Agent Martin
I’m at my kitchen table, waiting for the phone to ring. I don't like the idea of Mephis Tyr back on the street, but he was right. Evidence was fading away, statements were being retracted. All record of people once living had turned to dust. Even parents struggled to remember if they had a child in the first place. If I didn't let Mephis Tyr go, we could still have lunch together in a month. At least this way I'll know where to start looking for him. Then I'll do what I always do and follow the bodies. Maybe another cigarette and another martini will convince me it was worth it for Eleazar.
I won't be there to see Eleazar sentenced tomorrow. I have a job to do. Lazarus wasn't the last bad guy on the street. With the amount of physical evidence at the Anderson crime scene and Eleazar's own free admission of guilt, there was no question a jury wouldn't grant the death penalty. I’m confident they will get it.
Herman Abraxas walked out of his cell like the bars weren't there and hasn't been seen since. He was considered armed and dangerous, and I couldn't be locked in a courtroom while Abraxas walked the streets. That's what I told the director in my letter when he asked why I had not attended a single day of the trial.
My phone rings and I snatch it off the table, turning it on. “Martin,” I say.
“John. Pete Stringer,” Pete says. The first day of the trial, he said, "Call me Pete." For years, Agent Stringer had been one of the most vocal critics of my Eleazar case. He said I was insane and should be fired. Now he's on television telling the world I'm a genius.
“Pete," I say. "Is it done? Is Tyr out?”
Brief silence. “Packing his belongings. He's got to be out the doors in an hour. Cab ride into the sunset. Don't worry about it, we’ll hear from him soon enough.” The trial was simplified by the evidence I'd gathered over years I'd forgotten, as if Eleazar had been planning the entire affair.
I draw in a long breath from my nose. My throat is scratchy and constricted from too many cigarettes. “All right, Pete, thanks for letting me know. I’ll talk to you later.”
"You okay?" Pete asks.
My, "No," is barely audible, even to me. I hang up the phone and go to the liquor cabinet. I drink that martini and another watching baseball until the knock wakes me up.
Herman Abraxas peers in through the peephole in the door. I reach instinctively for my gun, but it’s locked in my desk drawer. I can't do anything more threatening than smile when I pull the door open to the security chain. "I hope you didn't pick this hideout at random," I say weakly. "What an embarrassing coincidence."
“Agent Martin, I can answer some questions you might be asking. Can you please let me in?”
Sticking with the theme of 'worse ideas,' I undo the chain and step out of the way for this wanted criminal to enter my home. I keep one hand back so he can't tell if I'm hiding something. “Mr. Abraxas, you understand I’m going to have to arrest you.”
“You won't be able to hold me, so I'd appreciate if you let me talk before you make the attempt.” He walks past me and sits down on my leather couch. “Eleazar won’t be at his sentencing tomorrow.”
“Yes he will," I say as I sit back in the leather recliner. "Eleazar has every gun in Florida pointed at him. He's not going anywhere.”
“He's escaping as we speak.” He sees me step towards the phone and extends his hand. “I told you, you can't hold me, and you can't hold him. If you call anyone else to the scene, you'll only be getting them killed as well.” Abraxas is pacing beside me, partially out of sight. “It was all too obvious. He was right. He needed to meet someone, so he let you catch him. Busting Mephis Tyr was a bonus.”
“How much time are you going to spend talking before you start shooting?" Abraxas walks behind me, and I picture the muzzle of the gun pressed against my skullcap. I close my eyes and welcome a new path.
When Abraxas speaks, he's not even close to me. “You’ve been tracking him for how long, and you actually think that will be enough?" He sits on the couch and continues talking, but does not look at me once. "How many times has he slipped between your fingers when you thought you had him? Eleazar is a lot bigger than you realize.”
“I think I’ve seen this movie,” I say flatly.
“Just listen,” he snaps. “Do you think one of his people would just sell him out? It doesn’t work like that. They had something in store. Did you ever think this was all to easy? The arrest, the trial, it was too easy. I can’t believe I didn’t realize it earlier. ” He pauses and points to my cell phone. “Here comes the call.”
The phone rings as his sentence finishes. After three rings, I pick it up. “Martin,” I say.
“John,” Pete says. He sounds grave.
“Pete, what’s going on?”
“It’s Eleazar,” he says in a low voice. He pauses for a moment and I hear him swallow hard.”He’s gone, John. He’s gone.”
My, “What?” sounds like a cough.
“He got out of his shackles during transport and killed everyone in the van.” He pauses. “Tore them to pieces. The van flipped over on the sidewalk of a busy city street two blocks from the court-house, and no one saw a thing.” I can feel Pete's tension through the phone line, desperate for some direction he should start looking.
“Eleazar survived?”
“He wasn’t in the van, and the body is nowhere around. They have been searching for the last hour. John, we need you down here right away.”
I nod. “Yeah, Pete, I'll get there soon,” I say, and hang up.
“It’s not going to matter,” Abraxas says. “You will never find him, no matter how many roadblocks they set up, or how many searches they do. He was probably picked up and given a change of clothes as soon as he was out of the van.”
I stand up. “Are you here to kill me or not?" I demand
“How many years have you spent tracking Eleazar?” he asks me.
“Herman Abraxas, I'm placing you under arrest for suspicion of criminal conspiracy?”
“How many years did you put into the chase and capture of Anton Eleazar?"
There is a broom five feet to his left. If he resists in any way, I can reach it before he stands up, unless he's really fast. "Put your hands where I can see them."
"Have your colleagues stopped calling you crazy?"
I answer by crossing the distance between us.
"He let you get him, and you never would have any other way."
I grab Abraxas by the collar and toss him like a stuffed animal to the floor. He bounces and rolls and lands on his back. I grab the broom and pounce on him, stomping on his wrists and pinioning his shoulders with the handle. "You have the right to shut your god-damned mouth.”
"Why wasn't the gun next to the door tonight? I figured you'd shoot me as soon as I sat down."
I relax a moment, and when Abraxas realizes how deep this guts me, I don't have enough energy to continue holding him down. He pushes me aside, and I have all I can do to keep from toppling over. Abraxas stands, smooths out his clothes, and takes back his seat in the chair. "Is that what you do when you're feeling guilty?"
No one else knows this.
"Why do you keep it out of reach?" he asks in a flat voice.
"Because it wasn't worth it," I whisper.
"Now please answer my first question. Tell me how you know Eleazar."
I have to stare at him a few seconds before I can tell he's serious. “A name I found at one of my first crime scenes. A witness mentioned him a few weeks later at a completely different case. He popped up so frequently I thought he was a neighborhood crime boss, then a city-wide, then state-wide, eventually I found him lurking all over the country. I've found International connections like you wouldn't believe. So many coincidences piling up into a monster that had finally convinced me I was out of my head. Then I find him in a hotel room talking to you!" I don't even know how worked up I am until the broom handle snaps in my hands. I take a few quick deep breaths before I get myself calmed enough to talk. "We have DNA links to nearly every crime I ever accused him of committing. I've gone from being the guy in the corner no one spoke about to a national hero, and I let Mephis Tyr walk right out of prison. Eleazar got away. It wasn't worth it." I bite my lip. "I think about shooting myself sometimes."
“He didn’t kidnap that girl,” he tells me. I don’t bother to question. “He killed her, but didn’t kidnap her.”
“Who did?”
“No one,” he answers. “She went to find him.”
“Went to find him?”
He shakes his head. “Agent Martin, if I tell you any more than I’ve already told you, there will be no turning back. Your life will be irrevocably changed.” Abraxas couldn't look more grave. “If you come with me, I can tell you the truth about Eleazar.”
I don't have to think about it.
Go to Chapter 7
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I won't be there to see Eleazar sentenced tomorrow. I have a job to do. Lazarus wasn't the last bad guy on the street. With the amount of physical evidence at the Anderson crime scene and Eleazar's own free admission of guilt, there was no question a jury wouldn't grant the death penalty. I’m confident they will get it.
Herman Abraxas walked out of his cell like the bars weren't there and hasn't been seen since. He was considered armed and dangerous, and I couldn't be locked in a courtroom while Abraxas walked the streets. That's what I told the director in my letter when he asked why I had not attended a single day of the trial.
My phone rings and I snatch it off the table, turning it on. “Martin,” I say.
“John. Pete Stringer,” Pete says. The first day of the trial, he said, "Call me Pete." For years, Agent Stringer had been one of the most vocal critics of my Eleazar case. He said I was insane and should be fired. Now he's on television telling the world I'm a genius.
“Pete," I say. "Is it done? Is Tyr out?”
Brief silence. “Packing his belongings. He's got to be out the doors in an hour. Cab ride into the sunset. Don't worry about it, we’ll hear from him soon enough.” The trial was simplified by the evidence I'd gathered over years I'd forgotten, as if Eleazar had been planning the entire affair.
I draw in a long breath from my nose. My throat is scratchy and constricted from too many cigarettes. “All right, Pete, thanks for letting me know. I’ll talk to you later.”
"You okay?" Pete asks.
My, "No," is barely audible, even to me. I hang up the phone and go to the liquor cabinet. I drink that martini and another watching baseball until the knock wakes me up.
Herman Abraxas peers in through the peephole in the door. I reach instinctively for my gun, but it’s locked in my desk drawer. I can't do anything more threatening than smile when I pull the door open to the security chain. "I hope you didn't pick this hideout at random," I say weakly. "What an embarrassing coincidence."
“Agent Martin, I can answer some questions you might be asking. Can you please let me in?”
Sticking with the theme of 'worse ideas,' I undo the chain and step out of the way for this wanted criminal to enter my home. I keep one hand back so he can't tell if I'm hiding something. “Mr. Abraxas, you understand I’m going to have to arrest you.”
“You won't be able to hold me, so I'd appreciate if you let me talk before you make the attempt.” He walks past me and sits down on my leather couch. “Eleazar won’t be at his sentencing tomorrow.”
“Yes he will," I say as I sit back in the leather recliner. "Eleazar has every gun in Florida pointed at him. He's not going anywhere.”
“He's escaping as we speak.” He sees me step towards the phone and extends his hand. “I told you, you can't hold me, and you can't hold him. If you call anyone else to the scene, you'll only be getting them killed as well.” Abraxas is pacing beside me, partially out of sight. “It was all too obvious. He was right. He needed to meet someone, so he let you catch him. Busting Mephis Tyr was a bonus.”
“How much time are you going to spend talking before you start shooting?" Abraxas walks behind me, and I picture the muzzle of the gun pressed against my skullcap. I close my eyes and welcome a new path.
When Abraxas speaks, he's not even close to me. “You’ve been tracking him for how long, and you actually think that will be enough?" He sits on the couch and continues talking, but does not look at me once. "How many times has he slipped between your fingers when you thought you had him? Eleazar is a lot bigger than you realize.”
“I think I’ve seen this movie,” I say flatly.
“Just listen,” he snaps. “Do you think one of his people would just sell him out? It doesn’t work like that. They had something in store. Did you ever think this was all to easy? The arrest, the trial, it was too easy. I can’t believe I didn’t realize it earlier. ” He pauses and points to my cell phone. “Here comes the call.”
The phone rings as his sentence finishes. After three rings, I pick it up. “Martin,” I say.
“John,” Pete says. He sounds grave.
“Pete, what’s going on?”
“It’s Eleazar,” he says in a low voice. He pauses for a moment and I hear him swallow hard.”He’s gone, John. He’s gone.”
My, “What?” sounds like a cough.
“He got out of his shackles during transport and killed everyone in the van.” He pauses. “Tore them to pieces. The van flipped over on the sidewalk of a busy city street two blocks from the court-house, and no one saw a thing.” I can feel Pete's tension through the phone line, desperate for some direction he should start looking.
“Eleazar survived?”
“He wasn’t in the van, and the body is nowhere around. They have been searching for the last hour. John, we need you down here right away.”
I nod. “Yeah, Pete, I'll get there soon,” I say, and hang up.
“It’s not going to matter,” Abraxas says. “You will never find him, no matter how many roadblocks they set up, or how many searches they do. He was probably picked up and given a change of clothes as soon as he was out of the van.”
I stand up. “Are you here to kill me or not?" I demand
“How many years have you spent tracking Eleazar?” he asks me.
“Herman Abraxas, I'm placing you under arrest for suspicion of criminal conspiracy?”
“How many years did you put into the chase and capture of Anton Eleazar?"
There is a broom five feet to his left. If he resists in any way, I can reach it before he stands up, unless he's really fast. "Put your hands where I can see them."
"Have your colleagues stopped calling you crazy?"
I answer by crossing the distance between us.
"He let you get him, and you never would have any other way."
I grab Abraxas by the collar and toss him like a stuffed animal to the floor. He bounces and rolls and lands on his back. I grab the broom and pounce on him, stomping on his wrists and pinioning his shoulders with the handle. "You have the right to shut your god-damned mouth.”
"Why wasn't the gun next to the door tonight? I figured you'd shoot me as soon as I sat down."
I relax a moment, and when Abraxas realizes how deep this guts me, I don't have enough energy to continue holding him down. He pushes me aside, and I have all I can do to keep from toppling over. Abraxas stands, smooths out his clothes, and takes back his seat in the chair. "Is that what you do when you're feeling guilty?"
No one else knows this.
"Why do you keep it out of reach?" he asks in a flat voice.
"Because it wasn't worth it," I whisper.
"Now please answer my first question. Tell me how you know Eleazar."
I have to stare at him a few seconds before I can tell he's serious. “A name I found at one of my first crime scenes. A witness mentioned him a few weeks later at a completely different case. He popped up so frequently I thought he was a neighborhood crime boss, then a city-wide, then state-wide, eventually I found him lurking all over the country. I've found International connections like you wouldn't believe. So many coincidences piling up into a monster that had finally convinced me I was out of my head. Then I find him in a hotel room talking to you!" I don't even know how worked up I am until the broom handle snaps in my hands. I take a few quick deep breaths before I get myself calmed enough to talk. "We have DNA links to nearly every crime I ever accused him of committing. I've gone from being the guy in the corner no one spoke about to a national hero, and I let Mephis Tyr walk right out of prison. Eleazar got away. It wasn't worth it." I bite my lip. "I think about shooting myself sometimes."
“He didn’t kidnap that girl,” he tells me. I don’t bother to question. “He killed her, but didn’t kidnap her.”
“Who did?”
“No one,” he answers. “She went to find him.”
“Went to find him?”
He shakes his head. “Agent Martin, if I tell you any more than I’ve already told you, there will be no turning back. Your life will be irrevocably changed.” Abraxas couldn't look more grave. “If you come with me, I can tell you the truth about Eleazar.”
I don't have to think about it.
Go to Chapter 7
Print is better. Buy the book here:
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