The Returning: A Most Unusual Crime Drama

By Michael Harris

Sedona is well-known as a very spiritual place. It is also known as a congregation ground for crystal crunchers, self-proclaimed visionaries, and mystics. There are a few true healers here, but they shun the media and the publicity that others come here to seek. Two of them feel a shift in balance one evening and know something bad has come to this healing spot again.
A father-and-son serial killer team was stopped in Sedona on the way north to Canada a few years ago. The two healers, with help from Sam the coydog, were instrumental in putting Willy and George behind bars. One of the killers has escaped and is planning revenge on those who put him away. This story is about what happens when this evil person, with the help of a fellow escapee, comes to Sedona with revenge on his mind.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: May 2, 2014
• ISBN: 9781499011470

Michael Harris

MICHAEL HARRIS is a contributing editor at Western Living and Vancouver magazine. His award-winning writing appears regularly in magazines such as The Walrus and Frieze and has been featured in several books. He lives in Vancouver.

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Copyright © 2014 by Michael Harris.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Rev. date: 04/30/2014

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Table of Contents

Chapter 1

George Leaves this World

Frank

Linda, Carla, and Sam

It’s Time

What Was That?

Chapter 2

Willy Finds Out

Angela

Frank

Willy

Deacon

Willy Loses It

Sam

Ouch

Chapter 3

Freedom for Willy

Exit Willy and Deacon

Discovery

Sam Knows

Angie?

Chapter 4

Angela Davies

Back Home, Then Away

Sam Attacks

Deacon’s Plan

I Dream of Jeannie

Chapter 5

The First Event

Angie Moves

Sam Meets Milo

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Sam Goes to Work

Chapter 8

Sam Starts Again

The Team Is Back Together Again

Chapter 9

Deacon’s Dreams

George and Willy’s Last Stand

Chapter 10

Deacon

Getting Into Action

Chapter 11

Boise

Angie

Chapter 12

It Happened

Chapter 13

Boise

Chapter 14

Arrival

Chapter 15

Something’s Wrong

Tina

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

It’s Finally Over

Closure

About the Author

I would like to thank the following individuals who either helped with this manuscript or were influential in some manner to its origination.

Linda Kay and Carla, who provided inspiration for this manuscript by performing unselfish acts of goodness for those who needed help.

Lisa Hanard, whose unique pictures adorn both the cover and interior.

Sam’s hiking partners Wes, Molly, Vincent, Holly, Zach, Kunda, Simba, and especially Ellie for helping teach Sam how to be a dog.

Angela Abel, whose friendship and hiking companionship were extremely helpful in my development of a strong character with whom both Sam and Milo could identify.

And most importantly, Linda Kay, my wife and Sam’s favorite female human, who added her hard work and personality to this manuscript.

Sam can be reached through the e-mail address shown on his web page:

themiracleofsam.com

[e-mail]

You may also reach him through his Facebook page,

Sam Harris.

This is not a fact-based book. It is fiction in every respect. Where actual names are used, I have intentionally altered them and left out last names. In fact, I have made minor changes in names, incidents, and locations in order to protect all parties involved, so any direct resemblance to specific persons, either living or dead, places, or events is purely coincidental.

To Sam,

who saved my life,

and to

Linda Kay,

who makes life worth living.

S am awoke with a start. He looked to the northeast and whined quietly, not waking anyone. Then anger crawled into him, but it subsided a bit once he reminded himself who won the last time. He looked to the northeast for about an hour and then went back to sleep, but he kept one eye open. Something had just happened.

This is my world. I allow humans to be a part of my world, but they are slow and not too bright, so their presence here must be monitored and controlled. They use the fire sticks with regard neither for everyone’s safety nor for the damage they enact on my surroundings, so I am quick to punish this act.

I know human, canine, lupine, and canidae behavior. All of us have unique traits and characteristics. None of us, except humans, are destructive to our living places. I have just spoken to two of the human males who have been malicious and destructive. They know me now, and I anticipate no more trouble from them. If there is trouble again, they know I’ll be back to correct them, this time with more severity than the last time.

These thoughts passed through Sam’s mind as he tried to sleep. When he put Willy and George in their respective places, he mumbled the words to them. Both understood. He could see it in their terrified eyes as the sheriff pulled the pair away from him and stuffed them into the awaiting motive device.

He remembered the thoughts perfectly. For some intangible reason, he felt that he probably would have to make good on them in the near future, and he was more than capable of handling the issue; that much was for certain. Sam was older and stronger than ever before, and in addition, he had learned more about how to deal with humans who don’t play by the rules.

As for what awoke Sam from his comfortable sleep, Sam now believed that at least one of the killing pair was returning, and if this really happened, Sam would be waiting for him with the appropriate measure of skill, strength, and ferocity. Sam could feel the invisible but nonetheless palpable event as it occurred. Someone had just passed from the earthly realm, and ripples from the event would impact things here in Sedona sooner or later.

This time the sheriff would be unnecessary. Sam would be particularly watchful and vigilant until he knew for sure when and where the meeting would eventually happen. Then, he would make the necessary adjustments to ensure his humans were adequately protected.

As Sam was drifting off to sleep, the phone rang. Linda answered with the words I know.

Carla was on the other line. Let’s find out what we can in the morning. Nothing we can do right now, is there?

Linda agreed. Tomorrow would be another day, though not an ordinary one by anyone’s estimation.

Sam Awaiting Coming Danger

001_a_reigun.JPG

Remembering a Friend

Sadie

November 13, 2013

Sam Leads Sadie to the Light

SamLeadsSadietothe_fmt.jpg

CHAPTER 1

George Leaves this World

S now was falling lightly over Englewood, gently disturbing the random behavior projected by a very small group of lifers in the spacious exercise yard. Most of the inmates ignored the cool frozen water turning the brick building’s aged tan color to a muddy shade of gray. Some of the indigenous residents complained of the cold air and moved closer to the building for some measure of comfort, while others stared upward and asked their higher power to lighten their already-heavy emotional load by making the snow subside.

It was noteworthy that many of the nearly one thousand people who resided in this Federal Correctional Institution FCI fell into the category of minimum-security risks. The reasons varied, but it was very rare for a person who had committed murder several times to wind up here. In George’s case, his health landed him in this very nice facility with inmates who would rather wait out their sentences in relative comfort than cause any trouble. Fights between inmates were not on the agenda, and George liked it that way.

There were seven inmates whose sentences were twenty years or more living in this facility. Three of them were noteworthy people on the outside who took a wrong turn somewhere and wound up here. Four of the remainders in this select group were violent criminals who happened to draw a lucky break due to injuries received when they were caught. George fell into the second category.

George was missing a finger due to an altercation with a crafty canine hybrid named Sam. In addition, due to a bit of mishandling by two Sedona officers, he brought with him to this place a badly damaged left shoulder, making his left arm nearly useless. In this condition, he was definitely not a flight risk. A lucky break this was, so to speak, as life in this facility was significantly better than any medium—or high-security facility in the continental United States.

Shoulder still hurtin’ you? Zeke asked George. Zeke was the only one whom George talked with at any length. Zeke kept George from becoming a part of the food chain in this select group of human carnage.

Yep, it’ll never be right. Them boys really broke me up over in Arizona.

George was extremely bitter about his handling in Sedona. The cops really worked him over, and the feds just let them do it and turned their backs. Guess I shoulda been nicer to their women, George thought to himself, repeating the sentence aloud.

Zeke aligned himself with George’s feelings. He had been sent to jail because a young girl that came on to him changed her mind too far into a romantic interlude, and Zeke went through with his plans. She told her friends, who found Zeke and broke him up pretty bad. He was still in a wheelchair, and it was unlikely he would ever walk again.

Life ain’t been very good to us, but least we wound up here instead of stir over in one of the hard places I’ve heard about. We don’t have nothin’ to do but put in our time, eat, and sleep. Zeke was feeling a bit of pain from his left leg, and it showed on his furrowed brow.

Big John was watching this discourse. He pretty much ran things in this little armpit of the world. His bitch Skinny was in position to hear every word of the conversation and occasionally relayed the captured dialogue to John.

Gonna have to take that one out, Skinny whispered to John, who nodded in agreement. He’s getting stronger with the quiet ones. Something’s going on. Skinny verbalized his thoughts into a whisper in the big man’s ear.

George was indeed becoming a hero in the quiet one’s eyes. The masses looked upon George as an urban hero because of his heroic stand against the authority figures who the quiet ones despised.

Most of the masses in this facility had heard of George’s exploits, properly stretched and pulled into a credible fantasy upon which they placed George and his son. This pedestal that George stood atop challenged Big John’s position here in the correctional facility, and John was having nothing to do with that inappropriate situational change.

Let’s get one of those little pussies to do it, Big John finally spoke. We don’t want a finger pointing our way. The little dude with the pictures of his kids all over the wall will work out. He wants to see them again, so we can use that against him.

I’ll make it so, Skinny said as he went back toward a bench within earshot of George and Zeke.

Frank Mineo was indeed a small person. He looked like a miniature version of a normally proportioned human being. He was barely five feet tall, and fortunately this attribute was not passed on to his siblings. They were perfectly proportioned youngsters, and Frank doted on them.

Frank wound up here because his wife was turning tricks to make ends meet, and one day Frank came home early. When he left a few minutes later, neither of the occupants of the bedroom was recognizable. Within twenty-four hours, Frank was in custody.

The kids were placed with Frank’s parents, the only relatives in the continental United States who were still alive and kicking. They were spared the details under which their mother passed from this earth, and taken out of state to a small coastal city in California to live. Frank promised himself he would one day be reunited with them, though the odds were against this over occurring.

Big John once told Frank he could get him out of this place, in return for a gift from Frank to be determined later. John knew someday he would need to handle someone here; it was inevitable in this large of a facility when you were the boss. With Frank’s diminutive size and shallow remorse curve, he was a great candidate for a hit man. Big John would be calling in the favor very soon, but things had to be set in motion beforehand.

Skinny was listening intently to George’s discourse with Zeke, but nothing of interest was being discussed. He walked the wall between Big John and the pair a few more times and then retired to the bench near Big John. The two resumed their previous discussion.

Nothin’ much going on over there. Let’s work over how we can get the dwarf to do this thing, Skinny said quietly to John.

Got that pretty much figured out. All I need is the right time and place, Big John replied. I’ll have a short talk with Li’l Frank in a couple of days and set him up with the right tool for the job. You can make the right diversion—something that’ll get everyone’s attention and then take care of Frank. We don’t want anything pointing our way after this.

Frank

Pictures covered Frank’s wall, all reminders of how things were before the bad day. He lived virtually in the period set forth by the pictorial remnants of his prior existence. He visualized life outside and longed to hold his family close again, intentionally leaving his prior love interest and mother of his children out of the memories.

As he looked over the history depicted by the photos, Frank thought about what the subjects would look like today. It had been several years. No word came from outside about their existence and current location, so Frank had nothing upon which to build his dreams except his vivid imagination. He longed to have a glimpse into his children’s lives today, and that longing was about to become an integral part of someone else’s plans.

Today was like any other for Frank. He bathed himself in the memories of the life he had before it became necessary to adjust his wife’s attitude. She occasionally invaded his thoughts, but a look at the wall of pictures he brought with him to this place was enough to temporarily erase the horror his wife brought to the table. She was a beauty, and because of this attribute, she was able to complement Frank’s earning capability with some income of her own. Unfortunately for her, that very capability resulted in her untimely death.

Stay out of my head! Frank shouted to no one alive. He was being eaten up by thoughts of the day he dispatched his wife and her most recent client. She didn’t even blink when he caught them together, just shrugged her shoulders and told him off for ruining her afternoon.

I wouldn’t have to be here if you made any real money. I need things and you can’t get them for me, so this is what I do.

Those were her last words before he smashed her skull into fragments. His son’s baseball bat was the weapon of choice. He then brought the bat down over the head of her client and didn’t stop until neither victim was recognizable.

Frank did the right thing and called the police. The house was closed up by local authorities well before the kids came back from school, so they were spared details of the afternoon’s activities. Frank’s parents shuttled Frank’s offspring off to their home a few miles away, and Frank never saw either of his kids again. Within a few months of Frank’s arrest, both his parents and his children became residents of San Diego, a coastal town in California hundreds of miles away.

Frank watched the papers and knew his remaining family had relocated, so he was certain he would never have any visitors. He was correct in this assumption. Because of the violent nature of his activities outside, the few friends he and his wife had were quick to disassociate themselves from Frank. His only current friends were the cohabitants of this prison facility.

One friend in particular gave Frank hope that he might be able to see his family again. This fellow had connections, and for a small favor, he would use those connections to spirit Frank away from this horrible place. Frank lived for the day that event would occur.

Li’l Frank, what’s happening? Skinny quietly asked as he passed Frank’s cell while heading to the yard.

Someone out there waiting for you, he said without waiting for Frank’s reply to the question.

Frank pulled himself from his current reverie.

Big John asking for me? he replied to Skinny.

"Yep. He’s