The Cactus Killer (The Inglewood Chronicles)

by Jeremy Croston

  “You are right Chaz; I will make the necessary phone calls to packs outside of our area. With a dead Red in Texas, the rest of the southwest needs to know what’s going on.”

  “Miss Swansea, do you have a number that I can reach Josh Greenfoot? I would personally like to thank him for saving my boy and set up a meeting. It has been too long since I had the pleasure of meeting with another Red Alpha.”

  She gave dad the information and with everyone having their part to play, the three Alphas left. For a few moments, I thought it was funny how things had dramatically changed within forty-eight hours. When I woke up on Saturday, I doubted you could have gotten Argent to go meet with one of the local packs, let alone start calling packs from different states. And I couldn’t remember a time in my life that dad ever left town. Granted, he was pushing two-hundred and ten years old so I am sure he knows other Reds, but he never mentions anything about it.

  “So what is our plan for today? Do I need to top off my tank to be ready for another fight?”

  “Not to be discussing a sensitive topic, but how often do you need to eat something?”

  “Since I can tell you have not been paying a bit of attention since I moved in, I have enough bottles of blood in your refrigerator to last me another week or so.”

  “You put blood in my fridge? That thing is only meant for beer and meat!”

  “So I noticed, but if you want me not to go out and find it from the source, you will just have to suck it up.”

  She was right of course, plus the next town over wasn’t exactly close. “You keep cooking and I will have no issues.”

  I’m pretty sure she mumbled something about men being useless. “As for our plan today, I hope we don’t stir up the nest. I just want to get in and do some recon work and get out. Depending on what we see, we will take it from there.”

  “Could we really have a peaceful day in Full Moon? I did not think that was possible. I am going to hold you to that, Vic.”

  “I blame you; my life was pretty peaceful until this nonsense started.”

  “Fair enough, but look at the time. We need to get on the move if we are going to meet up with the local officers before heading over to Holy Methodist.”

  She had a good point and we both went to our rooms. I got myself dressed and took a moment to make sure Roscoe was reloaded before putting it in the holster. I also took the time to shave the fur off of my hands. It would keep growing back for a few days until the effects wore off, but I didn’t want to tip these guys off.

  Before I went downstairs to meet with Elizabeth, I opened my closet. After last evening’s encounter with the monster, I knew I had to arm both of us with something a little more tangible. Popping the floor board up, I pulled out twin tantos (Japanese style short swords) my grandfather had made me as a turning gift. Forged from silver from the mines, these were near and dear to my heart. I had never used them, but God rest his soul, he would want me to.

  I pulled them both out of the scabbard and they shined like the day I got them. Satisfied, I put them back in and headed downstairs. It was high time I made an acquaintance with Rev. Warren Tucker.

  Chapter 12

  We were back on the road and Elizabeth was fawning over the two swords. “These are perfectly crafted! Did you say it was your grandfather who made these for you?”

  “Yeah, they were a turning gift for me. He said I didn’t need fur to be a wolf.”

  “I would have liked to have met him. I assume he has passed on?”

  “He passed away when I was sixteen. He was old for a wolf though, so it wasn’t a sad passing. That’s when dad took over the pack.”

  “It is ironic, two old beings like him and I and we never crossed paths. Though in fairness to him, I never felt the need to come to New Mexico. Amongst vampires, we consider it sort of the land lost in time. Obviously, I neglected a lot. Maybe if I took a stronger role, this ‘Cactus Killer’ we have now would not be such a problem.”

  “Hindsight is always perfect, but we learn from the past. No one is to blame but this psycho for the crimes committed. With some luck today, we may just be one step closer to putting an end to his sick ways.”

  “I am glad you entrust me with one of these swords. I feel much safer now if we run afoul a creature similar to what we encountered last night.”

  She wasn’t the only one who felt a bit better about it. I’m not one to brag about my abilities in a fight, but I’ve taken down my fair share of drunken (the keyword here) wolves that would normally a lot more gumption than me. It was quite disconcerting that nothing I did even put a dent in that thing. We don’t have a pack of wolves to call at a whim, so hopefully these will do.

  When we got to the Elephant Butte police station, we were greeted by a Detective Lawrence. He was a rather chatty guy who asked us a million and one questions about our case and where we were from. Thankfully, Elizabeth used her magic powers of persuasion and soon after, he led us up to the church without another word.

  Holy Methodist is exactly what you think of when you picture a southwest style church. It was made out of stucco with curved clay shingles on the roof. Lots of stained glass windows and mosaic tiles covered the walls to give it that Spanish feel. Elizabeth told Detective Lawrence to hang out in the car and we made our approach to the church.

  “Can you enter a church without bursting into flames?” I snickered at my own joke and she just stopped. Uh oh…

  “I can and will knock you into next week and not bat an eye.”

  I know it’s juvenile, but when she said ‘bat’ I started laughing even more. She just huffed and stormed into the church. I quickly decided it would be in my best interest to follow. I also got into the zone; I wanted to see if that musky smell was present here.

  Being a weekday, there didn’t seem to be much activity in the church. In fact, it was empty. We walked up to the alter and so far nothing out of the ordinary struck me. I caught the fragrance of incense and old books. That was normal to me.

  “Good morning! It is so nice to see young ones come into the church! What can I do for you two?”

  An older gentleman came out of the back room and was walking towards us. Again, nothing jumped off at me that screamed suspicious about him. In fact, he looked downright harmless and just how a church leader should look, Godly.

  “I wish I could say we were here for the right reasons pastor, but my partner and I are investigating some nasty stuff.”

  “Oh no, well that is not good. The fact you are here is a little troublesome.”

  “Why do you say that? And can I get your name for the record?”

  When I asked for his name, there was no telltale sign of a man with his back against the wall. The man in front of me was genuine, calm, cool, and collected.

  “Of course, my name is Pastor Michael Browne. Before I continue on, may I know to whom I am speaking as well?”

  “My apologies, I am the sheriff of the small town of Full Moon, Victor Inglewood. This is my partner in this investigation Elizabeth Swansea.” I also flashed him my badge and he smiled and approved.

  “Sheriff, if you don’t mind, let us go back to my office. We will have more privacy for a conversation of this magnitude.”

  We followed Pastor Browne into his office and he closed the door. Elizabeth and I sat down in the antique wingback chairs in front of his desk. At least we were going to be comfortable.

  “I’m going to shoot it straight with you sheriff; I came into a mess here a few weeks ago. The previous leader of this church was always considered eccentric, but his behavior had grown increasingly erratic.”

  I had been writing down everything he had said. I didn’t even get to tell him why we were here yet and he was already giving me information. I wish all interviews went like this. “Was his name Rev. Warren Tucker?”

  “Yes, that is him. How did you know that?”

  “Bibles with his name and this church were found at an assault scene and a murder scene. The crimes themselve
s were full of weird happenings as well.”

  “Would it have anything to do with his obsession that werewolves, vampires, and their ilk are among us? That is the mess I came into sheriff.”

  “Oh, I don’t know anything about that sort of thing, but in both cases the suspect used a cactus branch as his signature.”

  “Are you sure?” For a man who was so calm a second ago, the mention of a cactus branch sure did spook him.

  “I’ve lived in New Mexico my whole life Pastor; I know what cactus looks like.”

  “Pastor Browne, what has you looking so flush? I could swear I can almost hear your heartbeat increase.” Elizabeth was right; I had also picked up on that.

  “Rev. Tucker used cactus all the time in his sermons. He was famous for using them as an analogy for his followers.”

  That was odd indeed. “Can you give me an example of such?”

  “Oh sure, he used to compare us to the cactus. He would say much like the cactus survived in a harsh world, it was our job to survive in the desert of life and find water, or faith.”

  “That is very interesting.” These notes would make for a great read for the rest of the people back in Full Moon.

  “If you would expand on your earlier point, Pastor Browne, you said Rev. Tucker had some delusions of monsters living among us?” It was hard to tell if she was being serious or having fun with him, but it was a good question.

  “I found some journals left here when I took over, and yes, he had a very detailed delusion. In the oldest ones he stated that vampires had infiltrated our way of life and by the time you got to the most recent ones, it expanded to werewolves. He was under the impression God had given him a mission to exterminate the daemons.”

  “You’ve given me a lot to think about, Pastor Browne. Do you know where he went? Obviously, you took over so there must have been some falling out?”

  “I’d been retired for three years and living up in Santa Fe when I got a phone call from an old friend saying this church was in need of a steady hand. I asked what was going on and he said I would see when I got here.”

  “Take your time sir, we’ve got nothing but time.”

  “When I got down here, Warren was gone. His office was still filled with all of his stuff, but he was nowhere to be found. I wish I knew more to tell you. Even the congregation is at a loss here. One rumor, and I’m not sure if it’ll even help, is that there’s a reason the basement to this church has been locked up for years.”

  “Rumors can just be that, Pastor. Do you think it’s anything worth looking into?”

  “Take it with a grain of salt, but some of the elders swear they heard ghosts down there.”

  I didn’t mean to but I laughed a little. “Did you just say ghosts?”

  “I know I know, it sounds ridiculous but they swear they have heard strange sounds coming from down there. I don’t have a key to open it to investigate, but if you want to try and open it, be my guest.”

  With that invitation extended, I stood up and Elizabeth followed my lead. “I thank you for your time, Pastor. We will take you up on that offer and poke around.”

  He extended his hand and we shook. “I truly hope you do not find anything. To do so would be a blight on this church.”

  We let ourselves out of his office after Pastor Browne pointed us in the right direction. Once we were out of earshot, I felt comfortable enough to talk. “It seems we found our man. I glanced at the dates in his journal. The timeline matches with your first murder.”

  “Yes, I think you are correct. My problem is how he found out in the first place.”

  “Well, maybe the ghosts downstairs can enlighten us.”

  We walked outside and found the basement door on the backside of the church, right before the entrance to the cemetery. It was a big wooden door with an old style lock on it. It looked like it hadn’t been used in years.

  “A door this thick would definitely keep people out. Would you like the honors ma’am?”

  “I told you knock it out with the ma’am nonsense.” That didn’t stop her from gabbing the door and one good pull later, it was wide open. As soon as it opened, I was blasted with the same musky smell that had been at every scene. Elizabeth picked up on it right away too.

  I glared into the darkness. “Let’s go tell Lawrence it’s going to be awhile. I think we are in the right place.”

  Chapter 13

  The farther down we went, the more concerned I became. Not long after walking in, we found a staircase that led further down and it seemed to go on forever. Elizabeth had a Zippo and I was currently holding it high so we could see where we were going. I heard no other sounds besides us and the musky scent was becoming worse.

  “How many more steps do we have to go down? These heels are killing my feet.”

  “On our next investigation, might I suggest some more appropriate attire?”

  “How about on our next investigation, I just send you down with a radio and you can relay what you find?”

  Thankfully the stairs ended not too much later so I didn’t have to endure anymore complaining. At the bottom landing we came to a door that was much more modern. Some dust had collected on the keypad, but this was certainly a new edition to the original church.

  “Any ideas on how we get through this contraption?”

  In her seemingly endless pockets, she pulled out a flash drive. I backed out of the way and let her go to work. Computers weren’t my thing and I am sure whatever she was doing would make no sense to me. I pulled out my cell phone and saw there was no reception this deep. I wasn’t surprised, but I should have sent Billy a text before coming down here.

  “We are in.” She turned around and smiled brightly. The door cracked open and she gave it a push.

  We walked in, but it was really dark. Using the lighter I was able to find a switch on the wall, so I flipped it. Bright lights filled the room and revealed everything.

  “Just what was happening here?”

  I had no idea myself, but I am pretty sure nothing humane was being conducted. Blood covered the walls and surgical instruments were laying everywhere. Cages and test tubes were also prevalent, a lot of them smashed open or broken. The worst part though were the human bones lying in random places. Someone had turned this basement into a butcher shop.

  We split up and started snapping pictures. The smell covered everything and it was hard to pick out where it might be originating. I found copies of notes that I think were written in Latin. I collected everything I could and put them in evidence bags.

  “Vic, you might want to come over here.”

  She was at the far end of this devil’s workshop, staring at the wall. I went over and she motioned me to look at an engraving in the wall. It looked like a hammer crudely chiseled it in with some more Latin underneath it.

  “Can you read what it says?”

  “I am quite fluent in Latin actually. This is weird though, it says ‘The Hammer of Jehovah.’ Unfortunately, that means nothing to me.”

  I snapped a picture of that as well. “Everything I have found is in Latin. I think you are going to have your hands full when we get back partner.”

  She just rolled her eyes at me, and we finished our search. I collected up some of the instruments and hoped that Dr. Tello might be able to make some sense from this.

  “I think we got enough here. Anything else jump out at you Elizabeth?”

  “I have some suspicions, but I will hold off on them until I read the notes. I do not need to freak you out unless the situation warrants it.”

  “I appreciate that, I think.” I gave one last look around and nothing new seemed to be here. “Well let’s head on back to fresh air. This place is giving me a headache.”

  We were walking back to the security door when I heard it.

  “Help…”

  “Did you hear that?” It was the faintest whisper, but I knew I heard something.

  “Hear what?” She turned and looked all over the room. “I
think your mind is playing tricks on you.”

  “Help me…”

  “No, there is definitely someone here with us.” It was a male’s voice; weak but just loud enough that I could pick up on it. I followed it to the northeast corner of the room. There wasn’t anything back here, but I knew the sound had come from the area.

  “What are you looking for Vic? I truly am at a loss here.”

  “I hear someone, they need help and it is coming from back here. Maybe there is a secret door or something.”

  We kept looking but even after a good ten minutes of searching, nothing came up. I was getting irritated and I punched the wall in frustration. My hand went through the plaster and smacked right into a piece of metal.

  “Blasted that hurt!”

  Elizabeth wasn’t concerned with my hurt hand. She immediately went over to the wall and gave it a few more good punches. By the time she was finished her knuckles were bleeding, but our hidden door was revealed.

  “I am truly sorry I doubted you. Shall we open this up and see what is inside?”

  “We should. If someone needs our help, we have to give it to them.”

  I pulled on the handle and this door opened pretty easily. I wish I could say the scene that met us was as easy to handle, but it was far from it. The smell of decaying bodies poured out like a flood and within a second I was on my knees trying not to vomit. Elizabeth pushed me back into the main room and streaked in and came back out quicker than a flash of light. Slamming the door shut, the smell started to go away and I was able to become useful again. The poor man she dragged out of that room I doubt would be so lucky.

  “Can you speak? Can you tell me what happened here?” Elizabeth was trying to get him to stay coherent, but he was in bad shape.

  His skin was green and there were wounds all over his body. Whoever tried to patch him up did a terrible job as his wounds were all infected. He looked almost like the monster that attacked us last night. He was close to a state of shock by now, death would be preferable.