Refuge Book 1 - Night of the Blood Sky (3 page)

5

“Gonna pretend I didn’t hear that,” Rule said. “Just this once. Ask that question one more time and I’ll be babysitting you again, but this time you’ll be in a cell.”

Rule’s relief at Avalon clamping her mouth shut was minimal. She knew the girl had had a rough go of it in the years since her mother had passed, but this...she was strung out. Rock bottom. Rule had remained good friends with Avalon’s father, Griffin, and received updates about her life whenever he did, but it had been six months since he’d heard from her. They’d feared the worst. Looks like they weren’t too far from the mark.

Leaving Avalon on the floor, where the girl would likely be the safest in her current state, Rule turned her attention to Cash. An electrician by trade, Cash was a town staple. He was a bit rough around the edges, especially when he drank, but she’d never had to lock him up. Still, she knew alcohol did things to the mind. Turned folks into different kinds of people, who did things they wouldn’t normally. She eyed the half-finished pint on his table. Times had been tough on Cash recently. Thanks to a government grant and the town’s altruistic benefactor, Renford Ellison, the town’s new electrical system, which serviced downtown and the surrounding neighborhoods, removed a good portion of Cash’s business.

Fields of solar panels could be found in and around town—mostly filling the old airport—not to mention atop the roofs of nearly every home and business, including the sheriff’s station. The church was one of few buildings exempt from the requirement. But energy didn’t just come from the sun. Towering wind turbines lined many of the hills. The combination of natural energy sources wasn’t exactly pretty, but they delivered free energy to the entire town. If the whole world went dark, Refuge would still have power—as long as there was a sun and wind. Water and sanitation had also been retrofitted, making the town a true experiment in self-sufficiency. They’d been told that Refuge was a model for the future, but most folks in town didn’t care much about technology, let alone the future. They were just happy to get a break on their monthly bills.

Not Cash, though. If he didn’t find more out-of-town business, he’d lose his house, and tough times like that can drive a man to the bottle.
If the demons can’t be beat in a fair fight
, her father told her once,
they can always be drowned
.

“Can’t say I appreciate what that look in your eyes is implying, Sheriff,” Cash said.

While his direct nature ruffled her feathers, his correct use of the word ‘Sheriff,’ rather than ‘Becky,’ ‘Becks’ or ‘Mrs. Rule’ kept her from replying strongly. She also heard his very clearly enunciated, not drunk, speech. She softened her expression. “That your first drink?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Cash said, and without being asked, explained what happened. “She came in here looking for that Oxy-stuff. When I told her I didn’t have any, she took a swing and I helped her walk away.”

“Maybe a little too roughly?” Rule asked.

“It was self-defense,” Pastor Dodge said. “We all saw it. The poor girl is a mess.”

“Screw you,” Avalon said from the floor.

The distant boom of fireworks entered the bar as the door swung open.
Guess I won’t be watching the display this year, after all
, Rule thought.

The distant rumble was drowned out momentarily by the bell above the door jingling. She felt a warm breeze wash over her as the air outside blew into the room. In that brief moment, the buzzing sound she’d noticed earlier returned.

“Oh my God,” came a woman’s voice, but it wasn’t the newcomer. It was Julie Barnes, the hoity-toity real estate agent who’d swept into Refuge two years previous, brokering the land and home deals that made the town’s retrofitting possible. She must have been rich now, so Rule wasn’t sure why the city girl, with her power suits, high heels and tautly bunned hair was still in town, let alone in the Brick House.

Julie stood quickly and scurried for the door, eyes wide, high heels clacking out a beat.

“Everything all right?” Rule asked.

“Fine,” Julie chirped. “Just got a text.”

As though that explains everything.

The door opened again as Julie left, allowing in more warm air, the faint buzzing sound and a reminder that someone new had just entered.

Not wanting to further complicate the situation, Rule held her hand up toward the door without looking back. “Step outside, please, until this situation is—”

“Tell me what happened,” a man said, his voice full of anger and fear.

Rule recognized the voice and didn’t need to turn around to know who it was or what would happen next. “Watch your temper, Griff.”

He appeared next to her, moving as silently as a ghost. She glanced in his direction. His eyes were searching the bar for a guilty face. His fists were clenched. She turned her eyes to Cash and saw the same casual indifference that was his trademark expression. But Griffin was a smart man. He’d take in the scene, piece it together and play it in reverse. Her only chance to avoid a fight was to put him on the defensive.

“All this coulda been avoided if you’d told me she was home.”

“She arrived last night,” he said. “Found her on my doorstep, shaking.”

“What’s wrong with her?”

“Withdrawal. She’s an Oxycontin addict. I was going to keep her at home until—”

“He’s keeping me prisoner!” Avalon shouted. “Locked me in the basement. Call the police. I need to go to the hospital.”

Rule sighed. She didn’t want to ask the question, but was obligated. “You lock her in the basement, Griffin?”

“If I had, she wouldn’t be sprawled on the bar floor.”

She believed him. He was a good man—probably the best man in town. And given his past, she didn’t think James Bond could escape from Griffin Butler. “Point taken.”

“Isn’t anyone going to pick me up?” Avalon asked.

Rule and Griffin replied as one, “No!”

“Look,” Rule said, “she hasn’t done anything all of us can’t overlook...” She glanced at the bar’s few patrons. She knew all of them except for Pastor Dodge’s lady friend. She got quick nods from everyone in the room. They knew Griffin and Avalon, and knew the tough time both had gone through. This town took care of its own. But mostly they knew she wouldn’t take no for an answer. She ended her visual tour of the room by leveling her eyes at the Pastor’s company. “...isn’t that right?”

The woman nodded.

“What’s your name?”

Dodge answered for her. “This is Sally Field—”

“Like the actress?” Rule asked.

“Yes,” the woman said.

“MmmHmm. What kind of parents would do that to a kid?” Rule shrugged. “Well Ms. Field, you okay with forgetting this mess if Griff here covers the cost of—”

“Don’t worry about it,” Dodge said quickly.

Rule squinted at the pastor. If anyone was acting like they’d done something wrong, it was him. But that didn’t make sense. He was a single guy out with a... Her attention turned to the woman. Her left hand. Her ring finger...

Bong
.

Everyone in the bar held their collective breath.

“What...was that?” Walter asked from behind the bar.

Radar shouted in
surprise, clutching his hands to his ears. He knew the scream had been high-pitched and embarrassing—he could feel it in his throat—but his voice had been drowned out by the resounding gong of the church bell. He and Lisa spun around, away from the fireworks. The bell was shifting slowly.

“What the hell?” Lisa said, her voice barely audible. “Who did that?”

Radar’s thoughts turned to possible explanations, and he quickly came up with one. Someone knew they were in the steeple and had decided to teach them a lesson. It didn’t sound like something Pastor Dodge would do, so he spoke his mind. “Knock it off, asshole!” he shouted. “We’re coming down!”

The bell swayed sideways, lifting higher than it probably should have.

“It’s going to ring again!” he shouted, slapping his hands over his ears.

The soundwave shook his insides, making him queasy. He pitched forward, shouting in agony. The pain grew infinitely worse when Lisa fell and he reached out to catch her. As the bell’s chime faded again, he pulled Lisa up. When he saw the tears in her eyes, he wanted to pummel whoever was ringing the bell, but then he realized that he was equally upset. Unlike most young men Refuge forged, Radar wasn’t externally tough.

With one arm wrapped around Lisa and the other holding her elbow, he scrambled down the stairs, doing his best to not stumble in the darkness. He hoped that whoever was ringing the bell would hear them coming and stop, but he could see the rope, dangling in the steeple’s core, moving downward, pulled for another chime.

As they rounded the final flight of stairs, he looked for the person ringing the bell. Nobody was there. No one at all. And yet, the rope attached to the bell continued to descend, as though pulled by a spectre.

Then the rope shot up, released from its downward pull.

Bong!

The volume of the ringing bell, inside the enclosed steeple, knocked both of them off their feet. The pair tumbled down the last few stairs, shouting in pain again. When Radar landed, part of him wanted to check on Lisa, but his attention remained fixed on the church bell rope, as it shifted downward once more, pulled by some invisible force.

“Sounded like the
church bell,” Dodge said, standing slowly.

“I don’t know,” Cash said. “Why would—”

Bong.

“Definitely the church bell.” Dodge headed for the door.

Rule met Griffin’s eyes. They still had unfinished business here, but if someone had broken into the church, that was something she couldn’t let slide. She unclipped her radio, “Frost this is Rule, over.”

“I hear you, boss,” Frost replied. “Who’s ringing the church bell? Over.”

“I’m gonna head over there and find out.” Rule glanced at Griffin before speaking again. “Listen, Griff Butler is headin’ your way with his daughter—”

“Lony’s home?” Frost broke in.

“Avalon!” came a shout from the floor.

“I need you to put her in a cell for the night,” Rule finished.

Bong
.

Cash, Walter and Sally Field exited the bar along with the few other patrons, off to see what crazy soul was ringing the church bell.

“A cell? Why?”

“She’s not in trouble. Just needs some time to work things out. Why don’t you meet them outside? Over.”

“Copy that,” Frost said. “I’ll head your way now. Meet them half way.”

Before signing off, Rule added, “Keep an eye out for anyone fleeing the church in your direction. Over.”

“Will do. Over and out.”

Bong
.

Rule took out her handcuffs and motioned to Avalon with her head and spoke to Griffin. “Help her up.”

“You’re going to cuff me?” Avalon protested, as Griffin pulled her to her feet.