by Aimée Thurlo
“I don’t see how. But if there is a connection, we’ll find it. I just hope the FBI doesn’t go to the man and stir up things prematurely. They could tip him off if he is involved. Try to find a way to discourage that, if you can. I understand SAC Lewis is ambitious, and prone to running over anything that gets in his way.”
Lee hoped to leave this angle open without getting anyone else watching Muller, at least for the moment. If Muller became suspicious, however, plans might change.
“I won’t bring it up and I’ll downplay the possibility of a connection if they ask. But be aware that you and Agent Lopez aren’t going to have more than a few more days before the feds push the issue. What kind of officer is Agent Lopez, by the way? Are you sure you can trust her?”
“My instincts say yes. But she does have higher aspirations in the Bureau, so I’m keeping both eyes open in case she’s a user. I think in the long run, she’ll do what’s right.” Lee actually trusted Diane a lot more than that, she’d proved her courage in dangerous situations already, but he figured if he sounded too positive, it would make Richmond suspicious.
“Anything you need, Lee?”
“Let me know it the LCPD lab people find out anything new regarding Blackhorse and the driver of the van. But try and discourage any officers—especially the feebies, from trying to track me down. They should continue searching for the driver of the van, who could also be the Navajo who brought the panther—or not. Whoever killed Agent Thomas was really after me, I believe, and I need to maintain low visibility. I’m being hunted, but so are they. And I plan on getting to them first.”
“You have the physical and mental skills to do the job, Lee. If you need backup, call in and I’ll make sure you have it.” Richmond shook Lee’s hand, then lowered his voice. “I’m going out front and stand around for a while before I leave to attract attention. I’ll have Iris unlock the back door for you. If anyone is watching the front, you might be able to get a few steps ahead of them.”
“Good idea. Thanks.”
Three minutes later, Lee stood outside in the alley, waiting in the shadows, watching and listening. Patience was a quality a hunter needed, but even more important, it was a survival trait for someone or something being hunted. Usually, in the wild, the animal that moved first was spotted and became the prey, or went hungry.
He doubted that the FBI actually had someone in or around the alley. They’d simply be watching the block for movement, probably through night-vision devices. It was even more unlikely that they’d actually have been tailing Richmond or watching the local state police office in the hope that Lee would show up. If they’d wanted him, they could have just insisted Diane bring him in one way or the other, assuming she could pull it off.
But the streets were empty, except for an occasional late-night patron going home after the bars had closed, or because he’d run out of money or energy. Lee walked in the opposite direction from the park that was his goal, keeping an eye on the rooftops as well. No one could hide from his vampire eyes, even in total darkness, and his hearing was exceptional.
At the end of the alley, he waited before stepping out onto the sidewalk. No cars passed by, and nothing at all could be seen moving around the area.
As he started across the street, intending to keep in the darker zones below the awnings of storefronts there as he circled east, then north again, Lee saw a shadow moving to his right, behind a low hedge.
A big cat was following him, not a tabby or an alley cat, but a huge black panther. The animal froze as he made a casual sweep of the neighborhood with his gaze, and it was difficult for Lee not to stop and stare, giving himself away.
There couldn’t be two cats like that loose in the same area, so this had to be the skinwalker that had mauled Agent Thomas, and maybe the van driver as well. Now the shape-shifter was tracking him with the intelligence of a human hunter and the quickness and strength of an agile animal predator.
Fortunately for Lee, the human intelligence behind the actions of the cat could be used against it. A wildcat had natural instincts that made it wary and skittish, while humans, especially those feeling powerful and cocky, made mistakes that were all too human. On the negative side, the skinwalker knew he was armed, recognized the threat that presented, and would be watching for any sign that Lee was reaching for his weapon.
Careful to continue to give the impression that he was cautious, but not give away the fact that he’d discovered he was being hunted, Lee continued across the street at the same pace he’d been setting for himself. He then stepped into a doorway that was completely in shadow far from the streetlight at the end of the block. He scanned the area again, his eyes moving past the cat without acknowledgment, while noting it had slipped farther down the street on the opposite side and was poised behind a newspaper stand, watching him.
The skinwalker/creature was trying to guess which way he’d be going, and was waiting for Lee to move laterally east or west before committing itself. Lee looked in both directions, and saw that there was a narrow gap between two buildings just down the sidewalk to his left, which was west.
He stepped out onto the sidewalk, and headed casually west. When he reached the gap, he turned around as if to make sure nobody was around, then stepped into the gap, completely out of sight from the road.
At the end of the narrow passageway between the buildings was an eight-foot-high chain-link fence, a barrier he could easily scale. But that wasn’t his intent. Couching low about ten feet back from the sidewalk, Lee took out his nine-millimeter Beretta and waited, the barrel pointed toward the sidewalk and narrow gap.
If the skinwalker was going to follow him, he’d have to move quickly or Lee could be out of sight within seconds. If the skinwalker was going to play it smart, he’d run around the block, hoping to catch Lee coming out, or at least get him back within sight.
Lee waited, making sure he was downwind, and giving the cat plenty of time to cross the street and enter the narrow passage. If the cat took a look around the corner, the darkness wouldn’t shelter it. Lee would be able to get off a lethal shot to the head.
Once he was certain that the cat wasn’t coming, Lee stood and moved the ten feet back to the street in less than two seconds, standing tall as he peeked around the corner. The street looked clear in both directions. Just as he moved out, the lights from an oil-duty taxicab appeared at the end of the block, crossing the intersection perpendicular to him. Lee was forced to slow to a human-scale jog, and wait for the vehicle to pass before crossing the street to head back east.
Suddenly he heard a light thump somewhere behind him, and saw that the big cat had leaped down from a rooftop onto a metal awning. The structure groaned, but the cat quickly leaped onto the sidewalk. The skinwalker now knew that Lee was on to him.
Turning, Lee brought out his pistol, but the cat was watching, and cut to the right, out of sight around the corner. Lee took advantage of the big animal’s evasive tactics to run directly across the street. He could hear a vehicle coming in their direction, and the sound of the engine was familiar.
Diane pulled up next to the curb, nearly hitting him before she realized Lee was coming up so fast. He jumped onto the running board, holding on to the side mirror.
“Was that . . . ?” Diane shouted.
“Yes!” Lee answered, stepping in through the passenger-side door and rolling down the window so he could look and aim outside. “The skinwalker must have staked out the focal HQ, or followed Richmond to his office, just like with your SAC, Lewis. Circle the neighborhood. Maybe we can catch sight of the cat again. I’d like a clear shot.”
“What do we do if he comes at us from my side?”
“Keep the window up. That’ll slow him down if he hits the glass.” Lee searched each yard they passed. They’d entered an area where old houses had been converted to offices or shops, and most had front and back yards, though one or the other had usually been converted to a small parking lot.
He didn’t know the
name for this style, but the mostly converted houses had probably been twenty years old in the forties, and were wood-framed with steep roofs and large, covered porches extending the width of the front. Trees ranged from saplings to giant cottonwoods big enough to hold the cat they were hunting. “Slow down whenever we pass a big tree. I want to take a careful look at the lower branches when we pass.”
They circled the first block, then stopped at the alley after failing to see anything on any of the four sides. “He went down this way, I saw the cat before he went around the corner and out of sight,” Diane reported. “Should we try the alley?”
“It’s too narrow, and too good a place for a skinwalker ambush. That beast could be through the window before we could react,” Lee advised, “It’s time to call the cavalry.”
They’d circled the neighborhood for less than five minutes before local police cars began to arrive. As Lee had advised in his call on the cell phone, the responding officers used a silent approach, with emergency lights and sirens off.
Using their spotlights, the officers began to search trees, shrubs, hedges, and every dark corner, porch, and alley for the big cat. Lee had advised bringing in a helicopter, and soon one appeared overhead, checking rooftops.
Trying to remain as inconspicuous as possible, Diane held her badge up to one of the city officers asking her to clear the area, then she drove another block away from the neighborhood where the intensive search was taking place.
“What if he or she has changed into human form again?” Diane asked, turning to Lee. “Has there been time?”
“I don’t know. It varies. But the officers would be quick to spot a naked man or woman,” Lee said. “Particularly a woman, I’d think.”
“Unless the skinwalker hid clothes nearby. The cat probably didn’t travel too far in that form, I’d guess,” she pointed out.
“Maybe the skinwalker has an ally close by, driving around in some vehicle so the cat can hop right in, then shape-shift back into human form while out of view. All they’d need then is a blanket.”
He punched out a number on his cell phone, contacting Iris at Dispatch directly, asking her to pass on a request for the searching officers to stop any vehicles in the search area, and detain anyone believed to fit the suspect’s description, a male or female Native American.
They drove a widening search pattern around the neighborhood, looking for places where a big cat could hide, or where someone in a parked vehicle could change clothes.
After ten minutes, they were about to decide on another plan when they saw the flashing light on the dashboard of an unmarked vehicle parked by the curb. The driver was talking to the passenger of another vehicle, a station wagon, that had apparently been pulled over.
“That’s SAC Lewis!” Diane said, turning the corner quickly before the man noticed her.
“Pull over and switch places with me, then keep down low so he can’t see you. I’m going to circle around and see what he’s found,” Lee said.
“He probably heard a report about the cat on his radio and came directly here. Don’t hang around for long. If he sees I’m in the car, he’s going to wonder what we’ve been up to, and I don’t want to have to answer any more questions yet.”
“Okay, just keep low.” He took off his jacket, and placed it over her after she scrunched down low under the dashboard.
“Don’t take too long. This is damned uncomfortable.”
“Be grateful that you’re not my size.”
Lee turned the vehicle around, then approached the FBI SAC’s vehicle from the opposite direction. The station wagon was gone now, and Lewis was back in his vehicle, involved in paperwork or something.
Lee pulled up beside Lewis, stopped, and stuck his head out the window. “FBI, right?”
Lewis, a short, stocky, red-haired man with the eyes of a weasel and a conservative dark suit, glanced over, a disinterested expression on his face. Seeing a Navajo, he jumped and reached for his handgun.
“Easy, Special Agent. “I’m State Patrolman Leo Hawk. You recognize me, don’t you?” Lee held out his badge, the gold shield glittering in the streetlight. “I was the one who called in the report about the cat. I spotted it stalking me after I left a meeting with my lieutenant at his office, not far from here. He has my latest report to share with the Bureau. Any luck so far in tracking down the cat or a suspect?”
Lewis glared at Lee angrily. “Hell no. Couldn’t you get a shot at the beast before it got away?”
“Unfortunately, no. Have you seen any civilians in the area walking or driving around within the past few minutes? Somebody who might have let the animal out, or picked it up?”
“Hell no. Just some sturdy-looking hooker hall in and half out of her dress. She was afraid I was going to arrest her, so she offered to get in the backseat with me. I told her to leave the area, and go home where it’s safe.” The SAC rolled his eyes. “She’s lucky she didn’t run into that animal. Probably kinda wild herself, though.”
“Let me guess. Was she Indian?”
“Yeah, don’t know what tribe. Attractive woman, I suppose, but she looked mean as hell. Probably specializes in bondage and discipline.” The SAC almost smiled, then decided against it.
“Well, then we have to keep looking. Maybe we’ll get lucky tonight in a way that counts.” Lee nodded, then drove off just as the man said something in reply.
“Damn, damn, damn, damn, damn,” Lee cursed as he drove down the street, heading north again. He lifted the jacket off of Diane, who looked up at him in the half-light.
“That woman was the black panther, wasn’t she?”
“I’d bet a month’s pay on it, Diane. Your SAC is lucky he didn’t meet that wildcat about ten minutes earlier. He seems kind of slow on the draw. I should have figured that out when it was obvious the skinwalkers used him to track down you and me earlier for their little ambush.”
“I think he’s a bit slow at everything, except when it comes to taking advantage of opportunities for self-promotion. Probably was hoping to bag the cat himself and make the national news. Still, I’d hate to lose another officer, even him, and he’d never believe the woman he met could be the perp we’re after.” Diane rubbed her shoulder.
“Next time, you get to be the one who hits the deck,” she groaned.
“I guess it depends on who we’re ducking, doesn’t it?” He laughed. “Now let’s head back to the safe house. I’m hungry, and it’s been a hell of a long day.”
CHAPTER 13
It was early morning when Lee went on-line with his computer, Diane looking over his shoulder. He could feel the warmth of her breath as they both read the electronic version of a local newspaper, and he remembered how Annie liked to come up behind him and put her arms around his chest.
It was a moment before he could speak, the memory had come on so strong. “Muller’s unit has had their temporary duty here shortened. They’re only going to be here another two weeks.”
“So, if he came here to retrieve the plutonium, he’s suddenly running out of time,” Diane said.
Lee nodded. “We’ll know real soon if that was the reason he returned. If we can get details of his training schedule, we’ll know what hours he has free to roam. If he’s going to search the area with Geiger counters or other radiation detectors, he’ll have to spend every free moment looking between now and when he leaves. And it’s going to have to be at night.”
“Are there any agents you can persuade to help you get that information from the military?” he added. “SAC Lewis is out, you don’t want to get him started checking into Muller.”
She thought about it for a moment. “There’s a woman agent stationed in Phoenix I can ask. She was my supervisor when I first went into the field, and now she’s the SAC in that city. By now every FBI agent in the country knows about Burt Thomas’s murder, and she’ll even know he was my partner. If I tell her this is part of the investigation into Burt’s death, I’ll get the information.” Diane gestured tow
ard one of the cell phones they had charging at an electrical outlet, clearly asking if she should use one.
“Let’s go for a drive instead. You can make the call while we’re away from here, just in case the Phoenix office traces all their incoming calls.” He checked his Beretta, put on his sunglasses and cap, then grabbed a second phone. “Ready?”
She took the big lockback folding knife Lee had given her, and placed it in her jacket pocket. Her pistol was already at her waist. Looking around for her wig, she took that too. “Okay.”
They timed their entrance onto the main road outside the driveway of the safe house so that no cars would note where they’d come from. Lee headed south toward the city, and Diane looked for a convenience store with an outside pay phone. Ten miles away from the safe house, they stopped at a gas station minimart and she made the contact. Lee waited in the pickup.
Diane was on the phone for less than five minutes before she returned, her eyes lit up with a smile. “It’s all set. She’ll send me the information and I’ll pick it up on my handheld organizer. I have a wireless modem.”
“Sounds great. Before we do anything else, though, I want to ditch this pickup. Your SAC saw it last night, and probably took down the license number.” Lee eased the pickup back into early morning traffic, headed across town west, toward the river valley.
“Another emergency backup?” Diane sounded impressed.
“Hey, I’ve had over fifty years to try out different ways of protecting myself. I’ve had to change identities a dozen times. After a while I learned to set up places like the safe house, and keep a backup vehicle or two handy. I also keep money in several bank accounts under different names, which makes it a lot easier if I suddenly have to go on the run from skinwalkers, like I’ve had to do three times already.”
After a fifteen-minute drive, Lee turned down a narrow road into a poor neighborhood where the crumbling adobe houses looked ancient, and pulled up beside a boarded-up gas station that was right out of the sixties.