In the Still of the Night--The Supernaturals II

by David L. Golemon

  “How big did you say that steel box was?” Damian asked as he again withdrew his pistol.

  “Big.”

  “Like, King Kong big?”

  The question was not meant as a joke as the light beam played over the damage. Rust had broken free of the steel underneath, and they could see fresh, unprotected metal. The steps that had bent the stairs had been made recently.

  “You know, I really don’t relish the thought of meeting up with something that big and heavy with a flashlight and what amounts to a peashooter. I think we should get back to the car.” Damian turned to look at John and Jennifer. “I have always said ever since I joined this fucked-up group, never leave the car when it’s a dark and stormy situation. Never.”

  John nodded and pushed Jenny before him as they started climbing the heavily damaged steps. With agonizing slowness, they finally made it to the top without a misstep. They moved outside and saw that the two agents had decided that the three of them could check the winery for the missing guards as well as they could. They were in the Blazer waiting for them with the vehicles headlights pointed at the doorway. The agent behind the wheel waved.

  “You think the past few weeks are starting to get to some of our brave boys in government service?” Damian asked as they ran for the car with the uneasy feeling that something very large was lurking nearby.

  “You said it yourself,” Jenny said as she opened the back door, “never leave the car.”

  “Amen,” John said.

  * * *

  The last of the agents had rotated into Newberry’s for a hot meal served by a surly Harvey Leach and an exhausted Casper Worthington. Even Peckerwood was tired and sleeping underneath the front counter.

  The lead field agent for the FBI explained to Gabriel and the others as they ate that the Secret Service would handle securing the president’s mobile hospital unit and expensive motor home built to specifications from the Treasury Department and constructed by Pace Arrow. The San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department would patrol from the interstate to the border of Moreno, keeping any prying eyes away from the town, and the California Highway Patrol had all the streets coming in and out of Moreno blocked. The hardest thing would be to forestall the press if they ever got wind of what was happening in the small Southern California ghost town. The FBI agents and the hostage rescue team unit out of Quantico would handle all the security inside the town, with regular patrols of the residential neighborhoods and the town itself.

  John and the others were convinced that something had escaped from that basement facility, and Gabe wasn’t taking that conclusion lightly. Damian was the main contributor to that conclusion for the simple fact Kennedy knew that the former police inspector didn’t scare easily.

  “Our recommendation is, with this storm not due to let up until tomorrow night, we have to be prepared to get everyone out quickly. The local boys say they have seen this before; these hills could roll down at us like a wave and bury us all here without warning. We have a medical evacuation helicopter on standby at Chino Airport just in case we must evac the president fast. Other than that, I would advise you keep your team together and to not wander the town alone without armed escort.”

  Gabriel stood and shook the field agent’s hand and thanked him for the update. He sat down alone at the table. The front doors opened before the lead agent got to it, and he stepped aside as a hurried Bob, Linda, and two agents came through, shaking water from their clothing. The agents gave them their garbage bags with the few clothes they had gathered from the radio station, and the couple thanked them for accompanying them.

  John came over with a pot of coffee and two cups. He put one before Gabriel and poured. He repeated the same for himself and then sat down across from him. Lonetree took a deep breath and then played with his coffee until Gabe looked up.

  “You sure you want to do this?” he asked.

  “Do we have a choice? If we had other witnesses to get the story from, I would be more than happy to do it the old-fashioned way by interviewing them. Julie can get anything out of a witness, you know that, but she has limitations when it comes to getting memories from people that have forgotten the smaller details we need.” John turned his head and smiled at the rest of the team who had placed three of the round tables together to eat. Then he moved his brown eyes to Casper and Harvey, who were finishing up in the kitchen, putting away the restaurant supplies brought in by the federal men three hours earlier. Most of the items had not been on Newberry’s lunch counter menu for decades, and Harvey seemed to be pleased with the abundance of food choices. Casper, on the other hand, was not that thrilled and kept complaining that they had no right to keep him and Peckerwood away from their farm. Lonetree jabbed a thumb toward the kitchen. “I’ll do the simple stuff; it’s you that has to convince Laurel and Hardy in there to cooperate. Is Leonard ready?”

  “He and George said all is ready to go. You’ll be recorded, and George will be linked to you through touch, so no matter what you are seeing and feeling, he will relay everything to us.”

  “I imagine he didn’t take to the idea too well.”

  “No, he did not,” Gabriel said as he sipped his hot coffee. “Well, this isn’t getting the job done, is it?” Gabriel said as Harvey walked by and removed the coffeepot on the table. He stood and then followed Harvey toward the kitchen. John smiled as he fantasized about the colorful language about to be spewed from the kitchen when Kennedy made his request. The larger table was also interested, and Damian and Leonard were actually betting on the outcome. They didn’t have to wait long.

  “Are you out of your ever-lovin’ mind?” came the shout from the kitchen where the view of the engagement was obscured. They all heard Casper Worthington laughing and Peckerwood barking. “You tell Injun Joe out there he’s not crawlin’ into my head like some alien bug!”

  John smiled when he saw Leonard handing over a twenty-dollar bill to Damian, who sat with hand out, smiling. Obviously, Sickles had expected a different outcome.

  Pots and pans were jostled and Peckerwood kept barking, and Casper slowly wound down his laughter at his friend’s predicament. It was twenty minutes later that Gabriel exited the kitchen, eating a grilled cheese sandwich. The others watched on with curiosity masking their anxiety. Gabe stood in front of the group and chewed. Then he finished and used a napkin to wipe his mouth. Kennedy looked pleased with himself.

  “He’ll do it.”

  “And how was this miracle performed?” Julie Reilly asked, knowing the type of person Harvey Leach was. He wanted to be left alone, and his memories of his past, what he could remember of them, were his and his alone.

  “You complimented his food,” George said with a large smile on his bearded face after reading the feelings coming from Kennedy.

  “I complimented his food,” Gabe acknowledged.

  16

  An hour later, the team was as ready as they ever would be. They were on the second floor of Newberry’s, where Leonard had set up all their equipment. No fewer than four video cameras would record the session, and audio inputs were in place to take in even the smallest nuances of memory from Harvey Leach. The man himself sat against the wall wide-eyed and looked terrified. Kennedy watched Damian hand the man a small shot glass of whiskey on Gabriel’s orders, to still Harvey’s nerves. The rest of the team was spread out in a wide circle to make sure nothing was missed. The store was locked up and secured, and the feds were warned that for the time being, Newberry’s was under quarantine. They would guard outside and warn them of any activity through their radios, which Leonard would also be monitoring. Bob, Linda, Casper, and Peckerwood would sit this one out downstairs near the lunch counter. Casper was the only one disappointed he wouldn’t see his friend go through the ordeal.

  Gabriel mixed the two cocktails of Demerol and other special ingredients and placed the three syringes on the table in front of him. Jennifer was assisting with the emergency equipment. She had the defibrillator and the syringes of Adrenalin
and atropine, a drug used to kick-start a heart. The danger was spelled out for Harvey, and though he said he wasn’t afraid, they all noticed how his faded blue eyes jumped to the two women in the room, Julie and Jenny, when he said it. The better part of his machismo had not been lost to the old-timer. In any case, Gabriel was aware that the dreamwalk, no matter how short in duration, was extremely dangerous for a man of Leach’s age.

  Gabriel rubbed his eyes, and Jennifer leaned over and asked if he was all right.

  “John is right; this needs to be done to get the feel of the town that day, but he’s taxing his physical makeup by doing the dreamwalk too many times with such a short recovery window.”

  Jenny smiled. “He knows I would run off with Bobby Lee if he kicked the bucket on us, so he promised he wouldn’t. Don’t worry, at least on this one. I don’t think Harvey Leach is hiding anything in that brain of his that could be considered dangerous.” She then lost her smile. “Unless he’s behind this whole thing, an evil plan to wrest Newberry’s from his father’s control.”

  “Smart-ass,” Gabe said, kissing the top of Jenny’s head and then turning to face a brave-looking but totally frightened Harvey Leach, who sat on the edge of his chair, waiting.

  John was sitting on the bed across from him with a casual look on his brown features. He winked at Leach, who flinched in return. Gabe approached with his best disarming smile. He placed his hands on his knees and leaned over to have direct eye contact with the old man.

  “Harvey, we’re going to give you something that will send you into a light sleep. It will open your mind up, and that in turn will relax your entire body. All you have to do is sleep, and we’ll guide you to the places that we know you will be capable of going. We can’t ask you about anything you didn’t actually witness. You may be able to relay secondhand information to us, but John won’t be able to envision it, because your eyes didn’t witness it yourself, so the brain subconsciously denies John the ability to see. Clear so far?”

  “Not a goddamn word of it.”

  Gabriel and the others smiled. “Good,” he said, patting Harvey on the knee as he straightened. He turned back and looked at Leonard, who nodded that he was ready.

  The last thing was for Jenny to kiss John, and then her small hand held his face for the briefest of moment.

  “Be careful in there.” She looked at Harvey and smiled and then leaned in to whisper to Lonetree, “California authorities never caught the Zodiac killer.” Her eyes flicked over toward Leach, who tilted his head after hearing the strange comment.

  “Did I ever relay the fact to you that you can be a b—”

  “Good luck,” she said, and then she allowed Gabriel in to administer his injections.

  “I always hated those days at school when they gave those gov’ment-funded inoculations. They hurt like hell,” he said as Gabriel frowned at him, holding the empty needle. “Oh, you done it already,” he said with a macho smile. “That wasn’t so bad.” Then he saw Julie roll over the defibrillator. “What’s that?” he asked with his eyes a tad wider than a moment before.

  “Oh, it’s nothing; it’s for John. Sometimes he needs a pick-me-up after he does this,” she lied, and she also patted Harvey on the leg. “Good luck, champ.”

  “You know, with all these good-luck wishes, it feels like the day I shipped off to Vietnam. You people do not inspire confidence.”

  Harvey looked from person to person as his eyelids grew heavy. Lonetree, sitting directly to his front, was already drifting, but his own excitement delayed the reaction to his Demerol enough so that the world became an echoing mockery of its real self. Then he was gone. His eyes closed and his body relaxed. Gabriel and Jennifer both checked his vital signs and were satisfied that Harvey was sound asleep. Gabriel sat down.

  “John, can you hear me?” Gabe asked with a soft and gentle voice in the chair next to Lonetree. He watched as John’s eyes moved rapidly under the lids.

  “EKG jump,” Leonard said from his darkened corner with only the light from his many monitors illuminating his face. “He heard you.”

  “Harvey Leach, can you hear me?”

  Nothing. Gabriel looked back in the darkness, and Leonard shook his head.

  Gabriel checked the leads on Harvey’s chest, and they were attached correctly. He then looked at George, who was holding Harvey’s hand and then released it after getting the feel for the man’s brain activity. He also shook his head. Gabriel sat back and thought a moment. Harvey may have a hard time relaying his memories because he was a nonbeliever in John’s abilities. He had to make Harvey think while he dreamed. What could he say to get the man’s attention?

  Julie cleared her throat from her chair in the circle. She pointed at the far wall as lightning flashed through the windows. Gabe didn’t see what she was suggesting until she mouthed the word. Then he saw the painted logo on the wall that said Newberry’s, the Family Department Store! Gabriel smiled understanding.

  “Harvey! You clocked in late again!” Gabe said loudly, making Harvey jump in his sleep. George smiled and nodded. Leonard in the far corner gave a thumbs-up as he watched the brain activity on his monitor increase.

  The idea was to get Harvey’s attention, and Gabe’s voice was falling short of the mark. So, at Julie’s suggestion, he had used the two things that terrified Harvey more than anything, and these were things he had mentioned in passing throughout the day as they spoke with him—the department store as an attention getter and his father’s commanding voice as the root of his base fear.

  “Harvey, are you there?” Kennedy asked in a more forceful voice. “I need more soft-drink syrup brought up from the basement! Harvey, are you hearing me?”

  “Yes, goddamn it, I hear you!” George said, repeating what he heard from the feelings of Harvey Leach.

  John was actually viewing the boy wherever he was in his memory.

  “Harvey, your father says never mind about the syrup; the cans they already have behind the counter will be enough.” Gabe waited.

  “Of course they are; you’re so damn cheap with the syrup, we never run out! Always complaining about the yield!”

  George finished explaining what Harvey was saying in his mind.

  “John, where are you?” Gabriel asked.

  “I’m in the basement of Newberry’s, I think. Oh, come on!”

  “What is it, John?” Gabe asked, becoming concerned.

  “In a slow walk-through,” John answered. His voice was low, conspiratorial as he watched the scene as played out in Harvey’s memory.

  “This guy has the largest collection of girlie magazines I have ever seen. He has them stashed in an old boiler.”

  Julie and Jennifer stifled a laugh.

  “Harvey, do you recall the day of the thirty-first—I believe it was Halloween 1962—and the whole town was excited. The Cuban Missile Crisis was finally put to bed by President Kennedy, and everyone was happy. Do you remember? You must go all the way back to when you were sixteen. Halloween 1962. Do you recall that day?”

  “We were thinking that most of the things planned for that night were going to be rained out. I was sure I was going to have to work the lunch counter that night. My dad always pushed me into working when the store was busy.”

  “How did your day start?” Gabe asked.

  “School that day was canceled because of the rain. Didn’t break our hearts. We hung out the bus stop for a while before we were told that there was no school. All hell broke loose over some stupid crap started by Jimmy Weller. He and his two buddies, Sam Manachi and Steve Cole. They usually hung out with Dean, but he was late picking them up that morning, and they were pissed off at the prospect of having to ride the lame school bus. No, not a good way to start out that day.”

  George reached over and raised a glass of water to his lips and drank after speaking for Harvey. He nodded that Harvey was totally under and in the past, and Leonard had to agree. Harvey was in a deep REM sleep, just the place they needed him.

&
nbsp; John’s eyes moved under the lids, and Gabriel knew the big man was watching the life and times of Harvey and his memories of that morning. George started talking, but his words were becoming slurred as the dream was now running far faster in Harvey’s mind than Cordero could keep up with. Now it would be up to John to remember all that happened after that.

  Gabriel sat back, and the others watched as John Lonetree connected with the past of Moreno to get just a little more of the tale.

  * * *

  The twelve kids tried their best to stay dry as the rain pummeled the world around them. The Texaco station, and that asshole Dave Deinks, the station’s owner, wouldn’t even allow them to wait inside the garage to keep from getting soaked. Instead, they were all huddled against the wall of Dr. Lawrence Lillywhite’s office. The eave edging of the roof was just enough to keep most of the rain off them, but every time the wind picked up, so would their discomfort at getting soaked. Harvey was by himself as he waited at the end of the line of teenagers and their despair at the prospect of school. Harvey reached into his coat pocket and brought out a Phillips transistor radio, extended the ridiculously long aerial, and tuned it in. He caught the tail end of a country and western hit that made the kids waiting moan and groan and threaten Harvey’s life if he didn’t find decent music.

  “And that was Patsy Cline, and this is KWOW, fifty thousand watts of power in Pomona. The time is seven fifteen on this rainy Halloween morning. Now here’s—”

  The threats as to the manner of Harvey’s imminent murder drowned out the DJ, and he quickly spun the small knob on the Phillips. He breathed a sigh of relief when K-Rave came across loud and clear. The strains of Dee Clark calmed those teens listening, and they settled back trying to avoid the downpour.

  There must be a cloud in my hea-ea-ea-ead, rain keeps falling from my eye, eyes … oh no they can’t be teardrops … for a man ain’t supposed to cry …

  The Dodge pickup pulled to the curb, sending a wave of rainwater crashing over the sidewalk and onto the shoes of those waiting. They all tried to jump at the same time as the wave, but most failed, and that earned many shouts and curses—until, that is, they saw the man driving. It was Frank, and as of late, most kids stayed out of his way. He had been in a terrible frame of mind for the past five years after losing his wife. The only time old man Perry was decent to anyone was when his daughter was around. Luckily, she was this morning. The truck’s door opened, and Harvey saw Gloria step out and then lean back inside while her father gave her a light kiss on the cheek.