dozen with combination locks. “So, how do you know this is his?”
“I don’t for sure. Look around, this isn’t the best place to be if you’re trying to undress and dress. It’s dark and kinda hidden.”
Tibbs commented, “Maybe he’s shy.”
Mark responded. “Maybe, but I come in here each night to check for people before I lock up. This here locker is always locked. I mean since he joined. None are supposed to be locked, but I got some regulars, and I cut ‘em some slack. This one though, is not a regular, I know where they are. It’s gotta be his.”
Tibbs asked, “Do you have any video?”
“Naw. This is a locker room, and there’s privacy problems with that. But that’s his locker. You want I should cut the lock? It’s policy, right in the contract, that lockers locked when no one’s here are subject to being cut open.”
Tibbs thought about it. “No, Mark. Be ready though. I’m coming back with a warrant as soon as I can find a judge to sign.”
“Okay, Detective. You want me to keep him outta here until you come back?”
“Mark, I’ll be as fast as I can. If he comes in, don’t act suspicious. Just let him do his thing. You just be perfectly natural.” Tibbs didn’t want to say he could be dangerous and risk prejudicing the case or getting Mark injured. “You still have my number?”
“Yep. I’m sure it’s in the computer.”
“Good. Call me if you see him, but not when he’s around anyone – Got that?”
“You bet, Chief.”
Desperation
He came down the stairs and walked quickly to the front door. “Where you goin’, Ryan?” Keats was standing in his office doorway down the hall.
“Goin’ to work, if’n it’s any ‘o your business.”
“Don’t you sass me, jail bird. You don’t start work till five. Why you leavin’ now?”
“I got some errands, so’s I’m gettin’ a early start.” Ryan closed the door and walked down the stoop. If Keats had anything more to say, he didn’t want to listen.
A few minutes later, he walked into the gym. Mark saw him and approached. “Hi, partner, come to work out?”
It struck Ryan as odd that he was inquisitive. Mark had not said anything to him since he joined the gym. “I’m just here to clean out ma’ locker.”
“You leavin us?”
“Ah, no. I paid for a year. I just want to take things home for cleanin’.”
“Well, okay then. Have a good one.”
Ryan walked into the men’s room. Another sign. Everyone was treating him differently. Had he screwed up some way? No, the police would be on him like syrup on pancakes if they could. Something was different, though. Everyone: Keats, boss, Mark, the police – everyone was acting spooky. Something wasn’t right.
He walked from front to back in the locker room to be sure no one was there. Mark was in his office with the door closed, calling Tibbs. While he was asking again about delaying or holding Ryan, Tibbs told him to stay away. Ryan walked out of the front door with his gym bag.
Tibbs and a uniformed officer showed up ten minutes later at the gym with a search warrant. Mark told him Ryan was gone and the locker was empty. Tibbs became worried now that Ryan was spooked. If they were going to catch him doing something illegal, this might be the time Ryan would do it.
Outside, Tibbs called Jake Ramsey, but went to voicemail. Jake was flying outside of cell range. He didn’t have Julie’s number and decided not to call her and scare her before verifying Ryan’s whereabouts. Minutes later, parked down the street from the restaurant, the officer was able to look through the window and verify that Ryan was in the back kitchen area, apparently starting to work.
Ryan had carried the bag into the kitchen through the back door, which the owner unlocked two hours before opening the front for dinner customers. Ryan had to be there about one hour before the doors opened, but could come in early and help with the setup. He threw the bag onto a stainless steel shelf under the sinks, where he normally worked once food preparation and table cleanup began. If the owner saw the bag, he didn’t say anything to Ryan. Most of the staff brought small gym bags with everything from special food, assuming they wouldn’t eat the restaurant leftovers, to a change of clothes. This was the first time Ryan brought one, but no one seemed to notice.
The work evening went normally, and Ryan checked in with Keats at the correct time. The bag was neatly hidden in the freezer at work, under frozen fish. He had about half the money inside his underwear and would find some place to hide it in the large, mostly unoccupied house. He’d bring the rest tomorrow.
That evening, Jake recovered the voice message from Tibbs. It said that there was no immediate reason for alarm, just that Ryan might be feeling pressured.
T.W. waved when he parked behind Julie’s car. Jake waved back and went to the mailbox, but before he could open it, T.W. yelled, “Your lady done got it, Jake.”
Jake smiled and waved back. He’d have to get used to having someone else in the house. Once inside, she greeted him with a kiss. He said, “What smells so good?”
“I made an old family recipe, stuffed cabbage rolls!”
“You’ve got to be kidding! Beauty and a cook – how lucky can one guy be? I love you.”
The nights were wonderful, as she settled into running the household. Neither one talked about her returning to work, which was entirely up to her, according to Jake. They didn’t need the money and had large investments to fund a comfortable lifestyle that had not been defined yet. Partly, she knew that Jake wouldn’t be happy if he couldn’t fly. They were still relatively young and felt even younger. They started working out at the health club that Callie and Jake had joined months earlier, and a friendly competition developed, particularly in swimming. She even got Jake to try ballroom dancing once a week. They were having fun together.
Downtown, life for Ryan wasn’t nearly as pleasant. Dogged by Tibbs and some of the patrolmen that took a particular interest in him, he never felt the freedom of movement that he should have had. It was not a good way to live. Didn’t the cops have better things to do than harass him? The reality was that Ryan was the principal target for three murders and known to everyone in the police department. He hadn’t hurt anyone since being identified by Tibbs. He couldn’t, he felt like they were watching him all the time. Of course, that wasn’t possible, but he felt it just the same. He also knew Keats was tracking him closely. He never missed Ryan coming or going.
Ryan couldn’t sleep well anymore. The thought of going back to prison, especially for murder, dominated his subconscious. It tortured him. He needed to get out of it somehow. He needed a woman! He’d been reacquainted with the joy of flesh, particularly unwilling flesh. He needed more, and the police were making it impossible. Tomorrow was Saturday and he’d have two days to find a playmate if the police would just leave him alone. He tossed and turned in frustration.
Romance
The evening Gulf breeze tantalized them as Jake poured another glass of Pinot Grigio. Their trip to Cameron Station was a first step in searching for some place to live away from Lafayette. They hadn’t found any houses or even communities along this part of the Louisiana Coast, but it was important to visit all of the candidate areas before deciding on their next step. Cameron was an auxiliary base for CHI, so it was a logical place to start. In eight years, Jake had flown on and off the helipad and stayed in their hangar apartment, but he’d never really seen the area at ground level. After they looked it over, it wasn’t a place they wanted to live, but it had needed to be eliminated.
She was just enjoying being with him and avoiding housework for a few days while he was between schedules. He said, “Maybe we should head west tomorrow toward Port Arthur. We could spend a couple days there looking it over. If we don’t like it, we can move on to Galveston next break.”
She smiled. “Hum. You know, we don’t have to
rush this. I’m enjoying the process and don’t need to make any quick decisions.”
“Yeah, me, too. I love being with you.” In a way, it was their honeymoon. They’d never planned on one, but were starting to realize that every break in his schedule could be a mini-vacation if they did things together.
That night, they loved passionately and slept with the windows open in a quaint seacoast Inn, listening to the gentle Gulf waves wash ashore. The following morning, they packed and checked out early, with just enough time to drive to Port Arthur, Texas, for a night there and a day to explore the area before returning to Lafayette.
They didn’t find anything interesting around Port Arthur either, and Jake was beginning to fear that she would start questioning his choices. The fact is that he didn’t know much about the gulf coast at ground level. He took her the only places he’d been, not realizing that they were mostly commercial and industrial locations. They looked around briefly, but were on the interstate heading back to Lafayette before noon. For their next excursion, Julie would do some on-line research and pick their spots to check.
Kidnapped
That night, Ryan was on the prowl for a different kind of thrill. He had to stay away from women on the street. Some might be decoys. Instead, he went down to the Greyhound station and walked around the large unlit extended-stay parking lot. He’d bought a screwdriver set at Walmart.