Carving Knife

by Christian, Claudia Hall

  “Sheriff’s report says the UFO guys were here,” Seth said.

  Luis nodded.

  “And?” Seth asked.

  “They found some weird metals—that shiny stuff, hematite, and weird minerals like that—along the ground.” Luis pointed to the dry-grass circle. “Said the carcass had an electric charge. It smelled like . . .”

  Luis lifted his lip and wrinkled his nose in disgust.

  “The dogs wouldn’t go near it,” Luis continued. “Even the cattle. They’d take a step forward, then back. They were spooked.”

  “Was there thunder that night?” Seth asked.

  “That night?” Luis shrugged. “Sure.”

  “Was it different from other thunder?” Seth asked.

  “Not at the house,” Luis said. “The weather on this section is different than at the house. Miller says so, too. But he doesn’t think it’s aliens.”

  “And you do?” Seth raised his eyebrows in surprise.

  Luis shrugged.

  “It’s freaky, Seth,” Luis said. “I found one last year that had been there for a while—few days maybe. Coyotes, birds, they left the thing alone. The cattle stayed away from it. This patch of grass?”

  Luis pointed to the light-green grass in the center of the circle.

  “It’s perfect, green, tender—like new grass.” Luis shook his head. “The cattle won’t come near it.”

  “How long does that last?” Seth asked.

  “Year, maybe more.” Luis wagged his head back and forth.

  Seth nodded. He waited for Luis to say something else, but he didn’t. Luis shrugged.

  “These Angus,” Seth said. “Where’d you get them?”

  “Ted Turner,” Luis said.

  Seth nodded. When the media mogul bought new ranch land, he sold the cattle at below-market prices and converted the land to open range for bison.

  “Any idea if he’s had trouble with his bison?” Luis asked.

  “It may surprise you, but he doesn’t drop by much.” Seth smirked, and Luis laughed. “What about the guy you bought this land from? Did he have this problem?”

  “No idea.” Luis shrugged. “He died.”

  “That’s right,” Seth said. “We bought this at auction.”

  “Dead at fifty-seven,” Luis said. “Divorced, no kids. We got a good deal.”

  “Not if we get a lot of mutes,” Seth said.

  “What’s this ‘we’ business?” Luis laughed.

  Seth smiled. They never talked about the fact that Seth owned most of the ranch. Seth figured it was better he owned it than the bank. Luis grinned at him.

  “This whole thing—the mutes. It’s strange,” Luis said. “But part of the business. That’s what I tell everyone, anyway.”

  “Did your grandfather mention this kind of mutilation?” Seth asked.

  “No,” Luis said. “But he wouldn’t have, even if it had happened. He was like that. And, so far, it’s only happened up here. He didn’t own this high pasture.”

  “What do you think is happening?”

  “Aliens,” Luis nodded. “Military.”

  “Could be either,” Seth said.

  “Or none,” Luis said. “I heard there have been reports of lights in the sky and shit in this valley since . . . forever.”

  Seth shrugged.

  “Listen, I wanted to ask you . . .” Luis started.

  Seth stood up and faced Luis.

  “What did the doctor say about Sis?” Luis asked.

  “She’s in good health,” Seth said.

  “So it’s not the Alzheimer’s?” Luis asked.

  “No, it’s not dementia, either,” Seth said.

  “Then what?”

  “They’re not sure,” Seth said. “But you should know, she’s in excellent health and very happy. She eats well, exercises regularly, has great friends . . . The doctor said she was healthier and happier than ninety percent of his patients.”

  “She just forgets things?”

  “Sometimes. She just forgets things sometimes,” Seth nodded. “He thought it might be stress. It’s been a big year. I was sick last year; her dear friend, Yvonne, was released; Ava came to live with us; Dale, too; Sandy almost died and Rachel was born early. It’s been a hard year, with a lot to deal with.”

  “I wish she had someone,” Luis said. “The family, we always thought it was going to be you, but, now that there’s Ava . . .”

  “Not me,” Seth said. “Never me. We are family. We belong together. But not like that.”

  “You mean, she never got over Mitch,” Luis said, as a matter of fact.

  Seth didn’t respond. Maresol and Mitch was a topic he simply did not talk about.

  “You’ll take care of her,” Luis took a step toward Seth.

  “I will,” Seth said.

  “And Ava?” Luis asked.

  “Ava has already made that commitment,” Seth said. “It was a condition of moving into Maresol’s home.”

  “Maresol’s home,” Luis chuckled. He glanced at Seth and looked away. “Thanks.”

  Seth nodded.

  “You have what you need?” Luis asked.

  “I might want to talk to Miller,” Seth said.

  “Good idea,” Luis said. “We can go over around three. That’s when they like us to visit.”

  “Good to know,” Seth said.

  “You want to see the other sites?” Luis asked.

  “May as well,” Seth said.

  Luis gave Seth a nod and walked to the ATVs.

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  SEVEN

  Seth pressed open the door to his bedroom, and Clara jumped up onto the bed. Seth stopped in the doorway. The room was warm, and the air was filled with the still silence of sleep. Ava lay with her face pressed into his pillow and her body in a diagonal across the bed. An errant ray of blue light from the moon cast her body in an almost ethereal glow. Her yellow nightshirt had lifted to show her white cotton underwear stretched over her tight rear end. She lay with one knee bent and the other straight, making it seem as if her fit legs were doing yoga while she slept. With her face hidden from view, she could have been any young woman.

  The tight squeeze around his heart let him know she was his Ava.

  In moments like these, his mind tracked the facts that led to her lying in his bed. She was born to the sound of one of his songs—“A Melody to Amelie.” On a whim, her parents had named her after the song. As a young child, she became so fascinated with detective work that she’d followed his work in the Denver Post. At twelve years old, she and her best friend Beth had sat through the trial of one of his most complicated cases. After that, the trail of fact goes cold.

  How did she get from there to here?

  He’d known she was too young for him the moment he’d met her. He’d known he shouldn’t kiss her the first time his lips stroked hers. He’d told himself not to hold her hand, not to touch her shoulder, and never to make love to her. He was too old; she was too young. For the first time in his entire life, he hadn’t listened to his own sage advice. Now, she was his love, his wife.

  He lingered in the doorway to watch the moon dance across her sleeping form. When sleep caught up to him, he slipped through the room and into the adjoining master bathroom. He carefully closed the door before starting the shower. He was holding the bar of soap when Ava joined him. When they joined, any lingering doubt lifted in the plush overwhelm of sensation. They rose and fell under the warm stream of water. She grinned like she always did when they were done and turned off the water. He led her back to bed.

  When he woke a few hours later, the sun peeked through the curtains, and Ava was nestled against him. The odor of fresh coffee tempted him out of bed. His fingers ached for their morning run along the keys of the ancient piano waiting in the basement. But nothing could make him leave her side.

  Clara whimpered from at the bedroom door.

  “Seth?” Ava looked up at him when he got up.<
br />
  “I’ll be right back.” He smiled and pulled on boxer briefs and a T-shirt.

  “Oh, sorry,” said Dale, Ava’s best friend’s fiancé and their handyman, when Seth and Clara reached the first floor. The young man looked embarrassed and upset.

  “It’s not like it’s your job,” Seth said.

  “I just usually take Clara out.” Dale nodded. “Just messed up. Again.”

  “Thank you for taking such good care of her,” Seth said.

  Seth watched the downcast young man take the dog to the backyard. Ava was sitting on the edge of the bed when he returned to the bedroom.

  “Anything going on with Dale?” Seth asked.

  “Why?” Ava asked.

  “He seems more blue than usual,” Seth said.

  “Beth’s birthday is in a week,” Ava said and started picking her fingers.

  Seth watched her sorrow work its way through her face and settle in her shoulders. This would be the first time since Ava was five years old that this date would pass and she wouldn’t be spending it celebrating with her best friend. He waited for her to speak.

  “It’s all I can do to keep working,” Ava said. “Work helps.”

  Seth stepped to her to hold her. But Ava didn’t want his comfort. She gave him a look that meant she was getting up to go to work.

  “Big case?” He asked.

  “We got the forensics grant for that Pima County border case,” Ava said.

  “The job you’ve been bidding on?” Seth asked. “Fabulous.”

  “And a ton of work,” Ava said. “Turns out that, last summer alone, more than a hundred migrants died in the desert.”

  “You’re trying to separate the remains of people who were murdered from the remains of people who died of more natural causes,” Seth said.

  “More natural causes?” Ava asked.

  “Dying of heat exhaustion in the desert is more natural than being murdered,” Seth said.

  Ava nodded. He sat down next to her.

  “Can I help?” Seth asked.

  “Maybe,” Ava said. “I don’t know. The Pima County Coroner was reviewing cases for some television show when they realized they might have a serial killer.”

  “What did they find?”

  “The remains of five people who were killed in the same way. They then went through everything they had for the last decade. Our job is to go through it again to see if we find additional cases, or any for that matter.”

  “It’s a great opportunity for the BFBL,” Seth said.

  “BDBL,” Ava said, but she smiled. “I like that you’re weighing in on our big controversy.”

  Seth blushed like a schoolboy, and she smiled.

  “There’s lots of money in border work,” Ava repeated what her boss had said.

  “Just see how it is,” Seth said. “You might love it. I bet there’s lots of other work if you don’t.”

  “How was Everest?” Ava asked.

  “Funny,” Seth said. “Did you know that playing the bagpipes causes a man’s genitals to . . .”

  “I do not want to know.” Ava cut him off. Seth laughed. “God, you know the weirdest people.”

  “He’s a master of the pipes,” Seth said.

  “I bet he is,” Ava laughed. “Is he going to stop playing naked?’

  “No,” Seth said. “Not even I have that kind of sway.”

  Ava laughed.

  “The funny thing is that he said he’s never played on Lookout Mountain,” Seth said.

  “Lookout Mountain?”

  “That’s where your sister’s boyfriend said he saw Everest playing,” Seth said.

  “First, he’s not my sister’s boyfriend,” Ava said. “Switch is the love of her life.”

  “Did she say that?”

  “No, I said that, but you know Éowyn.” Ava’s voice changed to imitate her sister. “‘It’s only been a short while.’ ‘Let’s see how he is in the winter.’ Stuff like that.”

  Ava smiled.

  “Her whole life has been turned upside down,” Seth said. “Her caution is appropriate.”

  Ava flared her nostrils and wagged her head back and forth at Seth’s logic. He laughed.

  “Second,” she said. “Our State Attorney is a liar. I’m sure that’s how he got appointed.”

  “Remind me how in the hell he got appointed to your father’s old post?”

  “He’s got to have something on the governor,” Ava said.

  “Any idea what?”

  “None,” Ava said.

  “I don’t get why he’d make trouble for Everest?” Seth pondered.

  “Why not?” Ava asked.

  “Everest is harmless,” Seth said. “He’s a retired engineer from Scotland who happens to like to play the bagpipes outside.”

  “I’ll call Éowyn,” Ava said. “He may think Everest is the reason Éowyn is up there.”

  “Davies said he was with some kids,” Seth said. “Any ideas on whose?”

  “None,” Ava said. She fell silent. After a few minutes, she looked up at him. “How’s Luis?”

  “Luis is Luis.” Seth shrugged.

  “The cattle?” Ava asked.

  “We bought that acreage . . . Gosh, maybe five years ago,” Seth said. “He’s lost at least one calf or cow every year since then. The calves are the hardest.”

  “And the evil Miller?” Ava asked.

  “Evil?” Seth chuckled.

  “Maresol hates them,” Ava said.

  “There isn’t much trust for the Amish in the valley,” Seth said. “They don’t go out of their way to make it better, either. They undercut prices at farmer’s markets and in construction bids, and then they do business only amongst themselves. They don’t pay Social Security because they don’t believe in insurance, so people feel like they rip off the system. It’s tough.”

  “Right,” Ava said. “Maresol says the Amish haven’t lost any cattle.”

  “They have,” Seth said. “We didn’t know about it because they tend to keep their problems to themselves.”

  “But did they mutilate the cattle?”

  “Livestock,” Seth said. “Miller’s lost goats, too.”

  “Did they do it?” Ava asked.

  “No, they don’t have anything to do with it,” Seth said. “They say the other Amish communities have seen mutilations in the last few years. The farms up by Craig have lost more cattle than any others.”

  “Do they have any ideas why?”

  “Naked bagpipe player?” Seth asked.

  Ava laughed. She kissed him and went into the bathroom.

  “The Millers want help.” Seth went to the bathroom door to watch her get ready. “Maybe all of the Amish want help. I don’t know. The Millers were glad Luis had brought me by their home. They knew about my work with the Denver Police and even knew about the homestead.”

  “How did they know about your family’s homestead?” Ava asked.

  “They’ve offered to buy the land a few times,” Seth said.

  “The Millers?” Ava began brushing her teeth.

  “The Amish,” Seth said. “Listen, I know you’re busy, and you’re getting thousands of remains today, and . . .”

  “What do you want us to look at?” Ava spit out the toothpaste.

  “The Millers gave me a preserved carcass,” Seth said.

  “How did they . . .?” Ava asked.

  “No idea,” Seth said. “The calf was killed a few years ago. They preserved it and prayed for someone to help them. Turns out, I am an answer to their prayers.”

  She was rinsing her mouth out when he said that. She sputtered and coughed. He smiled.

  “Where is it?” Ava asked.

  “Maresol’s trunk.” Seth wrinkled his nose.

  “Does Maresol know there’s a preserved, mutilated calf in her brand new trunk?” Ava laughed.

  “Uh . . . Define ‘know’?” Seth smiled.

  Ava pulled off her nightshirt and stood in front of her closet in he
r underwear. Seth stayed still to enjoy his favorite show.

  “You’ll get it this morning?” Ava asked.

  “She stayed here last night,” Seth said. “I drove home. She fell asleep the moment she got in the car.”

  “I’ll get it on my way out,” Ava said. “But no promises. I wanted this Pima County case really badly, but I never gave a thought to what it would mean to have two thousand human remains in our lab. Nelson’s already pitched a fit. When they brought a pallet of evidence boxes, I thought Fran might quit.”

  “Understood,” Seth said.

  “You should know that Bob’s dying to work with you on livestock mutilation,” Ava said.

  “He is?” Seth asked.

  “Yes,” Ava said. “Blood Splatter Bob is fascinated with everything unexplained. Livestock mutilations are right up his alley. I’ll give him the calf and see what he can do with it. No promises.”

  “Thanks,” Seth said.

  “He’s going to call, want all the details, and be a Bob-pain in the ass,” Ava said.

  “Duly noted,” Seth said. “I couldn’t convince you to . . .”

  Ava turned to look at him. He gestured to the bed, and she grinned.

  “You get so hot when you’re working a mystery,” Ava said.

  He gestured to the bed again, and she laughed. She grabbed a bra and began to dress.

  “What are you doing today?” Ava asked.

  “Uh . . . I’m going to . . .” Seth scowled.

  “Play for a while,” they said together. Ava smiled. Seth gave her his “you-caught-me” look.

  “Have fun,” Ava said. “I’m sure Schmidty would love it if you wrote another symphony. After all . . .”

  “The last concerto was brilliant, but short,” Seth said, in an imitation of his agent and future son-in-law.

  “Hard to sell.”

  “But he did sell it,” Seth said.

  “Just barely,” Ava reminded Seth.

  “Just barely, my ass.” Seth scowled. “He sold it three days after it had Sandy’s stamp of approval.”

  Ava smiled. She leaned down and kissed him.