Shadows of Lives Once Lived
by Jeffrey Scott Holland - part 6

He threw the stuff down and grabbed his gun from his holster as he jumped to his feet. He ran back to the front door and climbed back through, with his gun drawn. He ran around the house to find a way underneath.

After making it almost completely back around to the front of the house, he saw a board propped against the base with a concrete block. He moved the cinder block and looked underneath. It was too dark to see, so he grabbed his flashlight, while still aiming his gun into the hole. As he scanned the ground under the floor of the house, he saw nothing but dirt. There was no way anyone could have gotten out, so where did they go.

He put the board back, put the block back against it, and went back inside to get the new evidence that he discovered. When he got back inside, he shut the trapdoor back, after seeing that there was now just a black hole in the wood where the eye had been. He looked around constantly as he grabbed the newfound evidence and went back out to his car.

He looked around the property one more time and then got in the car. As he pulled out onto the road, he looked in his rearview mirror. He thought he noticed something moving by the three holes. But when he looked again, there was nothing. He pulled out onto the road and drove back to the station.

Danny looked at the things Ray had found. "I wish that I had gone with you now. It sounds like you had some excitement."

Ray was still pale. "That eye looking up at me was so creepy. Maybe I imagined it, but my heart won't quit racing."

Danny looked at the pictures and pointed to one of the three men. "That's Jack Miller."

Ray looked at the pictures again. "I knew that guy looked familiar. I just couldn't place him though."

Danny said, "Well, it's a really old picture, but that's him all right."

Ray grabbed his hat off the wall. "Let's go and pay the Millers another visit."

As Ray and Danny drove up to the Miller house, they saw an ambulance pull away. They climbed out of the car, and Ray went and knocked on the door. Beatrice Miller came to the door. She had been crying and still had tears in her eyes.

Ray looked at her with concern. "What happened?"

Beatrice dried her eyes. "Jackie just had a heart attack!"

Danny said, "That's terrible. How is he?"

Mrs. Miller looked down as more tears flooded to her eyes. "They weren't able to revive him. He's dead. He had been acting really strange ever since your visit yesterday. He's been getting a little worse all along; but after the two of you left, he kept talking to people who weren't there, and saying 'they' were coming for him."

Ray said, "Who are 'they'?"

Beatrice said, "I don't know. He was talking crazy."

Ray pulled out the two pictures. "I know this is bad timing, but it would really help us out if you could answer a couple of questions for us. Do you think you feel up to it?"

She wanted to see what it was that he had. "Yes, I suppose so."

He handed her the pictures. "Can you tell us if that's your husband in those pictures?"

Her eyes watered up again, and she could barely speak. "Yes. That's him and the two guys he used to run around with when he was younger."

Danny pointed to one of the men in the picture. "Is that George Mackey?"

She nodded. "Yes, and the other one is Truman Weston."

Ray took the pictures back. "Thank you, Mrs. Miller. That's all we need to know for now. I'm really sorry about your husband."

Danny looked sympathetic. "Yeah, me too."

She started back inside. "Thank you. Can I ask where you found those pictures?"

Ray nodded. "We found them in the old house. We're trying to find someone who knew George Mackey so we can get some leads on the body that was buried before Joe and Cyrus. Did you know George?"

She shook her head. "No. I've just heard stories about him through Jackie."

Ray thanked her again, and he and Danny walked back to the car.

Back at the station, they looked up all the records they could find on George Mackey, Truman Weston, and Jackie Miller. They found all three were dead, even though Jackie had only been dead for about an hour now. Ray told Danny, "I guess the only person left who we could talk to now is Truman Weston's widow."

Danny kept looking at the computer monitor. "Yeah, they'd have been married for almost forty years if he were still alive. Maybe she knew Mackey too."

Ray got up and headed toward the door. "You go ahead to the festival. I won't be gone too long. I'll see you there."