Ghost Canyon (The John Decker Supernatural Thriller Series Book 7)

by Anthony M. Strong

  Charlie was about to answer when a shout went up at the front of the group.

  “The tunnel splits here. I see something. This might be the place.”

  “I guess we’re about to find out.” Charlie pushed his way past the paramedics and joined the search and rescue crew, who had come to a halt twenty feet ahead at a spot where the adit branched, and two new tunnels ran in opposite directions to each other.

  “This matches the place described by your witness,” Colbeck said.

  “What do we have?” asked Charlie. He glanced around but didn’t see much, and certainly not a pair of mutilated corpses. “Doesn’t look like there’s anything here.”

  “There’s something, alright.” Sasha trained her flashlight onto the tunnel floor. The beam picked out a dark viscous stain sitting atop the loose rock and dirt.

  “That looks like blood,” Colbeck said. “A lot of it.”

  “There’s more here,” Enrique said, playing his flashlight across the rock walls. “Spatter. Something nasty went down here, that’s for sure.”

  “Then where are the bodies?” Charlie asked. He sensed someone behind him and turned to find Glenn off his right shoulder. Lingering a few paces behind were the two paramedics, who looked lost without a victim to work on.

  “Maybe they’re wounded and wandered deeper into the mine.” Glenn said.

  “Not with this much blood.” Colbeck shook his head.

  “And not without these.” Sasha bent down and plucked an object from the floor near the tunnel wall. She held it up and Charlie saw it was a bloody flashlight with a smashed lens. She nodded further down the drift. “There’s another one over there.”

  “Put that back where you found it and don’t touch anything else,” Charlie said, a chill enveloping him. He motioned the paramedics and rescue team to move back, away from the blood. “This might be a crime scene. We don’t want to contaminate it.”

  “What? You can’t just abandon them down here.” Sasha aimed her flashlight further down the empty tunnel. “We don’t know for sure that they’re dead. We have to confirm it.”

  “And we will,” Colbeck said. “But we’re going to need a bigger team to conduct a thorough search. We need the proper gear too. There must be miles of tunnels down here. As it is, we could wander for days and never find them, and just end up getting lost ourselves.”

  “I have a question,” Glenn said. “Since we all agree there was a struggle, and that with this amount of blood it’s unlikely the victims survived, is anyone else curious where the bodies went? I mean, we know there’s no wildlife in the mine to drag them off, so if those men died here, they should still be here.”

  “Unless our witness back in town is the real killer, and he’s covering his ass with by claiming that a creature attacked them.” Charlie played his flashlight beam over the bloodied ground once more. “He could’ve murdered them, dragged the bodies deeper into the mine, and dropped them down a shaft before running back to town and claiming a monster got them.”

  “That doesn’t sound like a very believable story if you want to get away with murder.”

  “You would be surprised,” Charlie said. “I’ve heard perps come up with some real crazy shit to stay out of jail. But yes, I agree. As explanations go, it’s not very sound.”

  “Especially when he could just say that they fell down the mine shaft. He doesn’t need to invent an unknown assailant,” Glenn replied. “And why attack them so violently? There must be a hundred ways to kill someone down here without leaving all that blood behind.”

  “When we locate the bodies, we’ll have our answer.” Charlie said. “But right now, we should return to the surface and regroup. It’s not safe to go further under the circumstances.”

  “Maybe the old guy, Carlton, will have a map of the mine.”

  “It’s possible.”

  “Let’s go, then.” Colbeck said. “We’ll return better prepared and make a full search.” He turned to head back the way they’d come.

  They had only gone a few feet when Sasha stopped and held up an arm. She turned back toward the dark tunnel. “Wait. I hear something.”

  Charlie stopped and listened. “I don’t hear anything.”

  “I do,” Glenn said. “It’s like a low moan.”

  Then Charlie heard it too. A whispering moan that echoed from the direction of the unexplored tunnel. A shiver ran up his spine. “What on earth is that?”

  “Maybe it’s one of the lost geologists,” Sasha said. She pointed her light down the tunnel, but there was nothing there.

  “It was probably a breeze,” Charlie replied, but even as he spoke the words, he knew it wasn’t stirring air.

  “Hush,” Sasha waved them quiet.

  Then Charlie heard a new noise. A shuffling, dragging sound, and this was definitely no breeze.

  “It must be the geologists. They aren’t dead,” Sasha said, her eyes wide. She took a step toward the sounds. “We need to help them.”

  “No.” Colbeck reached out to stop her. “It isn’t safe.”

  “We can’t just abandon them.” Sasha shrugged his hand away and kept going.

  “Wait,” Charlie said. He had a bad feeling about this situation. “We don’t even know that it’s them.”

  “Who else could it be?” Sasha glanced back, briefly meeting Charlie’s gaze. “If the rest of you don’t want to help, I’ll find them myself.” Then she turned and took off down the tunnel at a sprint.

  “Sasha,” Colbeck shouted after her.

  But it was too late. She was already gone.

  Chapter Nine

  It was early evening in Maine. Decker sat at the bar in CUSP’s strangely hotel-like accommodation block, nursing a whiskey sour. He leaned on the bar and stared down into the untouched drink, watching the ice melt. His tour of The Zoo had left Decker with a deep sense of unease. Knowing that such a place existed, and seeing firsthand, were two different things. It drove home the reality that his work had consequences long after the end of a mission. Despite Adam Hunt’s assurances that the German sailors released from their purgatory on the U-boat were being well taken care of, Decker couldn’t help but wonder if CUSP had created a prison for them just as restrictive as the one Grendel now occupied.

  That Hunt referred to the prison cells in the subterranean facility sitting beneath the island as suites only heightened Decker’s sense of disconnect. He understood that creatures such as Grendel, and his mother, Astrid, were dangerous. He knew they could not be allowed to roam free, killing at will. But he also possessed a strong sense of justice, or more accurately, due process. In his previous life there was a line that separated men like him, who apprehended bad guys, and the judiciary who weighed their fate with impartiality. In his new job, Decker had become judge, jury, and executioner. It was this shift in the dynamic of his life that left Decker uncomfortable.

  “That whiskey has probably aged about as much as it’s ever going to,” a familiar voice said to his right. “If you’re not going to drink it, you should probably pass it over here. I’ll put the blighter out of its misery.”

  “You wouldn’t like this,” Decker said, dragging his gaze from the glass and glancing toward Colum. “It’s bourbon.”

  “So?” Colum raised an eyebrow.

  “I thought you Irish lads were of the opinion that anything made outside of the Emerald Isle wasn’t a true whiskey.”

  “Don’t sweat yourself.” Colum climbed onto a stool next to Decker. “I’ll drink it now and go to confession later.”

  “That easy, huh?”

  “Perks of being raised Catholic.”

  “And how does that Catholic God feel about your current profession? Do you think he’d be happy that we round up his creations and lock them away?”

  “Oh, hell.” Colum shook his head. “Adam Hunt gave you a tour of The Zoo, didn’t he?”

  “Yeah. Something like that.”

  “It’s a lot to take in.” Colum caught the bartender’s eye
and ordered a drink. “I remember the day he took me on a tour of that place. Just about scared the bejeebers out of me. I didn’t sleep for a week.”

  “I find that hard to believe.” Decker lifted his drink, finally, and took a sip.

  “It’s true. I saw some bad things when I was in the service. Not to mention the Troubles when I was growing up. What people will do to each other, it’s terrible. But what I saw down there was different. It’s a shock when you discover the creatures that prowl your nightmares are real.”

  “I’ve been there,” Decker said, remembering his encounter with The Cult of Anubis in New York, and Annie Doucet’s transformation into a Cajun werewolf. “Even when you know that monsters are real, The Zoo is a lot to take.”

  “You’re lucky in that respect. You already knew that creatures like Grendel were out there even before you went to Ireland. I was completely unprepared the first time I walked into The Zoo.” Colum let out a mirthless chuckle. “Adam Hunt, man. I think he just enjoys scaring people. I don’t envy you chasing monsters for a living. Thank heaven most of my assignments are more mundane. Speaking of which, have you spoken to Mina recently?”

  Decker nodded. “We keep in touch. I kind of feel responsible for what happened.”

  “That’s all on Abraham Turner. He’s the one who stabbed her and tried to steal her life force.”

  “I’m the one that got her involved in the first place.”

  “She got herself involved. She practically blackmailed us to let her help.” Colum’s drink arrived. He lifted the pint and gulped a quarter of it before continuing. “I’m just glad it worked out okay in the end.”

  “Yeah.” Decker wasn’t sure how well it had worked out for Mina. She was still struggling with the aftereffects of her encounter with Abraham Turner. It had changed her, and what those changes meant in the long term, they had yet to find out. He said none of this to Colum, though. Even Adam Hunt didn’t know the full extent of Mina’s transformation, and Decker wanted to keep it that way for now. He wasn’t sure they could trust CUSP to stay away, and he didn’t want her to end up somewhere like The Zoo. She had, after all, absorbed much of Abraham Turner’s power. Deciding they were heading into dangerous territory with further conversation regarding Mina, Decker changed the subject. “I assume Hunt has you off on another mission tomorrow?”

  Colum nodded. “I have a briefing first thing in the morning and then I’ll be gone. I have no idea where, yet. You know what Adam’s like. That man likes secrets more than anyone I’ve ever met. I swear, he wouldn’t even tell us his own name if he thought he could get away with it.”

  “We don’t actually know that he has told us his name,” Decker pointed out. “Adam Hunt could be an alias.”

  “Good point,” Colum said, polishing off the rest of his pint and motioning for a refill. “I bet his real name isn’t anywhere near as cool. It’s probably something lame like Reggie Braithwaite or Barry Smith.”

  “That sounds like a pair of truck drivers,” Decker said, laughing.

  “Or plumbers,” Colum added.

  “Gentlemen,” a voice said from behind the pair.

  Decker turned to see Hunt there with his arms folded. “How long have you been standing behind us?” He asked.

  “Long enough,” Hunt said. “And for the record, my name is neither Reggie, nor Barry.”

  “But is it really Adam?” Colum asked, grinning.

  In response, Hunt merely flashed an enigmatic smile and motioned to an empty barstool. “My work is done for the day. Would you mind if I join you?”

  “Knock yourself out,” Colum said. He glanced down the bar, looking for his second pint, which had not yet arrived. “And since you have some sway around here, maybe you can get that bartender to pour me a drink.”

  Chapter Ten

  In the moments after Sasha bolted down the tunnel, the group stood in stunned silence. Then, regaining his wits, Colbeck unclipped the two-way radio from his belt and activated it.

  “Sasha. Do you copy?” He released the talk button and waited, but empty static was his only reward. He tried again, toggling the talk button, and barking into the radio to no avail. If Sasha could hear him, she was not responding.

  “We have to follow her,” Glenn said, taking a step forward.

  “No. Not you.” Charlie shook his head. His own first instinct was also to give chase, but he was responsible for the remaining personnel and didn’t want to lead an inexperienced group deeper into the mine. He turned to Glenn and spoke quickly; aware they didn’t have much time. “Take the paramedics back to the surface and wait for us at the entrance.”

  “What? Why?” Glenn looked shocked. “We should stick together.”

  Charlie shook his head. “We don’t know how stable this mine is, and I don’t want to be responsible for more folk than necessary. I’m taking the search and rescue team and we’re going after Sasha. If we come across anyone that needs medical help, and they can’t walk out under their own steam, we’ll come back and get you. But right now, it’s too dangerous for everyone to be down here.”

  “But—”

  “No buts. That’s an order.” Charlie wasn’t budging. He pointed back toward the entrance. “Go.”

  “Fine, but just for the record, I’m not comfortable with this.”

  “Understood, but I’m the senior officer here.”

  “Yeah. I know.” Glenn let out an annoyed snort. He hesitated a moment, perhaps debating if he should argue further, then turned and stomped back toward the mine entrance with the paramedics in tow.

  Charlie watched him leave, then turned his attention to the pair of remaining rescuers.

  Colbeck was still busy trying to raise Sasha on the radio. Receiving no response, he lowered the radio. “Dammit. Why isn’t she answering?”

  “I don’t know,” Charlie replied. “Maybe there’s too much rock between us and her.”

  “Maybe.”

  “Forget the two-way. We’re wasting time,” Charlie glanced backwards to make sure that his partner was still returning to the surface. He could see flashlights bobbing in the darkness, getting further away. Satisfied, he turned back to Colbeck. “Let’s go find her before she gets herself in trouble.”

  “No argument there,” Colbeck replied through gritted teeth. He touched Enrique’s shoulder and set off down the tunnel. “Come on.”

  Charlie cast another quick glance back toward the mine entrance, then followed along.

  The three men passed by the pool of blood, taking wide steps over it to avoid contaminating the scene more than necessary, and pressed deeper into the mine. They moved at a fast clip, aware that Sasha might pull ahead of them. If they reached another fork before they located the missing woman, they would have to pick a passage and hope they’d made the right choice or split up. Charlie didn’t like either option. He prayed they would catch up with her before encountering that scenario, or that she would come to her senses and double back.

  Charlie kept his ears open, listening for the strange noises that had lured the overzealous search and rescue team member away from the group in the first place. He heard nothing and wondered if it really was just a momentary breeze blowing through the tunnel.

  Until he heard the scream, high pitched and full of terror.

  It echoed down the tunnel before being abruptly cut off.

  “Holy crap, what was that?” Enrique came to a stumbling halt. He stared into the darkness; his face flushed with fear.

  “My guess would be Sasha,” Charlie said, pushing past the alarmed man and taking off at a faster pace than he should, given the unfamiliar terrain. He sped along the tunnel, playing his flashlight across the ground ahead to make sure he wasn’t going to run headlong into a mineshaft and fall to his death. Colbeck followed close behind, his pounding footfalls and labored breathing loud in the confined space.

  They reached a spot where the tunnel curved to the left, the walls rough and pitted with chisel marks where the miners had follow
ed the seam of gold. Further back came more footfalls as Enrique hurried behind.

  “She can’t be that far ahead,” Colbeck said, drawing level with Charlie.

  “That scream didn’t sound good.” Charlie hoped Sasha hadn’t stumbled into a vertical shaft and plummeted to her death or impaled herself on some piece of rusty equipment in her haste to find the missing geologists.

  “Sasha, can you hear me?” Colbeck called out as they rounded the bend.

  The only answer they received was a low moan.

  Charlie felt a prickle of fear. Instead of pulling two injured or dead people out of the mine, they might have now made it three, adding Sasha to the casualties.

  A hundred feet distant, the tunnel turned again, switching back upon itself like an undulating snake. Charlie swept his flashlight beam across the ground ahead and covered the distance at a jog. When he took the corner, his feet almost slid out from under him on the loose grit covering the floor. He caught himself just in time. Even so, Charlie stumbled, the flashlight beam dancing wildly until he regained his feet. Then, when he saw what lay ahead, his first instinct was to turn and flee back in the other direction.

  Sasha was further down the tunnel, sitting propped against a pile of rocks. Her head was bent low, her chin almost upon her chest. But it was the figure crouched over her that filled Charlie with dread. It looked like a collection of bones wrapped in desiccated flesh. It straddled the stricken woman, pinning her to the wall with bony arms that ended in taloned fingers. It hunched low, bald head buried somewhere between her breasts and navel, where it appeared to be slurping noisily at a viscous dark fluid that Charlie realized, with horror, was the woman’s own blood.

  Colbeck rounded the bend with Enrique a step behind and came to a skidding halt. His eyes flew wide, and he opened his mouth to speak, but Charlie put a hand up and silenced him. The creature, whatever it was, hadn’t noticed them yet. It was too busy chewing on their colleague.

  But then, as if sensing the three sets of eyes gazing upon it in mute horror, the creature lifted its head and turned toward them.