Stranded In The Swamp

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Stranded In The Swamp - book excerpt

Chapter One

Saturday Morning

Evergreen, MS

“Hello.”

“Hey, Kenny.”

“Who is this? Do you know what time it is?”

Kenny tried to focus his bleary eyes on his bedside alarm clock.

“Kenny, it doesn’t matter who this is. All that matters is that I heard you’ve been talking about the Evergreen Project.”

Kenny’s eyes popped wide open and his upper body sat erect in the bed.

“What did you say?”

“Don’t play dumb, Kenny. You’re not good at it.”

“Okay, I told a few friends over drinks. So why call me?”

“Because it was our secret, Kenny.”

“There’s nothing to it yet.”

“I know. But I also know what’s gonna be there once you guys take care of the Evergreen Plantation.”

“We shouldn’t be talking over the phone.”

“Don’t worry, Kenny. Mine is a throwaway. Untraceable.”

“But you never know who might be listening.”

“You’re right again, Kenny. I tell you what. Let’s meet.”

“Where?”

“Go down Burned Down Road right past the Evergreen Plantation. As soon as the high fence ends, there is an old logging road that leads down to the creek. We’ll meet at the creek.”

“When?”

“One hour.”

Chapter Two

Saturday Morning

Evergreen Plantation

The aroma of the strong black Community Coffee permeated the den in the Lodge at the Evergreen Plantation. Wade Dalton loved that smell.

“Where are we going to sit this morning?”

Mindy Thomas put her arms around him and gave him a hug.

“Am I gonna hunt with you again? I thought it was my turn to sit with Mandy,” Wade nodded towards Mindy’s twin sister.

“We share almost everything, but I’m not sharing my hunting buddy with her. She’s gonna have to sit with Daddy again.”

She tightened the grip around his waist.

“Bruce! Help me. You decide which one I take hunting this morning.”

“I’m only the City Manager. I’m not paid to make big decisions like that.” Bruce laughed at Wade’s predicament.

“You girls decide which one goes with me and which one sits with your daddy. We’ve got plenty of time. Let us know in the next, oh, thirty seconds.”

“I already told you, Wade. I’m hunting with you and Mandy can hunt with Daddy.”

Mandy nodded her head in agreement.

“She can have you this time, Detective Ranger. But only if you promise you won’t do anything with her you won’t do with me later.”

Both twins laughed.

Wade grabbed a thermos full of coffee and a couple of Danish rolls.

“Just in case one of us stays awake this morning.”

“Last time, I fell asleep. But I woke up in time to shoot that big ol’ Axis buck.”

“I still don’t know if you were asleep or were faking it.”

“And you never will!”

After assigning stands to the other guides and hunters, Wade helped the twins load their gear onto the ATV. Mindy wedged next to Wade in the front seat, and Bruce sat in the rear seat with Mandy. With several thousand acres and over one hundred stands to choose from, Wade thought about where he picked for Mindy to find a big whitetail buck this morning.

We could go to the ridge behind the winter pea field. The deer usually travel along it to get back to cover to bed up for the day. We could sit in the stand in the narrow strip of woods between the winter oat field and the cornfield. Deer love getting the last bit of sweet corn before laying down. No, the best place is the one I’ve chosen. It’s above a white oak bottom at the edge of a deep swamp thicket, perfect cover for an old buck to chew his cud out of sight of any human predators. No matter where the old bucks eat at night, a lot of them prefer to retreat to the swamp for the safety it provides during the day. Their favorite route is through these white oaks that produce the sweetest acorns of all the oak trees. It’s quite a walk from the main trail for the hunters, but that’s also an advantage. Most of my hunters are way too far out of shape to hunt there, so we’ll have a stand that rarely gets hunted.

Slamming on the breaks, they saw a majestic elk standing in the middle of the four-wheeler trail. interrupting his thoughts. All four occupants of the all-terrain vehicle stared at the incredible animal.

“He’s not in a big hurry to move, is he?” Mandy whispered from the back seat.

“If I was as big as him, I wouldn’t be in a hurry to get anywhere until I was ready to go,” Mindy giggled.

“Man, he’s nice.” Bruce could not take his eyes off this magnificent animal.

“Which reminds me, Bruce. If you see that white elk, our deal is still on.”

“Fifty thousand, if I remember right.”

“That’s it. And I’ll throw in a whitetail buck for lagniappe.”

Bruce beamed. “I’ve already selected a spot over my mantle.”

Wade observed the old bull amble off the trail. After he completely disappeared, he steered the ATV deeper into the woods.

“You can’t ever tell about these old bulls this time of the year. Sometimes, the smell of a female, even a human female will set them off during the rut and this ATV is great, but it isn’t a match for an angry nine hundred pound bull elk.”

“I’m with you, Wade.” Bruce nodded from the back seat. “No use taking any chances.”

Wade grinned as Mindy’s eyes grew wider and wider as she searched the darkness along the trail for any angry bulls. Her hip squeezed almost underneath Wade’s in the small seat.

Wade put Bruce and Mandy in the same stand where they had previously seen a majestic white elk. Wade had not even known the white elk was on the ranch prior to that hunt, but a picture from Mandy’s phone provided all the proof needed. After dropping the pair at the stand, Wade and Mindy followed a meandering trail to the rear corner of the property in the lowlands next to the creek and the swamp. They parked the ATV in some brush on the other side of a ridge from the stand and eased through the white oaks in the veiled darkness before dawn.

Reaching the ladder leading up to the stand, Mindy handed Wade her rifle and most of her gear. As she climbed the stairs, she glanced back and smiled at Wade. He knew exactly what that smile meant.

Yes, I know you’re enjoying the view from right behind and right below me. Keep climbing.

Mindy reached the top of the stairs and slowly inched the door open, attempting to make as little noise as possible. Wade was still absorbing the pleasant view when Mindy let out a blood-curling scream and bolted over Wade down the stairs. Barely catching a hand on a rail, he hung on as Mindy tumbled on the ground, rose to her feet, and raced toward the ATV.

The blow temporarily knocked the wind out of Wade, and he struggled to get words out.

“What’s wrong, Mindy? What did you see?”

But Mindy did not slow down to answer questions. She crashed into small trees and brush in her frantic attempt to get as far away from the stand in as short of a time as possible.

What the heck did she see that spooked her like that? Whatever it is, I’d better be careful.

Wade’s nerves tingled, and the hair on the back of his neck stood straight up as he chambered a shell in his rifle. He took a step up the ladder with his right foot, and followed with raising his left foot to the same step, always keeping the business end of the rifle pointed at the door of the hunting stand. Mindy had left the door slightly ajar in her haste to get away.

Man, this ain’t right! What could be in that stand? A bat? A snake? Squirrels? There’s no way a skunk could get this high. Must be a bat with babies. Uh-oh. The smell of death. That unmistakable smell of death. If I can just ease this door open a little more―

Wade stared at the object in the stand, and then almost leapt from the platform to the ground. He immediately grabbed his cell phone and hit the speed dial at the top of the list. 

Chapter Three

Saturday morning

Evergreen Plantation

Luckily, my fiancée is the Sheriff of Evergreen County, or I wouldn’t have her at the top of my contact list.

“Sam, you awake?”

“I am now. What’s up?”

“Well, get awake and get some of your deputies awake. I found Kenny Thigpen dead in one of my stands. One of the twins, Mindy, found him.”

“Kenny Thigpen? Dead? That must have shocked her. Are you sure he’s dead?”

“Yes, so there’s no hurry with the medical examiner. Unless I need him for Mindy. She took off and there’s no telling where she’ll end up. Probably in the swamp unless I can find her soon.”

“I wasn’t expecting this kind of wake-up call this morning. So he’s in a stand along the creek bottom at the swamp?”

“It’s the old stand at the edge of the cedar swamp in the white oak bottom.”

“That’s one of my favorite stands. Those big ol’ bucks will sneak in and out of the swamp all day long. If I remember correctly, there is a gate in the fence not too far from the stand.”

“Yep, that’s the one.”

“Give me a few minutes to find a uniform and get dressed. I’ll call Gus and roust him, assuming he went to bed last night. We should be there in about thirty minutes.”

“If you don’t mind, come to that gate by the stand so you don’t disturb the other hunters. I’ve got to go find Mindy. She took off like a scalded cat.”

“No problem. Just don’t track up the scene like the hunters did last time. Did you determine the cause of death?”

“I didn’t stay up in the stand that long. Besides, you need to have something to do so you can tell the press about it.”

“We’ll have plenty to tell the press. Kenny is well known. He was the other City Councilman on the fringe of the Rachel Chastain murder, but he wasn’t as involved, if that’s the right term, as the others.”

“If you mean he was the only one that didn’t confess to having a relationship with a teenage girl, then that’s the right term.”

“All right, be safe until I get there. I don’t want to have to worry about you.”

“Don’t worry. Mindy and I are the only ones back this far.”

“That’s what worries me, Dear.” Sam hung up the phone.

Wade followed the wide trail of debris Mindy left in her haste to escape. The upturned leaves, broken branches and patches of bare dirt where her boots slid going up the hill were as plain to Wade as exit signs would have been to motorists traveling on Interstate 10. Within four or five minutes, even in the morning darkness, he found her cowering next to a huge live oak on the other side of the ridge from the stand. Wade sat next to her and put his arm around her shoulders.

“I wish I could offer you something stronger than coffee, but that’s all I have.”

“I―I’m sorry, Wade. I wasn’t expecting to find someone in the stand. Especially a dead someone!”

“If it makes you feel any better, I wasn’t expecting to find anyone either.”

“He is dead, isn’t he? I mean, he looked dead and smelled dead, if you know what I mean.”

Wade tilted his head back until it rested against the oak tree.

“Mindy, that is a smell you will never forget no matter how long you live. Most people, fortunately, have never had the experience. But for those of us that have, we’ll never forget it.”

“How long does it take to go away, Wade?”

Wade sighed, exhaling almost all his breath before answering.

“I wish I could tell you, Mindy. With me, it has never completely gone away.”

Mindy laid her head on Wade’s shoulder and openly wept, no longer making any attempt to restrain the tears built up inside. Wade could think of nothing to say that would ease Mindy’s tension, so he held her a little tighter as they cuddled under the oak. Eventually, the tears ebbed, and Wade helped her daub the few remaining ones beneath her eyes.”

“Who is he?”

“Kenny Thigpen. He’s one of our City Councilmen. At least he was.”

“I know him. He used to stare at my butt. That didn’t look like him, though.”

“He won’t be staring at anyone’s butt anymore, Mindy.”

“How did he die, Wade?”

“I don’t know that yet.”

How long has he been there?”

“I’m don’t know that either.”

“Why is he in your deer stand?”

“I’m afraid I don’t know the answer to that one either, Mindy.”

“Boy, for a Detective Ranger or whatever you are, you sure don’t know much, do you?” She stared at Wade and then laughed through her tears.

Wade broke into a broad grin.

“Can we get out of here, Wade?”

“I called Sam, and she’s on her way. She’ll need to talk to both of us to find out what we saw and heard.”

As he finished the sentence, Wade could hear the sirens in the distant, drawing closer and closer. The morning sun rose over the horizon, bringing hope of a better day ahead for the pair leaning against the tree on the damp ground. Wade eased his grip on Mindy’s shoulder and let his own body relax a few seconds before rising to his feet.

Holding Mindy’s hand, Wade approached the hunting stand, watching Sam and the deputies gathering evidence from inside and around the blind. He motioned for Mindy to sit on the ground and he sat next to her in silence. Eventually, Sam noticed them and walked over and knelt beside them.

“I didn’t see you walk up.”

“We’ve just been here a minute. I didn’t want to disturb you and your guys while you’re working. What have you found?” Wade nodded toward the hunting stand as he asked.

“Not much.” Sam shook her head. “Somebody killed him in the middle of the logging road. It looks like he drove here to meet someone else because there’s another set of car tracks out there next to where Kenny’s car is sitting. From what we can tell he was taken out of his car, killed in the road and then dragged from the road to the stand. One set of footprints along the drag line, so we assume there is only one perp.”

“How was he killed, Sam?”

“Looks like one shot to the back of his head with the projection indicating he was below the shooter. You know, kind of in a kneeling position.”

“So it was an execution.”

“That’s how it looks right now.”

“I was hoping we were through with those.”

“Me too.”

They stopped the conversation as they watched the deputies bring the body of Kenny Thigpen down the stairs of the hunting stand in a body bag. Several of the deputies carried sacks of material back toward the logging road.

“Tell me what you guys saw when you first got here.”

“Mindy went up the stairs first. I didn’t see anything or hear anything until she discovered the body and―uh, let me take the lead.”

Wade winked at Mindy.

Mindy nodded.

“I got to the top of the stairs and opened the door and turned on my flashlight before going in. You know, in case there was a bat or a squirrel in there. That’s when I saw Kenny. Only I didn’t recognize him, slumped over in the chair. It was obvious he was dead and I kind of lost it and jumped back down the ladder and let Wade take over.”

“Okay, and Wade, I assume you went on up and opened the door again to see what frightened Mindy.” Sam so subtlety let Mindy know that she was aware how scared Mindy was.

“I eased the door open with my rifle barrel and peered inside. As Mindy said, Kenny was slumped over in the chair, but there wasn’t any doubt if he was alive or not. Neither of us went inside the stand, so nothing in there should be disturbed.”

“Excellent. We have an uncontaminated crime scene for once. I don’t know what to say.”

“A ‘Thank you’ would be appropriate, don’t you think?” Wade grinned.

“Yes, and thank you, if you need to hear it. I appreciate it you didn’t sit in the chair with Kenny.”

“Well, Mindy wanted to, but I talked her out of it rather quickly.”

Mindy nodded her head in agreement, still in a bit of shock and not fully comprehending the conversation between Sam and Wade.

“Oh, Wade. You have some animals to recover.”

“Do what?”

“Yeah, whoever dragged Kenny’s body in broke the lock on the gate and left the gate open a bit.”

“Man, that’s just great,” Wade said, shaking his head in sarcasm. “Why is it that animals only go one way when there is a gate open? None of them ever come in. They always go out.”

“Seems like it, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah, could you tell how many got out?”

“From what I saw, it was at least one red stag and two blackbucks, probably bucks since the tracks had dew drops and were the same size.”

“Sam, you have more experience than I do with escaped animals. What do I have to do?”

“First, recover the animals, either alive or dead. It’s your choice. Then you have to file a report with the state describing what happened, how you dealt with it and what you’ll do to prevent it.”

“Let’s see. I can recover the animals. They won’t go very far, I’m guessing. I can tell the state what happened and what I did in response. It’s the last requirement I’m struggling with.”

Sam grinned. “Do you mean how you’ll prevent this? Put up a sign that says dead people can’t trespass or you’re going to shoot them again.”

Even Mindy could not refrain from giggling.

“What else did you guys find outside the gate, Sam?”

“The usual. We found the tire tracks from the vehicle and footprints from Kenny and another guy. No cigarette butts or anything we can get DNA from. No hotel keys dropped by mistake. No rental car receipts or anything else that’s going to make this easy to solve. But we found one thing in Kenny’s pocket that will need some explaining.”

Wade’s eyes arched. “What’s that, Sam?”

“It’s a piece of paper that says ‘one hour’ and has your name scribbled beside it.”