Tonto

Previous Chapters:

A truck driver had an unfortunate encounter with the mysterious Lilith. She killed three men the year before while Greg was dealing with the hag. Now she is back with a vengeance and Wolf Bend Chief Greg Harsen is called to the scene by FBI Agent David Harkins, a man who really dislikes him. What Greg finds awakens him to the realization that more bad things are coming for him and his little town. Further, Harkins managed to wrangle him into Task Force Ash, which was created to capture the killer.

A county wide call-out for a jail riot interrupted the hunt for Lilith. At the riot, Greg finds out that Jenny's violent ex-husband, Lenny Benslow, has escaped from the jail. They race to his cabin, but Greg's beloved wife had been taken. Through good investigation techniques, they may have found the bad guys' hideout. A shootout ensues, with Jesse getting shot while they rescue Jenny. When Greg went after Lenny to finish him, Sheriff Watson convinced him to take the felon back into custody. Batty Betty Benslow was taken into custody for assisting with Lenny's escape.

Greg thought he was in for a rest, but another Lilith victim, 'Satin Shorts' had been found revealing new clues. Then Greg and Jesse found Lilith's lair, getting closer to the killer. Then Greg had a meeting in the alley with Lilith where he barely escaped with his life. At the same time, the taskforce has been getting nowhere. Finally, Lilith revealed herself as Officer Katie Kelsey when she killed FBI Agent Kenneth Lee. An unaware Greg walked into her trap.

New Chapter:

Jenny stood over Greg’s desk, leafing through the papers on top of it. They had been neatly stacked, but now they were scattered about. There was nothing more than budget reports and expenditures.  

“No messages, Mrs. Harsen, and it doesn’t appear that he came here last night.” Becky was standing in the doorway. 

“Okay. Get ahold of your Dispatch and see if he took a call last night.”

“No need, I already did.” Jesse passed the secretary as she was leaving the room. 

Jenny ran over and hugged her brother. “Oh, thank God, Jesse. I’m scared. Greg left sometime in the night and never came home.”

“I know. I got your message and came as quickly as I could.” Jesse ran his hands through his thick black hair. “Central Dispatch said he took a call after midnight. Seems Officer Katie’s boyfriend disappeared and she went on a bender at the Stonefish Bar. Greg advised that he would handle it and now both of them are missing.”

“Any idea why? You don’t think he’s with Katie? He told me she has a ‘thing’ for him.” Jenny furrowed her brow and frowned. 

“Stop that, sis. You know Greg’s not that kind of man. If he didn’t come home last night and didn’t call, then I suspect their disappearance has something to do with the serial killer they’re hunting on Task Force Ash.”

“So what do we do?” Jenny bit her lower lip, her face wrinkled in deep worry. 

“Anything on the desk?” Her brother made his way around to the other side, and after scanning through Greg’s ‘old school’ rolodex, grabbed the phone. 

“Nothing that helps.” 

After dialing. “Harkins? Yes, Greg and Katie are now missing, too.”

Jenny could not hear the man’s response.

“Lone Rangering? No, this isn’t that.”

More silence. 

“Because I’m his Tonto and I would know. Now listen. I need you to ping his cell phone. Try Katie’s too. You’ll get quicker results being the FBI. Call me the second you get results.” 

A longer pause. Jenny thought maybe she heard a curse word. 

“God damnit, David, I’m standing here with his wife and he’s not just my Chief, he’s my friend. I think your serial killer has them. I need you to do this, now.”

A shorter unheard response.

“Thank you.” Jesse hung up. “He said he’s busy. A blond prostitute attacked one of his undercovers out at the Slide and Glide. They think they have Lilith. The entire task force is rolling that way.”

“So he won’t help us?” Tears welled up in Jenny’s pretty green eyes. 

Jesse grabbed her shoulders. “No, sis. He’s going to ping their phones for us. I can’t promise anything, but it may tell us what area they’re in. While we’re waiting, he asked us to check Katie’s apartment. I’m sure they’re not there, but maybe we’ll find something that helps us find them.”

“Okay. It’s better than sitting here doing nothing.” Jenny grabbed Greg’s police jacket and put it on. It was a little big on her. It wasn’t particularly cold out, but the jacket smelled like him and comforted her. 

Becky hurried back into the room. “Dispatch just took a call from the owner of the Stonefish Bar. Seems they found the Chief’s badge on the floor and that black and white flannel shirt that Officer Kelsey likes to wear.” 

When Jesse started back around the desk his foot kicked something. “What’s this?” The officer reached down and picked up a long wicked looking black blade. 

“That came from the witch’s hollow. I thought it was in our house. That thing creeps me out.” Jenny shuddered. 

“So, why’s it here?” Jesse frowned as he looked at the dark weapon. 

“Maybe has something to do with their case?” 

“I’m not sure.” Jesse stared at the wicked looking sharp blade. It was too long to be a dagger, but too short to be a sword.”

“Maybe we’ll need it?” Jenny wanted to get moving. 

“Okay, we’ll bring it along. Maybe it means something.” The two siblings made their way out to Jesse’s police Blazer.