by Garth Ono
"Yes. That's Daphne, Kate Brokenshire's best friend," he said. "She's the one who told us so much about Kate."
"Do you think you can get her to call Kate to meet us?"
"No problem," Carl said. "She thinks we're reporters."
They watched her walk past, and then enter the diner. Max got out and waved the Tahoe over.
"Carl, you and Mike go in and do whatever you need to do," he said. "But convince that chick to lure Kate to the diner. We'll be waiting for her out here."
Chapter 10
Kate locked the deep freezer. The heads were starting to pile up. Each head took up a remarkable amount of room in the chest freezers, so Kate was glad she had the foresight to buy four of them. All of her freezer space would be full if Sheriff Coleman didn't return soon.
After locking the unit up, she sat in her truck and pulled out her iPad. She had a map of the area to plot out the locations she took heads. A pattern was emerging.
"A shotgun pattern," she said. "No rhyme or reason to it. Stupid meandering zombies."
She still had her doubts about the four at the Burks' place. They seemed way out of way, though it was possible for a zombie to travel that far that fast.
Kate started the Defender. Her stomach grumbled. "Fast food or diner?"
Fast food places were closer and faster. Home sounded even better. Besides, she needed to change out of those blood-splattered clothes. So she went home.
The gods were smiling on her. She managed to park and get inside her apartment before Mr. Rose could stop her. He rarely bothered her once she was inside.
She took a quick shower, and pulled on a clean pair of dark tan cargo pants and a red polo shirt. Kate spent a few minutes scrubbing the blood stains out in her dirty clothes. Then she left them to pre-soak. Kate had a blood stain removal routine out of necessity.
Opening her fridge, she studied the contents, "What do I have to eat?"
Her phone rang. She paused to listen to the song a moment, noting it was Daphne calling. Kate answered just before it went to voice mail.
"Where are you at, Kate?" Daphne asked right off.
"At the edge of patience."
"What?"
"I'm at home," she replied. "Where are you?"
"The diner. You want to come over for brunch?"
She didn't have any calls. Hunger was eating her alive. Her fridge was a barren wasteland. Sounded like a good idea to Kate. She agreed, and headed out. When Mr. Rose was a no show again, she wondered if he was even home. His attached garage was closed, though usually open during the day.
Traffic was light that time of morning, but downtown was busy. The sheriff's office was still dark and locked up.
"I swear, only in Tennyson can he get away with that."
She found an empty parking place across the street from the diner and considered herself lucky. Inviting Teri, who worked in her father's nearby hardware store, occurred to her, but it sounded like Daphne wanted to talk.
Kate quickly crossed the street and entered the diner. She immediately stopped and scowled. Daphne sat at a table with the two so-called reporters. They looked at her eagerly. Well, Daphne looked a little guilty for her deception.
"Kate Brokenshire?" another stranger asked.
He was tall, dark, and more rugged looking than handsome. The stranger had friendly blue eyes, and he was looking at her rather appreciatively. It was hard to dislike someone wanting to be friends that much. Besides, his jeans fit really well.
"Yes. And you are?"
He extended his hand, which she took. "Jason Frasier."
For a second she wanted to crawl under a rock. She'd heard the heir to the Frasier fortune was in town. Though no one knew if he planned to live there or not.
"Oh," she said, feeling her face heat up. "Sorry about blowing up your house."
"Despite it being a beautiful and historic home, you did kill the vampire that murdered my grandparents," he said. She really liked his smile. Very sincere. "So it's hard to be angry with you. In fact, I'm rather thankful."
Kate wasn't so sure he was really that grateful. It was a great house. Yet he seemed like a nice enough man. Shame he was at least ten years her senior.
"Well, it was lovely meeting you, Mr. Frasier," she said.
"Please, call me Jason. I'm only thirty."
That made him twelve years older. Dammit. Her parents insisted she never date more than five years up or down. Suddenly, it seemed like a dumb rule. Then something occurred to her.
"May I ask a question, Jason?"
"Anything."
"You own most of downtown, including this building, right?"
"Yes."
She smiled. Bit her lip. "What's the rent for upstairs office space?"
"Depends on how much square footage you require," he said. "If you wanted the entire floor of this building that would be $600 a month."
Her jaw dropped. Kate thought it would be much higher. She could afford a small office space up there. Excitement began to build.
"That low?"
"Did I say $600? I mean $1200," he said, and grinned. "No. Joking. I'm afraid we're having trouble renting the space at that price. No one wants second floor office space. If you're seriously interested, let's go up and talk about what you'll need?"
"Kate?" Daphne called.
She was torn. Her crazy friend with those reporters, or a serious discussion about renting her dream office? Kate had no idea when she'd cross paths with Jason again, while she didn't really want to deal with those men.
"I'll be right back," Kate said to Daphne. Then to Jason, "Shall we go?"
Kate expected to go out the diner's front door. There was a door and stairs to the second floor a few feet over. Jason turned into the kitchen instead, and led her to the back stairs. They went up to find it lit up, with piles of lumber around. It was quite a large space.
"I was thinking about an office overlooking Main Street."
"Not the whole space?"
Kate looked around. It was larger than her apartment.
"I can't afford that," she said. "If I rented that much space I'd have to live here."
"I'm okay with that," he said. "We have multiple floor plans drawn up. One of them is for a two bedroom, two bath apartment. I think we could cut out a small office space up front."
Mr. Rose probably would be happy if she moved. She didn't want to offend him. Yet, an apartment and office up there would be amazing.
"How soon could that be ready?" she asked.
"About a month," Jason said. When she looked surprised. "I was a building contractor before I inherited."
They spent a few minutes discussing the layout. She asked for hardwood floors. And he even agreed she could have use of the roof. It would make the best deck in town.
"It's a deal," she said, shaking his hand. She gave him her card. "Let me know when you have a firm completion date, so I can put in notice to my current landlord. He'll be happy. I'm afraid he doesn't care for my job."
"Really? That's odd," Jason said. "I find the idea of a kickass woman exciting."
The resultant awkward moment was broken by car horns out on Main Street. Kate glanced out the window to see a black Chevy Tahoe stopped in front of the diner. It was blocking traffic, hence the horns. She watched it slowly continue up the street. For a second she thought one of the men downstairs was speaking to whoever was in the SUV, but she didn't really get a good look.
"Well now. Okay," she said, turning back to Jason. He was looking at her lips, which was nice since guys usually stared at her boobs. Kate then remembered she had a date with Randy Saturday night. "It's been a pleasure, Jason, but I have to get back to work."
"Oh, are there a lot of zombies running amok in Tennyson?"
"Actually, yes," she said. He looked genuinely surprised. "But I think I've caught about half of them." She paused at the top of the back stairs. "Is the front door unlocked? I don't really want to deal with my friend right now."
"Sorry
. I can't find the key for it," he said. "I'm actually here waiting for the locksmith to come and change out the lock."
There was no escaping Daphne and her strange bedfellows. Kate went down to the diner and found Daphne had ordered her breakfast. Well, it was a breakfast burrito. So she sat down.
"My friends really want to interview you, Kate," Daphne said while Kate stuffed the most delicious breakfast burrito in the history of humanity into her mouth. She barely paid attention to her friend. "Kate?"
"What do you want to know?"
One of the men opened his mouth to speak, and Kate's phone rang. She held up a hand to stop him, as she looked at her screen. Unknown caller. That usually meant business.
"Got zombies? Kate Brokenshire speaking," she answered. "How may I help you?"
"Kate, this is Jesse Franklin. We have a zombie drowning in our pool."
A visual of that scene filled Kate's mind for a second. She knew the Franklins, and where they lived. Their home was on a street off Old Mill Road west of town. It was less than five minutes away. She stood up to go, taking the remainder of her breakfast burrito as she spoke.
"Wow. Lock yourself in the house. Zombies can't drown since they're already dead and don't breathe," she said. "I'll be right over."
"Kate?" Daphne pleaded.
One of the reporters was staring at her with a gleam in his eyes. The other was busy texting someone. Once again, she couldn't imagine either of them being a reporter. She didn't know why Daphne was so enamored with them.
"Sorry. I have a zombie call," she said. "I have to go."
Kate hurried out of the diner before Daphne could guilt her into staying a few minutes longer. She passed through the door, looking up and down the street for traffic. That black SUV she'd seen from upstairs was coming up the street. Was he circling waiting for someone?
Chapter 11
Kate paused at the edge of the street to let the SUV pass. It stopped in front of her. The two men in the front seat grinned at her. Before she could decide if they were messing with her, two more men pressed up behind her.
"Bloody hell!" she cried when one of them grabbed her braid and yanked her head back.
He pressed a pistol under her chin, forcing her chin up high. Her eyes were huge, heart racing. Her mind couldn't quite wrap around what was happening to her in downtown Tennyson.
"Shut your face and do what you're told, bitch," he growled into her ear.
"No trouble," she gasped. "I think there's been a terrible mistake."
"I agree," the gunman said. "We're here to set it right."
The other guy took her purse. She prayed they were just stealing it, but the guy opened the back door of the SUV and slid across to the other side. Kate was forced in between the two men. The driver took off even before the door was closed.
"Hello, Kate Brokenshire, zombie slayer," the man holding her braid sneered, his face half an inch from hers. She felt his hot breath on her lips. His breath stank of coffee and cigarettes. "We've been looking for you."
Kate noticed the other man lift a pair of handcuffs. He snapped one end around her left wrist, before twisting that arm behind her back.
"I don't understand. What do you want with me?"
She struggled to keep them from getting her right arm back. If they managed to handcuff her, Kate knew she was good as dead. No matter what they wanted, or how much she cooperated, she'd seen their faces and could bear witness against them. They had to kill her.
"We smuggle zombies. You interfered, causing us to lose all of our undead merchandise. And then you stole our money. Fifty. Thousand. Dollars."
He slapped the pistol across her left cheek. The pain was exquisite. Her eyes burned and tears flowed. Kate's insides went cold. They definitely were going to kill her. Probably not quickly, either.
"Get her cuffed, Brody," he commanded.
Brody reached across her and got a grip on her right wrist, squeezing so hard she thought he'd snap bone at any second. Yet she was able to twist just so, and break free.
"She's fighting me. Help me out, Max."
Max cursed and threatened the shoot her. Kate continued fighting, since she was already convinced they planned to kill her. So he dropped the pistol into his lap and tried to grab her arm. It was all Kate could do to avoid either of them catching it.
"Give me your fucking hand, bitch," Brody snarled, and punched her in the belly.
"Ugggh," she cried, and her breakfast threatened to come back up.
Kate wailed in terror, and punched him in the throat. Max slammed a fist into her belly that drove all of the air out of her lungs. She'd never been hit so hard in her life. Black and white flashed behind her eyes.
Pure panic consumed her. Kate screamed as she threw punches and elbows. Max released her hair, and she knew he'd easily take her out with both hands. So she did the unexpected.
"Hai!" Kate cried, and kicked the driver in the back of the head. Their vehicle swerved dangerously, until he regained control. So she kicked him again, even harder. "We all die!"
The driver's face was slammed into the steering wheel. They veered into oncoming traffic, and slammed head-on into a pickup. Everyone was flung forward.
Kate's hand fell upon something familiar that was cold and steel. Her hand wrapped around the handgrip, with her finger going to the trigger. She pulled the trigger immediately just for shock effect. The men started shouting angrily.
"Let me go!" she cried, swinging the heavy pistol around to smash Brody's nose flat. Then she shot the driver in the shoulder when he turned around with a pistol in hand. "I'll kill you all!"
Brody opened his door and bailed. Kate moved to her knees atop the seat, bringing the pistol to bear on Max. He opened his door and bailed, too. Fine with her, she didn't want to kill anyone living. Though…
The slayer slipped out Brody's door. The smuggler was on one knee and pulling a pistol from his waistband. Kate kicked him in the face, in the broken nose. He wailed and clutched his face. The guy riding shotgun took a shot at her, grazing her left arm.
Kate swung the pistol around and started shooting. She shot at the guys in the vehicle, and then at Max as she ran for all she was worth. They were already out of downtown, but in front of City Hall. She raced past City Hall and headed for the alley between the lumber yard and the first block of downtown, and City Park beyond. She could hear children laughing and playing in the public pool off in the distance.
"Help! Help!" Kate screamed as she ran into the alley. "Murderers! Rape! Help!"
She screamed anything and everything she could think of to get someone to help her. The smugglers were fast on her heels, at least one of them firing at her. She was afraid to shoot back because of the children and other innocent bystanders.
They were gaining quickly.
Kate went into the first open door she saw. It proved to be Hank's Barber Shop. There were four chairs, three barbers, and two customers getting haircuts. Another four old men sat in chairs across the room as they all socialized.
"Watch out! Murderers trying to kidnap me!" Kate shouted as she raced through.
The smugglers slammed into the shop's back door as she went out the open front door and turned up the sidewalk. Kate went just three stores fronts down, and turned into Veronica's Bridal Boutique. Fortunately, there weren't any customers at the moment. Kate raced past the gawking employees, into the back storeroom, and out the back door.
Hearing screams in the shop as the smugglers charged in, Kate paused to empty the remaining rounds at them. They scattered, and she took off again. She ducked into the back of the diner, detoured up the back stairs, and then took the stairs up to the roof.
"Wow. That was close," she whispered, huffing and puffing.
That building's flat roof was higher than the others on her block. The bank at the end of the other block was three stories high. The buildings to the west slowly dropped in height, so she planned to leap from roof to roof if the smugglers followed her up.
/> She tried to breathe as quietly as possible, while kneeling by the door and listening for anyone coming up the stairs. When no one followed her up, she moved to the back of the building and hazard a peek over. The smugglers were nowhere in sight. There were some kids playing in the park, giving no indication they saw anything amiss.
She still clutched the empty pistol like her life depended on it. The slider was locked back and poking her in the wrist. She released it forward slowly, quietly. The handcuffs were hanging from her left wrist, very annoying, so she locked the other end around her wrist, too. Just to keep it out of the way.
"Why did I think I could get away with taking that money?"
Even if she'd already turned it in to the cops, the smugglers would still be after her for revenge. She tried to figure out a solution to her problem, while managing to stay alive.
"I really have to learn to mind my own business," she whispered, moving toward the front. "Maybe I should have everyone start calling me Kat, because curiosity will be the death of me."
Kate perked up when she heard a siren.
"About damned time," she muttered, moving to the front to look down Main Street.
There was a waist high wall all around the top of the roof. She moved across the roof crouched over, and then dropped to her knees next to the edge. Kate slowly, carefully peeked over to scan the other side of the street. Her truck was there. People were walking up and down the sidewalk as if nothing untoward had happened.
"Didn't they hear all of the gunshots?"
And then she spotted them. Max was leading three big brutes down the sidewalk. He had her purse, and was rifling through it. That was bad enough, especially since he was tossing her personal stuff on the ground as he walked. Then he pulled out her keys.
Eyes huge, Kate looked between them and the Defender. Almost all of her weapons were in it. It was her only transportation. Hell, it was ninety-five percent of her personal wealth. They couldn't take it.
They took it.
Kate watched them pile in, start up, and drive away. They took almost everything she owned. Then she remembered her wallet and driver's license were in her purse. They knew where she lived, and even had the keys to the door. She'd just lost everything.
