Micah (16 page)

“
Are you going to let me
drive? Like now?” Micah pressed his foot harder to the floorboard
and glared at the man. “Please keep your eyes on the road. I don’t
want to die going over a hundred miles per hour. No one will
recognize me.”

“
You have your badge on.
They’ll trace you like that.” Micah grinned when Rookie paled more.
“Look at it this way…if you die today, your wife will get your
pension. That’ll be nice for her.”

“
I’m not married to a
woman.” Micah had already figured out the man was gay but had never
asked. It was none of his business and he, frankly, didn’t care
what his sexual preference was. Just as long as he had his back, he
was fine with it if he wanted to fuck rabbits. “Please slow down.
There isn’t anything worth us getting killed for.”

“
That madman has my future
wife and my mom. That’s enough for me to die for.” The man looked
at him, then back at the road. “I can let you out if you want, but
I’m not going to wait for you to get out and lecture
me.”

“
I have a mom. And someone
I love like that. You should have told me when we got in.” Micah
nodded. “Where are we going, anyway?”

“
The farm.” Rookie looked
shocked. They had been there the other day, him and this new guy.
Everyone had been there. And when they’d happened upon the shed out
back, a cinder block building that had been cleaned around, they
moved in with their guns drawn and their attention on high alert.
Finding the barn of cars had been scary enough.

There had been twenty-four cars in the
big barn. A lot of them had been there for a while, the dust on
them thick with bird shit and other things he’d not wanted to think
about. And all of them so far had been sitting with the keys in
them, as well as the registrations. Micah had a team of twelve men
working on that, chasing down the cars and hopefully their owners.
But the last three, one with not a speck of dust on it, had
frightened him a great deal. This car matched the information that
had come in on a missing woman two nights ago.

The kiln had been on, so they had
waited around long enough for it to cool…which, lucky for them,
hadn’t been too long. No one was really sure how it worked, but
after a few checks on the Internet and calling a couple of college
professors, they got enough information to know that they couldn’t
just open it. The heat billowing off it was warm, but not too
terribly intense, and the man they’d talked to said it would be
hotter before it was done. According to him, after relaying the
information about the kiln setter and the timer, it had not been
running all that long, maybe about ten minutes.

“
So if there is any papers
in there, or anything like cloth, it might have set to flame but
maybe not. It’s hard to say without knowing the size of the kiln,
the amount of paper or whatever inside of it. I would say from your
description it might have gotten up to about two hundred degrees,
but not much more than that. May I ask why you’re concerned?” Micah
had told him no and hung up. They did know that whatever was inside
of it might not be helpful at all. But it turned out it was more
than enough evidence to convict someone for murder.

He felt his grandda touch his mind.
Then he didn’t speak for several seconds, too long for Micah’s
peace of mind. When his grandda spoke, Micah let his foot relax on
the pedal.

They’re not here. Not a
car, not a van. And we can’t find any scent that either your mom or
Reggie has been here. I’m sorry, son.
He
looked at Rookie as he slowed the car more.
We’ve been all over the place. Nothing.

Where are they,
Grandda?
He said he had no clue. Turning
to Rookie, he told him what he’d found out. The man didn’t even ask
him how he’d heard, but only nodded and pulled the smallish laptop
toward him.

“
We all know there were
twins involved. Do we have any idea what the other brother is
called? The one is called Nestor Curtis, right?” Micah told him
what he knew. “Okay. Keith Curtis. Nope. But their mother’s name is
Gretel. Let me look.”

He told his grandda what
was going on. Grandda told him that he and Joey were still looking
around.
The kiln thing that you told us
about, it’s not been touched that I can tell. Police tape all
around it and the building. We’re not going in, but I can see it
well enough. There are tracks here and out, but too many for me to
see if they’re fresh or not. You have been in the area with a
wrecker though. Can see that it’s been in and out of the barn a few
times. Other than that, there is nothing here that would tell me
that someone has been out here since.

“
Says here that she has a
home near Wakatomika. Not too far from where the farm is, but
further from us. Think that’s where they might have gone? To their
mom’s hou….” He paused just enough that Micah looked over at him as
he drove toward the interstate exit. “She’s supposed to be this
homeowner, but according to the records here, she’d be about one
hundred and seven years old. You think that’s right? That she’d be
living there all alone?”

His brother Garth used to tell him if
it was on the Internet it was about half right and even half of
that was suspect. Micah didn’t repeat that to Rookie, but he did
ask him for directions to the house.

“
We’re gonna have to turn
around, because if they’re there, then we’re going to have to take
the back roads to get there. It’s about thirty miles on the other
side of the farm.” Cursing, Micah did a U-turn and waved off the
few cars he’d cut off. He supposed he should take better care of
his driving, but he was too fucking upset to think about rules at
the moment.

Grandda, see how fast you
can get to their mother’s farm.
He told
him the address and his grandfather said they were leaving
now.
I’m going to have Burke and Nolan
head there but not enter. I think they might be closer.

Burke is still at the
hospital, and Nolan is on his way to me. I just spoke to them. Tony
was on his way here, but I’m sending him in that direction as
well.
He felt his grandda’s fear.
Son, I’ve never been so scared in my life. I
can’t lose her. Neither your grandmother nor I can lose her. We
just can’t. I love her like she’s my own daughter. I just can’t do
that. Not again.

Me neither, Grandda, I
don’t think…I don’t want to lose either one of them.
He told his grandda that he loved him and closed
the connection. Rookie cleared his throat and nodded to the
radio.

“
You’ve not touched it, so
I can only assume you have another way of communicating with your
family. If…are you human? The reason I ask is because you…well
hell. My partner isn’t. I don’t have a lot of firsthand knowledge,
but Con is a wolf. And he said he could smell cat on me. A mated
cat. That…would that be you?”

“
I’m a panther.” Rookie
nodded. “Look, you know what would happen if anyone found
out.”

“
I do. Same that could
happen if anyone found out I was gay. We’re sort of in the same
shit, I think. But you’re leaving soon and I’m going to be stuck
there.” He looked at him, then out the window. “David Sanders. I’m
David. Stop calling me Rookie, if you don’t mind.”

“
Deal.” Micah drove as
fast at the little two-lane road would allow and thought of the
rookie, David. “I’m branching out. If you have any issues at
work—and I’ll tell you now, they won’t come from me—come see me. I
might be able to use a good cop like you.”

“
Deal.”

By his calculations it was going to
take them forty-five minutes to an hour to get to the address. His
brothers not that much less than him. Grandda would be there well
before any of them, and he was afraid for him in that. Micah didn’t
want to think about not making it at all. He reached for Reggie and
hit a wall. That terrified him more than anything. Reaching for his
mom gave him hope.

She’s hurt. Not badly, but
they tried to tie her up and she got a little wild on them. I don’t
think they expected her to fight back, the morons.
He asked her how she’d gotten hurt.
Believe it or not, she fell back when she hit one
of them. Her footing shifted and she landed on her back. Knocked
the wind out of her. Plus, she might have broken her ankle. But she
hit her head too. No blood but a nasty bump. Are you coming for
us?

We’re running into some
difficulties finding you.
She laughed and
he felt a smile take over his hard mouth.
Mom, please watch out for her. She’s my other half and I need
her.

She needs you as well.
She’s been a real trooper. She asked me why I didn’t shift and take
a bite out of crime for her, and I nearly laughed myself silly. I
was telling her about the chains and how they’d hurt me when those
men came in. They’re too tight around my arms. Did you know that
there are two of them? Identical twins by the look of
them.

I did. We’re working on
running down some other addresses. They didn’t take her back where
I thought they would. The one, Nestor, has it bad for Reggie.
Thinks she’s his or something. He just don’t know what he’s
screwing around with. Mom, is she tied up too?
She told him not anymore
. Good. I’d
hate for her to close down right now. I need her to be strong and
brave.

Just come and get us. I
think those men have plans for her, and it’s not going to be good.
One of them, and I can’t tell them apart just yet, said that she’s
his true love. I’m assuming that would be Nestor. And when he asked
her what her name was, she took his head off. I don’t think she’s
what they thought she was.

Which is what? Someone
they can control? I would say that’s about it.
He hesitated just a moment before continuing.
They’re murderers, Mom. I’ve seen it in their
heads. They’ve been collecting women for their homes for about a
decade. And when they don’t work out or try to get away, they kill
them. That’s what the kiln is used for.

Oh my goodness.
She was quiet for several
minutes
. She’s waking now. Told me that
her head hurts too bad to talk to you just yet. And her ankle is
bad. Purple. I know she might not tell you if you talk to
her.

Tell her I love her. And
when she’s up to it, to contact me.
She
told him she would.
Mom, I love you.
Please be safe.

I will, son, you
too.
He looked at David and told him what
his mom had told him. It was sort of nice to be able talk to
someone about it. Micah told him he was in love with his future
wife and wanted her home safe, and that he couldn’t wait for him to
meet her. Then he had a feeling that meeting her might not happen,
but shut that thought out as hard as he could. He pressed hard on
the pedal again and prayed for help.

~~~

Her head didn’t just hurt…it felt as
if someone were standing over her with a jackhammer pounding it
into her head, with an axe at her temple. She didn’t touch the sore
spot again. The first time had been bad enough. She’d nearly puked
up what little food she’d had several hours ago.

“
They’re coming. The men,
they’re coming toward us now.” She glanced at Gracie, then at the
door. It didn’t move. “I can hear them coming out of the house. My
hearing is excellent. As a panther, all my senses are highly
developed.”

“
I would say so. I didn’t
even know there was a house here. Can you hear them talking?”
Gracie nodded but didn’t share. “Does that mean it doesn’t bode
well for me and you?”

“
Mostly you. They were
hoping…well, that one was hoping you’d be trainable. They’re afraid
now that you’re going to be too difficult for them to use.” She
glanced at the door, then at her again. “You should kill them both
and we can get out of here.”

“
Yeah, I’ll work on that.
Right after I invent a new way for me to fly.” She looked at
Gracie. “You don’t fly, do you?”

“
Just off the handle on
occasion. And mostly at my sons. Occasionally at Howie but not
often. He’s too cute for me to stay mad at long.” It took Reggie a
few seconds to realize she’d made a joke. “You bring out the worst
in me, I think. I believe I like it. And you.”

“
Or the best. And I like
you very much too.” The door opened with a loud creak. She started
to stand and thought better of it. If she fell now, they might be
able to take her to her doom. Instead she sat there and looked at
the men who were decidedly further away than they had been before.
She decided to have fun with them.

“
Come on over here and let
me show you how we treat bastards like you who kidnap innocent
woman.” They actually took a few steps back. “Ah, don’t you want to
come and play? You’re going to hurt my feelings like
that.”

“
You’re not a nice person.
I…I never would have thought of you as my love had I known what
sort of person you were.” The one who was speaking tossed a set of
chains at her. There was a cuff on the end of each of them and a
large hook like a fishing hook on the other end. “I’d like for you
to put that on. I should like to remove you from this
place.”