The family pawed through the shards of wood and various detritus that had been strewn around in the explosion and placed it into two large piles on the side of the house. One pile was destined for the dumpster, while the other pile was comprised of salvageable belongings. The latter pile was much smaller. In the meantime, Anastasia and Steven took Oksana to the grocery store.
“It’s a good thing we have a refrigerator and bathroom in the garage,” Granny noted as the trio left. “Otherwise, we’d really be roughing it.”
Christopher chucked a huge armful of splintered lumber onto the growing dumpster pile. “Yeah. It’s going to be rough for a while regardless.”
Robert emerged from the house and trotted over to his mother. “Mom! You’ll be happy to know that your gaming room is almost completely intact. There’s damage to the wall that was nearest the explosion, but all your gaming stuff is undamaged.”
Granny lifted her hands toward the sky. “Oh! That is wonderful news. Thank you, Robert. But, I can’t use them any time soon.”
Robert shrugged. “We can set you up in the hotel, if you want. That won’t be any trouble.”
Granny shook her head. “No, Robert. That would be selfish of me. There’s too much work to be done here.”
Robert turned toward the house again. “All right. I’ll gather it all up, though, in case you change your mind.”
Alexander nodded toward the long driveway. “Looks like the sheriff is back. Did Anastasia leave the front gate open?”
Kat wiped the sweat from her forehead and squinted toward the approaching SUV. “Maybe.”
Robert veered away from the house and walked toward the approaching sheriff. “We can’t get sloppy now.” He planted a smile on his face and waved.
The sheriff stopped, turned his vehicle off, and hefted himself from the vehicle with a grunt. “Howdy all. How are y’all doing in the bright light of day after the night y’all had?”
Robert stuck his hand out and shook the sheriff’s hand. “We’re making do. What can we do for you?”
“Well, my friend here needs to do a walk-through to determine if your house, or what’s left of it, is safe for y’all or if it has to be demolished.” The sheriff turned and nodded at his windshield.
A thin, pale man emerged from the passenger seat and stood next to the sheriff. He shoved his hands in his pockets, and his beady eyes looked around nervously. Kat thought he looked like he’d be uncomfortable in any setting that didn’t include fluorescent lighting and cheap tiled floors.
“Oh?” Robert studied the sheriff’s beady-eyed companion. “What does he have to do to make that determination?”
“Mr. Walls here is our county’s building inspector and city engineer. He’s going to do whatever voodoo he does and let us know. Mr. Walls?”
Mr. Walls cleared his throat, which made his Adam’s apple bob violently. “It won’t take long. About an hour or so.” He turned toward the SUV and opened the back to withdraw his tools of the trade.
Kat blinked. The rich baritone voice did not match the scrawny body that it came from.
Mr. Walls nodded at the group, then picked his way toward the remains of the house. Dimitri and Peter popped out from the hole in the house where the kitchen had once been and scared Mr. Walls. He jumped back a good four feet and clutched his bony chest.
“You cannot be in there until and unless I’ve cleared the structure!” Mr. Walls bellowed. “Vacate immediately!”
Peter frowned and crossed his arms.
Dimitri smiled, jumped nimbly to the ground and approached Mr. Walls with an outstretched hand. “I’m Dimitri Wolff, owner of this shell of a house. And you are?”
Mr. Walls took Dimitri’s hand with reluctance and mumbled his introduction. The two conversed briefly, then Dimitri turned toward Peter.
“Come on down, Peter. Tell Anna to come out, too.”
Mr. Walls’s eyes bugged. “There are more people inside? How many more?”
“Just the three of us, I assure you. We want to see what we can salvage. Wouldn’t you do the same?”
Mr. Walls frowned and didn’t answer. Once the house was unoccupied, Mr. Walls poked around the exterior. Kat thought he looked like a rat sniffing for some cheese.
Dimitri, Peter, and Anna joined the others in the garage. The sheriff followed them inside.
The sheriff took on a wide stance and nodded toward the tents as they entered the garage. “I see you set up some tents. I thought y’all were going to a hotel?”
“Some of us did, but we didn’t want to leave our property defenseless,” Dimitri replied.
The sheriff’s eyebrows went up, and he chuckled. “What? You’re expecting looters out here in the country?”
Dimitri chuckled, too. “No, sir. But there’s no reason to leave it to chance now, is there?”
The sheriff laughed a little louder. “No, no there is no reason for that.” He leaned closer to Dimitri. “But tell me, why do y’all have such high security out here in these empty and safe Georgia woods? I mean, that’s quite the security gate you got goin’ on at the entrance. What are y’all protecting anyway?” The sheriff clutched his shaking belly as he laughed harder, but his eyes remained steely and focused.
“We have priceless family heirlooms and antiques, Sheriff. Or rather, we may have had priceless items...” Dimitri looked mournfully toward the house.
The sheriff was not deterred. “That would be a terrible shame, Mr. Wolff. A terrible shame. But,” the sheriff scratched his chin, “I recalled that I had been here not too long ago for another unusual occurrence. I couldn’t rightly remember exactly why, so I looked it up. Seems a homeless person electrocuted themselves against your fence not too long ago, didn’t they?”
Dimitri nodded. “Yes. That was a terrible tragedy.”
“Yes, a tragedy it certainly was.” The sheriff rubbed his stomach and looked around with a grimace. “But, I can’t help thinking that that makes two really horrible tragedies for y’all. As a thirty-year lawman, that makes me kind of curious, I’m sure you can understand that. Right, Mr. Wolff?”
Dimitri dipped his head and offered a tragic smile. “Yes, sir. I can see why you would think that. I’m so glad our local sheriff is such a smart man. I know the two incidents aren’t connected in any way, but I’m glad you’re a thinking man, sir. That must serve this community well.”
When the sheriff looked around again, Dimitri caught Anna’s eye and surreptitiously gestured for her to join them. Christopher was at the far end chucking lumber into the dumpster pile.
Anna strolled over to the pair and smiled. “Sheriff, we have some hot chocolate left. Would you like some?”
The sheriff regarded her and shook his head. “No, thank you. It’s Anna, isn’t it?”
“Yes, sir.”
“You really do have an incredible mind, Sheriff. You remember names like nobody else I know,” Dimitri said.
The sheriff turned his gaze on Dimitri. “Don’t try to butter me up, son. Something smells fishy around here. I may be a red neck sheriff, but I’m a good law man.”
“Please don’t misinterpret my intentions, Sheriff.” Dimitri gave Anna a look. “I’m not trying to butter you up.”
Anna dipped her chin and her eyes began to glow.
“What the hell...?” the sheriff mumbled, then his eyes half-closed and his breathing shallowed.
“There is nothing strange going on here, Sheriff. There was an explosion that destroyed part of our house, but we are good neighbors and upstanding citizens.”
The sheriff shook his head and blinked several times. “No. No. You’re...what’s going on?” He shook his head again.
Anna’s eyes glowed brighter. “There is nothing strange going on here. Say it.”
“There’s nothing...No!” He shook his head violently. “What are you trying to pull?”
Anna pursed her lips and her eyes became bright as the sun. “There is nothing strange going on here. Say it.”
The sheriff’s ch
eeks puffed out and he started to hyperventilate. His face went pink, then red.
Dimitri leaned toward Anna and whispered, “What’s going on? Why can’t you shift him?”
Anna shook her head once and balled her hands into fists. “I’m not sure.” She leaned closer to the sheriff. “There is nothing strange going on here. Say it now.”
The sheriff grunted. “There is...nothing...” He shook his head and beads of sweat appeared on his upper lip. “Nothing...”
Christopher walked up and apprised the situation. He joined his sister and his eyes began to glow as he stared at the sheriff.
Kat grimaced and clutched her chest. Dimitri groaned and bent over with one hand on his knee and the other wrapped around his midsection. The whole family was affected.
Anna and Christopher concentrated on the sheriff for several minutes, by which time the sheriff was drenched in sweat and grunting with each breath. His face had turned purple. He would not repeat the words. Finally, the sheriff buckled and dropped to his knees, then flopped onto the ground and lay still.
Chapter Two
Kat clutched her midsection. “Did you kill him?”
Dimitri stood upright and blew out a breath as the vibrations finally ceased. He looked down at the sheriff while Christopher knelt to feel the sheriff’s neck for a pulse.
“He’s just passed out.” Christopher stood up.
“What happened? Why couldn’t I shift him? Why couldn’t we shift him?” Anna asked. “That’s never happened before.”
Dimitri put his hands on his hips and lifted his shoulders. “I don’t know.”
Mariya wandered over to stare down at the collapsed sheriff. “Maybe he’s already been shifted by the Barotkoffs.”
Everyone looked at her. She stared back at them. “That’s the only plausible explanation. Humans are not able to withstand shifting, and we are immune to it. He is not one of us and he’s not a Barotkoff.” She held up her cell and jiggled it. “I scanned him and checked.”
Anna and Christopher looked at each other.
“We have never tried to undo what someone else has shifted before,” Christopher said.
“Maybe it can’t be undone,” Anna replied.
Dimitri drew a deep breath. “Oh, boy.”
Mariya nodded toward the house. “Here comes Mr. Walls. Think fast.”
The group turned to see Mr. Walls scurrying toward them.
“What happened? Why is he on the ground? What did you do?” Mr. Walls bellowed.
Dimitri pulled his cell out of his pocket. “We didn’t do anything. He was talking to us and then just collapsed. I’m calling 911 now. We checked his pulse and it is strong, but maybe he had a heart attack. Did he complain of any chest pains when you were headed over here, Mr. Walls?”
Mr. Walls blustered, and his mouth opened and closed several times before he answered. “No. He didn’t say anything to me!”
Christopher stared down at the sheriff with dismay. “Well, sometimes these things just come out of the blue. I wonder if he’s been under a lot of stress lately, or maybe he has high blood pressure.”
Mr. Walls kept opening and closing his mouth like a fish.
The ambulance arrived shortly, and they hooked the sheriff up to their cardiac machine and put an oxygen mask over his nose and mouth, then hauled his still unconscious body onto the gurney and into the back of the ambulance.
Mr. Walls continued to open and close his mouth until Dimitri laid a hand on his arm. Mr. Walls jerked like he’d been stung.
“Mr. Walls, are you all right?”
Mr. Walls scowled. “No, I’m not all right. How am I supposed to get back to my car?”
Kat snorted at the man’s short-sighted lack of concern.
Anastasia, Steven, and Oksana pulled up in the Jeep at that moment and parked next to the garage.
Anastasia gawked at the scene. “What happened here?”
One of the paramedics called from the back of the ambulance, “We’re taking him to the hospital. Call the dispatch to come pick up his vehicle.” He slammed the door to the back of the ambulance and hurried to the driver’s seat. Within seconds, the sirens wailed, and the ambulance left.
Mr. Walls took several steps toward the retreating ambulance like a forgotten child, then turned toward the group with a suspicious glare.
Oksana and Steven unloaded the groceries and hauled them into the garage. Peter joined them and helped.
“Don’t worry, Mr. Walls. We have plenty of vehicles. We’ll take you wherever you want to go,” Dimitri soothed.
Mr. Walls clutched his tools to his chest and nodded once, barely mollified. “Thank you.”
“Can you tell us what conclusions you’ve reached regarding our house?” Dimitri gestured toward the structure.
Mr. Walls cleared his throat and his Adam’s apple did the same crazy dance as before. “It’s...uh...it’s salvageable. You can go inside, but you must be very mindful and stay away from the obviously damaged parts.” He looked at the house and a hint of a smile played on his lips. “She’s a solid structure. They don’t build them anymore like they did when she was put together. That’s real craftsmanship.”
“Thank you, Mr. Walls. Now, Robert will take you to your car, if you’re ready to go.”
Robert walked over and smiled at Mr. Walls. “This way, Mr. Walls.”
“Let me get my things out of the sheriff’s vehicle first.” He turned toward Dimitri. “You’ll call and report his vehicle?”
Dimitri nodded. “Of course.”
Satisfied with the response, Mr. Walls nodded at Dimitri and headed toward the sheriff’s SUV.
Anastasia waited until Robert and Mr. Walls disappeared before she approached her father for an explanation. When she heard the whole story, her eyes grew wide and she sucked in a sharp breath.
“The Barotkoffs may have shifted the sheriff? But why?”
Dimitri lifted his shoulders. “I’m open to theories.”
“Dimitri?” Oksana appeared from the garage. “Does the old stove work?”
Dimitri turned and walked over to his wife. “Which old stove?”
“Come. I show you.”
He followed her into the garage. She picked her way toward the back corner and lifted a greasy old blanket for Dimitri to peer under. “This one.”
Dimitri frowned, then whipped the blanket off to reveal an old electric stove. It was olive green and had four old-fashioned coil burners. Dimitri grinned and pointed at it. “I forgot all about this! This stove was here when we bought the house. It worked just fine then, but it was old and ugly, so we replaced it. It should still work.”
Oksana grazed her fingers over the surface. “You call it old and ugly, but back home, this would have been a luxury on my family’s farm.”
Dimitri kissed her forehead. “I know, love. I’m sorry.” He turned and called over his shoulder for Peter and Alexander to move the stove wherever Oksana wanted it and test it out. Then he rejoined the others. “All right. Theories anyone?”
Mariya spoke up first. “I don’t know why they would have, but I believe the Barotkoffs have shifted him.” She stopped, frowned, and turned to Kat. “Kat, have you been able to block anyone else since you blocked Anna that first time? Even a little?”
“No. I tried blocking Christopher a few times, but I didn’t get anywhere.”
“Do you think she could block the sheriff?” Christopher asked Mariya.
Mariya lifted a shoulder. “It’s worth a try. I mean, that is still technically blocking, isn’t it? Even if it’s after the fact?”
Kat shifted her weight. “I still don’t know how to do it.”
Anastasia held her hand out, palm up. “But the point is that you can do it. We just need you to figure out how.”
“Do you think the sheriff will be all right?” Steven asked. “He dropped like a sack of potatoes.”
“There’s no way to tell.” Dimitri snapped his fingers. “I have to call the dispatch to com
e get his vehicle.”
Christopher turned toward the vehicle. “I’m going to see if there’s anything we can learn from it first. Do a little recon.”
Dimitri pointed at Anna. “Why don’t you see if you can get anything from the sheriff’s computer?”
Anna nodded and joined her brother. They rifled through the SUV for several minutes but came up empty-handed. Anna tapped away on the computer mounted to the dash, but gave up on that, too.
“For a small town, their cybersecurity is tight,” she confessed.
“Maybe Peter should give it a whirl?” Christopher suggested and signaled for Peter to join them. He and Alexander had just emerged from the garage after setting up the stove for Oksana.
“The stove works great, Uncle Dimitri,” Alexander called to his uncle. “Oksana is thrilled and already chopping vegetables like a mad woman.”
Dimitri smiled and waved, then followed Peter to the SUV. “Hurry up, guys.” He glanced at his watch. “I can’t delay calling dispatch much longer. We don’t want to raise any more suspicions.”
Anna vacated the driver’s seat. Peter settled in and cracked his knuckles. “I’ll give it a go.” He tapped at the screen and frowned. “Believe it or not, sometimes it’s the easiest passwords that are used. Let me try...”
“Wouldn’t they be assigned a password by their department?” Kat mused.
Peter sucked his lips in. “In such a small town? I imagine the sheriff is the department.” He kept tapping, but suddenly lifted his fingers from the keyboard. “Uh...”
Dimitri leaned in. “Did you get it?”
“No. I got locked out for good. The thing shut down completely. Dang it!” He pounded the seat. “That means there’s a record of us trying to tamper with it.”
“And our fingerprints are on it, too,” Anna noted.
Kat snorted and crossed her arms. “Don’t you think we’re getting a little paranoid here?”
Anastasia’s jaw dropped. “They blew up our house, Kat. We should be paranoid!”
“Calm down, girls. What do you recommend, Peter?” Dimitri asked.
Peter lifted a shoulder and looked at Anna. She shrugged. “I don’t know. Let’s wipe the inside of the vehicle for fingerprints, then I’ll retrieve my laptop – if it works – then I can erase our hacking attempts from their log.”
Revelations: The Shifter Series: Volume Three Page 3
