The Case of the Murdered Man

That prayer went unanswered.

He hoped that this time he would be heard.

He started running harder.

+++++++++

Jermaine walked into the lodge through the open kitchen door. The cook saw him and started to tell Jermaine to use the front door. He cook died before he could utter a sound, a knife sticking out of his chest.

Sally the part time waitress died when Jermaine hit her in the middle of her chest. His punch burst her heart.

Jermaine loved the feelings he was getting. He wanted to stop and inspect his kills, but he heard noises in the other room.

So he continued on.

Todd and Tara ran for the front doors of the lodge as the sounds from the kitchen reached them. They knew the lodge was under attack.

Jermaine hadn't expected two of them in the dining room, and hesitated for just a couple of seconds to change his plans and to acquire the new targets.

Those seconds were enough for Tara to make it outside, she grabbed a pistol that was by the door and managed to fire one shot at Jermaine before she fled.

In her panic she dropped the gun on the ground.

Jermaine tossed a knife at Todd catching him in the back in one of his kidneys. Without stopping to deliver the killing blow to Todd, Jermaine then ran out the other door and started for Jenny's cabin.

Tara hid behind a truck and watched Jermaine trotting toward Jenny's home. Tara couldn't shout a warning. Jermaine would just return and kill her.

She waited until he was out of site and dialed 911 on her cell. She explained what was happening as she ran to her brother. The 911 operator guided her through emergency first aid. She was able to slow the bleeding.

She hoped Todd would live. She had just been reunited with her family and wanted nothing to happen to them.

Tara heard one of the guides yell in pain.

Then she heard Jenny scream.

+++++++++

Jenny was making dinner for her and Dean when the door to the cabin burst open. Jenny knew that Master had found her and she was finally going to die. She wanted her baby to live and grow but it was just too soon in her pregnancy.

She grabbed a butcher knife off the kitchen counter. She was planning on killing herself.

She looked across the room and there stood her worst nightmare, Master. He was covered in blood and holding the dead body of one of the guides as a shield.

He was smiling and laughing his evil laugh.

He never slowed down coming at her. She tried to kill herself, but he grabbed the knife stopping her attempt. It was as if he never felt the pain as the sharp knife entered his hand.

He grabbed her and hit her in the stomach, hard, causing her to black out from the pain and starting her toward a miscarriage. He picked her up, and tore all her clothing off (thinking how bad he wanted her), tossing her over his shoulder and running into the woods towards his hidden vehicle. So that he could take Jenny away and start hurting her.

He was really going to enjoy what he had planned to do to her.

Jermaine felt her naked body on his shoulder, and started to get an erection.

He couldn't wait to start her journey into the world of pain.

He would try and make that pain last a long, long time.

Jermaine had a vacant trapper cabin all set up for what he planned to do to Jenny.

Jermaine was bleeding from the cuts on his hand and arm and in his side where the bullet Tara shot at him hit. The pain didn't bother him at all. In fact he enjoyed it. It added to what he planned to do to Jenny.

He noticed that Jenny was starting to bleed from between her legs. It didn't bother him, he liked blood.

Unknowingly, his escape path took him on a collision course with Percy.

++++++

Percy was close enough to hear Jenny's faint screams. He stopped running and listened. He could hear the sounds of someone running in the woods.

The sounds were being made by someone big, not by a small woman. Percy felt that the sounds were being made by Jermaine. He dropped his hiking sticks and pulled out his Desert Eagle.

He pushed the safety off.

He started running toward the sounds realizing that whoever it was was running directly at him.

He made sure a round was in the chamber and his extra clip was ready in case he needed it. He made up his mind that today was Jermaine's last day on earth. Percy no longer cared about his personal safety.

He was going to execute Jermaine or die trying.

Percy only wanted to live long enough to save Jenny from a terrible death at the hands of Jermaine. He knew that if he couldn't save Jenny, he'd kill her.

He would save her from that sick bastard's style of execution. At least he could make sure she died quickly and without any real pain.

Percy found himself at a small clearing. The sounds of running were rapidly closing on him from the other side. Percy stopped and dropped to one knee.

He held the gun steadily in both hands waiting for Jermaine to emerge from the underbrush. Jermaine broke into the clearing. He was running hard, carrying Jenny over his shoulder.

Jenny was naked and her body was red with blood.

Jermaine was carrying a rifle in his other hand. The gun was pointed at Percy.

There was no clear shot at Jermaine's head or body.

Percy shot out Jermaine's knee.

Jermaine went crashing down tossing Jenny to his side as he fell.

Jermaine tried to stand to bring the rifle back into play, Percy shot out the other knee leaving Jermaine making animal noises and trying to crawl toward Percy on his knees. Jermaine's eyes were full of hatred.

Jermaine smiled and said, "You'll never save her from me."

Percy put another round in the middle of Jermaine's chest. Jermaine was now dragging himself by his hands toward Percy. He was still trying to bring the rifle into firing position.

Jermaine wouldn't die. But Percy wasn't about to give up trying.

Percy got to his feet and walked toward Jermaine. Percy aimed at Jermaine's head and emptied his gun while walking.

Percy took out his spare magazine and reloaded. Six more rounds entered Jermaine's head.

By the time Percy reached him, Jermaine was no longer moving.

His head was no longer recognizable as belonging to a human.

Percy rolled Jenny over looking for any injuries and found none even though she was covered in blood. He checked her pulse, and found a weak one, her heart was still beating. He picked her up and started running toward the lodge. She was making no sounds but she was still breathing.

He ran all the way to the lodge.

When he got to the lodge, he was surprised to see three ambulances and what seemed like all the police cars in the world in the parking lot. A couple of officers ran to him and attempted to take Jenny away from him.

He held her tightly and kept heading toward the ambulances.

He shouted at the officers and told them where to find Jermaine's body. They hurried off into the woods in that direction.

Percy reached the ambulances and a medic took Jenny from him. He took a deep breath and looked around. The first thing he saw was Tara covered in blood, crying over Todd. He started toward them when the pain hit.

Suddenly his chest hurt and he couldn't breathe.

His world went black.

+++++++++

Percy opened his eyes not knowing where he was. There was a drop ceiling and florescent lighting. He turned his head toward a beeping noise. He recognized a heart monitor. He tried to move but his chest hurt like hell.

A friendly voice told him to lay still. It sounded like a nurse. "This will help with the pain, "was all he heard before it got dark in the room.

+++++++++++++++++

Tara sat in the hospital. In front of her was her father. She had not been reunited with him for longer than two months. He was lying in a hospital bed recovering from heart surgery. She looked at him hooked up to all kinds on monitoring equipment and various tubes and started crying again.

She wanted to pray to God to let him live. She just didn't know how to accomplish this. It had been a long time since she was a little girl saying her bedtime prayers.

In another room lay her baby brother. The doctors said he was out of danger. His kidney was healing nicely and unless something went terribly wrong, he wouldn't need a transplant. But he would still need to be a little careful the rest of his life. She was there for him, she had told the doctor, if needed, she'd donate her kidney.

So far it wasn't needed.

Her Dad made a groaning noise next to where she sat.

+++++++++++++++++++

Percy opened his eyes again. He saw a different ceiling. He turned his head. This time his chest didn't hurt as badly but he still groaned.

"Dad, are you awake?" He recognized Tara's voice.

Slowly turning his head toward the sound of her voice, he saw her smiling face. He tried to talk but nothing came out. Tara put a straw in his mouth and he sipped some water. Gradually his voice returned.

"Jenny?" he asked.

"She's in the hospital mental ward. Nervous breakdown. She lost the baby, Dad, "Tara said in a very sad voice.

"Todd?"

"OK. Stab wound but doctors say he's out of danger."

"Dean."

"By Jenny's side 24/7. A bullet grazed his scalp, but he's OK."

Percy started to cry. He wasn't exactly sure why, but he felt a great relief.

Tara held his hand and cried with him. She had her Daddy back and would never let him go again.

"Dad, you killed Jermaine. He'll hurt no one else."She told him.

Then she added, "Jermaine killed three more people before you stopped him."

Percy's eyes eyes continued to tear, but he knew she was right, Jermaine had had to be stopped.

But what a terrible toll it took.

Percy closed his eyes and slept some more. He was trying to heal the mental wounds.

+++++++++

Judith heard about the shootout on the national news. She knew that Percy and his family would need her help again. While she really wasn't a part of that little family, something way down deep inside of her wanted to be.

As she was packing her bags, she was humming a little tune.

There was a warm feeling in her chest. She was going to see Percy again.

Suddenly she realized she still missed him after all these years.

"Damn woman, you're over 50, get a grip, "she thought.

But she continued humming as she packed.

+++++++++++++++++

Percy was lying in his hospital bed feeling sorry for himself.

"All those poor people hurt because I couldn't capture Jermaine. If only I was a little smarter or maybe faster, Jermaine could have been stopped before slaughtering more people. I'd never forgive myself". He thought.

The doctors told me that I had a heart attack and double bypass surgery. My chest still hurt but it wasn't as bad as when I first woke up. I wondered how long I had been unconscious; I had no sense of any time having passed.

I just slept, was awaked by the nurses or doctors for short periods, and slept some more. I just wanted to sleep. I couldn't take the pain of my losses.

I was slowly slipping into a deep depression.

"God Damn it, Perk," Said a familiar voice. "How am I going to make a living if I keep needing to come up here and hold your hand, ya big baby?"

"Hi Judith," I said.

"Can I hug you through all these wires and tubes?"

"Please, I need a big one." I replied.

She reached across the bed and did just that. It felt kind of good having her in my arms.

I guess we must have knocked something loose because a couple of nurses came running into the room with looks of concern on their faces. When they saw Judith and I hugging each other, they relaxed.

"Percy! Don't get so excited without warning us. There are alarms going off all over the place," one of the nurses said.

"And NO sex!" said the other after watching us a minute, a great big grin on her face.

Judith just stood across the room grinning from ear to ear. "Damn that woman was proud of herself." I thought.

For the next two weeks, I was assaulted by visitors. Judith sat by my side the entire time. She made every visitor, who wasn't part of my family, know that she was an attorney from a very prestigious law firm in Boston.

No one gave her any shit. I'd swear that even the quality of the food improved while she sat there.

Judith took no prisoners.

Actually Judith got along with all the nurses. I guess it had something to do with telling the doctors that they were being sexist and needed to be careful before someone "sued their asses".

Honest I was there when she said it!

After that comment she and all the nurses were the best of "Buds".

The doctors said "Please" and "Thank you" a lot after that.

I noticed that Tara and Judith were spending a lot of time together.

This worried me.

I knew how Judith was and didn't want to have Tara learn too many of my secrets. So I steeled myself and started a conversation with Judith.

"Why are you getting so close to Tara?" I asked.

"None of your business," she said.

I threw a dirty look at her and found she was grinning from ear to ear. That damn woman loved to jerk my chain.

"Perk, sometimes a woman needs another woman to talk to. Tara never had a chance to bond with another adult female. Her mother was just too far gone to help. We're bonding." Her voice was soft and sincere.

"You have a great daughter. And I'm trying to get to know her better. Now shut up and get well."

"How did I ever stay married to this woman so long?" I thought.

Then I remembered she was great in bed.

Later that day when Tara and Judith handed off babysitting "Dad" duties I got a chance to ask Tara what she thought of Judith.

"Well Dad, I think she's great! I wish I could have met her when you guys were married." Was her answer.

"Why did you guys divorce? She's such a great person and fun to be with," she asked.

I explained that Judith left me to improve her career. I was a lowly cop and she was going to be a big city lawyer. Neither one of us would budge so we divorced.

I admitted that I still had a little place in my heart for Judith. I considered her a very good friend.

I then told Tara about how Judith had helped me pull myself out of my depression after Marie's death.

Tara got a little misty eyed as I reveled the whole story.

"Dad would you get mad if I started calling Judith, Mom?" she asked. "I never had someone I could feel really wanted to help me. My birth Mom always just acted as if I was extra baggage."

"Not, as long as you don't expect me to marry her again, "I joked.

She just smiled at me and said, "But it would make a nice Christmas present." She hurried out of the room to visit her brother.

I had the feeling I was just tested. I'd have to discuss this with Judith. No not the getting remarried part, but her being a part of my family instead of just an occasional visitor.

The next morning the doctor said they were planning on releasing Todd soon, but I still had another week or two before I was released.

Then the doctor dropped the bomb, "Who's going to take care of Todd? He's not bad enough for a nurse, but he will need help showering, help using the bathroom, and stuff. Which one? His sister or the Lawyer?"

I could tell by the way he said "Lawyer" who it was he wanted out of his hospital besides Todd.

"I'll discuss it with them and let you know, "I answered.

That afternoon I talked over the options the doctor requested with the girls. Tara and Judith both jumped at the chance.

Judith gave me a funny look. I remembered that look from when we were married, she wanted to talk after Tara left the room.

Judith started as soon as Tara left. "I'm surprised that Tara volunteered."

"Why, "I asked with real curiosity.

"Fathers! They don't recognize anything! Don't you see how glassy eyed Tara gets every time a certain young intern comes around?" she retorted.

"No"

"Well I do," she answered.

"I guess I'll ask Todd who he wants," I stated.

"I'll bet he answers 'the little red head' who visits him every day, "was the answer I got.

"Debbie?"I asked.

"Of course stupid. It's a wonder you ever solved a case without having any powers of observation." She said happily.

"OK I give up. You work it out."

And that's exactly what she did. I guess I could have offered some advice, but I doubt she would have listened anyway.

Judith was that way.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

"I don't know what I'm going to do with him, "Judith thought.

He is about the nicest man I ever knew but he doesn't really have a clue.

His son is infatuated with that red headed girl and Tara is making a fool of herself every time a certain intern is around.

"I'm going to need to sharp Percy up," she thought. "For a hot shot detective, he's stupid.

Then a funny thought entered her head, "Shaping him up! That might be fun."

+++++++++++++++++++++

The next day they brought Todd around to say goodbye. That's right I said they, all three of them. My son looked as if he had a harem.

But he only had eyes for Debbie.

When I get out of this hospital, I guess I'd better invite Debbie's parents for dinner.

Before they all left I mentioned getting together for dinner to Debbie with her folks. Judith smiled at me as if I finally grew a brain.

I spent the rest of the day alone in my room. I kind of missed Judith or Tara sitting with me.

Actually I found myself missing Judith a little more that I missed Tara.

+++++++++++++++++

Judith made sure everything was running smoothly at the lodge.

Todd was under the care of Debbie days, and Tara nights.

Judith figured there was no point in pushing two hot blooded teenagers together more than necessary, especially over nights.

That brought her thoughts around to poor Jenny. She was lying in her hospital bed in a catatonic state. She had lost her child and maybe her mind. She felt a lump forming in her throat.

After leaving them with a bunch of rules and a list of chores, she headed back to the hospital. She wanted Percy's support.

She realized that she was leaning on Percy a little too much.

When it was time to return to Boston, she knew that she'd hurt.

++++++++++++++++++++++

Percy woke up and Judith was sitting there. I realized that I was starting to like her visits and missed her when she was gone.

"So what did you say that made the kids toss you out?" I asked.

"No one tossed me out. We realized that you needed attention too, so we tossed a coin." She said.

Then she added, "I lost."

When I snapped my head around, I saw the smile.

She had pulled my chain again.

She kept me company every day and well into the night until I was released two weeks later. When I got back to the lodge, I found all her things in my room. I looked at her and raised my eyebrows.

She shook her head "No".

"The Doctor said at least two months before you can," she replied.

That night she joined me in the shower. I tried to get an erection but it wouldn't co-operate.

She looked at me and said, "Two months, remember?"

++++++++

The next morning I heard noise coming from the dining room, so I went exploring. The dining room was full of guests and they were all hunters. Debbie, Todd and a woman I didn't know were waiting on the tables. I peeked in the kitchen and saw Judith cooking up a storm.

I guess I was a little overwhelmed, as I just stood there with my mouth open. Tara was the first to spot me, "Dad! Sit down, you just had heart surgery."

Next thing I knew half the room was on their feet clapping and calling for me to join them. One of the guides helped me into a chair at his table. When they realized I had no idea of what all the fuss was about. He explained I was a national hero.

I had killed Jermaine the serial killer single handily. I was on the national news for a week solid. They even kept interrupting regular TV with updates on my heart surgery.