at StatePowerCorp in the morning?"

"Parker and Warner." Cindy replied.

Part 23 - Breakdown

"This is Bettina Wurtzburg, KXTC Channel Two News!" yelled the lovely redheaded reporterette from in front of Police Headquarters at 7:00am, Friday, March 17th. Bettina was wearing a lovely green dress for St. Patrick's Day, I noted as she said "Channel Two News has learned that the Town & County Police have made arrests in the 'Slender Man' kidnapping cases!"

"Police have arrested Larry Lance, whose daughter Heather was a friend of the first kidnapping victim, Henrietta Claymore." continued Bettina. "Police are not commenting on details of the case as they complete their investigation and turn their evidence over to the District Attorney's Office, but sources tell Channel Two News that Lance was apprehended by Commander Donald Troy, who used martial arts to avoid the electrical shock that injured Captain Teresa Croyle!"

"Oh, that is going to piss off Captain Croyle." I said as we listened in MCD. Cindy nodded vigorously in agreement.

"At least she's giving you credit for taking Slender Man down." said Joanne Warner happily.

"True." I said, then added: "Detective Warner, why are you here? You have interviews to do."

"They're going at 8:00am." Cindy said. "I've already arranged with the management at StatePowerCorp for the interviews to occur with minimum interruption to their day."

"Oh, okay." I said. "Good job."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

12:00 noon, Friday, March 17th. Captain Ross, Detective Parker, and myself went to the City Hall and to the meeting room of District Attorney Gil Krasney. Why the D.A.'s offices weren't in the Courthouse, I don't know. But that's the way it was in my beloved Town & County.

"We have a better case, anyway." I said. "Parker here interviewed people at StatePowerCorp that saw Nina and Larry talking on many occasions, and in a very friendly manner that was beyond professional decorum."

"It'll show they knew each other." said Paulina. "But the friendliness won't fly. It'll be considered speculation."

"Unless you spoon-feed it to the Grand Jury and then the trial jury." I said. "We have her on the road to the State Line, with no turnoffs between her and the bridge out of the State... and crossing that bridge with her child and Larry's child? It's circumstantial, but strong."

"Yes, it is." said D.A. Krasney. "And I have strong faith that ADA Patterson can get this through. But we need more, Commander. I'd like to get more."

"The kids said Larry was in the car and got out before the first checkpoint." I said.

"Any good lawyer is going to push that one back." said Paulina. "Family members testifying against family members, they're children, yadda yadda yadda..."

I didn't agree with that, but I went on: "What are you willing to offer Lance to throw her under the bus?" I asked.

"That's what we asked you here to talk about." said Krasney. "Lance wounded one of your Officers, and since you damn near electrocuted him in return, we'll trust a Jury to be able to make that connection. But how will Officers feel if Lance gets off lighter than he should via a deal?"

"That's a point." said Cindy. "We understand, sitting here in this office. But Captain Croyle's SpecOps and Precinct people have become very loyal to her. They won't like it."

"It'll depend on the terms of the deal." I said. "So what's he looking at without any deals?"

"That's just it, Commander." said Krasney. "We're going to have a tough, tough time getting him on almost anything. We think we can spoon-feed a jury the 'assault on a police officer' charge. We can then put Lance at Point Hollow with Rachel Kelly present, so we'll have one kidnapping charge. As you pointed out, Heather and Rachel both said Larry was in the car with them and Nina Kelly, then got out near where you apprehended him, but that may not be admissible. It's all thin, and a jury may not see it as kidnapping actually happening. They didn't get out of State, which is good but means we can't charge them along those lines."

"And H.J. Lynch of Chase, Lynch & Berry went to the Hospital and is taking his case." Cindy said. "He will fight like living hell to get his client off, especially on the charge of assaulting a police officer."

"So we need for him to confess, and for him to throw her under the bus." I said.

"I hope you're not thinking of doing anything extracurricular." Paulina said, peering at me. I looked up at her with the most innocent look I could put on my face.

"Who, moi?" I asked with mock shock. "No, of course I'm not going to do anything to him. I already whacked him with the crowbar while apprehending him, and that was legit. So... it is entirely possible Nina Kelly will walk?"

"Very possible." said Krasney. "And to be honest, I'd rather not try her than have a jury acquit her."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

As Cindy and I walked back to Police Headquarters, I said "Arrange for Corporal Kirkpatrick and Patrolman Hicks to be on guard duty for Larry Lance tonight."

"I'll have to give those orders in your name." Cindy replied. "But I will do it. Just don't fuck anything up. I want him to go down for Teresa's sake, if nothing else."

"He will."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

At 2:00pm, I went through the hoops of security to Larry Lance's room at University Hospital. He was awake and doing okay, though in some pain from his burns. Guarding him were Corporal Kirkpatrick and Patrolman Hicks... members of the 'Blood Order'.

"Well, Commander, you did a number on me." said Larry with some degree of humor in his voice when I came into his room. "Come to finish the job?"

"I'm not going to touch you." I said coldly. "I'm here to let you know what's going to happen."

"I've taken the Fifth." said Larry. "You shouldn't be here talking to me at all."

"I can assure you that this conversation is not only off the record... it will never have taken place." I said, my eyes boring into his. "Mr. Lance, you are in deep, deep kimshee. You may not be aware that there are two types of people that prison inmates really hate. One type is traitors. Inmates are surprisingly patriotic prisoners. The other type... is child molesters."

"C'mon, I never hurt any of those kids, and I sure as hell didn't molest them." said Larry.

"True." I said. "Verrrry true. But because of what you did to my Police Officer, because of her burns... the inmates are going to hear that you are a child molester, that you did rape those little kids. The inmates are going to hear that, I will personally make sure they hear that... and then they are going to take it out on you, Larry."

Larry's face dissolved into the total fear that he had tried to inflict upon people as 'Slender Man'. He could see in my face that I was not kidding. At all.

"Remind me not to play poker with you, Commander." he said, trying gauge my seriousness.

"Oh, I'm easy to play poker against." I said, then bored into him. "I never bluff. And I am not bluffing now. You are going to get ripped apart in prison, Larry. Unless you have a change of heart. Maybe your girlfriend, Nina Kelly, will walk... she'll be banging some hot stud every night, while you're getting your ass raped every night... child molester. Or... you tell what you know, you get that coveted 'keepaway' status... and she gets the prison sentence she deserves. You've already lost custody of your child, Larry. Maybe she should lose custody of hers, eh?"

"Of course," I said, "if she starts thinking she's going down, she's going to rat you out, and with a story that puts it all on you. She'll take a deal, maybe even full immunity from the D.A., and there you are, getting raped in jail every night while she's scot free and finding other men to satisfy her sexual appetite."

"So that's it." I said. "You think about it, Larry." With that, I put on my Tilley hat, then turned for the door and exited.

Corporal Kirkpatrick came over to Larry. "We didn't hear a word of that." he said. "And we don't appreciate one of our Officers getting hurt. The way we see it, we owe you one ourselves... big time. So... I'd take up the Commander's very generous offer, if I were you..."

Part 24 - Solution

"This is Amber Harris, KXTC Channel Two News at Six!" said the lovely athletic blonde from behind the Channel Two newsdesk. "The District Attorney's Office has announced that Larry Lance has confessed to being the 'Slender Man' kidnapper! As part of his confession, he has implicated Nina Kelly, with whom he had been having an extramarital affair, in a scheme to kidnap their children and disappear with them, starting a new life in anonymity far away from here."