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

the vice squad which required long and irregular hours and the assignment began to put a strain his marriage. Being young his wife Elizabeth didn’t believe him when he would leave home in the middle of the night to catch a dope dealer or prostitute who usually worked at night, she accused him of having a girlfriend and became suspicious of Evetta, they divorced in 1999. Ringo enrolled in the Criminal Justice Program at Chicago State University but dropped out after September 11, 2001 and joined the United States Navy and eventually became a Navy Seal. In 2005 he was discharged from the Navy and returned to the Chicago Police Department, pursued his education and was awarded a PhD in 2007.

EVETTA (PUTTING HER ARM UNDER RINGO’S)
Okadoke, listen you go home and try to get some rest, I’ll pick you up in the morning

Evetta dropped Ringo at his building. Ringo was tired and his leg hurt, he maybe had an hour sleep since they found Deloris, but he had to keep going he had to catch this monster. Ringo took the elevator to his apartment and took off his shoes as pain shot from his leg to his brain. The Navy doctor who treated him told him that later on he would probably develop arthritis. He rubbed some of the ointment on the scar on his leg, laid across the large couch in the living room and closed his eyes as Piper snuggled up beside him. Images of all the killed and raped young women, Reverend Wilson, the man in the church and the police locker keeper flooded his thoughts. Ringo knew that his job was to arrest the X-Man and let a judge and jury decide his fate but he wanted the X-Man dead. He had seen too many cases where homicidal maniac with smart lawyers had gotten off and sentenced to a mental health facility, this was not going to happen with Esau Sneed. The following morning Evetta and Ringo met with Debra and her two saviors at a restaurant on East 55th Street. Evetta told them to order whatever they wanted the Chicago Police Department would pick up the bill. They ordered a big breakfast and they ate like they hadn’t had a good meal in days, Evetta and Ringo only had coffee. After finishing the meal and wiping her mouth with her sleeve Debra related the incident and how she had fought the man off, Claudius and Billy stated their part in the rescue and how strong the little man was.

BILLY
Yep he was a strong little fucker, damn near knocked me down

EVETTA (PLACING A PHOTO OF ESAU ON THE TABLE)
Is this him?

Debra, Claudius and Billy mouths were too full to talk but they nodded their heads. I called Cahill and he took them to headquarters for a formal statement. I returned to my office, lay on the too small couch and dozed off but was awaken by Captain Woods.


WOODS
Think we got another one, young girl in Ottawa found by her brother, Evetta and Cahill waiting in the parking lot

CAHILL
Vic is Rhonda Flemmings, white, sixteen, good student, found by brother Jean, seventeen when he came home from school at three thirty, address 321 Westmort Road,” Cahill read from a folder as Evetta activated the emergency equipment, I checked my watch it was five. We arrived at the scene in forty-five minutes

1 July 2012
Ottawa, Illinois is about ninety miles from Chicago and maybe forty from Joliet. It’s a small, clean little town with friendly people who main entertainment is fishing and boating in the Illinois River. 321 Westmort Road is a small middle-class, integrated public housing development that consisted of row houses, in a cul-de-sac that had three neat, well- maintained houses. Rhonda house sat on an acre lot with a manicured front and rear yard, a 14 foot fishing boat sat on 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