The Killers Amongst Us: Chimera Dawn Chronicles (12 page)

PEOPLE
just don’t go wondering off in the night, Shaw
thought, as he listened to Amy finishing of her story of events. They were sat
in his apartment living room. Something was missing from the story. It wasn’t a
formal interview; even so, he had to probe to fill in the detail. Louise was
clearly anxious. They were all anxious, as if his questions were an intrusion.

“Listen, Dad, we need to get to the church hall with the
sandwiches. We’re going with the women to the camp shortly. Ted and Oliver are
with the search party.”

Tanya and Louise picked up their cool boxes and walked out
of the room. Shaw grabbed Amy’s shoulder as she was about to follow them.

“Hang back,” said Shaw, and he listened to the girl’s
footsteps descending the stairway. “Was Johno taking drugs?”

“Oh, Dad, why do you have to think the worst of everyone?
No, he wasn’t taking drugs. Look, I have to go.”

“Okay, sweetheart. I’ll see you out there.”

She was right. Sixteen years in law enforcement made it hard
to trust anyone. He watched her walk through the door. Ted sleeping in his SUV
was an unlikely story and bothered him. It could be another white lie. Saying
Johno wasn’t taking drugs could be a big lie. They could have all been on
drugs. Why else would Amy hallucinate about a creature outside her tent? Amy
had suffered a lot over the years to put up with the aftermath of his drinking.
Drugs could be her way of escaping.

He wished he hadn’t thought about the drinking. He’d not
given a thought to his demon drinking all day. His fingers were shaking. He
needed coffee, but it would have to wait. Shaw walked over to the window and
parted the slats in the blind. He watched Amy and her friends drive away. Shaw
made his way to the corridor and opened Amy’s bedroom door. He looked across at
his own door. Images flashed through his mind of where he’d stashed his bottles
of JD.

Shaw hesitated. He realized that once he stepped over the
threshold at Amy’s bedroom, he was crossing a line. A line of blind trust. The
telephone ringing stopped him mid-step from entering her room. He closed her
door, hurried to the living room, and picked up the handset.

“I have Frank on the line,” said Jim.

“Put him through.”

“Brett, I’ve found Johno. He’s alive and stable, but
unconscious.”

“Where was he?”

“I’ll explain when I get there. I’m tired as hell. I need to
concentrate on driving. Let the women know at the church hall that the men folk
are on their way back and to wait for them. I need you to contact Johno’s
parents. They’ve taken him by helicopter to UCLA medical center in LA. I should
get to the office in fifteen minutes.”

“Okay, I’ll see to it.”

Shaw tapped the handset on the cradle and dialed Amy’s cell.

“Hello.”

“Amy, tell Louise they’ve found Johno and ask her to contact
his parents. The air ambulance has taken him to UCLA medical center in LA.”

“Oh, my God, will he be okay, Dad?”

“Frank says his condition is stable.”

“Johno’s mom’s here. I’ll tell her and Louise.”

“Tell the women to stay there. The men are on their way back
to the hall.”

“I will, love you.”

“Love you too, sweetheart. Listen. I need you home tonight.”

“Okay.”

Shaw replaced the handset. The television was on mute, when
he saw a map of California. He picked up the remote and released the mute.

“..... high pressure along a two thousand mile stretch off
the coast over the last eighteen months has been holding off the Pacific low
pressure front that brings the winter rain, leaving the West Coast under
emergency drought conditions. NASA, have released startling images showing the
Folsom Lake in February, two thousand and eleven, at almost full capacity. In
contrast, they have released new images showing the lake at a mere
fifteen-percent capacity. The Sacramento Lakes, which are the main supply of
water for LA area, are at their lowest for over one hundred years. More than
seventy communities en route have only thirty days supply of water. The governor...”

Shaw turned off the television. He didn’t need reminding
that Breakers Pass was suffering shortages. He was just thankful that the town
had their own supply and filtration from Breakers Lake, outside of the Federal
system. Gyp was asleep on his rug. Shaw needed Jim to debrief him about his
visit to the farmstead over at Claymore before Frank arrived. He made his way
to the office. His thoughts turned to Ted. He’d never had to consider Amy would
hide things from him until she had started seeing Ted. Amy was a straight A
student and surrogate housekeeper. She’d always been the perfect daughter. He
decided he would have to talk with Ted, man to man. Shaw wasn’t about to allow
him to lead her astray and ruin her future. He walked into his office.

“Have you finished the report on you visit to Hetherington’s
farm?” Shaw asked.

“It’s in the printer tray.”

Shaw picked it up, ambled over to his chair and flopped onto
his chair cushion.

“Yorkshire terriers! Can’t see why they’d need to lock them
up in the barn?”

Jim held up his bandaged hand.

“They said to open the barn door at my own risk. Vicious
little critters they are.”

Shaw read on.

“So, Maria arrived a little after six. She gave their goat
an injection and stayed for a meal, leaving at ten thirty after she received a
phone call.” Shaw tapped his Biro on the desk. “That would be the call from Ed
Grimes.”

“How do you know that?”

“Her cell phone. The question is why he called?” Shaw pushed
back into his chair. “Maybe he was checking up on his dog, Vinnie?” He chewed
on his Biro top.

“Frank’s here,” said Jim.

Shaw looked over his shoulder. Frank was lifting something
out of the back of his vehicle. He went outside to meet him.

“Amy’s tent, I think?” said Frank. “I don’t know who the
chairs belong to and there are two more tents?”

“I’ll help. We’ll get them all inside and let Amy sort them
out.” Shaw peered over the tailgate of Frank’s four by four. Seeing three
tents, reminded him there were three couples. He felt a hot flush in his cheeks
“What’s in the garbage bag?” Shaw asked and hauled it over the tailgate.

“Just garbage.”

Shaw opened it and picked out an empty vodka bottle. He
looked at Frank.

“Garbage, you say?” Shaw rummaged around the empty beer cans
and pulled out a blindfold. They’d obviously been partying when they were
playing Ted’s game that Amy had mentioned. It would explain Johno wandering
away from the camp. Frank must have sensed Shaw’s agony.

“Listen, Brett, don’t be hard on Amy.”

“Amy? It’s not her I’m going to be hard on, it’s that no
good boyfriend of hers.”

“Brett, Ted aside, we need to get the things stowed away. We
need to talk about what I found out there. I need to get home to the missus,
and my bed.”

Jim joined them, and they carried everything inside, then
dumped the items in the corridor. Jim and Frank pulled up their chairs to the
desk and sat opposite Shaw. The office phone rang and he answered.

“Dad, Louise wants me to go and visit Johno with her
parents. Is it okay? I’ve phoned Aunt Mary and she says we can all stay with
her.”

“Just you, Louise and Johno’s family, no one else?”

“Yes, why.”

“It doesn’t matter,” he lied. He was pleased that she would
be spending some time away from Ted. “Sure you can go. Phone me regularly and
keep me posted on how Johno is doing.”

Shaw replaced the handset.

Frank opened the image file on his cell phone and passed it
to Shaw. Frank recounted what he’d seen leading up to the ravine as Shaw scrolled
through the photos, and Frank finished his report.

“So, that’s it, can I go now?” Frank asked.

Shaw put down the cell phone, then buried his head in his
hands.

“Soon, I’m just thinking,” Shaw said. His mind raced over
events in all directions. Amy had said Ted ran over to the camp on his bare
feet when she had screamed. Another thought elbowed the notion out of the way.
He raised his head. “Jim, for the vet to have travelled back home, she’d have
had to pass the intersection where you found the stag. Can you recall any other
wounds other than the critters that had been chewing on its neck?”

Jim stroked his chin. “Come to think of it, no. I just
assumed it had been rutting with another stag, because part of its antler was
missing. I thought maybe it had died of exhaustion.”

“Rutting in July!” said Frank. “Maybe October, but not now.
Did it have claw marks on its back, or bite marks on its legs?”

“No, like I said, it was just the broken antler and its neck
damaged.”

“Wild cats usually bring them down from behind before moving
to the neck, and even then they kill for food,” said Frank.

“Who took the carcass?” Shaw asked.

“The preppers. They have a base over at the old silver mine,”
said Jim.

“I think I need to pay them a visit tomorrow,” said Shaw. “They
can tell me about the feral dog.”

“If you’re going out there, you could take a look here. It’s
a twenty mile detour though,” said Frank, and took out his notebook. He tore
off a sheet and passed it to Shaw.

“What is it?”

“The vet at the wild life park phoned me back. He forgot to
mention earlier that there’s another animal park that’s been closed to the
public for years, but it still has wild animals. I can’t find the telephone
number listed.”

Shaw could see that Frank was drained of energy and he need
to wrap up the meeting.

“Okay, I’ll call there on the on my way to the silver mine.
You’d better make your way home, Frank. You too, Jim, and both give your wives
my apologies.”

Jim didn’t need telling twice and disappeared through the
door. Frank held back.

“What’s on your mind, Frank?”

“The bare footprints at both the vets and the ravine, that’s
what’s on my mind. Is there something you’re not telling me? We can possibly
explain the dog tracks away with a number of scenarios, and possibly the wild
cats’ tracks giving chase on the mountain. But not the damned bare footprints.
Look, the photographs I took don’t do justice to what I saw. I know it doesn’t
make sense, but it’s like the dog tracks turned to human footprints.”

“Yeah, the photos. I need you to copy them to a computer.”

“I’ll download them at home and send an e-mail with the
images attached. But what do you think about the bare footprints? I mean, have
we got some Tarzan running around with a feral dog?”

Shaw allowed himself a laugh.

“I doubt it. There’s bound to be a logical explanation.
Johno might be able to enlighten us when he recovers to tell us if we have a
creature running around that can transform into a human. There again, judging
by the empty cans and vodka bottle, that’s exactly what he may think he saw.
Like I say, we’ll find a logical explanation if we keep digging.”

Shaw sat back. He knew exactly where he was going to dig.

SHAW
rested on the sofa, wearing his pajamas. He heard
Amy moving around her bedroom. Gyp lay by his feet. Shaw opened his laptop and
pressed the power button.

“That’s it, I’m all packed,” said Amy, as she swept in the
room, coming to a halt in front of him.

“Don’t go wandering off alone around LA.”

“I won’t. I’ll be at the hospital with Louise and Johno’s
parents when I’m not with Aunt Mary.”

“And don’t forget to phone me as soon as you arrive... and
regularly after that,” he said, as she patted Gyp, then she headed for the
door.”

Shaw heard Amy call out, to the patter of her shoes
descending the stairway. “God knows what you’re going to do when I’m at uni? I
won’t be phoning every two minutes?”

He heard the door open and then close. Shaw placed his
laptop to one side, then walked to the window. Parting the blind slats, he
watched her drive away. Shaw turned and picked up the telephone handset and
called Mary.”

“Hello.”

“Mary, it’s Brett. Thanks for letting Amy and Johno’s
parents stay. They’re on their way.”

“No problem, my pleasure.”

“Listen, Mary, I need you to have a quiet word with Amy. I
have situation here and I don’t know how to handle the problem.”

“What is it?”

“You know; women’s things. Stuff that Cath would have talked
to her about.” Shaw could feel the heat rising in his cheeks. “Listen, she’s
taken to running with a guy up here. He’s three years older than Amy is. I
think they’re... you know?”

He heard a muffled laugh in the earpiece.

“Hell, Brett. You mean she’s sleeping with the guy? How is
it any different than when you met Cath? You were four years older than her, or
have you forgotten?”

“Well, yeah, I know, but I mean protection and all that.”

“We’ve already talked about contraception. She’s been taking
the pill since she was seventeen and a half, so stop worrying.”

Shaw held the handset away, staring at the mouthpiece and
then snatched it back to speak.

“Are you saying my daughter sleeps around and you didn’t
think to tell me?”

Mary laughed “No, she’s not sleeping around, like you say
it’s a woman thing. She was having irregular periods and it’s evened them out.
Besides that, she’s being sensible by taking precautions, that’s all.”

Shaw took a moment to digest what she had said.

“Right, okay, but the other thing is, he’s leading her
astray. I think she’s drinking underage.”

“And where do you think she’s picked that up from, her
boyfriend, or you? You’re not exactly a role model in the drinking department.”

That truth stabbed him in the gut.

“Whatever. Just have a talk with her about her relationship
and point her to it not standing in the way of her future at university.”

“Okay, I will, but I think someone needs to talk with you.
You’re going to have to realize that she’s on the cusp of leaving the nest as
an adult. Don’t get me wrong, she’s a credit to you, but you need to let her go
and breathe life.”

Shaw knew that she was right. They said their goodbyes.

“That’s it, Gyp, just you and me tonight and soon it’ll be
every night.”

Gyp bolted over to the window, jumping up with his paws landing
on the sill. He pushed his nose through the slats and snarled.

“What is it, boy?”

Shaw jumped up from the sofa. Parting the slats, he glanced
around outside. A dark shadow darted behind some bushes at the front yard of
the house across the street. He rubbed his eyes and stared hard. He thought it
was too big for a domestic cat, maybe a large dog or someone crouching. Gyp’s
paws danced along the sill, dragging the slats with him, casting light outside.
Over to his left, something darted between gate at the field and behind the
hedgerow. Gyp whined, jumped down and tugged at Shaw’s pants with his teeth.

“Get off me. What did you see?”

Gyp barked, jumping up and down on his front paws. Whatever
he’d seen, it wasn’t like Gyp to get that excited. He moved away from the
window and turned off the light. Gyp scratched at the apartment door.

“You’re not going out running after strays. Settle down.”

He walked back to the window and peeked out through the
slats. Two minutes watching and he shrugged his shoulders. A fox slinked across
the street, and then it ran off toward the field.

“There’s nothing there, boy, only a fox,” he said, and
walked over to the wall to flick the light switch on.

Shaw ambled over to the sofa and sat. He lifted his laptop
onto his knees. Gyp jumped into the space it had left. He took out a pen drive
from his pocket and uploaded the images taken at the vets. Frank had sent his e-mail.
He downloaded the pictures and Frank’s report and copied them to his pen drive.
Gyp sat alert at the side of him as he scrolled through the pictures. Shaw
started to type scenarios. He started with Ed Grimes as his main suspect for
involvement in the vet’s death, and the arson attack. He made a list of
questions he needed him to answer. He took a sideways glance at Gyp, to see him
staring at the screen.

“What’s up, Gyp,” he said, and patted Gyp’s head. “Do you
want something to eat? I’m making a coffee.”

Shaw put out a bowl of dog food and then sat with his mug of
black coffee and placed it at the side of the sofa. His mind was more active
than it had been for as long as he could remember. With his eyelids heavy, he
fought the inevitable, but felt himself drifting.

Shaw awoke to banging coming from the direction of the
downstairs office door, and pushing himself to his feet, he stumbled to the
window. He looked at his watch. It was 10: 30 a.m. He pulled on the cord,
parted the blind slats, then opened the window. Frank was standing below, and
looked up at Shaw.

“Let me get dressed. I’ll be down soon.”

Shaw hurried to the bathroom, took a quick shower, then
dressed.

“Come on Gyp,” he said, and opened the door to his
apartment. He hesitated at the bottom of the stairway. There had been no foul
taste in his mouth, no pounding headache, and his vision was clear. He realized
that he’d not drunk himself to sleep as he opened the door to Frank, and Gyp
slipped outside.

“I thought it was your day off, Frank?” Shaw said, as they
made his way to the office.

“Yeah, but the missus has gone to church with her sister and
friends. I’m at a loose end. I was wondering if you wanted company on your
visits.”

“First things first, I’ll fill the coffee Jug.”

Shaw set about making the coffee, filling the coffee maker
with water from the cooler.

“We need a fresh water bottle for the cooler, we’re almost
out,” Shaw said. “I’ll pick one up on my travels.”

He noticed the LED flashing on his answer phone and pressed
playback. There was just the one message from Amy saying that she had arrived
safely. He wasn’t sure he wanted Frank’s company. His mind carried on from
where it left off when he’d fallen asleep. He was still worried about Amy, and
he wanted time alone to think about the events surrounding Maria and Johno. It
was too early to haul Ed Grimes in for questioning, least not until all the
forensics results and the autopsy was complete. Maria’s death could be simply a
case of a ferocious dog savaging her. It could be Ed Grimes dog. It could be a
dog that she’d tried to rescue after a fight with the stag. The bare footprints
and the arson attack clouded the issue. Amy’s revelation that Ted’s Polly was a
dog and not some bird, together with her saying that he was away from the camp,
arriving in his bare feet, gave him reason for concern.

“You look troubled,” said Frank.

“I’m just thinking. I’m hoping the preppers can give us a
good description of the feral dog. There’s that, and I’m concerned about Amy.
I’m finding it hard to let go.”

Frank poured the coffee, and then they walked over to sit at
the desk.

“I know what ya mean. I’ve been there with my two kids.
We’re lucky if we get two phone calls a year. You’d think with having Skype,
they’d always be in touch. June sits at the computer, glued to Facebook. She
presses the like button on all their posts and family pictures, hoping for a
message that rarely arrives. When you think of all the sacrifices, it’s a kick
in the teeth.”

“I guess.”

Shaw took a swig of coffee, then studied Frank. His tanned
and wizened features, with the years he’d spent under the sun, made him look
older than his already senior years. Older maybe, but wiser. He’d misread
Frank. This last few days working with him had shown a side of him that earned
his respect. Shaw had never been one to talk about private matters a work, or
with anyone except Mary, but Frank’s presence put him at ease. Shaw leaned back,
and clasped his fingers behind his head.

“Damn it, Frank, you’ve made me feel guilty.”

“How so?”

“All this getting in touch with family. I should phone Mom
and Dad more often.”

“Where do they live?”

“Mom lives in Ohio with her husband, and Dad lives in Texas
with his new wife and family. I have a brother who lives over in Miami that I
haven’t talked to for over ten years. But then our family’s like an elastic
band that’s stretched and broken. I don’t see us getting together again. We all
have our own lives.”

“Have you never thought of marrying again, or, are you still
grieving?”

Shaw thought for a moment, not convinced if he should open
up. Maybe it was his conversation with Mary, he couldn’t be sure, but he
decided to pour it out.

“No, I’m past the grieving. I mean I wish she were here, but
she isn’t, and she’s not coming back. I found that out when I visited her
graveside yesterday. Truth is; I had a crap experience with my Mom’s new
husband, and serious problems with his kids who lived with us. I tried living
with Dad, but I was nearer his wife’s age than he was, and she just didn’t like
me around the home. I didn’t want to put Amy through all that.”

Frank leaned with his elbows on the table and rested his
chin on his knuckles.

“None of my business, I know, but if you’ll take the advice
of an old man. I can understand sacrificing all for Amy. But when Amy goes to
university, you need to do what’s right for you, before it’s too late. Before
the liquor takes your liver, and your life.”

Shaw felt liked he’d been sucker punched. He unclasped his
hands, aware of himself blushing. If Ed Grimes knew, and now Frank, then the whole
town must know about this drinking.

“Maybe you’re right.”

Shaw eased out of his chair and walked over to collect his
hat from the coat stand. He put on his hat and looked in the mirror, making
adjustments. The man staring back at him with a mottled-red nose, he looked
like a stranger whose life was passing him by. The Stetson, the beige shirt
with the sheriff’s badge pinned to his pocket, the brown corduroy pants, and
cowboy boots; they didn’t belong. The town and the job didn’t match the man
that he knew was hiding in the reflection. He didn’t belong there. Shaw knew
that. His time back in LA had proved as much to him.

“Come on, Frank. Let’s go see if we can unearth something at
the wild life park or the silver mine.”

Shaw followed Frank outside. They both climbed onto their
seats in Shaw’s car, and firing up the engine, they set of toward the main
street. Ed Grimes stood outside his bar, smoking a cigarette. Shaw looked
directly ahead, but he could see Grimes watching him. As he passed the bar, he
looked in his rearview. Grimes still watched, until he stubbed his cigarette under
his boot, and with a final glance in Shaw’s direction, he disappeared through
the entrance to his bar.