Title: The Stranger
By: greygoose70
Chapter Seventeen
Rick opened his eyes, glanced at the clock the red luminous numbers showing 4:22. Might as well get up he thought. He carefully eases out of bed so as not to disturb Kate, quietly closed the door when he left, went down to the study, plopped down into the desk chair, booted up his laptop and began to type.
The Cave
Pierce, Sheriff Hanley, and Greer arrived at The Cave, Pierce telling Greer to stay and keep watch but stay hidden. Pierce figured Marlowe did not know about The Cave but was not taken any chances. If the sheriff's men were unsuccessful in finding Marlowe and taking him out then would need to call in reinforcements, most likely the State Police.
Marlowe approached the entrance to The Cave from the rear. He had spent the last month exploring the forest, the trails, small villages and especially the area around The Cave, so he was not surprised when he spotted the lookout hidden in a clump of bushes. Smart move he thought if he was dumb enough to approach the entrance from the front. Unfortunately for Greer, Marlowe was smarter than that. He moved silently into a position where he was fifteen feet directly behind Greer, loaded an arrow in his hickory laminated longbow, drew the drawstring back approximately thirty inches, aimed and released it, the arrow taking off at its estimated speed of 183 fps (feet per second). At that speed and this distance, the arrow would penetrate completely through Greer's back and into his heart which is exactly what it did. Greer slumped forward into the bushes dying instantly.
Marlowe stepped into The Caves inner cavern spotting Pierce and Hanley sitting at a table a drink in their hand. "What do need Tom," Pierce asked without looking to see who it was?
"Whatever you are drinking," Marlowe replied which got the two men to jerk their heads toward him.
"Marlowe," Hanley clamored his hand going for his gun dropping his drink in the process.
"Don't," is all Marlowe said raising his hand showing the sheriff his forty-four-auto mag, "you will never make it."
"So are you here to kill us," Pierce said in a calm voice. "Well technically, yes," Marlowe responded just as calmly. "But just shooting you is so archaic. I have something so much more contemporary in mind. Get up from there and sit on the floor. Sheriff, with two fingers lay your gun on the table and don't try anything I would hate to shoot you."
Sheriff Hanley did as he was told then sat down on the dirt floor next to Pierce. "Hands behind your back," Marlowe instructed. He then grabbed the handcuffs off the sheriff's belt and proceeded to clasp them around Pierce's wrist. Pulling another pair from his legging pocket he clasped them on the sheriff then using a piece of Cordex secured their legs finally positioning them, so they faced the stockpile of arms and ammunition.
"What the fuck is this, Marlowe," Hanley shouted.
"This," he retorted, waving his arm in a demonstrative showing, "is the last fucking thing you two are going to see before you are blown to smithereens."
"What! Wait!" They shouted as Marlowe walked toward the door. "How the hell you going to get out of here without going up with us," one of the yelled?
"I have the blasting cap set on a ninety-second delay. When it sets off the detonation cord it will set of all the other explosive in here and I will be far enough away thanks to the Polaris. Enjoy your evening."
Marlowe closed the door, replaced the lock, set the timer, ran out, got in the Polaris, and sped off to where he had his car hidden.
Officer Carpowski was at her desk typing up the daily reports when the explosion went off. The blast causing the windows to rattle, the shelving to shake enough so that books were cast to the floor. Carpowski herself was lifted out of her chair.
"What the hell was that" she clamored when she landed unceremoniously back in it.
She grabbed the radio mike immediately trying to get hold of the sheriff. When he did not respond she tried the deputies but none of them answered her call either. Fearing they might have gotten killed in the explosion she got on the phone and called her last remaining recourse, the State Police.
After explaining her situation to the State Police being told units were being dispatched, she went up to the roof. Using the binoculars, she took with her she searched the area where the explosion originated. Even though her view was obstructed somewhat she could make out the black smoke in the distance, she even thought she could hear sirens.
The next morning a search party was organized to find the sheriff and his deputies. Detectives from the state were sent out to the blast site where members of the Island City and Sturgeon volunteer fire departments were finishing up. The devastation was such and spread over a vast area the detectives felt the need to call in additional help to search the site. By that afternoon, a unit of the National Guard arrived to assist in the search.
The bodies of deputies Thomson, Denton, Peete, and Murphy were found and brought back to town where they were instantly loaded in vehicles and transported to Lexington. A search of the Sanderson ranch turned up even more bodies identified later as Nick Blackwell, Bill and Bob Bowden, George Knudson, and Paul Reardon. The remains of Sheriff Hanley had yet to be found.
It was the next day that four agents from the FBI showed up, they immediately began interviewing anyone and everyone in town. But it was the woman that arrived shortly afterwards that garnered the most attention. The first persons she talked to were, the Carlson's, Brent, and Jennifer.
She was smart and much more knowledgeable especially with regards to Marlowe, she kept her inquiries to his actions during his time in their small community, how he came to be here, the repairs to his car, his confrontations with the Grusome brothers, the shootout with the hitmen that came to kill him and finally his rescue of Jennifer from some of Pierce's men.
The woman next went into town, talked to Floyd Lawson the barber shop owner, got his version of the Wiley Grusome killing and lastly spoke with Doc Fabian. She wanted to know how each of Pierce's men and the sheriff deputies were slain. She then got in her car and left.
Epilog
It has been almost a year since the killings, the town has become somewhat of a tourist attraction so much so that a new motel is currently being built, a Red Roof Inn, directly across from the gas station and rumor has it that a Denny's is going up also.
Jennifer will be attending her freshman year at the University of the Cumberland in the fall studying nursing, her friend Susan was going there also majoring in education, she wanted to be a teacher.
James Freeman of Freeman's General Store was elected mayor, Deputy Carpowski was elected sheriff she brought in four of her former academy classmates as deputies. Sanderson returned and reclaimed his ranch as did many other property owners that had been forced out.
As for Marlowe he has not been seen or heard from again.
Castle typed THE END to the last page, saved it to his cloud account then sent off a copy to Gina for a final edit.
Closing his laptop he got up from his desk chair and exited the study to spend the remainder of the vacation with his family.
THE END