Chapter 14

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by janello33

by janello33

Anderson and Lowell stood on the banks of the dugout looking at the half submerged SUV. Alderson shrugged, "It wasn't a bad idea." The call had come in before the sun had even come up. A farmer had reported his truck stolen and had followed the tracks to this dugout. Luckily the combination of fresh gravel and humidity made the tracks easy to follow.

"Where are you going?" Lowell said out loud as he kept his eyes on the SUV. They had automatically felt like they would be fleeing south to the city where they could hide but this was in the middle of nowhere.

He turned around impatiently. They could hear the tractor coming but it was taking forever. Any evidence they might have gotten from this vehicle would now be destroyed, but he had his fingers crossed that would find something. The same farmer that reported the stolen vehicle was the same one coming to pull out the SUV with the tractor.

Alderson jogged to catch up to Lowell as he left the edge of the dugout to go back to the car. They now had a vehicle description and a license plate to track, but who knew how much ground they had covered. They could see the tracks in the fresh gravel continue down the road and it looked like they turned west into the wide open spaces of the prairies.

"They'll be spotted in no time," Alderson had said. Lowell shook his head. "You'd be surprised how easy it is to hide in plain sight." Lowell moved the car a few feet forward and sat thinking. It wasn't everyday they had killers on the loose. Lowell was actually slated to retire in four weeks time, and this was the biggest case he'd ever been involved in. He wondered if he'd be searching for these two until his last day.

While a crew assembled to hook a chain up to the submerged SUV so it could be pulled out, Lowell checked in. No sightings, no motive, no leads. He sighed audibly as he hung up the phone. Alderson was already back at the dugout. If enthusiasm alone could solve a case these two would already be behind bars.

It was dirty business down there. Lowell watched as the men who put the chains on emerged from the banks of the dugout wet and dripping. The tractor began driving backward and the chain lifted from the ground tightening in the air. Everything was moving very slowly, and then excited yelling as the bumper became visible over the edge.

The tractor stopped as the full vehicle came into view. The men around the dugout swarmed around. One squatting down to wipe the mud from the license plate. Alderson was now jogging back to Lowell smiling from ear to ear. "We got plates to run!" Lowell tried to keep his expectations in check.

"What are the chances that this car is registered to one of the killers?" Alderson excited asked Lowell. "For all we know it could be another stolen vehicle." It would take a few minutes to run the plates. The minutes seemed like hours as Lowell and Anderson watched the men unhook the chains. The farmer began his slow drive back to his farmyard.

Alderson almost jumped through the roof when his phone finally rang. "Uh huh." Pause. "Uh huh." Pause. "Oh ok. Interesting!" Alderson was making faces at Lowell through this conversation as if his facial expressions alone could convey the conversation he was having. He hung up. "Well," Alderson began, "the vehicle is registered to a Mr. Allen Benson." Lowell waited for the rest of the explanation.

"So is he a suspect?" Lowell prompted Alderson to finish. "Allen is at work. It's registered in his name, but was a graduation gift to his son, Stuart, last year, and he hasn't heard from him in three days." "Right then," Lowell started the engine, "Our first lead." It felt good to be heading back to the station with more information than they left with. "We're gonna have to make some phone calls."