Chapter 5

John got out of the bathroom and walked over to his bed. He lay down on it and stared at the ceiling. He was disappointed at the quality of the sunrise. Buildings blocked the sky to the east. The colors of dawn were overwhelmed by the air pollution. He couldn’t make his offering because there wasn’t any soil in the room. Not a single potted plant was to be found.

He looked over at Ed knowing that Ed wouldn’t wake for another half an hour. He wondered what his reaction would be this morning to the activities of last night. His thoughts were interrupted by Ed, “Hey, sleepy head. Wake up.”

John looked over at Ed in surprise and said, “You’re up early this morning.”

“I’m hungry. Dinner was kind of small and all that exercise last night burned up the little bit that I ate.”

John laughed at Ed’s comment about what they had done the previous night and said, “It did at that.”

“Why don’t I shower first and then while I’m shaving you can shower. We can probably be done in time to get to the breakfast buffet before it gets cold and dried out.”

John nodded and said, “Yeah, I don’t really need to shave.”

“I know – you only do it once in a lifetime.”

John laughed. Ed had asked him when he had last shaved. When John told him that he had done it once that he could remember, Ed had stared incredulous at him. Since that time, it had become another one of the private jokes they shared.

The men were the first at the buffet. In fact, they were still setting out the food when the men arrived. The two men heaped their plates with food and sat down to eat. They didn’t talk much as they ate. They did receive looks from other restaurant patrons who felt that a cowboy, hippie and a cougar seated at a table was a strange sight. Individually, each of them attracted the attention of others. Together, they tended to draw a crowd of onlookers.

Both men finished eating and sat back enjoying the feeling that comes after consuming a hearty meal. John looked up and asked, “So what are you going to be doing while I’m at the office?”

Ed smiled as he considered his answer and said, “I thought I might do a little shopping.”

John looked surprised and asked, “Shopping?”

Ed nodded and said, “Yeah, I thought I would buy some presents for Beth and Kelly. You know, I thought I would get some lingerie for them to wear. I thought that I might find a sex store and buy them some toys.”

John looked skeptical, “I think it’s going to be hard to find one of those kinds of stores in this town. This is Salt Lake City.”

Ed smiled and said, “I beg to differ. Don’t you know this is the only way that country folk can get these things? There are too many eyes locally that know you and will know what you are doing if you do mail order. You have to get to the big city occasionally. This town is surrounded by a lot of countryside.”

John shrugged and said, “You may be right. I hadn’t thought about it.”

Ed said, “I was wondering if I could use the car.”

“Of course, I was going to walk to work today anyway. I’ve got this urge to be out there on the street this morning.”

Ed shook his head and said, “Take care of your self. Do you want me to walk there with you? Might not be a bad idea to have someone watching your back.”

“No. It will be okay.” John stood up and stretched. He adjusted his cloak and grabbed the walking stick. Rover stood up and stretched lazily. “By the way, can you buy ten pounds of hamburger for Rover?”

“Sure.”

John nodded and said, “Well, I’m heading out, now.”

Ed looked puzzled at John’s announcement of his departure and said, “You’ve got an hour yet. You’re going to be way early.”

“Oh, I expect to be delayed between here and there.”

“All right, see you this evening. Let’s eat somewhere else. Another bite of french-fries here and my whole body will dry up.”

John laughed and waved bye as he stepped out of the restaurant into the hotel lobby. At the hotel door to the outside, he held the door open for Rover and then shut it after the cat exited the building. The cat ran off around the corner as John walked behind. At the small patch of grass around the hotel, he stopped. He drew a drop of blood from two different fingers. Flicking the fingers to throw the blood to the ground, he said, “For the God and the Goddess.”

He walked to the rear of the building and waited for Rover. He knew where Rover had gone. He was in the sandbox they had set up behind the hotel so the cat would have a place to relieve himself. John hadn’t realized how difficult it was to travel with a large cat until the first trip. The cat returned walking much more relaxed.

The two of them headed towards the Federal Building. It was a simple walk of six blocks. However, along the way, John stopped and talked to people. He told a man that it would be nice if he helped a certain young lady carry one of her boxes. He watched as the couple walked off chatting amiably. He was accosted by an animal rights activist, who told him that he was abusing the animal by keeping it as a pet. John tried to explain to the person that the cat had adopted him, but his arguments were ignored. Rover ended the discussion by growling at the person, thereby scaring off the very confused activist.

As they neared the Federal Building, John had an urge to enter a bank. He and Rover entered and stopped near the entrance. The guard turned to John in an attempt to explain that animals were not allowed. At that moment, one of the customers pulled a gun and shouted, “Everyone down on the ground!”

As the gunman spoke, one of the customers grabbed his heart and collapsed on the floor. John took advantage of the distraction to take a couple of steps towards the gunman. He noticed and pointed the gun at John. John raised his arms before asking, “Does that include the cat?”

The gunman looked down at Rover in confusion. Rover was making a low growling noise. As the gun moved towards Rover, John’s walking stick swung upwards striking the gun with a loud crack and sending it into the air. John swung the walking stick around and hit the gunman in the stomach. The gunman collapsed trying to regain his breath. Rover jumped on the guy flattening him on the ground. The guard came over and took charge of the man.

John went over to the customer and started treating him for his heart attack. Without looking up, he shouted, “Get an ambulance.”

The customer was still breathing and the heart was beating, but the heartbeat was very erratic. John checked the pockets to see if there were any nitroglycerin pills. He couldn’t find any. He carefully monitored the man’s condition. After a minute, the man stiffened, moaned, and then collapsed. He gave one final exhale of breath. John checked the pulse and found the heart had stopped. He proceeded to administer CPR.

Rover sat next to the gunman who was stretched out on the floor. There was the stench of bowels that had released in fear. Each time the man attempted to move, Rover let loose with a low growl. The gunman would freeze. Sweat was running off his brow. The bank guard enjoyed the sight and made no move towards the cat.

For John, it seemed like forever before the police arrived. When they entered, the bank guard pointed them to the gunman. Rover looked up at the police and moved over to where John was working. The bank guard smiled at Rover, he had enjoyed the help that the cat had given.

The police were quickly followed by an ambulance. When the medical personnel entered the bank, they quickly assessed the situation. The female member of the team took over for John. John sat back relieved. No matter how many times he had done that, he always worried that he had done something wrong. The woman spoke without looking up, “You didn’t break the ribcage. Very good.”

“I’ve done this a couple dozen times before.”

One of the policemen came over to John and asked, “What’s your name?”

John reached into his pocket and pulled out his ID. He opened both of them with a flip. He really enjoyed doing that as it looked like something out of a bad cop movie. He stated, “Special Agents John Carter and Rover of the FBI.”

The policeman took a moment to look at John. He recognized him from the news the night before. “It looks like you’ve caught serial killers two days in a row. This guy has been robbing banks locally. He comes in, kills someone, grabs the money, and then gets out. We’ve been after him for a couple of months now.”

John shrugged and said, “I’ll let you guys take care of him. I’m late for my meeting already.”

The policeman answered, “We’ll be over to take your statement at your office in an hour or so.”

“Okay,” John agreed. He knew that he wasn’t going to be able to get out of it. At least he would be comfortable. Of course, he didn’t really have an office.

John left the bank with Rover walking beside him. When he arrived at the Federal Building, it was very easy for them to pass through security. After a week of problems at the security gate, the building guards had given up on trying to keep Rover out of the building.

When he finally got to the FBI office, he was greeted with cheers. John raised his hands and said, “All of the credit should really go to Agent Fredricks.”

Agent Fredricks just shook his head. The crowd disappeared after a few minutes until only the agents that had actually participated in the operation were left. He said, “You’re late.”

“There was a bank robbery down the street. The local police will be coming here in a little while to get my statement.”

One of the agents frowned and asked, “It wasn’t the Serious Robber, was it?”

John stated, “I don’t know. They told me I had caught another serial killer.”

Another agent swore, “Un-fucking-believable. They’ve been after him for months. Do you mean to say that you just walked up and captured him?”

“Something like that. Of course, Rover helped.” John looked at all of the people that were on the team. He knew most of them by name. He had not been introduced to all of them. He said, “I’m hoping to get back home tomorrow, so maybe we should start the meeting now.”

The group moved into a conference room and settled themselves in the chairs around a very large table. Rover followed them in and settled himself behind John’s chair. The agents covered the evidence that they had located in the house. This included body parts, videos, and the apparatus that the killer used to perform the amputations. Throughout the discussion, John was getting sicker and sicker.

When it was suggested that they watch the videos, John had enough. He interrupted the discussion, “I’m sorry ladies and gentleman, but I don’t like this kind of stuff. That’s why I work to capture them. I’ll testify as to what my role was in the capture. There is no reason for me to know all of the grisly details.”

Agent Fredricks interrupted, “You aren’t interested in knowing how the case is structured?”

John replied, “All I need to know is that a case sufficient to convict the guy can be built. Can it?”

“Of course, we’ve got him nailed.”

“Are there any legal problems with the evidence that was collected?”

“No.”

John nodded and said, “Good, then you don’t need me anymore. The case is officially yours Agent Fredricks. It has been since yesterday when I said that to you earlier. Now, if you don’t mind, I’ll be in another room waiting for the police to interview me about the robbery.”

Agent Fredricks said, “Agent Carter, don’t you know that this is part of being an FBI agent?”

“Not for me.”

“If you don’t contribute as part of the team in wrapping up this case, I’m going to have to suspend you without pay.”