Tempting the Light: Legends and Myths Police Squad (L.A.M.P.S. Book 1) (14 page)

Chapter 20

You behaved like a good boy at our picnic, Kazoo.” While playing with Kazoo in her bed, Abby replayed the lunch she shared with River in her mind. The soft touches of River’s fingers when he wiped egg salad off her face brought tingles throughout her body. The way he’d brought his finger up to his plump lips and sucked on them in that seductive way drew a smile. She couldn’t believe all the preparation he went through to make the picnic perfect.

Ha. Until he forgot to bring condoms. He’d probably suffered all day.

Abby could have relieved him a couple of different ways, but the more she thought about having a relationship with him, the more she knew how bad of an idea it was. Her head said no but her heart wanted to take that chance. She frowned and tugged her pillow underneath her head. Pepper’s comment about keeping your enemies close rang true, but the genius who made up that line probably wasn’t thinking intercourse-close.

She scratched Kazoo behind the ears, and he made a squeak noise. “Come on, buddy. Let’s go outside for a potty break.” Kazoo zoomed to the door and thumped his tail eagerly while waiting for his leash to be attached.

The exhilarating warmth outside brought a peaceful smile to her face and even though darkness settled around them the deep breaths of fresh air filled Abby’s lungs giving her a bounce with every step. She walked around the property patiently waiting for Kazoo to lift his leg.

She thought about River again. He really
was
her enemy. How could she have let this go so far? She’d have to end it now, or at least postpone things until the curse was lifted. Knowing her luck, that could take years.

They walked down the gravel driveway and behind the brown barn. Kazoo liked privacy when he did his business.

Something machine-like moved nearby, and Abby noticed a red blinking light on top of it. She walked closer, careful not to trip over any stones hidden in the taller grass.

It moved again.

She inched closer to the cylinder shaped device. “What the heck . . .?” She realized it was a camera pointed at Pepper’s house.

Since it was so dark out, Abby pulled her miniature flashlight out of her pocket and shined the beam on the device. There was a switch on the back and she turned it to the off position. The red light went out.

“What do you bet River and Ottar had something to do with this, Kazoo.” How long had the camera been there? A rampage of fury ran down her spine through her legs, which ended up making her big toenails ache. She hated that feeling, and wiggled her toes around in her shoes.

Kazoo lifted his leg while half squatting in the taller grass. After he finished they walked back through the yard to the house.

“Pepper,” Abby called out after she walked through the door.

“Right here.” Pepper walked into the room, her bright blue eyes curious with Abby’s call. “What’s up?”

She let out a deep breath. “I found a camera outside by the barn aimed at the house.” Her words came out covered in pissed off, which mimicked how she felt.

“You’re kidding me.”

While making a hurry-up motion, she held the door open. “No I’m not. Grab a flashlight and come with me.”

They walked outside through the damp grass with their lights and examined the camera.

“It looks expensive. I’ll be right back.” Pepper ran into the barn.

She came back holding a couple of tools. “I’m pulling this off.” She took out a wrench and unscrewed the nut to pop the camera off the post.

She scratched the invisible cooties nipping at the back of her head. “I wonder if there’s any more out here.”

They searched around the property and spotted another one. Promptly, they turned it off and removed the camera.

“That’s pretty sneaky of those guys.” How could River even think about having a relationship with someone he’s spying on? Wouldn’t that be considered unethical?

Pepper held up one of the cameras and examined it. “Yeah. It is sneaky. What do you want to do about it?”

“Want to go over there and throw their cameras at them?”

Pepper let out a grin showing she was up for the adventure. “Sounds good to me.”

They grabbed up the two cameras and hopped into the car to head over to the Sheriff’s house.

River and Ottar were camped out in front of the laptops. One of the screens flickered off to a snowy white static.

“Hey? What happened to camera number two?” River’s fingers flew over the keyboard tapping keys.

“Looks like Abby found one of the cameras,” Ottar said pointing to the other screen.

They watched Abby stalk with long strides, her arms swinging by her sides into the house with her dog from another camera screen.

River rose from his chair and ran bent fingers through his hair. “Shoot. This isn’t good.” His stomach tilt-a-whirled.

“Here, wait. She’s coming out again. Uh oh. Pepper’s with her. It looks like they’re walking over to the camera. Oh, hell, I can’t see them anymore,” Ottar reported.

“Just when I was starting to break through her barriers. Now she’s going to be majorly pissed.” His voice leaked a tad of panic to his words.

Both guys stared at the other screens waiting for any indication to what was happening. The way the other cameras were pointed they couldn’t see a thing.

“Oops, looks like Pepper has it in her hand and they’re looking around.” Ottar laughed and smacked his hand on his thigh. He seemed to be enjoying this a little too much.

He looked over Ottar’s shoulder. “Hopefully they won’t find the other ones.”

“Nope. They just found the one on the east side.”

“Great.” This was definitely
not
River’s day.

“Oh, hell—they’re getting in the car with the cameras as evidence. They only found two.”

“I assume they’ll be on their way over. Put some pants on.” He threw Ottar’s cargo shorts at him. For some reason Ottar loved to sit around in his boxers.

“Do you think they suspect us?”

“Who knows? I’m the Sheriff so I would assume they will want to report it to me.” He shut down the laptops and closed the lids and turned on the television. Not long after he finished the doorbell rang. Hercules bolted in the room and jumped on the door, leaving behind paw prints.

“Here it goes.” River opened the door.

Abby carried both the cameras in her arms, frowning. “We found these. I think they’re yours.”

Pepper stood next to her with her hands on her hips while blowing out a breath causing her blond bangs to fly up from her face. Their expressions said
not happy
. They
had
every right to be pissed.

“Why don’t you come in?” He opened the door wider and looked over to Ottar sitting on the couch, who finally had his pants on. Ottar gave them a devious smile and a finger wave to the women.

Abby shoved the cameras at River. “No, we don’t want to come in. Here. I believe these are yours.” Her lips did this pucker then straightening thing over and over.

“Abby, it’s not what you think?”

“No? Because I’m thinking you’re spying on us. How long has this been going on? Did you film our lunch today?”

“What? No! How could you think that?” He would never have filmed their picnic, although it would have been fun to film, if she consented. He squashed the smile the thought wanted to plaster on his face.

“Consider us over.” Abby’s face colored a vibrant pink, and her
eyes
flipped him off. Accusation and wariness shaded her expression.

The delicate shreds of trust he’d worked so hard to build lay in crumpled shards and scattered debris, like a building dynamited for destruction. Her last look was the fist to his gut, the never-contact-me-again look. She turned, almost in suspended slow motion before she stormed away.

“Make sure he fixes my dinosaur.” Pepper pointed to Ottar and then double-stepped to catch up with Abby.

“Wait, Abby. I can explain.” River followed her out to her car and ran behind the vehicle while they hopped inside.

She rolled down her window. “Get out of the way, River. I
will
run over you.” Abby’s voice didn’t reveal any emotion, just hard, cold facts. The engine revved, blowing plumes of exhaust from the tailpipe. He jumped aside and his mouth fell open while she zoomed out of the driveway.

He had to fix this. How could he have let this happen? The one woman he could really care for and he’d betrayed her. He fisted his hands and stormed inside. He was a total dumbass.

Ottar never moved from the safety and tranquility of the couch. “Sorry. You know deep down it’s for the best. She’s throwing you off your game.”

Okay. He did have a job to do, but man, he was falling for Abby big-time. “We shouldn’t have put them under surveillance.”

Ottar leaned back and crossed his arms. “They are suspects, and we still have a camera over there.”

River paced. “We should take it down tomorrow while they’re at work.”

“Not happening. Besides, they’ll never find it. I hid it in the trees.” Ottar opened the laptop and turned on the feed.

River walked over to the computer and watched the women get out of their car and stride into the house. Just before Abby entered, she turned, lifted her middle finger, and twisted panoramic style, jutting the gesture all over the yard. She was keen to their game, and he knew it.

“Damn.” He never felt like such a jerk in his whole entire life.
This sucked, royal noble knobs.

Ottar laughed a fully belly laugh. “She flipped you the bird, mate.”

“I saw it.” River sulked out of the room to his bedroom. He wished the night would end.

“What a freaking jerk! And to think I almost had sex with that creep today.” Abby threw her purse on the counter and plopped on the couch like a boneless chicken.

“What? Wait. Did I hear you right?” Pepper sat next to her with one leg crossed under her bottom. An expression of tell-me-more wallpapered her face.

“Yes. We enjoyed a nice picnic lunch, then one thing led to another and we both were hot and—you know. Then we stopped because he didn’t think to bring protection. What if he filmed our afternoon?”

Pepper smiled out support. “First of all, I don’t think he would have filmed your outing. Second, maybe he had a good reason for watching the house? Don’t you think maybe he could have been worried about us?”

She shook her head, her curls bounced wild. “Nope. I think he suspects we have something to do either with the Gnome or the Jersey Devil. Which makes him right. Which is why I’m never going out with him again.” She turned her hand over and inspected her short un-manicured nails.

Abby let out a defeated sigh. Maybe this was for the best. At least she wouldn’t have to worry about changing into the Jersey Devil on a date with him or anything.

Hopefully, her mom’s neighbor would find her grandmother’s journal and something would lie inside those pages to remove the curse.

Chapter 21

River wanted to bang his head against the office wall. It had been almost a week since the night Abby found the cameras. She refused to answer any of his phone calls and every time he’d visit the pet store, which had been every day since that awful night, she darted into the back room.

He studied Pepper’s pet store, made up his mind, and got out of his squad car. Time for his daily visit.

River pulled the heavy glass door open and walked inside. “Hey, Pepper.”

She looked up from the counter, her long blond hair pulled up high in a ponytail. “Howdy Sheriff. When is Ottar going to fix my dinosaur?” She tilted her head to the side and her ponytail swished back and forth.

River looked around the store for Abby and let out a long deep breath when he didn’t see her. “He’s waiting on supplies. Is Abby here?”

“No. Sorry, you just missed her. Tell Ottar he better hurry up. He’s running out of time.”

“Damn. Where did she go?”

Pepper shook her head. “Nope. I’m not telling. She’d kill me. You know you really screwed up with that whole camera fiasco. So when do you think his supplies will arrive?”

Her obsession over that stupid statue boggled his mind. He wished Ottar would hustle and repair the damn thing. He’d have to remind him. Again. “I don’t know. Do you want his number so you can call and ask him?”

Her lip curled with repulsion. “No. I have no interest in speaking to that overgrown Outback ape.”

“Do you think Abby will ever forgive me?”

“Probably not. You were spying on her for Pete’s sake.”

River looked down at his shoes. Yep, he blew it. “Can you tell her I’m sorry?”

“Yeah. I will. But it probably won’t work. Maybe that’s something you need to say for yourself.”

“Thanks, Pepper.” River tucked his tail between his legs and left the pet store.

He missed Abby’s kisses and the sweet smell of her cherry lip balm. He missed the cute freckles that spattered across her nose and her soft enticing skin. What was he thinking when he installed those damn cameras? That she wouldn’t find out? He shook his head to try to shake his memories and regret away, and headed back to the police station.

Intelligence on Gnomes in the L.A.M.P.S. archives was scarce and vague. Apparently, Gnomes had been out-smarting their agents for years. What he did learn is they usually had some type of master to whom they reported, and the master usually had them on task hunting for treasure. He just had to figure out who the master was.

River cracked his jaw. Certainly Abby and Pepper couldn’t be the Master? Could they?

Ottar had installed cameras around Charlotte’s house. His suspicions proved correct. That woman loved to entertain the opposite sex. At least three different men visited Charlotte’s house each day. Plumbers, electricians, and other trade trucks were parked in creative succession in front of her house. Nothing showed them that she mastered the Gnome.

The Jersey Devil was AWOL.

River fisted his hand against the desk until his knuckles went white. This detail baffled him to no end. Mr. Livingston was the only citizen in town who’d witnessed the beast besides the video released on the internet. Livingston’s report led them to the Gnome, so River had no reason to discredit the old man’s account of his encounter with the Jersey Devil.

River flipped through the Cryptid textbooks, and investigated other agent’s on-line archived journals for any information on the flying beast. Over fifty years had passed since the last one was spotted. It too remained elusive, but the sightings were about a month apart.

He got up from his desk and studied the calendar. Mr. Livingston had seen it over two weeks ago. Maybe next week or the week after it would come out again? Sure, it was a hunch, but right now that was the only lead. He trusted his gut.

Nerves between his shoulders knotted up into a gnarled mess. If he didn’t catch them soon the agency would start to doubt his ability. Never had he been this twisted over a case, with the exception of when his brother suffered the attack. Just a mere boy then, and certainly not a qualified hunter, he hated the memories. He pushed the flashback of his worst failure from his thoughts.

River scanned the books searching for clues about the Jersey Devil. Other hunters detailed a clear gel-type substance found by a river or stream the day after one was spotted.
This is new.
He made a note in his notebook to walk all the riverbeds. He closed the book with a thump and got up to pace, hoping some hot red pumping blood might aid his concentration.

Before he made three passes, his phone rang.

“Sheriff Stone,” River answered.

“Sheriff. It’s Thomas. Oh, man. I went hunting this morning and found a dead body in the forest. You have to see this. What kind of animal would do this? You have to come quick.”

“Where are you?”

Thomas gave River the exact location, his voice shaky, and filled with terror.

“I’ll be there in about fifteen minutes. Don’t move and don’t touch anything.”

“Good, because I don’t know how much longer I can be around this corpse.”

“Do you know who it is?”

“Nope. He’s in old worn clothes though. Hurry up.” They both hung up.

On his way to the site, River called Ottar and gave him the location. Ottar, already in the forest, beat River to the scene. When River arrived, he saw yellow tape strung around the scene to keep anyone from contaminating the area.

“What do we have here?” River asked Ottar when they walked under the crime scene tape.

“Looks like our Gnome got hungry.” Ottar spoke in a low volume so Thomas wouldn’t hear him. “I found your hunter there sitting by a tree about fifty yards away. From the look of the vomit near the body, Thomas lost his breakfast when he found the victim.”

River moved closer and bent down to inspect the dead man. A hole in the top of his head about two inches in diameter sunk into his skull. It flanged out at the opening. Saliva surrounded the pit and made the hair stick to the victim’s head. River took out his flashlight and illuminated inside the hole. Nothing but an empty skull remained. He looked up at Ottar and gave a confirming nod before stepping over to talk to Thomas.

Thomas’s face was the shade of green olives. He looked like he needed to hurl again.

“Are you doing all right?” River asked. He held out a bottle of water he’d retrieved from Ottar’s backpack.

“Sheriff . . . Did you see that guy’s head? Something stole his brain. What kind of animal could do that?” Thomas tried to stand, but his legs collapsed causing him to fall back on his butt.

“I don’t know, but you can be certain we’ll find it.” River’s voice sounded confident. He knew exactly what ate the victim’s brain. The Gnome was a dead Gnome as soon as he found the blasted bastard.

As expected, the evidence left behind was scarce. No hair or material threads, only saliva. River took a cotton swab and collected the Gnome’s mucus from around the puncture wound. He dropped it into a sealed container which he’d overnight to L.A.M.P.S. main headquarters in Area 51, so the scientist geeks could analyze the evidence. No doubt the results wound end up pointing to the Gnome.

That was, if they had other Gnome DNA to compare it to. He doubted they would.

River questioned Thomas, but got little information. He claimed he was hunting in the woods and stumbled on the body. Pretty cut and dry.

There were a few things though that bothered him, though. First, Thomas didn’t seem the hunting type because he remembered Pepper complaining about his shoes when they paired up during the search party for Mr. Livingston. Surely a man who hunted regularly would know what kind of shoes to wear when traipsing in the forest.

Second, his camouflage clothing looked brand new. When he asked Thomas about it, he replied he had just bought them because his others were worn out. Both reasons put him on the suspect list.

Ottar helped him tag all the evidence and photograph the murder site. After they labeled everything, they called the secret L.A.M.P.S. cleanup crew to pick up the body.

“This is getting out of hand. It’s very rare to have more than one casualty from a Cryptid. Another one, and the press would be poking around. The last thing we need is for this to be broadcast across America,” Ottar said.

River remembered this man. The victim turned out to be the homeless man who lived in town and must have wandered into the forest. Oddly enough, he usually stuck to the streets. Could he have been set up as an offering? Yep. Another thing he would have to check out.

“You check the forest tonight and I’ll question people on the streets,” River said to Ottar.

Ottar nodded and packed up the last of the evidence. What Ottar lacked in people tactics he made up for in guerilla warfare. He would be more at home alone in the forest tracking the Gnome.

“You think the homeless guy was set up?” Ottar was no dummy.

“Of course. I want surveillance on Thomas.” He had extra cameras now that Abby had returned the two. At least Abby and Pepper hadn’t found the last one up in the trees. If they had, they’d have taken it down. Last night he and Ottar watched the feed of the two women and nothing happened. The ladies did chores around the yard, fed the animals, and retired early. Lately that was the only way River got to see Abby.

Charlotte’s surveillance feed proved boring. In fact, she hadn’t been home in the past few days. He’d check to see if she’d used her passport.

“You want me to go over to Pepper’s house and warn her about the Gnome?” Ottar seemed a little too eager to spread the warning to the women.

“Sure. They need to be careful and aware of what’s going on. I’d go myself, but Abby’s on a no-River crusade at the moment.” She may not open the door for Ottar either, but it was worth a try considering their safety was at risk.

“You don’t suspect them anymore do you?” Ottar asked.

“No. Especially now that someone lured a meal into the woods.” Whoever did this to that poor homeless guy didn’t have a heart. “Pepper and Abby don’t fit the profile.”

“We can’t be sure. Right now it’s circumstantial evidence.”

“True, but my gut tells me I’m right on this one.” His gut, his head, and even his intuition all agreed.

“Mine does too.” Ottar swung the pack over his shoulder and turned to walk to his vehicle.

“Hey, tell them to refrain from going out at
all
during the night,” River called out.

Ottar kept walking. His wave above his head indicated that he’d heard him.

Abby looked out the window of the front door and hesitated to pull it open. Ottar waited on the porch with his hands shoved in his pockets. If she pretended he wasn’t there, maybe he would go away.

Knock. Knock.

Or not.

What if River was hurt or worse? She turned the knob and opened the door.

“Finally.” Ottar let out a long audible hard breath. “We found a body in the woods that border this property. Make sure you and your
girlfriend
don’t wander off alone. I suggest you use the buddy system. Or better yet, don’t go out at night.” He crossed his arms. “Sheriff’s orders, ey?”

Stunned from the news, she tried to figure out what he was trying to say. “A human body?”

“Is there any other kind?” Ottar held out his hands, and his brown eyes sparkled with wildness.

“Yes, it could have been an animal’s body.”

“That would be a
carcass
. Anyway, it looks like some kind of animal killed him. It’s not safe out there. Have you noticed any of your animals hurt, or missing?” He put his hand against the doorjamb and craned his neck to peer inside the house.

Abby stepped in front of him to block his view. “No.”

His face flashed disappointment for a split second. “You girls got any weapons?” He pulled back his hand from the door opening.

“I doubt it, but I could ask Pepper. I don’t own any.” Guns scared her.

“You might want to get a gun.” He turned and walked away.

She shut the door and Pepper wandered into the room.

“Who’s that?” Ready for bed, she had dressed in her yellow pajama bottoms and baby blue tank top with yellow rubber duckies printed on the front.

“Ottar came over to say they found someone killed by an animal in the forest, and to be careful.”

“That jerk was here?” She sneaked a smile, then straightened her lips and crinkled her forehead.

“Yeah. I have a feeling the Gnome killed that guy.”

Pepper scratched her temple. “Why would a Gnome kill someone? Don’t they help tend your gardens and do commercials for travel companies?”

Throwing her hands up in an I-give-up gesture, Abby replied. “I have no idea, but when River talked about the Gnome and the Jersey Devil in the pet store last week he said they were very dangerous.”

“Okay. No more taking the dogs out at night alone.”

“The Gnome bounced off the hood of my car during the daylight.”

“But it was late in the day. At dusk, right?”

“Yep.” Abby sat at the kitchen table.

“The horses are safe in the barn at night, I hope. If anything happened to them, it would crush me. I’ll keep the dogs inside most of the time until they catch it.” Pepper shook her head, like she couldn’t believe this was happening.

“Good idea.”

“You miss him.”