The Last Page.



October 30th 2003.

Tyler continues to treat me like a child and ignores my every attempt at getting his attention. Today Leonard waited for me behind Tanner’s drug store in his truck. we talked for two hours after I left soccer practice. He doesn’t treat me like a child, not like Tyler, Leonard looks to me as a woman. And he goes out of his way to make me feel like one, he is so gentle with me every time. Tomorrow morning when Mama leave’s for the market we are going out to Cherry Creek together, to make love like the first time in the tall grass. I can’t wait until we are together again.
Jennifer Watson. October 30th 2003.

Closure.



He closes the book slowly, pausing slightly before he hands it back to Angela Watson. They are both staring straight ahead, neither showing
emotion. Angela Watson slowly turns to face Daniel Vickers, choosing her words carefully.
“Daniel?”
“Yes ma’am?”
“When you called Sharon and I, before you and Leonard left for Cherry Creek. When did you realize that it was Leonard and not Tyler?”
He pauses.
“I didn’t know it was him. But I suspected he was involved when we were standing in his living room. There were pictures of him and Tyler everywhere and in a lot of those pictures he was standing by the black truck a lot. I just had a feeling that he at least knew what happened.”
“So when will you and Sharon be leaving?”
“Probably after the funeral.”
Angela Watson places her head on Daniel Vickers shoulder, and clutches his arm.
“I can’t ever repay you. The peace that you’ve given Jen and me. You and Sharon will come back for a Visit I hope?”
He smiles at her.
“We are going to keep in touch with you until summer, then we will both be coming back for another visit. After all, we are both Jennifer’s family aren’t we? ”
Sharon Milner appears from out of the front doorway and Daniel and Angela Watson both rise to their feet and all three head for the Chevrolet.
They drive to Silver crest cemetery, and stand in the small gathering of people to where the body of young Jennifer Watson is finally laid to rest. Daniel Vickers stares solemnly as the final words are spoken, when deputy Tyler Malloy approaches them.
“Miss Watson.. Angela. I am truly sorry for your loss. If you ever feel like talking you know I-”
She nods.
“I suppose we should Ty.”
she looks to Daniel Vickers and Sharon Milner. And the three share hugs.
“Well since we already have our things packed, you two go ahead and we’ll just leave from here.”
“You both stay in touch you hear?”
They walk back to the car leaving Angela Watson to the conversation of Tyler Malloy.
“Danny?”
He turns to face Sharon Milner.
“Dan.. I want to drive us across Crows Crossing Road. You didn’t sleep much last night, so you take a nap and I’ll drive.”
They get into the car and Sharon Milner drives them much of the way in complete silence as Daniel Vickers slowly drifts off to sleep. And when she finally reaches Crows Crossing she is not at all alarmed when the sees the smiling eyes of the beautiful young girl in her rear view mirror from the back seat. And as the sun breaks free from the clouds, she looks into the rear view mirror to find the smiling eyes gone, and now there is nothing but Peace.

~End~

~Scratch. A.B.T. Copyright © 2008~

Unexpected Truth.



Somehow it was beginning to seem likely to Daniel Vickers, that he had been misinterpreting the clues that he was being left by Jennifer Watson in his dreams. He could just feel it now by the way Tyler Malloy reacted to the way Leonard Davis said something to the effect of “I cleaned up your last mess and now-” and the way Tyler seemed genuinely surprised to see him holding the pistol. Even now the two men are arguing , Tyler Malloy slowly moving the attention away from Daniel Vickers who is recording the entire exchange on his video cell phone. He can hear the two men arguing now as he struggles to piece the whole puzzle together in his mind,
“there’s no time for that” he thinks to himself as he concentrates on Tyler Malloy who is now yelling at Sheriff Leonard Davis.
“Len! For the love of God what have you done??”
He has the gun trained on Tyler Malloy.
“You had all of those girls Ty, they all loved you!! But Jennifer was different, she wanted me, this one wanted me, not you!”
“Len.. Man your sick, I never did anything with those girls! You thought I was having sex with them? For the love of God man I have two daughters that age! Len.. Put the gun down. We can get you some help. Just stop this now!”
Now it was Daniel Vickers turn to be confused. Everything was telling him that Tyler Malloy was his man. And yet now here it was Leonard Davis that was all but confessing to the act. He glanced from the corner of his eye at Daniel and then back at the gun, Tyler slowly inching forward while Leonard Davis seemed to be rambling on about how he’d actually killed Jennifer and why. His eye’s were glazed over as he seemed to be recalling some distant memory.
“This was our special place.. Where we would come to be alone. And then we came out here that last time and she told me that she had written about our entire relationship in that book. I got angry.. I pulled out the gun.. Just to scare her into giving me the book. It went off by accident.. She.. Died right there..”
Tyler Malloy steps forward, startled, Leonard Davis jerks on the hand gun and it fires into his abdomen, he falls almost instantly. Daniel Vickers seizes the opportunity to tackle Leonard Davis knocking the gun loose from his hand and as the two struggle in the dirt, sounds of sirens in the distance begin to echo through the tree’s at Cherry Creek. Daniel begins to lose his footing and slowly Leonard Davis begins to get the advantage , he has a large thick part of a tree branch and is holding it over his head, and is about to lower it onto Daniel Vickers skull, but Tyler Malloy is still fully conscious and has recovered the pistol and shoots Sheriff Leonard Davis in the chest. He stumbles backwards, a cold vacant look crosses over his face, he falls to the earth, he is dead before his body touches the ground. Daniel Vickers tries to help him to his feet but now Tyler Malloy is almost unconscious. He hears footfalls coming towards them and soon Sharon Milner’s voice calls out to him. Her and Angela Watson have brought the Freemont county Sheriff’s department with them.

Leonard's Ruse.



As Tyler Malloy lies in his hospital bed he listens intently as Daniel Vickers relates to him the entire contents of his dreams.
“I never had an affair with any of the girls.” Tyler tells him. “ Jennifer came to me one day after soccer practice, she was distraught. Troubled.. but she wouldn’t say why. I took her home and dropped her off. Angela wasn’t there but I told her about it later. I told Leonard too. And the next day Jen came up missing. I went looking for her with a few of the other deputies, we tried Mr. Vickers, we really did, Jen was a good girl , she didn’t deserve that. God if I would have even suspected Leonard.”
Daniel Vickers studies him.
“But why the white hats? Why did your truck end up in my dreams? And the Strange visits to Angela Watson’s house? And how did you end up at Cherry Creek yesterday? Do you see my problem with this deputy? There’s a lot of questions that don’t seem to fit.”
Tyler Malloy lay’s his head back down on the pillow, his eyes never leaving Daniel Vickers.
“ Tell Me something Mr. Vickers. I’m curious.”
Daniel nods.
“Did you ever see ME driving the truck in your dreams?”
“No. come to think of it I never did see the drivers face, just his hands coming out of the shadows.”
“The truck wasn’t always mine Mr. Vickers. I bought it from Leonard last year. Hell it ran good, it was supposed to be a work truck, that’s why I bought the damn thing. I never dreamed that Leonard used it for-”
He stops in mid sentence.
“I only went to Angela’s to let her know that I hadn’t forgotten about her. I’d been in Jennifer’s room several times since she disappeared, it was like walking into a shrine. Nothing had changed or moved. Ever. It was heart breaking not knowing what happened. Yesterday when I was in my wife’s car, I saw you and Len heading towards Cherry Creek. Something strange happened. Hell no one would ever believe me in a million years if I told them.”
“Trust me Deputy. I know about strange, we are very well acquainted”
“I thought that I actually heard a voice telling me to follow you. And you may think I’m crazy but it sounded like Jennifer’s voice.”
“Jennifer told you to follow us?”
“I think so, and now I’m glad that I listened. Leonard was a sick man.”
Sharon Milner appears at Daniel Vickers side and leans over to whisper something in his ear, to which he nods.
“The Freemont County Sheriffs department dug up a body twenty minutes ago at Cherry Creek, of what appears to be a young female. They haven’t made a positive Identification yet, but I’d say given the circumstances that it is more than likely Jennifer Watson. I have to go Deputy, I’ll come and see how your doing later then?”
Tyler Malloy Nods. Daniel stops at the hospital door and looks down at him.
“By the way. We never covered the white hats did we?”
The deputy sadly stares at the ceiling.
“ We all wear white hats in the department Mr. Vickers. After all. We ARE supposed to be the good guys. Aren’t we?”
Daniel Vickers steps into the hallway. Sharon Milner is waiting there with Angela Watson. He sits down beside of them, trying to straighten it all out in his head at once. Staring straight ahead at the wall Sharon Milner gives Daniel Vickers other news.
“Danny?”
“Yeah?”
“Sweetie just before Angela and I left the house..”
He turns to her.
“What happened?”
“Annie Clark the librarian showed up. She found the book hidden in the library. We skimmed through it. It isn’t anything like what we were thinking.”
Angela Watson eyes were tearing up.
“It wasn’t Tyler, Daniel. After all of these years I find out that the one man I trusted was the one who was molesting my baby. He took her from me and I never suspected him.”
Daniel rises.
“I want to see the book.”

~Scratch A.B.T. Copyright © 2008.~



^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

For those of you who have been reading the Cherry Creek Prophecies. I will be posting the next to the last Chapter tonight. but in the mean time I would like to know what YOU think.. what do you think really Happened to Jennifer Watson? who Killed her? and why? well you can all safely post your thoughts on the subject as I have already written the 11th chapter where the killer is revealed. I will be posting it later tonight. see ya's later and Thanks for reading!!.

Past Sense.



He pauses slightly to lean forward before knocking a second time on Sheriff Leonard Davis’s door. He pulls his collar up around his neck and looks out into the early morning skyline before lighting up another cigarette. The faded peeling white paint on the front door seems to fall off as it swings open to reveal the tired figure of Leonard Davis.
“Daniel? Come in please. Tell me you’ve found the book.”
He looks down at the decaying floor boards of the front porch swinging his head from side to side. Leonard Davis bows his head at the notion. Letting Daniel Vickers step into his home.
“Coffee?”
He nods.
He disappears into the kitchen to retrieve the coffee leaving Daniel Vickers eyes alone to scan the room . There are pictures scattered along the far wall of the living room, snapshots, glimpse’s into the life of a career lawman. There are pictures of him and Tyler Malloy standing side by side smiling for the camera. Happier times he guesses. A strange feeling tugs at the back of his thoughts and for a brief instant he considers the trust issue that he has toyed with since meeting the sheriff.
Leonard Davis appears in the living room and hands him the cup of hot coffee. He gestures for a cigarette which Daniel responds to. They both light up.
“So what exactly are you thinking son?”
He stares out the window at the gray skyline exhaling smoke almost as he answers.
“I’m thinking that there are a few things out of place with this whole mess, things that I haven’t been able to put a finger to. I know where Jennifer is. The problem there is if we find a body your boy may run Sheriff Davis. And if we can get a hold of the book, then we may be able to piece together why she ended up the way she did.”
“Well son. I’m flying blind here, I have to follow your lead on this. Where exactly do you think her body is?”
“I think that he took her out to Cherry Creek and murdered and then buried her there.”
He eyes the sheriff cautiously.
“By the way, Did you happen to get a look at who ran you off of the road ?”
He shakes his head no.
“It all happened too fast and it was way too dark to see, I could barely maintain control over the vehicle, son of a bitch ran me right into a ditch.”
He leans forward slowly smashing the cigarette butt into the ash tray his eyes never leaving the sheriff.
“Look. I want this girl.. I want her mother to have some peace. You lay low sheriff, I’m going to Cherry Creek to find her body if I can. I’ll call you as soon as I have anything to tell you. Then you move. Deal?”
“No son I can’t let you do that. If he gets wind of what your doing or where you’re going or why, he may follow you. You alone with him?? He’s armed Your not. I’m coming with you.”



Cherry Creek.



They slowly pull away from the curb with Daniel Vickers watching the rear view mirror for any signs of Tyler Malloy. He pulls out onto main street and heads west towards Cherry Creek stopping at a gas station just at the edge of Pleasantville.
“I gotta go to the bathroom can you fill it up for me?”
Leonard Davis nods getting out of the car. Daniel stops briefly when out of sight to call Sharon Milner on her cell. He quickly tells her the plan and that he’d left an envelope with instructions for her in her purse for her to follow, and she should open it and read it as soon as possible. He returns to the vehicle without ever using the rest room. He pays the clerk in cash for the gas and returns to the drivers seat. With a tug of the gear shift, the Chevy slowly moves out onto the road and he turns towards Cherry Creek leaving Pleasantville behind them. There is a strange silence for a time leaving each man to his thoughts. Daniel thinks about the past twenty four hours and all of the surreal scenes that had played out in his head. He thought about Sheriff Leonard Davis, he thought about Jennifer Watson, and of course his attention never strayed far from the thought of Tyler Malloy. But it was his traveling companions voice that finally broke the silence.
“Tyler was a good man once, I respected him Mr. Vickers. At least enough for him to marry my daughter. Hell, I never expected it to turn out the way it did, He changed somehow, became a different person. I always felt it in my gut that he’d had something to do with that girls disappearance. I just never found any proof to it.”
He listens intently all while watching the road signs. He turns onto Crows Crossing Road and ten miles out they cross over the Jasper county line into Freemont County. Daniel slows the speed of the Chevy as they turn onto the dirt road that will take them down to the very edge of Cherry Creek. He stops fifty yards in.
“Its foot trails from here mostly, we’ll have to walk in to where he buried her.”
He retrieves a shovel from the trunk and leads the way to where he thinks that the body of Jennifer Watson may be buried. Daniel Vickers isn’t stupid and he isn’t surprised in the least when the figure of Tyler Malloy appears at the edge of the tree line of Cherry Creek. He is even less surprised when he turns to find himself staring down the barrel of Sheriff Leonard Davis’s Gun.
“Son. I really got to hand it to you. I don’t know how you figured this whole thing out but you’re going to wish you hadn’t. now real easy like take your hand out of your pocket and put that shovel down nice and easy like next to that tree right there. This is as far as your going.”
Daniels stares down Sheriff Leonard Davis.
“So let me guess. Tyler Makes a mess so you clean it up by killing his sixteen year old lover. Is that how it works?”
Tyler steps forward.
“What’s he talking about Len?”
“Shut up Ty.”
He cocks the pistol .
“I cleaned up your last mess, and now I’ll clean up this one.”

~Scratch A.B.T. copyright © 2008.~

Doobix.com

Shadow Face.



Although he is close enough this time to see the frost of her breath as it weaves its way through the cold damp air, he feels no immediate danger here. She stands with both arms at her side, her head slightly crooked to one side. she almost seems as if smiling at him. He smiles back.
“I now know why it was me Jen. And I think that I know who is responsible for this. But there is more that I need to know. The book Jen, why can’t you just tell me-”
Before he can get his answer, the image of his beautiful young sister begins to slowly fade into the night.
“No wait! Not yet you can’t go yet There’s so much more-”
“Daniel?”
At first it comes to him like a whisper.
“Daniel. Wake up sweetie. Your dreaming again.”
He opens his eyes to see the face of Sharon Milner staring down at him. He is lying on Angela Watson’s sofa.
“Danny. There is someone here to see you.”
Daniel Vickers rises from the sofa and moves to the front door where outside he sees the figure of a mans back, and when he turns around to face him he sees that it is not Tyler Malloy, but an older man whom he guesses to be Sheriff Leonard Davis, and when he introduces himself the suspicion becomes confirmed.
“Son. Your Name is Daniel Vickers?”
“Yes sir sheriff that’s me, what can I do for you?”
Sheriff Leonard Davis looks cautiously up and down the street before answering.
“Son.. You and I need to talk.”

Sheriff Leonard Davis.



He tells him that earlier in the day, Angela Watson had confided in him as to who Daniel Vickers was and what he was doing in Pleasantville, and much to the delight of Miss Watson, Leonard Davis seemed genuinely relieved to learn that he wasn’t the only one who hadn’t given up on Jennifer’s disappearance. He and Daniel sit on Angela’s back porch and speak in careful tones.
“Angie tells me that your room at the motel was ransacked?”
“Yeah.” Daniel tells him. “But nothing was taken, they just rummaged through my belongings.”
“Son.. Can I trust you?”
“Implicitly.” Daniel answers.
Leonard Davis hangs his head slightly, and begins to rub his palms together slowly.
“I’ve been trying to give that girl justice for that past five years Mr. Vickers. And though I didn’t want to have to face it, I’ve always suspected in the back of my mind that my son-in law Tyler Malloy was involved in her disappearance.”
“Can I trust YOU sheriff Davis?”
He nods.
“I think you are absolutely right about the good deputy. And I’m not certain of it but I think that he has been following me.”
Sheriff Leonard Davis nods to the affirmative.
“He has. We tailed him to the front of this house last night. He was parked across the street for three hours.”
Daniel studies him for any signs of deceit. But detects nothing.
“Of course you realize sheriff that all I have are the clues left to me by Jennifer in my dreams. I can’t prove anything yet with any certainty.”
Leonard Davis leans forward.
“Forget what you can prove son, tell me what you feel in your gut.”
“I think that Jennifer Watson and Tyler Malloy were involved intimately. I think that something happened that made Jennifer feel as though she needed to defend herself. So she wrote intimate details about the affair in a book, and then tried to use it as leverage in some way against Tyler Malloy. And I think he killed her over it.”
Leonard Davis raises his eyes in surprise.
“Do you think that he has the book?”
“No. She hid it. I think that he’s been keeping tabs on Angela Watson in the hopes that she would lead him to it somehow. He wouldn’t have the interest that he does now if he’d already found the book, he would have destroyed it already. We were getting ready to go to the library today to see if there may be any leads there. Maybe someone would remember her many visits there.”
“Annie Clark.” Sheriff Davis tells him. “She’s been the librarian there for years, she may very well remember Jennifer visiting.”
They both rise to their feet, and shake hands before parting.
“Mr. Vickers.. You do what you have to do at the library, get a picture from Angela, she has a lot of head shots of Jennifer. Show Annie Clark. She’ll remember.”
“What are you Going to do Sheriff Davis?”
“I’m going to keep an eye on Tyler. I have an idea that may keep him away from you for awhile anyways.”

Unsettled.



It isn’t until 10:30 am that Daniel Vickers and Sharon Milner arrive at the Pleasantville public library. It is a rather unpleasant looking structure that is made of red brick, and has small square windows on either side of the large old oak door that serves as the main entrance. As they open the door it feels as cold and dreary inside as it does on the outside. They approach the front desk where a slightly faded blond haired woman sits writing in a ledger. The stereo typical looking forty- something looking librarian Daniel thinks, until her warm and bright smile seems to light up the room as she greets them.
“OOHHH.. People!” She squeals. “How may I help you?”
Daniel and Sharon both smile before introducing themselves.
“Ma’am? Are you Annie Clark?”
She nods. Daniel slides the picture of Jennifer Watson across the face of the desk. And when Annie Clark sees the photo, the lines of her near perfect smile slowly sink to the sides of her face, giving her a suddenly sad appearance.
“Miss Clark.. Do you know this young lady?”
She nods again. This time more slowly.
“That’s Jennifer Watson.”
She tells them that she remembers the lovely teenager quite well, she would come to the library several times a week to visit with Annie Clark to talk about books and just engage in all around girl talk. She told them that Jennifer had helped her organize a used obsolete book sale just before she had disappeared and in return Annie Clark gave her the books in question for her help.
“Miss Clark.. Did Jennifer just come here to visit with you and talk, or did she spend any time reading the books here?”
“She would come in mostly on Tuesdays after school and sometimes on Thursday’s when she didn’t have soccer practice. But she always came on Saturdays. And yes she loved to read. In fact she would always sit in the same section every time. I would always try to get her interested in the classics like Melville and Twain and such. but she was more interested it seems in the metaphysical books, like the ones on reincarnation, life after death.. Strange stuff like that.”
The lights were becoming brighter for Daniel Vickers. it suddenly became clear to him. Annie Clark directed them to the metaphysical section. And Daniel told her that he was looking for a particular book that wasn’t in her registry. And he would be taking it with them. She nervously agreed. Both she and Sharon Milner curiously watched as he slowly moved along the isle patiently going over each book. Finally he looked at the two women.
“When a person wants to get lost.. Where is the first place they head?”
They both shrug.
“They Find a crowd.. Of other people. So. Where would be the best place to hide a book Sharon?”
“Amongst other books.”
They tell Annie Clark what exactly it is that they are looking for and she anxiously begins to aide in the search painstakingly looking for anything out of place. Sharon Milner’s cell phone rings and she pauses to answer. It is Angela Watson.
“Something has happened to Sheriff Leonard Davis, an unknown Vehicle forced him off of the road. He is in the hospital with minor injuries.” she tells them. Annie Clark will continue to search for the book that doesn’t belong, Daniel and Sharon must temporarily abort their search efforts to see to the safety of Angela Watson.

~Scratch. A.B.T. Copyright © 2008. ~