“You look troubled,” said Frank.
“I’m just thinking. I’m hoping the preppers can give us a good description of the feral dog. There’s that, and I’m concerned about Amy. I’m finding it hard to let go.”
Frank poured the coffee, and then they walked over to sit at the desk.
“I know what ya mean. I’ve been there with my two kids. We’re lucky if we get two phone calls a year. You’d think with having Skype, they’d always be in touch. June sits at the computer, glued to Facebook. She presses the like button on all their posts and family pictures, hoping for a message that rarely arrives. When you think of all the sacrifices, it’s a kick in the teeth.”
“I guess.”
Shaw took a swig of coffee, then studied Frank. His tanned and wizened features, with the years he’d spent under the sun, made him look older than his already senior years. Older maybe, but wiser. He’d misread Frank. This last few days working with him had shown a side of him that earned his respect. Shaw had never been one to talk about private matters a work, or with anyone except Mary, but Frank’s presence put him at ease. Shaw leaned back, and clasped his fingers behind his head.
“Damn it, Frank, you’ve made me feel guilty.”
“How so?”
“All this getting in touch with family. I should phone Mom and Dad more often.”
“Where do they live?”
“Mom lives in Ohio with her husband, and Dad lives in Texas with his new wife and family. I have a brother who lives over in Miami that I haven’t talked to for over ten years. But then our family’s like an elastic band that’s stretched and broken. I don’t see us getting together again. We all have our own lives.”
“Have you never thought of marrying again, or, are you still grieving?”
Shaw thought for a moment, not convinced if he should open up. Maybe it was his conversation with Mary, he couldn’t be sure, but he decided to pour it out.
“No, I’m past the grieving. I mean I wish she were here, but she isn’t, and she’s not coming back. I found that out when I visited her graveside yesterday. Truth is; I had a crap experience with my Mom’s new husband, and serious problems with his kids who lived with us. I tried living with Dad, but I was nearer his wife’s age than he was, and she just didn’t like me around the home. I didn’t want to put Amy through all that.”
Frank leaned with his elbows on the table and rested his chin on his knuckles.
“None of my business, I know, but if you’ll take the advice of an old man. I can understand sacrificing all for Amy. But when Amy goes to university, you need to do what’s right for you, before it’s too late. Before the liquor takes your liver, and your life.”
Shaw felt liked he’d been sucker punched. He unclasped his hands, aware of himself blushing. If Ed Grimes knew, and now Frank, then the whole town must know about this drinking.
“Maybe you’re right.”
Shaw eased out of his chair and walked over to collect his hat from the coat stand. He put on his hat and looked in the mirror, making adjustments. The man staring back at him with a mottled-red nose, he looked like a stranger whose life was passing him by. The Stetson, the beige shirt with the sheriff’s badge pinned to his pocket, the brown corduroy pants, and cowboy boots; they didn’t belong. The town and the job didn’t match the man that he knew was hiding in the reflection. He didn’t belong there. Shaw knew that. His time back in LA had proved as much to him.
“Come on, Frank. Let’s go see if we can unearth something at the wild life park or the silver mine.”
Shaw followed Frank outside. They both climbed onto their seats in Shaw’s car, and firing up the engine, they set of toward the main street. Ed Grimes stood outside his bar, smoking a cigarette. Shaw looked directly ahead, but he could see Grimes watching him. As he passed the bar, he looked in his rearview. Grimes still watched, until he stubbed his cigarette under his boot, and with a final glance in Shaw’s direction, he disappeared through the entrance to his bar.
Chapter 17
SHAW turned at the junction along the main street. As he approached where the vet’s property had stood, he slowed, then parked alongside the debris. He turned to Frank.
“I see what you mean when you said there’s nothing left. Pity the fire crew couldn’t have saved it before it collapsed in to the cellar.”
“Maybe if the outlet valve hadn’t stuck on the fire truck, they could’ve. It was like a scene from the Keystone Cops. Grimes said he’d recently packed the valve with a fresh seal. Hell, it was stuck tighter than a gnat’s ass. What a farce.”
Shaw didn’t respond to that revelation, deciding to commit it to memory.
“Good thing you contacted the wildfire department. I can see now that whoever started the fire managed to creep up on your blindside.” Shaw glanced over to the stumps of the burned trees in the woods. “Damn it, is that Gyp?” He could see his dog sniffing around on the fringe of the woods. Gyp’s lower body was black as coal.”
“Looks like you’ll have to hose him down when you get back,” said Frank, and then he laughed.
“Yeah, I guess.”
Shaw slipped his transmission into gear, and set off down the road.
“Are you sure it’s okay going to the wildlife park and silver mine? They’re outside our jurisdiction since the boundary changes,” said Frank.
“It’s not far outside and we’re only going to ask questions. I’m sure county have better things to do. When did the boundary change?”
“Not long after Jed Grimes dad died back around two thousand and two,” Frank said.
Ten miles further on and Shaw noticed Frank shuffling uncomfortably on his seat, and blowing sighs.
“What’s wrong?” Shaw asked.
“I missed something out of my report on events before the fire.”
“What was that?”
“I dozed off for thirty minutes and woke up just as the garage exploded.”
Shaw gripped the steering wheel, but said nothing.
“Did ya hear me?”
“Yeah, I heard.” Shaw’s first reaction had been to want to scream at him, but chewing it over, he couldn’t blame Frank. “If the town council gave me a budget for another deputy you wouldn’t have had to work more than a double shift. I don’t think we need to talk about it anymore. Forget it. It would have happened anyway. Like I said, you were blindsided.”
“There’s something else. Jim told me about all the trouble you had with Hogan. I’ve been back and paid him for the meat.”
“Good.”
Shaw appreciated his honesty. He appreciated him going out to Breakers Lake to warn Amy. He was thankful of him staying on and finding Johno, when he should have been at home in bed. The subject was closed.
Twenty minutes driving and Frank tapped Shaw’s arm.
“It’s around here somewhere, slow down. There should be a turning left before the bend. See there, that post used to hold the sign.”
Shaw slowed and crawled along the curb. He arrived at the pole with no sign and turned onto a private road. The concrete road had given up the fight with nature. Grass stalks and bushes had sprung from the cracks in the road, but there was a clear way through. If Frank hadn’t spotted the turning, he’d never have seen it and passed by.
“I used to bring the kids here when they were little,” said Frank. “Great day out for the kids.”
“When did it close to the public?” Shaw asked.
“Around ten years ago. I know there was a lot of construction activity going on after it was sold, but they didn’t use local contractors.”
A pair of twenty foot, rusty wrought-iron gates appeared as they turned a bend. Over the top of the gates, in an arch, were fashioned the words. COPELAND’S ZOO. A steel chain and a hefty padlock secured the gates, and a sign read, KEEP OUT, WILD ANIMALS. To one side there was a single pedestrian gate. Shaw opened his door, climbed out of his seat, and ambled over to the entrance. Frank joined him at the gate. Twenty yards beyon
d the main gates was another set of gates, with a second chain link fence, leading off in either direction. Through the second set of gates, he noticed what appeared to be a security hut, and a pole with a camera atop, pointing in his direction.
“Let’s hope someone is around,” Frank said.
“We’ll soon find out,” said Shaw, and he pressed a button on an intercom.
“Sheriff Shaw, to what do we owe the pleasure?” He heard a woman’s voice ask.
Shaw looked at Frank, who shrugged his shoulders.
Shaw pressed the button, and said, “I’d like to talk with the owner.”
“Please wait,” she answered.
Shaw stepped back and wondered if it was someone who knew him from town. He heard a buzzing sound from the lock and the gate clicked open.
“Please, step through and close the gate.”
Frank and Shaw ambled to the second pedestrian gate, where a young woman met them.
“Do I know you?” Shaw asked.
“No, I doubt it, but we all saw you on the television news channel on Saturday and your badge gives you away.”
The door lock clicked open and they entered. The woman on security was casually dressed with a white blouse and jeans. Her accent was American, but she had a mid-east look about her, with long flowing black hair and dark eyes. Shaw guessed that she was in her mid-twenties. She beckoned them into the security building.
“This is my deputy, Frank.”
“Pleased to meet you, Frank. My name is Emu, I’m head of security” she said. “I need both of you to find a pair of plastic boots from the rack that will fit. After, could you wash your hands, arms and face with the biological soap at the wash basin.”
“Emu! That’s an unusual name,” Shaw said, as he picked out a pair of boots.
“Yes, but it’s common in Egypt. The name translates to mean Cat. You can use that name if you like. Sorry about the precautions, but we have to be wary of disease.”
Shaw dried off with a paper towel, when another woman walked into the office. She was wearing the same type of clothing as Cat, but nearer Amy’s age, and with the same Mid-Eastern look about her. The women exchanged words, but he didn’t understand anything that they were saying. Cat turned to them.
“Emuishere will escort you to the surgery.”
Cat must have seen the puzzled look on Shaw’s face, and said. “We’re a research facility here. Our wild life sanctuary here specializes in breeding endangered species. The sanctuary founder is in surgery at the moment.”
“Emuishere! Is that Egyptian as well?” Frank asked.
“Prrrr, sure is,” said the youngest woman, and snickered with a coy disposition, fluttering her long eyelashes at Frank. “It translates to Kitten if you find that easier. Please, follow me.”
Shaw detected the smell of molten asphalt as they followed her along a pathway.
“You laying a new road,” Shaw asked.
“No, they’re just filling in some pot holes,” Kitten said. “They seem to have opened up everywhere with the drought. One of them is deep as a sinkhole. It’s taking forever to fill.”
Kitten walked at a brisk pace. Shaw would have preferred a more leisurely walk as they hurried past the wildcat enclosures. The last enclosure housed black panthers. He counted eight, perched lazily on the branches of trees. Shaw stopped, and walked to the mesh fence, mesmerized by one large cat whose eyes had followed his every step.
“Are these cougars or jaguars,” Shaw called out.
The leopard that had been staring, lowered its gaze, and started to lick what looked like a gash on it foreleg.
Kitten walked over. “If you look real careful, you’ll see the spots. They’re all Lower Nile black leopards, very rare. The cats have been out all night, hunting. They’ll rest here and sleep most of the day, or sometimes they’ll wonder back into the woods to pick a private spot to rest.”
“Hunting?”
“We have fifty hectares fenced off for them to roam freely at night. Now please, follow me.”
“That cat has a gash on its leg.”
“It’s only scratch, nothing to worry about. Trust me, it will heal in the blink of an eye without treatment.”
Shaw could see Frank ahead, stood akimbo, and looking over to his right.
“Brett, you’ve got to see this,” Frank said.
Shaw picked up his pace, walking along past a tall hedgerow and joined Frank.
“They didn’t have anything like this when I was last here,” said Frank.
They both stared ahead at a magnificent sandstone building. It wouldn’t have looked out of place in Las Vegas. But in Breakers Pass terms, it was a world apart. Kitten surged ahead and they followed her along a twenty foot wide cobbled driveway, framed by two four-foot-wide canals of water, and rows of palm trees. Water lilies flowered on the stretches of water, with multi-colored carp visible, swimming close to the surface. Two Sphinx Statues, each the size of a Greyhound bus and carved out of gray-white marbling, stood either side of pink-marble steps, leading to two fifteen foot high, polished oak doors, arched at the top. Shaw noticed Frank struggling with the steps.
“What’s up, old timer, saddle sore with all the sitting around in the car.”
“Something like that,” said Frank. “Damned ankles are sore with all that climbing yesterday. Incidentally, have you noticed the motorized cameras on the poles and following our movement?”
“No. I was too busy looking at the cats.”
“I only saw the one screen in Cat’s office from the security camera at the gate. They must have a CCTV screen room somewhere inside the building for the rest of the cameras,” said Frank.
Kitten was already at the door. Either side of the large doors stood stone buttresses, carved with Egyptian figures on the facade, and rising six feet above the wall. A smaller door, within the left hand door opened and Kitten beckoned them through. Shaw’s jaw dropped as he stepped through and into a yard. It wasn’t a building with rooms and a roof, but a perimeter wall. They stood on a multi-colored, cobbled stone and flagged courtyard set out in intricate mosaic patterns. He stared, wide-eyed with awe toward the center of the courtyard. He’d only ever seen similar architecture in magazine articles about the Louvre Museum in Paris. A huge construction of glass and aluminum in the shape of a pyramid captivated him.
“This way,” Kitten said.
Kitten led them to a buttress at the wall with a doorway. She placed her hand on a six-inch square of glass. A line of light scanned her hand from top to bottom, and the doorway slid open, to reveal an elevator. They stepped inside.
“We’ll soon be there. Going down,” she said, and pressed the button. The elevator dropped one level and stopped. Shaw noticed that there were two more levels below. The door opened and they walked into a corridor. “Please, take a seat over there. I’ll just go a see if she is free.”
“Who is it we’re seeing?” Shaw said.
“Ba... em, sorry, the governess,” said Kitten. She turned, and walked on down the corridor.
“What d’ ya make of all this, Brett?”
“Gotta say, I wasn’t expecting it to be like this. I’d be interested to know what the Egyptian connection is all about.”
Shaw noticed Kitten walking toward them, and she waved for them to follow her. They caught up with her and stepped through a door. The room was set out like a lecture room. To one side, students sat in a tiered seating area, looking down at a set up that resembled an autopsy area. On the stainless steel table, lay a kangaroo, with its lower half dissected. A woman dressed as a surgeon nodded at them.
“I’ll be with you shortly,” she said. Removing her facemask, cap, and gloves, she turned to the students. “We’ll leave it that for today. You can all go and study for tomorrow’s subject.”
Shaw noticed the students were all women, and of different nationalities in appearance. The students stood, politely bowing and all said. “Yes, Professor Bastet.”
Shaw glanced upward.
They were under the glass pyramid.
“What can I do for you? Sheriff Shaw, is it?”
“Yes, and this is my deputy, Frank.” He said, and looked directly at her. The woman removed a clip from her hair and shook her head. Her long black hair cascaded to frame her olive skinned face and dark brown hypnotic eyes. He averted his gaze, aware that he was admiring her beauty. “We... we would have telephoned, but your number isn’t listed. All we want to know is if any of your wild animals are missing, especially a wild dog.”
“Of course, you must be investigating the vet’s death. We saw it on the news. Well now, the simple answer is no, because we don’t have any dogs here. All our animals have electronic implants and I can assure you that all are accounted for.” The woman lifted her chin, and sniffed in Shaw’s direction.
Shaw felt heat rise in his cheeks. He wondered if he was giving off a bad body odor, aware his shirt underarms were wet with perspiration.
“What’s today’s lesson?” he asked, and looked at the kangaroo.
“Majestic, isn’t it. They’ve been learning about the marsupials’ system of reproduction. Did you know that the kangaroo has two lateral vaginas, and a third median vagina? Fascinating don’t you think? It makes you wonder how we get by with only one vagina. Kangaroos must at least get double the pleasure.”
Shaw heard Frank snicker and then try to hide it with a cough.
“Sorry, am I embarrassing you, Sheriff,” she said, and smiled as she removed her white coat.
“No... No. Interesting,” said Shaw.
Shaw guessed that she was in her early forties, but with the pert body of someone younger. His eyes tracked to a gold chain and pendant around her neck, which rested on her ample bosom. He snatched his vision away and looked at Frank, who grimaced, then bent to rub his ankle.
“Are you okay?” the woman asked, looking at Frank.
“Ankle’s playing me up.”
“You should let Emuishere take a look while I arrange for coffee and cookies. Trust me, she has healing hands.”
The Killers Amongst Us: Chimera Dawn Chronicles Page 12
