The Shadow Box: Paranormal Suspense and Dark Fantasy Thriller Novels

by Travis Luedke

  “No. Max, I was already at the Hagshead Park this morning.”

  “Why? It’s outside the city limits.”

  “Sherriff’s deputies were all the way in Reeds on the other side of the County at a possible arson. The report was for a shot fired at the Hagshead late last night so they called Joplin PD to go.” He gripped his belt and looked down. “I’ve been out there all morning.”

  “Someone was shot?”

  “Max… we should talk about this on the way.”

  Chapter Thirty-One

  James wasn’t supposed to let him in her trailer, but the only deputy on the scene was a friend of his. Even still, they couldn’t stay long.

  “This is a pretty obvious case of suicide.”

  They stood outside the room. Max stared into the empty bedroom over the crime scene tape across the doorway. The body was gone, but the blood remained.

  “Obvious?”

  James sighed. “Except…”

  Max looked over his shoulder.

  “It doesn’t make any sense. I’ve worked a lot of suicides. More suicides than murders, even. People who do it, especially the old ones, they don’t do it like this.”

  “Like what?” Max could barely speak.

  “They don’t just stand in the middle of the room and blow their brains out. They have a plan. They sit in a chair and leave a note. This looked like she just walked into the bedroom and decided at random to put her gun in her mouth.” James looked past him to the room. “She didn’t even lie down on the bed.”

  Max leaned against the doorway and looked at the bloodstains. They were brown now and splattered across the wall and floor around a tape outline on the floor. It seemed so cliché that people even did that.

  “So you think—”

  “I don’t think those kinds of things. I never think those things because I know there isn’t anything I can do about it. Even if I told, which I won’t, no one would believe it.”

  Max took a shallow breath. The air smelled like copper and feces. “I believe it,” Max’s voice was small.

  “Except you. There isn’t anything we can do about it.”

  “There isn’t anything you can do about it.”

  “Razor, no.” He followed Max down the hall and stopped him in the living room. “There is no way you will ever prove this was a murder. It’s impossible to prove. I don’t even know for sure, it’s just a hunch.”

  Max narrowed his eyes at him.

  “It’s just a hunch. Who knows… maybe she just decided to do it. It’s possible—”

  “If you even thought that for a second, you wouldn’t have brought me here.” Max crossed his arms and stepped close to James. He spoke in hushed tone, “Why would you bring me here? Why would you show me this?”

  James gave him a confused look, and then sighed.

  “Yeah, because you know I will do something… something you can’t do. Or won’t.”

  “God dammit, Max!” he almost knocked him over with his voice.

  “That’s it,” Max said with a nod. “Get mad at me about it. Convince yourself it isn’t what you want. You really do.”

  James put one hand on his hip and rubbed his face with the other. After a brief silence, he shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. After…”

  Max gave him a sharp look and put his finger to his lips. The vamps might be able to hear them, even through a closed door and across the way. James nodded.

  When they left, Max saw Boone sitting on the picnic table in his front lawn. He had a long, shiny knife out and was picking his fingernails with the tip. Three others were outside with him, Earl (the only one with hair), Ollie (the fat one) and one he didn’t recognize. Unless it was one of the vampires, Max figured that would be Maulky. He didn’t look old enough to be Luc, and there was no way they’d let the one called Grendel anywhere near the light of day.

  Boone made eye contact with Max over the rim of his dark glasses. His beady black eyes stood out on his pale face like buttons on a white jacket. Something about the way he sat enraged Max, so casual and lax, like he hadn’t a care in the world. Max’s skin must have turned bright red because James noticed the change almost immediately.

  “Don’t—!”

  “The old bat finally kick it?” Boone shouted with a wave.

  That was it. Max stomped off the porch and stormed across the muddy driveway.

  “Shit! Deputy!” James called out, but Max got to the gate too fast. The dogs started barking and the four Aryans walked up to the fence to meet him. Max didn’t enter—he couldn’t if he wanted to. They had a lock on the gate. He might have been able to climb over, but the skinheads would beat him to death if he tried that.

  Max held up his hand to the approaching deputy. James was almost as close, but got stopped by a call on his walkie. When the young deputy got closer, Boone turned his head and lowered his shades. The deputy stopped in his tacks.

  “That’s close enough, Barney.” He gestured with his long, ring-covered fingers. “Why don’t you give my friend and me a little privacy?” The deputy backed away. Max was impressed. He was at least five yards away. Even though the charm wasn’t directed at him, Max felt it in the vampire’s words.

  The three smelly Aryans crossed their arms and formed a wall behind Boone. It was a warmer day, so they all had on short sleeves. Their arms were covered with crude tattoos, many of them likely done in jail. Max knew at least two of them had done hard time. Boone didn’t have so many tattoos. As a vampire, any tattoos he got as a human would be permanent, but he’d be unable to get more after that unless they were arcane. “I know what you did,” Max said, almost a whisper. He looked into Boone’s eyes just to show how little power the vampire had over him. “I know what you are, and I know what you did.”

  “I know what you are, too.” Boone pushed his glasses up and smiled. Like all vampires, he had perfect teeth.

  “What’s that?”

  “You’re a windmill chaser.” He chuckled. The others chuckled too, though Max doubted they got it. “Cervantes?”

  “I know who you’re talking about. You can be subtle with me. I’m sharper than your usual company.” Max gave the three human Aryans a quick look. “I’ve actually read a few books, unlike these degenerates.”

  “Hey, faggot!” That was Maulky. He was the smallest of the group, so he had the most to prove. “I’ll cut your balls off right here!”

  James said his name. Max looked over his shoulder for a second before putting his eyes back on the group. Maulky fingered the handle of a buck knife on his belt. James stayed just past where the deputy had stopped. He had his hand on his gun. The holster was unsnapped, but he hadn’t drawn.

  “Why don’t you back up to me, please?”

  “Don’t come any closer, James.” Max held up his hand.

  “I’m not planning on it,” he replied. “I can hit any of them from here, easy.”

  Of that, Max had no doubt.

  “You’ve got it wrong.” Max put his hands on the gate and leaned over enough to be in Boone’s face. “The monsters Don Quixote chased weren’t real. Mine are.”

  Boone laughed in Max’s face. His breath smelled like copper. “You don’t know what you’re dealing with, Razor.” How he knew Max’s much-chagrined moniker was fairly obvious, he’d overheard James say it in the trailer. He wanted Max to know he knew what they’d talked about. That meant he was aware Max knew he’d killed Abbie. He gave Max another grin and a tilt of the head.

  “I know what I’m dealing with here,” he nodded. He spoke in a whisper, “I know you’re Daniel Tucker Boone from Kentucky.” Max couldn’t judge his reaction under those sunglasses, but he stopped smiling quite as big. “I know you fought at the Battle of San Jacinto under Sam Houston. And that was all before you became a vampire.” Donner and Peirce had come through on their half of the deal, providing Max with as much information as they had about Boone and his vampire minions.

  “You’ve done some homework. I’m impressed.
” Boone flashed his fangs. The blue veins under his skin seemed to darken. “That was a big old fight!”

  “You mean slaughter. You ambushed a bunch of sleeping Mexicans—”

  “Sweet Emily Morgan. Houston knew she was a vampire. He made a deal with her to get Santa Anna not to post guards around the camp during their siesta.” Boone chuckled. “Pretty big mistake for a seasoned general like him, eh?”

  “The yellow rose of Texas was a vampire? She wasn’t even a real person!”

  He tilted his head to the other side. “You’re a clever one, Razor. She and her girls got to feed on the wounded Mexicans, and they healed the hurt Texians.” He pushed up his shades with a skull-ringed finger. “You know we can do that, don’t you?”

  Max knew. It bothered him that Boone knew he knew. Boone licked his lips and shook his head. He couldn’t influence Max’s emotions, but he could still sense them. Even if he couldn’t, Max’s skin felt puffy and raw.

  “You’re full of shit, Boone—”

  “How do you think we managed to fight the Mexican cavalry and only lose nine soldiers, eh?”

  Max narrowed his eyes. “You were one of the wounded?”

  “I turned out to be worthy, and the rest is, well… literally, history.” He straightened his neck. “Tell me how you got that nickname.”

  “I’m good at shaving.”

  Boone broke out into laughter. The other three joined him. Max grinned and ignored the pain in his stitches. Boone grabbed the metal pipe fence and leaned close to him.

  “I know you tried to kill yourself when you were a teen.”

  Max felt a tiny sting run through his body. His skin was already red with rage, but the autonomic widening of his eyes must have tipped Boone off that he’d gotten to him.

  “You cut crosses under your arms with a straight razor in the bathtub.” Boone’s eyes widened under his shades, Max only knew because it made his whole face move when he did it. “I think I just got that. Hey, you must hate being called that! I just figured maybe you had a coke habit or something.”

  “I work for the government,” Max explained. “I can’t afford cocaine. I can barely afford palatable liquor.”

  “Yeah, well… I don’t know what kind of a nightmare you had growing up that made you want to do that. I don’t know if your dad hit you… or touched you. I don’t know, and I don’t really give a shit. But I do know what kind of nightmare you’re going to be in if you don’t back the hell off.”

  Boone lowered the glasses again and bored into Max’s brain with his eyes. His influence was strong enough to give Max a headache pushing it out.

  “That’s a neat trick. You can resist us. Most can’t. You know how old I am, you should know how good I am at it. So hey, you get my respect for that. But that isn’t going to stop me from killing you.”

  “I wouldn’t expect it to—”

  “And it ain’t going to stop me from killing your pretty little girlfriend.”

  Max felt frozen.

  “I mean, killing her after we rape her for so, so long. Oh… my…” He shook his head as the others chuckled. “We’ll pump so much Aryan cum into that little bitch’s holes, she’ll be sneezing sperm for months! Assuming we let her live that long.”

  Max wanted to step away from the fence now, but he couldn’t. It wasn’t Boone’s charm keeping him there. It was all Max could do not to reach over the fence for him. Fortunately, his brain kept him in check.

  “Maybe we make her one of ours?” He nodded. “Yeah, make her like us… if she’s worthy.”

  “Max!” James’ voice was insistent. Max concentrated on returning feeling to his legs. It was like controlling the water flow through a damn. He needed to get away from here, or he’d do something he’d regret. He’d do exactly what Boone wanted.

  “You can’t do anything, Razor,” Boone called to him with another white grin. “Nothing at all. Walk away.” He leaned in so their foreheads almost touched. “Just. Walk. Away.”

  “We’ll see.” He backed away from the fence, keeping his eyes on the skinheads the whole time. “We’ll see.”

  He turned around once he was close to James. The vampire and his lackeys backed away. Once the deputy was outside his sphere of influence, he snapped back and moved back to his car.

  “Max, there’s something else.” He put his hand on Max’s shoulder and led him to the squad car. “Something you need to see.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me about it yet?” he asked while fastening his seatbelt. James got in the other door and turned on the car.

  “Because I just found out. We’re on our way there now.” He turned on the lights as they pulled out of the park.

  Max felt the numbing tension in his body relax the further from Boone they went. While the vampire couldn’t control Max’s behavior, he could sure try his damnedest. The effect was discomforting to Max’s body, like trying to swim against a current.

  “It’s that important?” James didn’t answer, but he looked pale. Max didn’t take that as a good sign. “All right, then. Can you tell me on the way?”

  James nodded.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  The only other officer on scene was Unruh. Under better circumstances, Max would have been happy to see him again.

  “I called Corporal Dillinger as soon as I got here,” he explained as they entered the cottage. “He told me this was one of your kids… I haven’t called the ambulance yet. Wanted to find out what the corporal wanted me to do.”

  “You did the right thing, George.” James patted him on the shoulder. Unruh didn’t seem put at ease by that. “Where is she?”

  “She’s in the basement.”

  Their boots clattered on the hardwood floor and echoed off the dirty white walls. They passed the office, where Max saw Mitch and Glenn. The former sat with teary eyes while the latter leaned his heavy body against the wall, staring at the floor with his hands in his pockets.

  Max would deal with them later.

  The stairs to the basement were directly below the stairwell to the second floor. Max followed them down the creaky wooden steps into the musty basement. The concrete floors and walls were water-stained and had patches of mildew. They found Laura standing in a small doorway at the east end. Her hair was a mess, and she was in regular clothes. She looked like she’d been crying for a while.

  Max didn’t feel anything yet. There was only so much one could feel before it turned to ice inside. He welcomed the chill.

  “It’s okay,” James said to Laura with a nod. She sucked in her lips and backed away from the door. Max stepped through to a small room lit by a naked yellow bulb hanging from a wire in the ceiling. The musty smell of basement was overpowered by a familiar smell, one Max had encountered a few minutes ago… only stronger because the source was still here.

  There was so much blood around her that Max couldn’t believe it. The chill inside warmed enough to fill his belly with a rumbling ache. He pushed it down and forced his eyes to take her in.

  “Where did she get the knife?” he asked, almost a whisper.

  “It’s not from here.” Laura shook her head. “She must have snuck it in. Or someone brought it to her.”

  She had it in her hand. It had a rubber grip, like one of those pseudo-survival knives people get at truck stops and trade shows. Max couldn’t tell how long it was because the blade was still buried in her belly, at the end of a long, jagged tear. He guessed it to be at least six inches of cheap stainless steel. It was sharp enough for one job, at least.

  “She would have died very quickly,” Unruh explained. “When I was in Afghanistan, guys who got their guts blown open like that…” He looked down. “They went fast. The blood loss knocks them out. It’s just like going to sleep.”

  “She was always afraid of going to sleep,” Max muttered.

  He felt a tear on his cheek and wiped it away. Before he knew what he was doing, he was on his knees reaching for her face.

  “Max! Max, no!” James
grabbed his shoulder. “You can’t touch her, you know that.”

  Max nodded without looking up. From this angle he saw her face better. Some of the blood had splattered on her chin, but mostly she looked content. It wasn’t quite a smile, but she looked like a burden had been lifted.

  “Did she leave a note?” James asked.

  “No, sir. Not that we’ve found.”

  “Who found her?” Max asked.

  “Mitch, when he came in for the morning shift. She didn’t come down with the others and when they checked her bed, she wasn’t there.” Laura paused.

  Max looked up at her with narrowed eyes. “There’s something else?”

  Laura nodded.

  “Where’s Glenn?”

  “He went outside for a smoke,” Mitch told her. He looked from her to Max and shook his head. “I’m so…so sorry…I just—”

  “Shut up!” Max passed Laura and the two cops for the door.

  Glenn stood under the carport, sucking smoke out of a lit cigarette. He turned to face Max on approach.

  “Hey, don’t get mad at me.” Glenn dropped the cigarette and mashed it out. “I didn’t give her the knife, if she was gonna do it, she was gonna—”

  Max jumped into him with a punch to the face. Waves of pain shot through his wrist, but Glenn took the worst of it. The fat bastard stumbled back with the blow just in time to take another one just under the ribs. He groaned and fell to his knees. Holding his throbbing hand, Max drove his knee into Glenn’s face and sent him to the ground with a bloody nose.

  “What the hell,” he screamed. “What the hell? There’s two cops right there!” He rolled into a ball as Max continued kicking. He didn’t stop until Unruh and James pulled him back. Glenn sobbed and bled as he raised his head.

  “What the hell?”

  “You let the step-dad see her?”

  “What? What are you talking about?”

  “Her step-dad, you stupid sack of fat lard shit head!”

  The first thing Mitch did was call Laura at home. Laura immediately called the police and went to the cottage. That probably wasn’t the right way to handle it, but it was how it happened, and if it had gone any other way Max would have found out much later. When Laura arrived, she did her own little investigation and found out from two kids that Eileen’s stepfather had shown up late last evening.