Every Picture Tells a Story

By DWayne Hartup

TJ is a good cop, a really good cop. Maybe too good, but he does have a flawed character. His investigative skills are phenomenal and they attract the attention of a serial predator. In an effort to conceal his deeds, in which TJ continues to unwittingly meddle, the predator goes to great lengths, with brilliance of his own, to weave a believable story of complicity by others.
A story with more twists and turns than the 24 hours of Le Mans race, a chess game with dire consequences, brings out the best of a brilliant investigator and a worthy opponent. The ending explodes with a most unlikely conclusion!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Nov 12, 2015
• ISBN: 9781514421055

DWayne Hartup

DWayne Hartup, his wife Val, and three of their children have been missionaries in Central America since 2013. Currently, they are in Chapala, Mexico. DWayne started his first book, “Every Picture Tells a Story”, in 2010. A hiatus for mission work prevented its conclusion until 2015.Dwayne is a retired law enforcement veteran of 37 years and a police chief the last eight years. He was an educator in Arizona and Indiana before retiring to mission work in 2013.As a lover of the outdoors and animals, DWayne’s early passion for reading and writing was inspired by such icons as Jim Kjelgaard and Jack London.

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

TJ cracked a smile that quickly changed to a smirk, then a chuckle, rippling to a choked laugh until he was at a belly-splitting, all-out guffaw.

As a police officer, TJ was expected to maintain a professional demeanor at all times. At all times, unless he was with Danny Boy. Danny was a reserve deputy with the Marquette County Sheriff’s Department and Thaddeus Jackson, aka TJ, was with the Big Bay Police Department located just outside Marquette, home of the Big Bay College Fighting Trojans.

TJ’s laughter was prompted by Danny Boy’s usual practice while riding along with TJ as he normally did on Friday nights. Danny’s targets tonight were unsuspecting students from BCC leaving the movie theater in Big Bay heading back to campus.

Winter nights in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan are unbearably cold and desperately boring for Big Bay officers so a certain amount of improvising was needed and Danny was always willing to provide.

To entertain his partner, Danny had researched the movie show times and knew the movie to be over at 9:30. At 9:15, Danny convinced TJ to drop him off at the theater parking lot so that he could check the vehicles for possible break-ins. One of the few crimes that did occur in Big Bay was vehicle break-ins, usually committed by students against other students stealing books, stereos, or other quick money items.

After Danny’s patrol, he asked TJ to sit in the abandoned gas station a block away to watch the crowd as they exited to make sure no fights broke out and all the girls got to their vehicles safely. Silence continued as Danny fiddled with a uniform button and TJ watched the movie crowd shuffle to their vehicles and go through the Michigan winter routine of scraping frosted windshields with the heater fan on full blast.

Serenity broke into pandemonium as drivers and passengers alike piled out of their vehicles yelling and screaming, wiping their eyes furiously. TJ sprang into action, only to have Danny grab his arm and, with an impish grin, say, Enjoy the show, kid!

What the…?? TJ started to say.

Danny interrupted, Mace in the windshield vents – works every time! Danny chortled.

TJ’s laughter subsided as he looked for a quick getaway. He tried to be serious as he said, You could get me fired with a prank like that.

Get you fired? Danny retorted, You were bored to death and I just tried to lighten things up. Besides, no one got hurt. Their drinking plans will be put on hold until a wardrobe change is completed and by then your shift will be over and the next guy will get stuck with all the drunks.

TJ contemplated Danny’s remark and agreed with his assessment but again offered a weaker, Yeah, but I could still get fired if the chief finds out.

You have a new chief, Danny said. He’s too busy being a suck up to the mayor and Chamber of Commerce to be concerned about an alleged prank committed by such a stellar officer as yourself! Danny announced.

Danny was 15 years TJ’s senior but acted like a juvenile. He was extremely entertaining and liked by everyone who met him.

Tell the old tightass I did it. You tried to stop me, but you couldn’t stop laughing long enough to put the cuffs on! Danny’s analytical process continued.

TJ realized that the chief would not find out and admonished Danny with a final, Okay, but I don’t need an Internal Affairs investigation with a new chief.

The police radio barely squawked, for nearly an hour, even though it was Friday night. It was bitterly cold and apparently the Mace Incident slowed down the usual Friday night revelers.

Danny broke the silence, Let’s put this deathtrap you call a police car to bed and do some serious drinking.

TJ bristled at the comparison of the sheriff’s department’s equipment and Big Bay, but put it aside in favor of going out to the usual watering hole in search of female companionship.

TJ dropped Danny off at his $75,000 Cadillac Escalade SUV parked next to TJ’s equally impressive Jeep 4X4 that was accessorized to befit a young, eligible cop.

TJ shouted, See you at The Stein. I got to turn in my gear and reports.

Thankfully, TJ heard nothing about the movie incident as he checked off at the station. Danny was just pulling away from the parking lot and flashed TJ a huge smile as he sped away.

TJ carefully sniffed at his windshield vent before starting his Jeep. Relieved there was no mace, he pondered Danny’s smile and wrote it off to just another part of the mental chess game his partner played with everyone.

The Stein was still busy by the time he arrived and, as usual, filled with more girls than guys. BCC was a business/arts college and attracted considerably more females than males. Most males in these parts worked on the boats as fishermen or worked for the paper company harvesting trees.

Danny hailed TJ from across the bar. Only Danny could convince four beautiful women to sit with him and only him, while other guys cruised the bar hoping to pick up strays, thought TJ. Danny and TJ greeted each other with a high handshake and shoulder bump as if they hadn’t seen each other in weeks.

Bud Light? Danny asked, as he handed the beer to TJ anyway, making a wide sweep with his arms. This is Tina, Val, Sandy, and Grace. Take your pick. Danny grinned and the girls giggled. Everyone shuffled as TJ found a seat between Sandy and Tina. It was a tough choice; each was equally young and beautiful.

Everyone was well oiled with alcohol or soon would be, as Danny refused to allow an empty glass as long as he was vertical.

The bar was loud but TJ graciously chatted with both Tina and Sandy. Tina was gorgeous! Both big and small in all the right places. No doubt, it was a reflection of her soon-to-be profession as a gym teacher. She was an all-state swimmer attending BCC on scholarship. As a sophomore education major, Tina was clearly not 21 years old. As an off-duty cop, it was TJ’s responsibility to only ensure she was 18 not 21.

Danny interrupted from across the table, "With lungs like that, she has to be a swimmer!" Danny winked and Tina blushed. Tina grabbed TJ’s arm, pulled herself closer and made sure TJ was aware of her lungs.

Sandy was equally gorgeous but definitely more subdued. She was at least 21 and probably closer to his 25 years. Her light brown hair was soft as it brushed his cheek. Everyone at the table was in close proximity and yet she had a fragrance that caused TJ to notice, even in a crowded bar filled with countless odors.

Tina talked about drinking, not sleeping (except in class), boring professors, and mostly about herself.

Sandy seemed more comfortable talking about her friends at the table and showed considerable interest in TJ.

Danny, Val, and Grace were playing some kind of drinking game and continuously prompted TJ, Sandy, and Tina to play along. Tina intended to play as long as the drinks kept coming, but TJ and Sandy were locked into the type of questions that spelled out a relationship longer than four hours.

Danny entertained everyone with bar tricks that progressed to exhibiting his superiority in darts and then shuffleboard. Danny seemed to win at everything he attempted. The girls loved him and most guys too because he always showed attention to everyone he met.

The drinking continued and everyone in the bar started to make plans as to with whom they intended to spend a long Michigan winter night. This night nearly ended early. Danny was engaged with two college jocks in an alternate shot game of pool. Danny and Grace were partners against the hockey players who were considerably ahead, due to Grace’s inability to play pool or really even focus at this point on anything other than Danny. Danny downed his beer and promptly ran the table settling the eight ball in the corner pocket on a double bank shot from behind his back. His toothy grin and wink impressed Grace but infuriated the opponents as they realized they had been hustled.

Danny sincerely apologized and insisted on picking up the drinks for the rest of the night. The larger of the two gave a rueful smile and said, Sure! Danny was quite positive the hockey players would lose more than they won as long as the beer kept flowing and Grace kept bending over the pool table.

Everyone settled back to drinking, realizing the bar would soon close. Tina suggested to TJ as she rubbed his leg under the table, I’m too drunk to drive home. Could you give me a ride? Tina threw in the comment that her roommates Val and Grace were going to breakfast with Danny and most likely not coming home that night.

That was the last conversation TJ would have with me-first Tina at The Stein.

TJ asked Sandy, How did you meet Danny?

Sandy paused, I don’t know. He just showed up and started buying drinks. I didn’t know him before tonight. Sandy offered to TJ that she generally didn’t go out drinking but that her girlfriends insisted that she let her hair down a bit. Sandy quickly changed the subject, What does TJ stand for? I heard Danny call you Thaddeus.

TJ cringed. Only Danny, his parents, and official documents knew him as Thaddeus. He liked Sandy, so he allowed her the little-known secret that Danny had tricked out of him months before. TJ was born Thaddeus Lowe Jackson. He was named after his great-grandfather’s uncle who had been an aeronaut, or hot air balloon pilot, during the Civil War. TJ’s mom and dad were married in a hot air balloon over Niagara Falls. TJ’s dad became a hot air balloon enthusiast and therefore thought it appropriate that his son’s name have some sort of atmospheric connection.

TJ further explained about his great-great uncle’s fortunes in the railroad business in California, that he, at one time, had owned a 24,000 square foot mansion. TJ’s potential fortunes disappeared as Thaddeus Lowe died penniless. Sandy had hung on each of TJ’s words and seemed genuinely interested in his family’s past.

As last call was announced, Sandy leaned against TJ and asked, Could you please give me a ride home, and Tina as well?

Tina was strapped to the hockey players who had decided to join in on the drinking games. They anxiously waited to be Tina’s willing victims, but Sandy decided to step in.

Come on, Tina, time to go home. Sandy looped Tina’s arm and lifted her to her feet.

The ride to Tina’s was comical but sad as she tried desperately to talk TJ into taking Sandy home first so that he and she could get to know each other better. Realizing they had probably saved Tina from a morning of embarrassment, TJ and Sandy tucked her safely in bed and headed for Sandy’s house.

The ride to Sandy’s was much quieter without Tina. Sandy finally said, as they reached the driveway, I can’t invite you in. I have a seven-year-old daughter asleep on the couch. She leaned over and gave him a kiss and smiled, saying, But you could give my babysitter a ride home, please.

After dropping off the babysitter, TJ assessed the outcome of his evening. He even weighed the consequences of taking Tina home first rather than Sandy.

His thoughts were interrupted by a text from Danny. Don’t go home! Come save me! I have more than I can handle, NOT! Seriously, come join us. It will be fun…

It was then that TJ realized the impression Sandy had made on him. So he turned left on Main Street to head home rather than right to a night of sheer debauchery, avoiding yet another secret Danny could hold over him.

CHAPTER 2

Winters in the UP are absolutely brutal, and this year was no different. TJ longed for his boyhood years on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Winters there had been spent laying on the beach in full sun with puffy clouds and temps in the 70s. The UV rays from the sun soaked clear to the bone. It was almost like you were cooked from the inside out. Life was slow in Mississippi. Everyone talked slowly, walked slowly, and even ate slowly, with the daily routine usually rehashed at dinnertime over sweet iced tea and black-eyed peas.

Winters in upper Michigan were just the opposite. Life was fast. People talked fast, walked fast, and even ate fast. You had to, or freeze to death! It was cold – bone chilling cold, and dark, overcast for weeks on end. The wind from Lake Superior made it seem 10° colder, no matter what the temperature. The routine was to get from one place to another as quickly as possible. Tanning beds were in high demand, particularly by the college students who wanted nothing more than to warm their bones.

TJ literally slid up his drive. Many of the streets in Big Bay were dirt or gravel. His drive was dirt. Actually frozen right now, but his four-wheel-drive Jeep handled it well. TJ was thankful that the temperature was below freezing; there was no need to clean mud out of his boot cleats tonight.

Once inside his apartment, the routine was always the same. Turn on the hall light, do the ‘cop thing’ by scanning for intruders, then adjust the thermostat, grab a beer from the fridge, tune in ESPN, and check for phone messages. TJ pushed the play button and was mildly shocked but smiled as Sandy’s sweet voice said, Call me back please 271 – 4411. At least she didn’t say anything corny like adios, ciao, or arrivederci like Tina probably would have done.

The phone call started innocently enough but heated up after about 20 minutes, making TJ wish Sandy’s daughter had been at grandma’s house tonight. He was sure Sandy would have invited him in based on his current sweaty conversation. The call ended with an invitation to a late lunch at her place on Saturday, offered with a nervous giggle. Lexa, her daughter, would be at grandma’s house – insert smile here! Goodbyes were said and TJ drifted off to sleep on the couch during another lackluster replay of the Knicks getting killed by Kobe Bryant and the Lakers.

You asked me about Danny, she said. "How did you meet Danny?"

TJ realized Danny just seemed to have always been around. TJ recalled meeting Danny the first day he had walked into the PD, eight months ago. TJ was fresh out of the police academy and had just arrived at the police station for his rookie orientation. The police chief that had hired him had had a heart attack and died while TJ was in the academy. Having never met the new chief John Harris, TJ was excited to see the well-muscled, military-tilted gentleman that strode out of the chief’s office. TJ intercepted him, stuck out his hand and greeted his new chief with a firm handshake and welcome aboard salutation. He took the opportunity to introduce himself and inform Chief Harris that he had not had the opportunity to meet him yet, what a pleasure it was, and would he please direct him to the squad room, as this was his first day on the job.

Sure! was the quick response. Down this hall, last room on the right. Just walk in, they are expecting you. As the clearly professional cop flashed an infectious toothy smile, it caused TJ to smile back. Then the kindly cop turned stern and said, Adjust that necktie, son, then spun and walked away. TJ adjusted his tie and sprinted down the hall. The conversation had made him close to being late on his first day.

TJ pushed through the door and banged the seat of one of six uniformed officers from various agencies sitting at the meeting table.

A person TJ had never met spoke first, I am Chief Harris. I don’t believe we have met. May I help you?

TJ realized he had been tricked and desperately wanted to disappear but was now truly late and still needed to find the squad room. The squad room, sir. He managed to mutter, It’s my first day.

"Go back to the front desk. Double doors to the right, you can’t miss it. A few chuckles erupted. Seriously, you can’t miss it. It says, S-Q-U-A-D R-O-O-M above the door."

TJ approached this entry a bit more cautiously, even though the door was clearly marked. Inside sat five police officers: a sergeant, two patrol officers, a guy that looked suspiciously like a detective and the Chief Harris counterfeit. All laughed uproariously at TJ’s misfortune, particularly Danny, as he would become known as to TJ. Adjust that necktie, son! He sputtered, trying to say it with a straight face. I owe you a beer. But trying to suck up to the boss like that made you an easy target.

The phone woke TJ from a dead sleep and the winter’s overcast made it still look dark outside. Confused and still slightly drunk, TJ muttered a weak, Hello?

Good morning, Sunshine. Or should I say, good afternoon. I have eggs and sausage but no cook! Are you still interested? breathed Sandy.

Yeah, give me an hour. TJ tried to clear his head.

Make it 30 minutes and I won’t bother getting dressed, purred Sandy.

TJ banged his knee on the coffee table, shaved, showered and had unmatched socks hidden inside his boots but managed to have his Jeep started in 20 minutes, determined to be across town by the naked deadline.

TJ ran several red lights and brushed his teeth on the fly. He slid past her house on the ice but managed to ring the doorbell within 34 minutes. Not bad, he thought to himself. Certainly good enough to see a grown woman naked.

While Sandy was not technically naked, she did answer the door in a football jersey nightshirt with no shoes and clearly no bra! Her hair was slightly mussed but she smelled fantastic as TJ leaned in and kissed her freshly glossed lips. You’re late, giggled Sandy. I was cold so I put on a shirt four minutes ago. TJ cursed under his breath, wishing he had never stopped to shave.

TJ cooked up the sausage and then scrounged around in the refrigerator to add mushrooms and spinach to the eggs with fresh fruit on the side. The cook managed to impress his hostess by flavoring the coffee with cinnamon spice and scalded milk.

Lunch turned into dinner, dinner led to drinks, and dessert was yet to be decided…

TJ found Sandy so very easy to talk to. She asked lots of questions and then patiently listened. She was very interested in police work.

Danny said the previous chief died. What was up with that? He said it real mysterious-like. Sandy queried.

That’s just Danny, the prank pulling entertainer, answered TJ. "What I do know is that he and Danny were tight. That’s how Danny got to ride with us every weekend. As a reserve deputy for the county, he qualifies to ride with other agencies and got locked in on us, me in particular. It was rumored that Danny and the chief hung out a lot at The Stein. Danny would pick up girls and the bar tab. More than one person said that the chief’s 50-year-old heart succumbed to a 20-year-old body."

I’m sure there was an investigation, yes?

Not really. I guess the chief had some heart problems. People say he smoked like a chimney and drank like a fish, so everyone just figured it caught up with him. His family took the body back to Pennsylvania and that was that.

They kissed for a while longer and dessert was put on hold as Lexa was due back from grandma’s any minute. TJ agreed to meet Sandy and Lexa for pizza the following day after they got out of church.

On the way home Saturday night, TJ received a text from Danny, Call me. TJ keyed in Danny’s number, making sure no police saw him talking on his cell phone while driving.

So, who did you end up with? Rubber legs or the waitress? Danny was always too direct and would insist on a play-by-play recount of the time spent since leaving The Stein.

TJ’s eyes narrowed, How did you know Sandy was a waitress?

Ole Danny Boy knows everything. Actually, I’m surprised. With your propensity for long sex and short relationships, I figured Tina would be your girl, not Goody-Two-Shoes Sandy. I bet you never got past first base with her. TJ refused to take the bait, so Danny continued his interrogation, She has a little girl, you know. What’s her name?

I don’t recall, lied TJ, hoping it would end the interrogation.

Danny rattled on, Hey, let’s hit The Stein again tonight. Val and Grace want an encore. Maybe Tina will show up. TJ was convinced that Danny knew Tina would show up—already invited, no doubt.

No thanks, I gotta sober up. Told Sarge I would pull an extra shift for Smithson Sunday afternoon. TJ figured he would cover his tracks, in case Danny came looking for him on Sunday to brag about his double – double with Val and Grace, as if he were in the NBA.

CHAPTER 3

This winter would be a bit more bearable because of Sandy’s charm. Sundays turned out to be very special time. TJ would stop over and cook breakfast for Sandy and Lexa, they would go to church – almost always without TJ, and then Sunday afternoon was spent at TJ’s watching NFL football and a replay of Saturday’s Notre Dame game. Danny was guaranteed to interrupt some part of their Sunday routine.

TJ accepted this for several reasons. Nobody turned down Danny because he always brought the beer and enough food for everyone. Besides he entertained Sandy and Lexa with his jokes and glorious stories that made everyone laugh until they were in tears.

Sandy was a huge Miami Dolphins fan and did not like interruptions from anyone, including kisses from TJ or requests from Lexa. All she wanted during the game was a fresh beer and the occasional agreement from all who listened to her slanted comments.

It was Danny’s responsibility to take care of Lexa during the football game, no distractions allowed. Sometimes Lexa and Danny would play games in the kitchen or prepare skits for halftime just to irritate Sandy. They almost always mocked the game by rolling around on the floor faking football and tickling each other. Danny was almost as juvenile as Lexa, so it was a good fit. The adults watched games and the juveniles played games.

One Sunday in