by J P Barnett
“I was! I watched R-rated movies when I was like 10.”
Shandi laughed. Jake loved when she laughed, enjoying the free and honest mirth of it. To be able to elicit that sort of reaction from her made him feel important.
“Hide your daughters, ladies! Jake Rollins watched R-rated movies when he was 10!” She looked around the room.
Jake brought her back down. “Anyway. You were saying. About the hive mind?”
“Oh right,” Shandi said, still smiling. “I think of them as the hive mind. This is the first time I’ve said it out loud. I guess it sounds silly. But they don’t talk to each other. Only Miriam talks. The boys didn’t talk the entire time they were there. But they communicate somehow. It’s creepy.
“Skylar left them behind,” she continued. “when he left to go ask Cam on a man-date. They went through the archives. All of them. Impressively fast. So, I’ve got a lot of information about the other sightings of the beast over the years.”
Jake perked up. He’d almost forgotten that he’d asked Shandi to look through the other archives. So much other, more important stuff had happened since then.
Shandi pulled a piece of copy paper from her back pocket and unfolded it. Beautifully penned words covered the page. Definitely not Shandi’s handwriting, which tended towards more of a scrawl. Jake couldn’t quite read it from his vantage point.
Shandi looked directly into Jake’s eyes. “Ready?”
Jake nodded. She had his full attention. “After 1942, there are reports again in 1951. Not as widespread. Just a few unexplained mutilations. No sightings.
“Then another break,” she went on. “Until 1967. Again, nothing like the mass mutilations of ’42. Just a few mutilations. There was one sighting reported. Similar description to what we’re seeing now. And one unexplained death that year. It could have been unrelated, but the hive mind thought it was worth noting. The guy had been decapitated and they never figured out how.
“After that, nothing. If we’re to believe the hive mind—and I do, because they’re weird, creepy robots—then this thing showed up maybe three times in the history of Rose Valley.”
“What about before 1942?” Jake asked.
“Yeah. They went through that, too. Nothing before 1942.”
Jake’s mind tried to put the pieces together, searching for a pattern that he couldn’t find. Nine years. Then sixteen. Then fifty. One creature could have done the first three, but not the current one. The beast would be far too old. And if a family of beasts existed out there, then why the big gap?
Shandi looked up, an intensity in her eyes. “Ready for the good part?”
Jake nodded. “Definitely.”
“Every single report in the paper related to this stuff—including the decapitation—had a quote from someone at Arrowhead Research. Could be a coincidence. Maybe they were just the go-to quote engine for The Reporter back then.
“But it wasn’t just that they were quoted in every one of them. It’s what they said and who said it. It was always Dr. Cordova, and he consistently, over the course of sixteen years, insisted that each and every incident was isolated and atypical and would soon come to an end.”
“How would they know that? That it would come to an end. And a better question, I guess, is—did it?” Jake asked.
“Generally, yeah. Even when there were multiple reports, they were always within a very short time period. Within a week or two.”
Jake rubbed his temples. He needed to stand. He couldn’t think sitting down. He stood up and started pacing. Shandi turned in her chair to face him but didn’t rise.
“What are you telling me, here? That Arrowhead Research is involved somehow?” He asked, not stopping to look at her.
“I don’t know if I’m saying that for certain. I’m saying it’s a possibility. It’s a commonality, at least, and that has to mean something.”
Jake continued to pace. Shandi stopped talking. Perhaps because she wanted to let him think. Perhaps because she busied herself with her own thinking. Jake didn’t pay much attention. He just paced and thought.
If Arrowhead Research tied into all of this, how did that relate to the here and now? They hadn’t gotten involved with any of the recent incidents. Everything that had happened recently seemed far more serious than anything reported in the past. There had never been a mass sighting. The beast was going after more than just livestock. It had maimed a guy. It could have killed Shandi and Macy. If Arrowhead shared responsibility for the existence of the beast, wouldn’t they have come forward by now? Or were they so involved that they couldn’t afford to admit culpability?
Jake felt Shandi’s hand on his. She gripped it. He stopped. She stood up and grabbed his other hand, forcing him to face her.
“Stop for a minute,” she said, looking up into his eyes. She didn’t let go of his hands.
“When’s the next time you’re due for an appointment at Arrowhead?”
“Wednesday. Why?”
She squeezed his hands. Pleaded with her eyes. She spoke softer. “Think about this before you react. I know you’re going to want to say no.”
Jake considered the possibilities of the questions she might ask. Surely, she wouldn’t suggest that he steal information from Arrowhead. That would never work. The outbuilding stood nowhere near any data of interest.
Or maybe she meant to persuade him to talk Deirdre out of some information. That was more feasible, but the thought didn’t sit well. With Shandi standing in front of him, his hands in hers, the very thought of Deirdre turned his stomach.
“Take me with you.”
No. Definitely not. He could think of nothing more awkward and terrifying than putting Deirdre and Shandi together. The fact that he had to see Deirdre again at all made him nervous enough. She had a way of confusing him. Of making him think things he didn’t want to think. He couldn’t go through that with Shandi there.
Shandi seemed to sense Jake’s reaction. She shifted her hands, interlocked her fingers with his, instantly creating more intimacy. He swallowed hard.
“I’ll drop you off at the clinic,” she said. “Then I’ll go to the main campus. I’ll sweet talk the receptionist. Or find a clerk. Someone in there has access to information that might help us, and I’ll find it. I need you to get me through the front gate.”
Jake relaxed a little. Her plan didn’t involve Deirdre and Shandi sharing the same space, and that seemed strangely important. If that could be guaranteed, Jake felt far less wary of Shandi’s plan.
Jake became hyper-aware of how close Shandi now stood. He could feel the heat from her body. Her warm, soft hands softly entwined with his. He fought back certain thoughts, forcing himself to focus on the beast.
“Do you think that will work? Security does seem pretty loose around there, but surely they lock up the good stuff.”
“Why, sir,” Shandi said as she batted her eyelids. “I think you may have forgotten who you were talking to. Sure, I may report on Wes Morris’ completion percentage by day, but by night I’m an investigative journalist. I will use my mad journalist skills to blow this story wide open.”
Her confidence intoxicated him. Shandi Mason could get anything she wanted when she set her mind to it.
He nodded. “Okay. Sure. My appointment is at one. I can pick you up at The Reporter after I get done with—dammit!”
Shandi’s face changed to confusion. “What?”
“Nothing. I just... With you and Macy here this morning, I forgot to go down to Mikey’s. Bernard’s going to be pissed.”
She didn’t let go of his hands when she laughed. “He’ll get over it. He’s a big boy.”
“Yeah. It’ll be fine. It’s not the first time. It just seems to matter so much to him,” Jake said. “Anyway. Yeah. I’ll pick you up at 12:30 on Wednesday. At the Reporter. Then we’ll head over to Arrowhead.”
The conversation went silent. Their eyes lingered on one another briefly. Then she looked down. Jake looked down. Her grip loosene
d, as if the interlace of their hands surprised her. He didn’t want to, but Jake let their hands fall away from each other.
They stood across from each other now. Not touching. Their eyes met again. Jake’s heart raced. He didn’t want to presume too much. She had let go of his hands. Perhaps she had taken them involuntarily. Her way of getting his attention. But there was something more. Something they both needed from each other. Was it just safety? A mutual place to escape from the fear and confusion surrounding Rose Valley?
The door swung open with a thud and a backpack hit the floor. Macy started talking before she even closed the door. “School is nuts right now. All anyone wants to talk about is the beast.”
Jake and Shandi turned away from each other. Jake tried desperately not to look guilty, but he couldn’t control the instinctual reaction. Shandi stepped past Jake and towards Macy, her arm touching up against him as she went. His skin tingled. Had she brushed up against him on purpose?
Macy shut the door and looked up at them. Her eyes went back and forth between them. Jake walked to the kitchen sink and started wetting down a rag, intending to wipe down the counters. They didn’t really need it, but the act gave him a purpose. He could feel Macy’s gaze on him. The room filled with painful, awkward silence.
Until Macy broke it. “Ew. Gross.”
Chapter 23
Shandi climbed up into the old truck, smiled at Jake, and buckled her seatbelt. “Hey.”
“Hey,” he said.
Jake looked concerned, but returned her smile. She worried that his concern had been caused by her, even though she couldn’t think of a reason why. Since the moment they shared two days earlier, there had been no other indication that their friendship might be turning into something more. She wondered whether she had imagined it.
She knew she could make the next move. She wanted to, but she hesitated. Things had moved fast, but when she distanced herself from her feelings, she couldn’t shake the thought that it had only been a few days since Jake seemed to want to be with Deirdre. Shandi needed a stronger sign from Jake.
Tuesday evening had been great. To her relief, Shandi had come home late to find Jake helping Macy with her calculus homework—she was little help in that realm. After dinner, the three of them played games together at Jake’s tiny kitchen table. It had been a nice, comfortable evening, but there had been nothing definitive to indicate that Jake had feelings for her.
Shandi focused in on the road as they left the square and headed up the hill to the only stoplight in town.
“How’s Bernard?” she asked, breaking the silence.
Jake’s concern intensified. “He wasn’t there today. Second day in a row. Mikey says he hasn’t seen him either.”
“Weird.”
“Yeah. He’s missed his fair share of days. It’s not like our games are set in stone. But two days in a row? I think I’m going to drive out and check on him after the appointment today.” He seemed to relax just having said it out loud. Shandi realized that his anxiety came from his concern for Bernard, not from anything she’d done.
“Sounds like a plan. I’m sure he’d love the company.”
Jake nodded as he navigated his way to Arrowhead Research. Shandi wondered if apprehension clouded Jake’s mind. It would be the first time he and Deirdre had spent time together since their date. Non-date? Whatever it is they had shared, she thought it best not to bring it up.
The conversation fell into silence as Shandi watched the town scroll by. As they passed one house, Shandi noticed a man outside his window with a hammer, affixing boards to the frame. Shandi knew from experience that the reinforcements would hardly provide any protection, but she could understand the desire for safety. Was boarding up windows really any different than planning an infiltration of Arrowhead Research? Just a different way to deal with the reality of a monster rampaging through town.
“How’s work so far?” Jake asked.
“Good, I guess. This town has a strange memory. They remember Starla Batson’s top coming off at the tenth-grade pool party with vivid clarity, but the beast disappears for a few days, and they’re over it.”
Jake grinned. “I remember that party. Best day ever.”
Shandi punched him on the arm, harder than she meant to. He immediately grabbed his bicep and feigned pain.
“Ouch! What? I love swimming.”
Shandi shook her head.
“Heard anything from Skylar Brooks?” Jake asked.
“Nah, nothing. Not from the hive mind either. They’re still in town, though, so Cam didn’t run ’em off like I’d hoped.”
Jake nodded as he came to a stop at the red light. Once it turned green, it would just be highway until they got to Arrowhead Research.
While they waited for the light to change, Jake glanced over at her, really looking at her for the first time since she had gotten in the truck. “You look nice.”
Knowing she would soon have to convince some reluctant people to give up information, Shandi had put a little extra effort into her appearance. Her hair was bunched up into a ponytail like normal, but she wore dark eye makeup and a bold shade of lipstick. The jeans she’d wriggled into were a touch uncomfortable, but they accentuated her curves in a flattering way.
She smiled flirtatiously. “Why, thank you. Rule number one of being a super sleuth. Always look good.”
“Aww. And here I thought you got dolled up just for me.”
“Don’t flatter yourself, Jake Rollins.”
He laughed his easy, casual laugh, as if the joke didn’t consume him as much as it just comfortably sat with his soul. She enjoyed partaking in his quiet confidence.
“Any word on the door repairs?”
Shandi panicked as she considered whether he meant to kick her out. Did he not like having her at his place? Or maybe he only wanted to keep the conversation moving. She supposed it must have been annoying to have two women taking up half of his house.
“Oh yeah,” he said. “They should finish today. Fun fact: Your door being shattered by a giant monster-man is considered an act of God by insurance companies.”
He laughed again. “I did not know that. I’m surprised they knew that.”
“Yeah. Insurance companies have contingency plans for everything, apparently.”
The conversation went silent. He didn’t ask when she would be moving out. She took that as a good sign, but felt obligated to offer up the information anyway.
“So, yeah. Macy and I will be out of your hair tonight. Finally, you’ll get some peace and quiet again.”
He didn’t answer right away. Shandi studied his face, looking for some evidence of how he felt about her leaving. Eventually, he replied, “I don’t really miss the peace and quiet as much as I thought I would. It might be hard to adjust back.”
Shandi smiled to no one in particular as she answered, “Well, given that I have a grown-up’s kitchen, maybe we’ll have you over for dinner sometime.”
“Ouch! You didn’t like my toaster oven garlic bread and Velveeta Shells & Cheese?”
She took a fake solemn expression. “Oh no. It was wonderful. A gourmet experience. Just seems like I should return the favor.”
Jake nodded, his voice imperceptibly softer when he answered. “Yeah. I’d like that.”
He turned the corner and pulled up to the guard gate at the perimeter of the Arrowhead campus. Given that the truck didn’t have a working air conditioner, the windows were already rolled down. Shandi braced herself to provide a reasonable excuse as to why she accompanied Jake. She had considered a few possibilities in advance just in case the guard interrogated her.
The guard stepped out of his shack and walked up to the driver’s side window. He looked at Jake, then at Shandi. She flashed him her best smile before he turned back to Jake.
“Hey, Jake,” said the guard. “Here for a checkup with Dr. Valentine?”
“That’s right. My last one, she says.”
“No kiddin’? That’s great,
man. You’ve come a long way.”
Jake nodded. “Yeah. I’m happy to be able to put all of this behind me.”
“I hear that,” the guard said. “Hey. Were you guys at the game on Friday? I about crapped my pants, man. That’s some scary shit.”
“Yeah. Pretty insane,” Jake curtly responded.
The guard took a beat, letting the silence hang, as if he hoped that one of them would continue the conversation. When neither Jake nor Shandi offered anything more, he tapped the window sill twice and said, “All right. Y’all be careful, now.”
“You, too,” Jake said as he pulled the truck forward. Shandi gasped for air, realizing that she had been holding her breath.
“Well, that was easy,” she said.
“I wasn’t worried. I’m a regular,” Jake said. “Besides, it’s not like this place is Fort Knox. They take visitors all the time. The only guard I’ve ever seen is there at the front gate.”
Jake pulled the truck up to the outbuilding where he had his appointments. Shandi had never seen it before. The tiny, portable building seemed like it would be too heavy to sit so comfortably atop the gray cinderblocks underneath. A few small windows dotted the corrugated metal of the outside walls, but none low enough or large enough to provide a view into the building. A set of metal rollaway stairs led up to the door. It didn’t look like a place to get adequate medical treatment.
“All right,” Jake said as he popped open his door and pointed towards the main campus. “Main campus is about half a mile that way. I have no idea what’s what up there.”
Shandi studied the campus from afar. Strangely, no previous story had ever sent her to Arrowhead Research. The times she’d needed to talk to them, they had always sent someone into town to meet her.
Buildings snaked throughout the campus, most of them one-story, all of them seemingly built on a whim. She had been there as a kid many times, but she couldn’t quite remember where they had gone on the field trips. She had a vague notion that there had been ample signage describing each building. That would have to be enough.
“Don’t worry about me, chief. I can take care of myself,” she said, as he slid out of the truck. She unbuckled her seatbelt and scooted herself into the driver’s seat.