Free The Wrangler: The only thing standing between the beautiful kidnapped heiress and death was -- The Wrangler. by Pat Powers Page B

in the condo, killing Mr. Carlucci and injuring you severely.
    "We're not sure what the bombing in the trailer was all about," said Culpepper. "Maybe you people just like to blow things up a lot. Our best guess is that it was meant to kill a couple of gang members and Ms. Willock. Her testimony indicates that she was moved from a location after one of the gang got suspicious about the possibility of being bombed. This is undoubtedly what led to all the subsequent killings. There may have been more killings, we just don't know. What we do know is that we have you as the only member of the gang responsible for all this killing and kidnapping and blowing up, and unless we get some answers, we're going to focus much of our attention on you. Which is why we're holding you as a material witness with a strong likelihood of flight until we figure out exactly what we want to charge you with. We'll check your story out very carefully, Mr. Potter, you can believe us, and we'll track down the men you described, if they can be tracked down. In the meantime, you'll be staying here as the guest of MacIntosh County."
    "Will you at LEAST check out the possibility that the Scientologists are somehow involved in this?" asked the Wrangler. "They don't generally go in for violence, but there's a first time for everything, and I may be lucky number one."
    "You think the Scientologists kidnapped Ms. Willock just so they could involve you in the kidnapping?" asked Culpepper. "Sounds rather, well, baroque to me."
    "They're a CULT," said the Wrangler. "They can be very, very baroque."
    "We'll definitely be checking out this aspect of your story," said Culpepper, "and our versions of events as well. You'll be hearing from us."
    Shortly after that, the D.A.s and the sheriff left. They had what they wanted -- new leads they could check out on both the Wrangler and the men he'd "seen."
    Tollner hitched his chair over to the bed.
    "You did a great job," said Tollner, "in fact, you really did yourself some favors by giving them such good descriptions. If they can find one of those other suspects, it will take a lot of the heat off you."
    "Did they have any actual evidence at all on me, other than me being blown up with those gangsters and having a couple of spare IDs?" the Wrangler asked.
    "Not a thing," said Tollner. "No physical evidence connecting you with any location other than the place you were found. It's as if you dropped out of the sky. In fact, I don't think they're going to bring a case against you at all with what they've got right now."
    The Wrangler breathed a sigh of relief. The one thing he'd been sweating was the possibility that he'd left some physical evidence in the new rental car. He'd been lucky -- that and the fact that he'd rubbed down the suitcase handle with a towel to smear any fingerprints after putting it in the new car, out of habit. A very good habit, it turned out. One fingerprint, one hair with root intact, and he'd have been nailed for sure.
    * * * *
    Two weeks later, the Wrangler had visitors. He was still being held as a material witness while the D.A. tried desperately to paste together enough evidence to convince a judge that they had a case against him.
    His non-law-enforcement visitors had been entirely absent, which was very much to the Wrangler's liking. He did not really want to meet with these two particular visitors, but then, why the hell not? It's not like his social calendar was full.
    He was wearing a prison jumpsuit, but not the orange of the regular inmates -- he wore the light blue of those with medical problems, to let the guards know to put him on light duty and watch him for signs of illness, such as clutching his chest and keeling over. The bandages were mostly gone, but the Wrangler was still walking with the aid of a cane. No cuffs or shackles or anything -- it would have been gilding the lily. Plus, as a material witness prisoner, he wasn't technically a criminal.
    The guard led him into a small