by Tim Miller
“All right, Manuel. I’ll check it out.” Garrett said without turning around.
“Great. I’ll get you a flight booked to El Paso for tonight,” Manuel said as he headed out, closing the door behind him. Garrett turned back to his desk and sat down. He opened the bottom drawer and dug through a stack of papers. Underneath the stack was an old manila folder. Opening the folder, he spread the contents out on his desk. One of the photos was a picture of himself as a young DPS trooper pointing a shotgun at a bloody man lying on the ground.
The rest of the photos showed various dead bodies. Some were deformed in all sorts of twisted ways. One had been made into a human chair. There were human bones used as furniture and jewelry. Things like lamp shades, blankets and clothing made from human skin. Bodies buried or nailed to crosses in various states of decay. All of it happened in this tiny town so far off the beaten path it had existed for decades without anyone ever knowing it was there.
Garrett had tried not to think about that day ever since. This was the first time he’d looked at the file in ages. Even though it was that incident that had gotten him promoted to the Rangers. It wasn’t something he bragged about. The incident itself had been swept under the rug. The Governor didn’t want the national media getting a hold of another Texas serial killer story. This was worse than any serial killer, or even family of killers. It was a whole town filled with atrocities that would make Nazi Germany look tame.
Garrett closed the folder and put his hands over his face. He hadn’t even been back to El Paso since all that happened. This was not going to be easy. A big part of him hoped it was a cartel or maybe a religious cult. At least that would be interesting and something he could wrap his brain around. But Hell, Texas being back in operation again? That was not something he could ever prepare himself for. He stood, grabbed his hat, and headed to his truck. The only thing worse than going back to Hell, Texas was having to explain to his wife why he couldn’t take her to Vegas next week.
Chapter 4
Lacey Carter and Kevin Heath hiked along the rocky trail as the sun beginning to set.
“Are you sure this is the right way?” Lacey said. They had been hiking all day. The trip was only supposed to last a few hours to check out a set of caves Kevin had discovered. They never did find the caves, and now they couldn’t find the car.
“Yes! I’m positive. Will you stop your nagging? You’re not this bad when I drive.”
“Because when you drive we aren’t wandering on foot in the wilderness for hours.”
They had run out of food and water hours ago. Lacey’s throat was dry and her feet, legs, and back were killing her. Kevin was the big outdoorsman. She would have rather gone to the beach. She and Kevin had only been dating a couple of months. He always talked about his adventures in the wilderness. You’d have thought the guy was Davy Crockett by listening to him. So she trusted him on her first ever nature hike with him, and here there were, starving, lost, and dehydrated.
“The car is just over that ridge up ahead,” he said.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. I’m positive.”
“That’s what you said the last place you sent us.”
“I was just turned around. I’m positive this time. Come on.”
“We need some water.”
“Jesus, will you quit your whining? God. Such a baby. I was on a hike where I broke my ankle, miles from my car, and was out of water. It was August and 110 degrees. The ground was hot as fuck too. I burned my arms and legs just on the hot sand. Did I whine and bitch the whole time? No. I just did what needed to be done.”
“Well good for you, Mr. fucking Jason Bourne. I’ve never done this kind of shit before. You said it would be easy.”
“It is easy! Jesus! God. I’m not fucking bringing you along again.”
“Fine. This is probably our last date anyway.”
“What?” he turned and marched toward her. “What did you just say?”
“I said this is probably our last date anyway. You’re just being mean and I don’t know if we’ll even make it to the fucking car. What if we don’t find it? Huh? Are was just going to die out here? It can happen! It has happened! Hikers get lost and die from heat stroke all the fucking time. I’ll die out here and it will be with you acting like an asshole.”
“You want to go off on your own and try to find the car? You go right the fuck ahead. You walk out there and you just….what in the holy fuck?” he stopped and was looking behind Lacey just over her head. Lacey slowly turned. Behind them, stood a huge man who only had on fatigue pants and his face was painted red and white in the shape of a skull with an upside down cross drawn in white on the center of his head.
Lacey took a few steps backward as the man stepped toward them. He had a shotgun resting on his shoulder. Lacey herself was short, but this guy had to be seven feet tall. He lowered the shotgun and aimed it at them.
“Get on the ground,” he said in a deep voice. Lacey and Kevin just looked at each other. The man fired off a shot in the air, causing them both to jump to the ground. “So, who the Hell are you people?”
“I’m…um….Lacey.”
“And who are you?” he said, nudging Kevin with his foot.
“His name is Kevin,” Lacey said.
“Shut the fuck up! I’m askin’ him! Tell me your fucking name!” The man lowered the shotgun and pressed the still hot muzzle against the back of Kevin’s neck. Kevin cried out as the hot steel burned into his flesh. “What’s your name, monkey boy?”
“K…Kevin. It’s Kevin!”
The man lifted the shotgun and put it back on his shoulder.
“There. That wasn’t so hard, now was it?”
“We weren’t hurting anything. We’re just lost and trying to find our car,” Lacey said. “We just want to find our car and get out of here.”
“You’re trespassing.”
“Trespassing?” Kevin asked, finally getting his voice back. “How? There’s no signs. This is public land.”
The man stormed over to Kevin and thrust the butt of the shotgun down onto the back of Kevin’s head. It hit with a thunk, and Kevin cried out. Lacey yelped, but put a hand over her mouth to keep from screaming.
“This ain’t no public land!” the man said with contempt. “This belongs to my family. To my town. And you are in violation of our town’s laws! So I’m a gonna have to make a citizen’s arrest.”
“What? Arrest for what?” Lacey asked.
“For trespassin’, you dumb bitch.”
He knelt down and ripped the backpack off Lacey and slung it over his shoulder. He then walked over to Kevin and pulled off his backpack, placing it on his other shoulder.
“All right, both of you get up.”
“Are you going to kill us?” Lacey asked. She couldn’t believe she asked it and it was the most horrifying thing she’d ever heard herself say. But she figured if he was going to kill her, she’d at least like to know it was coming first.
“I will if you don’t get a fuckin’ move on.”
She got to her feet. Kevin was slower getting up, rubbing the back of his head as the man stood behind them, the gun pointed at both of them.
“Now, walk straight ahead.”
“So where you taking us?” Lacey asked as they walked, both had their hands in the air.
“I told you. Citizen’s arrest. Taking you back to town for judgment.”
“Town?” Kevin said. “There’s no town out here.”
The man ran up behind Kevin and slammed the butt of the gun into the back of his head a second time, knocking him to the ground. Kevin rolled around dazed as the man jerked him to his feet.
“Keep runnin’ yer mouth, city boy. See if I don’t make this fuckin’ gun a permanent part of your skull. Now move!”
They walked for at least an hour before they came over a ridge where Lacey couldn’t believe her eyes. There was indeed a town there. Around the town were dozens of large poles, at least twenty feet high e
ach. Above the poles, several layers of camouflage netting were strewn among the poles. Beneath the netting was an entire town of small houses, shacks and makeshift buildings.
“That’s the town, assholes,” the man said. “Now keep moving.”
Chapter 5
Garrett got off the plane in El Paso and headed down the terminal. His stomach was growling and his neck was stiff as Hell. Happened every time he took a nap during a flight. Rolling his head around, he headed toward the rental car area when he walked past a short man in a suit and sunglasses holding up a sign with Garrett’s name on it.
“I’m Ranger Parker,” he said to the man. The man looked Hispanic at first glance.
“Hey. I’m Detective Alexander. You can call me Doug.”
“Hi Doug. What brings you here?”
“Your boss called my department and said you were coming. My boss wanted one of his own tagging along. So here I am.”
“So you’re my babysitter.”
“Oh don’t look at it that way, man. I’m just like a temporary partner I guess. To help you find your way around. He said you hadn’t been to El Paso in a while.”
“I work alone. You ever heard the phrase, ‘One riot, one Ranger?’”
“Yeah, yeah. Look. You don’t need to bust my balls.”
Garrett rolled his eyes. This job was already going to be tough enough. He didn’t need some clown not familiar with what they were walking into tagging along and getting himself or anyone else killed. Maybe it wouldn’t be too bad. Maybe he could use someone around to bounce things off of. If this was anything like he feared, he could use an extra gun at his side. If the guy could shoot for shit.
“All right. Whatever. Looks like I’m stuck with you. Is there a place to eat around here? I’m starving.”
“Yeah! I know a good burger joint, come with me.”
A few minutes later they had taken Doug’s car and parked at a nearby burger place. It was a mom and pop diner. Garrett ordered a double bacon cheeseburger while Doug had a chicken sandwich and fries.
“So how long you been a Ranger?” Doug asked.
“Oh. About ten years or so. Was a DPS officer a long time before that.”
“Sweet! Yeah, man. I want to be a Ranger one day. I been a cop for five years. Just made detective six months ago.”
“That’s great.”
“Yeah. I hear it’s hard to get on the Rangers though. How did you do it?”
Garrett really didn’t want to go into it.
“Well. A lot of it is who you know, not what you know. Sometimes it’s also what you done. Like if you make a big bust or pull off something spectacular.”
“So which did you do? Or did you know someone?”
“Nah. I don’t know anyone. Was in the wrong place at the wrong time and I lived to tell about it.”
Doug put his food down and looked up at Garrett.
“What the Hell does that mean?”
“Means just what it means.” Garrett took a bit of his burger. “Don’t need to mean nothing else.”
“What the Hell, man. You’re not making any sense.”
“To you, maybe. What’s your story? Why you want to be a cop? Especially in El Paso. You want to get rich off cartel bribes or want to get beheaded before you’re forty.”
“I know, right? Nah, man. To be honest, no real romantic reason. Lost my job in the oil fields a few years ago. Was working near San Antonio. Made good ass money, too. I drove the sweetest ride. I had a black Hummer H2. One of the big ones, you know? Had nice rims with spinners and shit.”
Garrett just looked at him, expressionless.
“Ok, yeah. You’re not impressed. Anyway, money was great. Until it all dried up. I just chilled for a few months, hoping it would take off again but it never did. I’d had a few years of college before I took the oil job. I dropped out of college for the oil fields. Brilliant, right? Oh yeah, I don’t need to finish my degree and go to law school. I’ll just be an oil worker for three-hundred grand a year.”
“Yeah. That shit never lasts.”
“Nope. I didn’t plan for it either. I said I was gonna save, but man. That money starts rolling in, it’s like it will never stop.”
“Yeah. I bet.”
“So after working odd jobs for a while, I heard El Paso PD was hiring. I have some family out here, so I moved this way, applied, and they hired me.”
“Wow. With only a few college credits?”
“I got forty-two credits. Plus I’m part Comanche Indian. I mean, like a quarter. My Grandma was almost full blooded. Not one-tenth Indian, like white people always say they are.”
“Hey, whatever works.”
“Yeah. So I got a lot of shit for a while by the other cops thinking I was just here to fill a quota. But I hold my own.
“So you’re a quarter Indian. What’s the other three-quarters?”
“Well, half Mexican, I guess. Grandma and Grandpa on mom’s side were full Mexican. On dad’s side, Grandma was Comanche and Grandpa was white.”
“Damn. You’re like a smorgasbord.”
“Something, I guess. I can do my job, and I’m a good shot when it counts. That’s all that should matter.”
“Works for me. Let me ask you something, Doug. Do you have any idea what we may be walking into at all?”
“Just a bunch of missing persons we been having. My boss said you’ll sniff around a few days and probably go back to Dallas.”
“You have no idea, do you? Then again, I supposed you wouldn’t. Only some of the old timers knew about it back then.”
“Knew about what?”
Garrett took another bite of the burger and set it back down. As he chewed, he debated how much to tell the young detective. After a few seconds he decided the guy deserved to know what he was getting into. That is, if the situation was what he feared. He looked across that table at Doug Alexander who was now shifting in his seat, looking more and more uncomfortable.
“Knew about Hell, Texas.”
Chapter 6
Stacey Faulkner and her boyfriend Alan Kleynenberg had been driving for hours along the deserted road. The trip to El Paso was taking much longer than they had expected. Their car was low on gas, and Stacey had needed to pee for the last hundred miles.
“Any idea how much longer?” Stacey asked.
“Probably at least a hundred miles. Maybe a little less.”
“Fuck! Can’t we just pull over so I can piss? I don’t care. I’ll squat beside the road if I have to.”
“Jesus Christ, Stacey. I thought you were a lady!”
“I am a lady! A lady who has to take a fuckin’ piss!”
They drove on in silence a few more miles. When Alan spotted a pickup truck alongside the road. Its hood was open and there was a girl standing next to the truck. She was wearing tight jean shorts, a white tank top and a black cowgirl had. Alan began to slow when Stacey jumped on his case.
“What in the fuck do you think you’re doing? Keep driving!”
“She needs help.”
“I need help, asshole. I have to piss!”
“You can get out and go by the road while I take a look at her truck. See? She’s all by herself. It will be getting dark soon. Not a good place to be all alone out here. Who knows what kind of weirdos will stop by? Maybe the cannibals that live up in the hills will come down and eat her!”
“Whatever. You just think she’s hot. I’m not dumb.”
“Nah, baby. She’s ugly. Ain’t no one as fine as you.”
“Whatever.”
The car pulled to a stop just behind the truck along the shoulder. They both got out as the girl walked up to them. She looked exhausted. Her face was dirty and skin was pink from sunburn.
“Howdy!” Alan said. “Looks like you’re having a bit of trouble.”
“Yeah. Just a little,” the girl said.
“I’m Alan. This here’s Stacey. We were just on our way to El Paso. Saw you stuck here. Thought maybe I could take a look at
it.”
“Really? That would be great! I was just driving along and it just up and stopped runnin’! Oh! And I’m Livia!”
“Well that’s no good, and it’s nice to meet you, Livia. I’ll see if I can get it started for ya. Don’t want you stuck out here after dark, you know.”
Alan walked up and leaned under the hood looking around. Stacey, in the meantime, walked behind the cars and wandered about fifty feet into the field off the road until she found a large enough bush for her to cop a squat. She lowered her shorts and squatted down. The feeling of relief as her bladder emptied had to be the next best thing to an orgasm. There were seriously very few better feelings than finally taking a leak when your bladder has been full in a moving car for several hours.
She had been certain a few times that it was just going to burst and leak out all over the car. Thankfully she made it. Back at the car, Alan was looking under the hood and checking wires. The first thing that seemed odd was the engine was cold. It was hot as Hell outside, but the engine should have been even hotter. It felt like it had been sitting for a good while. Alan was far from a car expert, but he knew enough to change his own oil or tinker from time to time.
He often let on like he knew way more than he actually did. In this case, if he could get this hot girl’s car going, then great. Deep down he hoped they’d need to give her a ride. Stacey wouldn’t like it, but she’d just have to get over it. Checking each of the cables, nothing was loose or out of place. He never heard the footsteps coming up behind him. So he had no idea anyone was there until the hood lowered onto his head.
Over and over, the man behind him smashed the hood down onto Alan’s head and shoulders. By the third blow, blood ran down his forehead and he saw stars while his vision began to blur. After several more blows with the hood, his legs went limp beneath him and he toppled to the ground. Looking up, just before he passed out, he saw a man standing over him as things went black.
At the bush, Stacey was just finishing up and pulling her shorts up when suddenly the girl was standing over her pointing a gun in her face.