Chapter 9
Norman waited patiently for the red light to change. He didn’t hear any noise from the back of the pick-up and he liked it that way. Only once had there been a necessity to stop and re-secure one of the girls. That had been Marcie Walker and he had made sure it had not happened again.
The light turned and he headed around the west side of Canyon State Park. He had seen the pictures on TV of the service road and knew it was likely being watched or locked, or both. There was an unmanned archery range down a gravel road and being that it was summer, no one was likely to be there. It wasn’t archery season and there were no lights to shoot by. It was just getting dark when he pulled up.
He sat in the truck for nearly a half hour to make sure there wasn’t any activity. He’d passed a loggers truck parked about a mile back but figured they would have gone home by now.
He got out and went around to the back of the truck. Lifting the topper hatch, he found the girl laying on her side staring at him. He loved the fear in her eyes. Grabbing her taped ankles, he dragged the naked woman towards him. She tried to kick but it was useless.
Once he had her on the tailgate, he slit the duct tape around her ankles and made her walk in front of him towards the woods. The girl was frantically looking for a place to run, someone to save her but she was there alone, just her captor behind her.
They entered the woods and had walked about 50 yards, when Norman decided it was far enough.
“Stop here.”
He turned her around and forced her to sit by the base of a large tree. Her hands were tied in front of her and she started to whimper through the tape over her mouth.
Norman reached into a bag he was carrying and pulled out a wine glass, setting it down near the girl. Next, out of the bag came his 9 millimeter pistol. The girls eyes got huge and she tried to get up but Norman pinned her to the tree with his foot. The time in captivity had taken most of the fight out of her, and she slumped back, resigned to what was coming.
Norman took the gun and placed it against the girls chest, directly over her heart. He watched as she pressed her eyes closed, waiting.
****
Joe stumbled over a root, falling forward and the chain saw he was carrying went sailing.
“Damn! I told you it was getting too dark.”
His buddy, Jonathon, helped him to his feet.
“Oh, stop your whining. We needed to finish the last tree so it could be brought out tomorrow.”
“Yeah, well, it won’t do us much good if we’re dead from falling on our own saws.”
“Whatever! Just watch your step and take your time. You sure the truck was back this way?”
“Oh, great, now we’re lost!”
“Shut-up!”
“I will when I want….”
“No, shush! Look over there.”
Joe stared out towards the direction his friend was pointing. Through the growing darkness he could see someone sitting against the bottom of a tree.
As they struggled to make sense of the scene in front of them, the standing figure removed something from a bag and laid it on the ground. Next he removed something else that looked to Joe to be a gun.
“Is that a gun?”
“I think so.”
The figure on the ground tried to get up but was pinned by the foot of the standing person. They watched as the gun was put to the chest of the pinned person.
Jonathon had been crouching but now he stood up.
“Hey!”
****
Norman held the gun to her chest. He had not heard anyone coming and as he pulled the trigger, a voice reached him.
“Hey!”
As the gun went off, he flinched. The girl slumped over. Norman searched the woods for where the voice had come from. Unable to find the source, he quickly cut the zip tie from her wrists and pulled the tape off her mouth. He didn’t take time to pick up the wine glass, he just ran.
He didn’t hear the girl moan.
****
Jonathon heard the gun go off and dove for the ground. Joe was already there. They stayed low and watched as the man gathered some things and ran for the road.
When it was clear he was gone, the two loggers got up and moved over to where the girl was. It was almost completely dark and the men dropped their saws as they ran.
When they reached the tree, they found a young girl slumped over moaning. Blood poured from near her shoulder. Joe pressed on the wound while Jonathon called 911. He kept looking towards where the man had run, hoping he didn’t come back.
“911. What is your emergency?”
“I’m in Canyon State Park, near Archery road, and a woman has been shot.”
“Is she still alive?”
“I think so but there’s a lot of blood.”
“Where was she shot?”
“Looks like in the chest or near the shoulder. My friend is keeping pressure on it.”
“I’m sending help. Was this an accident?”
“It didn’t look like it. My buddy and I walked up to see this guy shoot her.”
“Alright. Can you get to the road to flag down the EMT’s?”
“Yeah. Okay.”
Jonathon looked down at his friend. Joe looked very pale, almost like his blood was draining as fast as the girls.
“I gotta go to the road.”
“Why?”
“Help is coming, I have to wave ‘em down.”
“Okay. Hurry.”
Jonathon took off at a dead run for the road. He risked running into a tree and knocking himself out, but his adrenaline wouldn’t let him slow down. The ambulance appeared a few minutes later and he stood in the road until it’s headlights were on him. It stopped and a flurry of activity led to Jonathon taking two EMT’s, carrying a stretcher, to where his friend and the girl were.
“I’m back, Joe.”
Joe looked scared.
“I don’t know if she’s still alive. She stopped moaning a few minutes ago.”
“It’s all right, Joe. The EMT’s will take care of her.”
The men moved in and started assessing the girl. Joe got up and walked over by Jonathon. They both stood there, watching silently. Jonathon was praying quietly under his breath. Joe looked at him.
“I was doing the same thing the whole time you were gone.”
Jonathon put his arm around his blood covered friend.
“She’s in God’s hands now.”
****
Jason’s phone rang. He squinted at the clock.
1:00 am.
“Hello.”
“Jason, this is Patton.”
“Yes sir..”
“There’s been a shooting. The victim’s description matches your missing girl.”
“Stephanie Morris?”
“Yeah.”
“You said shooting… is she still alive?”
“Just barely. She’s at SAG”
“I’m on my way.”
Jason hung up. His heart was pounding. A survivor could put a face on this guy, assuming it was the same killer. He called Vanessa. Rob answered.
“Hello?”
“Rob, this is Jason. Sorry to wake you. I need to talk to Vanessa.”
He heard some rustling and his partner came on.
“What’s up, Jason?”
“The lieutenant called. There’s been a shooting and it may be our guy. The victim matches our girl, Stephanie Morris. She’s at SAG”
“I’ll be ready in fifteen.”
“I’ll be there in ten.”
Chapter 10
San Antonio General Hospital, or SAG as locals refer to it, was on the west side of town between Seaworld and Lackland Air Base. They arrived and parked in the main lot.