The X-Man by Brian R. Lundin (100 best novels of all time .TXT) 📕

in Foil with Potatoes for myself. After a leisurely two hour dinner where we rubbed legs under the table we left. I tried to entice Monique to my place for another drink, but she refused, she had a lot of cases the next day. I drove her to her vehicle parked in the police lot and drove home, the image of Ada constantly in my thoughts.

15 December 2009
When I entered the building one of the detectives mouthed, “Lieutenant Marvel, want to see you right away.”
Without knocking or waiting for an invitation I walked into Lieutenant David O’Shea’s office and sat on the arm rest of a chair across from his desk The lieutenant didn‘t acknowledge me as he continued writing on a yellow pad on his oversized wooden desk. By designed O’Shea had ordered a high chair that made him look down on anyone sitting, and I knew by sitting on the arm it pissed him off. He put his pen down and looked at me for a second.

O’SHEA
Please sit in the chair sergeant
I ignored the request and continued sitting, he shook his head and his ruddy red face got redder.

O’SHEA (CONT)
You and that partner of yours really fucked things up, letting that prisoner escape

RINGO
We didn’t let him escape, how I don’t know, but Tony Alfonso the lockup keeper was killed, did you read my report?


O’SHEA
Yeah I read it and it is completely unacceptable, you and your partner should have personally taken him to the lockup

RINGO
I don’t recall ever reading that in a General Order

O’SHEA (SLIDING A COMPLAINT REGISTER FORM TO ME)
Fuck General Orders, it’s your fault that a serial rapist and killer escaped and I will be investigation this complaint myself, and if founded I’m going to recommend separation for you and your partner

RINGO (WALKING OUT THE OFFICE)
Do your worst

I sat in the large comfortable chair in Ist Deputy Superintendent Dennis Gult outer office and browsed through the magazines on the table. I knew this was not going to be a pleasant meeting, Lieutenant O’Shea had already got a Complaint Registered Number on me and Evetta alleging that we were responsible for the escape of Esau Sneed and the murder of the lockup keeper, Tony Alfonso. I wasn’t worried about the complaint it was completely unfounded, but that was O’Shea’s way to deflect the heat on the Special Crimes Bureau and himself. After a half-hour wait Captain Patricia Woods came to the door and summoned me into the office.

GULT
Have a seat John; be with you in a minute

I sat next to the captain and a few minutes later Gult he put down a folder and turned to me

GULT(CONT)
What happen John?
RINGO
I interrogated Esau Sneed and told him of the evidence we had against him after he went off on me I had a couple of my detectives take him to the lockup to cool his heels. I planned on interrogating him and hopefully get a confession. When I went to get him that’s when I found the lockup keeper and Esau gone

GULT
How in the hell does that lieutenant deduct it was your fault?

RINGO
Me and the lieu have never gotten alone, why I don’t know, but like he always says, “Shit rolls down hill

GULT (SHAKING HIS HEAD)
Don’t worry about the CR number, I’ll take care of that. I’ve been notified that the US Marshals have a warrant out for Esau and are looking for him and they have assigned Marshal Marcus Cahill as a liaison with the department and I want you and Evetta to work with him. I’m assigning you and your people to my office and you will report directly to me through Captain Woods, she will give you anything you need. Any word on the DNA off the cigarette?

RINGO
It’s Esau Sneed


After escaping from the Special Crimes Bureau Esau Sneed spent the next three years traveling around the country. He got a job as a substitute teacher in Warsaw, Indiana, Fort Wayne Indiana and Louisville, Kentucky, but he soon got tired of those little hick towns and decided he go back to the Midwest. Esau Sneed felt good, he had fucked the shit out of that black bitch Ada, took her Cadillac Escapade and the bitch had over a thousand bucks in her purse. He remembered the old police officer who though he so fuckin’ smart and tried to put him in that dirty, smelly cell, but I got his ass, the dumb motherfucker forget the knife sitting on his desk that he was using to slice his lunchmeat, well no more lunch meat for him.“Well, where should I go, Chicago is a little too hot now, I sure would like to see the face on that mutherfucking, smart ass detective John Ringo with his smug ass,” Esau said aloud. Esau slightly opened the vehicle’s sun-roof and breathed in the warm late night air. He turned on the CD player and BB King Blues guitar filled the interior. He was driving west on Interstate 80 and passed the road sign that read, “Joliet 10 miles.” Esau talking aloud said “Joliet, never been there, might find some country pussy there.” In ten minutes he exited the Interstate and drove through the small city, stopped at a Mc Donald, went in an ordered a Big Mac, he sat at a table and looked around. The restaurant was filled with teen-agers white and black all giggling and acting like teen-agers. He noticed two young black girls in the group; one looked about fifteen and the other a little older. Esau watched and hoped that the two girls would leave their friends and he would follow them and maybe fuck them both, but after getting their food the group of teens, including the black girls piled into a beat-up Ford pickup and drove off.“Shit,” he whispered and walked up to an older black woman sitting at one of the tables and smiled.

ESAU
Hi, I'm new to the city and I’m trying to find a friend, where is the black folks in this town?

WOMAN
Most blacks live on the Southside, I would suggest you try Fairview Projects, someone might know him there

ESAU
How would I get there?

1 June 2012
Early the next morning Esau parked his vehicles three blocks from the Fairview Projects and walked. The Fairview was like the projects in Chicago or anywhere else in the country; worn-down buildings and worn-down people. Esau observed the children playing in the run down playground, a group of boys were playing basketball on a pot-holed basketball court that contained a net-less basketball rim, a group of young girls were jumping around a hopscotch board drawn in red crayon on the dirty concrete ground while others jumped rope. It was early June, but it was one of those rare warm and sunny days, not too hot, and the young children were taken advantage of it. He sat on an iron bench in front of a sixteen storied high rise building and looked up at the old women sitting on the balconies watching their grandchildren through the wire mess that encased the balcony. An older group of boys, wearing red and white Bulls caps were gathered together in front of another high rise waiting for darkness to resume their drug business. He noticed a young girl walk over to a bench and sit down; she had an arm full of books that she carefully spread out on the bench, Esau approached the girl and asked what she was reading.

YOUNG GIRL
I’m having a hard time with my algebra and I don’t understand the formulas

ESAU
Maybe I can help; I was always good at algebra

YOUNG GIRL (MOVING OVER)
My name is Deloris Whitfield, please sit down

ESAU
My name is Robert, let me see the book


Deloris handed him the book and in a few minutes he had solved the twenty questions she was assigned, Deloris was amazed.

DELORIS
How much would you charge to tutor me? I don’t have much money

ESAU
A smile

DELORIS (EXCITED)
When can we start, I’ve got to get a good grade, I‘m planning on going to college next year

ESAU
When do you want to start?

DELORIS
How about tomorrow afternoon, my grandmother goes to work at noon, so the apartment will be quiet

ESAU
I’ll meet you right here tomorrow at 1:00 pm


Deloris jumped off the bench grabbed her book and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “Tomorrow my dear you will learn more than algebra,” Esau said to himself. During the three years since the X-Man escaped the Ist Deputy had quashed the complaint on Ringo and Evetta and Lieutenant O’Shea had been transferred to the Motor Maintenance Unit. There had been no more murders or rapes in the city that could be attributed to the Esau Sneed, but Ringo knew he was still out there, waiting. On Wednesday afternoon I was deeply involved in a chess game with Mike, the organizer of the Harvey, Illinois Library Chess Club. Mike was a club player and had a basic knowledge of the royal game, where I had a United States Chess Federation Master’s Rating.

MIKE
I finally got you Mr. Ringo

RINGO
Really, mate in three

MIKE (PUTTING ON IS GLASSES)
You’re crazy man I’m going to capture your bitch

Mike captured the queen but in three moves, he was mated.

MIKE
Shit, I thought I had you this time


My cell phone ranged.

EVETTA
I just talked with Cahill he said a report just came over VICAP, a young girl raped and murdered in Joliet, X carved in her chest

RINGO
Next time Mike, gotta go

A warm summer rain started to fall as I parked my Dodge Neon in the Police Headquarters at 35th South Wabash, Police Parking Lot. Evetta and Cahill were already in the office reading the teletype from the FBI. Cahill was very light skin, light brown hair cut short, over six feet and a solid two hundred pounds. He told us that he joined the US Marshals five years ago after he got discharged from the Marines and spent most of his time on the Marshal’s Apprehension Unit. Cahill pulled a folder out his brief case

CAHILL
This just came in, A young girl who lived in the Fairview Projects in Joliet was found murdered this morning, she had been raped and stabbed and a X was carved in her chest, sound familiar?

RINGO
Let’s go to Joliet
An hour later at one-thirty in the afternoon we pulled onto the fire-lanes at the Joliet Fairview Public Housing Projects in a predominately black section of the city that had 28 high-rise buildings with 16 stories each, with a total of over 4300 apartments mostly arranged in U-shaped clusters of three, and stretched for two mile, it was a large public housing project but was slowly being demolished. An angry crowd had gathered- a combination of drug dealers and gang bangers stood on the stoop and were held back by a cadre of uniformed Joliet Police officers in riot gear standing at the lobby door of the high rise building.

VOICE IN THE CROWD
All of you racist asshole cops need to get the fuck out our hood,” someone shouted.
“I live in that building, motherfucker.” a young woman screamed at the police blocking the door.

I showed my badge to