Chapter Four

DETECTIVE RIZZO

Detective David Rizzo was buried with work. There was so much for him to do that he never caught up with it. New cases came in on a daily basis. He and the other detectives couldn’t handle all of them, but the department wouldn’t’ hire anyone else to help them so he picked the ones that he wanted and the other detectives did the same. He would read the report, see if there was anything of interest and investigate those that the chief wanted him to take. He also would investigate any case that seemed interesting. His budget didn’t include overtime or any more help. Any case he took had to fit within the time available. Sometimes the police chief, the commissioner, or the mayor would ask him for results on a particular case. If he wasn’t done with it or if it was a case that he had put aside, he would then make time for it.

The case of the drug addict who died by taking a header off a cliff in Big Cottonwood Canyon seemed to be an open and shut case. The deputy sheriff, James Fox, was a good man. His report looked complete and included his opinion that it was an accidental death. He called up the name, Grant Smith, on his computer. He had been questioned numerous times in connection with drug dealings, auto theft, and attempted murder. Each time he had been released due to insufficient evidence. No great loss with this guy. Interesting, but there probably won’t be any pressure to investigate this death, he would let it go.

The next case involving a gang-banger’s car parked in front of a house with gang-rap music rocking the neighborhood. He read about a follow up call to the same address. The police cruiser had pulled over the car and the 5 gang members inside wouldn’t or couldn’t answer questions. All were Mexican illegals. They were to be processed and would probably be sent back to Mexico. The question remained, why were they hanging around that house? No history of drug or gang activity either at or close to that address. He decided that for the time being, he would put it aside unless something else came up. If it was a new drug house or meth lab location he would hear about it soon enough.

HOME COOKING

Cole came home to the smell of home cooking. He stepped in and said to Jan “wow, I haven’t come home from work to home cooking since I was in high school! That smells fantastic, you’re hired!”

Jan smiled and said, “I’m not looking for a job.”

Cole didn’t know what to say so he reached for Jan and gave her a hug “how are you and Billy doing?”

“Billy didn’t even wake up until after you went to work. He was confused when he woke up in a strange bed, but I had lain down beside him after you left so that he would see me as soon as he woke up. We’re fine.

Just then Billy came running up to Cole with his arms outstretched saying “Daddy, Daddy.” Cole picked him up and swung him around, followed by a hug and back down to the floor.

Jan continued, “I called the answering machine a few minutes ago to see if I had any messages. A detective Rizzo had called and said that he had the report on the 911 call. If he had any questions he would call again. He also gave me his cell number if I had any questions. Do you like lasagna and garlic bread?”

“Love it, let me at it!”

After dinner while watching the news they saw a short story about the bicycler who died and was partially eaten by a mountain lion in Big Cottonwood Canyon. It showed the cliff from a helicopter. The talking heads, with a smile, talked about how dangerous it was to ride the trails and how many people were killed each year. In fact including this latest victim, there had been 4 people who had died by losing control of their bike and going over the same cliff in the last 2 years.

“This was the first instance where any sign of a mountain lion had been seen. It was a shame that the forest service allowed such dangerous conditions to exist. A forest service spokesman said they didn’t expect the mountain lion to be a problem. Cougars don’t attack people except in extreme circumstances and undoubtedly just happened upon the body. A request for a barricade has been processed and should be installed within the next 2 weeks. Requests for an interview with the investigating officer, sheriff’s Deputy Fox were refused.”

“Well it looks like we caused some extra publicity for Sheriffs’ Deputy Fox,” said Cole, “I wonder why he wouldn’t talk to the reporter?”

“Well I wouldn’t talk to a TV reporter about anything. I realize that they have to cut and paste an interview, but it makes the person look so dumb. Sometime the picture will show a person talking with no sound, then the sound kicks in. Then before the person is done or can make their point, the sound switches back to the reporter who takes over and tells you what the person said. I’ve wondered if the reporter tells us what the person was really saying.”

“I know what you mean.”

“Does it seem to be going too smoothly? I mean, shouldn’t we all be pulled into a room with bright lights and asked the same questions over and over for hours on end?”

“Let’s hope not,” laughed Cole. “I may crack under too much pressure. If we had looked guilty or looked like your average run of the mill scum sucker, I guarantee Fox would have questioned us a lot more.”

“When do you think that we can go home?”

“I’m sorry, didn’t I tell you, you’ve been officially kidnapped, you and Billy can’t go home unless you pay a ransom.

“What’s the ransom?”

“You have to cook for me until I weigh 400 pounds, plus, Billy is required to keep on calling me daddy. After the ransom is paid, we could check with the guy that left you a message and ask him when it would be safe.”

“I can’t tell when you’re serious and when you’re kidding around. I do need to go back to my house when it’s safe. I don’t feel right sponging off of you like this.”

Cole looked at Jan for a few moments, tried to speak but his tongue was still thinking of garlic bread and what came out didn’t’ make any sense. He tried again “Jan I know it’s too soon to get serious, we have only had 3 dates, well 4 if you count last night, I guess that really wasn’t a date. Anyway, I realize that we need to take it slow and easy, but it sure feels right to have you here.”

“I feel the same way, but like you, I want to do the right thing. I’ve been divorced once and I don’t want to go through that again. Is it alright with you to give it a little more time to get to know each other a little better?”

Cole laughed, picked her up, swung her around, kissed her and said “you’re something else, go to bed, I’ll see you in the morning if you’re up, if not I’ll see you tomorrow when I get home.”

The next day, Jan called detective Rizzo and asked “do you know what those people were doing in front of my house?”

Rizzo told her “I’m sorry but I really am not at liberty to discuss the details of the case.”

“Can you tell me if it’s safe to go back to my house?”

Rizzo said “I think it should be ok, we’ve been patrolling the area, and I haven’t seen any reports of any more suspicious activity in that area. I can’t give you details, but I can tell you the people in the black car shouldn’t bother you again. They’re all illegal aliens and are in custody. Do you have any idea why those people were hanging out in front of your place?”

Jan hesitated for a moment to get her thoughts together, she figured that Rizzo already knew about Grants death so she said, “I figure they must have been part of my ex-husband’s gang, but I don’t know why they would be at my place.”

“I don’t understand, are you having trouble with your ex-husband?”

Jan thought, ’oh damn; he didn’t know that I’m the ex-wife of the guy that died up the canyon.’ To Rizzo she said “yeah, we were divorced about 6 months ago. The judge slapped him with a restraining order since he is such a wacko with all kinds of suspected illegal activity. He died of a biking accident up Big Cottonwood Canyon Saturday. I’m guessing that those guys were part of his gang.”

Rizzo had not put the two reports together; he hesitated and asked “why would they be at your house?”

“I don’t know, maybe they were looking for him and thought he might be here.”

“You obviously got my message from your answering machine. What’s your cell phone number? Where are you staying now?”

“My number is 801-111-1151. My son and I are staying with my boyfriend. We will probably come back to my house this afternoon when he gets home from work.”

“I have the information about the others in your group from Deputy Fox. Is Cole Taylor your boyfriend?”

“Yes.”

“Thanks for all the information, I’ll call you if anything comes up and you have my number,” said Rizzo.

Rizzo leaned back in his chair, put his feet on the desk, and looked out the window at the towering Wasatch Mountains as he tried to put it together. His subconscious was telling him that there was something missing. There seems to be too many coincidences in this series of happenings. He grabbed his pen and pad and started writing:

1. Man and woman get married

2. Man goes bonkers, gets involved with drugs and gangs

3. Woman sues for divorce

4. Woman gets divorce and restraining order from judge

5. Man stalks ex-wife

6. Man goes on bike ride

7. Woman goes on bike ride with new love interest

8. Man dies falling off a cliff

9. Woman is on different trail

10. Woman calls for police help when ex-husbands gang

member’s park in front of her house.

11. Gang members come back and are pursued and taken into custody by police officers.

12. Gang members won’t answer questions about anything (Illegal aliens)

13. Woman stays with new love interest-afraid of gang

14. Investigating deputy sheriff doesn’t want to investigate any further.

‘There is something fishy about this. I could call up the boyfriend and the other couple, but I have a lot of work to do. The good people are ok, and the criminals are either dead or on the way out of the country. Seems like a happy ending to me. This goes into the closed file.’ He put his summary in the unmarked file in the back of his desk drawer.

MARRIAGE

Jan met Cole at the door with a big kiss, and the aroma of roast beef and baking bread. Cole was finished. He had never been married, not even engaged, but this woman had him where he had never been before. ‘Was he that easy? Was that all it took, a pretty face, a kiss, and some home cooking? It wasn’t that simple, of course, their experience from a few days ago did all kinds of real and physiological things to both of them.’

Jan told him “I called the detective and he told me that he couldn’t give me many details, but he thought that it would be safe for me to go back to my house.”

“What about the gang members?”

“He told me that they were on the way out of the country.”

“It sounds like they were arrested and were either put in jail or maybe if they are illegal aliens, soon to be deported out of the country. If that’s what happened, it’s only a temporary thing, they will most likely be back in a month or two.”

“I don’t like the sound of that. What are we supposed to do,” asked Jan?

“I think we need to get you away from your house. Who knows what kind of ritual or revenge thing the people in the gang have. I have heard some pretty scary things about gangs. I saw an interview on TV some time ago where the interviewer asked some gang members what they thought about their future. Their answer was there was no future. There was only the present, they figured they would be killed some time soon, so live it up, protect the gang at all costs, and don’t worry about anything. It’s Tuesday; we’re meeting with Aaron and Rachel tomorrow night, how about you and Billy staying here for at least a couple more days? Now let’s see what smells so good, I’m starved.”

After dinner, Jan put Billy to bed and came back to the kitchen where Cole was doing the dishes. She came up and put her arms around Cole and whispered “I’m scared but mostly worried about Billy.”

“I won’t let anybody hurt either you or Billy” whispered Cole as he turned, picked her up, kissed her and held her tight.

“I love it when you pick me up like this.”

“How long have we known each other?” asked Cole?

“It’s been 29 days and 6 hours since I first saw you at church and arranged to be introduced to you.”

“Huh, you arranged that introduction? I saw you walk in and thought to myself, I have got to meet her, but then I saw Billy walking behind you and thought, ‘that looks like my perfect wife,’ but she’s already taken. I wonder where her husband is.”

“I saw you watching me, so how else was I going to meet you? I asked Amy to figure out a way to get her husband to introduce us.”

“I don’t know, I just thought that the Ramsey’s were being friendly. I couldn’t believe it when they told me that you were divorced. Anyway, I feel like I’ve known you forever.”

“Yeah, I feel the same way.”

Cole put her down, took her hand, dropped to one knee, took a little jewelry box out of his pocket and asked “will you marry me?”

“…Yeah…..YES…..YES! Do you always act so spontaneously?”

“I always go after what I want, and I want you to be my wife forever. That ring was my grandmothers,” said Cole.

“I don’t want to talk you out of marrying me, but do you realize that we just met 29 days ago and have been on 3 dates, and I stayed in your house for 2 days and…”

“I love you, I knew I loved you on the first date, but I couldn’t believe that I have finally found you.”

“You seem to have planned on everything, I’m available. When do you want to get married?”

“Well I figured that we should see when Aaron and Rachel can be there and then set a date!”

With a serious look on her face, “I’m sure that I want to marry you now or later, but are you sure. We haven’t known each other very long. Dr. Laura says that people need to get to know each other for a year or more.”

Cole hesitated and gently picked Jan up and said,” It’s true that we haven’t known each other very long, but what we have been through the past few days is worth years of going through the dating games. If you want to wait for a month, 6 months, or a year, that’s ok. I want you to be my wife. I want Billy to keep calling me DADDY.”

Wednesday night, 7 PM, Cole, Jan, Aaron, and Rachel sat in Cole’s living room. Each had a soft drink in their hand.

“Shall we tell them now or later?” said Cole. “How about you tell them Jan?”

Aaron and Rachel looked at each other, “Tell us what”, asked Rachel.

“You’re probably not going to believe this, but Cole and I are getting married!”

Aaron and Rachel both looked at Jan and then at Cole, then in unison,” when?”

“As soon as we can arrange a date, when you two can be there with us, we’ll become man and wife. Aaron, will you be my best man?”

“I would be honored”

“Rachel, will you be my maid of honor?”

“I’m so happy for you, of course!”

Aaron said “are we talking next week, next month, tonight, what?”

“We’re serious, tonight probably won’t work, we haven’t arranged for a babysitter, but this weekend if you’re free, or the next?” said Jan.

Aaron told them “this weekend is a scouting trip for this year’s elk hunting trip with my dad and my brother. I could cancel if the wedding was this weekend, but the following weekend would be better.”

Rachel said “I’ll be there with bells on whenever.”

Cole and Jan looked at each other, smiled and Cole said, “It’s settled, in a week from Saturday we get married, we’ll arrange a place and let you know.”

“Now let’s get serious. Not that Jan and I getting married isn’t serious. We set this little meeting to discuss last Saturday. Jan has talked to a Salt Lake City detective. Some of her ex-husbands gang members were hanging around her house. Jan and Billy stayed the last 3 days with me. It appears that the police have the gang members in custody and they told Jan that they wouldn’t be a problem. But he didn’t come out and tell her any details. He did say that they’re illegal aliens. We assume that they will be deported. I figure that we have a month or two before they’re back in Utah wanting to know what happened to their buddy Grant.”

“The house is the only thing that I have of any value from my divorce. I’ll list it with a realtor tomorrow. I want it sold as soon as possible. As soon as we’re married, Billy and I’ll move into Cole’s house. If the house sells quicker, then we will just move in earlier,” said Jan.

Cole took the floor, he had that bad feeling in the pit of his stomach, “The police and sheriffs department seem satisfied with the stories we’ve given them. I think that we should forget what happened and not speak about what really happened to anybody. We should not talk about it to each other because someone could overhear our comments. With some of the hi-tech equipment available, you never know when someone is listening to a conversation. Someone could be listening to us right now! This is especially true with a cell phone. Did you know that with the right equipment, a person can listen into your cell phone conversation? They can even tap into the phone and use it as a microphone. The only way to know that no one is listening in is to take the battery out of the cell phones. So I think that as of now, we never discuss what happened again.”

“Agreed,” said Aaron, Rachel and Jan. Cole sighed as the bad feeling in his stomach went away.

Across the street in an old van, detective Rizzo sat with an audio amplifier attached to a directional antennae plugged into a recorder. ‘I’ll be damned, they didn’t say what happened, but they did say they needed to never speak about it again. I would sure like to know the details of what they are talking about. Cole Taylor seems to have a sixth sense; he seemed to know that someone was listening. This is the end of my semi-official investigation, I have nothing concrete to pursue any further, for now. Somewhere, sometime, I’ll meet and talk to Cole, and play the tape for him.’ The tape went in the unmarked file folder.

A week and half later, Cole and Jan were married in a church in Salt Lake City. Last minute invitations were rushed out and the church was full of their friends and family. They both took a couple days off work to honeymoon in Las Vegas. Billy stayed with his grandparents. Jan’s house was sold to the first person who looked at it one week later.

PROVO RIVER CANYON

4 months after the Big Cottonwood Canyon incident, Cole and Aaron were at the gym. They had finished a workout that ended with a handball game. They were sitting in the sauna, when two guys that they had never seen before came in and sat across from them. After a “how’re you doing” greeting all around, the two seemed to forget that Cole and Aaron were there.

One of them said to the other, “my ex-wife is so crazy that I don’t know what to do! I send her money sometimes but she isn’t satisfied.”

“Yeah right, you send her money! When was the last time you sent her money?”

“Well that’s what I’m saying. I sent her a little money last month. But if I pay the amount the court says that I have to pay, I can’t pay for my new Hummer and go with you guys to Las Vegas. I went over to talk to her and knocked her around a little to see if I could knock some sense into her, but all she did was call her attorney and now there’s a restraining order against me. I can’t even go over there to see my daughter!”

The other guy laughed again, “When did you ever go over there to see your daughter? All you ever went there for was to scare your ex-wife.”

“True, but if I did want to go see my daughter, I can’t legally go near her. And the really bad thing is that from reports I hear on the radio, if she turns me in for not paying child support, the state will take away my drivers license!”

“What are you going to do? You have to have a driver’s license.”

“I’ve been thinking about it. I can’t let her turn me in. I’ll go over there tonight, knock her and the kid around some, maybe even make a little whoopee…if you know what I mean. She will come to her senses or else, I can’t let her ruin my life!”

“You’re crazy man!”

They both laughed “let’s go, I have to go to work, I close the bar at Chili’s at 1 AM. I’m going to go see her then!”

The door closed “Lets go shower, I want to get a good look at those guys. The smaller one is the one who is planning horrible things against his ex-wife,” whispered Cole.

There was only 2 other people in the dressing room when Cole and Aaron, dressed and left. Both got a good look at the big mouth pervert who was planning on beating, raping and maybe killing his ex-wife.

Cole and Aaron went to their cars and stood, waiting for the pervert to come out. He and his buddy came out and got in a brand new shiny black Hummer. He looked all around to see if anybody was looking at him in his new $70,000 Hummer. Big mouth was dressed in expensive clothes and acted like he had the world by the tail.

“I’ll bet the big-mouth’s ex-wife is the prettiest, sweetest, thing that you can imagine and this guy is planning on ruining her life. That’s because he’s arrogant, selfish, and greedy. This guy makes me sick to my stomach”, said Aaron.

“I have to get to work. I’m not going to let this happen. Do you want to help me? You don’t have to. I don’t want you going along with me if you’re not in total agreement with me,” said Cole.

“I don’t know; what are you talking about?”

“At my job at the newspaper every day I see stories coming across my desk about women like that scum’s wife. They are abused, beaten and killed because their husbands and boyfriends think its ok. The law gives them a slap on the wrist for a beating and if the woman is killed, the guy will probably get a few years in prison and sometimes only gets a suspended sentence. Every time I see it, I wish there was some way to stop these men before they end up killing another woman. I’ve thought many times that if I only knew ahead of time, maybe I could save one of those women. I’ve prayed for guidance about what to do if I ever found out ahead of time. This is it, that guy is going to rape and kill his wife tonight unless I stop him. It seems to me that the only way to stop him is to kill him. I just have to figure out how to kill this rabid dog in such a way that it looks like an accident. I have this strange feeling that this is something I have to do. I’ve always followed premonitions and feelings that I didn’t understand. It’s like up on the trail the other day. I couldn’t see that cougar, but I could feel him looking at me just as clear as day. I’ve got that same feeling now; I have to stop this guy. Maybe it’s his wife; maybe it’s his daughter or his daughter’s son or whatever. Something is telling me to make sure this guy does not kill his wife!”

“You’ve convinced me, I’m with you all the way! Do you have a plan?”

“Are you sure, this is one of those times when you can’t go back. If you don’t feel strongly about this, walk away and forget our conversation.”

“I want to do this.”

“Ok, no I don’t have a plan yet, I just feel that since we know what he is going to do, we can’t allow it to happen. If we tell the police what we heard, they will just thank us and maybe stop it tonight, but what happens when he loses his license? How about meeting about 9 PM next to the Hummer at Chili’s? I don’t want Jan to know about this.”

“I’ll see you there.”

9:00 PM found Cole and Aaron behind Chili’s. There was no Hummer sitting there. “Well let’s go to the next closest Chili’s.” They were ready to give up after they had tried 5 Chili’s and they knew of only one more location to check. That was in Orem, 35 miles away. The shiny black Hummer was sitting out in the parking lot. It was parked half way in 2 parking spots so no one could park close. People park like this so that other people wouldn’t park close enough to scratch their vehicle. It was also parked under a big light so that everyone who came into Chili’s couldn’t miss it.

“If we confront him in the parking lot, we’re probably going to be seen by someone in the parking lot, coming out of the restaurant or driving down the street. We need to follow him to his ex-wife’s house and stop him there,” said Cole.

“What do you think we should do?”

“He said he’s closing the bar at 1:00 AM. I’m guessing that he’s some kind of manager of the bar. I’m assuming that he’ll be alone. If he comes out with another person, we’ll need to change the plan. I have a bottle of Jack Daniels in the back. Also a tire iron, hand cuffs, a flashlight, leather belt, rope, a bottle of clorophorme, a dish towel for a gag, and 2 pair of leather gloves. I’ve also got a toy pistol that looks real.”

“Wow, are you prepared or what!”

“Here’s my plan. We’ll follow him when he leaves the parking lot, close enough to see where he is going, but not so close as to make him get worried. When he pulls up to his ex-wife’s house, we’ll park behind him, if we see anybody watching we’ll need to walk up to the house with him. If not, you’ll pull out the toy gun, and tell him to get back in the passenger side of his car. If he yells or fights, I’ll hit him with the tire iron. Once he gets in, I’ll get in the back seat, hand-cuff him and tie him down. I’ve got a big leather belt. I’ll put it around both arms, and then tighten it down so that he can’t get loose. Then I’ll gag him so that he doesn’t make any noise. When he’s strapped down good and tight, you go back and get my car. You’ll follow me up the Provo River. I know a place close to the water where fishermen park that can’t be seen from the road. I think that the best thing is for him to get drunk and drown. What do you think of my plan?”

“I have a lot of questions and what ifs,” said Aaron. “What if he just goes home and doesn’t go over to his ex-wife’s?”

“We won’t know. When he parks and gets out of his car, we need to meet him.”

“What if he sees us and doesn’t get out of his car?”

“Good question, that Hummer is a lot bigger and more powerful than my truck. Let’s do this. Instead of both of us in my truck, Aaron you drive along behind me. When he parks, I’ll pull in front of the hummer so that he can’t go forward, while you pull your old truck against the back of the hummer. Your steel grill protector should work just fine.

“That sounds better.”

“After he’s tied down tight, we’ll move one of the trucks to a secure parking place and then come back for the other car. If we need to communicate, we have our cell phones,” said Aaron.

From where they were parked, they could see the Hummer and the back door of the restaurant. About 1:05 AM, the back door opened and 2 people walked out. “Crap,” said Cole. Big mouth and his friend walked out the Hummer. Both of them were weaving back and forth as they walked. One of them opened the door, and the other stood there beside him for a few minutes and staggered back to the open door into Chili’s.

“Whew, I thought for a minute that we had a problem,” said Aaron.

The Hummer started moving across the parking lot toward the road. Aaron bailed out of Cole’s truck as it started to move and jumped into his truck. The first traffic light in the street was red, so Cole and Aaron pulled up behind the black Hummer.

Cole’s cell phone rang “looks like this guy is plastered, he may just go home to sleep it off.”

“I think it’s more likely that he was trying to increase his courage with some extra hooch. I hope the police don’t pull him over for Drinking and Driving. Now is probably a good time to put our gloves on.”

The Hummer was following the center line. It weaved back and forth a little but not enough to alert the city police cruiser going the other way. It went down the hill and into an area of apartments. “This is not good,” said Aaron, “I was hoping for a little house with lots of trees and bushes.”

The Hummer went by the apartment buildings and turned down a dark street with little houses and lots of trees and bushes.

“You’re good, how did you know?”

At that moment, the Hummer pulled up in front of a little house that sat back from the road. There were no lights showing in the windows. No one seemed to be awake or moving around on the streets.

“Ok, here we go”, said Cole as he dropped his cell phone on the seat. He pulled beside the Hummer and turned in front of it, leaving only inches to spare between the side of his truck and the front bumper of the black Hummer. Cole jumped out of his truck holding his tire iron and came around his truck; he heard the crunch of Aaron’s steel front bumper against the rear bumper. Aaron jumped out and trotted up to where the front door of the Hummer was slowly opening

“Wwwwwwhat dddo you wwwant?” Big mouth said.

“Shut up and give me the keys,” Said Aaron as he shoved the gun barrel in the jerk’s mouth.

Big mouth was drunk and scared. He reached into the Hummer and pulled out the keys, he handed them to Aaron.

“Come here” said Cole as he grabbed big mouth’s arm and pulled him to the rear door reaching for the door latch; “Click,” the door unlocked when Aaron found the unlock button.

“This is what we’re going to do; you’re going to be quiet. We’re stealing your nice new shiny Hummer. If you’re quiet and be a good boy, you won’t get hurt.”

“I’ll be good” slobbered big mouth “Don’t hurt me.”

“Get in the car, I’m coming in behind you and going to tie you up. If you make a sound, my friend here is going to blow your head off. It’ll make a big mess in your new car.”

“I’m being good, don’t get my Hummer dirty!”

“Yes you’re being good, now put your arms behind you. I’m going to handcuff you and then fasten the seat belts around you so you don’t get hurt. Now, you’re being so good, I’m going to give you a drink.” Cole opened the Jack Daniels bottle and said “Open up, I want you to take a big drink, you’re not driving now, so take a big drink.”

“Thanks, I can’t drink much at work, because I have to drive home. I love Jack Daniels!”

“Is this where you live” asked Cole?

“No, this is where my wife, ex-wife…., lives, the little bitch! She is always telling me I’m such a jerk and a bastard and tells me I owe her money, I’m going to fix her tonight when you let me go, I have it all planned out. If you’ll unlock my hand I’ll show you my knife, I even have some brass knuckles under my front seat. I’m going to make sure she doesn’t ruin my life.” His attitude changed from a scared drunk to a mean intimidating predator as he thought about what he had planned to do to his ex-wife.

“Lets go, Aaron would you take my truck and park it in that big parking lot just down the hill. I’ll follow you and we’ll come back and get yours.

“Right”

30 minutes later they pulled off the highway that runs along the Provo River. Just as Cole had remembered, a narrow road ran down beside the roadway to the river. The guard rail, trees and bushes hid the truck from traffic. Luckily there were no people camped in the small camping site. Aaron pulled in behind the black Hummer. There was just enough room to open the doors. Cole got out and pulled big mouth out. “I didn’t bother to gag or clorophorm him. I kept reaching back and giving him more to drink. I spilled some, but the bottle is empty. Wipe if off for me. I’ll take our big mouth friend down beside the water. When you get it wiped off, bring it here, let’s put big mouths finger prints all over it and throw it back in the Hummer.”

“Aaron, I was going to put his keys in his pocket, but what do you think about leaving them in the Hummer? If someone comes along and steals it, so much the better! I’m going to unlock the hand-cuffs and help him stand up.” Cole tossed the hand-cuffs to Aaron, stepped into the water and pulled big mouth down in front of him into the ice cold water. Big mouth mumbled something unintelligible and tied to climb up the bank but Cole held his arms and forced him under the water. In just a few moments big mouth stopped struggling. Cole held him down for just a little longer and pushed him out into the current. “A fisherman should spot him about daylight. I didn’t think about getting wet. Let’s get out of here and go get my truck before someone notices it.”

Aaron asked, “When the guy started to struggle, I was afraid that he was going to pull you into the river, but you somehow stopped his struggling as you took his arms and pushed him down with no more struggle. It looked like he was about as strong as a 2 year old.”

“I can’t explain it, I just felt strong enough to pick him up and throw him across the river if I needed to. When I grabbed his arms and pushed him down, I could feel no resistance!”

Cole pulled into his driveway, the lights were off. ‘Whew, I was a little worried about my wet pants. I didn’t want to tell a lie to Jan, but I don’t want her involved with any more of our good deeds.’ He emptied his pockets and put his clothes in the dryer. He slipped on some dry underclothes and slipped into bed. Jan said something like “mmmmmmmmmmmmm” and rolled away from him, sound asleep

Next morning, Jan asked Cole “why were you so late getting home?”

“Aaron and I played some handball and then he started telling me about this neat girl he has been dating. I think you may know her, its Rachel. Before I knew it, it was late, sorry I didn’t call you, but it looks like Aaron is finally getting serious about Rachel.”

“Well it’s about time. How do you know that they’re getting serious?”

“Because he told me that the more he sees her the more he wants to see her again. I’m guessing they’ll get engaged before the end of the month.” Cole felt guilty for not answering Jan’s question and then making up the story that Aaron and Rachel were getting serious. However, it was entirely possible that he was right; Aaron had been taking Rachel out on a regular basis. He would need to talk to Aaron to find out if he was serious or just following through from their conversation after the Big Cottonwood biking trip. Cole and Aaron had agreed to stay close to the girls to reinforce their agreement of no talking about what had happened to anyone.

“I’m going to be late for work if I don’t get moving, see you tonight, I love you Jan.” After a passionate kiss, Cole ran out the house and jumped in his truck. He remembered his wet clothes that he put in the dryer as he pulled out the driveway. “With a little luck, she won’t notice them.”

DALE SIMMONS

Utah County Sheriff’s Sergeant Dale Simmons was on his way home from a boring midnight shift. It had been unusually quiet. 3 speeders, no DUI’s, no high speed chases, nothing to give him an adrenaline spurt. Dispatch called to tell him a fisherman on Provo River had just called in on his cell phone and reported a body. The fisherman spotted what he thought was a log floating in his favorite spot. He had waded out to move it out of the way and discovered that it was a body. The ambulance was on its way. Simmons was officially on duty until he reached his home so he flipped on his overhead lights and made a U-turn. The world class Provo River Fly Fishing canyon was only 6 miles away. On the way, he made a call to “any police officers coming along the Provo River to be on the lookout for a vehicle that looked out of place. The fatality has been removed from the river and will soon be en route to the coroner.” He got there about a minute before the ambulance. Of course an ambulance wasn’t really necessary since the body didn’t need the expertise of an EMT, but he wasn’t going to take a stiff back to the coroners office in his vehicle! The EMTS took a look at the body and pronounced it deceased. Probably cause was drowning. The EMTs brought out a body bag, placed the body inside, zipped it up and not too gently tossed it in the back of the ambulance.

“Go ahead and take it to the coroners’ office” Simmons told the ambulance driver. He walked over to the fisherman, “would you go over exactly what happened for me?”

The fisherman repeated the same story Simmons had already received from dispatch. He was about to leave when the fisherman said “one of my buddies called a few minutes before you got here. It seems there’s a shiny Black Hummer with the keys in the ignition parked in his spot. Its just north of mile post 16. You won’t be able to see it from the road. He parked behind it and is in the river fishing.”

“Would you please call him and tell him that I’ll be there in a few minutes. What’s his name and cell number and I’ll need yours too.”

Simmons got in his vehicle, and started up river to where the Hummer reportedly was parked. He called Dispatch and asked them to send a crime scene investigation team to meet him just north of mile post 16. He didn’t know if there was a crime or not, but he would never know if someone didn’t go over the car with a fine tooth comb. The last thing that he wanted was for someone to question him as to why he didn’t try to protect any evidence that may or may not be at the scene. He may work for a small, in population, county in Utah, but he watched crime scene shows on TV. They may not get everything right according to what he knew but they were close. His boss expected professionalism from every officer on the force.

The fisherman was waiting at the Hummer. “This better not take very long, I’m missing the best time for fishing!”

“How is it this morning?”

“It started lousy when this turd was parked in my place, but then the fishing got hot and has been super since. What can I do for you?”

“Thanks for meeting me here. Please tell me exactly what time you got here and what did you see. Also, did you touch anything?”

“I got here at exactly 6:48 AM. Legally I can start to fish at 7:05. I need a few minutes to get my gear and boots on and get ready. This Hummer was sitting in my spot. I went up to the window to wake up the driver, but it was empty. I saw the keys in the ignition, but I didn’t touch anything. Can I go now?”

“I need you to move your truck so the investigators can get in here. If I have any other questions, I have your name and cell number. Here’s my card, any questions or anything to add, please call me. Is there a better number to reach you?”

“No, the number that my buddy gave you is the only way to reach me; do you want the truck moved right now?”

“Yes, the team should be here any minute.”

Simmons called the motor vehicle department to see who owned the black Hummer. It was owned by Jimmy Carter of Orem. Simmons had seen the bulge in the dead man’s back pocket that indicated a billfold, but he wanted the coroner to pull it out and check it for evidence. At this point, he had very little evidence,

1. A dead body tentatively identified as Jimmy Carter. He didn’t look like he was old enough to be the ex- president.

2. Billfold in the body’s back pocket, money inside? Typically, if a robbery, the billfold is taken, emptied and discarded. This was probably not a robbery.

3. An empty Jack Daniels bottle was on the front seat in the vehicle, could it be it was simply a drunk stopping to relieve himself and falling into the river. The Coroner would probably want an autopsy. The autopsy would show how much alcohol was in his system.

4. Expensive clothes. Not rich man’s clothes, but expensive for a working man

5. A $70,000 vehicle with the key in the vehicle, obviously not the work of a car theft gang.

‘Too many loose ends at this point for a determination of what had happened and why.’ Simmons turned as a vehicle pulled up to the Hummer. It was the investigation team from Provo City Police. He would have to stick around until they finished. It looked like he was getting at least a few more hours of overtime today. Simmons filled the team in on what he knew and they opened the car and went to work.

‘This must be one of the most beautiful places on earth to be stuck waiting for someone else to do their work’. The Provo River was ice cold and running between steep, high forested hillsides on either side. Just downstream rock cliffs stuck out from the mountain top and dropped two thousand feet into the canyon. There had been a cable car operation from the river up to a restaurant at the top of the cliffs years ago that had been destroyed by an avalanche. It had been replaced several times only to be wiped out by another avalanche, but finally the owners gave up and didn’t rebuild. People from all over the world came here to fly fish and also to climb the vertical rock cliffs. On the other side of the river was the south flank of one of the highest peaks in Utah. Mount Timpanogos was over 11,000 feet high but from where he stood all he could see was a mass of granite reaching for the sky. The summit sat somewhere up there in those fluffy clouds. The river wasn’t really deep. In most places the fishermen waded out into the river with chest waders. 6 miles further upstream was a dam holding back untold cubic yards of ice cold water. 25 miles further up stream was another, bigger, higher dam holding back even more ice cold water. This water was used for irrigation, and home use for the cities along these mountains all the way up to Salt Lake City. Some of it went into Utah Lake. The runoff went into Great Salt Lake; there was no runoff from there. The Great Salt Lake was more salty than the oceans. It was so salty because water came in, but none ever left except by evaporation with some percolating into the ground. The size of the lake varied every year based on how much water came in and how fast it evaporated. Salt and other minerals stayed behind.

“Ok, I think we have everything,” said the investigation team, “we’ve scoured the car’s interior and exterior. We’ve also dusted it for prints. It’s all yours.”

Simmons had already called for a tow truck to come and get the Hummer. ‘As soon as it gets here, I’m heading for home, again. Maybe I’ll get a report of any evidence they’ve found by the time I go to work tomorrow.’

The news story that night said, “An unidentified man drowned in Provo River, there was no evidence of foul play. Authorities reported that the case is still open pending an autopsy, but at this point, it appears that the man became drunk and fell into the Provo River. The name is withheld until next of kin can be notified.”

The next day, the same story appeared with the additional information that the drowned man was identified as Jimmy Carter of Orem. He is survived by his parents, one brother, his former wife Kathleen and daughter Susan. Jimmy Carter was an assistant manager at Chili’s in Orem, Utah.

Detective Rizzo saw the report, noted that the article mentioned the “former wife”, he cut it out, pulled the unmarked folder out of his file drawer and placed the article on top.

Cole and Aaron met for lunch. After getting the burgers they went back to Cole’s truck and got in. “Well what do you think,” asked Cole?

“I feel guilty, but at the same time, I’m really glad that the big mouth wife beater and rapist is gone. I feel like I’m Superman, Batman, or Spiderman, doing good for mankind without anyone knowing who we are or what we’re doing.”

“Whoa partner, we don’t have any super powers, but I agree with you. I feel really good about what we’ve done. It’s illegal, yes most definitely, but is it morally right? Yes, in my mind it’s not only right but it’s totally righteous. This should be happening all over the world. In fact, it could be happening all over. How would we know if others are doing the same thing? Law enforcement’s responsibility is to find scum like these guys and put them away. However, in the country now, police have their hands tied. I wonder what the majority of police say when they see another scum bag put in the grave. Some would argue that we are judge, jury and executioner. I guess that’s true, but there was no question of guilt. It’s a little like a movie I saw about a future where the police somehow knew when a person was about to commit a crime. They would swoop in and arrest the person before it happened.”

“Tell me something, do you feel the same now as before we took out a rabid dog?”

Thoughtfully, “No, somehow I feel stronger. When we went to kill that rabid dog, I feel like there is nothing that can stop me. I felt like I could have picked him up with one hand and thrown him across the river.”

“What next,” said Aaron with a twinkle in his eye?

“Are you saying what I think you’re saying,” said Cole with a mouthful of hamburger.

“Maybe, this feels so good, maybe we should actively look for women in distress who need our help”

“Go on, you sound like you have given this a lot of thought.”

“First things first, I’m going to ask Rachel to marry me tonight!”

“Wah Hoooo, that’s great news. Do you have a date set yet?”

“No, I haven’t asked her yet, but assuming Rachel says yes, I thought that we would work it out. I would like to get married as soon as we can find a date when you and Jan can be there. I don’t want the expense of a big wedding. I think something simple like yours. Will you be my best man.?”

“Absolutely, I’m with you all the way. Let me know as soon as she accepts so we can get involved with the planning. Does she have any idea that you’re going to ask her?”

“Probably, we went to the mall and walked around some jewelry stores the other day.”

“In that case, you’ve already asked her, you just didn’t realize it!”

Officer Simmons went to see the “former wife.” He found a young woman that was clearly terrified of her ex-husband. She had bruises on her arms, legs, neck and face. He asked her “what can you tell me about your ex-husband?”

“Does it look like I got these bruises by falling down in the bathtub? You mean besides the fact he likes to come over and beat me up and tell me about what he is going to do to me and my daughter. Every time he comes it gets worse. He hits me and laughs. “Better not make any noise or it will wake up the baby.” I thought that he was going to rape me last time but the baby started to cry so he left. After the last time I turned him into my divorce attorney. He told me to turn him in to the state for non-payment of child support, and to the police for violation of the court ordered restraining order. I’m afraid that he will come over and kill me when he finds out! I’m going to call the Orem police department as soon as you leave. I don’t know what else to do. I don’t make enough money to support us and the court told him that he has to pay me every month.”

She clearly didn’t know about his death. “Your ex-husband died this morning from downing in the Provo River.”

“Thank God” she said. “I mean, I don’t want him dead, I just want him to leave us along. Are you kidding me, I mean, what do you mean, he died?”

“It looks like he got drunk and fell into the river and drowned.”

“It’s a miracle; I have been praying that somehow, something would happen that would stop him from torturing me and the baby!”

“Thank you for your information.” Simons thought, ‘this is a woman that had every reason to want this creep dead, but from what I see, she prayed that he would go away, but didn’t do anything about it.’

Sergeant Simmons received his reports 2 days later. The Coroner’s autopsy report found:

CAUSE OF DEATH-Water in lungs, drowning

TIME OF DEATH – Because of the temperature of the water, uncertain, but estimated sometime between 2 and 3 AM.

OTHER FACTORS- Alcohol content 1.5%. Legal alcohol content to be considered drunken driving is .8%. Subject was impaired to the point that he wouldn’t have been able to walk a straight line. The fact that his car was parked in a narrow turn out from the road indicates that he probably drank the last of his liquor in the car and then got out of the car to relieve himself. At that point, he could have easily slipped and fallen into the water. The water was cold and swift enough to cause him to drown. No marks on the body were noted to indicate foul play.

The crime investigation team sent him a report noting that nothing was found that indicated anyone had been in the car except Jimmy Carter. Finger prints throughout the car and on the empty bottle were identified as those of Jimmy Carter and a fellow employee at Chili’s in Orem who has an iron clad alibi until 5 AM.

Simmons was checking in before his patrol shift. He had a message to call an insurance company in connection with the death of Jimmy Carter. Since it was way past office hours, he called the number when he got home the next day from his midnight shift.

“I’m Sergeant Simmons of the Utah County Sheriffs’ Office, you called regarding Jimmy Carter.”

“Yes, thanks for returning my call. We supply the employee benefit program at Chili’s. They have a $250,000 double indemnity life insurance policy on all full time employees. Mr. Carter was covered under this policy. His beneficiary is listed as his wife, Kathleen Carter.”

“They’re no longer married; they were divorced some time ago.”

“That really doesn’t matter. She is still listed as the beneficiary. I need to know if this was an accident. If it’s an accident, Kathleen Carter will receive $500,000.”

“I’m the investigating officer. I received all of my results of the investigating team today. I have no reason to call this death anything other than an accident. I’ll send you a copy of our departments’ findings. What’s the address? Is there anything else?”

“That’s what I need. Thanks for your prompt response to my call. I’ll send the check as soon as I receive your report”

‘I’ll be damned, sometimes good things happen to good people. I want to tell that sweet young woman in person that her prayers have been answered.’ He dialed the number for Kathleen Carter.

“Mrs. Carter, this is Officer Dale Simmons from the sheriff’s office?”

“Yes?”

“Is this a good time to come by and meet with you for a few minutes, I have some good news for you. How about in 15 minutes?”

“OK, 15 minutes would be fine. I have to leave for the babysitters and then go to work in an hour.”

Simmons knocked on the door and was met by Kathleen Carter, “Please come in and sit down. What’s this about?”

“Your ex-husband had an accidental life policy that listed you as the beneficiary through his job.’

“I knew that he put me down as the beneficiary when we were married, but I assumed that he had taken me off after we were divorced.”

“A representative from the insurance company told me that you were still listed as the only beneficiary.”

“So what does that mean?”

“As soon as the insurance company gets my report of the accidental nature of his death you’ll receive a check for $500,000.”

The silence was deafening followed by a shriek that almost blew out Simmons’ eardrum. Kathleen began screaming and jumping up and down and finally running at Simmons, jumping up and giving him a bear hug. Tears of joy were running down her cheeks “I can’t believe it, last week, I was afraid for the life of me and my baby, and now you’re telling me that I have enough money to take care of myself. Don’t tell me that prayers are not answered! Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!”

“Please let me caution you about the money. You will have all kinds of people wanting your money and others offering to help you invest. Do you have anybody that you trust to advise you on how to wisely handle that much money?”

“My dad is a CPA and a financial advisor. I’m sure that he will help me handle it so that it can help me, and my daughter, get ahead and stay ahead.”

“Sounds like you’re all set then. Here’s my card, if you have any questions or need help, feel free to call me.”

As Simmons got in his truck, he had at warm glow. ‘I love my job when someone like Kathleen Carter has something good happen to them. It kind of makes all the paperwork and other frustrations worthwhile. I’m going to make sure the report of the accident goes off to the insurance company today.’