Yokche:The Nature of Murder

by P. J. Erickson

  Ed shrugged. “Of course, we’re only in the early stages here. It’s still kind of a hit and miss affair. Electric fields have to build up to 15-17 kd per bolt and then, if lightning hits at the same time as we set off a rocket, the rocket goes up without triggering a strike. The problem is that air is a natural insulator. How do you make an electrical field big enough to make air breakdown so that lightning can occur?”

  Ed turned from the monitor he had been studying during his discourse. “Well, that’s the grand tour gentlemen, now how can I help you?”

  Chase and Joe had agreed earlier to say as little as possible about Sophie’s death and had concocted a cover story about trespassers on the reservation and finding some strange equipment along with the trash they left behind. Chase pulled out his smokes, glancing at Ed for permission. “This one is yours, Joe. You and Ed obviously speak the same language.”

  Joe recounted their little fairy tale, embellishing it here and there and stressing that the tribal elders did not look kindly on trespassers, especially untidy ones. He indicated that the tribe was concerned that whoever had been on their lands was not conducting any illegal experiment or something of a harmful nature to the environment.

  Ed listened attentively and then scratched his head, nonplussed. “From what you’ve told me it sure sounds like a storm catchers’ test, but as far as I know, we’re the only ones in the State of Florida with that kind of equipment and it’s a pretty small community. Anyone coming from another state, we would have heard about it and probably been there with them. Look around you. This equipment is expensive and specialized. There aren’t too many people that would be playing with this just for fun. In fact, I’ve never heard of anyone testing outside of a lab facility. It’s a highly dangerous procedure and the liability factor would give any Board of Directors nightmares for years.”

  Joe had been looking closely at the instrumentation and looked meaningfully at Chase, nodding slightly to indicate that some of this stuff was the same as the equipment Sophie had seen on the day she was attacked.

  Ed’s voice was a little less cordial this time and it had an agitated pitch. “Now look here. As I told you, none of my people were on Indian lands and we certainly can't accept responsibility for every crackpot out there. This organization will accept absolutely no responsibility for any damage that you may be claiming, under any circumstances.”

  “No, no.” Joe hastily, calmed him. “Such an idea never entered my head, or that of the tribal elders either. We’re simply looking for information at this point and grateful for any assistance you can give us.”

  Chase straightened up from the countertop where he had been leaning before the scientist could wind up again. “Thanks Ed. You helped out a lot. We’ll be on our way now, don’t want to take up too much of your time.” Taking their leave, the men all shook hands, slapped backs and promised to meet for dinner next time in town.

  Ed was reluctant to let them go, questioning them closely about what they had seen and insisting that Joe and Chase keep him posted as to any information they received. It was obvious that they would have trouble shaking Ed off the scent. Something would have to be done to divert Ed’s interest. The last thing they needed was government interference.

  As Joe and Chase were climbing into the truck, Ed turned back to them for a moment. “One thing is strange, Joe. The number of fulgurites you mentioned is unprecedented. You couldn’t be mistaken?”

  “No.” Joe said. “They were everywhere. Why do you say unprecedented?”

  “Because it would have to have been one mother of a storm to form that number and you say there was no big storm at that time?”

  “No. Just the regular run-of-the-mill afternoon boomers.”

  “Well.” Ed slapped the truck in farewell. “Please let me know if you find out anything. My scientific antennas are waving like crazy. In fact, I’d like permission to come down and take a look.”

  Joe started the truck hastily. “The tribe is not feeling very hospitable right now, but I’ll certainly ask the elders for you. We’ll be in touch.”

  “Thanks. Appreciate it.” Ed waved and turned back to go play with his rockets.

  Chase settled back in the cab. “So. We know someone was down there fooling around with lightning. We know it wasn’t someone local or someone official and we know that they did something that couldn’t be done. So what do we know?”

  Joe kept driving. “Damned if I know, but we’re getting closer.”

 

 

  Thirty-two

  Shanna arrived at the bike club early. She was not sure of the way and had left in good time to be sure it was still light if she got lost. There were only a couple of members there but Chase had called ahead and she was greeted by two huge bikers who sat her at the bar, made sure she was comfortable and generally kept her amused while she waited. Jake, of course got his usual beer before settling down for a snooze.

  Chase had hosted many parties in his wilder days that naturally expanded as word got around, to include a lot of people Chase didn’t know. At one of these, when Jake was just a puppy and unbeknownst to Chase, most of these people had been feeding Jake beer. The poor animal had staggered around, absolutely refusing to go down until the last person had left. He had then collapsed like a deflated balloon. The next morning he had seemed none the worse for wear but subsequently had developed a taste for beer and would go around knocking over cans wherever he found them.

  Chase had thereafter kept an alert eye out so that his best buddy did not receive any more undogg- like libations. However, he could not stop the guys at the club and had at last conceded to one beer per visit. He usually poured it out after Jake had a few licks, much to Jake’s disgust. This time, however, Jake got the whole beer and settled down with a satisfied sigh.

  Shanna was digging into the potato chips offered her when excited yelps and much tail wagging from Jake signified the arrival of his master and sure enough, Chase loped in wearily, almost staggering under Jake’s loving onslaught. Shanna looked him up and down with startled concern and then her face crumpled and she started laughing, much to the bikers’ delight, who promptly joined in and started hurling jeers at Chase.

  Chase did not take kindly to being laughed at. “What’s so funny?” He growled.

  Between giggles, Shanna gasped “Aren’t we a pair? Have you looked in a mirror lately?” What in the world have you been doing?”

  “Oh” Chase looked sheepish. He and Joe had been in such a hurry they had not paid much attention to the basics and he realized that his face was still swollen and scratched. His beard was unkempt and god knew what his hair looked like. He must be a sight all right, and of course he and Shanna had not had time to talk so she had no idea what had transpired.

  Unable to resist a chance to needle Chase, the bikers got in on the act and kept up a lively flow of insults until Chase good ¬naturedly gave in and bought them a beer. He and Shanna moved over to a corner table where they could talk.

  After hearing what had happened and inspecting his arm, Shanna was chastened that she had laughed but as serious as the situation had been she couldn’t help an occasional smile from escaping as she watched his poor face. He really did look a mess.

  Then it was Chase’s turn to be concerned. He insisted on hearing the entire story of the break-in at Shanna’s place down to the minutest detail.

  When Shanna finished her story Chase related what happened at the science station.

  “So where’s Joe?” Shanna finally asked. “I was looking forward to meeting him.”

  “He had to go back to the reservation. The tribe is having an important festival of some kind, The Green Corn Dance, I think he said. It’s a damned nuisance.” Chase scowled. He had no patience for anything that would interfere with his hunt for Sophie’s killer but he understood the importance of family and ceremony. “Afraid you’ll have to wait a while, but he did say that when the ceremony was over he’d sen
d some of the tribal members to scour the area and look for unauthorized campsites or strangers wandering about. He’ll be in touch as soon as he can.”

  Finally, talked out, Shanna remembered her find and fishing in her purse produced the formula she had found in Myles Hickman’s file.

  Chase studied it carefully. “I wish Joe was here. He would probably understand this. To me it’s mostly gibberish and a multitude of mathematical equations.” He studied it more closely, “but see here and here?” Chase moved so that Shanna could see what he was pointing at. “This says something about lightning and graphite. Goddammit. Chase sat back with a sigh of frustration. “Why did there have to be an Indian ceremony now?”

  He looked at Shanna. They both looked like wrecks and were both exhausted but it seemed that Chase must make another trip back to St. Augustine. “You up for a trip? Kenny’s the only person I know who can translate whatever this thing is. I don’t want you to go home anyway, just in case the break-in at your place was in some way connected to this whole mess.”

  “Sure.” Shanna agreed. “I’m always up for a trip out of town.”

  “Good, but first we need a good meal and some sleep. C’mn lets go. You leave your car here. The boys will look after it.”

  Too tired to antagonize each other, everyone was quiet on the ride back to town but Chase had no sooner pulled into the driveway than Jake started acting like a terrier. He bolted up the path and scratched madly at the front door, barking frenziedly.

  “Stay here.” Chase told Shanna curtly. He pulled out his.38 and warily opened the house. The patio doors were open and Jake streaked out toward the back fence faster than a black and tan Superdog.

  Chase saw the silhouette of the intruder as he hopped the back fence and crashed off into the undergrowth. There was no sense in trying to pursue whoever it was through that. Jake was making enough noise to wake every possum, snake and raccoon in the woods. The fugitive would not have fun in there and probably thought a dog the size of a horse was after him. Jake had a very loud voice and very big teeth. In fact visitors who were not doggy oriented had been moved to mention that he had a mouth like an alligator.

  Chase felt slightly foolish walking around doing a SWAT team act with his gun but he did not intend to be caught by surprise. Jake trotted back to help with a satisfied swagger and the two of them determined that they were now alone, with a lot of cleanup to do. The place had been trashed. Drawers pulled open and spilled, cushions slit, closets emptied.

  Chase decided against calling the police. He did not want them involved in whatever was happening. Shanna started cleaning up the kitchen, muttering darkly about her views on domestic chores, but was too tired to give it much energy. She gave up and raided the fridge putting together a meal for them as Chase cleaned up the rest of the house. The burglar had done a pretty thorough job but had been interrupted before he messed up the den too badly.

  Chase had pretty much finished and was lying on his back under the desk in the den, trying to figure out why the drawer wouldn’t shut properly when out of the corner of his eye he saw some yellow pad paper stuck down between the wall and the desk. He grabbed it, finished fixing the desk and walked into the kitchen to trash the paper, figuring it was just old notes of his that had fallen down the back.

  He had actually crumpled them and dropped them into the trash before some words registered on his brain. Hastily retrieving the papers just before Shanna threw in her potato scrapings, Chase smoothed out the papers and started reading. Glancing over his shoulder Shanna said, “Looks like you were doing some Internet research, but industrial diamonds?”

  Chase snorted. “I’m computer challenged. Sophie was the only one who could play with that thing.” They looked at each other and started reading. Sure enough, it was some kind of research paper on industrial diamonds and another one on graphite. Both contained shorthand notations in Sophie’s handwriting. Neither of them made any sense. Finally they put them aside, finished cleaning up and had dinner. Jake got an extra helping as his reward.

  At last, fed and relaxed a little they made their plans. “We’ll head out for St. Augustine first thing in the morning. That way we can be up there before noon.” Chase decided. Now they had several items to discuss with Kenny and the puzzle was starting to form a pattern.

  “I think whoever was stalking you did so because of our relationship. Chase mused. “Perhaps it was the same person who trashed this place, but who was it and what did they want? What was Sophie doing studying up on industrial diamonds and graphite and what is the connection with lightning? What was Myles Hickman doing with lightning? We’re running blind but evidently somebody wants to stop us or wants something they think we have, so we must be getting close.”

  Chase called Annie to see if she had come up with anything but Annie had been called out of town on another case and was not expected back for a couple of days. Rose told him that Annie had not come up with anything of importance but that Chase should keep in touch.

  Tired to the bone, Chase excused himself to take a shower. When he came out Shanna poured them both a glass of wine. She had found some antibiotic ointment and started administering to the cuts and bites that still covered Chase in angry blotches. Jake looked on with interest.

  Shanna’s touch on his back, light and caressing in gentle circular motions, gradually drove everything else from Chase’s mind. Her hands moved over him lightly eliciting shivers of delight from his nerve ends. He closed his eyes and the world turned warm and sensual. He didn’t feel. He was. His body flexed and twitched beneath her touch.

  When she moved in close to tend to his face, that was too much. The silk of her hair brushed his face, each strand softly tantalizing and he turned into it seeking more. Her wonderful scent enveloped his senses and the smooth velvet of her warm skin turned his to fire. Gently, Chase took the cloth and medication and set them down out of harm’s way. Turning back he found her waiting. Her huge eyes had darkened to smoke and arousal had tensed her incredible body. She smiled and he was lost.

 

 

  Thirty-three

  The next morning Chase was up early. He had sat for some time and watched Shanna as she slept, the tangled mass of sheets kicked aside. She had been curled against him but turned on her stomach as he got up. Her fiery hair was flung outwards and almost as tangled as the sheets. Their passion had lasted long into the night.

  Smiling foolishly, Chase decided there was nothing better in the world than waking up to find a beautiful woman in his bed. He had been alone so long he had almost forgotten how it could be. He did not dwell on whether she would stay. They would take it day by day. As they discovered each other who knew what they would find.

  Shaking off his philosophical mood Chase took Jake for a walk around the neighborhood and noted the black Ford Explorer parked at the end of the block. No cars parked in this street ever. It was that kind of street. The only time a vehicle was on the street was in the event of a large party or family gathering by one of the neighbors. There was plenty of off-street parking available for the residents’ vehicles.

  Chase’s mood darkened. He swore at himself, getting thoroughly pissed off. One scent of a woman and he had spun totally out of control, forgetting everything. They could have been murdered in their sleep and he wouldn’t have been able to do a thing. Some moron you are, he thought bitterly. You didn’t even lock the door last night. Christ almighty. That kind of mistake would have got you dead in a hurry in the past. What the hell is the matter with you? Chase spun on his heel and strode back to the house with Jake at his heels.

  The smell of coffee finally rousted Shanna sometime later. She felt wonderful, and smiling dreamily she wandered languidly out and found Chase in the kitchen making breakfast. He was dressed in leathers. About to go over to give him a hug, Shanna found herself clutching an extra jacket and helmet which Chase tossed at her as she entered the room. He made no mention of the previous night but was all b
usiness.

  Shanna stiffened. So. That was the way it was. She had played the fool again. She put aside the jacket and sat down silently to eat, inwardly fuming at herself and him. The bastard. How dare he treat her this way. Shanna was so busy stewing that she didn’t hear much of what Chase was saying until he mentioned the Ford explorer.

  “I don’t know if it is the same one you saw but I’m not much of a believer in coincidences, we’re going to blast out of here on the bike. They’ll have trouble following us in that thing. I hope you’re up to it.” Chase got up. “Be ready in about five minutes.”

  Shanna was not sure she was up to it though damned if she would admit it. The ride she had taken on Tank’s bike had been her first and had left her with a sore behind and stiff legs. She supposed it was probably because she was a little bit scared of it and tensed up. Perhaps it would get easier. She debated refusing to go but the damage had been done now and what the hell, she could always tell him to piss off later. It had been a long time since she’d had an adventure, even with an arrogant, conceited prick. She’d show him. This girl was no quitter. “Sure” she said briskly, no problem but what about Jake?”

  Jake had been following this conversation. He knew what leathers meant and now he put his head on Shanna’s lap, gazing up at her with his most appealing soulful look, ears down, eyes huge, all to no avail. Chase was inured to it. “I’ll call the sitter to come get him. They’re used to my crazy trips and I pay them well for it. Besides they adore the lout. We’ll have to stop and get you some boots on the way. I don’t want you riding far without proper protection.”

  This did not make Shanna feel any better. Chase’s bike was built for speed. It was not a tourer and did not have a nice comfortable passenger seat and backrest. Still, she had never been to St. Augustine.

  Chase evidently did not notice Shanna’s trepidation. He was already planning. “We should be able to shake any tail without any problem but just to make sure we’ll detour through Daytona. It’s bike week this week and we will easily be able to spot anyone after us from there.”