Once in a Blue Moon

by Sharon Sala

  It wasn’t until midafternoon when he was on his way back to the office that he responded.

  On the way back to the office. I have an hour before my next appointment. The time is yours.

  Kellie was out with a friend, and Rand was working in his office when he finally got the response from Wagner. He had the file ready to go, so he grabbed his car keys on the way out of the apartment and took back streets to get to Wagner’s office.

  He parked and hurried into the building, then up the elevator, thinking he was actually glad to be rid of Wagner and his continuing demands for revenge.

  “Mr. Wagner is expecting me,” he said, as he entered.

  The woman behind the desk buzzed her boss. “Mr. Lawrence is here.”

  “Send him in,” Blaine said, and rather than giving Rand the courtesy of standing to greet him, he remained seated behind the desk.

  Rand entered, nodded briefly, and then sat down without an invitation and slid the file across the desk.

  “This is everything I’ve accumulated regarding your ex-wife. I respectfully decline to continue working on this.”

  Blaine’s mouth opened, but he was so surprised that it took him a few moments to react. When he did, it was with anger.

  “What the hell are you talking about? You don’t quit me! I demand to know what’s going on.”

  Rand sighed. He hadn’t expected this to be easy, and he’d been right.

  “I’m just not comfortable doing this anymore. It comes too close to stalking for me.”

  Now Blaine was up and leaning across his desk, his face contorted in rage.

  “Nobody quits me. I’m the one who says when you can go.”

  Rand shuddered. All of a sudden he was realizing how truly unhinged Wagner was, and how desperate Cathy Terry must have been to feel the need to disappear to get her life back.

  “I can’t do this anymore. I’m sorry,” Rand said.

  Blaine glared. “I can ruin you, you know. I can make sure you never get another job here as long as you live.”

  Rand stood, staring back. “You aren’t the only one with cachet in this world. Private investigators have their own brotherhood. We don’t infringe on each other’s cases, and when the need arises, we have each other’s backs. Big time. You threaten me, and you threaten all of them. Do that and there won’t be another PI in Nevada who will work for you. It might be time for you to go have it out once and for all with your ex and get on with your life. And don’t call me again. Ever. I don’t work for people I can’t trust.”

  Then he turned and walked out of the office without looking back.

  Blaine was furious, but the warning was real and he knew it. He couldn’t make enemies of men he depended on for information, so he called another PI and put him on the case, asking only for a specific location where she could be found.

  * * *

  After buying the shoes she needed, Cathy was out of the mood to car shop and headed for home, far less happy than when she’d left Blessings. Seeing Pamela had just burst the bubble in which she’d been living. She didn’t know what the consequences of that chance meeting might be, but she knew that world. Someone would tell Blaine. And all of this was for nothing. Now she had to hope he would just let it go.

  When she got back into Blessings, she thought about stopping at the Curl Up and Dye to make an appointment for tomorrow to get her hair layered and trimmed. She had new clothes, and with Thanksgiving becoming an imminent event, she wanted to look her best for her first-ever dinner party in Blessings, but then she changed her mind and went home instead.

  Chapter 10

  Duke had been in the office all morning and had just finished paying invoices and posting to their farm account. He got up to take his empty coffee cup to the kitchen, and as he did, suddenly thought of the trail cameras he’d put up. Since the rustlers had been caught, he might as well take them down.

  He went out to the barn to get their old farm truck and stopped by the shop where Jack was working on the engine of their dad’s old Ford tractor.

  “Hey Jack, since the Gatlins are in jail, I’m going to bring in the trail cams. I won’t be gone long.”

  Jack nodded without looking up.

  * * *

  Duke loved this time of year. The leaves on the trees were as varied and colorful as the old patchwork quilts they’d slept under as children. And the sky today was a clear, cloudless blue—the same color as Cathy’s eyes.

  The cows saw him driving across the pasture and looked up, hoping to see he was slowing down, which meant they would get fed. But when he kept driving, some moved beneath a small stand of shade trees, while others moved to the feeders with the big, round bales.

  Duke had put up the cameras within a couple of hundred yards’ radius and facing the direction where the rustlers had come in before.

  He walked a few yards into the trees to pick up the first cam and took it down. Out of curiosity, he stopped and rewound it to watch some of the footage and grinned at the view he’d caught of the backside of a boar raccoon waddling through the woods. He fast-forwarded through the minutes with nothing, then watched the footage of two black squirrels foraging on the ground.

  There was more to be seen, but he could watch it at home if he wanted, so he packed it up, then started walking through the trees to the next location, where he retrieved the cam and put it in his backpack before moving on to the last.

  As Duke approached the tree where he’d mounted it, he noticed a lot of paw prints in the area. They were from either dogs or coyotes, and if there was a pack of dogs running in the area, he wanted to play the tape back to see.

  He was all the way on yesterday’s footage before he saw the coyote, and then it turned to face the camera. Duke gasped, watching as the coyote started staggering toward the camera, its head down, swinging slightly from side to side and foaming at the mouth. At that point he groaned, then stopped the camera.

  The hair stood up on the back of his neck as he looked around at where he was standing. He’d only seen an animal with rabies maybe twice in his life, but the coyote he caught on the trail cam exhibited all of the symptoms.

  They had to find it and put it down before it spread the disease to other animals. Something like that could easily become an epidemic. He needed to get home and call the county wildlife department and then notify the neighbors.

  Duke drove home as fast as he could, then ran into the house carrying the cameras. He dumped them on the kitchen table and headed for the office. He had a friend who used to work for the county wildlife department and would know what to do and who to call.

  He sat down without bothering to take off his jacket, found the number on an old business card, and made the call, then waited for someone to answer. This was the last number he’d had for Will, and he hoped it was still good.

  And then the call was answered.

  “Wildlife Animal Control, this is Carol.”

  “Yes, ma’am. I’m trying to locate a ranger by the name of Will Polson. Does he still work there?”

  “Yes, who’s calling please?”

  “Tell him it’s Duke Talbot.”

  Duke was put on hold, giving him time to put his cell phone on speaker. And then he heard a familiar voice and smiled.

  “Well, hello, Duke Talbot! How the heck are you? Are you still out on the family farm?”

  “Hi, Will. We’re doing good here, and yes, I’m still here. Listen, we have a problem out here. We had some trouble with cattle rustlers on the farm, so I put up some trail cams in the area, hoping if they came back I’d catch them. But they recently got themselves arrested. Today I went to take down the cameras and had quite a shock when I saw what was on the last one. It was a very obviously rabid coyote, and the last thing we need to have happen is to let this disease spread. There are a lot of farms around here, and people with kids and pet
s who roam the hills and creeks, not to mention the other wildlife that could get infected.”

  “Oh man, this isn’t good. We haven’t had to deal with a rabies case in months,” Will said. “What were the date and time when you caught it on film?”

  “Yesterday about this time of day,” Duke said.

  “There’s no telling where it is by now, but I’ll get a crew together and head your way. You might notify as many neighbors as you can about the problem. Tell them to keep their dogs up until we find it. You said you’re still on the family farm?”

  “Yes. Do you need an address?”

  “Nope. I still remember how to get there. Can we drive up to the area?” he asked.

  “Yes. To a point, and then the trees will be too dense. It will all be on foot from there.”

  Jack came in the back door, greasy and muttering beneath his breath as Duke walked into the kitchen from the hall.

  “What’s wrong?” Duke asked.

  “Oh, that damned old engine. I need a part but it might not be so easy to find. The older stuff gets, the harder it is to find ways to repair it.” Then he saw the trail cams. “So, find anything interesting on them?” he asked.

  “Check this out,” Duke said, and played the footage for his brother. When the coyote suddenly appeared on the screen, Jack jumped.

  “Oh shit! Are you kidding me? Is that thing rabid?”

  “Looks like it to me,” Duke said.

  “What are we going to do?” Jack asked, thinking of all the livestock.

  “I’ve already called Wildlife Animal Control. Remember Will Polson? My old college buddy?”

  Jack nodded.

  “He’s still a ranger there, and he’s going to get a crew together and head this way.”

  “What if you can’t find it?” Jack asked.

  Duke shrugged. “We’ll figure that out as we go. Right now I’ve got to start calling neighbors.”

  He took a bottle of Coke from the refrigerator, then went into the living room to start making calls, but he wanted to check on Cathy before they got too involved in this hunt.

  He called her number, then counted the rings. He was guessing he was going to have to leave a voicemail when she answered, and she sounded breathless.

  “Hello?”

  “Hey, honey, did I disturb you?”

  She laughed. “No. I just couldn’t find my phone.”

  “Are you back from Savannah?”

  “Yes.”

  “How did it go?” he asked, and then heard her sigh.

  “Oh, the shopping went great. I just had the misfortune to run into a woman who used to be one of the ‘friends’ I hung out with in Vegas. I couldn’t believe it when I saw her, so I guess my general location is no longer a secret.”

  Duke frowned. “Are you worried?”

  “No. Maybe…at least a little, and mad that it happened,” she said. “But enough about me. What’s going on at the farm?”

  “Well, that’s why I called. I had trail cams up because of the rustling, but now that the men were arrested, I went to take them down and saw a rabid coyote on one of the cameras.”

  Cathy gasped. “Oh no! What are you going to do?”

  “I called the county wildlife department, and they’re on the way to see if we can track it and put it down. I’m just hoping we get to it before rabies spreads throughout the area. I have to start calling neighbors, but I wanted to check in with you first. There’s no telling how long we’ll be involved with this.”

  “Is there anything I can do to help? I am a good shot and a better tracker.”

  Duke was stunned. She’d just offered to join a hunt for a dangerous animal without a hint of anxiety.

  “That is probably one of the more amazing offers I’ve ever had in my life, but no way do I want you out there and in danger in any way.”

  “I tracked a rabid wolf with Daddy when I was ten. It came into our camp and killed one of Mother’s milk goats. I wasn’t scared. I was mad because our goat was dead.”

  “Just the same, I’m not taking you to the woods to chase a rabid coyote. I’ll see you tomorrow at lunch.”

  The thought of seeing him again made her happy. “What time?”

  Duke laughed. “How about I come by your house and pick you up about eleven thirty?”

  “That would be awesome. I’ll see you then,” she said, and disconnected.

  Meanwhile, Duke began making calls and then asking neighbors to call their neighbors to tell them what was happening. The men who were home immediately volunteered to join in the hunt, and within the next fifteen to thirty minutes, they began arriving at the farm.

  By the time the crew from Wildlife Animal Control arrived, there were ten men, including Duke and Jack, waiting to join the hunt, all of them armed with hunting rifles of one kind or another.

  The rangers and trackers got out, and Duke made the introductions.

  “So, do you still want to start where I caught it on the trail cam?” Duke asked.

  “Yes,” Will said.

  “We have to open and close two gates to get there, so load up and follow Jack and me. We’ll open the gates. Whoever is in the back vehicle has to be the one to close them, okay?”

  One of their neighbors raised a hand.

  “We’ll do it, Duke. Lead the way.”

  Will loaded his crew back up in their van and followed Duke, past their outbuildings, then past the barn and corrals to the gate into the first pasture.

  Jack jumped out to open it, then got back in the truck with his brother.

  “We’ve got something of a convoy,” he said.

  His brother glanced up in the rearview mirror and nodded, and kept driving. Jack got the next gate, and then they were headed through to the trees where the trail cams had been mounted.

  Duke drove as close as he could get before he stopped, then he and Jack got out.

  He got his hunting rifle from behind the seat, checked to make sure it was loaded, and then pocketed more ammo while waiting for all of the trackers to arrive.

  As soon as they were all out of their vehicles, Will brought the three trackers and their hounds to where Duke was waiting.

  “If you’ll show us where that trail cam was, we’ll see if we can pick up a trail from there.”

  “Will your dogs be okay doing this?” Duke asked.

  One of the trackers nodded. “Yes, sir. They’ve all had their rabies shots.”

  “Okay, then, follow me,” Duke said, and led the way through the trees. It took about ten minutes to reach the last location, and then he stopped a ways back so as not to disturb the site and pointed. “It was on that skinny pine. See where the ground has been disturbed in that little clearing?”

  “Yes, yes, I see,” Will said. “Okay, everybody. Just stop here a bit and let us see if the dogs can pick up any kind of scent. If they do, then fan out in a line and move forward. I want to make sure we don’t have anyone with a loaded gun walking behind someone else.”

  “Got it,” Jack said. “We’re just here until you tell us to do different.”

  Will nodded, and then waved to his men. “Put them to work, boys.”

  The trackers led the dogs to the site, keying them onto the scents around the visible coyote tracks, and then set them to hunt.

  The dogs whined and then took off through the trees, moving at a fast clip in silence. It wasn’t until the first one let out a yip that they knew it had picked up a trail.

  “That’s it,” Will said. “Let’s do this.”

  Duke was at the far end of the line and moving forward with the men spaced out about twenty yards apart. Jack was on his right and within Duke’s sight. They could hear the dogs’ occasional yips, which meant they were still following a trail.

  The first hour came and went before the men began t
o realize they were less than three miles away from Blessings, and the dogs were moving parallel to the creek that ran through the city park and behind the trailer park in town.

  Duke’s first thought was of all the people who could be in danger and didn’t even know it. But Will was on the opposite end of their line of searchers, so Duke called him.

  Will had his phone on vibrate, and when he saw caller ID, he quickly answered.

  “What’s up, Duke? Did you see something?” he asked.

  “No. It’s not that,” Duke said. “But my best guess is that we’re less than three miles from town, and this creek we’re following goes straight through the trailer park on the outskirts of town, and through the city park as well. I’d like to think that coyote crawled off somewhere and died, but your dogs keep tracking, which tells me wherever it is, it’s somewhere up ahead. I think the PD needs to be notified, Will. My brother-in-law is the chief of police. I’m going to text you the number to the PD.”

  “Oh hell. I didn’t realize we were that close,” Will said. “Yes, send the number. I’ll give him a call.”

  * * *

  Chief Pittman was on patrol when his radio squawked, and then he heard Avery requesting his presence at the PD. He radioed in and headed that way, wondering what was going on, and then parked behind the building and came in through the back and up the hall to the front desk. The fact that the place was empty except for Avery was puzzling.

  “What’s going on? From the tone of your voice, I thought I’d be walking into trouble.”

  “We just got a call from a ranger with the wildlife department. His name is Will Polson, and he has a search party on the trail of a rabid coyote. He said they’re less than three miles from town and the dogs are still tracking.”

  “Oh no,” Lon muttered. The ramifications of this were huge. “I wonder how they even learned about the coyote.”

  “That’s the rest of the story,” Avery said. “Duke had trail cams up after the rustling incident, and when he took them down earlier today, he had footage of a rabid coyote, so he called it in. Bad part is that the timeline on the footage was from yesterday so there was no way to tell where the animal is now. So they brought dogs and trackers, and they’ve been on the trail for more than an hour. They’re still tracking it on a route that runs parallel to the creek that goes through Blessings. Given the twenty-four hour lead the coyote has on them, they’re worried the animal might be holed up sick and dying somewhere in town or be still mobile.”