"It's Uncle Todd," she said.
Oh, thank heaven. The first thing to go right today. She flung herself into his strong arms. "I'm so glad you're okay."
"Solid as a rock, I am. You know that," he responded before pushing her back so he could examine her at arm's length. "You look exhausted, though."
2 a.m. was no time for feminine pride but she straightened herself up and tried to smooth her hair down.
"No, don't do that," Todd said, gently. "I like it a little messed up."
Bella snorted. "Well, you got a bargain in me, then. I'm more than a little messed up."
"That wasn't what I meant, and you know it." Todd took her by the hand and they went into the kitchen. "What d'you think's going on?"
She shrugged as she poured coffee into the flask. "I don't know. People dropping dead for no reason."
"There must be a reason, though. Or do you reckon it's a plague like in the Bible. Locusts and all."
"Don't mock me, Todd. For all I know that's exactly what's happening."
He subsided at this and watched her screw the cap onto the flask and take an extra mug from the cabinet.
She turned and embraced him. Todd was an easy man to hug, well built with a face that wouldn't have looked out of place on a Greek sculpture and a body to match. She'd struck paydirt when he'd strolled into the office as the new boy. Only a couple of years younger than her, she'd enjoyed the slight thrill of having a "boy toy." Though what he saw in her was a mystery; she was shorter than average with a mother's middle and a face that could only be described as pretty by the right person in the right light. But Todd was not a complicated man. When she'd asked what it was about her that first caught his attention, his answer was only three letters long and rhymed with gas.
"We're going to get Dad," she said. "Will you come?"
His face broke into a smile. "Of course. I'll drive, you ride shotgun."
She was so glad he was coming that she swallowed her annoyance at the casual misogyny— she was at least as good a driver as him. And he was probably a better shot, having had a lot more experience of weapons than she had. But let him drive.
She'd done her best to answer the questions Jake and Maddie had plied her with in a way that wouldn't freak them out too much, but it soon became apparent, as they turned onto the 146 that she wouldn't be able to shield them from the naked truth of the world outside. In their house, they could pretend that all was normal; out here it was chaos.
"Watch out!" Bella yelled.
The car swerved. "I see it!"
Todd pulled into the side of the road and opened the door.
"Don't get out!"
He leaned back into the car. "That was a woman in the road. I can't leave her in the street."
Bella watched as Todd shut the door and walked back to where the shape lay beside its car on the asphalt. He knelt and rolled the woman onto her back. She could see from here that the BonesWare on her wrist was flashing red. Todd took a look at it, shook his head, then got up from his haunches and dragged the body to the side of the road.
He stood up, then looked at Bella through the back car window, a look of utter horror on his face. He ran back and motioned for Bella to wind down the window. She stabbed the button. "That's far enough," he said when it was open a few inches.
"What are you doing?"
He was standing several feet away from the car and shouting through the gap. "What if it is a disease? I mighta just caught it. I ain't getting back in the car and giving it to you. Leave me out here, I'll walk home."
Maddie began to protest from the back seat, but Bella put out her hand to silence her. "It's not a disease. How can it be? Herb got it—you know Herb, from next door—he got it and he hasn't been out in weeks. The news said it can't be a plague; people are dying too quickly, too close together. Look, get inside, Todd. You don't think I'd let you endanger the kids, do you? We're safer with you."
After a few moments, he relented. "Poor woman," he said. "Just lying there where she fell. Probably crossing the street."
"We need to get to Dad," Bella said, laying her hand on his arm. He was shaking.
He punched the ignition, turned on the radio and tuned to the local news.
"… are going to announce a curfew. In the meantime, residents are instructed to remain in their homes." The announcer's voice betrayed her panic as she read. "Some of the reports we're getting are impossible to believe, but ambulances have been called to a number of police stations to deal with multiple deaths among officers. Some are speculating that Texas is, as of this moment, without any effective law enforcement."
Switching the radio off again, Todd turned to Bella. "We need to get your dad, then I'm gonna have to check on my parents. Good grief, it feels like the world's coming to an end."
The further they traveled, the harder the journey became. A couple of times, they were forced off-road and Bella felt glad they'd come in Todd's 4WD Honda as they slipped their way through the mud, picking a route past abandoned cars. There were more bodies in the road, but Todd didn't stop again. He had only one aim in mind. Get to the care home, then get back as soon as possible.
Bella glanced down at her BonesWare device. Elevated heart rate, high levels of adrenaline. Nothing out of the ordinary given the circumstances. What was killing people? So many people? Would she be next? Or would it be the children? She turned in her seat to see them asleep, leaning in to each other with their heads bobbing to the rhythm of the car. Tears fell again. She felt as though they were being stalked by an invisible assassin and there was no way to know who would be taken next. She could see the display of Maddie's watch as light from the streetlamps outside flashed off its glossy black surface. No readings, no warnings, all perfectly normal.
She'd laughed at her father when he'd stubbornly refused to have his pacemaker upgraded. It was years ago now when the first version of the Bones system was brought to market with its promise of affordable health insurance for all users. Solly had talked her into getting retrofitted, and then, when he'd gotten his fancy new job in New York, they'd qualified for an upgrade, so all four of them now had the latest and greatest in Chinese technology embedded beneath their left shoulder blades and integrated into every vital organ.
Bones had been hailed as a modern marvel, and accounts of people revived from cardiac arrest or having diseases diagnosed before they'd had a chance to spread, had become so common that the media had stopped reporting them. And yet Bones was not saving these people. Whatever was killing them was beyond its power to correct. Modern marvel, maybe. But Bones was no miracle cure. The Grim Reaper had struck back with a vengeance.
"Ah!" Todd let out a cry and the car lurched first one way then the other.
Instinctively, Bella reached out and grabbed the steering wheel. "Todd!"
He fell sideways onto her shoulder, non-responsive. Maddie screamed, and Jake leaped forward to push Todd back into position. "Uncle Todd!"
They swung from side to side as Bella tried to keep them on the road. Todd's foot was pushing down on the gas and the car was shifting up through the gears. "Jake!"
The boy had unclipped his belt and had disappeared behind the seat. Bella looked down and saw his hand appear between Todd's leg and the driver's door.
She looked back at the road. "No!" Yanking back on the steering, the car swerved into the fast lane. With a screeching of metal on metal, they bounced off the side of a stationary truck she'd seen at the last moment, then lurched back to the right. But she'd overcompensated. They were going too fast. The car plunged off the side of the road and they were thrown about as it glanced off a telephone pole and into the scrub. Bella cried out as they headed for a long concrete wall, trying desperately to spin the car when, only yards from impact, the engine died and the SUV came to a halt. Jake had pulled Todd's foot from the gas.
After taking a breath and checking that Maddie was okay, Bella unclipped herself and leaned over to Todd, whose head was resting against the side window
where he'd been thrown as they spun. She didn't need to look at his BonesWare to know that he was dead.
Maddie sobbed and Bella could see, out of the corner of her eye, that Jake was curled up in the corner of the back seat shaking. The only lights were those of the car's instrument panel. Outside it was dark.
Chapter 4
Deputy Paulina Ramos signed her name at the bottom of the report form and settled back with a sigh. She wiped the tiredness from her eyes and surveyed the wreckage of her desk. Sheriff McGovern was neither a patient man nor a tolerant one and he'd likely have a fit if he saw her working in such a mess. That was why she liked the night shift—she could do things in her own way without anyone looking over her shoulder. Her way was inefficient and, at times, frustrating, but it was her way.
Her rebellious nature had been one reason she'd been forced to leave the military before her career had gotten going. Her pregnancy was the other. Her mind darted down the West Coast to LA where Luna was having a holiday with Paulie's brother Alejandro. She gazed out of the window at Main Street as a couple went by huddled into their winter coats. Yes, Luna was better off in LA, though Paulie missed her dreadfully.
She glanced up at the clock before settling back to her paperwork. Nearly midnight and here she was alone with Charlie Givens, petty thief and general pain in the butt. She read through the crime report again, scrutinizing it for any errors in fact or any spelling mistakes the Sheriff might spot when he read through it. Working late was not an excuse for sloppiness according to McGovern.
On this occasion, Charlie had been caught attempting to steal a bottle of spirits from Gangooly's Pharmacy earlier that day. Deputy Johns had cuffed him and brought him in but hadn't quite had time to fill out the report before going off duty. Right.
No mistakes she could see. Good. She put the paperwork back in the thick folder marked Givens, CS, got up and deposited it on the Sheriff's desk. Slap bang in the middle, but slightly on the skew. It was tough being a rebel in the Sheriff's Department of Arbroath, Kalama County, Washington, so you had to take your fun where you could.
Givens himself was fast asleep on the bed in his cell when she went to check on him. He was oblivious to the work he caused as he stumbled his alcoholic way through the town and environs. Basically harmless, but an absolute pain nonetheless.
A phone rang upstairs. She ran up to her desk and picked it up. "Sheriff's Office, Deputy Ramos."
"Is that you Paulie?" It was the voice of an old man. "It's Victor."
She searched her memory for a moment before the lightbulb went off. Victor Franks, yes, ran a small farm southeast of town.
"It's me, Victor. What can I do for you?"
"It's Gracie, she's gone and died on me. I tried calling 911, but I got no answer."
"Oh, Victor, I'm so sorry. But you really should get hold of your doctor, it's not a police matter."
She could hear sobbing as the old man held the handset away from his ear. "You don't understand. Paulie—it was me that done it. I killed her, I'm sure I did!"
A chill ran through her gut and she stood up straight. "You wait there, Victor, I'm on my way."
She made two quick calls before getting into the Cherokee. The first was to the Sheriff, the second was to call in Deputy Johns to cover the office while she was out.
It was now a little after midnight on Friday 13th and the streets of Arbroath were quiet. She didn't bother with the blue lights—this was hardly an emergency since the murderer had, it seemed, confessed over the phone. Victor was in his eighties and not likely to hotfoot it out of the county. Maybe this was just her lack of professionalism showing again, but she didn't want to wake up the whole town to investigate what was obviously a personal tragedy.
It was only a few miles out of the little city to Victor's farm and the adrenaline was just giving way when she spotted a car beside the road. It was odd enough to see a vehicle out here, but the angle it had ended up at reminded her more of a road accident than deliberate parking. As she slowed down, two shapes darted out and flung their hands out as if imploring her to stop.
She slammed her foot on the brake pedal, flicked on her blue lights and, drawing her weapon, got out of the car.
They were children. Both girls.
The older one ran up to her. "Help! Mommy's not moving!"
"Slow down. What's your name?"
"Tamsin, Tamsin Crowley. I'm eight."
"I'm Paulie. Is this your sister?"
The girl nodded. "She's Rebecca. She's little. Please help my Mommy."
"I will, Tamsin. Now, I want you and Rebecca to sit in my car while I take a look. Can you do that?"
The older girl nodded.
Once they were safely inside, Paulie went to the parked car. Aside from its positioning (and she'd seen worse) there was nothing obviously amiss. She opened the driver's door and shone her flashlight inside. A woman in her thirties sat with her face pressed against the wheel.
"Ma'am," Paulie said, nudging the woman's shoulder. No response. She pulled her back into an upright position and gasped as the woman's dead eyes looked out into nothingness. Shock threatened to overwhelm her as she thought about those poor children, orphaned in an instant.
Pulling herself together, she stepped away from the car and pulled out her personal radio. "This is Deputy Paulina Ramos, Sheriff's Department, Arbroath, requesting medical backup."
She was greeted with static. Odd. Though it was late, she knew the county dispatch office was manned constantly. She tried again. And again. No response. In desperation, she rang 911 on her cellphone but, this time, was told she was in position 775 in the queue. What on earth was going on?
For now, however, she was left with no choice. Sheriff McGovern would be at Victor's place soon enough and he'd know what to do. So she got back in the car, reassured the kids with white lies and left the vehicle with their mother by the roadside.
She spotted Victor Franks standing in the doorway of his brick and timber farmhouse, his frail form silhouetted in the yellow glow of the interior lights.
"Wait here, kids," she said before activating the deadlock, checking her weapon and radio and approaching Victor.
"At last, I thought you weren't coming," he said.
Paulie gestured back at her Cherokee. "I had to pick up some kids along the way. Their mother died in her car."
"Oh, the poor things," the old man replied, glancing over at the car which stood half illuminated in the driveway. "What a horrible night! I just put the news on. You know, to have the sound of another human being in the house after, after… I killed Gracie."
Paulie relaxed a little. There was no threat in this confused old man, so she let him lead her into the living room of their house. The TV had been shut down, presumably when he noticed her headlights through the window, and the body of an elderly woman was lying on the couch.
She was obviously dead, but Paulie went through the motions of checking for a pulse anyway. "What happened, Victor?" she asked, looking back at the old man who stood at the end of the couch, his face wet with tears.
"It was all my fault. She said not to let Missie in, but I didn't listen. I like havin' her around and it's a little cold outside..."
"Missie?"
Victor shrugged as if the answer was obvious. "Why, the cat of course."
With an inward sigh, Paulie said, "Go on, Victor. What happened?"
"Well, she got all antsy about it on account of Missie helpin' herself to the rest of the can of tuna Gracie had a mind to having for her supper."
Paulie looked up from her notepad. "Go on."
"Well, she fair roasted me. Said I was a lazy good for nothing. Told me she could have had her pick of the menfolk around abouts, but she drew the short straw and got me. I got pretty hot too, because I remember it was her who did the chasin' when we were courtin'."
"Okay, Victor," Paulie said, conscious that the Sheriff could turn up at any moment and she needed to have at least the bare facts written down before h
e arrived. "How did Gracie die?"
He threw up his hands. "She just fell down dead. I told her if she wished she'd never married me, then I wished I'd never even met her and, just like that, she dropped onto the couch and wouldn't wake up." He wiped the tears from his face. "Oh, Gracie. I didn't mean them words, I truly didn't."
Paulie felt an overwhelming urge to hug the old man, but professional restraint was essential right now. "You didn't touch her?"
He shook his head. "We was hollering across the room at each other."
"She probably had a heart attack, Victor," Paulie said. "You didn't kill her."
"Oh yes I did, as sure as if I'd taken a knife to her. I let the cat in and she said not to. She'd be alive right now if I'd only done as she said."
Paulie guided him to the armchair, and he slumped into it, his head in his hands. She stood over him, finishing her notes as a red and blue pulse lit up the room.
"Sheriff," she said as she opened the door on an ashen-faced Mike McGovern.
He shook his head as if he'd been deep in thought and then nodded over at her car. "Who are the kids?"
"Their mother died at the wheel. I was on my way here and figured they would have to come with me."
To her surprise, McGovern simply nodded as he came inside. "You been listening to the news?"
"No, boss. I've been on duty."
He turned to her as they stood in the hallway. "Then you don't know. Them kids and poor Victor here, it's happening everywhere. People dying like flies."
"What?" Paulie just shook her head and waited for the Sheriff to explain. She knew it must be true—McGovern was no joker.
"I was watching CNN. That Annabel Lee, she died tonight."
"What??" Paulie felt as though she was stumbling into some sort of nightmare.
The Sheriff nodded. "Yep. Must have been earlier in the night because her husband read a statement and, right in the middle, he dropped down dead on live TV. That was bad enough, but pretty soon they were reporting the same thing happening to others. First in New York, where the husband had died, then across the whole country. Now it looks like it's gotten here."
The Long Night Box Set Page 4