Richard Hale - Frozen Past

“I can see his cell phone!” Jimmy said, excitedly. “He’s doing something.”

Luke then heard Ellie’s phone ringing through the connection with John.

“Her phone is ringing,” John said.

Luke watched as the man put the glowing phone to his ear, then the light went out and all he could see was his silhouette. He listened carefully but could only hear the sound of Ellie’s voice, but not the conversation. At least at first.

Her voice rose and she started yelling. “I don’t want that!” she shouted. “You leave them alone! Please don’t hurt anyone else! Hello?! Hello?!” and then Luke heard the sound of her crying.

“You guys better get back in here,” John said.

They were down from the house about a hundred yards, crammed in an unmarked van with two other detectives. A small SWAT team was set up and waiting behind the house next to their guy’s shack. That’s exactly what came to Jaxon’s mind when he saw the place. Run down, piece of shit, shack. The roof sagged in the middle and what was once a porch now resembled a listing or sinking boat. One lone rusted chair stood on its side in the section that remained intact. The windows were mostly glass, but one just to the right of the main entrance was covered in plywood. The yard was overgrown and weeds poked up through cracks in the broken driveway. No vehicle was visible.

The night was quiet except for a lone dog barking somewhere in the distance. Movement caught his eye and a drunken man weaved down the street approaching the van from their right. He moved past and they could hear him mumbling to himself. Something about Layla wantin’ to blow Henry, but Henry don’t know no Joe .

“He’s been in there how long now?” Victoria asked one of the detectives.

“Twenty minutes.”

There were no lights on in the house and no movement had been seen since the detectives observed a darkly dressed individual enter the residence from the rear. He had crept along the street near the front of the houses as he made his way to the shack. They said he looked like a man not wanting to be seen.

“Alright, we move in two minutes,” Victoria said, and opened the van door exiting to the street. Jaxon, Scoggins, and Sally followed.

They each had an earpiece and radio, and wore Kevlar vests and FBI Jackets. The SWAT team would move in first, then Jaxon and Sally would follow with Victoria and Scoggins. They remained hidden from view behind the van, but Jaxon peered around the rear of the vehicle and watched as the SWAT team moved silently into place at the front and rear of the shack. It was like watching shadows as they crept around the plants and trees in the yard.

Jaxon’s cell phone vibrated. Victoria glared at him, but he pulled it out and read the text message. His knees suddenly felt like jelly. The text message was from him.

I know where his ears are. You’ll have them soon. My gift.

Jimmy caught up with Luke in the backyard and they went up to his room where John was doing his best to console Ellie. She leapt into Luke’s arms when he stepped in the room. He held her tight and stroked her hair softly trying to calm her. She finally looked up at him and said, “He’s going to kill somebody tonight.”

“What did he say?” Luke asked.

“I asked him how he knew so much about me and he ignored the question, but told me with that creepy voice he has that one of my friends would be gone tonight.”

“Who?”

“He didn’t say.” She looked around at all of them. “We can’t let him. We have to call Jaxon now. We know this guy,” she pointed out the window, “is him.”

“Let’s do it,” Luke said and pulled out his cell phone and the business card Jaxon gave them. He walked over to his desk and glanced at the computer program showing them the position of the killer. His phone was still in the same spot. Luke hoped that meant William Smith was there too. Just then a little window popped up on the computer screen showing some text.

201106172012 OUTGOING MESSAGE SENT TO 555-432-2020

MESSAGE COMPOSITION AS MMS

BODY OF TEXT:

I KNOW WHERE HIS EARS ARE. YOU’LL HAVE THEM SOON. MY GIFT.

END OF MESSAGE.

“What the hell is this?” Luke asked no one in particular.

“Oh,” John said. “That same kind of thing popped up when he called Ellie’s phone. Her phone number showed up along with all these numbers and then went away when the call ended.”

“He just sent this text message to this phone,” Luke said pointing to the screen. The telephone number bothered him. He knew he’d seen it before and wondered if the killer was playing games with other kids. He looked down at the business card and saw his mistake.

“What the hell?!” he said.

“What’s wrong?” Ellie said.

“He just sent that message to Jaxon’s phone.” He held up the card so they could see.

“What?!” Ellie came up and looked at the card, then the computer screen, then back at the card in disbelief. “Why would he be texting Jaxon?”

“Apparently to send this message,” Jimmy said.

“I wonder what the hell it means,” John said looking over their shoulders. “Whose ears is he talking about?”

“We need to call Jaxon now!” Ellie said.

“Right,” and Luke dialed the number. It went straight to voice mail. “Crap! It went to voice mail! What do I say?”

“Tell him to call us right away,” Ellie said.

Luke did just that. “Now what?”

“We wait and watch, I guess,” John said.

“Dammit! Turn that thing off, Jaxon!” Victoria chided. “I thought you knew better.”

Jaxon stood there staring at the message. He looked up at Victoria and his face must have betrayed what he felt because she came over to him and said gently, “What? What is it?”

He showed her the message. She looked like she had been slapped.

“Is this from him?” she said.

He nodded. He was afraid to speak. Not because he felt like he couldn’t. He was scared to hear what his own voice would sound like right now.

“They’re about to move in,” Scoggins said. “What’s the deal, here. You two gonna stand there gawking at each other or do your jobs! Let’s go!”

Their earpieces came alive. “Moving in…Now! Now! Now!”

Jaxon finally spoke. “He may know we’re here.”

“Shit!” Victoria said. “Come on!” She turned and ran across the street with Jaxon, Sally, and Scoggins in tow. “And turn that thing off!”

Luke sat and watched the blip on the screen waiting for Jaxon to call back. It had only been a few minutes but it felt like hours. Jimmy was using the bathroom and John was talking to Ellie while they waited and watched.

Another window popped up on the screen and Luke said, “He’s doing something on the phone again.”

John and Ellie walked up and looked over his shoulder. The window filled with letters and numbers they couldn’t understand.

201106172017 OUTGOING MESSAGE SENT 015552319000

MESSAGE TYPE MMS

BODY OF TEXT: EXECUTE *##*

END OF MESSAGE

“Where did that one go to?” John asked

“I have no idea,” Luke said. “I wonder what ‘EXECUTE’ means?”

“Maybe he’s getting ready to kill his next victim,” Ellie said.

“But he hasn’t moved,” Luke said.

“I don’t get it,” Ellie said.

Neither did Luke. “Come on Jaxon! Where the hell are you?!”

The swat team had just entered the structure as Jaxon was crossing the street at a run. He trailed behind Victoria, Sally, and Scoggins, in that order. Victoria was just about to the front door when the house self destructed and a giant fireball filled Jaxon’s world as he was tossed backwards into the street. The concussion knocked the wind out of him, his ears ringing from the blast.