Double Blind (33 page)

“Guess you heard Billy escaped last night?” Wade said.

“What?” Sam wasn’t sure why she was surprised. Billy had as much as said he was going to bolt. She had hoped he would reconsider. At least for a day or two until his wound healed somewhat. Men, pigheaded to a fault.

“Picked the lock on his cuffs and jumped out the window.”

“When?” Sam asked.

“Must have been after 3 a.m., according to his nurse. She checked on him every hour up until then. After that she let him sleep until the 7 a.m. change of shift.”

“Now what?” Sam asked.

“I guess we’ll have to hunt him down again.”

“We?”

“Me, Eloy, Burt, Hollis. And Murph's bringing a couple of dogs down.”

“What do Burt and Hollis have to do with this? They aren’t cops.”

“Actually, they are. We have a group we call the Chief’s Posse. A couple dozen of the men around here belong to it.”

“Posse?” Sam said. “Is that what you call it?”

Wade’s eyes narrowed. “With only Eloy and me, sometimes we have to bring in others to help out. Like when we have to track down a dangerous criminal on the run.”

“Come on, Wade,” Sam said. “Billy’s not dangerous and you know it.”

“Don’t look that way to me.”

“You? Or Burt?”

His jaw tightened. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Alyss touched Sam’s arm as if to say relax, back off. Sam pulled her arm away and leaned on the door of Wade’s truck, bringing her face close to his.

“It means I know about you and Burt. And I know about Burt’s agenda here. Trying to steal Billy’s land.”

“You’ve been listening to Billy too much.”

“Maybe the State Patrol will see it my way. Maybe they’ll be interested in assuring that Billy gets a fair trial, not a lynching.”

Wade’s eyes turned cold. “Now, don’t go sticking your nose where it don’t belong.”

“What is it with everyone around here?” Sam said. “People threatening each other all the time.”

“I wasn’t threatening you. I was trying to keep you out of trouble.”

“What trouble might that be?”

Wade shook his head. “Some people just have to piss on a electric fence to see if it’s hot.” He shifted the truck into gear. “You’ll have to excuse me, I have a murderer to hunt down.”

With a roar from the engine, the truck lurched away from the curb and down the street.

“What the hell are you doing?” Alyss said. “Wade’s not the kind of person you can push around.”

“Neither am I,” Sam said.

Alyss grabbed her arm. “Sam, slow down. Think about what you’re saying.”

“I know what I’m doing. Burt and Wade and their little confederacy of morons don’t want to capture Billy. They’re going to hunt him down and kill him. Just like they would have done the other day if I hadn’t been there.”

“How do you know that?”

“It’s all they can do. If Billy finds the real killer, Burt loses his chance to cash in and Wade will be in deep shit for his part in the frame.”

“What if Billy is the real killer? No one has seen this mystery creature that supposedly lives in the mountains.”

“I have. He ran right over me. The Kendalls. Shelby. They saw him, too.”

Alyss took in a quick breath at the mention of Shelby’s name. “They saw a bear.”

“No. It wasn’t a bear. It was a big, smelly man-like creature.”

Alyss paled and brought her hand to her chest. “You mean Shelby came face to face with a…?” She couldn’t finish the sentence.

“Maybe. Probably.”

“Oh, God,” Alyss said. “I never...”

“Let’s go,” Sam said.

“Where?”

“Home. I need to get my Jeep and go after them.”

“Are you crazy?”

“Alyss, I’m not going to let them gun down an innocent man. You know I won’t.”

“But...” Alyss began.

“But nothing. Remember, you wanted me to solve this thing. I may not be able to do that, but I’m damn sure not going to sit by and watch a mob kill Billy.”

*

After reaching Alyss’, Sam called information for the number she needed, and then dialed the Colorado Bureau of Investigation Regional Office in Montrose. She spoke with a junior State Patrol officer named Mac McBride who said he was stuck riding a desk for the weekend and no one else was available. She explained the situation, but he said they were short-handed and couldn’t send any officers until the next day. 

“Where’s your Captain?” Sam said.

“He’s up in Redstone. It’s his daughter’s birthday.”

“Can he be reached?”

“Nope. Captain Baker don’t like to be bothered unless it’s an emergency.”

“I think this qualifies,” Sam said. “Just contact your Captain and have him call me as soon as possible.” She gave him the phone number.

She could almost feel his condescending smile over the phone line. After telling her that the CBI didn’t like to stick its nose in local problems unless officially requested, he suggested that she “calm down” and “not get so worked up” and he would have Captain Baker call Chief Wade first thing tomorrow morning.

Furious, Sam slammed the phone into its cradle but missed and it tumbled to the floor. She snatched it up and settled it in place.

After changing clothes and snapping her gun into place on the back of her belt, she drove straight to Burt’s, hoping to stop the hunt before it even started. Carmelita opened the door and let Sam in. “Mr. Eagan’s not here,” she said.

“How long ago did he leave?” Sam asked.

“Half an hour,” Niki said, walking into the entry foyer. She wore a black silk robe, mid-thigh length.

Sam frowned. “Who went with him?”

“Hollis and Chief Wade. And that ugly cop. Eloy.”

“And Murph?”

“The dog guy?” Niki asked.

Sam nodded.

“Yeah. He had different ones this time. Not the old looking cute ones. These looked mean.”

Apprehension wound its fingers around Sam’s gut. “What type of dogs?”

“I don’t know. I hate dogs.”

“Did they take trucks or horses?”

“Horses, I think,” Niki said.

Sam turned toward the door, but Niki grabbed her arm. “I need to talk to you.” She cast a nervous glance at Carmelita, who excused herself and headed toward the kitchen.

“I’m in a hurry,” Sam said.

Niki’s blue eyes moistened. “I don’t know what to do.”

“About what?”

“I’m afraid. For Hollis.”

“It may be a little late for that,” Sam said.

“No,” Niki said. “It’s not. Hollis isn’t like Burt.”

“Seems that way to me.”

Tears welled in Niki’s eyes, intensifying their blueness, and streaked across her perfect cheekbones. She glanced at the door Carmelita had left through, and then back at Sam. “I over heard them talking this morning. I didn’t understand all of it, but...remember...I told you Burt was ruthless?”

“Yes.”

“What I didn’t tell you was that he had tried to kill someone.”

“Who? When?”

“I don’t know who, but it was a couple of months ago.” Niki sniffed back tears. “Hollis told me. He said Burt and two other guys hunted some man down and killed him. Up in the mountains somewhere.”

“What do you mean hunted down?”

“Hollis said they turned him lose in the forest and hunted him.”

“What?”

“I got the feeling that maybe the person is still alive. At least Hollis believes he is. And that he’s up in the mountains. Burt plans to track down Billy and this other guy. If they can find them. Hollis tried to talk him out of it, but Burt convinced him that they had to or they would both be in some kind of trouble.” She wiped a tear from her cheek. “I tried to talk Hollis out of going with them, but he got angry with me. Told me this was none of my business.” Her lower lip trembled. “He never shouts at me.”

“Damn it,” Sam said. “I knew it.”

“Knew what?”

“I don’t have time to explain. I’ve got to get up there and stop them before they make things worse.”

“Don’t let anything happen to Hollis. He’s not like Burt.”

“I’ll do what I can, but my first priority is protecting Billy.” Sam pulled open the door and then turned back to Niki. “If the State Patrol happen to show up here, tell them everything. Understand?”

“But…”

“But, nothing. The only thing that will help Hollis is a big dose of the truth.”

*

Since Burt and his hunting party couldn’t have known where Billy had gone, Sam guessed they would return to where they had captured him before, near the Old Watkin’s Mine, and search from there. That’s what she would do anyway. People in trouble tend to return to familiar territory.

She drove across the rolling terrain of Casa Grande to the area where they had entered the trees before and parked. She slipped on her jacket and headed up the slope.

The blue sky rapidly disappeared as another mass of black clouds slid over the peaks, led by a chilling breeze. Several hundred feet above the valley floor, the forest thickened, adding to the murkiness. Breathing heavily, legs aching, she pushed forward, over large rocks, through thick brush, and up gravel-strewn slopes. Despite the cold, sweat frosted her face and trickled down her neck.

She stopped suddenly. Something felt wrong. An uneasy sensation danced over her flesh, pebbling it, pulling the fine hairs on her arms to attention. She cocked her head and listened, but the forest seemed deathly silent. She looked behind her, right, left, ahead up the slope.

Then, she saw him. Almost.

In the gloom, a thick form slid through the shadows, absorbing, then releasing them in its wake.

“Billy?” she said. “Billy? Is that you?”

The hulk stopped, above her, hidden behind the trunk and thick branches of a tall spruce.

“Billy.”

The shadow moved higher, and then stopped again.

The breeze swelled and pushed an odor toward her, feral, fierce, animalistic. Recognition was immediate. This was the person that ran over her, that killed Lloyd Varney, that smashed open the lab door.

Her senses ramped up and she pulled her gun, her heart thumping against her chest. She moved to her left.

At first, she saw only an amorphous blotch. Then, the outline of a head, shoulders. Continuing to her left and slightly up the slope, she stepped over a fallen tree trunk. Now, only 100 feet separated them.

Unable to capture a clear view of the creature, she averted her gaze slightly, a trick she had learned from her father during the hours they had shared stargazing. He had called it "indirect vision." That area just off center where vision is sharpest.

The creature peered around the tree trunk. She could make out a face, covered with hair, but few details. And now, she could hear its coarse raspy breathing.

It moved away, up the slope, but stopped and turned toward her. Two more steps, another pause, and then it continued up the slope.

It wanted her to follow. She didn’t know who or what this thing was or where it wanted to lead her, but she sensed it meant her no harm. If that were its agenda, it would already have attacked her.

She moved toward it as it continued higher, picking up pace.

She rushed ahead. Even though she could no longer see it, she could hear it pushing through the trees.

She found herself running to keep up. The sound of the creature’s movements grew fainter as the gap between them stretched wider until she could no longer hear it.

She stopped and listened. Nothing. Only the whisper of the wind broke the silence. Her breath came in deep gasps and sweat slicked her face.

She scanned the trees, searching for movement, but saw none. As if it had vanished. Just like in the alley the night Lloyd was murdered. What the hell was it?. It seemed human, yet not. And why had it led her here?

Unzipping her jacket, she welcomed the cool breeze against her sweat-dampened shirt. The first sprinkles of the coming storm peppered the trees above her.

 After a few minutes, cooled and replenished with oxygen, she zipped her jacket and continued to the east, hugging the tree line, keeping a wary eye on the thick forest for movement. The rain fell harder.

Above her, the Old Watkin’s Mine came into view, but Wade and his erstwhile posse were nowhere to be seen. Had they already captured Billy? Or killed him?

Suddenly, a gunshot echoed through the trees. From the east, not far away. She hurried toward the sound, slowing when she heard voices. Careful not to betray her presence, she crept through a veil of spruce branches until she saw them.

The five men stood at the base of a slope, looking up. Murph clutched the leashes of two muscular Pit Bulls. Eloy raised his rifle and fired. The bullet twanged off the rocks.

Sam moved closer and squatted behind several large rocks that were piled beneath the drooping branches of a towering spruce tree. Now, she could see them more clearly, but they would not be able to see her in the shadows.

Two more rifle shots from Eloy and Burt.

Looking higher, she saw Billy crouched behind a boulder..

Another shot, a ping, and a puff from the top of the rock. Billy flinched and settled lower, out of sight.

She peered between the branches at the situation before her. Five men, two dogs, and an overabundance of insanity. Not pretty.

Making a decision, she pulled her .357 and took a deep calming breath. Sinking more deeply into the shadows, she fired a shot upward, through a gap in the foliage.

Startled, they turned toward her. Burt and Wade dropped to a knee and waved their rifles before them, obviously searching for whoever had fired the shot. Eloy stumbled to his left and hid behind Wade. Hollis froze. Murph struggled to restrain the two Pit Bulls, which growled and snarled in her direction. Their legs and shoulders rippled with muscles and their square jaws hung open, revealing long conical fangs.

“Who’s there?” Burt shouted.

“Me,” Sam turned her head and shouted, directing her voice up and away so they couldn’t pinpoint her location among the trees.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Burt asked.

“Trying to keep you from making a mistake,” she said.

“No. You’re interfering with a police operation,” Wade said.

“Is that what this is?” Sam said. “Looks like a lynch party to me. And those don’t look like tracking dogs.”