Lust Unleashed (Night Seekers, Book One) Page 18

  And what was all that about bedding down in the garage? You’d think a man as rootless as Fred would welcome a soft bed for a night instead of insisting on that old iron cot Leo kept in a corner for day laborers to rest on. Whenever he hired one, that is.

  He flopped the covers and rearranged them. There was a restless energy in the air tonight that carried a heavy sense of unease. The distant wail of coyotes didn’t help his frame of mind, either. Then his ears picked up another sound, definitely animal but nothing he’d heard before. Something between a howl and a screech.

  For a moment he debated going out to the garage and insisting Fred take cover in the house. Just in case. He immediately discarded the idea and instead went to fetch his rifle. He moved softly down the stairs to his den where he kept his gun cabinet, quietly unlocking it, taking out his favorite weapon and feeding shells into it.

  Feeling somewhat easier he carried the rifle up to the bedroom with him and placed it on the bed beside him. Not that he expected an animal to break down the door, roar into the house and attack him in his bedroom. Although he’d heard if it happening before, with rabid feral hogs and javelinas that had incredible brute strength. Especially if they were ravenous enough.

  And it didn’t hurt to be ready for anything.

  * * * * *

  The three pairs of Night Seekers raced through the night, muzzles alternately lifted to scent the air and sniffing the ground for traces of something that didn’t belong there. Chelsea was running with Jonah, keeping up with his steady pace.

  I don’t smell anything unusual yet, she said.

  Me, neither, but we still have a way to go. And this creature seems to evaporate its scent at will, so there’s nothing that says it couldn’t have already come this way.

  Do you think the others have found anything?

  Don’t know. But if they had they’d have signaled Dante. Then we get a burst of a charge in these chips and we’d know.

  But we won’t know which pair needs us. We didn’t think about that.

  No problem. Dante will take the chopper out right away and we can follow the spotlight.

  They continued along their planned route, every sense on high alert, well aware of the danger they could be heading toward.

  * * * * *

  The animal stared at the house, stark against the night sky. It smelled prey, its mouth salivating as it thought of the taste. But there was danger everywhere, too, the air almost alive with it. A different kind of danger than the animal was used to. Not the usual night creatures, or even humans. Something else. Something almost…evil.

  The animal snorted and raised its snout, seeking the origin of its problem, but everything was too diluted. Too faint. Could it risk investigating? Or should it run and hunt for other prey.

  Fear was a foreign emotion to the animal but tonight it had worked its way beneath its hairless skin and vibrated through its misshapen body. Sitting back on its haunches, it opened its mouth and added an eerie howl to the distant sound of coyotes.

  * * * * *

  Jonah stopped so suddenly Chelsea almost ran into him.

  What?

  Hear that?

  Chelsea perked her ears and strained to listen. It’s the same sound we heard before. Not coyote. Something else. Different.

  Besides that. Almost blending with it. A new sound.

  Okay. Yes. I hear it now. God, Jonah, it makes my fur stand on end.

  I think we’re the ones heading in the right direction. Let’s get a little closer and we’ll see.

  But they hadn’t gone another hundred yards before he stopped again. The very faint aroma of turpentine and gasoline drifted on the air. Lifting one paw he pressed the chip hanging from his neck. In a moment a static charge zapped back.

  Okay, it’s a go. Let’s get closer. Keep an eye on things, just in case we need to move before Dante gets here.

  We need to be very careful, Jonah.

  Careful’s my middle name.

  * * * * *

  “I want to go with you.” Dakota followed Dante out to the helicopter.

  “No offense, Dakota, but I don’t think Jonah would approve.” Dante opened the door to the bird’s cabin and hopped into the pilot’s seat.

  “I’m not going away,” she insisted, and lifted the hand that had been hanging at her side. “I have my rifle and I’m a crack shot.”

  She was in the cabin and settled in the copilot’s seat before Dante could object again. He just shook his head.

  “No wonder Jonah fell so hard and so fast. Okay. Leave the side door open in case you have to shoot and belt yourself in.” The rotors were already whining as they picked up speed. “There’s another headset on that hook in front of you. Put it on and flip the switch on the right earpiece.”

  They had barely lifted off before Dante hit the button for the spotlight and the ground beneath them was brightly lit up. Nocturnal animals scurried for cover, seeking to escape the spotlight’s unforgiving eye.

  They swooped over trees, skirted the edge of Eagle Pass and headed for the coordinates relayed back from Jonah’s chip. Dakota could see deer now, scurrying for cover, frightened by both the noise and the bright, searching light.

  At the far edge of town Dante throttled back to hover in place.

  Dakota’s heartbeat ratcheted up at the scene below them. Jonah and Chelsea prowled at the edge of the clearing surrounding a small two-story house. At the opposite edge of the clearing a pack of coyotes howled and snapped across the empty space at the two wolves. And creeping along the shadows near the edge of the house was an animal so monstrous in its looks Dakota wasn’t even sure what she was seeing.

  She spotted the headlights on a patrol car on the highway headed in the same direction they were, and in a moment she saw red and blue lights flash on atop the vehicle. Probably in reaction to the helicopter. They’d want to know what the hell was going on. But she could easily see they were too far away to reach the house before the beast roared its way inside.

  Dakota reached out to touch Dante’s arm. “We can’t wait,” she said into her mic. “See that creature? It’s too close to the house. And those coyotes aren’t going to wait much longer before attacking Jonah and Chelsea.”

  “If I get you low enough can you take a shot?”

  “That’s not a real question, right?”

  In answer, Dante sideslipped the helicopter toward the side of the house where the monster was lurking. Dakota unbuckled her seat belt and maneuvered herself behind the seat, kneeling and balancing herself as she sighted through the riflescope. Deliberately blocking everything else out of her mind, as she did when she was hunting, she tightened her finger on the trigger, held the barrel steady and fired.

  The shot hit dead on, knocking the beast backward, but as the helicopter moved closer she saw the animal rise up on its hind legs and stagger toward the house. Taking aim again, she pumped three more shots into it in quick succession, letting out a slow breath when at last she saw it fall and lay there, unmoving.

  As she moved back into her seat and buckled up again, she saw the pack of coyotes scatter, frightened by the rifle shots. Jonah and Chelsea were already heading back to the cabin, barely visible as they raced in and out among the trees.

  “We can’t be here,” Dante said through the mic, shutting down the spotlight.

  “I know. It’s all right. Can you signal the others to head back, too?”

  “Already done. Okay, here we go.”

  By the time they landed Dakota’s adrenaline rush had faded and she was shaking like an aspen in the wind. Dante shut down the helicopter, did his lockdown procedure, then came around to help her. Silently he took the rifle from her hands, helped her down to the ground and supported her as they walked to the cabin.

  “S-Sorry,” she stammered, concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other.

  “No problem. It’s a normal reaction. Come on. You don’t have any brandy, which I’d prefer. Is there more wine?”

>   She nodded.

  “Let’s get some into your system,” he said in a soft voice. “The others should be back shortly.”

  Vaguely she wondered how he could be so calm, so together, when he had to be as zapped by tonight as the others. Finally he would have something to soften the incredible pain he’d lived with for so long. But somehow he was managing to subvert his own feelings and concentrate on her, something for which she was silently grateful.

  All the clothes had been left on the porch so the wolves could shift and dress outside. They were sensitive to the fact that while they were used to each other naked, Dakota was not. They didn’t want her to be embarrassed by anyone’s nudity while they dressed. Inside she dropped into the big armchair, her energy totally depleted. Dante found the wine and poured some into a juice glass for her, kneeling beside her while she sipped on it.

  “You making time with my girl?” Jonah’s voice had only a tinge of amusement in it as he walked into the cabin, pulling his t-shirt over my head.

  “Just taking good care of your dead-on shooter.” Dante rose and moved so Jonah could take his place. “You should be very proud of her.”

  “I am, don’t worry.”

  He stroked Dakota’s arm, her cheek, her back, finally setting the glass aside and lifting her from the chair. He sat down in her place and settled her on his lap, cradling her like a child. His touch began to ease the rough edges and still the trembling inside her body.

  The others slipped inside, quietly talking among themselves. Dante filled them in on what had happened and when Dakota raised her eyes to the group she saw a sea of admiring faces.

  “It’s hard to believe it’s over so quickly,” Sam said, “after all the hell we’ve been through. Who knew we’d get it first crack out of the box.”

  “Let’s just make sure it’s dead,” Sophia warned, helping herself to coffee. “I want proof that it’s dead.”

  “I think we’re about to find out,” Jonah told them as his phone buzzed on the table where he’d left it. He reached to pick it up and clicked the Talk button. “Yeah?” He listened, face giving nothing away. “No shit. And the man’s okay? Good, good. Yeah, that would be great if you don’t mind. All right. I’ll be there shortly.”

  “Well?” Mark demanded, tension lining his body.

  “That was Denby. He says someone shot the devil beast before it could get into the house and attack the man who lived there. Asked me if I want to come take a look. Maybe get some pictures for my story.”

  “Of course you said yes,” Chelsea commented, looking as tense as Mark did.

  “Damn straight.” He looked at Dakota. “Will you be okay if I’m gone for a little bit? I hate to leave you but I don’t think it would be a good idea for you to go with me. Not this time.”

  She nodded. “I think I only want to see it in pictures, anyway. Jonah, it was awful. A monster.”

  “I know, darlin’.” He stroked her hair back from her face, then stood and sat her back down in the chair. “I won’t be gone all that long.”

  “We’ll take good care of her.” Mark walked over to stand beside the chair. “All of us. You get going and get us our proof.”

  “Yes,” Sophia echoed. “Bring us plenty of pictures, Jonah. And every scrap of information you can. We all have a stake in this.”

  He nodded, feeling the same tension they did. As if just hearing the words wasn’t enough. Only visible proof would satisfy them that a monstrous creation of nature was finally and forever dead.

  “Someone call Ric and let him know what happened. Have him call Craig Stafford.”

  “I’m on it.” Sam already had his sat phone out and was punching buttons. “You just get your butt in gear.”

  * * * * *

  The area around Leo Merritt’s house was filled with chaotic activity. What looked to Jonah like every available deputy had arrived as was either putting up yellow crime scene tape or taking pictures. Leo himself was standing on his back porch in jeans and a pajama top. A deputy stood with him, either to keep him from entering the taped off area or to keep him from falling down, Jonah wasn’t sure which.

  Denby walked over as soon as Jonah climbed out of his truck.

  “I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like this,” he said, a tortured look in his eyes. “It’s a real devil beast all right. Come on.”

  The creature lay where it had fallen, an abomination unlike anything Jonah had ever seen before. It had the hind legs and hind quarters of a deer, the hair body of a coyote overlaid over a thin scaly surface, a wide mouth from which protruded two inch long fangs, and eyes that bulged even in death. Its front claws, long, razor-sharp talons, were half constricted in the rictus of death.

  Jonah thought he should feel something more than he did. Satisfaction. A release of grief. A whoosh of breath expelled from his body that carried every feeling of misery and pain he’d bottled up since the night he found Jenna. For two years he’d thought of nothing else, concentrated on nothing else. The offer from Craig Stafford had given him a place to focus all that bitterness, all that desire to seek and destroy the devil beast.

  So why didn’t he feel more? It was almost anticlimactic.

  Maybe because while the pain and torment would always live somewhere in his soul, Dakota had come into his life and softened the edges. Made him realized that he hadn’t died, too. Helped him put all this in perspective. Or at least as much as he could.

  “Jesus.” Jonah couldn’t tear his eyes away from it. “I don’t think anyone’s ever seen anything like this. So. You shoot this?” he asked very carefully.

  Denby shook his head. “No, and I’ll be damned if I know who did.”

  Jonah feigned curiosity. “What do you mean?

  “If you can get your mind around this, someone came around with a helicopter and whoever was riding in it shot the sucker dead. Four kill shots.”

  “Really? And you don’t know who it was?”

  “Not a clue.” He looked at Jonah, curiosity plain in his eyes. “I don’t suppose you’d happen to have the answer to that, would you?”

  “Who, me?” Jonah held his hands out, palms up. “I’m just a writer shmuck. What do I know from helicopters and guns?”

  Denby looked at him for a long time, then shrugged. “If you say so.”

  “So what happens now?”

  “Now I have to figure out how handle the media circus that I know is about to descend on us. As soon as the local paper gets this story and takes pictures, we’ll have every news service and television station within miles camping out here.”

  “What about Leo?” Jonah glanced at the back porch. The man still looked as if he was in the middle of a waking nightmare.

  “I’ll talk to him. He won’t want to do anything that will bring droves of curiosity seekers out here. He’s not much for company.”

  “Maybe you can lock this down before word gets out,” Jonah offered.

  Denby grunted. “Fat chance. And I don’t have the manpower to deal with all of it. I’m just damn lucky this happened far enough out of town that I don’t have a mob scene on my hands already.”

  “I might be able to help you out,” Jonah said, measuring every word. “Let me think about it while I take some pictures for my story.”

  Denby gave him another one of those searching looks, then nodded and went to talk to one of his men.

  Jonah snapped the beast from every angle, making sure to get clear shots of every detail. When he’d worked his way to the far side of the area where the beast lay, he slipped into the shadows, pulled out his sat phone and punched in some numbers. He spoke quietly, watching to make sure he didn’t rouse anyone’s curiosity before he disconnected and walked around to where the sheriff was standing.

  “If you’d like to get this carcass out of here and move the center of activity,” he said in a low voice, “I can help you out.”

  “Yeah?” Suspicion flared briefly in the sheriff’s eyes. “How’s that?”

 
“I called my editor. He can contact the folks at the University of Texas who have autopsied other animals thought to be El Chupacabra. They’d love to get their hands on this one and it would make a great story for us.”

  Denby scratched the side of his face. “All right,” he said at last. “We aren’t really equipped to handle this here anyway. When do you think he’ll call?”

  “As soon as I get back to him with your number.”

  “Go ahead, then. I’m going to make sure poor Leo’s okay. Then I’ll sit on this scene with a couple of my deputies until someone comes to haul this animal away. I can’t ask any of them to stay unless I do. They’re skittish about looking at it as it is.”

  “I’ll call him now.”

  * * * * *

  “Craig called Denby and arranged to send someone after the carcass,” Mark told him as soon as he pulled up in front of the cabin.

  Three Night Seekers were standing there, waiting, almost holding their breath.

  “Is it really dead?” Sophia asked. “Is this nightmare really, finally over.”

  Jonah gave her a tired smile. “Yes, it’s over. The devil beast is dead. It’s really dead.” He wiped his hand over his face. “And holy shit, what an abomination. You won’t believe these pictures.”

  “Well, let’s see them,” she urged. “I won’t be satisfied until we do. None of us will.”

  “When will they pick up the beast?” Jonah asked, taking the porch steps in one long stride.

  Mark looked at his watch. “From what I could gather, within a couple of hours. Apparently Denby is just as eager to get rid of it as Craig Stafford is to have it autopsied.”

  Everyone else waited apprehensively inside, their faces lined with anxious need. For all of them this would be the end of a long journey, but it had ended so quickly they were almost afraid to accept it. They all stood around barely breathing as Jonah booted up his laptop, slipped in the SD card from his camera and transferred the pictures to the computer. He sensed the same feeling of horror in each member of the team that he felt himself as he scrolled through the photos. He was still waiting for the feeling of total relief, of vengeance satisfied that seemed to be eluding him, but maybe that would come when they all got to view the carcass as a group and it was autopsied.