by Gregory Kay
“Better?” he asked, and she nodded, her teeth no longer chattering.
“Much, thank you.” She noticed he was shirtless, tanned, and built like a wedge, with broad, defined shoulders and chest tapering to a narrow waist, and even though she knew she was setting both of them up for a fall, she couldn’t help staring, but he didn’t seem to notice. Finally, she took a breath.
“I came to fix your breakfast for you to make up for the way I treated you yesterday. I’m so sorry, Luke! After I calmed down and thought about it, I knew you couldn’t have had anything to do with it! I was all stressed and tired and I blew up at you without thinking and...”
Looking into her red, puffy eyes, he suddenly realized something.
“And you still haven’t been to sleep, have you?”
“No,” she admitted, “Not much. It shows, huh?”
He shrugged and grinned.
“Just a little. You’re still cute.”
Then it was her turn to smile.”
“Thanks. Like I said, I am really sorry.”
His grin quirked just a little toward the mischievous side, or maybe more than a little.
“Would you like me to forgive you?”
“Yes, that would be nice.”
The smile quirked a still more.
“That depends; do you trust me or not?”
Swallowing hard, she thought about that. She hadn’t expected that stipulation, but it was really the crux of the matter.
“Yes, I trust you.”
Yet another quirk, and she wondered what he was up to.
“Then close your eyes.”
“What?”
“You heard me; close your eyes. Do you trust me or not?”
“What are you going to do?” She was beginning to suspect just what he intended, but...
“I’m going to ask you to trust me.”
It was harder than she expected to trust anyone that far, and it took an effort of will to force her lids down.
There was dark silence, and then she felt gentle fingertips on either side of her face.
She opened her mouth to say, “Luke, don’t...” but the words wouldn’t come, and then her open mouth was covered with his, and suddenly she was responding, in spite of herself. It was both the longest and shortest five seconds of her life, and then he broke away, pausing to plant another kiss on the tip of her nose, and yet another on her forehead before pulling her against him. She went willingly, laying her head against his chest and putting both arms around his waist.
Feeling impossibly warm and content in his embrace, she could only think, well, it’s done now.
“Yes, Fiona, I forgive you.” Another kiss, this time on top of her hair.
“You really shouldn’t have done that,” she whispered, and he whispered back, “Are you saying you didn’t want me to?”
“No,” she told him sincerely, “I didn’t say that. I just said you shouldn’t have, that’s all.”
“Good.” Sensing that she was about ready to let go, he did it himself. “Now that we’ve kissed and made up, I like my eggs over easy.”
He winked and she giggled and warned him, “Don’t push it, buster!”
After he showered, it turned out he didn’t have his eggs over easy after all; instead, he had an omelet stuffed with Italian sausage, Romano cheese, fresh tomato, and green onions, cooked with a few herbs and a touch of garlic. Luke ate side-by-side with her in smiling silence, savoring every bite, and, once he finished, he leaned back and rubbed his stomach.
“That was the best breakfast I’ve ever had.”
Fiona grinned around a fork-full of her own omelet and said, “Liar. But thanks anyway.”
“No lie; besides, you said you trusted me.”
“You’re impossible; you know that?”
“And you’re cute, so I guess we make a pair.”
“Luke,” she sighed, but he cut her off with a single finger laid across her lips.
“No. I know what you’re going to say, and I know it makes absolutely perfect sense, but I don’t care. All we have to worry about is today; let tomorrow take care of itself. We’ll figure out something, and then we’ll worry about that when it comes, okay?”
“Okay, but – “
“No buts; just today.”
“Just today,” she whispered, her eyes tearing at the corners, and Luke reached over and momentarily caressed her cheek; it was just a single, gentle stroke, but it made her feel as if she were melting inside. Pulling her closer, he kissed her again and held her for a moment before letting go.
“And, speaking of today, I did a little research last night while in the process of drinking myself stupid, and found out a few things. There have been eight more reported cattle mutilations in the tri-county area – Mason County in West Virginia and Gallia and Meigs in Ohio in the past month alone, when there are usually never more than half that in a year. There has also been a three-fold increase in reported thefts of dogs and smaller stock, like sheep and goats, and there’s even been a crop circle in a cornfield in Gallia County, right across the river. Plus, there’s been an unusual number of reports of prowlers around houses, trespassers on farms, strange lights in the fields and woods, UFOs, things like that, although some of those occurrences, at least in the last few days, could be hysteria related to the Mothman sightings.” He grinned. “I know you’re a skeptic, so I thought I’d point that out.”
“Wait a minute!” Fiona was instantly all business again. “You said mysterious lights, right?” At his affirmative nod, she said, “That farmer, Lewis, said his wife had conjunctivitis; that’s common in people who report seeing UFOs. Did she see any lights herself?”
Pursing his lips in thought, Luke told her, “There’s one way to find out.” He went to his computer, typed in a few characters, and brought up a number, which he then dialed on his phone, and as soon as he heard the first ring, he put it on speaker so she could hear too.
“Hello?”
“Mrs. Lewis? This is Deputy Carter with the Mason County Sheriff’s Department, calling concerning the report your husband made on his dead cow the other day.”
“I’m sorry; Bill’s out in the barn right now.”
“Actually, ma’am, you’re the one I need to talk to. Your husband mentioned you had an eye issue; I hope it’s getting better.”
“It’s better today, thanks; it still feels like my eyes are full of sand, though.”
“I am sorry to hear that, ma’am. Did it just happen the morning the cow came up missing?”
“Why, yes it did! I woke up and could hardly see at all.”
“I was wondering; the night before, did you notice anything unusual around your farm?”
“Promise you won’t tell my husband!”
Her voice was adamant and frightened, causing Luke and Fiona to look at one another.
“I promise.”
“I did see some weird lights, flashing and kind of bluish, down in the field sometime after midnight. I drank a soda before going to bed while I was watching a movie, and you know how it is; I had to get up and go to the bathroom when I saw them out the window. I thought maybe it was some kids on four-wheelers or something, and I sure didn’t want to wake Bill.”
“Why is that, ma’am?”
“Because I was afraid he might take his gun and go out there. I don’t want him to get in trouble.”
“I understand, and, considering the circumstances, I think you made the right decision. I’m not going to say a word to your husband, but could you describe the lights a little more, and were there any noises or anything else you might have noticed?”
“I couldn’t see much really, just some bright flashes, like from a camera or lightening or something, from the far end of the pasture. It kind of looked like there might be people around it, but I couldn’t say for sure. Then something...” a pause, then, “well, I'm sure it was an ATV, but it kinda sounded like a helicopter landed and took off again. I can’t swear to that, or that anythi
ng was flying out there since it had no lights on it, but that’s just the impression I got. I’m sorry, but I didn’t see anything else.”
“Thank you very much, Mrs. Lewis. If you think of anything you haven’t told me, anything at all, you just call either this number or the Sheriff’s Department and ask for me, alright?”
She promised she would, and, after he told her goodbye and hung up, he turned back to Fiona. “Well?”
“Well...I don’t know. I know her eye condition is common with people who see such things, but I don’t know what those things are. If someone was welding or shining a laser pointer around, I wonder if it might cause the same problem. And the possibility of a helicopter entering the mix...” She sighed. “I wish I could talk to more of the witnesses to those other events.”
“Maybe you can, or at least find out exactly what they reported. Hold on for just a minute.”
Luke turned back to the computer, spent about five minutes typing, and smiled.
“The official incident reports should start arriving within the next few hours.”
“How did you do that?”
“I’m a cop, so I put in an official request to the other affected departments; Jackson, Wood, and Cabell in West Virginia, and Gallia, Meigs and Vinton in Ohio. I told them I was investigating a similar case and I also asked them to check with the witnesses for eye issues, suggesting that somebody might be playing games with a powerful laser pointer or a similar device. Then I sent a request to the ophthalmology departments of all the area hospitals; they can’t give me any details due to HIPAA regulations, but they could tell me if there’s been a marked increase in people being treated for this type of injury lately.” Gesturing at the computer, he added, “You’ll have full access to all the reports, plus the witness’ phone numbers, so you’d better make sure your cell phone is charged up before we leave, because you should have plenty to keep you busy.”
“Wow...” She was stunned almost beyond words. He had just done most of her legwork for her. “I don’t know what to say!”
That grin again.
“How about something like, ‘Thank you Luke; you’re the greatest!’ That’s right before you give me a little kiss as a reward for a job well done.”
Her eyes twinkled as she told him, “Well, that depends.”
“Depends on what?”
“On whether you can get me that interview with Alison.”
Luke made another call to confirm it, and five minutes later and one not-quite-so-little kiss richer, they headed out the door, but, after he paused to lock it, something caught his eye on the railing by the swing.
“Are these yours?” he asked, picking up one of the pieces of limestone she had gathered as makeshift weapons the night before. Turning it over in his hand to examine it, he said, “I didn’t know you collected rocks. Cool, this one has a fossil mussel shell in it.”
Fiona dropped her eyes and looked at the boards of the porch as if there was something interesting there. By the light of day and with the passing of hours, the fear of the stranger the night before seemed very foolish, and she had almost convinced herself that her stalker was no more than some amorous drunk or one of the harmless but strange and occasionally frightening individuals virtually every town and neighborhood had. The thought of confessing what she was now sure was an overreaction on her part was so humiliating that she thought about lying, but she had just enough doubt that she couldn’t quite bring herself to do that, at least not to him.
The more she talked, the darker Luke’s face grew, until he was literally shaking with anger, and, seeing how seriously he seemed to be taking it, the fear came back, full-force.
There was none of his usual good humor when he told her, “Show me where.”
“You said the bulldog was brown and white?”
“Yeah,” Fiona confirmed, looking out the Jeep’s window at the passing houses as they reversed her travels from the night before, “at least, he looked like it. It was hard to tell for sure at night, you know. He was really big, though.”
Nodding, he said, “That would be Muggs; he belongs to Bob Withers on the other side of the block. He gets loose every now and then; he’s so strong, it’s hard to keep a chain on him. Nobody around here is afraid of him, though, because the worst he ever does is get in people’s garbage cans. He’s just a big baby. Kids stop and play with him all the time, and I’ve actually watched him lay down and let kittens crawl over him.”
“He didn’t look like much of a baby last night!”
“No, and that’s what surprises me. I can guarantee he wouldn’t have hurt you unless it was by jumping on you and knocking you down while trying to play, but this other guy...” He shook his head. “The only thing I can figure is, seeing him after you like that, it must have caused his protective instinct to kick in, and...well.”
“Do you think he might have...” Her voice trailed off, and Luke shrugged, a worried look painted across his face as they approached the spot where she’d last seen her attacker.
“I don’t know. I hope not; not for that son of a bitch’s sake, but for the dog’s.”
Fiona’s head bobbed once in agreement as Luke pulled the Jeep into the casket warehouse lot and parked it.
“I guess we’d better check, if you don’t mind.”
After closing the doors, they started walking, but they didn’t have to go far.
CHAPTER 17
Fiona didn’t think it was possible for one human being to throw up as much as she had; she knew she had nothing left inside, and yet her stomach still heaved, vainly trying to expel something that wasn’t there. Tears filled her eyes, but not all of it was from the puking.
That poor dog!
She had only known Muggs for maybe ten seconds at the outside, and he had scared the living shit out of her at that, but she was now firmly convinced that he’d also saved her life. And now...
Who the hell would do something like that to an animal? For that matter, who the hell could?
Luke, along with Harry, the Sheriff, the Point Pleasant Chief of Police, and a city patrolman named Earl McDonald, were all trying to figure out the same thing.
Not far from the railroad tracks, in the opposite direction from that Fiona had taken the night before, the road curved along the top of a very steep, brushy bank that bordered a large bowl-shaped depression that contained the town pool and baseball fields. Right now, the Chief and the Sheriff were standing at the top of the slope while Luke, Harry, and Earl, waist-deep in the weeds and underbrush, struggled to keep their footing while looking for clues, as well as other parts of the dog.
Muggs had literally been torn limb from limb, eviscerated, decapitated, dismembered, with several of the bits mangled even more, just for good measure. Someone had taken an unusually large, angry pit bull and ripped it to pieces. Not cut; ripped, as the ragged flesh at the severed ends, with their dangling veins and tendons attested, even to a layperson like Fiona, who had found the animal’s head, minus its lower jaw, at the top of the embankment, with the trail of various other assorted parts leading down through the crushed, bloody weeds and honeysuckle. It was at that point she had started throwing up.
“I think we've got it all.” She heard the voice of one of the cops, invisible from her line of sight, rising muffled over the steep bank. She couldn’t tell if it was Luke, but she wasn’t going to look again, either.
“All there is anyway,” Luke said, and she recognized his voice this time, “I’m not sure, but I don’t think all of him is here.”
When she heard that, her stomach evidently found something it had missed the first time, and she spat another mouthful on the ground.
Her gut finally stopped convulsing, but she still turned away when the men loaded the trio of garbage bags into the trunk of the state police cruiser before stripping off their rubber gloves and tossing them into a red bag marked with a black symbol and the words, BIOHAZARD. Wiping his hands with sanitizer as he approached, Luke asked her if she was alri
ght.
“I think so. It’s just that...I’ve never seen anything like this before!”
“Me either,” he assured her, shaking his head, “not even animals killed by other animals. We’ll get to the bottom of this, one way or another, and find this sick son of a bitch!”
She tried and managed a faint parody of a smile while she gestured at the other cops with a tilt of her head.
“I’m surprised you brought out this much manpower for...for a dog. I guess it’s because I’m involved, isn’t it?”
“Only in part; we’d have done it anyway.”
“Is it because you have so little crime?”
His mouth twisted in anger – and fear, she realized, not panic, but definitely a healthy fear – and he told her, “We don’t have a lot of crime, but when we do, it’s nothing like this.”
Holding up his left hand, he began counting on its fingers with his right, folding them down as he went. “One: there’s the savagery of this attack. Two; we don’t know how he did it, or what kind of weapon he used, but whatever it was, it must have been quick, because there are two houses less than a hundred feet from here, and nobody woke up. Three: any man that would do this to a dog would do it to a human being. A hell of a lot of serial killers and sexual sadists get their starts torturing and mutilating animals, and it’s not just Muggs; there’s that wave of mutilations going on right now, and he may very well be involved.
“And four...” He paused, briefly taking her hand. “He was following you, Fiona, and he had to have already been carrying whatever weapon he used on the dog with him.”
She would have fallen if he hadn’t had hold of her; as it was, the weight of the obvious implications made her lean against the Jeep for a moment to steady herself until the world quit spinning.
Oh my God! He was going to kill me!
That panic only lasted a couple of seconds, then she did as she always had, and turned it into anger.