Chapter XVII

he Adams house was completely razed, the yard dug up and put back by a backhoe so it wasn't very level.  Kids were already showing up from blocks around to play in the soft dirt.  Some were looking for arrowheads, another had a shovel and was looking for buried treasure, another was building hills and tunnels with some cars and trucks from a wagon.

William looked at the children playing and reminisced about his own days playing in the creek, fishing for ol' Slap, playing Pirate, Cowboys and Indians and tossing firecrackers at each other.  A wave of melancholy swept over him and he longed for the lost days of his innocence.  His involvement with the Crawley Caper had changed his life forever.

Lane had made sure DNA samples were taken of each body without the knowledge of the Coroner.  But the Coroner caught it and mentioned the fact to Chief Perry who promptly reported it to the Mayor.  Mayor Ludlow felt a wave of nausea come over him, and pretty much decided his life and time in Stillwell Creek Township may be over.

He had lived here all his life, and he had a high standing in the town.  He had beaten his nephew, Roger Strickland out for Mayor.  Roger was not as squeaky clean as people thought, but he was still living with his first wife, and he kept a low profile of his not-so-squeaky-clean 'other life.'

But the Mayor had married four times, and all of his wives had up and left town.  The situation had several on the town council asking questions, and most of them knew of his extra-marital affairs.  One of them, the Dispatcher at the Police Station, was liked by a lot of people, so most just swept the affair under the rug.

That the Mayor was dirty, was not a secret.  That he was in cahoots with the likes of Greg Wheaton and Henry Thomas was also common knowledge, but few had put together that he was the one who benefitted the most from the Crawley Addition disaster.  It had become known as the Crawley Caper.

But there was only one man who had threatened those responsible for the ruination of several investors when the whole thing fell through.  That man was Gilroy Hastings.  Although several voiced their opinions, Gilroy was the only one man who not only threatened, but had put legs on his threats.

But that was some time after the collapse of the organization.  Gilroy's wife died during that time and he blamed the death on the group responsible for the Crawley Caper.  But what the Mayor did not know, that during his research, the old man found several connections to the money that was lost, and that he had pocketed a huge amount of money the investors lost, but the the lions share of the profit that all the little investors lost was taken by a different man entirely, one that Gilroy had dubbed, the Kingpin.

Gilroy Hastings had designed the program he called Death Vengeance, roped in the young man William Travis as the person to hypnotize and become his personal robot, then systematically began eliminating the front names on the Crawley Addition.  But the information to the Kingpin was a later addition to the game.

Sgt Chris James of the Police Force of that era, soon closed in on Gilroy Hastings and William Travis.  But he was not bright enough to figure out the details of the union.  He did arrest Gilroy Hastings, but another cop, under direction of Mayor Ludlow, beat him unmercifully while 'interrogating' him, and the old man had died.

Russell Adams was the man directly responsible for the death of Gilroy, and who had fabricated the lie of confession.  And it stuck for a little while.  But then, the third corrupt investor died at the hands of, as of the yet unknown assailant, and the Mayor was running scared again.  And Sgt James was looking like a fool, so to save his reputation, he did some illegal searches as well as fabricated evidence.

But there was still a local man who knew too much, and Mayor Ludlow had him silenced the night William was cleared of all charges by the only Judge that the Mayor couldn't buy off; Judge Baker.  Roy Planter was the only one wealthy enough to have challenged the Mayor, but Boslo Wilson had iced him and successfully made it look like he had died at his own hand.  The note was the clincher.

The Mayor felt a calm when William was kidnapped along with his new bride while in Las Vegas.  But the very violent roller coaster he was on took another downturn and his life went haywire again.  In response, he sicked several men onto William like sicking a dog on a cat.

To say the Mayors life was on a very precarious roller coaster was actually a gross understatement.  William had come out smelling like a rose again, only now, he was an FBI Investigator.  Mayor Ludlow still had a few aces up his sleeve!  And he set William up again by renewing the contract on him with the Russian explosives expert, Randal Bachman and his wife, Kelly.

It was a very expedient situation for them in that they had once lived right next door to William and Sharon.  The Mayor once again breathed a sigh of relief when he learned that William and Sharon both were in the hands of the Bachman's.  It would be well worth the hundred thousand dollars to see them iced.

The problem was, all these assassins knew that William had an intense amount of knowledge, and if they could gain that knowledge, it would be worth many times over what they were getting to eliminate him.  So, they questioned him, which bought him time, and, he was again freed before they could ice him.

So, William had slipped the Mayors noose yet another time.  Then one of Tacks men, Rice, had collected William, Chief Bension and Lane Wardlow.  He wanted them d-e-a-d DEAD!  He paid Tack for the death of Walter, but Tack got greedy and did not finish off Lane, but merely kidnapped him right out from under the noses of the FBI the same night they took William.

It was quite a blow to his organization when Sharon killed FBI Commandant, Ventura County Tracy Blaine.  A contact of that caliber was hard to come by, and very expensive as well.  He had come the closest of killing William, and Sharon had been the one to save his life.

Was there no way to take out William?  Did he have a hundred lives, like a cat had nine?  There simply must be a way to take him out besides he himself pulling the trigger.  Well, if he must . . .

Mayor Ludlow was getting so desperate to save his own neck that he resorted to personally killing the people who had too much knowledge on him and his dirty dealings.  He had planned on taking out Nancy at the same time he took out Russell Adams when he saw her come in with him.  But she had managed to escape when Russell charged him after being shot.  While he wrestled on the floor with Russell, she had stepped in and taken the envelope.  He managed a shot at her in the fracas, but never hit her.

Things were coming down around his ears.  His whole kingdom was collapsing.  He could feel it.  And now, William and the Team he worked with, along with Lane Wardlow, was taking DNA samples from corpses he had paid Russell to dispose of.  He felt very justified in shooting Russell himself.

The ups and downs of the roller coaster he was on was driving him mad and driving him to drink.  He had sent his only child, a little girl to live with a couple in Westmorland, England, the place of origin for his grandmother by marriage, Doris Strickland.  He had not wanted a child, and wanted her out of his life.  He had met the couple to which he sent her when he married Layan Wardlow, Lanes' daughter.

They were no kin to the girl, but had expressed their wishes for, but unable to have children, they fell in love with his daughter.  Layan treated her wonderfully even though she was a stepdaughter, having been born to a previous wife.  He disdained his daughter, and she was very glad to go live with the couple in England.  They officially adopted her and Mayor Mason Ludlow thought "good riddance, she's out of my life forever."

It was the last he would hear about her, and never knew when she had come back to America to live with her great grandmother Strickland.  She had been raised as Mrs. Stricklands own daughter when her adoptive parents died in a boating accident.  But she would be no threat to the now drunken and nefarious Mayor.

The once upstanding Mayor was now a man with his back to the wall, and he had a huge fortune to lose if he didn't fight.  And fight he would!  He would personally take care of William and that pretty little bride of his.  And if he had the chance, he'd take out that pesky Mathers couple as well.  And he had fought long enough with Lane Wardlow and Victor Bension, both actually kin to him.

All the time he was married to Layan, he and Lane, Layans dad, had never seen eye to eye on anything.  Layans parents were very much against the wedding, but she married him anyway.  Mason thought the marriage would be beneficial in securing Lanes fortune.  The only thing that blocked him was Lanes wife.

In a drunken stupor, he called in his last connection within the Police Force of the Stillwell Creek Township, Chief of Police, Jason Perry.  Perry had advised him of words with to which cover-up the fact he had just murdered Russell Adams and said he would handle things at the precinct.  But there was an adversary in the same department, Officer Lieutenant Amanda Williams.

Chief Perry was conveniently having dinner with Victor Bension the night he (the Mayor) shot Russell.  But Victor had shown up at his house unannounced and uninvited.  He had come in the back way, a route that Perry's men failed to block and had taken a look at the crime scene for himself.  And one could see that the story he had fed the police was bogus.  The crime scene was a mess.  Russell had nearly overpowered him even though he was mortally wounded by he himself, Mayor Ludlow.

The Mayor looked back on that night with mixed feelings.  He did not know how much Victor had figured out, but he did realize that the story he related to the rookie officer in his defense had some huge holes in it.  And then he learned that someone had driven away in the truck in whiuch Russell was leaving town.  Had Russell packed the discs and the weapons in the truck?  He had to find out, and fast!  Those discs were worth billions!

The early call from the Mayor irritated Chief Perry greatly, but he soon pulled up to the mansion on the hill and rang the doorbell.  He was not just a little upset at being called at this time of night for a little bit of personal business for Mayor Ludlow.  But, he knew that more than just his job depended on him taking care of the Mayors wishes.  It could just as easily mean his life!

The plot was beginning to thicken as the Mayor lined out his course of action.  Chief Perry reported that they had located the truck Russell had rented.  And, it had been driven away from the crime scene by some of Lanes Team.  And Lane and William both had visited the Adams home the night of the Adams shooting, and both checked the crime scene of Adams shooting with closed lip.  Lane had even brought a DNA sampler and had taken some blood and hair from the corpse himself.

Something had to be done, and he would have to do it personally!  But the plan that the Mayor laid out to Perry in his drunkenness was stony and in no way could it be seen as viable.  Finally Perry told the Mayor, we'll start on it first thing tomorrow morning, and left.  On the way home Perry considered the situation very thoroughly and got a glimpse of how deep into the corrupt organization of the Mayor that he he was.

He had a lot of information on the Mayor, and he had profited well by the Mayor.  In the beginning it looked like it was just a harmless way to make a little dough on the side.  "I mean c'mon, it's not like I'm getting rich or something with this job" he reasoned out loud to himself at that time.  But perhaps, there was a way to make an exit and still come out with a few dollars in his pocket.

He had stopped in to the local diner for early breakfast and a cup of coffee, and upon the audible sound of his voice reasoning with himself, a man a couple of booths in front of him turned and smiled.

Chief Perry acknowledged the mans friendly overtures without smiling, and turned his attention back to breakfast..  In less than a minute, the man stood up, picked up his coffee, stepped to Perry's table and slid into the seat saying "mind if I sit a spell?"

Chief Perry was irate with the unwanted visitor and replied "does it matter?"

The gentleman laid a business card on the table and said "I'm Dr. Garret Bannister."

Perry glanced at the card, studied it for a second, and when he recognized the name and what it meant, a chill went up his spine.  He showed no emotion whatsoever, but he wasn't hungry any more.  With an icy voice he asked "what brings you to my town Mr. Bannister?"

"I was called in to make some adjustments with the city.  Seems like it's a little out of tune, so my job is to get to the bottom of the problem, put some salve on it and make it better" Garret replied.

"Don't Drs. sometimes have to excise some problems in order to apply the salve and heal the body?" Perry asked.

"They do sir" came the short reply.

"So, which part do you do; apply the salve or the sword?" Perry asked.

"Both."

Perry's phone was ringing, and he excused himself from the conversation without getting up.  Someone spoke into the phone with a voice so low he could barely hear:"you're sitting with a known killer.  Be very careful of what you say."  The phone went dead.

Perry sat there considering the situation.  It was getting very complicated again, and he was fast running out of options or directions in which to sidestep the problems that was coming at him from all sides.  He absolutely had to talk to someone.

He looked up and into the eyes of the assassin.  Garret had a smile on his face that chilled Perry to the bone.  His phone rang a second time, this time about an emergency out at the Little London Narrow.  Thankful for the chance to exit this scene, he threw some cash on the table, grabbed his cover and headed out the door.

"There's been an accident.  Please excuse me."

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