Sophia and Rebecca looked at each other.
Sophia cleared her throat. “We believe—have some evidence—that this…beast…can assume different shapes.”
Bobby stared at them as if they’d gone crazy. “You’ve got to be shitting me. Tell me you don’t believe something as wacko as that.”
Sophia held out her hands helplessly. “Night Seekers has reams of research on this, Bobby. Evidence to back it up. Even some eyewitness reports.”
He shook his head in disgust. “You think what you want. I’m going after a killer I can rationally accept. Anyway, I’m still thinking someone who snuck over the border. Maybe he’s done this somewhere before. If we have a true serial killer here I’ll probably have to call in the FBI.”
“No.” Sophia didn’t realize she’d shouted the word until Rebecca put a hand on her arm. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Please. I see where you’re coming from, but will you just give us forty-eight hours?”
“For what? I can’t just sit on this.”
“Of course not. Do your investigating. All the things you usually do. But my gut tells me there’ll be another attempt within this time frame. We’ve brought up extra help from the team.”
“What can you lose?” Rebecca asked. “It’s not as if you’ll just be sitting on your hands. Let Sophia and the other Night Seekers do their thing.”
“All right.” He threw up his hands. “Do whatever you have to do. I’m not even sure what that is anymore. But if another body turns up it’s on your heads.”
* * * * *
They were eating lunch at The Crown. Frenchy was behind the bar, holding court so Clint was able to join them and Rebecca had ridden back from the crime scene with them. They’d taken the big round table in the far corner so they had room to spread things out. They were past the lunch rush so there really wasn’t anyone seated close enough to see or hear what they were doing.
“We’re running out of time,” Ric said in a low voice. He reached into the thin leather folder he was carrying and pulled out a map, which he opened on the table. “After you gave me the location of this morning’s body, I marked it here.” He pointed to an X he’d made. “I brought with me the maps showing the kills in Maverick and Zapata Counties as well as the one from Alabama where you were last.” He looked at Logan when he said this. “I wanted you all to see the pattern. I think it will help narrow our target area a great deal.”
He opened the other maps, each of which had a red circle drawn around three marked locations. Then he put the Aroostook County map beside them, folding it to show where he’d drawn the newest circle.
“That definitely cuts out a lot of territory,” Clint remarked, looking at all the maps carefully.
“Plus the snow cave we found is within the circle,” Logan added. “The beast’s base of operations.”
Ric nodded. “Apparently it marks out its territory, finds a place to dig in and hunts from there. So let’s see what we’ve got.”
They compared each of the maps to the latest one, Logan and Clint both making notes on paper napkins.
“Darrell Franklin was here,” Rebecca pointed, “and Chuck Whittaker here.” She stabbed her finger at a point on the map. “So following the pattern, its next attack would occur…somewhere in this area. I know that landscape. There are hardly any homes there and it’s filled with black spruce.”
“This is part of the territory I flew over today,” Ric told them. “You’re right. Not a hell of a lot out there.”
“As soon as I can get to a computer I can pull up the tax rolls and see who lives there.”
“If we go back to the motel from here,” Logan told her, “you can use mine.”
“Then let’s eat up and go.” Ric refolded all the maps, then studied Rebecca. “Sophia, how much does your sister know about the Night Seekers?”
“Everything. I told her everything, so you don’t have to hide anything. We can all speak freely.”
Ric gave a brief nod. “Good. That helps. Clint, Logan and Sophia tell me you you’ve been running at night to help with the hunt. Will you be available again tonight?”
“Absolutely. I can get Frayne Beaufort to handle the evening shift. He’ll be glad of the extra dough. What time?”
“Why don’t we meet at the motel about nine,” Logan suggested. “It will be dark then so we’ll have plenty of cover.”
“I’m coming, too,” Rebecca told them. “I can wait with Sophia, maybe kick some ideas around.”
“All right.” Ric folded everything up and placed it back in the slim folder. “Next order of business is to identify who lives in the area that we need to warn and keep an eye on.”
Chapter Thirteen
Rebecca pulled three names off the county tax rolls of property owners in the area that Ric had marked. They agreed that calling these people might not do much good. They needed to be warned in person. Plus they actually needed to lay eyes on the physical layout of each location. She called Bobby to request the use of the snowmobiles again.
“He says okay.” She snapped her phone shut. “I know he thinks we’re all crazy but at least he’d not putting any roadblocks in our way.”
“It was a lot easier in Texas where people are used to the legend,” Ric pointed out.
Sophia made a rude noise. “That’s for damn sure.” She looked at her sister. “Any word on where things stand with Harland Warren?”
“Arraignment’s tomorrow morning. Bobby says the guy’s really flipped out. But he’s sure they’ve got a solid case. Scott Mooney did some digging and found that a couple of times Elaine had gone all the way to Millinocket to get her injuries treated after Harland knocked her around. And at Xeniplex he apparently was on a short leash because of his temper.”
“How did he happen to find out about the affair?” Sophia wanted to know.
“He works irregular shifts, sometimes pulling extra hours if they need him,” Bec answered. “One day he got off early and drove another security guard home. It took him past Bradley Howard’s house and he saw Elaine’s car there. Instead of storming the door he checked to see who lived there and started following the two of them.”
“I guess with the kind of schedule he worked he didn’t have to explain if he was late coming home,” Logan put in.
“Poor Elaine.” Sophia shook her head. “Too bad she didn’t have the courage to leave him before this.”
Bec sighed. “According to Joy Blanchard she and Bradley were planning to leave town but never got the chance. All right.” She pushed back from the little table. “Let’s go get the machines. Ric, you want to follow us in the air and mark the coordinates?”
He nodded. “That’ll work.”
* * * * *
The beast had retreated to its snow cave as soon as it finished with its most recent kill. The lust was boiling inside its body, racing through its bloodstream with the force of a hurricane. All the senses in its body were working overtime, exploding at the last kill so the prey’s body was nearly destroyed. And now the same senses were still hot, still actively volatile. There would be no rest before the final kill this time, not with the uncontrollable urgency.
But as it approached the snow cave its sense of smell went into overdrive. Intruders! The hiding place had been found. Enraged, the beast sniffed the area surrounding the cave, nostrils quivering at the foreign scent. An animal but yet not an animal. A wolf but not a wolf. Not another creature like itself but similar, in some ways.
Maddened at the violation of its space, the creature rose on its hind legs and let loose a roar that echoed off the trees and bounced back, sound waves piling on sound waves like ripples in a stream.
Get away!
That was its first reaction. Run. Hide. Find a new place of safety.
The beast spun around in circling, scenting the air again. It had marked its three target victims, within the proscribed circle it had been programmed for. It tracked by scent as well as location. Now it needed to finish off
the cycle. Destroy the third target.
The pain shot through its brain again and it pressed its claw-like appendages to its head, desperate for some relief. After a moment it eased and the creature took off. It would find another hiding place to recuperate, gather its strength then let the lust lead it to finish the cycle.
* * * * *
Logan pulled his snowmobile to a stop near where he’d found the snow cave. The smell of turpentine was so strong his nostrils pinched.
It’s been back. It’s been here and not so long ago.
Biting back the combination of fear and anticipation rushing through him, he unhooked his rifle and climbed off the machine. Cautiously he circled the area, his eyes darting everywhere, hyper-alert for the physical presence of the devil beast.
It came back here! It returned to its temporary lair!
Excitement rose within him as he worked his way from spot to spot. Pulling the folded map from his inside pocket, he opened it and checked the location of the last two kills. Ric had been dead on. The two spots were equidistant from the snow cave and formed two points of the circle he’d drawn.
There were three logical places the beast would hit next.
Unhooking his satellite phone from his belt, he punched the number for Sophia.
“It’s been back at its snow cave,” he said as soon as she answered. “The turpentine smell is so strong the creature had to have been here just recently.”
“You watch yourself,” Sophia warned. “Be very, very careful.”
“Got my rifle locked and loaded and in my hand. But Ric was dead on with the map. There are three houses that are potential target areas. You and Rebecca can each take one and I’ll take the third. We need to warn these people to be very careful of any and all strangers.”
“And strange animals,” she added. “Remember, we’ve figured out it assumes other forms.”
“All right. Let’s do it. Then tonight between Clint and me and the sheriff’s patrols we should have the houses covered.”
He rattled off the locations of two of the houses.
“Let’s meet again at five o’clock. We’ll return the snowmobiles and head for The Crown. I’ll call Ric in the helo and let him know what’s happening.”
“Okay. See you at five.”
Logan looked up, searching the sky, and finally sighted a tiny black spot moving far above him. He punched Ric’s number into the phone.
“You were dead on, amigo. Here’s the skinny.”
* * * * *
It was a subdued group that gathered at The Crown for an early dinner. Now that they had almost physical proof of the beast’s presence, and three very logical targets, protecting them was at the top of everyone’s list. Along with killing El Chupacabra. Frenchy was again behind the bar so Clint was able to join them.
“I spoke to everyone at the ranch,” Ric told them. “If we need more people Craig is ready to load them in a plane and send them up here.”
“What do you think?” Rebecca asked.
“I think we can handle this. More is not necessarily better. At least right now.”
“Any word yet on Melinda?” Sophia had told her sister about Chloe Hansen Guitron’s friend and the circumstances of her disappearance.
Ric shook his head. “Nada. Mark says Chloe’s doing her best to handle it but I know it’s got to be tough for her. I think Craig’s about ready to assign two Night Seekers to the hunt full time.”
“And maybe that’s what we need to do,” Sophia told him, “if we don’t find out anything soon.”
“Meanwhile,” Ric pulled some sheets of paper from his folder, “let’s talk about tonight.”
“We hit all three sites this afternoon,” Logan told him, “and warned everyone as best we could. But we don’t know what form the devil beast will take when it approaches and we can’t exactly tell people, ‘Hey, look out for anything strange that comes around and might turn into something else right in front of you.’”
“No kidding,” Clint snorted.
“So, Clint, let’s you and me figure out how to split the area into two parts, with Ric giving us air cover. As fast as we run, we should be able to keep a pretty good eye on things.”
“Isn’t there something Sophia and I can do?” Rebecca asked. “It’s dumb for us to just keep sitting here.”
“You can cover as much ground as possible with the SUV.” Ric took out a pen and inked the roads on the map that were the most likely for them to drive. “Here, here and here. I’ve got sat radios for everyone so we can communicate. Logan, you and Clint wear your radios again so you’re linked with me. And I’ll monitor again from the air.”
“Did Frayne agree to work again tonight?” Sophia asked Clint.
“Yes. Believe me, he’s happy for the extra work.”
“Okay then. Nine o’clock at the motel.” Ric folded everything back up. “Let’s eat. We’ll all need our energy.”
* * * * *
The devil beast had shifted into a less detectible form, aware that strange eyes could be tracking it. In its newest form it moved swiftly over the marked territory, heading for the final prey of this cycle. The pain shooting through its head had returned with a vengeance, a pain only satisfying the boiling lust could ease.
It took note of the fact that there was more movement on the roads tonight, more things with bright lights driving the area.
Hunting for the beast!
As it neared the perimeter of its target a dark shape flashed across the landscape about a half mile away. The Chupacabra’s eyesight was extraordinary, allowing it to see things at a great distance. And permitting it to evade danger when necessary. Now it strained to see the definition of the form. Identify it.
An enemy for sure.
The beast watched for a long moment as something black streaked through the night, first heading away but then reversing direction and heading directly for the target area.
Stifling the rage surging through it, the creature turned and headed away from its objective. The kill would have to wait one more night. But that was all. Then, if danger still persisted, it would take out that danger, too.
Regardless of the consequences.
* * * * *
“Well, that was a big waste of time.” Ric tossed his gloves onto the table.
They were all gathered again in Sophia’s motel room, disgusted and irritated at the lack of success.
“Maybe we’ve scared it away,” Rebecca suggested, sipping on a cup of strong coffee. Sophia had brewed a pot as soon as they’d returned.
“Fat chance,” Logan grunted. “I think it has something programmed into it that forces it to complete its cycle.”
Her eyebrows lifted. “Programmed into it? You sound as if someone is breeding these things.”
“We think that’s a real possibility.”
She shuddered. “There’s a scary thought.”
“We’ve thwarted it a couple of times,” Sophia put in, “and it’s always returned and started the cycle again.”
“So what now?” Clint asked.
“Now,” Ric answered, “we try to get some sleep because tomorrow night we have to do it again.”
“I have a gut feeling for some reason tomorrow night is its last opportunity,” Logan said. “We need to be prepared.”
Ric looked at Sophia. “I want you up in the helo with me tomorrow night. The last couple of times we’ve had to shoot it from the air. I want to be prepared and you’re one of our best shots.”
Rebecca grinned at her. “Way to go, big sister.”
Sophia just nodded and told Ric, “Whatever you need me to do.”
Logan finished his coffee and stood up. “Meanwhile, let’s get whatever sleep we can. Rebecca, you know Bobby will expect you at the barracks tomorrow. Are you awake enough to drive home and can you catch enough sleep?”
“I’m good. But let’s meet for lunch and I can report everything from the morning briefing.”
In a moment everyone was
gone except Clint. He turned the deadbolt on the door and engaged the safety chain. Then he began to slowly remove his clothes.
“Bed, chere,” he said in a tired voice. “I think tonight we need our sleep more than anything else.”
“I agree.” Sophia stood on tiptoe to brush a kiss over his lips. “I’m glad we’re doing it together.”
In seconds they were under the covers, their naked bodies spooned together, Clint’s strong arms holding her, his breath soft against her ear.
This is so right. How will I ever leave this?
She was still pondering the question when she fell asleep.
* * * * *
She woke to the feeling of a hand lightly stroking the length of her body—her shoulder, her arm, her hip, her thigh. Then teeth nibbled on her earlobe and scraped a path along the column of her neck. She turned and found herself looking into Clint’s heated eyes, his lips curved in a sexy smile.
“Mornin’, chere.”
“I like the way you wake me up.”
One hand pulled her leg over his and his hand trailed lightly over her ass to the hot crevice separating the globes.
“I could get used to it myself,” he told her.
She sobered. “Clint?”
“Mm-hmm.”
Sophia was doing her best to concentrate, a near impossibility with the erotic things Clint was doing to her. “If things work out the way we expect, by tomorrow or the next day we could be out of here, Logan, Ric and me.”
His fingers probed between her ass cheeks, finding the tiny puckered hole and rimming it with a fingertip. “And your point is?”
“I don’t know how I’m going to leave you,” she cried. “And I can’t stay here once we’re finished.”
He bit her lower lip. “I might have some ideas in that direction. Meanwhile let’s turn off our brains and enjoy this nice start to the day.”
His tongue glided over her lower lip, licking it like an ice-cream cone, while his busy finger continued to push against her rear entrance. Heat boiled and erupted deep inside her, spreading through her veins like a slow-burning fire. She tried to push back against him but he chuckled against her mouth.
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