Chapter XIX
omething awoke the Mayor and he was instantly afraid. He knew the Bannisters were in town, and he suspected their assignment had his name at the top of it. With his trusty pistol, he eased through the big lonely mansion room by room, and finding nothing, he decided to have a drink. When he took a box of extremely expensive imported Irish Whiskey off the shelf, a little packet fell to the floor.
He recognized it instantly, and remembered getting a copy of it from Russell. He also remembered his now deceased Hypnotist pal, Dr. Kny-pel saying there had been a microchip planted in William and that he had personally tested it. With it and all the programming William had been through, he could control William Travis.
If William had never removed the chip, it might be his ticket out of this whole mess. He soon forgot about the liquor and the reason he was up, and was into the program. It was the first time he'd ever seen it, but soon, he found his way into it. The good Dr. had modified it some, and was kind enough to include the passwords in his relating of the story.
He was giving it the instructions he wanted carried out, and, now all he had to do was call William and hit the play button on the computer. As soon as he heard Williams voice, he held the receiver close to the speaker and hit play. It took merely fifteen seconds to deliver the message, and then it stopped transmitting. The phone went silent on Williams end of the line.
It was still dark outside when Williams phone rang. He had left his phone on the table with his other pocket stuff and his gun in the holster which was a rare occasion. He'd gotten a huge amount of information so he had been quite overwhelmed when he came home so late. He always kept his gun and his phone close. So William was standing by the counter when he answered the phone.
The guard who was placed with William was none other than the valet who he'd seen at the Strickland House, Reginald Lewis, Upon hearing the phone ring, had arisen and listened in on the call. He had already placed a machine on the line of the house telephone, and it had recorded the call, and had it traced.
He was reporting it to Lane and explained that William was just standing still where he had dropped the phone. He was staring straight ahead. After sending the info to Lane, he then called him to give a verbal report. Then, all went black."
Lane was updating the Team about William being placed under the control of the game Death Vengeance again. He was telling them about the report that the guard had given him. He stopped for a second and waited while Sharon was making notes.
Lane then continued. "I heard something crash, the phone falling to the floor, and then silence. It wasn't hard to figure out what was happening. William was under again, and he could only guess how. I know we have to find William and FAST!"
Sharon and Melinda were nearly home when they got the call, and Melinda stepped on it. They had just walked into Lanes office and he was on the phone to Victor.
In a quick call to Victor he related the story. Victor got on the phone and was calling the guard at Williams house. Receiving no answer, he dialed Sharon's phone and relayed the message ending with "I'll call Len and Melinda. You get home and see what you can find. We'll meet at at my place in an hour. Tell Len and Melinda to start with the Police office."
Less than a half hour later Len squalled to a stop in front of the Police Department and they raced in. Not knowing who all was or, if anyone was at the Police Station, they didn't want to startle William if he was there. Melinda snapped a call to Lane to tell them Williams car was at the Police Station, and her and Len were going in.
They heard an awful commotion going on and rushed to the Chief's office to see Chief Amanda Williams in a deadly struggle with William. She was larger and stronger than William, but he was giving her a struggle she would not soon forget.
Len threw himself into the melee and immediately got William into a headlock. An intense fifteen seconds of struggle, then suddenly he ceased to struggle. Len held on for a few more seconds, but William was out like a light.
Somehow, he had been subjected to the hypnotic trance of Death Vengeance again. They didn't know who or how for sure, but they had some strong suspicions.
Sharon ran into the door with the guard and rushed to William's side where she stayed. She cried when she saw him trussed up like a common criminal, but knew it was absolutely imperative.
They had only been there a couple of minutes when Lane came in. He shook hands with the guard, and checked his head where he had been hit by William. Lane was the only one who knew the guard, Reginald Lewis on a first name basis, and that because he had served on his mothers staff for many years.
He followed Sharon to the Police station and came in to check on him.
The ambulance hauled William away with dire warnings to keep him sedated and to keep him restrained. He would kill if he had a chance, and it looked like he was on a mission. Sharon had clambered into the ambulance going with William.
Chief Williams was in extreme dis-array. Melinda had followed her into the restroom to see if she could help.
Victor sat in disbelief. He heard them coming and got out of her chair. That was something he had never done for the preceding two Chiefs. "Explain to us what happened Chief.
Her first day on the job as the brand new Chief of Police of Stillwell Creek Township, she had arrived two hours early. The Dispatcher for the morning shift was getting her some coffee and saw William walk by out of the corner of his eye. He thought it strange to see him there at that hour and even more strange that he never spoke. He sure didn't seem like William.
"I just thought he hadn't heard me" the Dispatcher interjected. "Then I used the restroom. When I came out, I heard the commotion and saw Mr. and Mrs. Mathers charging in.
Chief Williams took up the story from there. "I saw William come in the door, but it wasn't the William I knew. He got inside the door of my office but out of reach, stopped, pulled his gun and aimed it right at me. I sat still and in silence looking into the barrel of that big 45 of his, expecting it to be my last moment alive. I saw his finger move from the side of his gun to the trigger."
"But William paused, moved his finger off the trigger back to the side of the gun. He looked confused, holstered the gun, turned and headed back to the door. I think he was in control of himself enough to see that he had the wrong person. I tackled him from behind thinking I could subdue him quickly with a head lock. I didn't realize how strong someone like that could be. He began trying to free himself from my grasp.
We went to the floor in the struggle and he was about to wriggle free. But he never struck me, never hurt me, never said anything. There is no doubt in my mind that he was sent to kill Jason Perry."
All was quite for a couple of seconds as each played the scene in their head.
Finally, Victor spoke up with the scenario of how he thought William had been activated, but there were some facts he didn't know, so it was all wrong; the opinion wouldn't hold water.
Lane, standing by the guard introduced him to the group then asked "can you tell us what happened?" No one thought to inquire as to how he knew the guard. Had they asked, they would have learned a lot about Lane none of them knew with the exception of Victor.
Reginald related the story as he had to Lane, but he had one more piece of evidence to add that he hadn't finished giving Lane of as of yet. The call William received traced back to Mayor Ludlow.
Lane Wardlow addressed the Chief, "do we need a search and arrest warrant under these circumstances?"
All eyes were upon Chief Williams. This was one of those defining moments that can make or break a case, a person, a career, or even the standing of a position. She coolly said "Yes sir Mr. Wardlow. I'll lead the charge but we'll do it legal. We don't want any obstacles in a court of Law."
She then stopped and looked at Victor addressing him. "Mr. Bension, you are the top attorney here. What are your thoughts?"
"You are spot on" he said. You get your posse together and I'll get the warrant." He was on the phone and immediately started snapping instructions to the night watchman at the courthouse saying "get the city Attorney there and draw up two warrants. One for the arrest of Mason Ludlow, Mayor of Stillwell Creek, and a warrant to search his house. Contact Judge Gale Adkins to sign it. Give him this number for verification."
He then stepped back into the Chief's office and said "I'll meet you out at Mayors house with your warrant within the hour." He strode off smartly down the hall to the rear door of the building.
There was something bothering Lane that hadn't clicked as of yet. This was all too very easy. Taking the Mayor down like this without much more than a mere scuffle was just not jiving. Something was missing here. Then the thought hit him. "Even though a massive amount of evidence was pointing at Mayor Ludlow, he was NOT the kingpin. There was still somebody above him."
Chief Williams had handed out some orders and they were of few words and efficient. She was going to make an excellent Chief of Police. She had stopped and was studying about something, then looked up. She said to Lane, "Mr. Wardlow. Mayor Ludlow is not the Kingpin, but I think I know who is . . ."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
There was a procession of four Police cruisers and three unmarked vehicles that arrived at the front of the large mansion on the hill. At the back were two more cruisers and a paddy wagon. Mayor Ludlow was staring out an upstairs window looking out over the valley when he saw the Chief of Police vehicle pull into the driveway.
"Hmmm. That's strange" he uttered to himself. Then, he saw an unmarked car, then two Police cruisers pull in just a few seconds behind them. About ten seconds later, two more cruisers pulled in. Officer Amanda Williams was waiting for the person to get out of the car that parked behind her. He then saw Lane Wardlow emerge from a vehicle.
It was plain to see that Officer Lieutenant Amanda Williams was now Chief of Police. They were joined by Victor Bension. He was carrying some documents in his hand which he promptly handed to Chief Williams. He saw her key a radio, then a couple of seconds later, turned and started walking across the huge cobblestone walk that lead up to the front door of the mansion.
It was her that rang the doorbell. He had hastily thrown some clothes on, his hair was totally messed up, he had a two day beard, and his eyes were very dark, bloodshot and puffy. The liquor he had consumed since yesterday morning had done him no favors. He was sure that Perry had died at the hands of William Travis by now.
He had been expecting Garret or James Bannister to show up at his door, but had seen nothing of them. He strode across the large room to look out toward the rear of the mansion and saw there were officers guarding the back entrance. They were already on the property and were advancing toward the house.
He grimaced at what a total loss they would feel when he could not be found. Provisions for just this type of emergency were already in the escape tunnel which led to the home of his boss barely a quarter mile away. His boss had a man who used the electric trolley to travel back and forth between the two mansions, but the occasion had been rare the last couple of years. The fact is, he had never seen the boss, the Kingpin or at least, anyone that he could pin the title on.
The thought came to Mason Ludlow suddenly, and he realized he was no longer Mayor of Stillwell Creek Township. He had become a disgrace to the office, to the council, to the city and to his family. He had rarely not carried through orders he had received from the one who had placed him as Mayor although the vote was to the other candidate, Ross Jacobson. But that was twelve years prior and Ross had died recently.
The realization weighed down very heavy on him. He seldom dwelled on the fact, and eventually, figured to become the Kingpin. But, he now knew that was never to be. He was still merely the disposable front man for the Kingpin. Mason was interrupted in his thoughts by the door bell which chimed through the whole house.
He answered using the intercom. He used the clearest voice he could muster saying "Yes, may I help you?"
A voice came back he had literally come to hate. "Mr. Ludlow. This is Chief of Police Amanda Williams. We have a warrant for your arrest. Would you please open the front door so we don't have to break it in."
On the intercom screen Mason saw the two police officers walk up to the door with the huge ram they used. One hit from that thing would destroy the front door and they would be on him in mere seconds.
"Well Chief, if you will give me just a couple of minutes to get dressed and I'll be right down, ok?"
"Mr. Ludlow, you have fifteen seconds. Then we're coming in."
No response.
Mason Ludlow had already stepped through the door which led to the basement and down the stairs. He started across the room to the hidden door, and stopped. The door was ajar. He heard a sound behind him and he turned to see Garret Bannister standing there smiling at him. Suddenly, a glint of light caught on an object that flashed in front of his eyes, and he felt the garrote bury up in his skin.
He immediately threw himself backward at the attacker who took him from behind, but the attacker knew just what to do. He merely sidestepped the action anticipating it in advance. The result of that action caused Mason to sit down hard on the floor, and in a few seconds he was turning blue.
James Bannister reached down and snapped a little chrome hook with a chain on it to the loop of the garrote. Garret and James quickly stepped through the door and sealed it just before the two policemen hit the front door of the mansion with the ram, splintering it and providing a way in. All was quiet. The officers fanned out with guns drawn, working in pairs they cleared each room. Mason was no where to be found.
Melinda was looking everywhere the Mayor might hide. She opened the door which led to the basement, stepped through and standing on the landing located the light switch. She was the one who discovered the still warm corpse on his back, near the west wall, eyes wide open, but seeing nothing.
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