Read Online The Wrangler: The only thing standing between the beautiful kidnapped heiress and death was -- The Wrangler. by Pat Powers - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Pat Powers
Ads: Link
kidnapped."
* * * *
Arthur Willock was just approaching the bridge that crossed the Jolly River behind St. Simon's Island when he got the call. When he heard the words "safe and sound" his heart leapt with joy. Christine was alive! Suddenly the bag of bills sitting in the back seat behind him meant no more than a pile of leaves swept from the lawn. All the weight on his shoulders was gone.
"She's alive and she's OK," he told Mendova, his chief of security who sat beside him.
Mendova's whole body relaxed perceptibly. "That is GREAT news!" he said. He had been racked with guilt ever since the package from the kidnappers had arrived. His shoulders, too, were a lot lighter. He might get fired yet because the kidnapping had happened on his watch, but at least there were no dead kids for him to worry about.
Willock noted Mendova's increased relaxation, understood it as simple relief over Christine, and decided not to fire him on the spot.
* * * *
A few days later, the Wrangler lay in a hospital bed while an array of men in suits sat in chairs surrounding it. (The cops had tried to interview him the day after the explosion, but the doctors wouldn't let them, since the Wrangler was feigning incoherence.)
One of the men in the chairs was his court-appointed lawyer, the other was an assistant D.A. and there were also two assistants for the assistant D.A.
The Wrangler had been spending the couple of days thinking about this meeting and what he would say during it. It was so important to him that he cut back on the painkillers just so he could think without the haze induced by the painkillers fogging his mind. After a time the haze induced by pain would send him back to the painkillers, but he was able to get in several hours of clear thought each day in that way.
He thought he had it figured out.
"Mr. Sanders, we are sorry to have to interview you in your hospital bed, but we understand from your doctors that you are well enough to talk with us," said Assistant District Attorney Culpepper. "We have a few questions for you related to your activities prior to the incident which injured you. What were you doing at that condo?"
"I was considering renting one of the apartments in it," said the Wrangler.
"How did you come to be among the other men that were found there?" asked the D.A.
"Well, let me start from the beginning," said the Wrangler. "I was vacationing on St. Simon's and saw the condos and thought they might be a nice place to stay in during my next visit. So I just walked over and took a look at the condos from the outside, figuring I'd call the realtor once I had the number on the sign out front. Plus, it was a pretty good excuse for taking a walk."
"OK, that's how you got there," said Culpepper. "Now, how did you hook up with the other men in that apartment?"
"I wasn't really with them," said the Wrangler. "I saw them drive up and park in the condo next door. When they got out and I saw they were all middle-aged guys traveling in a late-model car, I figured they were either realtors or guys who'd rented the place for some company thing. Then they came over to the condo where I was and walked up the stairs. I decided I'd go talk with them and see if they could tell me something about the condos. But they were moving fast and before I got close to them they were past me. They seemed very intent, if you know what I mean. I was under the stairs when they were climbing them, and while I was there I heard one of the men say, "Man, it is so weird to be traveling around with a hottie locked in the trunk."
And one of the other guys said, "I never travel without at least one hottie locked in the trunk."
"So I figured they were joking," the Wrangler continued. "You know, guy talk."
"Yes, badinage about women locked in the trunk, what wit," said Culpepper dryly.
"OK, so I headed up the stairs and just when I got up there with them, I saw all of them going into one of the apartments. So I figured this way I might get a
* * * *
Arthur Willock was just approaching the bridge that crossed the Jolly River behind St. Simon's Island when he got the call. When he heard the words "safe and sound" his heart leapt with joy. Christine was alive! Suddenly the bag of bills sitting in the back seat behind him meant no more than a pile of leaves swept from the lawn. All the weight on his shoulders was gone.
"She's alive and she's OK," he told Mendova, his chief of security who sat beside him.
Mendova's whole body relaxed perceptibly. "That is GREAT news!" he said. He had been racked with guilt ever since the package from the kidnappers had arrived. His shoulders, too, were a lot lighter. He might get fired yet because the kidnapping had happened on his watch, but at least there were no dead kids for him to worry about.
Willock noted Mendova's increased relaxation, understood it as simple relief over Christine, and decided not to fire him on the spot.
* * * *
A few days later, the Wrangler lay in a hospital bed while an array of men in suits sat in chairs surrounding it. (The cops had tried to interview him the day after the explosion, but the doctors wouldn't let them, since the Wrangler was feigning incoherence.)
One of the men in the chairs was his court-appointed lawyer, the other was an assistant D.A. and there were also two assistants for the assistant D.A.
The Wrangler had been spending the couple of days thinking about this meeting and what he would say during it. It was so important to him that he cut back on the painkillers just so he could think without the haze induced by the painkillers fogging his mind. After a time the haze induced by pain would send him back to the painkillers, but he was able to get in several hours of clear thought each day in that way.
He thought he had it figured out.
"Mr. Sanders, we are sorry to have to interview you in your hospital bed, but we understand from your doctors that you are well enough to talk with us," said Assistant District Attorney Culpepper. "We have a few questions for you related to your activities prior to the incident which injured you. What were you doing at that condo?"
"I was considering renting one of the apartments in it," said the Wrangler.
"How did you come to be among the other men that were found there?" asked the D.A.
"Well, let me start from the beginning," said the Wrangler. "I was vacationing on St. Simon's and saw the condos and thought they might be a nice place to stay in during my next visit. So I just walked over and took a look at the condos from the outside, figuring I'd call the realtor once I had the number on the sign out front. Plus, it was a pretty good excuse for taking a walk."
"OK, that's how you got there," said Culpepper. "Now, how did you hook up with the other men in that apartment?"
"I wasn't really with them," said the Wrangler. "I saw them drive up and park in the condo next door. When they got out and I saw they were all middle-aged guys traveling in a late-model car, I figured they were either realtors or guys who'd rented the place for some company thing. Then they came over to the condo where I was and walked up the stairs. I decided I'd go talk with them and see if they could tell me something about the condos. But they were moving fast and before I got close to them they were past me. They seemed very intent, if you know what I mean. I was under the stairs when they were climbing them, and while I was there I heard one of the men say, "Man, it is so weird to be traveling around with a hottie locked in the trunk."
And one of the other guys said, "I never travel without at least one hottie locked in the trunk."
"So I figured they were joking," the Wrangler continued. "You know, guy talk."
"Yes, badinage about women locked in the trunk, what wit," said Culpepper dryly.
"OK, so I headed up the stairs and just when I got up there with them, I saw all of them going into one of the apartments. So I figured this way I might get a
Similar Books
