by Hadena James
In reality, I expected Franklin to blow me off. So, my niece had been given a single tablet of Ketamine, no biggie. There were much worse drugs available to teenagers and there was the real possibility that Krokodil would be hitting the urban centers soon.
He didn’t though. He took all the information. His fingers could be heard typing on a keyboard as I talked. Then promised to be in touch.
This meant something. Somehow, I had managed to create a rapport with a DEA agent. It was a nice change from other law enforcement officials who whispered about our mental health and choice of jobs.
My intention was to stare at the “Apex” bullets some more. They were custom jobs. There couldn’t be that many ammunition manufacturers that could build them. Of course, someone had thought of that before and it had gotten him or her nowhere.
“Hey, Cain,” the gate attendant, Jimmy, said as I stopped to get buzzed in, “I was just about to send someone to your place. You have a package.”
“A package?” I asked. I didn’t receive a lot of packages and when I did, they usually bled. “Is it something dead?”
“Quite the opposite,” Jimmy buzzed the gate and I pulled my car through it. Once the gate was closed, I got out of the car and walked to the guard shack. Jimmy was holding a leash. Attached to the leash was a dog, a cute dog with a curled tail, big paws, and tiny legs.
“You’re kidding, right?”
“Nope, he was delivered about twenty minutes ago. The paperwork says he’s a rescue dog. They know he is part Akita, but not the other stuff.” Jimmy handed me the paperwork to sign.
“Akitas are big dogs, and this isn’t that big of a dog.”
“You’ve never had a dog before, have you?”
“Not that I remember.”
“Dogs start out as puppies. Yours is about five months old.”
“What am I going to do with a dog?” I asked no one.
“Feed it, play with it, start staying in pet friendly hotels, let it poop in Blake’s yard,” Jimmy offered suggestions.
I took the paperwork and examined it to find out who had sent me a dog. I had expected it to be a giant joke at my expense from Xavier, or a companion from Lucas and Trevor. Instead, the name at the bottom of the form was my mother’s.
Putting the puppy in the car, I told the guards thanks while silently wondering if my mother had lost her damn mind. To give me a puppy was beyond unexplainable. I was never home and I didn’t know what to do with it when I was.
“Mom!” I shouted as I walked into the house, puppy still on its leash.
“Oh good, he arrived,” she squealed. “Isn’t he just the cutest thing ever?”
“Well, he’s cuter than the grandkids that you thought were adorable and I thought looked like tiny aliens. Why did you get me a puppy? I’m never home. How am I supposed to take care of him?”
“I didn’t get you a puppy,” she blinked at me. “I got us a puppy. A little unconditional love could go a long way around here. It’ll be good for both of us.”
“Us? I’m confused by the us? Are we time sharing the dog?”
“You don’t remember, do you?”
“Remember what?”
“I’m moving in here. With Patterson in jail, my getting older, and you being notorious, you decided I should come live with you,” my mother told me. “Besides, you need someone to help take care of you when you are home. You’re always bruised, broken, burnt, and beat up.”
“That’s a lot of ‘B’ words. Do you have it in writing that I made this decision?”
“I do. We had a contract drawn up,” my mother handed me some paperwork. The first clause was that we got a puppy. I checked the last page. It was definitely my signature at the bottom. What the hell had the drugs done to me?
Home
The top of the paper said “A: excellent work!” It was excellent work. Jess had poured herself into the paper and been rewarded appropriately. Of course, she had known that she would be. It was rare for her to get anything less than an A. Once in a great while, she scored an A-, but she always did extra work to keep it from hurting her grades.
“Hey!” Her best friend, Becky Childs, called to her from down the hall. “Are you going this weekend?” Matt Dover was hosting a party at his house on Saturday, while his parents visited his grandmother in Colorado. Becky had the hots for Matt. Matt didn’t seem to reciprocate, but that didn’t stop Becky from trying.
“I don’t know yet,” Jess answered. She slung her book bag over her shoulder and sized up her friend again. Becky was attractive. Black hair with just a hint of purple, fair skin that didn’t belong to her Spanish heritage, and absolutely zero acne. Her eyes were a rich brown, like coffee with a dollop of cream. Jess still hadn’t figured out why Matt didn’t like Becky. She had offered to find out, but Becky refused to let Jess intervene.
“Even you deserve a night of fun and booze,” Becky chided her. “One night won’t kill you or your status as future valedictorian.”
“You’re right,” Jess sighed. “Maybe Simon will be there. We should go shopping before the party. Got plans this afternoon?”
“Well, I’m supposed to be studying, but I could use a new outfit for the party,” Becky laughed. “Want to meet around six tonight? I have to make sure the brats get home.” Becky had two younger sisters. Her mother worked in Austin and her dad worked in San Antonio, so she was responsible for making sure her sisters made it home and started their homework.
The house was quiet when Jess got home. Her parents were both at work and she didn’t have any younger siblings. It didn’t take long for her to get settled on the couch and get Netflix turned on. She checked her social media while watching a rerun of Gossip Girl.
Her mother, Carly, surprised her by walking through the door before the episode was even half over. Carly looked grim. Her eyes were red rimmed. The skin around her upper lip was red, a sign she’d been chewing on it, a terrible habit that manifested when Carly Blanks was very upset.
“Mom, what’s wrong?” Jess asked, concerned. Her mother was a pediatrician. It was rare for the doctor to show raw emotion as she was right now.
“We need to talk, Jessie,” Carly put down her shoulder bag. She hadn’t brought home any files or paperwork. That was really unusual too. Jess’s stomach tightened. “You know the boy, Nathan, that went missing a few months ago, they found him. They found him and others today, in a well, near the Hawthornes’ place.”
“Nathan?” Jess searched her memory. She vaguely remembered him. He was a skateboarder that had been in her English class. Jess had lured him out to the Hawthorne farm using the promise of easy sex, and then she’d stabbed him in the back and tossed him in the well with four other bodies. His car and skateboard had been found on a dirt road on the other side of town. Jess wondered how they had found her previous dumping grounds. The Hawthornes hadn’t used that well as long as she’d been alive. It was too far from the house for the scent to give it away and she’d dumped in a bunch of lye from the Hawthornes’ soap making stockpiles.
“He was in your class, you mentioned his disappearance at the beginning of the year,” Carly told her. Jess studied her face for a moment, took note of the shock and horror, and attempted to mimic it as she sat down.
“I remember. He’s dead? Who else did they find?”
“They haven’t released any other names. I’m not sure they know yet. Nathan wasn’t as badly decomposed as the others.”
That was good information. The lye must need to be layered. She’d done that with the first three bodies, but had gotten lazy with Nathan. Angela Schmidt had gone in after Nathan and she’d taken the time to dump the lye on her. Angela’s body must have protected Nathan’s from the caustic material and slowed decomposition.
Of course, now she had changed dumping grounds to the abandoned ranch. She needed something to put on the bodies she planned to put there. Also, if she was going to continue with her new method, she would have to learn to kill them somewhere else
and then put them in the cellar. That would get tiring. Volleyball kept her body strong, but dead bodies were heavy. There was no way to target victims smaller than her and even if she did, they would be heavy if she had to move them very far.
Her mother was talking to her about the nature of death and about how shocking it was to lose a classmate to violence. Jess was only half listening. She’d blame her reaction on shock if anyone asked too many questions. Killing someone in the cellar was risky, but the entrance was well hidden and the ceiling had been thick. It was more like a fallout shelter than a cellar. However, if she moved her activity to the barn, the risk intensified exponentially. Kids used the barn to smoke pot and throw parties.
Of course, there were other buildings on the property, and some were more dilapidated than others, but she could start using one of these buildings for her purposes. She would have to do more reconnaissance on the area.
“Honey, are you alright?” Carly touched Jess’s hand, making Jess jump.
“Yeah, no, I don’t know, Mom. I didn’t know Nathan, but it’s shocking to find out someone your own age has been murdered.” Jess frowned. “These are supposed to be some of the best years of our lives and to be snuffed out so uncaringly during that time seems surreal.”
“If you want to talk, you can. I’m here, your dad will be available and I’m sure they will make the school counselor available. We can go to Austin and you can see someone privately. You’ve always been unsure about death, since you watched your grandmother pass away. There’s no shame in seeking a professional to help you sort out your feelings.”
“Thanks, Mom, but I’m okay, I just need to process this information. Do you think it’s safe to go out? I’m supposed to meet Becky tonight to go to the mall.”
“Why wouldn’t it be?” Carly asked.
“Well, they did find five people in a well. I don’t think they were all dropped in by different people,” Jess said pointedly.
“As long as you two stick together, I’m sure you will be fine. Does this trip to the mall have anything to do with Matt’s party this weekend?”
“It does and how did you know?” Jess smiled at her mother.
“I hear things. Go get a new outfit, dear, and have some fun. Maybe hanging out with Becky will help you process,” Carly smiled.
Five
Some people hated flying, others loved it; I was somewhere in the middle. It wasn’t the worst thing on the planet, but it wasn’t the greatest either. My ears didn’t always pop as they should. The drone of the plane’s engines caused a small headache, and even though I was the only passenger on the small, private jet, I couldn’t fall asleep. This was partly because I had trouble sleeping on planes and partly because I had just finished reading a book on crystal skulls.
Keeping an open mind was very important to me. My best guy friend believed that cattle mutilations were either secret government projects, or aliens in search of food. My best girlfriend believed that the space race was about creating a super weapon that would blow up any asteroids, intent on recreating the extinction event that wiped out the dinosaurs.
However, even I wasn’t buying the legend of the Skull of Doom. It was so farfetched that I was willing to believe aliens carved it and accidentally dropped it on one of their animal mutilation food foraging trips, while they watched the space around earth to keep another extinction level asteroid from happening. It was absolutely not a hand carved Mayan artifact found in Belize in 1927, as the legend claimed.
Thankfully, the plane was beginning its descent. I was landing in Austin, Texas, but it might as well have been the dark side of the moon. I knew nothing about Austin or Texas. I had never had a desire to visit the state. The cartels dominated most of the border towns and I had no intention of tangling with the cartels. Texas had its own elite law enforcement; the Texas Rangers, and they didn’t invite the federals in very often.
The team was already on the ground in a town called San Marcos. We had, in fact, been invited by the Texas Rangers to deal with a serial killer. They’d only found five bodies, which didn’t seem that high, but since Texas was currently in a border war with the cartels, they were really hoping we’d swoop in, claim it was the cartel, and go on our merry way. From what Gabriel had said after telling me I was cleared for duty, it was not going to be the case.
We landed at a small airfield outside the city limits. Theoretically, I was going to have an escort to San Marcos, but as I debarked the plane, I didn’t see one. There was a small lobby area and I made my way to it. It was already getting warm in Texas and I saw no reason to stand in the heat and wait for my ride.
There was a small cafeteria, a kiosk selling tourist crap, a waiting area with chairs, and a security station manned by two guards. No one looked at me as I wandered in from the tarmac. Everyone was glued to his or her electronic devices. It was amazing how often technology actually disconnected us from the world. My iPhone was securely shoved in my back pocket. Whether it was charged or not, I had it.
I liked the benefits of technology, but I didn’t have to have the latest and greatest of anything. Most of my electronic devices became gaming and book reading equipment after about a week. Sure, I could make and receive phone calls, but it was the only phone feature I used. I didn’t even have social media profiles. My niece, Cassie, kept trying to get me to download something called Snapchat, but I hadn’t because I wasn’t sure I’d be able to figure out how to use it.
A shirt caught my attention. It was tie-dyed and in bold, glittery letters, said “Keep Austin Weird.” I had no idea what that meant, but once I had seen the phrase, it began jumping out at me from other items. It was plastered on coffee mugs, ink pens, postcards, and even a small teddy bear. From what I had seen of Austin, the only thing weird was this phrase bombarding me from kitsch souvenirs.
“Marshal Cain?” A woman’s voice made me turn around. “Ranger Stephanie LaComb; I apologize for the wait. There was a big flap this morning that I was trying to deal with.”
“I understand.” Ranger LaComb had a strong accent. She was petite, both shorter and lighter than I was, blond and pretty. The pantsuit she wore made her appear dainty. Her blond hair was long and arranged into a thick braid that ran to the middle of her back. If my hair would have been capable of staying in a braid, I would have considered letting it grow long. It wouldn’t, too fine to stay in such an intricate fashion. I was trying not to make snap judgments, however, Ranger LaComb didn’t impress me at first sight. I had learned this meant little, some small, dainty women were actually badasses, and she could be one of those. After all, she was a Texas Ranger.
“There are reporters out front, so we’ll go out the back, if you don’t mind.” LaComb began leading the way to a door marked “Authorized Personnel Only” that had a keypad.
“What sort of flap happened last night?” I asked.
“A bunch of local stoners from the college swear they saw a UFO abduct a girl,” LaComb smiled. “It is Austin.”
“Is there a missing girl?” I asked.
“Around here, there are lots of missing girls. It’s a college town. It has crime like any place else and it has deserters. Kids who run home to mommy and daddy and don’t tell anyone, or run off with their girlfriends or boyfriends and don’t tell anyone. In this case, the girl was here at the airport, and the witnesses were smoking weed laced with LSD when a bright light landed, aliens got out and abducted her, then it took off again. We believe she got on a private jet and are attempting to follow up with her parents, but the idiots went to the press before us, so it’s a feeding frenzy.”
“Gotcha. That’s why I prefer serial killers, there usually aren’t witnesses left to describe aliens.” I stopped as a word floated through my head. My witnesses never described aliens, but they did see monsters. Gabriel had seen a wendigo when he had been young. It had attacked a classmate, broke the kid’s leg and began sucking on the splintered bone. The kid died of infection and the monster got away. Gabriel was convince
d it was a wendigo. The terrified look on his face ensured I didn’t argue that he had simply replaced the face of a real person with the legendary creature because of shock when he finally told me the story.
“That’s an odd thing to say,” LaComb pushed through the door and we entered a quiet hallway.
“Well, if it turns out to be a missing person, your only lead flies around in a saucer shaped disk with a bright light.”
“I see your point.” We exited the airport terminal. A black truck with tinted windows and a light bar was running near a hanger. I tossed my bags into the backseat and climbed into the front, thankful for the running boards. “So how long will it take to make a determination if we have a serial killer in San Marcos or not?”
“My presence is an indication that the distinction has already been made and San Marcos has one. One who, by all accounts, is rather tame. The killer is using a single stab wound, indicating that they enjoy the finality of it, not the brutality of it.”
“Killing is killing.”
“People kill for different reasons. Some like the torture of the death. Some like the death itself. I’m not a shrink, so I can’t tell you why there’s a difference, but I can tell you there is one. This one should be relatively easy to catch. They may even consider it mercy killing. My file says they are still working to identify all the bodies.”
“Yeah, it appears the killer put lye in the well.” Ranger LaComb maneuvered away from the airport via an access road. “So, there is no way this is the cartels?”