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

a trailer in the driveway. We identified ourselves to the police officer behind the yellow tape and he called a man over.

POLICE OFFICER
Chief this is Sergeant John Ringo and Detective Lunden from the Chicago Police and US Marshal Cahill

CHIEF
Chief Walker Watson, Ottawa Police Department

RINGO
What happened here Chief


CHIEF (LOWERING HIS HEAD)
I interviewed the brother Jean, good kid, quarterback of the high school football team, anyway he said that Rhonda had a cold all week and stayed home from school. Mother Alice and father Robert dropped him off at school around nine, he said that he call his sister during lunch break and she said she was feeling better and asked him to bring home a can of soup. When he got home, she wasn’t in her room, he called out, but got no answer, he noticed the upstairs bathroom door was ajar and when he went he found her nude in the bathtub, she looked like she had been stabbed, a pair of her panty hose were around her neck and a large X was cut in her chest and smeared on the bathroom mirror. We received a teletype from Joliet advising us of the murder and rape, there, think it‘s the same guy

RINGO
I know it is

We arrived back in Chicago around six and met with Captain Woods.

RINGO
Seems like Esau has changed his MO, first white victim

CAHILL
First Joliet, now Ottawa all west on Interstate 80 heading towards Iowa, what the hell is he planning to rape and kill all the way to California?


WOODS
We received the info on Ada vehicle and I’ve put out an all points on it

CAHILL
I’ll contact the Marshal Service and have the FBI send out an alert

RINGO
Better make it all the way to California

23 June 2012
Esau drove west on I-80 drinking beer and popping pills. It was starting to get dark and he was hungry, he exited the interstate at Peru and parked in the Shake and Steak lot. He ordered a hamburger, small vanilla shake and a small chili and took a seat. The young fresh face waitress smiled as she worked the room wearing short red and white skirts and blouse. The waitress waiting on him was very attractive; blond hair pinned in a bun, big tits and a nice ass, her name tag read “Peg.” Peg was friendly and smiled as she served her customers, when she delivered his food he gave her a big smile, she returned the smile and placed the food on the table. Esau felt the rising, “Boy I sure would like some of that,” he thought to himself, “Maybe I should wait.” Esau ate the meal slowly and checked his watch, “Eleven-thirty, she probably get off at twelve,” he though. At eleven forty-five the waitress, came to his table.

PEG
I’m getting ready to get off; can I get you anything else?

Yes, you can serve me some hot pussy,” he thought, but he said, “No thanks Peg, keep the change” and handed her a twenty dollar bill. The waitress gave him a big smile and said, “Thank you.”Esau decided he would wait until she left, then he would get her. Peg came out from behind the counter smiled at him again and walked over to a big young man, they got into a new Ford pickup, kissed and drove off. “Shit,” Esau said as he left the restaurant. “Fuck, I’m too tired to fuck anyway, he said to himself as he pulled into the Motel 8 parking lot.

Two weeks later, fearing that Esau Sneed was on a country wide crime wave, the FBI and Homeland Security formed a task force. The task force was housed in an abandon warehouse at 615 West 51st Street and consisted of FBI agents, State Police Detectives and members of my team. Homeland Security with its unlimited budget had provided flat screen monitors, a state- of- the-art communication center and new high tech computers. The Supervising Agent in charge or SAC, Timothy Roth was a typical agent, over six feet, well toned body, short graying hair and rim-rod straight. His apparel was also typical FBI; wing tip shoes, white shirt, dark blue suit and dark tie.
Roth was seated at the head and in a booming voice he said, “We received a teletype from our Iowa office that stated that we believe that Esau Sneed, aka, the X-Man raped and killed three young women, one in Peru, Illinois names Peggy Allison, she worked at the Steak and Shake in Peru, she was fifteen and white, one in Des Moines, Iowa, seventeen and black and the latest in Omaha Nebraska, seventeen, black.
All of the victims were brutally beaten, raped and stabbed and all had the trademark X carved into their chest. We don’t know where he’s headed, but it appears that he’s traveling West on Interstate 80. Hopefully, a state trooper will spot the vehicle and arrest him, but until that happens I’ve notified all of our offices to be on the look-out, we‘ll use this office as our command operations station.”
I felt the beating in my chest, bile surged and rumbled in my stomach like a big bowling ball heading for the gutter, my skin felt cold and I shivered, I wanted to go after this monster that had killed three more young innocent women. Me and other members of the task force sat around the office all day, monitoring the FBI VICAP SYSTEM, talking to police departments throughout southwest Illinois until five pm, but nothing happened no word from the state police or police departments and for the time being no more murders.
At six pm Roth came into the room and in a loud voice, said, “I have set up a management group; one group, the intelligence group will collect, process, analyze leads we receive. John Ringo, Evetta Luden and the Special Case members will lead the investigative group and respond to any crime scenes involving the X-Man but enough for today, go home and get some rest, see you in the morning.”
We all gathered up our papers and belonging and headed for the door. When we reached the lobby Cahill said, “Let’s go for a drink, there’s a nice little bar just down the street,”
Evetta and I agreed and he led us to the Federal Inn. The Federal Inn was one of those downtown bars that catered to young, baby blooming semi-professional, lawyers, CEO’s and attractive people who wanted to be seen or to net-work. The thirty foot bar was made of solid oak surrounded by high back cushioned bar seats. A large mirror was positioned behind the bar so the customers could check themselves out, a forty-five inch flat screen televisions was mounted from the ceiling. The men wore black power suits and ordered expensive cognacs, the woman wore dark business suits or stylist dresses and sipped white wine, everyone seemed to be carrying Torino Briefcases that probably cost a weeks’ salary.
We sat and in a few minutes Avery Johnson and Adrea Printiss, other members of the task force joined us. The Inn’s piano player started playing one of those bar song that seemed to have no end or beginning and no one seemed to be listening too. After a few drinks, Adrea said to Cahill, “You can play better than that, ask him to let you sit in.”
Cahill blushed and shook his head, without saying another word Adrea got up and walked over to the piano, she said a few words to the piano player him and waived Cahill over, reluctantly he went to the piano. The bar crowd was feeling pretty good and was talking loud. Cahill sat down and started playing, his first number was Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It on,” he followed it with Ray Charles, “Georgia On My Mind,” The crowd got quiet and listened as he played more Motown Hits, when he got up he got a round of applause and someone sent a round of drinks to our table.
“That was great, you should have been a piano player instead of a fed,” I said.
“My mother and father were musicians, I started playing the piano when I was five and graduated from Julliard, in college I played with the college jazz band and we did sets at some of the clubs, but it wasn’t enough action for me, I think that’s why I joined the Marines and the Marshal Service.”
I arrived at home about ten and flopped into my bed and for the first time in a long time I felt relaxed and finally got a good night sleep, maybe it was the drinks or just getting away from the case.

6 July 2012
It had been a couple of weeks since Esau’s last rape and murder in Ottawa and he was getting restless, plus his money was running out, he needed gas and more important he needed his drugs. Most of the small towns he passed through the drug of choice were methamphetamine, not crack and definitely not the prescription drugs. He didn’t care for the side effects of methamphetamine; dizziness, blurred vision and always made him feel tired, he liked the rush he got from crack and the pills, he turned around on I-80 and headed east. The following morning I awoke with a slight headache. It had been a long since I had that much to drink and I was paying for it. I downed a couple of aspirins and two cups of strong coffee and headed for the office. The task force was assembled and Evetta handed me cup of espresso.

EVETTA
Good for the morning after

She was right the bitter, strong coffee chased away the groggy feeling and I felt better as I joined the group. SAC Roth came into the room and read from a teletype, “Just got a teletype from the Kankakee Police Department, mom and pop gas station held up by a little man with a knife, couple tied up and the older woman fondled, but no one hurt, offender filled up his car with gas, took three hundred dollars from register and was driving a black Cadillac Escapade, we only got three numbers of the plates but it matched our guy.

RINGO
I think he’s on his way back to Chicago!

It was after ten when Esau pulled into what was left of the Robert Taylor Housing Projects. Most of the high rises had been demolished and the few remaining was controlled by the Bulls gang, 43rd Street Hustlers he looked around at the hooded figures standing in the shadows but he didn‘t know any of them and he knew they wouldn‘t sell him anything. He drove to 43rd street, parked and entered the dark alley under the CTA elevator and saw Moe a dealer he had done business with before. Moe came out the shadows and approached.

MOE
My man, where you been, long time?

ESAU
Traveling, you holding?

MOE
What you need?

ESAU
Three rocks got any scrips?

MOE
Just some Ativan

ESAU
Okay, give me a dozen

Moe disappeared and in a moment returned with the drugs. Esau gave Moe five twenty dollars bills and left the alley. The following morning Evetta got a call from William “Bull” Jones.

BULL
Mama, I think your little guy is back, just made a buy with one of my guys on 43rd Street

EVETTA
What did he cop?

BULL
Three rocks and some Ativan

EVETTA
How long you take that will last him?

BULL
Two, three