Desert of the Damned (7 page)

“Damn it, Truly, you scared the heck out of me. Very funny.” Amy held a hand over her chest and felt foolish that her heart was racing like she’d run a marathon.

Truly stretched out on the thick brown fur, using the bear’s head as a pillow. “Big bear, I’m five nine and the fur is longer than me. This would be great to get laid on.”

“No thanks. The landlord said to put it in a closet but it takes up all my storage space.” The rental house had two bedrooms and two baths with an option to buy and the price was right. She had no intention of buying it but she hadn’t told the real estate agent that. While looking for an apartment in the paper, she came across this listing for a single family home with four acres, and she was intrigued. The Southwestern style with stucco walls, Spanish tile and a beehive fireplace had personality.

The harsh scenery of the Sonoran Desert, its foreign landscape, shifting colors and wild nature, stirred something inside her. Although she missed the lush tropical beaches of Florida and her friends and family, being close to nature eased her loneliness.

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Desert of the Damned

“Mmmm. I’ll buy it,” Truly said with eyes closed and arms behind her head. “So, are you still moving back or is Dante keeping you here?”

“Dante wouldn’t have any influence in my decision in staying here,” she snapped.

“Whoa, touchy.” Truly opened one eye for a minute. “What would keep you here?

I’d like you to stay.” It seemed that by keeping her eyes closed Truly could talk to Amy on a personal level and still keep her distance.

Amy didn’t say anything for a long moment. “I don’t know. Arizona just doesn’t feel like home yet. And I don’t know if it ever will.”

Truly sat up and shot her a concerned look. “Oh, Amy. It takes a while, sweetie, to make friends in a new place. Give it time. You can’t make a decision about an area in only a few months. When you know all the hiking trails by heart, when you can drive home from work on automatic pilot and don’t remember making all the turns but you still make it home and when you go into a supermarket and someone recognizes you and says hello, then your new place is now your old place. But right now, this is home.”

Amy felt a lump forming in her throat. She picked up her margarita and took several swallows. She wasn’t sure where she belonged anymore. Florida didn’t feel like home, although she missed her parents, her friends. When she called them, their lives continued on as if her moving had left no void. By the time she moved back to Florida, she would feel like a stranger there again. “Get up and help me with the steaks,” Amy called over her shoulder as she brought a platter of meat out her sliding glass door onto the patio to grill.

“On my way.” Truly unfolded an Indian blanket on a redwood lounger and stretched out with her margarita in hand.

Amy stabbed the steak and tossed the meat on the preheated grill. It sputtered and sent up flares from the juices. “Dante bought me that blanket you’re sitting on.” She didn’t want to tell Truly that blanket was the one she and Dante nearly made love on.

“Nice.” Truly narrowed her eyes and studied Amy for a moment. “Are you going to tell me what the guy’s problem is? You know, I’ve dated some creeps in my day. I’m sure I’ve heard it all before. Too kinky for you? Wanted to do a threesome?”

Amy laughed. “Threesome? He didn’t even want to do a twosome.” The margaritas were loosening her tongue.

“What?” Truly laughed.

Amy sighed. “I mean, things got hot between us. He…pleasured me but he never completed the act and then he disappeared. I mean really disappeared. I think he knows hypnosis or something, or I fell asleep.”

“Maybe he wasn’t that good if you just fell asleep.” Truly held up her empty glass and jumped up. “Refill?”

“No, I’m good for now.” Amy turned the steaks. Dante was good but disconcerting.

Truly was right. She was smart to break it off with him. After Truly left, she’d try calling him.

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Kathy Kulig

Truly came out of the house with a full glass. “You sure you don’t want—oh, look.

We have company.” She pointed out toward the desert. “He must smell the steaks.”

A coyote stood about fifty yards away, his nose in the air. His golden color blended in with the buff colors of the sand and dried grasses. Most of his body was hidden by scrub brush. “Oh my, I never saw one get this close before.”

“They’ll get into your garbage if you don’t have a secure lid,” Truly said as she sipped her drink.

“Is he dangerous?” Amy took the steaks off the grill and shut off the gas.

“Not really. I wouldn’t leave Sienna out here alone though. He might decide to have her for lunch. Wildlife is beautiful, isn’t it?”

“Yeah.” Amy took the meat inside. She couldn’t help the uneasy feeling she got with the coyote watching her. She wondered if she had left the steaks out there unattended, if he would’ve come closer, even stolen them right off the grill.

Amy mixed up her Thai peanut sauce in a bowl and sliced the beef into thin strips.

She arranged the meat on the salad plates and drizzled the peanut dressing on top.

“Dinner’s ready.” They sat at her dining room table that looked out of her sliding glass door. The coyote had gone.

“You left your drink outside,” Truly said. “I’ll get it.” She went out for a moment and came back with the glass, stopping at the kitchen to pour the last of the concoction from the blender into Amy’s glass. “Looks like our lone friend is gone.”

“Sure, because we took the food inside.” The kitten was making mewling noises.

“Sienna’s hungry,” Truly said. “After dinner, we’ll feed her.”

Amy dropped her fork and looked up at Truly, remembering her schedule for tomorrow. “I can’t take Sienna with me tomorrow. Can you bring her to work with you?”

“Amy, I’m off. I’m going to Tucson to visit my mom for the day.”

“Oh crap, I forgot. This is why I don’t have pets. What am I going to do? She needs to be fed every few hours, poor thing. I have no idea how long I’ll be out collecting specimens.”

“I’ll call my mom and cancel,” Truly said.

“No, no. The cat is my responsibility. I’ll figure out something. Maybe I can leave her at the ranger station, or at Betty’s, my neighbor.”

“What neighbor? You’re in the middle of nowhere out here.”

“Betty lives down the road about a quarter mile. You’ll love her. She’s retired and from New York. She loves cats. Wait ‘til you see her gun collection.”

* * * * *

When they pulled into Betty’s driveway and got out of the car with Sienna’s box and supplies, Amy heard three gunshots from the backyard. Truly let out a yelp.

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“What the hell was that?” Truly froze.

Amy hooked arms with Truly and dragged her along. “Betty must be around back.”

With the box in hand, Amy walked around the side of the house, Truly tugging at her arm.

“You sure we should go back there?”

Another three shots. “Hello, Betty? It’s me, Amy,” she yelled as she came around the corner.

“Hey, Amy, come have a seat.” Betty pointed to the picnic table where boxes of ammunition were stacked. “Who’s your shy friend?” Betty held her stance, legs spread, arms outstretched, both hands gripping a pistol. She wore jeans that snugly fit her petite figure, with an oversized Disney tee shirt with a picture of Cinderella’s castle.

Betty stood only about five feet tall and was barely a hundred pounds. She squeezed off a couple more rounds and knocked the empty soup cans off a log about fifty or sixty feet away. Opening the chamber of the gun, she placed it on the picnic table and brushed her short brown hair out of her face. “Hey, I’m Betty.” She reached her hand out to Truly.

Truly shook her hand and introduced herself, rather meekly for Truly, Amy observed.

“Can I get you some iced tea?” Betty noticed Truly eyeing the gun. “It’s just a pellet gun. I take the serious hardware down to the shooting range.”

Truly’s eyes widened. “How serious is serious?”

“Well now. I have an old Colt .38 that was my husband’s. Mel died ten years ago.

My favorite is my .357 Magnum.”

Truly’s mouth dropped open. “You have a .357 Magnum?” She looked Betty up and down and Amy knew she was wondering why a little old lady who looked like she barely weighed a hundred pounds would own a .357.

Betty nodded, unloading the pellet gun and putting it away in a case. “Believe me, I can hit the silhouette targets pretty well at the range too. You bet your ass, a .357 can do serious damage.” She made an outline of a human figure with her hands.

Amy shivered at that image even though she knew Betty was harmless. She laughed. “You should see the holster she crocheted for it too.”

Truly opened her mouth and shook her head. “That I’ve got to see.”

The sun had set, washing Betty’s backyard, the desert and distant Rincon Mountains with golden and purple shadows. Sienna began meowing inside the box.

“Damn, you do have a little one in there, don’t you? Let me see her.” Betty picked up Sienna and the sometimes cat from hell curled up in Betty’s arms. “Just tell me how often you want me to feed her.”

“Thanks, Betty, I appreciate it. As soon as I get home, I’ll stop by and pick her up.”

“As long as it’s before six because I have a hot date,” Betty said. “With a younger man,” she added with a wink.

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Kathy Kulig

“Whoa, Betty. How’d you meet this guy?”

“At the Las Olas Café.” Betty crossed her arms and shifted her weight to one hip as if expecting to get a lecture.

“Betty—”

Betty put up a hand. “I know, I know. What would a young fiftyish guy want with old me?”

“That’s not what I mean. You remember the last guy you picked up in a bar?”

She looked away, pursing her lips. “That was different. He said he forgot his wallet at home. I’ve done the same. It could happen. The mind forgets things as you get older.

I only bought him dinner.”

Truly groaned. “He made you pay for dinner?”

Betty nodded.

“And he tried to get her to use her credit card to pay for other things,” Amy said softly.

“What things?” Truly looked horrified.

Betty rolled her eyes. “Hells bells, I ain’t that stupid. I caught on to his act when he asked for a ride to pick up his car at the repair shop. He wanted me to pay the garage, said he’d pay me back. The guy had no class. I pulled the car over and told him to get the fuck out of my car. When he started to argue, I pulled out the .357 from under the seat. He got out.”

Truly covered her face with her hands. “Did you call the police?”

“Hell no. I didn’t want to look like no fool.”

Apparently Betty hadn’t learned her lesson about picking up strange men. Amy heard she had two sons who lived in New York but they didn’t visit very often. She was worried about someone taking advantage of Betty even though she was one tough bird.

“So how is this new stranger different?”

“He has a job and didn’t ask me for money, for one thing. He’s a college history professor, he showed me his ID card. His name is Lupi.”

“Lupi?” both Truly and Amy asked at the same time.

“It’s his last name but that’s what everyone calls him. Distinguished looking and handsome. Slightly gray, goatee and glasses. I think he’s in his late fifties.”

“Just stick to public places for a while until you get to know him better. There are a lot of scam artists out there,” Amy said. She took the kitten out of Betty’s arms and placed her back in the box. The cat didn’t attack her this evening. Maybe it was finally getting used to her.

“Don’t worry, I can take care of myself.”

“It’s getting late. I need to go, Amy,” Truly said as she stretched her arms out and twirled around. “Dancing naked in the moonlight tonight, remember?”

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Desert of the Damned

Amy glanced up at the twilight sky and saw the pale outline of the moon. “Yeah, we should go. I want to get a good night’s rest. I’ll be hiking all day tomorrow.”

“What are you conjuring?” Betty asked Truly. “I know for a fact the naked dancing ritual works. I’ve never tried it though.”

Truly smiled. “A man, a really hot man.”

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Kathy Kulig

Chapter Five

Amy awoke on her hands and knees. She was not in her bedroom where she’d gone to bed. Was it hours ago? She was outside in the desert and had no idea how she’d gotten there. Dreaming? Yes, dreaming by the way the scenery continued to shift in colors. And the cactus and bushes were moving as if she had spun around in circles and then stopped.

A cool breeze teased her bare skin, sending chills up her arms and legs, along her back, drawing her nipples in to taut points. She was completely naked. Blinking several times, she tried to clear her head and vision. Drained and weak, she doubted her legs would support her if she tried to stand.

The ground swayed and the ten-foot-tall saguaro cactus in front of her blurred, sharpened into view, then blurred again. The woven material beneath her came into focus. It was the Indian blanket Dante had given her. Searching her memory, she couldn’t remember when the dream began. Was this a dream? Did Dante summon her?

Did he hypnotize her? Or was it something more ominous?

Trying to move was like swimming in molasses. What did Truly put in those margaritas? She forced her muscles to respond so she could get up but her wrists and ankles were staked to the ground with ropes.

A hand pressed on her back. “Don’t move,” Dante’s husky voice said. “This is a new game.”

Fear hardened her muscles into petrified wood, then fear was replaced with anger.

Not dreaming. She yanked on the nylon cords, feeling the ropes burn her skin. The restraints wouldn’t budge. “Untie me,” she demanded through gritted teeth.

“Don’t you like to be tied up?” he said. “Didn’t you say that was a fantasy of yours?” He sounded calm, annoyingly so.

Her mind raced through her foggy thoughts, trying to remember if they had discussed her fantasies or not. “Maybe I did but I don’t remember coming out here and that bothers me.”