~ Of Man And Monster ~

by

Saje Williams

Sunday morning--later.

Smith Rock State Park. One of Deschutes County’s most unique landmarks, a monolith of pale stone reaching from the earth several hundred feet into the cool azure sky, the Crooked River winding lazily around it as it cut its way through the otherwise dusty land spotted occasionally with juniper, sage, and--later in the season--wind-blown tumbleweeds.

Rachel stood on the edge of the canyon edge, staring at the massive escarpment for a long moment before flicking her eyes about the river’s edge below her. She spotted a few day hikers and other ordinary folks about their business, but no sign of Gavin Chase.

She’d wanted to get here early to stake out the area. It was just good procedure when you were meeting with an unknown. The early bird gets the worm and all that.

More like the early bird doesn’t get pounced by the late-sleeping cat.

The crunching of gravel underfoot signaled Amanda’s approach. “No sign of him?”

“Uh-uh.” And she didn’t like it. From what little she’d learned about the man, it seemed unlikely he’d not known the advantage he was giving up. Amanda, despite the fact that he’d been her teacher for two whole semesters at the Academy, didn’t know a hell of a lot more about him. God save me from mysterious men, she thought irritably.

More gravel grinding and Ben appeared to her other side, nose wrinkled in distaste. “There’s a dead deer down there somewhere,” he remarked casually. “Been dead for a while, too.”

Rachel idly wished she’d had something of Chase’s to present to Ben. If he had the talents of a bloodhound, the least she could do would be to get some use out of them. Like finding out if Chase had already been here and was just hiding now.

Her cell phone rang again, the musical chime sounding phenomenally loud in this natural setting. “Flynn.”

“Well, Rachel. I’m in the cave at the base of the rock. If you want to come talk, come now.”

“Be there in a few,” she said curtly before hanging up. “He’s down in that cave,” she said, pointing to a black blotch at the base of the great rock at the center of a sprawl of trails leading around the park.

“I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” Ben remarked grudgingly. “Maybe you two should go ahead and I can slip up behind you a ways... kinda like a reserve force?”

“Not a bad idea,” she said, after thinking about it for a second. “Tell me, Ben, can you turn into a werewolf whenever you want--well, you don’t need a full moon, do you? It wasn’t full last night.”

“No, but Cory did something that made it happen,” he admitted. “So I’m not sure I can do it on my own.”

“If something goes wrong, we’re going to have to hope you can. C’mon, Amanda. Let’s not keep the nice man waiting.”

Amanda snickered as they headed down the trail into the canyon.

~ * ~

They strode confidently up to the mouth of the cave to find Chase lounging just inside, an old army duffel bag tucked underneath him, his back pressed against the wall. He had a book in his hands, which he closed and set down beside him.

“Rachel.” His gaze skipped to Amanda and he looked a little startled. “Miss Keening. I certainly didn’t expect to see you here.”

“So I assumed,” she replied frostily. “I’m here to investigate the disappearance of my mother and brother.”

His eyebrows skimmed up his forehead. “I hadn’t realized they were missing.”

She cocked her head and gave him a strange look. “So you knew they lived here, then?”

His smile was small and meaningless. “I try to keep abreast of things.”

“I’m not here for small talk,” Rachel interrupted. “You said you had some real information to share. Start sharing.”

He actually winced at that, his eyes clouding over with something that looked startlingly like regret. “You’re in danger.”

“That’s your news? You could’ve saved us the bother of coming here and just told me over the phone,” she growled. “It’s hard for me to imagine anything less surprising at this point. I’m investigating a vampire killer who seems to have developed a grudge against my son and you tell me that I’m in danger?”

“That’s not all.”

“Well, hell, I’m sure glad to hear it. As much as I enjoy showing off our landmarks, I’d hate to think this trip out here was a complete waste.”

“It wasn’t. I have more specific information. You’re in danger from someone in your department. Specifically. I have reason to believe that that someone there is working for Veronica.”

“What?” Stunned, Rachel shook her head in denial. “Who? Why?”

“If I knew that I wouldn’t be so worried about it,” he snapped. “It’s already pretty clear that she’s gotten to the media.”

“We’ve already figured that angle out,” Rachel told him. “But it’s a long way from that to thinking we’ve got a traitor in the department.”

“You’d think so, wouldn’t you?” He closed his eyes for a second and took a deep breath. “I’m really starting to get the impression we’ve missed something important--I think she’s currying influence far beyond anything we suspected. She’s more or less hiding in plain sight, and that bothers me.”

“Well, our investigation of the various campsites didn’t turn up anything,” Rachel admitted. “She has to be somewhere.”

“In town. Someplace we’d never guess. The Mayor’s office, perhaps? Shit. I just don’t know. I’m not exactly an expert on these creatures. Just a lot closer than anyone you had.”

“No one’s really an expert on them,” Amanda cut in. “So far there’s been so few of them it wasn’t an issue.”

“I think that’s about to change,” he replied, grinding his teeth. “We know for a fact that she’s drained three people already. Drained them and left them intact. I guarantee that all three of them are now undead and floating around Redburn. Possibly turning more people, just not leaving the evidence just lying around like Veronica did.”

“That’s one of the things I’m having the most trouble with,” Amanda told them, glancing between them. “She didn’t have to leave staged crime scenes like she did. Better to just vanish your victims for a few days.”