The Cactus Killer (The Inglewood Chronicles)

by Jeremy Croston

  I talked to Liz the day after and I asked her to stay in town long enough to attend Billy’s funeral. She readily agreed with that, as he was her friend too. She sent Reno and Phil back to her office in Phoenix to start getting the paperwork in order.

  Gregory and Cristof left together as well, each needing to get back to their respective offices. Both told me that I had made friends for life and if I ever needed anything to give them a call. Cristof did remind me that my first paycheck would have a deduction for new shoes.

  Full Moon was in complete mourning. Each of the packs had suffered losses. The night before Billy’s funeral, the Reds joined Joshua Greenfoot in remembering Maska and his sacrifice. Under the light of the moon, we sent him off to join his ancestors in true wolf fashion. It also symbolized just how strong the relations between the West Texas pack and the Full Moon Reds had become.

  Dad and Bernard wanted me to help them in the interview process for a new deputy. I had to decline; I didn’t want to stay any longer than necessary, at least right now. Also, I felt like it would’ve betrayed his memory helping to find his replacement so soon. I know they needed to, but that wasn’t a job for me.

  I wasn’t shocked when Liz and I first got to the church and saw that Pastor Browne would be the one officiating. Even though they hadn’t known each other long, Michael and Billy had formed a strong bond over their faith. It seemed fitting to me that this is the way it would be handled. My heart also stung with regret that Talia hadn’t been afforded the same treatment Billy received. I resolved myself to never forget her and what we had accomplished together in our lives.

  Before we went to the final resting, Pastor Browne gave a wonderful and heartfelt sermon about courage and strength of character. Those were two things my buddy had in spades. Liz held on to my hand the entire time with tears streaming down her face. By the end of the sermon, her eye makeup was running and she looked like a raccoon. It should have been a funny sight, but I couldn’t even get the laugh to come out.

  The night before, I got a phone call from Billy’s family. Billy’s mom asked me to speak at the service, as she knew how close we were and how much it would mean to him. Without a second thought I agreed; it would be my privilege to honor him.

  I walked up to the front of the church, with the paper I had put my dedication down on. Looking out over the crowd that gathered, “We all knew him as Billy the Kid, but William Westchester was the best damn deputy this town ever had. He was kind, compassionate, and hard working. But most importantly, he believed in the cause that the badge represented. He died to make sure that each one of us who is here today is safe.” I felt the tears coming on and my throat was getting constricted.

  Pastor Browne came over and put a hand on my shoulder. His presence helped calm me so I could finish. “We both were members of the same generation and he was my friend. To the younger cubs in the packs, I say look up to him as an example of how to live your life. To the older generation, I say remember him from this day onward as what he truly was, a hero.”

  Chapter 41

  So I’ve been in Phoenix for a week now and things aren’t too bad. I felt good knowing Pastor Browne had taken my offer and was keeping an eye on the old homestead for me. Speaking of homes, my new place here is ridiculous. It took me two days just to figure out how to work the television. Also, in addition to a coffee pot, there is something called an espresso machine.

  “Good morning sunshine!”

  Yeah, Liz lives with me here, too. When we got back, she said she had grown accustomed to taking care of me. I almost felt like I was a house plant or pet. “Morning Liz. What is that smell?”

  “That is cappuccino, cowboy. I figured I would start slowly opening you up to all that the world had to offer.” She handed me the cup. “Try it, you just might like it.”

  Sure enough, it was actually pretty good. As I was drinking it, I could almost feel my bag of coffee glaring at me for my act of betrayal. “Now that we are back at HQ, do we have any leads on who the mastermind behind the Cactus Killer operation?”

  She pulled out her phone, which I assumed had all of the case files on it. “There are two different thoughts on this. Cristof thinks Forte was the actual mastermind behind everything, but did not want to give himself up.”

  “What’s the other thought?”

  Going back to her phone, “Gregory is convinced another elder is still alive and the one in the shadows.”

  “Does he have anything to back that up? Or is he just guessing at this point?”

  “I do not know, but it makes sense. Baron Forte was always more the fighter than the planner. This plan seems just like the sort of nonsense my mother would come up with.”

  I shuddered at that thought. An older and scarier Liz was certainly nothing I wanted to deal with. “But she is dead, right?”

  “Yes, she and my father are both no longer a concern.”

  “What about the other lady that was on the council with them? Didn’t you say that her death was a bit more unclear?”

  Liz was nodding, “Yes, it was shrouded in mystery. But Roderick assured me that she was no longer alive.”

  “I’m not a big fan of assurances, Liz. We need to get ourselves some concrete proof.”

  She looked at me like I had sprouted two heads. “I would love to give you some sort of proof, but her death occurred hundreds of years ago.”

  “You guys live forever, so surely there has to be a survivor from that time that could give us an eye witness statement.”

  She sighed, “I will give Roderick a call and see if there is anything he can find out for us. I will relay just how crucial any piece of information can be.”

  “Thank you, we have to at least try.” I finished up my non-coffee, “So what is on tap for today?”

  What was a frown quickly turned into a giant smile, fangs and all. “Get dressed and meet me down in the parking garage. I have a surprise for you!”

  And with that, she was out the door. Even moving as quickly as she was, not a sound was to be heard except the open and close of the door. I wonder if moving like a ninja can be taught.

  Not to keep her waiting, I threw on a pair of jeans and the first t-shirt I found. Only five minutes had passed when I entered the garage; she was tapping her foot and looking at her watch.

  As I came out the door from the building, she looked up and motioned for me to come over. As I did, I saw in what was supposed to be my parking spot, a tarp covered car. “What’s going on here?”

  “No talking, just get over here faster!”

  I picked up the pace and soon was right beside her. “Okay, now what?”

  “Close your eyes.”

  “I’m not five, why do I have to close my eyes?”

  Her look quickly changed my mind; I closed my eyes. “Better?”

  “Yes, it is. Now do not open until I tell you too.” I could hear the swoosh of the tarp coming off whatever she was hiding. “Now open!”

  I did as I was commanded and I was speechless. In front of me was a sixty-seven charcoal blue Mustang. “No way, is this my car?”

  Her bright blue eyes lit up, “Well, not your old car, but the exact same model. I had to pay an arm and a leg to get the paint color right, but it turned out well. Do you like it?”

  Did I like it? I was still staring at the car in total awe. I turned to her and a giant smile broke out across my face. I ran over and picked her up in a giant bear bug. “I love it!”

  I continued to twirl her around for a few moments until she threatened to throw up on me if I didn’t stop. I set her back down on the ground. “I am very happy you like it. I felt like this was the least I could do for you. After all, if it was not for you and your town, I do not think we would have ever stopped Warren Tucker in time.”

  “Don’t sell yourself short now; if it wasn’t for you, I probably would have been dead two or three times.”

  “Then I am glad we met and equally helped each other out.”

  “I
am too boss, lady.”

  I moved in and gave her quite the kiss. The moment was perfect and could have lasted forever. Unfortunately, we were interrupted by her phone ringing.

  “I am sorry, let me take this really quick.” She pulled the phone out of her pants pocket and answered. “Ambassador Swansea.”

  I didn’t know if it was a private call or not, so I did my best not to hear what was going on. I walked over to my new car and started inspecting it. Not a scratch or rust mark marred her exterior. This beauty was in top notch shape.

  “Hang on a second, Roderick. Vic, can you come over here?”

  I looked over and saw her motion me. “What’s up?”

  “How would you like to go to England? Roderick has a job for us if we are up to it.”

  Holy crap! I was still in shock I wasn’t living in New Mexico, and now we are being offered a job in England. “Well then, I guess I need to get a passport.”

  “Give us a few weeks Roderick and we will be there.” After a quick goodbye, she hung up.

  “Is everything okay across the pond?”

  Judging by the defeated look on her face, no, everything was not okay. “With everything that has happened, Roderick decided to check in on the island Peter Pan is banished to.”

  I felt my headache returning, “And?”

  “The barrier is down and the island is deserted. Our worst fear has come true, Pan is free.”

  Epilogue

  I woke up in a dark room. I touched my chest where Fortuna had stabbed me, but there was no wound there. What was going on here? I continued looking around the room, but saw nothing except bedroom furniture. I tried to get up from the chair I was sitting in, but I was so weak. And hungry; hungry for blood.

  “Well well, look who decided to join us.” The door opened and a young man walked into the room. He could have been no more than fourteen or fifteen.

  “Who are you? What have you done to me?”

  He started laughing, a very mocking laugh. “Oh Warren, we are going to have so much fun together. Our employer has decided to give you another chance. Baron Forte should not have tried to kill you like that.”

  The more he talked, the more confused I became. My body started calling out the need for blood. “Why do I crave blood?”

  “Easy old man, you are one of us now. The Hammer of Jehovah personally turned you. Now, let’s get you fed so we can start our fun.”

  No! I reached up and touched my mouth. I continued feeling around and pricked my finger on something sharp.

  The boy’s eyes lit up, “Yes my dear Warren, you have fangs and all now. Kinda ironic how you became the one thing you hated most, isn’t it?”

  I started to break down; this was not supposed to be how it ended. The Hammer of Jehovah turned me? “Is he a vampire too?”

  “The Hammer is the most powerful of us all. He freed me and my Lost Boys from our wretched prison.” He motioned to someone and another young boy came in. He was carrying a young lady, who was bound and gagged. He walked over and dropped her at my feet.

  “Here she is, as you requested, Pan.”

  “Excellent, the wolf got us a real pretty one.” He then turned back to me. “What are you waiting for, eat man! We do not have all night.”

  I looked down at the young lady who was in front of me. Her eyes were filled with terror, pleading with me to help her. I got up and moved towards her, I had to do something. My first thought was to free her, but then the darkness took over, my hunger too great.

  “Good, you are truly one of us.”

  The young man called Pan was right. I was one of them. The man who was Warren Tucker had died that fateful night at The Devil’s Hollow. As I fed upon the girl and life faded from her, I resigned myself to the fact I was no longer a man of God. I was now a daemon.

  The Wrath of Pan

  By Jeremy Croston

  Here is a preview to the sequel to “The Cactus Killer”

  Chapter 1

  We were sitting in my car, a sixty-seven charcoal blue Mustang, outside a Phoenix nightclub. I couldn’t tell you how long we’d been sitting there, but the lanky vampire beside me was getting agitated.

  “Vic, this has turned out to be a colossal waste of time. Let’s call it a night.”

  Reno was definitely impatient, but I wouldn’t break orders. “If Liz thinks Vincente Divas is in there, more than likely he’s in there.”

  “Hmph.” But Reno knew it was true. Liz, our boss, was always on top of things.

  “Tell you what. It’s two-thirty in the morning and if he ain’t out here in another hour, we’ll call it a night.”

  I couldn’t tell what was going on in his head. Reno always wore those damn reflective lens sunglasses. “Fine, but this night is on you cowboy. I’m going back to my crossword.”

  Silence followed and I went back to my task. One of the reasons I was out here tonight was my enhanced senses. Werewolves had the best senses in the supernatural world, but mine were even better. See, I can’t transform into a wolf like most werewolves do. No one knows why, but I just can’t. On the plus side, my five senses were off the chart.

  Before we left, Liz gave me a scent to follow. Vincente always wore a certain brand of cologne and I knew what it was. With the window down, I kept sniffing the air in hopes of picking it up.

  Nothing of note happened for awhile. Humans started stumbling out shortly after three, the stench of sweat and alcohol filling the air. Reno was nose deep in his crossword and I was about to wave the flag in defeat when I picked it up.

  “Divas is coming out, look alive!”

  With reflexes faster than anyone should have, the crossword was away and his pistol was out. I picked up my Adams Percussion .50 caliber, nicknamed Roscoe, and got myself ready.

  “What’s the plan Vic?”

  Liz wanted us to bring him in alive. Divas has been peddling drugs to the humans, a mixture of coke and a few drops of vampire blood. It’s a clear violation of vampire law, so he was to be punished.

  “Let’s see where he goes and try to ambush him along the way.”

  Minutes started to pass, the faint smell of his cologne still lingered in the air. Suddenly, it began to get stronger. I narrowed my eyes are the entrance to the club and saw our target. He looked to be a middle aged man with slick backed black hair and a pot belly.

  Reno started to laugh. “Good lord, I’d only seen headshots! This guy’s a fat ass!”

  “Don’t underestimate the enemy. Besides, he has two henchmen with him and those dudes don’t look like pushovers.”

  One was a large black man with a big old scar running down the side of his face. The other looked like a guy named Cousin Vinnie. He was carrying a shotgun with him. Were they expecting trouble?

  “I don’t like this Reno; I think they’ve been tipped off.”

  “Don’t get cold feet on me. I’m sure this is just his usual detail.”

  I hoped Reno was right. Divas kept walking and got to a pretty nice looking black car. Cousin Vinnie opened the door and got the boss inside while the other guy headed up front to the driver’s door. With everyone now inside the car, it started going south. I counted to five before turning on the Mustang and following.

  I kept my distance, a good four or five car lengths behind. “Any idea where they’re heading?”

  “I’m not sure. The only thing down here is a few abandoned buildings.”

  One of those abandoned buildings turned out to be the final destination. As the car turned in and parked, I pulled the Mustang off the road, a few hundred feet back from where Divas and his crew were. Something didn’t seem right here, there were quite a few unusual smells in the air.

  Reno started to get out of the car, but I put my hand on his shoulder. “Let’s be careful, I got a bad feeling about this.”

  “We’ll be fine, just follow my lead.”

  He continued out of the car. Leaving me no choice, I got out too and followed him. I tried to tell what these scents were I
was picking up, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. Soon the scents were taken over by strange noises. Almost like a moaning sound.

  When we got into the parking lot, the smells and sounds were very loud and making it hard to concentrate. Looking over at Reno, “Can you hear all this?”

  Nodding, “I don’t know what you’re talking about. What does it sound like?”

  “Moaning, like people are in pain or something.”

  “Maybe he is running an afterhour’s dental business or something.” He then started to laugh at his own joke.

  Reno’s lack of concern was a problem, but this was the hand I was dealt. Thank God he was useful in a fight. We kept moving forward, guns out and staying to the shadows. We reached the door where Divas had entered with no problems.

  Reno moved in and slowly opened the door. The weird smell came rushing out and it took everything I had not to start coughing. Holding my breath, we entered the building. Dim lights in the hallway produced a low humming noise. There was also an underlying smell of mold; this place hadn’t been used in a very long time.

  The initial smell got stronger as we went down the hallway. At the end was a set of double doors. “You told me to follow your lead Reno, so after you.”

  He gave me one last look and opened the right door. Immediately I regretted letting him do that, as we found the source of the smell and the moaning noise. Below us, in a large open space were fifty to sixty humans, all in various states. Some were dead; others looked high as a kite.

  Sickening, that’s the best word I can use. Imagine if you will, walking into a barn and seeing animals in various states of slaughter. That’s what was below us, a freaking slaughterhouse.

  “Welcome gentlemen to my focus group! As you can see the participants are enjoying themselves!”

  The voice had a think French accent to it. Looking to my left, I saw Vincente Divas walking towards us. Reno and I pointed are guns at him.