by Desiree Holt
“I’ve heard of him.” The woman across from Regan smiled at her. “I’m Chelsea Roland. I was a private investigator before joining the team. I didn’t connect the name at first but when Dante called to let us know he was bringing you here, it clicked a switch in my head. He wrote There Be Dragons, right?”
“Yes.” She relaxed infinitesimally. “A lot of people have used that book as the basis for fantasy novels.”
“It’s a great book,” Chelsea told her. “He was a fabulous writer. He made everything so exciting.”
“Thank you. So…he decided he wanted to research something a little closer to home, a legend that he might actually prove was true.” She pulled in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “So he’d been researching the Chupacabra.”
Dante tensed, waiting for the reaction. His tension loosened a little when everyone just nodded, as if they’d been expecting it. And maybe they had, after his phone call and insistence on bringing Regan to the ranch.
“Is that his research?” Ric indicated the boxes.
“Some of the books he bought. Yes. But his notes and theories are on this flash drive. I’ve read it. All of it. Since this happened, I mean. I can give you a kind of summary, if you’d like. Then you’re free to go through everything yourselves.”
“Let’s hear the short version first,” Logan prompted.
“Yes. Well.” She took a sip of her drink. “You know there have been reported sightings of the Chupacabra in Puerto Rico, as far north as Maine and as far south as Chile.”
“We definitely know about Maine,” Sophia interjected. “The devil beast has attacked twice in that state.”
Regan nodded. “It’s also been sighted, supposedly, in Northern Mexico and the southwestern United States.”
“We’ve dealt with those areas too,” Dakota Grey mentioned.
Regan took another swallow of her drink. “I don’t want to feel like I’m giving a speech here. Anyway, the animals it attacks are usually goats or sheep or other farm animals that size. Nowhere in its history is there mention of larger animals.”
Ben Crater raised his hand. “I’d say that’s right. It actually showed up at the entrance to my barn but I was grooming Soldier, my horse, and instead of attacking, it disappeared as if it hadn’t even been there.”
“I know Reed was frustrated because experts were dismissing the sightings as simply coyotes with a specific parasite. Sarcoptes scabies would leave the animals with little fur, thickened skin and a rank odor.”
“But,” Ric interjected, “that wouldn’t explain the scaly arms, the ridged spine, the enlarged teeth with extended fangs or the claws long enough to rip open a body from neck to navel.”
“Reed said the same thing,” she agreed. “He also felt it had many of the same characteristics ascribed to vampires. You know, draining the blood from the body, avoiding direct sunlight.” She smoothed back a stray hair that had escaped her ponytail. “He has all these books, some of them decades old, that people wrote about personal experiences with the beast. And he collected drawings, conducted interviews, all the things he usually did in the research phases of his books. He really immersed himself in it.”
“Okay, so he’s got a lot of material we can dig into,” Jonah said. “We’re certainly grateful for it and you can bet we’ll examine all of it. But answer this—why were he and his fiancée at Pedernales Falls State Park, hiking Wolf Mountain Trail, on that particular day at that particular time? Was that part of his research?”
She nodded. “He had developed some kind of program on the computer that he thought helped him predict where and when the beast would strike again. He was convinced it would be hunting on the mountain.”
Sophia raised her eyebrows. “Even with all the people the place usually draws? It’s been our experience the beast seeks isolated prey and strikes when the prey’s most vulnerable. Not in the middle of a crowd.”
Regan spread her hands. “I don’t know what to tell you except Reed said the parameters all pointed to that area. There were…reasons why he felt that way.”
“What reasons?” Dante wanted to know.
“Just—reasons. He didn’t want Lisa to go with him but she insisted. I know he had a heavy duty handgun with him so I don’t know why he didn’t use it.”
“He might not have had time,” Logan Tanner told her. “There are few survivors of a Chupacabra attack, just enough of them so we had an idea what we were looking for.”
Regan pushed her chair back from the table and grabbed one of the boxes, digging in it for a book. She leafed through it until she found what she wanted.
“Here. This is from a writer who interviewed an eyewitness. It’s enough to scare you to death, if you’ll pardon the pun. Let me read it to you and you can tell me if it falls in line with what you all know.”
“The full moon rose above the mountain in the cloudless night, shining like a pale yellow lantern into the farmer’s bedroom. But that wasn’t what woke him. It was the chickens. Their panicked cries had awoken him before, and it meant they were under attack. Wild dogs had gotten into the coop, the farmer thought, or perhaps a wolf. He leapt from bed, grabbed his shotgun from the bedroom corner and hurried outside. He checked the gun for cartridges as he jogged barefoot past the long, soft shadows cast by the moonlight, toward the chicken coop.
“The predator will die tonight, he thought, as he pushed open the small door to the coop. He burst in and took aim. But he didn’t shoot.
“Instead, he froze, his senses overwhelmed by the sight before him.
“Several chickens lay dead in the dirt around the clawed feet of a creature the farmer had never seen before. This was no dog, no wolf. It stood on two legs at about the height of a tall child. It had dark, scaly skin and a ridge of porcupine-like spines running over its head and down its back. With short arms ending in sharp, claw-like hands, the creature held a chicken to its mouth. It was not eating its prey, but seemed to be sucking the life from it.
“It turned to face the farmer, its red eyes blazing, and dropped the chicken to the ground. It hissed, baring its large, bloodstained fangs. Then it screeched—an unearthly, terrifying noise that drove the farmer backward into the doorway. The creature, with its front claws dangling, hopped like some mutant kangaroo toward the farmer. Dumbstruck, he stumbled out of the coop as the creature hopped past him with another deafening shriek. The farmer was knocked to the ground, and he could feel the rough, scaly skin of the creature as it passed, and felt the warm, sickening smell of its putrid breath on his face.”
She glanced around at everyone, noting that Randi was translating the words into drawings as she listened. “Does that sound like it’s on track? Because there’s a lot more of that kind of stuff in the rest of the books. I think most of the passages are stickered and marked.”
“They’ll be helpful,” Ric answered. “The description fits a lot with the beasts we’ve actually managed to kill. Jonah and Mark discovered small animals had been destroyed at or near the killing scenes in South Texas. So did Dante and I when we scouted Pedernales. And Logan checked out a news report in Alabama that indicated the same thing. Our assumption has been that the beast feeds on small prey in between its major kills. That’s what momentarily satisfies it bloodlust.”
“Maybe its habits are changing.” This from Mark.
Ric shook his head. “I think it could be more than that. If we’re right and scientists are genetically engineering these things, then they could implant signals that draw it only to human prey.”
“It’s possible that was part of what Reed discovered in his research,” Regan told them.
Rebecca shuddered. “What scares the crap out of me is that some insane idiot is actually breeding these things on purpose. Implanting artificial intelligence…”
“As Reed studied and charted the more recent incidents,” Regan told them, “he had the same idea.”
“Yes,” Ric told her. “Craig Stafford, our boss, has scientists who autopsy each c
arcass we’re able to deliver. In the last few, they found computer chips in the brains. But the programming is so sophisticated they haven’t been able to crack them yet.”
Dante felt Regan shiver beneath his fingers, still resting lightly on her shoulder. “I’ve had nightmares ever since Reed and Lisa disappeared. Now I probably won’t sleep at all.”
Sophia gave her a sympathetic look. “We’ve all been there, I promise you. I can’t promise we’ll locate Lisa. We’re still on the hunt for Chloe’s friend. But we can offer you support and the resources of the team.” She glanced at Ric. “Right? We can help her?”
“We’re going to track this thing anyway,” Dante pointed out.
“We can’t make her a part of the team,” Ric told them. “Not without Craig’s say-so.” He smiled. “But we can make her an associate member. That work for everyone?”
There were a lot of nods and murmurs of assent.
“Okay, then. If we’re all finished stuffing our faces, let’s see what Reed Fortune had on this flash drive and integrate it with what we already know.” He paused. “I’m going to make an educated guess here that the next strike won’t be in a place as populated as the state park. So let’s see if Reed’s work can help us find out where it actually will be.”
Working quickly, they disposed of all the trash and rearranged things on the table. Dante noticed that Regan still kept the leather satchel close to her. What in the hell was in there that she couldn’t let the thing out of her sight?
Then Ric plugged Regan’s flash drive in and threw the information up on the screen. Everyone’s focus turned to the data scrolling slowly from top to bottom.
* * * * *
Dan Hammond swallowed the last of the coffee in his mug and carried it to the sink. His wife, Tina, was just putting the leftovers away. They had eaten late, giving Dan time to finish riding herd with the others until all the cattle were moved. In the distance, he heard a sound that caught his ear—and disturbed him.
“Don’t tell me that yappy little mutt’s hanging around again,” he growled.
“What mutt?” she asked.
“Some stray got into one of the pastures today and was barking up a storm at the cattle. Thank god the boys kept the herd calm. Ron took off chasing the mutt. Apparently it’s scared of horses. Fine by me.”
“You think that’s what you’re hearing now?”
“Yeah. We need to get rid of it before it causes some trouble.”
“A little dog?” Tina laughed. “Just tell it to shoo.”
“Ha ha ha.” He picked up the landline that connected directly to the barn. He knew Nate Ferrante, his foreman, would still be out there finishing up chores from today. “Nate? That dog get into the yard out there?”
“Yeah, boss.” Nate’s gravelly voice came over the line. “I haven’t the faintest idea how it got in here.”
Dan realized the night was suddenly silent. “You must have gotten rid of it because I don’t hear it anymore.”
“You know, it’s crazy. It was right in the yard in front of the barn. I was at the corral leading Bo back to his stall. I left him out there most of today since no one was riding him. Anyway, as soon as that damn dog saw the horse he took off past the barn, headed for the trees. And boss? He just fucking disappeared.”
“Disappeared?”
“Uh-huh. If it was darker I’d say the night swallowed it up, but it’s still twilight. Damned if I can figure it out.”
Dan sighed. “Okay. If it shows up again we need to find a way to trap it and call animal control. See you in the morning.”
He hung up the phone and scratched his head.
“Maybe it’s just a stray looking for a home,” Tina ventured.
“I’ll tell you, I’m an animal lover but there’s something about this one. I wouldn’t give it house room. Not for a minute.”
“Maybe it won’t show up again. How about an after-dinner drink? You look like you could use one.”
“Now that’s the best idea I’ve heard all day.” He chuckled and put his arm around her. “I knew there was a reason I liked having you around.”
Chapter Five
Everyone on the team was visibly exhausted. Mental gymnastics were often more tiring than physical labor. Ric had put Reed’s diagrams and codes up on all the screens so they could each study them. Even to Regan they were so much gibberish, but somewhere in there was the key to why Reed and Lisa had been at Wolf Mountain on that particular day, and they were determined to find it.
But despite using every program Ric had, they still couldn’t figure it out.
“Bedtime,” he finally told everyone. “We need fresh eyes on this. Tomorrow I’m going to write a couple of new programs and we’ll see if that helps.”
“I feel as if it’s right there in front of us,” Mark said, “and we’re just missing it.”
“That’s why we need to look at it after a good night’s sleep.” Ric leaned back in his chair and stretched. “There’s something else I want to do, also.”
“What’s that?” Dante asked.
“I know Craig tried to get the authorities to buy in, coming at it from the top down by using his contacts. But tomorrow I’m going to call my old Ranger captain. We had a good relationship. I want to try talking to him. See if he’ll agree to let us work together.”
“I can understand they don’t want to start a panic,” Logan said. “But we have resources they don’t. We can help them predict what areas the beast might invade next and suggest ways to track it.”
“Some of you talked about the beast being able to change shapes,” Regan said. “You saw in Reed’s notes that he thought so too. Would that have anything to do with why he thought the mountain would be the location?”
“I can’t really tell until I actually write a program that takes all his information,” Ric answered, “sorts it and produces the same conclusions he did. Let’s let it simmer overnight. We’ll get some rest and hit it again tomorrow.”
Regan cleared her throat. “I really didn’t think about this when Dante brought me here, but I have no wheels. Is there some way I can get home without disrupting anyone?”
“I think you should stay here,” Dante said. “That way we won’t have to go get you before working on this in the morning.”
”So what, then?”
“He has such class.” Sophia laughed. “We have plenty of space here, Regan. We’ll fix you up so you’re very comfortable.”
He could tell the offer made her feel somewhat awkward. After all, she hardly knew anyone except him and they barely knew each other. Except for that explosive moment of intimacy, of course. And he didn’t intend to stash her at the opposite end of the ever-expanding ranch house either.
“I’ll help you get settled,” he said, giving her a tiny squeeze.
He saw a few team members exchange glances. He needed to figure out how to help Regan relax a little in this situation, and he guessed he wasn’t doing a great job.
But damn it, he…
He what?
He’d better figure it out in a fucking big hurry.
“The suite next to yours is empty,” Sophia told him, trying not to grin. “Rebecca’s already moved her stuff into Logan’s.”
“And there’s almost everything you’ll need,” Chloe added. “We keep the place stocked for when we add new team members.” She let a smile curve her lips. “Which seems to be happening at a pretty fast pace lately.”
“I don’t want to put anyone out.” Regan lifted a hand and let it drop. “I don’t even have any clothes with me.”
“Don’t worry. We’ll fix you up. And tomorrow Dante can go to your house and get whatever you’ll need.”
Ric nodded. “It just makes sense for you to stay here while we wrestle with this, Regan. We can keep you out of sight and protect you here, and you can help us figure out Reed’s research.”
Dante felt the strain ease from her muscles. “Okay. I guess you’re right. And thank you.”
>
Chloe laughed. “You can thank Craig when you meet him. It’s his money that keeps us so well supplied.”
“Come on.” Dante took her hand. “I’ll show you the way.”
“I had no idea this place was so big,” she commented as he led her through the kitchen and the central part of the house to one of the bedroom wings. “It doesn’t look it from the front.”
“That’s because of the way it’s built. And the way the architects design the add-ons.” He led her down a hallway and stopped in front of an oak door. “Here we are. Your royal digs.”
He pushed the door open and waved her inside. Saw her eyes widen as she took in the suite, with its combined, comfortably decorated sitting room and bedroom, carefully selected furniture and Texas art on the walls. He waited while she checked out the bathroom.
“Wow!” Her eyes were shining when she walked back into the sitting room. “That tub would be big enough for a party, I think. And the gals were right. The bathroom holds just about anything I could need.”
“And full electronics,” he told her. “Satellite television. A dedicated T-1 DSL. Internal antenna to boost cell signals. Whatever you need electronically. You just won’t be able to go on and off the property without me. Only team members get the codes for the main gate and the surveillance cameras.”
“No problem, I won’t be going anywhere. But surveillance cameras?” The look on her face was puzzled. “You’re in the middle of nowhere. Who would even think of trying to sneak in here?”
“Maybe no one, but Craig insisted on full security. Not everyone would think we’re the good guys.”
She gave him a tired smile. “In case I forgot, thank you so much for everything. I can’t say I feel entirely better than I did before we met today but I feel as if I’m not so alone.”
“That’s what I wanted.” He started to reach for her but Sophia breezed into the suite.
“This should get you through tonight.” She put a small stack of clothing on the credenza. “We’re about the same size. I brought jeans and a sweatshirt, and a nightshirt to sleep in. Hope that’s okay until we can get your own things.”