Death's Door Read online

  “Well, you won that race, Mr. Blaine,” she said, breathing hard.

  “If I would have known you were so out of shape I would’ve requested light duty.”

  “Not as young as I used to be. You see anything yet?”

  “There are two boats heading south on the bay side, probably heading back to Green Bay. Lots more moving in the harbor. Remember, we’re looking for a boat that’s not transiting the area.”

  I checked in with Iverson, who was running Shore Road. His other car was parked just off of Shore Road on the road leading into the cemetery. We could hear everyone, but he would communicate with his other car and the ranger station. At 7:10 I called the Coast Guard on the marine radio. The Sturgeon Bay boat was in position in Egg Harbor doing a normal harbor check. They’d move out into the bay in ten minutes and would communicate with the boats from the other two stations. So the only communications I needed to make were with the main boat and Iverson.

  We both had on our shoulder holsters. We weren’t supposed to be part of any apprehension if it came to that, but one never knew. I hardly ever carried my Smith and Wesson revolver, but I held to the rule that if there was a chance I’d be shot at I wanted to be able to shoot back. This seemed like it fit that rule.

  Only two cars had passed the tower by eight o’clock, and at eight there were no boats near the park. A three-quarter moon had just cleared the trees. There was only one boat on the bay side, and it was way out by Chambers Island. It was a possible. I’d keep an eye on it and see if it started to move in our direction. At eight thirty it did, and my adrenalin started to kick in. I pointed out the boat to Rosie and asked her to keep an eye on it while I scanned the waters.

  There were still no boats on the bay side of the park, but the harbor was busy. I looked to the north and found the Coast Guard boat from Washington Island sitting just north of Horseshoe Island. The boat we were watching would not have been able to see them. I barely made them out in the twilight darkened by clouds and drizzle.

  “They’re moving pretty slowly,” Rosie said.

  “They’re not going to do anything to attract attention.” I turned back to the boat. It was tracking right toward the park. I let the binoculars hang around my neck, called the Coast Guard, and gave them a description of the boat. It was light gray and about thirty-five feet long with outboard engines and an enclosed cabin. It was too big to be able to get very close to shore, so it must have a raft onboard that it would launch when it got close. If it wasn’t for the fact that it was coming right at us so we could see the lights, it would be hard to see.

  “Okay, we’re moving north up the shoreline. Let us know when it halves that distance to your location. If by chance you get a look at the stern, get us a name.”

  “Understood.”

  He called the other two Coast Guard boats and asked if they had copied the conversation. They had.

  I called Iverson and filled him in. Three cars had passed his location, and only one had passed the tower. Since we were only concerned with the bay side of the park, cars that passed us heading east weren’t suspect. The other two cars had been followed and Iverson knew where they were. Both had pulled into different parking areas off of Shore Road. We’d know which car it was once the boat picked a spot to land.

  Fifteen minutes later the boat was still making way slowly and wasn’t quite to the halfway point. I could barely make out the boat. The Coast Guard boat to the north hadn’t moved. The winds were light but had shifted out of the south, so the front would be over us within the next few hours. It would be a good night not to be on the water.

  “Do you think they’ll speed up soon, Spencer?” Rosie asked.

  “I would. If this is going to happen, it’ll be soon.”

  It was like they were listening to me, as the boat almost immediately sped up and started throwing a wake. I let the Coast Guard and Iverson know as Rosie kept an eye on them. The boat from Sturgeon Bay replied that they were heading toward my location at a faster speed, as did the boat to my north. Iverson told me to update him on their landing location.

  As I was putting the police radio down, Rosie said in a worried voice, “I’ve lost them, Spencer. They turned off their lights.”

  I brought up my binoculars and said, “Keep scanning where you were last looking. They’ll still be heading in the same direction. You may be able to pick up the wake easier than the boat.”

  She gave me a rough idea of where she had been looking, and I joined the search and found it thirty seconds later. I gave her a direction and she found them also, a few seconds later.

  When they were about a hundred yards offshore they stopped. I told Rosie to keep an eye on them while I looked for the Coast Guard boat. I couldn’t find them and hoped nothing had happened. I checked my map and gave Iverson the location. It was offshore of the northerly spot where one of the cars had parked. He started moving toward that lot.

  As I was picking up the marine radio, the Coast Guard called and asked for an update.

  “He’s stopped about a hundred yards offshore of point four on the map. They have their lights out, and there seems to be no activity aboard.”

  “Okay, they must be getting ready to launch a raft. Let us know when you see something.”

  “Are you nearby?”

  “We’re still around the southern point. We don’t want to scare them off.”

  “How quick can you get here?”

  “Two minutes. We’ll get ‘em.”

  I hoped so but knew there were ten ways anything could go wrong. But with three boats I was pretty sure we had the bases covered. I was also pretty sure we wouldn’t catch them with the evidence… that would go overboard as soon as they saw the Coast Guard boat.

  Ten minutes went by without any activity, and I was getting nervous. My adrenalin was telling me to do something, and there was nothing I could do but wait. I was starting to think they had somehow discovered they were being watched. If the exchange wasn’t made, Iverson would stop the car, but we wouldn’t be able to tie it to the boat.

  Iverson called and asked what was going on.

  “Still sitting in the same spot. I wonder if they know something’s up.”

  “If they did, they’d be leaving. Keep watching.”

  The Coast Guard must have had more patience than Iverson… they didn’t call.

  It was another twelve minutes before a raft finally was lowered into the water, and one man got in and motored toward shore. I let everyone know and asked the Coast Guard if they were heading this way. They said they’d wait until the raft was back onboard the boat.

  We lost sight of the raft as it disappeared beneath the tops of the trees and kept our binoculars trained on the spot where we had lost it. I knew it wouldn’t take long for the handoff, and it was less than a minute before it reappeared.

  “Keep watching, Rosie.” I let everyone know it was heading back to the boat. As I scanned for both Coast Guard boats and didn’t see either one, I started to get nervous.

  “The raft is within fifty yards of the boat, Spencer.”

  I passed that information, pulled up the binoculars, and watched them pull the raft aboard. I scanned and still saw nothing of the Coast Guard boats and told Rosie I was worried.

  “They know what they’re doing, Spencer.”

  All of a sudden, two spots in the water lit up like Christmas trees with blue lights. The Coast Guard boats had been running dark and were less than a half mile away. The boat turned west and took off fast. They hadn’t gone far when we saw someone throw something off of the stern. Less than a minute later they were intercepted by the Sturgeon Bay boat and the second boat was there a minute after that. The boat stopped quickly, but it was too dark to see what was happening.

  I’d tell them later about the object that had been thrown overboard. Rosie had marked the location on the map along with direction and time from their present location. With that information, they’d be able to make an educated guess as to where to s
earch.

  As I was watching the blue lights, I got a frantic call from Iverson.

  “Spencer, the car got away! Both of my cars aren’t moving. He’s headed in your direction. It’s a light brown four-door sedan.”

  I wanted to ask what had happened, but time was critical. The car would be here in less than five minutes. That could wait. Rosie had heard and had already started down the stairs.

  “Rosie, stop!” I yelled. The increasing wind was making it hard to hear. I was putting a quick plan together. “Come back!”

  She came up the two flights and asked what I had planned.

  “I’m guessing he won’t be expecting someone waiting in this direction. He’ll be looking to be chased, and I don’t know if he knows Iverson’s cars aren’t chasing. I want to try and intercept him, and I need to know when he’s coming. You can see some of the road from up here.”

  She got out the binoculars. “How soon?”

  “Less than five minutes. Let me know when you see him.” I started down the stairs.

  “Be careful, Spencer!” she yelled.

  I didn’t respond… she wouldn’t have heard me.

  Chapter 30

  I wanted to let Iverson know what we were doing but needed to wait for Rosie’s call. I figured the best plan was to casually pull out in front of him and act like a tourist not watching the road and hope he stopped. Rosie called two and a half minutes later. Those minutes went very slowly.

  “There’s a car coming,” Spencer. “Pretty fast. Thirty seconds.”

  “Got it.” I paused for a few seconds and then called Iverson. “I’m going to try and stop him.” I put down the radio and watched for lights. Iverson didn’t reply.

  As he pulled around the curve coming toward the parking lot I started to pull out. He obviously wasn’t expecting that, and at the speed he was moving he didn’t have much time to react. I had left no room on the road to get around me. He swerved to miss me and ran off the road and into a tree with the right front of his car, blowing the tire. That car wasn’t going anywhere.

  I pulled onto the shoulder and got out with my gun in one hand and the radio in the other. He got out of his car and also had a gun in his hand… but his wasn’t at his side. He raised it in my direction, and I dove and rolled as he fired. It would only have been luck if he had hit me. He turned and ran into the woods.

  “Spencer, are you okay?” Rosie was just crossing the road.

  “Yup. I’m going after him. Let Iverson know what’s going on.”

  “I’m going with you.”

  “No, two targets are worse than one, and I don’t want to worry about you. Stay here. But get up a little ways in the tower in case he comes back this way. Let me know if you see anything. The keys are in the car. Move it back in the lot. I’ve got the radio.”

  I holstered my gun, left a worried Rosie standing by my car, and headed into the woods. The vegetation between trees was pretty thick so at first it was easy to follow his path. I walked slowly, watching the path of broken vegetation and looking ahead. I figured I had several advantages. He probably had no knowledge of the park and was running blindly. And he may not be expecting someone to follow him. It was likely that he thought I was just a bad driver and not someone after him.

  After ten minutes I stopped, crouched down, and called Iverson. I told him where I was.

  “Okay, Spencer. The ranger just picked me up. We’ll head over to east Shore Road. You’re heading toward a marsh. There’s an amphitheater about a half mile south of that, and it’s not far from where we are on Shore Road. My officers will walk over there and keep a lookout.”

  “Tell them not to be too anxious with their guns. One of the people out there is me.”

  “You just told them.”

  “I’ve got on a black jacket and a dark blue ball cap. Our guy has no jacket and is wearing a light colored long sleeved shirt. I’ll let you know if I get to the amphitheater.”

  “Right. I’m keeping my people at the amphitheater unless they sight him. We don’t need more people wandering around in the woods. Be careful.”

  I stood and heard nothing, not even a bird. And then I heard a far-off crack of thunder.

  By my best guess, he was still moving on a fairly straight path toward the center of the park. Rosie and I had gone over the map several times, and I had a fairly good picture in my memory. If he kept on this path, he’d come upon the marsh, and I was guessing he’d not want to get wet so would go around it. I assumed he had some sense of direction and wouldn’t head west toward the road where he thought the police were.

  His trail ended at the marsh. I backtracked and found the trail ten yards into the woods. As I came to the eastern side of the marsh his trail straightened and headed south.

  The path was still easy to follow… he wasn’t taking any time to be careful. Five minutes later I could see an opening in the trees as the vegetation gave way to a small meadow. I stood on the edge and looked, seeing nothing. I picked up a rock and threw it across the meadow as far as I could into the woods and heard it crack against a tree. Nothing. I was hoping he would think someone was ahead of him. I threw another about fifty yards to the left. The sound of its landing was followed by a gunshot. That was two.

  I called Rosie again.

  “Rosie, he’s fired two shots. I’d like to know if he has reloads with him. Go look in his car and see if there are any bullets.”

  “Okay, give me a minute.”

  She called back… there was a box of ammunition in the glove compartment. That didn’t guarantee he hadn’t put a handful in his pocket, but it narrowed the odds. After crashing his car he probably hadn’t thought of extra bullets. I clipped the radio on my belt.

  If he thought I was on the same side of the meadow as him, I could probably move safely across the clearing, but I didn’t want to tempt that 5 percent chance that he wasn’t moving and was watching. If he was watching, he’d be able to see me in the moonlight in the clearing.

  I could see the eastern edge of the meadow to my left and started moving around it in the cover of the trees. If he was as careless as he had been so far, I’d be able to pick up his trail on the south side of the meadow. An owl hooted somewhere ahead of me, and I thought of Sarah. Maybe she was watching over me. Maybe she’d lead me to the man. Maybe not.

  I pushed a branch out of my way and got a face full of water. Five minutes later I was on the south side of the meadow and about where I figured I had thrown the rock. Not many steps later I picked up his trail. The undergrowth was wet and hadn’t sprung back where he had walked. I stopped to listen and still heard nothing except continuing thunder claps that were getting louder and closer together. I wasn’t very concerned about the lightning, but at some point I was going to get a lot wetter than I already was if the storm hit. The advantage I had was I knew where he had been, and he didn’t even know I was there... the noise from the rocks could have been an animal.

  I stopped as I thought I saw something ahead move out of the corner of my eye. I watched for a minute and didn’t see anything. It could have been something moving in the wind, which was increasing as I could now hear the wind in the trees. It would be nice to get this over with before the storm hit.

  A few minutes later I lost his trail. I continued straight for another fifty yards and came to a spot where the trees weren’t as thick. In the distance I could see the road. I figured he’d stay away from the road, and I turned to my right and kept walking as quietly as I could. Ten steps later I heard another shot. Something besides me must have spooked him. It’s hard to tell sound direction in a forest, but it was definitely coming from somewhere ahead of me. That was three.

  I heard a very faint “Was that you, Spencer?” from Iverson.

  I stopped and answered. “No, it was our boy. He doesn’t know where I am, so something else must have spooked him… maybe a deer.”

  “Where are you?” asked Iverson.

  “South of a clearing on the south side of th
e marsh.”

  He was silent for ten seconds. “The ranger says you’re about a quarter mile from the amphitheater.”

  “Are you on the road?”

  “Yes, we’re moving north and south along the road where you are.”

  “His trail got close to the road and then moved back into the woods, so for the moment he’s staying away from the road.”

  “Okay.”

  As I walked slowly, I asked him to tell me what the amphitheater looked like. I had a vague memory of it from fifteen years ago, but I wanted to be sure. He put the ranger on who described an open-air theater with a semi-circle of tiered stone seats built into a natural small hill. There was about a three foot drop behind the last row of seats. The whole thing was surrounded by trees. Iverson’s two officers were positioned behind the seats.

  Fifteen minutes later the shrubbery thinned, and I lost the trail, but it didn’t matter as I could see a clearing ahead. I notified Iverson and his officers that we were almost at the amphitheater and then veered to my left so as not to come out in the same spot as the man. I went very slowly and quietly and came to the edge of the clearing. The tiered stone seats were ahead of me on the other side a couple hundred feet away. There was no one in the clearing. As I slowly scanned the tree line on my side I saw the man standing in the trees at the edge, about fifty feet to my right and waited for him to make a move. My plan was to wait until he moved out into the clearing and then confront him, but an anxious officer beat me to it.

  He stepped out from the trees, his gun raised in his right hand. I took out my gun and waited for him to put some space between himself and the trees. When he was out about twenty feet I started to move out of the trees. I was about to yell at him to stop when one of Iverson’s officers jumped out from behind the steps and yelled at him to stop and drop his gun. Before I could respond, he fired and hit her, and she fell. I yelled at him and fired as he turned toward me, hitting him in the hip. He was looking for me and still had his gun raised. I put another bullet into his gun-hand shoulder. He dropped the gun and fell to his knees. As I came up to him he fell over on his left side, writhing in pain. I took his gun and left him there.