by S. Wolf
Her phone rang ten times before her voicemail answered.
“Shit,” Josh said, closing the phone.
“Maybe she’s asleep.”
“Maybe.”
Billy got up. “Let’s go.”
“Where,” Josh asked.
“To her house. Let’s make sure she’s ok.”
“Thanks,” Josh said, “I appreciate it.”
“We’ll go in my car,” Billy said, heading for the door.
Ten minutes later they pulled up to Haley’s house, which was completely dark.
“I’m going to knock,” Josh said, “I don’t care if I wake anyone.”
“Want me to go with you?” Billy asked.
“No, I’ll do it.”
He went up on the porch to the front door, and rang the doorbell. After a minute, he rang it again. The house stayed dark. A small ball of fear tightened in his stomach. He banged loudly on the door. Still nothing. Trying it, it was locked. He went back to the car.
“No answer,” he said to Billy through his open window.
“What do you want to do?”
“I’m going to try to get in through the back door.”
“I’m coming with you.”
“No, I’ll do it.”
“You’re not going in alone,” Billy said, winding up his window and getting out. “Lock it up,” he said to the girls, and closed the door.
“Be careful,” Amber said, and they heard the soft click of the power door locks engaging.
They crept up onto the back porch, and Josh thought he might have to break the glass in the door, but when he tried the handle, it turned. Opening it slowly, he peeked inside. There was no one around, and the house was silent. They entered the kitchen.
“Haley’s room is the first one on the right at the top of the stairs,” Josh whispered.
They walked down the hall to the foot of the stairs, and started climbing. Several steps creaked under their feet, but they stopped and waited, and heard no other sounds. Reaching the top, they made the short walk to Haley’s door, which was open.
He stepped inside, with Billy right behind, and to his relief he saw Haley lying on the bed, still and apparently sleeping. But as he got closer he saw his eyes had played tricks on him, and it was just the bedcovers pushed to the side. The bed was empty. The knot of fear in his stomach twisted.
“Where is she?” Billy whispered.
“I don’t know. She could be anywhere. Maybe she went out, and that’s why the door is unlocked.”
“What do you want to do?”
Josh considered his options. “Her parents need to know. I have to wake them.”
“I’m not so sure about that.”
“They’ll know what to do. If they want to call the police, it’s up to them.”
“I got a bad feeling about this.”
“You and me both.”
They crept down the hall to Haley’s parents’ room. Haley’s older brother Frank was in the Navy, and they passed his empty room. Standing in front of the parents’ door, he raised his hand to knock. Billy’s hand shot out and stopped him.
“What?”
“Shh,” Billy said, “Listen.”
Josh cocked his head. Yes, there was a sound. Soft and breathy. A rhythmic moaning, nearly inaudible. The fear in his stomach twisted again.
“It sounds like they’re screwing,” Billy said.
“Yes,” Josh replied, eager to agree with him. That’s exactly what it was, nothing else.
“What now?”
“We have to interrupt them.”
“Are you nuts?”
“They have to know Haley’s in danger.”
Billy shook his head. “I can’t believe we’re doing this.”
Josh raised his hand to knock again. This time Billy didn’t stop him.
Boom-boom-boom. The knocks sounded deafening in the quiet of the house.
They waited and listened. There was no hurried rustling of bedcovers, no anxious whispers. Nothing. Except that low moaning continuing without interruption.
Josh could feel the panic setting in. He knocked again, louder this time. BOOM-BOOM-BOOM.
Once again, there was nothing but the rhythmic soft moans.
“Oh god, oh god, oh god,” he said, leaning his forehead against the door. His breath was coming in short hyperventilating gasps.
Billy’s hand rested on his shoulder. “Let’s go.”
He shook his head. “I can’t.”
Billy’s hand tightened. “No, what you can’t do is go in there.”
“I have to be sure.”
“Please don’t.”
Josh’s hand reached for the knob, turned it, and it clicked open. Billy’s hand was still on his shoulder as Josh pushed the door. It swung open slowly, revealing the scene before them bathed in the dim glow from the outside streetlights.
They were on the bed. Mr. Anders was lying on his back, and his wife was straddling him with her back to the door. Both were naked and she was moving slightly up and down, her arms crossed in front of her. Her short blonde hair seemed to glow in the faint light of the room. She was a thickset woman, and her wide ass pressed down against her husband’s legs.
“Ok, you saw them,” Billy whispered, tightening his grip on Josh’s shoulder. “Let’s go.”
Josh ignored him. “Mr. and Mrs. Anders?” he said in a loud voice.
The couple continued their motion, ignoring him. He stepped into the room to get a better look. Something was odd about how they were positioned, but he couldn’t put his finger on what it was. The soft moaning was louder.
“Mr. and Mrs. Anders?” he repeated, taking a step to the side of the bed.
“Josh!” Billy whispered urgently, “Let’s go!”
Josh took another step. “Mr. and M–” he began, but stopped when he saw it. His breath was knocked from him as if he had been kicked in the stomach. He now understood what had been odd.
Mrs. Anders wasn’t making love to Mr. Anders. Where she was sitting on him made that impossible. She was too far back. Someone else was. The person who she was holding in her arms was the one making love to Mr. Anders.
Josh saw the long dark hair. “Oh my god,” he cried, and took an involuntary step back. He ran into Billy, who was standing right behind him, and they both fell backward, bumping into a table before sprawling on the floor. A glass lamp on the table tipped and fell, shattering into a thousand shards as it hit the floor with a loud crash.
The three people on the bed turned their heads to the boys, and Josh gaped in horror as he saw their three grinning faces staring at him. Two of the heads turned their attention back to each other, but the third stayed focused on him.
Haley’s grin widened and he saw a flicker of recognition in her eyes. Twisting her body, she pulled herself from between her parents with a sickening sucking sound that made Josh want to puke. Before he realized it, she was sitting on the edge of the bed, slipping her bare feet to the floor as she stood.
Josh and Billy scrambled backwards on their asses, their feet and hands scrabbling against the carpet. Haley grinned and walked towards them, her bare breasts bobbing slightly. Her feet crunched on the glass, and Josh could see small spots of blood where she had stepped.
“I got an itch,” she said, and Josh almost screamed, catching it in his throat before it got out.
“Fuck!” cried Billy.
Her eyes turned to him. “Yes, fuck me.”
She took another step forward and the two boys scrambled back again, staring wide-eyed up at her. They reached the door, and both tried to fit through it at the same time.
Her hand went to her crotch and rubbed herself through her thick patch of dark pubic hair.
“I’m itchy,” she said, and her finger made soft wet sounds.
Josh and Billy pushed hard and they both popped through the door into the hallway. In a flurry of arms and legs, they sprang to their feet.
Haley was coming through the doorway, gri
nning and rubbing, and Billy took off towards the stairs, with Josh right behind him. They each went down in three bounds and turned towards the front door. Billy slammed into it, forgetting it was locked, and Josh ran into him. They both went down again.
Turning, they saw Haley coming down the dark stairs, her pale skin looking luminescent. Scrambling to their feet once again, Billy fumbled with the door latch, attempting to unlock it. Josh looked over his shoulder and saw that Haley had reached the bottom step.
“Open it!” Josh yelled.
“I’m trying!”
Suddenly it clicked, and the bolt slid out of the doorframe. Billy turned the knob and they both leaned on the door, but it wouldn’t budge.
Billy hit it with his shoulder. “Come on!” he said.
Josh looked and she was halfway across the room, still wearing her grin. They pushed harder on the door.
There was a pressure on the door, as if someone was pushing from the other side. Surprised, they eased up and the door flew inward, with Amber and Emma tumbling in with it. They would have stumbled into Haley if Josh and Billy hadn’t caught them.
“Didn’t you hear us out there?” Amber asked. “We tried to tell you the door opened inward.”
“Later,” Billy said, and pushed her out through the open door onto the porch, and Josh took Emma in his arms and carried her out. He felt the soft brush of fingernails against his back as he went through the doorframe.
Emma, who was looking backward, screamed and clutched at Josh.
Amber and Billy ran down the steps and headed for the car. Josh set Emma down and they did the same. The passenger door was open and Emma and Josh dove into the back seat, landing on each other. Amber and Billy jumped in the front and fired up the engine. As the car swung a tight u-turn, Josh lifted his head to peek out the back window and saw Haley standing on her lawn, grinning after them.
Emma’s hands moved on him, touching him all over.
“Did she do anything to you?” she asked, panic in her voice.
He shook his head. “No, she never touched us. Maybe at the end there she grazed me on the back, but I don’t think it was enough.”
“Turn around,” she said. Her voice was tight and urgent. “Put on the dome light Billy.”
Billy complied, and she pushed Josh’s shirt up to his neck, running her fingers lightly over the skin of his back, searching for a mark. Finding nothing, she relaxed into him, leaning her head against his bare back and wrapping her arms around his chest, squeezing him tightly. He could feel her trembling, and was sure he was too.
“I don’t see any marks,” she said. “Oh god, I was so scared.”
He turned and held her without speaking.
“How about you Billy?” Amber asked.
Billy shook his head. “No, she was never close to me.”
Amber slid across the seat and leaned into him. They all drove in silence back to Amber’s house.
Chapter 18
Chief Moore was pissed. To be more exact, his wife was pissed, and when she was pissed, so was he. Saturday nights were supposed to be their nights together without the police work interfering, and here he was driving down to the police station. And for what? Some crazy drunk kids running around naked? Hell, that was every Saturday night when he was a teenager.
He hit the redial button on his cell phone again, and held it to his ear. The phone on the other end rang and rang, with no one picking it up.
“Shit!” he said, slamming the phone down on the passenger seat. “Patterson,” he growled aloud to himself, “you better have a damn good excuse for not answering the phone.”
What the hell was going on anyway? First he gets a call about a girl in the men’s room at the drive-in handing out blowjobs like they’re welfare checks, and five minutes later Patterson calls him back to tell him about some guy fucking some cows out on Route 159. Says there might be an epidemic or something. Epidemic of what? Stupidity?
It was going to take a lot to make this up to Maggie. She had planned the perfect evening for them, beginning with a romantic candlelight dinner in their dining room, followed by snuggling on the couch watching a comedy DVD they had been looking forward to, and then her revealing the new nightie she had bought just for the occasion. She had just come out of the bathroom modeling it when the phone rang. When he left, she was sitting on the couch with her arms folded across her chest, giving him that look that let him know he would pay for this later.
Pulling into the police station, he parked in the spot under the large ‘Police Chief’ sign. He was proud the first time he had parked there three years ago after being promoted. He was one of the youngest police chiefs around, and now at the age of 34, he still felt like a kid when all the chiefs from around the state got together in Lincoln each year for their annual conference.
Pushing open the front doors of the station, he entered the lobby. There was no one in sight.
“Patterson!” he called out.
No answer.
“Officer Welles!” Still no answer.
Where the hell were they? It was a complete breach of protocol to leave the station unattended at any time.
The phone on Patterson’s desk rang. Moore went over and picked it up.
“Chief Moore, who is this?”
There was a pause, then “Chief, what are you doing there?” It was Officer Pike.
“Still trying to figure that one out,” Moore replied, “What can I do for you Officer?”
“Well Chief, Sergeant Patterson sent me out here to the Waller’s farm because, um.”
“Yeah, I heard. Some guy was fucking a cow. Did you find him?”
“Yeah, he was still fucking them when I got here.”
“Gotta give him credit for stamina. Do we know him?”
“It’s Dale Harley, the one who owns the garage down on Seventh Street.”
“Shit. He’s always seemed like a level-headed guy. Where is he now?”
“In the back of my squad car, beating his meat.”
“Damn. Don’t tell my wife about this, she’ll be asking what he’s on. You didn’t cuff him?”
“Well, I’ve been hearing some rumors that whatever this guy has is contagious, and I was leery about touching him any more than I had to. I was wondering, where should I take him?”
“What do you mean? Why wouldn’t you bring him in here?”
“I was thinking we should call some special ambulance and have him taken to some hospital or something.”
Moore thought for a second. That was something to consider. But finally he decided against it.
“No, bring him in here for now, and we’ll decide what to do with him.”
“Ok Chief,” Pike said, not sounding too happy. “By the way, I hear Deputy Randall brought in one of them. How’s that one doing?”
Moore paused again. “What?”
“I heard Deputy Randall brought some kid in with the same condition to the holding cells, and I was wondering if that caused any problems.”
Moore looked around the empty station, feeling a jolt of anxiety, his senses on high alert. Finally he spoke, trying to keep the emotion out of his voice.
“Tell you what Pike, I’ve changed my mind. Here’s what I want you to do. Leave the guy in your car, but don’t go in there with him. Just have a cup of coffee with the Wallers and wait until I call you back. Do you understand?”
“Completely,” replied Pike, the relief obvious in his voice.
“Talk to you soon.” Moore hung up the phone and looked around. He pulled the gun from his holster and held it at his side. Probably wouldn’t need it, but it’s best to have it ready.
He sidled down the hall leading to the holding cells. Craning his head, he listened intently, but couldn’t hear anything. No wait, there was something. Like a rhythmic rustling sound.
His heart beat fast as he moved down the hall. The sound was getting louder, and he could hear breathing accompanying it.
Peeking around the corner, his
mouth dropped open in shock. It took several seconds for his mind to register what he was seeing.
Three naked people were on the floor of one of the cells, and the door was wide open. The trio was engaged in some pretzel-like sex act, and at first he couldn’t tell what body parts belonged to who. His anger rose when he saw that two of them were police officers.
He stepped to the middle of the room. “Sergeant Patterson, Officer Welles, what the hell is going on here?”
The three people in the cell ignored him, and kept up their screwing. The two men were in some kind of odd sixty-nine with Jennifer sandwiched between them.
“Officers!” he said louder, “Stop that this instant!” When they didn’t respond, he stepped up the bars and banged his gun on them. This caused Officer Welles to turn her face to him and grin.
“Fuck me,” she said.
Moore looked into her eyes, and realized the woman he knew was no longer behind them. Suddenly, the word ‘epidemic’ sprang to his mind, and he calmly took hold of the door and slid it closed, hearing the satisfactory click of the lock engaging as it reached the end. He turned and left the room without looking back.
He made two phone calls. The first was to Officer Pike, informing him that under no circumstances was he to go into the car with the cow fucker. He would send another squad car out to pick him up.
The second call was to the Governor’s office.
Chapter 19
“Eeeewwww!” Amber and Emma said together. Billy had just got to the part in their story about Haley in bed with her parents.
They had returned to Amber’s spare room above her garage, back in their spots on the couch and recliner. Except for Billy. He was burning off nervous energy by standing and gripping a small children’s baseball bat he had found in the corner. He was practicing swings as he told the story.
Josh was letting him tell it while he sat in silence.
Emma nudged him. “You ok?”
He shook his head. “I should have known. I should have recognized something was wrong.”