Chapter 46

Once composed, Bowman motored to the cabin, glanced furtively in all directions, then rushed to the bathroom and showered. He then ran water in the tub and threw in his clothes to soak. He went to the kitchen to brew coffee and noticed a new, more compact, gray monitor on the kitchen table with a note from Yvonne asking him to call her.

He checked the old black monitor for any movement of the vest since that unit had been calibrated. The transmitter was operating, but clearly the vest had not been moved. "Big Ugly" had not taken the bait. Bowman's shoulders sagged. He abruptly flicked the switch.

He knew that he should call Yvonne. But if he did he would have to admit defeat and that was not a conversation he wanted to have just then. He brewed coffee instead. After pouring a mug half full and sweetening it, he carried it to a bedside table, propped the pillows, sat back and sipped his coffee. His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of scrambling claws outside atop a window air conditioner unit six feet away. He turned to the window as a large crow righted itself and wobbled over to stare menacingly at him. He froze as the bird sharply pecked the windowpane. He shuddered and flashed his hand. The crow flew away. Taking a deep breath, he considered that perhaps the bird pecked at its reflection in the window. Unconvinced and uneasy, he left the bed and grabbed the phone to call Yvonne.

When she answered, he detected relief in her voice and said to her: "I found the monitor and your note. Sorry to miss seein' you. I was at the lagoon." "You sound a little down. Isn't your plan working?"

"Yes and no. 'Big Ugly' found me and watched me from hiding. I agitated him a little and threw the vest over on the sandbar this afternoon. So far, he hasn't accepted it." He took a seat and leaned back. "Yvonne, I'm open to any ideas you may have to trick this guy into acceptin' the vest."

"I'll give it some thought, but don't hold your breath cause I don't have a clue."

"Do you think perhaps you might drop by tomorrow and help me to calibrate the new monitor?

"Sure, if we can get it all done in daylight. Come dark, I intend to be long gone."

He chuckled. "Come whenever you like," he said. "It shouldn't take very long."

He returned to the bathtub and jiggled his clothes, drained the water and refilled the tub again. He was about to repeat the process when the telephone rang. It was Yvonne.

"Bowman, have you considered that he may be setting you up?"

"Big Ugly?"

"Sure, sitting in ambush, waiting for you to sneak back and retrieve the vest."

"Yvonne, he's not that smart."

"Just because he can't communicate and isn't socialized doesn't mean that he's stupid."

"Well, I'm willin' to concede that I don't give him enough credit. To be honest, no, that possibility didn't occur to me."

"Well, don't go pick up the vest."

"No, I definitely won't do that. Wait a minute. Let me switch on the monitor." He shifted his attention to the monitor. "No, it hasn't been moved."

"If I'm right, he won't move it before dusk at the earliest. Don't give up yet. I'll see you in the morning."

He wasn't convinced, but his enthusiasm in studying operating instructions for the new monitor returned. It was tedious for him and required concentration. The new monitor was substantially more complex than the old one. When he decided it would neither bite him nor explode, he plugged in the unit and switched it on. He was pleased that Yvonne would be coming tomorrow to calibrate it.

He expected its readings to be substantially different from the previous monitor, but not anything like what he saw. The blips on the new unit were about a quarter mile further north. For comparison, he plugged in the old monitor, as well. Surprisingly, the readings were substantially the same on each monitor, but the positions on the screens were different than before. Puzzled initially, a smile then crossed his face and he popped to his feet.

The location of the vest had changed and was moved! Bowman was ecstatic and watched the monitors until movement stopped.

Using the government chart and previously recorded measurements, he extrapolated the location of the transmission and marked it on the government chart and then transferred the mark to the homemade topographical chart. It was a point in the north central area of the land mass, well back from the shoreline and about a quarter of a mile northeast of the location of Flint's attack. Must be the location of "Big Ugly's" base camp.

He decided to check the monitors each quarter hour until midnight. He didn't expect movement, but he intended to miss nothing. When there was no change throughout the period, he set the alarm clock to ring at three in the morning.

Not normally an early riser, he awoke instantly in response to the alarm and scampered to switch on the monitors. The location of the transmission remained unchanged, no movement. His eyes flicked between the two screens, as he prepared to brew his coffee. At dawn he noticed the first clear indications of movement and felt like dancing a gig. He reacted by slamming his hand on the table forcefully and loudly yelling: "Yes, yes, yes!"

Bowman recorded the time of the first movement and reached for the telephone as the transmission sights drifted toward the northeastern edge of the shoreline.

"Hello," Yvonne answered, sleepily.

"Good mornin', Sport."

"Bowman, I said I was coming out early, but I didn't mean this damn early. Don't you ever sleep?"

"Not this mornin', I don't. Yvonne, we have movement. You were right. The vest was moved late yesterday afternoon and activity began again early this mornin'. I thought you'd be excited."

"Hell, Bowman, I'm still asleep. You want me to come out now?"

"No, but I didn't want you to leave before I had a chance to ask you to make more photocopies of your dad's chart."

"You want the regular ones or the enlarged ones?"

"About five of each."

"What are you up to now?"

"I just want to record his daily movements to understand his movement patterns and to determine how set his routine is."

"You're going to stare at the screen for five days?"

"Maybe, I don't know yet."

"When will you know?"

"I don't know the answer to that question." He looked up at the ceiling.

"Well, don't you think you should contact the sheriff up there and let him know what you're doing?"

"Probably."

"Will you?"

"Not for awhile. I don't want to rush things. You saw what happened the last time an arrest was attempted. I don't want him to get away this time. Besides, Tolliver is so ornery he may order me to shut down the operation. Don't want that."

"What if he hurts someone in the meantime. Are you prepared to deal with that?" Yvonne asked.

"Yes. As long as he stays where he is, the risks are minimal. The public knows generally where he is. Every time I open a newspaper or turn on the news the media is pingin' on the authorities for their inaction and warnin' folks to avoid the swamp. Anyone foolish enough to enter the swamp with him there is takin' his own risks. I'm not goin' to accept their responsibility. Listen, go back to sleep. There's nothin' to do here but ride herd on that monitor."

"Okay, I'll come out around noon," she said. "And Bowman, I'm glad your mood has improved."

"I'm soarin', Yvonne!"

"Yeah, I know. I can tell from the tone of your voice. Congratulations!"