Chase // Van McCann

13. Light at the End of the Tunnel

Miles City, Montana is a 14.5 hour drive from Seattle, Washington. 962 miles separate the two cities and all he has to do is take I-90 East and drive in a straight line. What the fuck was he doing in Miles City, Montana of all places?

"The fuck is he doing? He had four days to run away and he only made it to Montana? If I had four days to run away, I'd be in New York City by now stuffing my face with good food before I go to jail," Bondy said as soon as he told me they found Peter.

"Did you ever watch Mr. Bean? I reckon he got stuck in the roundabout for a day or two," I joked, cracking a smile. Bondy rolled his eyes and shook his head but I caught him smiling.

"Peter is a prime example of what not to do when you don't want to be found."

Right as I came in this morning, Bondy was in my face telling me that they found Peter in Montana. A retired man had given him a lift to Miles City and came home to his wife and watched the news. That's when he realized he gave a killer a ride.

As soon as he called 911, the officers went to question him. He took them to the restaurant he ate at and the car was still there. He then took them to the place he dropped him off at. The police scoured all the motels around the area and one employee stated that she may have rented out a room to him for the night. Once they found the specific room he was staying at, the police swarmed his room and he was arrested. He didn't put up a fight—it was like he expected it. He was now on his way back to Seattle where we will convict him for the murder of Erica Foss and Amanda Harrison.

Our job was done a week ago. We were to identify the killer and we did. It wasn't our job to find, arrest, and convict him. But even though I was done, I still hung onto the case. I was curious about why he killed those two women and how it went about.

.

.

Two months later.

Peter was charged with two counts of first-degree murder to which he pled not guilty. He stood on trial where the prosecution presented evidence after evidence, proving his guilt. I watched in the back fuming the whole time. How can he deny murdering two women when it's obvious it's him?

Peter stood up, lifeless. His hair was a right mess and he was pale and thin. The stress of everything ate away at him. If you showed me a picture of Peter and told me the man standing before the judge was him, I wouldn't have believed you. He looked like a totally different person having aged ten years within the past few months. I almost felt sorry for the piece of shit. Almost.

As Peter denied every allegation against him, I found myself standing up in anger. Bondy had to wrangle me down every single time and I could tell he was getting tired of my antics.

"Van, for Christ's sake don't make a scene! People are staring," he said through clenched teeth.

I pushed my hair back and looked around. People were staring and I could feel my cheeks heating up in embarrassment. I know I shouldn't be embarrassed but the fact that I was more worked up than Lily and Amanda's family honestly shocked me. How are they not strangling Peter by now?

I stared at Lily from the back. She was sitting up straight, not moving one bit, her body tense. Once I watched her long enough, I could see that she was in fact moving. It was subtle but she was trembling and my heart broke for her. She needed someone to comfort her but had no one. Meanwhile, Amanda's family had each other.

"I have one last piece of evidence to present to you," the prosecutor announced. My attention snapped back to him. "The medical examiner determined the cause of death for both women as blunt force trauma to the skull with a baseball bat. We were able to recover the murder weapon at a gas station in Bozeman, Montana." The prosecutor flipped the page to reveal pictures of a baseball bat and knife found in a black plastic bag. "An employee emptied the garbage and made the discovery on August 20 and called the police. The day it was discovered is consistent with the timeline. Peter was brought in for questioning on August 17 and was apprehended on August 21. His DNA and fingerprints were found on the bag."