The Howling

by Kimberly Zant

  According to Muellin, the local sheriff hadn't taken it well. He seemed to consider it a personal insult, that there was an implication that he wasn't doing his job. His deputies had taken their cue from their boss, but they, at least, had adjusted their attitudes when Muellin offered to hire them off duty to help him with around the clock surveillance of the site.

  The first ‘accident’ on the site had been when the foreman was crushed by the falling welding machine, but, despite the police report to the contrary, it had been obvious the equipment had been tampered with. They wanted to catch the culprit, or culprits, responsible, hopefully without anyone else getting killed.

  Floodlights had been brought in to cover every square inch of the site with light and two men walked the perimeter constantly on the watch for anyone who might decide to try to sabotage more equipment, or set up another accident.

  Most of the crew members had been attacked in broad daylight however. They'd decided they needed a closer watch during the time the workers were actually on the site, but a less obvious one, and had three men besides Muellin discreetly stationed to keep an eye on things.

  Gathering a stack of glasses, Diana decided as she headed to the back with them that if she didn't turn up anything promising in the next couple of days, she was going to pull out of the lodge and try something else that would keep her closer to the thick of things ... and a little further from temptation.

  As she returned from dropping the dirty glasses in the back, Diana glanced toward the end of the bar where she'd last seen Blackhawk and a wave of deja vu swept over her. He had moved to the very end of the bar and propped on it, leaning toward the man shrouded in shadows who stood on the opposite side of the bar.

  Both men were facing the room, but the way their heads were tilted suggested they were immersed in conversation.

  She hadn't managed to get a very good look at the man Blackhawk had been speaking with that first night, but she was fairly certain it was the same man. He was nearly as tall as Blackhawk, might have been as tall except for the fact that his shoulders were hunched forward—as they had been the first time she'd spotted the two together.

  It might mean nothing, of course.

  On the other hand, she hadn't seen the fellow since—until now—and she had a strong hunch that their was something significant about the man showing up again.

  She checked her watch as she moved toward the tap, grasped a tray and began filling glasses of beer. She still had almost thirty minutes on her shift, and she had a sneaking suspicion that her ‘suspect’ wouldn't be hanging around that long.

  When she'd delivered the orders and collected the money, she decided to beg off a little early. She'd have to approach Blackhawk, which would give her the opportunity to get a little closer look at the guy.

  With a mixture of relief and disappointment, she saw Blackhawk coming toward her as she handed over her money to the bartender/cashier.

  "You needed something?"

  Diana was a little taken aback that he'd noticed her preoccupation. “I was hoping I could leave a little early. My shift's almost up anyway."

  He studied her a moment and finally nodded. “Sure. I'll see you back at the lodge."

  The casual comment caused a flurry of undesirable sensations to flood through her. Her pulse immediate accelerated with anticipation—not dread. She forced a smile. “Later."

  She hadn't seen which way the man had entered the bar so she decided to take up a position that would allow her a view of the employee entrance on the side and the main entrance at the front. She'd been waiting nearly twenty minutes when the side door opened. To her surprise, Blackhawk stepped out. Directly behind him was the man he'd been talking with inside.

  Diana stepped deeper into the shadows, watching as the two men made their way across the parking lot and finally got into Blackhawk's truck together. She waited until she saw which way they turned out of the parking lot and then rushed to get her own car.

  She'd gotten a good look at both men as they had passed under one of the security lights. The man with Blackhawk was the same man she'd seen in the woods earlier in the week—the one Blackhawk had failed to catch because he had ‘vanished'—and the truck had turned toward the construction site.

  * * * *

  It was one of the more harrowing tails Diana had ever experienced, trying to look inconspicuous driving down a dark, virtually deserted back road. The full moon, high in the sky, didn't offer enough light to see by without headlights, so she had no choice but to use them. As the only other vehicle on the road, she didn't dare try to do more than keep the tail lights of the truck within view. If she got close enough to see the truck and reassure herself that it was the right vehicle she was still following, she would be close enough Blackhawk could also spot her car and identify it.

  It wasn't until the truck drove past the security lights of the construction site that Diana could see she hadn't lost her quarry. She took her foot off the accelerator, allowing them to reach a curve in the road before she reached the lighted area. She debated briefly with herself, but finally pulled up beside Muellin's car. To her relief, she saw that Muellin was sitting at the wheel. Parking quickly, she jumped out and ran to the passenger door.

  "Let's go. Now."

  Muellin started the car. “Where?"

  "The truck that just passed."

  Muellin whipped the car around and onto the highway. “Whose truck?"

  "Blackhawk. The man with him is the same one I saw him talking to that first night—The same one I saw in the woods the other day."

  Muellin glanced at her. “He lied."

  Diana shrugged. “He didn't tell me he knew the guy."

  "Which is the same thing—and also means he probably just let the guy get away the other day."

  "Probably."

  They rounded the bend in the road just in time to catch a glimpse of tail light as the truck rounded the curve ahead. When they reached the curve, however, the road was empty. Muellin put on brakes immediately and they looked around. “There. That look like headlights to you?"

  Diana looked in the direction he'd indicated. “Yeah.” She considered the situation quickly. “We should hide the car and walk. It looks like a driveway."

  Muellin looked at the disappearing lights a little doubtfully. “Looks like a hell of a driveway."

  "You want to chance meeting them on the way out again?"

  "Point taken.” They pulled down the road until they found a turn off into a field and pulled in far enough headlights from passing cars on the road wouldn't catch it, then trotted back down the highway to the driveway. There was a mailbox just a few feet off the highway. It had numbers on it, and a name—Blackhawk.

  Muellin glanced at Diana. “I see it,” she said shortly. “Let's go."

  Trees crowded close to the driveway, blocking out most of the light. They decided to risk using Muellin's flashlight rather than take a chance they might wander off the drive and into the woods.

  Ahead of them, Diana spotted a flicker of lights and her heart leapt into her throat. She realized after a moment, however, that the lights only appeared to be moving because she was. “I see the house,” she whispered to Muellin.

  He nodded and turned the flashlight off.

  Despite the darkness that engulfed them immediately, they managed to make it the rest of the way without incident. They knew the very moment when they left the drive and reached the edge of the yard.

  A dog was tied next to the front porch. He immediately began to bark his head off.

  "Shit!"

  "Fuck!"

  Diana darted behind a tree. When she looked around, Muellin was several yards down the driveway. “He's tied!” she whispered loudly.

  Muellin stopped abruptly and turned to look.

  They both heard the screen door creak open at the same time and Muellin dove for cover.

  Blackhawk stood in the opening, looking around. “What're you barking at, girl?"

  The dog
ceased barking an alarm and began whining for attention.

  After a moment, apparently satisfied the dog must have been barking at wildlife, he turned to look back inside. “I've got to get back and close up. Do you need me to bring you anything from town tomorrow, Grandfather?"

  Diana and Sly exchanged a look. They couldn't hear ‘Grandfather's’ side of the conversation, but after a moment, Blackhawk nodded and moved down the steps to his truck.

  There was no time to find a better hiding place. They plastered their backs against the tree as closely together as possible. Unfortunately, it wasn't a very large tree. As the truck pulled away from the house in a wide turn and the lights swung toward them, Sly came away from the tree and pressed closely against Diana, covering as much of her fiery hair as possible with his arm.

  Diana could neither see nor hear very well with Sly pressing so tightly against her, but it seemed to her that it took longer than it should have for the truck to pass them.

  She also became aware of something else, something hard digging into her belly that was roughly seven inches long and tubular in shape.

  After several minutes passed and Muellin made no attempt to move, she whispered, “Is he gone yet?"

  "Shhh."

  "Your flashlight's gouging me in the ribs."

  He shifted slightly, but it was little relief. “Shhh."

  Diana subsided, listening intently. Finally, she heard the distant metallic thunk of the truck as it hit a rut some distance away. She wedged her hands between herself and Muellin. “What're you doing?"

  Muellin shifted slightly away. “I just wanted to be sure he didn't forget anything and turn around."

  "Right—what do you want to do now?"

  "If I tell you, will you promise not to hit me?"

  "I'm being serious."

  "Me too."

  Diana let out a gusty sigh of irritation.

  "OK! I'm going to stick around here for a while, I think, and check out grandpa."

  "Good, because I have to get back to the lodge before Blackhawk does and I think we need to check the guy out. Grandpa or not, he seems to get around pretty damn good. He must have walked to the bar—and that must be a good ten miles."

  Muellin shrugged. “He might've caught a ride, but if he's the same guy you saw the other day, he must be pretty spry.” He fished his keys from his pocket. “Go ahead and take my car. I'll walk back."

  Diana shook her head. “It's no further for me to walk than it is you. I'll walk back to my car. I'm sure I've got time to get it and still get back before Blackhawk does if he's gone back to take care of closing up."

  "Diana?” Muellin said as she turned to go.

  She looked back at him questioningly.

  "Be careful. There's a damn good chance Blackhawk is on to you ... and from what this looks like, I'm guessing we were right on target."

  Diana studied him a long moment, knowing he was probably right, wondering why she felt no sense of triumph that they were getting so close to solving the case. “There are other explanations."

  Muellin stared at her a long moment and finally nodded. “Sure. Just be careful."

  * * * *

  The moon had disappeared below the tree line by the time Diana saw that she was nearing the construction site. It had taken her longer than she'd expected and she kept glancing nervously at her watch, wondering if she was going to be able to beat Blackhawk back after all.

  As she reached her car, however, she heard a sound that lifted the hair on the back of her neck and drove all thought of Blackhawk from her mind—the howl of a wolf.

  Diana dropped her keys and looked quickly around. About two seconds behind the wolf howl she heard a scream of pure terror.

  Snatching her car door open, Diana grabbed her pistol from beneath the car seat and took off at a run, following the horrible sounds around the perimeter of the building to the back. She heard gunshots before she rounded the end of the building and stopped at the corner, easing up to take a quick look and make certain she wasn't in the line of fire before darting out.

  One of the off duty policemen was standing with his back to her, his legs spread for balance as he fired one shot after another at the animal rapidly disappearing toward the shadows beyond the security lights. Diana jumped from cover and raced toward the policeman, adding her own fusillade of bullets as she too, aimed and emptied her clip at the wolf. Just before it reached the shadows, one bullet struck home and the animal let out a high pitched squeal of pain, stumbled, righted itself and vanished.

  The guard raced to a mound of crumpled clothing several yards away. As Diana followed him, she saw patches of fabric that told the tale.

  It was the other guard.

  * * * *

  The sheriff and the ambulance arrived at almost the same time. There was nothing the paramedics could do for the man, however.

  "You got a permit for that gun?” Sheriff Stanley snapped at Diana.

  Diana's brows rose in surprise, but she produced her permit.

  "Says here your name is Diana Skelley. Ain't you been going by the name Sadie Williams?” he demanded suspiciously.

  Diana exchanged a look with Sly, who'd arrived on the heels of the sirens. “I'm investigating the accidents on the construction site."

  "If you're a cop, you're way the hell out of your jurisdiction."

  "Private investigator,” Diana responded tightly.

  The sheriff looked like he smelled something bad. “What the fuck happened here?"

  "Your deputy didn't tell you?"

  "I want your version."

  Diana shrugged. “It was all over but the dying by the time I arrived. I heard an animal howl—then screams and ran to help. Your man was already down, had been savaged. The other deputy was firing at a retreating animal. I fired too."

  "And neither one of you managed to hit the thing?"

  "I hit it. It just didn't stop it."

  "And I suppose it was a werewolf?"

  Diana shrugged. “It was a wolf."

  "We ain't got no fucking wolves around here. Maybe a coyote?"

  "This was no transplanted coyote. It was huge. And it was either a wolf, or a wild dog. I didn't get that good a look at it."

  "If you people would stop leaving food around here to attract the fucking wildlife, you'd probably stop having these attacks."

  "The only food that animal was after was your deputy, from what I saw,” Diana responded tartly. “Look—I can come in tomorrow and give you a full statement, but I'd like to go right now. It's been a long night."

  "Be at the station tomorrow. I don't want to have to come looking for you."

  Diana watched him as he strode away, her eyes narrowed. “What do you think?"

  "About the sheriff?"

  Diana nodded.

  "He's an asshole."

  Diana shrugged. “He's upset, naturally enough—but does his reaction seem a little off to you?"

  Sly thought about it a moment. “I don't know the guy well enough to tell."

  Diana dismissed it. “I need to get back. At this point, I doubt I'll beat Blackhawk back, but...."

  "Grandpa's on the prowl."

  "What?"

  "I managed to get close enough to the house to have a look in the window. The dog was barking fit to wake the dead—but it didn't rouse Grandpa. I thought he was dead at first. Then, he just rose straight up out of the chair."

  "He got up and left?"

  "Sort of."

  Chapter Six

  "I'm going to be honest with you, Skelley. I thought you were full of it, but the guy's ... ghost walked through the wall almost where I was standing ... and then just disappeared while I was still gaping at the body sprawled in the recliner in front of the TV set ... I think we found our man, but I'll be damned if I can figure out how we're supposed to stop him."

  "You think Blackhawk's grandfather did this?"

  "Don't you? I told you, he left right after you did. Did that spirit walking thing right out t
he door and disappeared."

  Diana frowned. “Somehow, it just doesn't seem to fit."

  Sly's brows rose. “I thought you'd be thrilled to discover it wasn't your boyfriend."

  Diana gave him a look. “He's not my boyfriend. Never mind. I've got to get back. I'll meet you tomorrow night and we can go over all this."

  Blackhawk met her in the hallway when she reached her room.

  It took more of an effort to look pleasantly surprised than Diana would have imagined a few days earlier.

  "I thought you were tired."

  Diana shrugged. “Too keyed up to sleep. I figured a quick workout in the fresh air would help."

  "Did it?"

  Diana faked a yawn. “I can hardly keep my eyes open."

  He moved across the hall, standing close. “You should have waited. I know some very helpful relaxation exercises."

  Diana chuckled in spite of herself. “Too late."

  "There's no sense in sleeping alone."

  "Unless the idea is to sleep,” Diana countered dryly.

  He studied her a long moment and finally shrugged. Leaning down, he kissed her lightly on the lips. “Sure I can't change your mind?"

  Diana was fairly sure he could, but she was determined not to give him the chance. She placed her hands on his chest. “Not tonight."

  To her relief, he stepped away. “I'll see you tomorrow, then."

  Diana felt more than a little disconcerted as she entered her room. She should have been relieved that he'd taken it so well. Instead, suspicions began to emerge almost immediately.

  If he hadn't been that interested in a sexual encounter, why had he been waiting in the hallway for her? Just to let her know that he knew she'd been out? Or, was it to let her know he was in and to establish an alibi?

  Despite the fact that Muellin had witnessed his grandfather spirit walking, she wasn't totally convinced it was the grandfather that was responsible for the latest attack at the construction site.

  Blackhawk had not been accounted for during that time. He could've been on his way back to the bar, as he'd told his grandfather, and they'd heard him state his intention, but that didn't necessarily mean he'd gone back. He might only have said it because he suspected someone was watching, and listening.