Kitten stepped forward and linked arms with Frank.
“This way, Frank,” Kitten said.
Frank hobbled away, turning and winking before disappearing through a side door.
“Come through to the lounge area,” The woman said.
Shaw followed, unable to take his eyes off her wiggle, until they entered the lounge area. He looked around the room. The wall and niches were adorned with stone Egyptian artifacts and hieroglyphs depicting the Pharaohs and ancient gods.
“What’s the Egyptian connection?” Shaw asked.
The woman glanced around the walls.
“All old friends, but they’re all reproductions I’m afraid.”
“Old friends?”
“Yes, they remind me of my time in Egypt and working as a student for the antiquities department, translating hieroglyphs. Our own foundation here was started in Egypt by wealthy benefactors, but now we have international funders.”
“Ah, that explains the architecture.”
The woman lifted her chin, and sniffed.
“Do you have a dog?”
“Is that what you can smell?”
“Oh, the sniffing. Sorry, working with animals it’s surprising how you can pick up their scent. No offence meant.”
“None taken. Yeah, the dog’s called Gyp. He turned up on the doorstep six months ago.”
“So he chose you and not the other way around. Interesting! The name is ironic. Is it short for Egyptian?”
“Ironic? It’s short for Gypsy as in he turned up on his travels.”
“Sorry, my choice of words in English is sometimes wrong. You must bring him to visit next time, and stop by for a coffee. Besides, we don’t get many males visiting here. It would be nice to have a change of company.”
Shaw was taken aback at her hitting on him, but even more taken aback that he thought he would want to visit again. A hairless cat with large ears walked from behind a sofa and stared at Shaw. Even odder, it had one blue eye, and one brown.
“Is the cat ill?”
“Oh, Chimi. No, she’s a Sphinx cat. The breed doesn’t have any body hair,” she said, and picked her up, cradling Chimi in her arms.
“I’ve never seen a cat with two different colored eyes.”
“That’s because she’s special. She’s a Chimera, carrying two sets of DNA in one body. Have you heard of that phenomenon?”
The woman handed Shaw a cup of coffee.
“Yeah, but it’s a long time ago. I used to work in homicide. They used to quote over a billion-to-one chance in court when using DNA as evidence. Then the experts had to scale it down to take account of twins, and two cases of human Chimeras that were discovered in America.”
“I think they’d have to scale it down further if they actually screened for the chimera condition. Tell me, is there a Mrs. Shaw?”
“No, she died six years ago. I live with my daughter Amy.”
“I am sorry. Amy! How old is she?”
“Eighteen.”
“Ah, eighteen, the prime of fertility.”
Shaw spluttered while taking a sip of coffee.
“Sorry, you’ll have to excuse me. I find it hard to switch off from my field of expertise. I didn’t mean to make you embarrassed.”
Shaw didn’t need reminding of Amy’s probable sexual activity with Ted, and he changed the subject.
“So, you specialize in breeding endangered species.”
The woman drew her legs on the chaise longue sofa where she had sat, resting her hand at the side of her face. The pose she set was about as provocative as Shaw had experienced in a long time. She set him a seductive smile.
“Yes, and other subjects. We also have laboratory with high-powered microscopes to look at the reproduction systems of microorganisms. Now that really is fascinating. Next time you visit, I’ll give you tour. As you worked in homicide, you may be interested in our DNA laboratory. We use our research to map the genome of a myriad of endangered species sent from around the world. Unfortunately, we can’t do stem-cell research here, but we’re thinking of opening a facility in the UK, where they have a protocol.
“Protocol?”
Before she could answer, Frank and Kitten walked in to the room. The woman sat upright, and then stood. She walked over to Shaw, leaned over and took his coffee cup. She paused, breathed deeply through her nose, a little too close to Shaw for comfort, and then she sighed.
“Maybe we can talk about the subject of protocol when you next visit with Gyp. Be sure to bring him along. Emuishere will give you a phone number. I’m afraid I have business to attend to just now. You will visit us again?”
“Yeah, em, sure. We have to be going anyway to visit the old silver mine.”
“Silver mine?” The woman said, and exchanged a furtive glance at Kitten.
Chapter 18
IT took Shaw twenty minutes and nothing in the way of conversation with Frank, for them to hit the approach road to the silver mine.
“Nearly there,” said Frank.
“What d’ya say?”
“I’m saying, we’re nearly at the silver mine. Ten minutes should do it.”
“Oh, yeah, sorry. My mind was elsewhere,” Shaw said.
Professor Bastet, or Cleo as she had asked him to call her, had left an impression. It was a vision of her laying provocatively on the sofa that kept edging out his other thoughts. Shaw glanced at Frank. He was staring ahead and smiling.
“Do you ever do that, Frank?”
“Do what?”
“Drive a distance without remembering the journey.”
“Oh, that. Yeah, at times. It’s as if your brain works on autopilot. Scares the crap outta me it does. It’s a wonder sometimes why I don’t finish up in a car wreck when I’m behind the wheel. I’ve been in that state ever since we left the wildlife park.”
“How come?”
“Lost in thoughts, same as you I guess.”
“Yeah, it’s strange how we keep track on the road.” Shaw shuffled his backside on his seat. “So what’s on your mind with that smile?” Shaw asked.
“I don’t want to say, it could jinx the moment.”
“I didn’t have you down as the superstitious type, Frank.”
Shaw heard Frank suck air through his teeth.
“Nah, I’m too old to be superstitious. I just can’t get over how good I feel after the treatment Kitten gave me.”
“What, with the laying of hands?”
“Nothing like that, it was all high tech. Well, saying that, she did hold my hand for a while after the treatment, Frank said, and curled a smile.”
“Hi tech?”
“Yeah, she put me through a scanner. You know; one of those things like a giant tumbler and they slide you in feet first to take images. Then she put me on a gurney and turned the lights out, except for a dimmed light on a machine. It looked similar to one of those X-ray machines they have at the dentist. She aimed it at my ankles and then at my neck. It emitted an ultra violet light. Then the beam changed colors through the spectrum to red. Weirdest thing was, it had an effect the same as one of those black lights they use at dances and makes white things glow. I swear to God, it made the whites of her eyes change color as if the power was coming from within her. It tingled at first, and my skin burned like hell. Gotta say, I was worried, but the pain subsided. Now I feel like a teenager. No pain.”
“Maybe the pain ’ll return. I’ve not heard of a cure for arthritis, only relief.”
“See, there you go, jinxing it and spoiling the pleasure. I should’ve kept my mouth closed.” Frank slapped the dash. “Whoa, stop, you’ve passed the entrance to the mine.”
Shaw pressed down on the brake pedal and stopped. He slung his arm over the back of the seat, and looking over his shoulder, he reversed to the opening.
“Looks as though my autopilot s faulty,” Shaw said, and looked at Frank, who raised his eyebrows and scoffed.
“Maybe when we’re finished here, you can tell me what�
��s on your mind?”
“We’ll see,” Shaw said.
Shaw looked at the sign on a pole to one side of the entrance. ‘DANGER, FALLING ROCKS’ it said and with an illustration of boulders rolling down a cliff face. Below that was nailed another sign. ‘KEEP OUT, PRIVATE PROPERTY.’ On the top of the poll was positioned a CCTV camera.
“I guess they don’t like visitors,” Shaw said.
“Guess so.”
“Should we risk it? The road looks clear.”
“It’s their only way in, and they have vehicles. Unless you want to wait for them to come out,” said Frank.
“If they’re preppers, my guess is that the sign for the boulders is a ruse to keep people out.” He didn’t wait for confirmation from Frank, but pressed down on the accelerator. “Let’s go.”
The entrance roadway was framed either side by steep cliff faces. Frank had told him that miners had hewn the entrance out of the mountain by hand back in settler days, in the quest for silver. Shaw wasn’t troubled by claustrophobia, but nerves at the thought that boulders could crash down on them had him sweating. He was relieved when the road widened, and they came to a twenty foot high fence with a chain metal gate, all topped with razor wire. Shaw stopped his car, opened his door, and climbed out of his seat, leaving the door open. Frank joined him at the gate.
“Have you seen the boulders either side at the top of the cliff face.” Frank said.
Shaw glanced up and scanned either side. He masked the sun with his hand across his brow. There were wooden platforms, held in place by wooden struts at forty-five degree angles, and set in the cliff face. The boulders hadn’t rolled into place on the platforms on their own. Looking down the road the way they came, there were similar constructions all the way along both cliff faces.
“That’s one way of stopping access,” Shaw said, and the turned to look at the gate. Two Dobermans sat behind the gates, not moving a single muscle. He’d seen pictures of the breed, but he hadn’t realized just how big they were, “Do you think they know we’re here? The dogs aren’t barking to let anyone know we’ve arrived.”
“I would say they know if they’re manning the CCTV. There’s another camera on top of the fence.”
Shaw could hear the hum of an engine. The sound grew louder, and a Jeep appeared around the corner behind the gate, throwing up a cloud of dust. The guy did a handbrake turn, skidding to a halt, and facing the opposite way he arrived. Billowing dust had Shaw covering his eyes and coughing. When it cleared, he could see two guys sat in the back, clutching rifles and facing the gate. The driver climbed out and walked to the gate.
“What d’ya want?” the driver said abruptly, hardly sounding like a welcome. His face was etched with a dour expression.
“I want to talk to whoever is in charge,” Shaw said. He noticed Frank rest his backside against the hood, take off his hat and rest it over his revolver, locating the handle of his gun with his other hand and thumbing the trigger. “I think I need to be thanking someone for helping my deputy move a stag of the road.”
“I’ll tell him you said thanks,” the driver said, and set off back to the Jeep.
“Wait, I need to ask him some questions about a stray dog he’s been looking for. He spoke to my daughter yesterday over at Breakers Lake. The dog could be involved in the death of our local vet.”
The prepper stopped, raised his arm, and talked to his wrist. Shaw noticed a curly lead running to his ear and realized he was connected to coms. The guy pressed a finger to his ear and then turned to face Shaw.
“Follow me,” he said. He took a remote control from his jacket pocket and aimed it at the gate. The gate rumbled open.
Shaw climbed onto his seat. Frank followed, backing his way to the car door, before climbing onto his seat. They drove through the gate and stopped behind the Jeep. “I guess you don’t trust them?” Shaw said.
“Nope. Not when their packing rifles I don’t.” He took his revolver from its holster, opening the chamber and giving it a spin. Frank closed it and set it back in the holster.
The gates closed behind them, and they set off behind the Jeep. Shaw glanced in his rearview. The Dobermans were keeping pace. Fifty yards on, and driving around a bend in the cutting, the road opened up into a quarry covering around eight acres. To one side, over on the left was a compound of heavy construction machinery and vehicles. There was everything from earthmovers, to pile drivers, and cranes. Over on the right was a solid mass of cargo containers, stacked three high. In the center, he could see a square perimeter of containers, all joined together as if forming a compound. Rising from the center of the compound, a radio mast reached for the sky, above the height of the sheer cliff faces of the quarry. Steel wires from the top of the mast connected to each corner of the compound. There wasn’t any vegetation as he scanned the area, just rock and clay terrain, and surrounded by the cliff face of the quarry.
These guys were seriously prepared to defend their position. The Jeep pulled up at a trailer outside the compound. Shaw had counted maybe fifteen men at different locations, and just as many Dobermans. He watched a crane lift a container and lower it onto to the corner of the compound forming the start of a second tier. It was set back maybe a foot on top of the other containers. As soon as it landed, Shaw had to avert his gaze as welding flashes started to fix it to the other containers.
“This looks more than what I expected. I thought they’d have had a tank for a small family sunk under the ground, so no one could see it. This is hidden in plain sight,” Frank said.
“Their property, their business I say. As long as they ain’t breaking any laws, they can do what they want with their spare time.”
They both climbed out of Shaw’s vehicle. The driver of the Jeep approached. The two Dobermans caught up and sat either side of Shaw’s car. They resumed the same stance as at the gate as if they were statues.
“Wait here,” the driver said, and turned to enter the trailer.
Frank turned to Shaw.
“I need to stretch my legs.”
“Any pain?”
“No. Fingers crossed.”
Shaw watched Frank amble over to a tanker vehicle. He could see a pipe running from the tank to a valve and the engine was running.
“Hey, where ya going?” One of the preppers called out from the back of the Jeep. Shaw glanced left and right, and the Dobermans stood.
“Just stretching,” Frank called back, and rapped the tank with his knuckles. “What in the tank, fuel?”
“No, water. We’re filling up our water tank below ground. Keep away, we don’t want no accidents. Water’s precious these days.”
Frank walked back to Shaw as the driver opened the door to the trailer, and the Dobermans settled back to their rigid stance.
“You can come in now,” he said.
Shaw and Frank entered. They were greeted by a tall sinewy guy, who beckoned them to the seating area. Shaw studied the head prepper. He had a logo badge stitched to the upper arm of his brown jacket, the same as the other preppers. He’d seen the logo somewhere before, but he couldn‘t think where. He was maybe in his early forties, with a full head of close-cropped black hair. His dark brown eyes looked Shaw up and down. There was a shortwave receiver and transmitter making a crackling sound on the table, and the guy reached out to switch it off.
“What can I do for you, sheriff?” he asked
“Well first of all, thanks for helping my deputy remove the stag that blocked the road.”
“Think nothing of it,” he said, and sat, beckoning them to do the same.
“I was wondering if you still have the stag carcass for us to take a look at. I think it could have been involved with a tussle with that stray dog you were searching for over at Breakers Lake. I’m also thinking the dog could have been involved in attacking and killing our local vet. So I could do with a description of the dog.”
The guy set a closed lipped smile. He didn’t answer straight away, as if his mind was churning
over how to answer.
“Sorry, there’s nothing left of the carcass. The meat was grilled and shared out. The skin burnt, and the bones our dogs took care of.”
“What about the antlers? Did you save those?” Frank asked.
“No they were tossed into the incinerator along with the skin and hooves. Nothing left but ash.”
“What about the dog? How did it get in here to take a goat?” Shaw asked.
The guy shuffled on his seat.
“Let’s get some air,” he said, and stood. “It could have followed a vehicle through the gate and sneaked out the same way.”
As they exited the trailer, Frank turned to the guy.
“What about CCTV? Could there be anything to see on there?”
“No, it was too late to look. The machine wipes out all the footage after twenty-four hours to re-record.”
Frank took off his hat, and scratched his bald patch.
“Then how do you know it was a dog and not say a mountain lion, or maybe one of your Dobermans that took your goats?” Frank asked.
The guy looked agitated at Frank’s question.
“Just assumed. The others had seen what looked like a large dog skulking around when they were out hunting near to here, but it wasn’t close enough for a description. There are all types of feral dogs loose in California. Blame the re-introduction of wolves up in Yellowstone for that.”
“Yellowstone! How come?” Shaw asked.
“They don’t have them fenced in, that’s how come, and they’re spreading. Lone wolves will mate with anything on their travels; Coyotes, pet huskies, anything. In fact, besides the mating urge, anything they see as a threat to their territory that they come across, they’ll kill, and not for food. That trait seems to pass on to their feral offspring.”
Shaw heard Frank scoff, and noticed that he looked as though he about to say something. He threw Frank a look, and then stepped in front of him to face the guy.
“So are you still mining here?” Shaw asked, and changing the subject. He was as anxious as the head prepper had appeared, at avoiding how they knew it was a feral dog, when he’d changed the subject to wolves. Getting in there had been difficult enough. The two preppers on the back of the Jeep, fingering their rifle triggers, made him realize it could be just as difficult getting out.
The Killers Amongst Us: Chimera Dawn Chronicles Page 13
