You've Got Tail

by Renee George

  He rubbed his face and kept his eyes averted to the floor. “Yes’m,” he mumbled as he quickly left the house.

  Cripes. I never wanted to be on the wrong side of Ruth’s anger. I could see why Tyler hadn’t wanted me to tell her about his behavior at the police station. Da-yum.

  “I’m really sorry about all that, Sunny. The boy’s got a mean temper on him sometimes, but he really wouldn’t hurt no one. He’s got more bark than bite.”

  I wasn’t nearly as sure. “I don’t understand why he dislikes me so much. Or why he hated Judah. I thought you told me they were friends?”

  Ruth sighed. “They were. Until the evening Judah confessed he loved me. I tried to tell him I didn’t feel the same way; after all, Ed may not be the prize pig at the fair, but he’s a good husband. Judah caught me unaware and kissed me. Before I could stop him, Tyler had come in from the garage. Him and Judah got into a terrible fight. Please don’t think too badly of my son.”

  “Does Tyler think you were…more involved?” Because all this animosity over a kiss seemed really crazy.

  “I told him there wasn’t anything going on, but I don’t think he believed me. When Judah disappeared two years ago, Tyler seemed to become less angry. At least with me. Until you got to town. I think your gift frightens him. He’s afraid you’re going to tell folks stuff he doesn’t want known.”

  Tyler was being a mean son-of-a-bitch out of some misguided attempt to protect his mother’s reputation. I didn’t know if I bought it completely, but he was young, only twenty. Rationality and youth didn’t always go hand in hand.

  “I’m sorry, Ruth.” Damn, there was a lot of apologizing going on. “You know I would never spread gossip about you.”

  “I believe you.”

  The bathroom door opened and Elbert Johnson (freckle near the eye) walked out. “Whew,” he said, waving his hand. “Might want to light a match when you go in there.”

  “Land sakes, El,” Ruth chided. “That’s what the spray is for.”

  “Oh, my damn, Elbert.” I plugged my nose as the stench worked its way into the hall. “Are you sure you don’t have a little skunk in you.”

  He just chortled as he walked away, fanning his hand behind him.

  Chapter 21

  When I got back outside to Babel, he was sitting at a picnic table with two plates. One all vegetarian. The homespun atmosphere nearly made me weep with joy. Chavvah would love this so much. I wished she were there to share the night with me and Babe.

  “I made you a plate,” he said. “What took so long?”

  “You don’t even want to know.” I didn’t know if Tyler was completely off my list of suspects. After all, he still could have been the one to attack me. But he seemed way too surprised about Judah to have known about the hunt. I looked around the colorfully lit yard at all the happy townsfolk and thought, one of these people did it.

  “Hi.” A girl in a cornflower-blue dress had walked up on us. “Do you remember me? Selena. Blondina’s daughter. We met at the cafe.”

  “Oh, yes. I remember. How are you?”

  “Well, you were right about that snake Larry. I just wanted to let you know.” She held out her hand and I shook it. Selena looked confused. “Is that how you do a reading?”

  “Reading?”

  “Yeah, a psychic reading like they do at the carnivals. Only, better cause it’s real.” She leaned closer. “What’d you see?”

  “It doesn’t work that way, I’m afraid. I can’t control my visions.”

  “Aww, come on. Try again.” She thrust her hand out again.

  Babel chuckled softly next to me. Bastard.

  I sighed. “Okay, I’ll try.” I took her hand. “I want you to think about something you really want to know about. Try to concentrate hard on only that.”

  She squeezed her eyes shut, completely immersed in the process. I fought off a chuckle of my own. I closed my eyes and focused in on Selena. Every once in a while my visions would work with my friends back in California, but it was rare.

  Suddenly, I had the image of Selena in a cream-colored wedding gown standing next to a young guy in a tux. Deputy Connelly? Holy cow, a squirrel and a bear—talk about an odd couple. I let go of her hand.

  Her eyes popped open. “Well?”

  I pointed to the lanky deputy.

  “No,” she said with wide-eyed delight. “Serious?”

  “Totally.”

  “Oh my goodness,” she blurted out. “Thank you, Sunny.” She turned toward Connelly. “Oh, Michael…” And off she went to get her man.

  The next thing I knew, people were lining up to get their palms read. It became a series of short answers.

  “You’re going to have a healthy baby girl.”

  “The company is going to call and offer you the job.”

  “It would be cheaper just to replace it.”

  “You’re wedding ring is in the corner vent of your bedroom. And I’d take it off the next time before you…you know.”

  “You can find your remote under the third cushion on the couch tucked way down in the crease.” (A man wanted that answer.)

  And so on and so forth. I’d never worked so hard for my supper in all my life. Someone shouted, “Do the mayor!” Neville declined with a good-natured laugh and shake of his head. But then they started egging him on more.

  “It’s okay,” I said. “Not everyone’s comfortable with stuff like this. Don’t harangue the man.”

  But the crowd of townsfolk was not having it. They wanted their mayor to join in the fun. “Mayor. Mayor,” they chanted, until finally it got to a point where he couldn’t say no.

  Like sticking his hand in a snake pit, Neville gave me his palm.

  “Think about something you want.”

  Oh, God. I gasped when I saw him with his wife. She was gaunt with illness. Neville pulled his hand away. His eyes filled with caution. I took his hand again. She’d lost all her hair with the treatments she’d been on.

  “Neville,” she told him. “I can’t handle anymore. Please. Our savings is next to nothing now, and the insurance won’t pay for it. I’m at peace. It’s time to let it go.”

  He put his arm around her. “I’ll figure it out. I’ll get the money, Mags. I don’t want you worrying over this nonsense. Just concentrate on getting better,” he’d told her. “Just get better.”

  The vision broke when Neville yanked his hand from mine. His eyes were haunted and filled with horror, grief, and something I couldn’t put my finger on.

  “What’d you see?” someone asked.

  I stared at Neville as he took another step back.

  “Mayor Lutjen is going to win the next election,” I said loud enough for all to hear. The partygoers cheered. I wasn’t about to share with all of them that the thing Neville most desired was to have his wife back.

  Neville gave a startled smile, but his expression clearly said he knew that wasn’t what I saw. He played along. “I guess if Sunny says so, it’s in the bag.” Then he turned around to his constituents. “But don’t forget to vote.”

  A warm hand slipped into mine and I felt Babel bristle beside me. I looked up. Billy Bob Beautiful had arrived.

  “Do me,” he said.

  “All right.” I gulped. “Think about something you’d like to know for yourself.”

  “I’m thinking.” His gray eyes stared at me with full concentration.

  When the vision came to me, Billy Bob was standing near a lake…kissing someone but I couldn’t make out who. And it certainly wasn’t for medicinal purposes.

  I pulled my hand back.

  “What did you see?” Billy Bob asked.

  “Some things are better if you just let them unfold.” I couldn’t tell who the woman was in the vision, but she was tall. Much taller than me. It made me happy knowing Billy Bob would find someone.

  I breathed a heavy sigh of relief when the antique furniture guy called Billy Bob ov
er. Mostly because Babe had taken my other hand and was squeezing it hard enough to make my fingers numb. He relaxed after Billy Bob was out of earshot. I was proud of him for keeping his cool. I guess that meant he could sit at the adult table tonight.

  The sheriff arrived when the party began to wind down. Fashionably late, or rather, unfashionably. He was still in his uniform. He made a beeline directly to Babel and me. He had a tear sheet in his hands, and he was panting like he’d run all the way over to Ruth’s.

  “Sunny, I think you were right.”

  “About which part?”

  He handed me the paper. It was a missing person hot sheet with the names: James Trainer, Robert Nance, and George Herald. The dates they were reported missing were 07/12/04, 07/18/05, and 07/06/06.

  My hand began to shake. I was right about July as well. “But I thought you said there weren’t any other people in town with those initials who had disappeared?”

  “They weren’t from the town. On a hunch, your hunch, I went up to the Lake Ozarks police station and used their computers. I got a list of names for all missing persons in the surrounding areas for those months and years. These ones fit. All three of them are integrators.”

  “Oh shit.”

  “Exactly.”

  Those poor men. I felt sick for James, Robert, and George. The only woman had been Rose Ann, and we had to find Chav. I couldn’t have her be the second.

  Sheriff Taylor looked as sick as I felt. “Is there anything else you can think of?”

  “Yes, actually.” I told him about Rose Ann, and how Judah’s disappearance tied in with her and the other victims.

  The sheriff took notes diligently. My opinion of him changed rapidly as I watched him work his job. “Okay, tomorrow I’ll make some calls.”

  “Thanks, Sheriff Taylor.” I smiled. “I’m going to grab the bathroom if it’s open.” After Elbert’s stink bomb, I’d forgotten I needed to pee and my bladder was giving me a painful reminder.

  He raised his eyebrow at me. “I don’t think you should be left alone until this gets solved. Your ability puts you in a lot of danger.”

  “It’s the bathroom,” I told him.

  “That’s not what I mean, Ms. Haddock.”

  “I’ll be fine,” I told him. Famous last words.

  The minute I came out of the bathroom to the deserted hallway, I heard a clicking noise.

  A flash of my attacker tapping his fingernails together struck me suddenly. I knew who he was. Fuck. I thought I might even know why.

  Before I could really think it out, I felt a sting on my butt, like a bee sting but worse.

  I was out before I hit the ground.

  Chapter 22

  I awoke disoriented. I saw bars and straw. Was I having another vision?

  Then I remembered. Someone hit me. Again! Now, why hadn’t I seen that coming? The back of my head hurt like a bitch. I looked around, trying to figure out where the hell I was.

  “No, no, no,” I repeated when it dawned on me I was at the hunters’ place, caged like an animal. Now that I was actually here, I found I was in one of those Morton buildings. The ones that were like really big garages people stored stuff in.

  I guess I was now “stuff.”

  I drew my knees to my chest. My silk dress had a tear up the side, my pantyhose were ruined, and one of my shoes had made it into the cage with me, but my other was missing. “This can’t be happening.”

  I crawled to the edge of the cage and shook the door. It had a thick padlock on the outside. I gave it a jerk. Nothing happened. Why would it? How in the world had I gotten myself into this mess?

  I’d been stupid and let my guard down, that’s how. But how could I possibly know that having to pee would be my downfall?

  “Who’s there?” I heard someone whisper.

  I turned toward the voice and saw another cage about ten feet away. The woman wore jeans and a red blouse; it was hard to see what she looked like otherwise, since she was lying on her side with her back turned.

  “Hello,” I called. “Are you all right?”

  “Sunny?” She knew me. When she turned over, I saw I knew her as well.

  “Sheila?”

  “Oh, God,” she groaned.

  “Are you hurt?” I certainly didn’t like the woman, but it didn’t mean I had to be unkind. Besides, we were both in the same boat without a paddle.

  “No. I’m not hurt.”

  “Sunny?” I heard another voice ask. “Is that really you?”

  I had to gather myself before I could talk. I couldn’t see her, but I was overcome with elation at hearing her voice. She really was alive! Not a gut feeling, not a crazy vision. She was alive and within shouting distance. I hadn’t realized how locked down my emotions had been since I’d gotten her text. Now that I knew Chav was okay, or at least not dead, I choked back a sob. “Chav! Oh, God, Chav. You’re alive. Are you hurt?”

  “Yes.” Her voice was shaky. “But not terrible. My arm is broken, and I’m pretty sure my left leg is as well.”

  There was more she wasn’t telling me, I could hear it in her voice, but I didn’t press. We had to figure a way out of this mess before dealing with the trauma of it.

  “Could we cut the reunion short,” Sheila snapped. “We need to figure out how to get out of here before we are all dead meat.”

  Bitch. “Are the hunters here?”

  “No.” Sheila sniffled. “The keepers. Five of them. The hunters won’t be back until the week of the full moon.”

  That was over two weeks away. What did they have planned for us until then? Did I really want to know? If Chav was any indication, I didn’t want to know. It dawned on me that Sheila seemed to know an awful lot about what was going on here. How long had she been caged? I’d just seen her two days ago, so it couldn’t have been longer than that. “Do you know where we are?”

  “Goddamn you ask a lot of questions,” she grumbled.

  She did know where we were. “You’re honey.”

  “You’re nuts.”

  Great, nice to know even when faced with imminent death, Sheila would be a bitch to the end. “No. Honey. As in, ‘how do you want your eggs, honey’? You had the red ledger with the three previous hunts, before Judah’s that is.”

  “I don’t have a clue what you’re talking about.”

  Liar! “You’ve been taking money to give these hunters a few cheap thrills at the expense of your own people.”

  Sheila moaned. “Someone kill me now and put me out of my misery.”

  “All in favor of that idea, say aye,” Chavvah said.

  I raised my hand. “Aye.” I moved around the cage, trying to get to a place where I could see her. No luck. Judah growled at the cage door. I guess he was attached to me and not the town. It comforted me to have him near, though it would have been more comforting if he was solid, and on two legs, with a pair of opposable thumbs. Because, then not only would his presence be a comfort, it would also be helpful. Helpful would have been real good. What would have been really helpful was if he could have brought Babe with him. He would be frantic right now.

  The double doors of the building slid open. Two guys walked in wearing coveralls and carrying rifles slung over their shoulders. Sheila had been right; they weren’t the hunters from my vision.

  “Three for the price of one,” the first guy said. He had a thick mustache growing down over his top lip.

  The other guy had a big scar on his right cheek. He looked the meaner of the two. “I think our bonus just got bigger,” Scarface added.

  “I’m not an animal!” I screamed. They needed to stop talking like we didn’t exist. Like Sheila, Chavvah, and I weren’t real.

  Moustache guy laughed. “Like we haven’t heard that one before.”

  Great, they thought I was a therian. Boy, were they going to be surprised when the full moon came around and I remained upright. They threw chunks of raw meat into our cages along wit
h bottled water. I would have pondered the mixed message there if I hadn’t been trying to hold down the vomit rising in the back of my throat.

  I yelled at the top of my lungs, “You bastards!”

  They laughed, then Scarface pulled out a pistol. It reminded me of Ruth’s gun, but the barrel was longer. Oh, how I wished I had that gun now.

  Abruptly, he aimed the pistol at me and pulled the trigger. It made a slight whooshing noise and I felt a sting. The same kind of sting that I’d felt in my ass before I’d been kidnapped.

  I looked down and saw a feathered dart hanging from my shoulder. He’d done it so quickly, I hadn’t even had time to react. Within a few seconds, I’d passed out.

  I woke up sometime later. I had no clue how long I’d been out. The lights were still on in the building, which told me absolutely nothing. My body felt off—sluggish and violated.

  I slurred my words. “They shot me with a tranquilizer gun.”

  “No shit, Sherlock,” Sheila said. “Why do you think I’m keeping my mouth shut? Because I like it here?”

  “How long have I been out?”

  “Nearly a day and a half,” Chav said. “Jesus, Sunny. You had me really upset.”

  “Weak-ass human,” Sheila muttered.

  A day and a half? So, I’d been gone from town at least two days. Babel would be out of his mind. “Do you have to be so unpleasant?”

  She snorted derisively. “I really do.”

  Bi-otch to the tenth degree! “Are those guys coming back?”

  “Do I look like a crystal ball to you?” She turned her back to me. “Just leave me be, will you?”

  “Sunny, just quit talking to her.” Ah, practical Chav.

  We’d gotten ourselves in a fix. Even with the information I’d given the sheriff, I didn’t think there was any way for them to find me. Well, screw this. I’d be damned if I was going to wait around for Tweedle-Dangerous and Tweedle-Deranged to come back and shoot me again. I was a Cali girl. I had mad skills.

  Oh, who was I kidding? I was in a cage with a bottle of water, some yucky raw meat, a torn dress, and one shoe. Looking around, I couldn’t see anything helpful or potentially deadly to use as a weapon. Judah stood near a post about five feet from my cage. He barked. So not helpful.