“Poppy, run,” she said urgently. She got to her feet and yanked up the old man by his arm.
At the same time she heard the crash of brush ahead and knew the man was coming after them. A scream released from her as the crack of a gun splintered the air.
Thankfully Poppy was spry and seemed to know the woods. They held hands and ran as fast as their legs would take them. In the distance she heard the whine of the ATV and knew their pursuer had stopped his foot chase but intended to continue on the ATV.
The lights from the all-terrain vehicle bounced off the trees as the engine whined and crashed through the brush. With each step she took, Edie feared a bullet in her back.
Poppy’s beating had obviously been some sort of warning, but the fact that the man had shot a gun at them let her know he wasn’t warning anymore.
She nearly sobbed in relief as they made it back to her car. Poppy fell into the passenger seat while she threw herself in behind the steering wheel and punched the key into the ignition. As the engine roared to life she slammed the gear shift into Reverse.
The tires spun as she wheeled the car around for a quick escape. At the same time the ATV burst through the trees just behind them. Edie screamed and Poppy cursed as their back windshield shattered.
“Drive, girl!” Poppy yelled. “Put the pedal to the metal!”
Edie did just that, flooring the gas pedal and praying that the old clunker didn’t pick this particular time to conk out. She flew down the road, barely making the turn that would eventually lead them back into the heart of the town.
“Yee-haw,” Poppy yelled. “We lost him.”
Edie looked in her rearview mirror and released a shuddering sigh of relief, but there was no relief from the fear that still torched through her. There was only one man she wanted to see, one man who could make her feel safe in what had become a crazy world.
“Tell me how to get to Benjamin’s,” she said. She wasn’t sure what bothered her more, the fact that some crazy man in a hazmat suit had tried to kill them or her desperate need to be with a man she knew she shouldn’t want.
He was dreaming about her. Somewhere in the back of his sleep-addled mind Benjamin knew it was a dream and that he didn’t want to ever wake up.
Edie was in his arms, her green eyes glowing with smoky desire. His head filled with the scent of her, that slightly wild spicy fragrance that drove him half-wild.
Her skin was warm and silky against his and he wanted to take her, possess her in a way he’d never possessed another woman.
He was just about to do that when a loud banging broke the dream. Tiny began to bark and jumped off the foot of his bed and raced out of the room.
As the last vestige of the dream fell away, Benjamin leaped out of bed and grabbed the jeans he’d shucked off before going to sleep. As he yanked them on, the knocking at the front door continued. He grabbed his gun from the nightstand and then hurried out of the bedroom and down the hallway, turning on lights as he went.
What the hell? As he pulled open the door Edie and Walt tumbled inside. “He tried to kill us!” Walt exclaimed as Tiny’s barks grew sharper. “The bastard shot out the back window of Edie’s car.”
Benjamin had no idea what was going on or what had happened, but Walt’s words ripped a surge of unexpected protectiveness through him as he looked at Edie.
Her eyes were wide, her face pale and he quickly placed his hands on her shoulders and then ran them down her arms, ending with her trembling hands in his. “Are you all right?”
She gave a curt nod of her head. “I’m okay, and it wasn’t a space alien, but it was a man in a hazmat suit on an ATV.”
“A hazmat suit?” Walt looked as bewildered as Benjamin felt at the moment.
“Come on, let’s all go into the kitchen and you can tell me what’s going on.” Reluctantly Benjamin released Edie’s hands and they headed toward the kitchen.
Once there Benjamin gestured them into chairs at the table and as he sat, Tiny curled up at his feet, obviously exhausted by his earlier frantic barking. “Now, start at the beginning and tell me exactly what happened.”
As Edie told him the events of the night, a hard knot of tension formed in his chest, first that she and Walt would be foolish enough to venture out in the middle of the night and second because something terrible was obviously going on under the cover of night in the small town he loved.
“Where exactly did this happen?” he asked.
“That little clearing on Devon Moreland’s land,” Walt said with a frown. “So, they aren’t space men?” He looked at Edie and for a moment appeared older than his years.
She reached out and covered the old man’s hand with one of hers. “No, Poppy. The man in the woods was definitely human.”
Walt frowned and shook his head. “I feel like such a damned old fool.”
“He looked like a spaceman. Anyone might have made the same mistake,” Edie said gently and then looked at Benjamin. “He was burying something in the clearing. When he saw us, he pulled a gun and shot at us, then chased us on his ATV. He stopped chasing us when we hit Main Street.”
“But not before he blew out the back window of her car,” Walt added.
“I don’t suppose there’s any way you could make an identification?” Benjamin asked, although he knew the answer even before she shook her head.
“Impossible. With that suit on I couldn’t even swear that it was definitely a man and not a woman,” she replied.
Benjamin scooted back his chair from the table. “I don’t want you two going home tonight. Why don’t I get you settled in here and we’ll talk more in the morning.”
“I am tired,” Walt agreed as he also got up from the table. “I don’t like putting you out, but I have to confess I’d feel more comfortable at your place tonight.”
“I’ll just wait here while you get him settled in,” Edie said.
It took only a few minutes for Benjamin to make Walt comfortable in one of the guest bedrooms. As he headed back into the kitchen, his head reeled with all the information he’d heard. The idea of how close Edie and Walt had come to disaster horrified him.
He found her still in the chair at the table with Tiny in her lap. “What a sweet baby,” she said as she stroked Tiny’s dark fur.
“Don’t let him fool you. Beneath that goofy grin of his is a mutt determined to rule the world.” He was glad to see that she looked better than when she and Walt had initially flown through his front door.
“I hate to even ask this, but do you think you could take me back to where you and Walt were tonight? It’s been years since I’ve been anywhere near Devon Moreland’s property.”
“I think so,” she replied.
“I need to make some calls, get things lined up and then we’ll head out.” Although the last thing he wanted was to drag her out of the house once again, he needed her to show him exactly where all this had gone down.
He wasn’t worried about Walt somehow sneaking out again. As he prepared to leave he checked on the old man, who was snoring up a storm. Besides, if he awakened, the ranch was too far out of town for him to try to walk anywhere.
The first thing he did was call Tom and fill him in on what had occurred then made arrangements to meet both Tom and Caleb at the sheriff’s office in thirty minutes.
He pulled on a shirt and a jacket, checked on Walt one last time and then he and Edie got into his truck to make the drive back into town.
“I’m sorry you got involved in all this,” he said.
“Me, too. Although I’m more than a little curious to see what all this is,” she admitted. “That scene in the woods tonight felt like something out of a science fiction movie.”
“You and Walt could have been killed,” he said with a touch of censure.
“I know, we shouldn’t have been out there, but Poppy’s original plan was to take his gun and go alien hunting. I got him to agree to leave his gun at home by going with him.”
Benjamin fou
ght a shudder as he thought of the old man armed and running amok in the darkness. “I guess I should thank God for small favors.”
She released a sigh. “I was hoping that I would see something that had a logical explanation, something that would make me able to convince him there were no aliens in town.”
He glanced at her and then back at the road. “I don’t want you out again that late at night.”
“Don’t worry. I can say for sure that tonight was the first and the last of my alien hunting,” she replied drily.
“I’d also like for you and Walt to stay at the ranch until we figure out what’s going on,” he added.
“Surely that isn’t necessary,” she protested.
“I think it is,” he replied smoothly but firmly. “Those were real bullets that were fired at you tonight. We have to assume that the break-in at Walt’s is related, and that means he knows who you are and where you live. You saw him doing something he obviously didn’t want anyone to see and now he’ll see you as a real threat.”
As a deputy sheriff he wanted her at his place because he thought it was the best place for her to be. But his desire to have her stay at the ranch transcended his role as a deputy.
As a man he needed to protect what was his and even though he’d only known her for a couple days, somehow in that span, he recognized that he’d claimed her as his own.
He glanced at her again and saw the frown that whipped across her features. She sighed with weary resignation. “I guess I’d be a fool not to stay here.”
At that moment they pulled up in front of the sheriff’s office where Tom’s car was already parked. “I sent Caleb over to the fire department to pick us up a couple suits,” Tom said after he’d greeted them. “I figure if the perp felt the need to wear a hazmat suit when he was disposing of whatever he had, it’s best if we have them on when we dig it up.”
“Good idea,” Benjamin replied with a reassuring glance at Edie. She offered him a weak smile and at that moment Caleb arrived and they all headed to the area where Edie and Walt had encountered the man.
Tom and Caleb rode together in Tom’s car and followed Benjamin and Edie. “It sounds like Walt stumbled on some sort of illegal dumping,” he said as they left Main Street.
“At least we’ve solved the mystery of the space aliens and I know Poppy isn’t crazy.” She reached out and directed the heater vent to blow on her face.
“Cold?”
“Just chilled by everything that’s happened. Turn left ahead.”
He made the turn and checked his rearview mirror to see his brother’s car right behind his. “I suppose with everything that’s happened lately now wouldn’t be a good time to ask you if you’ve considered moving to Black Rock.”
“Why would I consider doing that?” she countered.
So I’d have the opportunity to see you every day of my life. The words played in his head but thankfully didn’t make it to his lips. “I know you’re going to be looking for a new job and a new place to live. I’m sure Walt would love having you here in town.”
“Maybe, but that’s not in my plans. We parked up there next to that tree.” She pointed ahead.
Benjamin pulled to a halt and cursed himself for being a fool. He seemed to be suffering his first major crush on a woman and other than her response to his kiss, she appeared fairly oblivious to his charms.
He only hoped that this crazy, giddy feeling he got whenever he was around her would fade as he got to know her better.
They all departed their vehicles and it was quickly decided that Benjamin and Tom would don the hazmat suits and go into the clearing while Caleb stayed with Edie.
The minute Benjamin was suited up all thoughts of romance and Edie fled from his mind. This was business and the fact that he and his brother wore hazmat suits meant it was serious business.
Together he and Tom made their way slowly into the clearing, their high-powered flashlight beams leading the way. The woods were still, as if any creatures had long left the area and were afraid to return.
Benjamin had his gun in hand, although he didn’t anticipate any trouble. Whoever had taken a couple shots at Walt and Edie from this clearing would be long gone.
Tom carried a metal container specifically designed to transport anything toxic they might find and in his other hand he carried a shovel. Edie had indicated that the person had buried something in a bag, so they weren’t looking for some kind of dump of liquid chemicals.
Once they reached the clearing, Tom set down the container and shovel and shone his flashlight on the ground. Benjamin did the same, seeking evidence of a burial site.
It didn’t take them long to find not one, but three different areas where it looked as if the ground had recently been disturbed.
Tom picked up his shovel and approached one of the areas. As Benjamin kept his light focused on the ground, Tom began to dig.
He’d removed only three shovels of dirt when Benjamin saw the glow Edie had told him about, a faint yellowish-green glow that definitely looked otherworldly.
He exchanged a worried glance with Tom. What in the hell was going on out here? What on earth could be the source of the weird glow?
His chest tightened with tension as dozens of crazy speculations raced through his head. There were no factories in town, no businesses that might generate any form of glowing toxic waste.
Another swipe with the shovel exposed a white plastic shopping bag with the name of the local grocer printed on the side. It was loosely tied at the top and together the two brothers crouched down to get a closer look.
It was obvious that the glow was coming from whatever was inside the bag. With a dry throat, Benjamin leaned over and untied the bag. As he looked inside a gasp of horror spilled out of him.
An arm.
An arm complete with a hand.
A tattoo of a snake decorated the skin just above the wrist, a tattoo Benjamin immediately recognized. The arm belonged to Jim Taylor, a seventy-eight-year-old man who had finally lost his battle with cancer two weeks ago, a man who had been buried in the cemetery about ten days earlier.
Chapter 6
“Walt Tolliver, what in blazes are you doing in my kitchen?”
The strident female voice pulled Edie abruptly from sleep. She remained buried beneath the blankets, reluctant to rise since she’d only gone to bed a couple hours before. A glance at the window let her know the sun was just beginning to break over the horizon.
“What do you think I’m doing? I’m looking to make myself some breakfast,” Walt replied.
As their voices grew softer, Edie closed her eyes once again, but sleep refused to immediately return. It had been after three when Caleb had finally driven her back to the ranch. Benjamin and Tom had remained in the woods and all Caleb would tell her was that the clearing was officially an active crime scene.
She had no idea what kind of crime had occurred there, but the thought that she’d seen part of it in progress chilled her to the bone.
She must have fallen asleep again, for when she next opened her eyes, the sun was shining fully into the room and she felt rested.
Sitting up, she looked around the room where she had slept. Caleb had told her that Benjamin wanted her in the guest room with the yellow bedspread. It was on the opposite side of the house from the bedroom where Walt had slept and across the hall from the master bedroom.
She knew it was the master bedroom because when she’d been looking for her room she’d gone into it first. The king-size bed looked as if somebody had jumped up in a hurry, the blankets and sheets tossed carelessly aside. The entire room had smelled of him and for just a minute as she’d gazed at the bed, she’d wanted to crawl into it and be enveloped by his scent.
The room where she’d slept was pleasant enough, with buttercup walls and yellow gingham curtains at the window. She had no idea what to expect from the day, but was eager to hear from Benjamin about exactly what they had discovered in the clearing.
She got up and went into the bathroom across the hall for a quick shower. As she put on the same clothes, she made a mental note that if they were going to stay here another night she needed to go to Poppy’s place and pick up some clothes for both of them.
She left the bathroom and headed down the hallway and into the living room, where she looked around, interested in the place Benjamin called home.
The requisite flat-screen television hung above the stone fireplace and the sofa was a brown and black pattern. She knew instinctively that the black recliner would be Benjamin’s seating of choice. She could easily imagine him there, his long legs stretched out before him and Tiny on his lap.
Thinking about the dog, she wondered where he was this morning. When she entered the kitchen she got her answer. Poppy sat at the table eating what smelled like a freshly baked blueberry muffin and Tiny sat at his feet, obviously waiting for any crumb that might fall to the floor.
The dog wagged his tail at the sight of her and at the same time a gray-haired older woman who stood at the stove turned and smiled. “There she is,” she exclaimed.
She bustled to Edie’s side and led her to a chair at the table. “I’m Margaret, honey, not that your grandfather would think of making an introduction.”
“Hell’s bells, Margaret, you didn’t give me a chance to introduce you,” Walt grumbled. “She can talk a body to death, that one can,” he said to Edie, but he had a distinct sparkle in his eyes.
“Don’t listen to him,” Margaret said. “How about I whip you up some breakfast? Maybe some pancakes or eggs and toast?”
“If Edie wants breakfast I’ll be more than happy to fix her something,” Walt said as he began to rise.
“This is my kitchen,” Margaret said in a huff. “I’ll do the cooking around here.”
“Poppy, finish your muffin, and thank you, Margaret, but I’m really not hungry. However, a cup of coffee would be great,” Edie said.
Margaret got her the coffee and then sat at the table across from her. “You look just like your mama, God rest her soul,” she said. “A sweet girl she was and I was sorry to hear about her death.”
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