The Tangerine Killer (17 page)

Will drove at exactly the speed limit. I know because I kept glancing at the speedometer, willing him to go faster. It wasn’t that I had a death wish, just that the looming trees seemed to close in all around us as we followed the winding road. Each time our headlights lit them up, they flashed a muted orange before disappearing into the blackness once more. I knew the Tangerine killer was out there, I just wasn’t sure where.

“I thought cops could drive as fast as they wanted?” I prodded.

“So did I,” he admitted sheepishly. “Until I got clocked going ninety on my way to the drive-in.”

“Ouch.”

“Yeah. Now it’s strictly business unless I’m on a call.”

His face took on the sad look it had when he was sitting in front of the food. Will had a soft heart that was easily broken but at least now I knew why his captain was punishing him.

“Are you sure this is the right way?”

I didn’t recognize the road we were on and it seemed to be taking far longer than the way I usually went into town. After all, the motel was only on the outskirts and the town itself was merely one long street with a few side roads branching off. Not exactly a major metropolis.

“Short cut,” Will said.

I didn’t have the heart to tell him that his short cut was more like the scenic route.

“Shit!”

Suddenly the car swerved over to the opposite side of the road and back again. Will spun the steering wheel, focused and cool as he tried to maintain control of the car.

“What was it?” I grabbed hold of the arm rest and prayed I wouldn’t have to add whiplash to my injury list.

“I don’t know. Something in the road.”

“An animal?”

“Maybe.”

But Will didn’t sound convinced. He drove on with renewed concentration, his hands gripped the steering wheel tightly at ten and two. I found my own hand lingering on my pocket, poised to grab my cell phone and call for help if need be. I should have felt safe, after all I was already with the police but the trouble was, Will didn’t exactly instill the kind of confidence I needed. When he skidded to a stop a mile later, I instinctively pulled it out and was poised to dial. I strained to see what Will had but I couldn’t see anything out there. Just the road banked by the pitch black of shrubs and trees.

“Did you see it?” he stuttered.

“See what?”

“This time there really is something in the road.”

“Why didn’t you just go around it like before?”

“Because it’s huge. Stay here.”

“Yeah right. I’m not staying here.”

We both got out. Will with his flashlight in one hand and his other resting on his gun. The snap on the holster unfastened so he could pull it out at a moment’s notice. I only had my cell phone, my gun was still neatly strapped to my calf. Lucky for me Watson and Vasquez were incompetent when it came to arresting someone and had neglected to frisk me for weapons. But I didn’t think it would be prudent to pull my gun out in front of Will unless my life was in eminent danger. It seemed I was going to have to rely on his sharp shooting skills and I had to admit, I had my doubts about how sharp his abilities actually were. If it came to a life and death situation, I was whipping that sucker out.

We walked a few yards and suddenly I saw a shiny, silver tarp. It stretched across the road, reflecting in the beam of the flashlight. Whatever was beneath it bulged up at odd angles and the sides lifted and then fell in the night breeze like a giant tablecloth at a picnic. It was restrained by four large rocks that pinned down the corners.

“Who would have put this in the middle of the road? It’s an accident waiting to happen,” Will asked.

He moved to lift the tarp, his hand now nowhere near his gun.

“Stop,” I cried.

“Why?”

I knew it was no accident that we had come across it in the middle of the road. He had placed it there for us to find, no doubt another present for me and what was underneath was sure to be nothing I wanted to see.

“Get back in the car,” I urged.

“But why?”

“Damn it Will, get back in the car now.”

“Fine.”

He plodded back to the car and I could tell he was not a happy man. He had risen to someone of importance in a matter of moments and now I was taking that away from him but it was for his own good. I liked Will and had no desire to see him blown to smithereens by another bomb.

“What’s the deal?” he said when we were safely back in the car.

“Call for backup.”

“What? Why? For a tarp in the road? If I call for backup over something that stupid the chief will have my badge. He already thinks I’m incompetent.”

“Well this time you’ll be a star,” I coaxed. “Our killer left that in the road and when you call it in, you’ll be the one who gets all the credit.”

“But what if you’re wrong? Then I’ll just look like the blubbering idiot I always am.”

“Look, I’m just trying to save your life here.”

That was true. I hated to see someone blown to bits as much as the next person but I also wanted to protect my own ass. I knew he was out there watching. Waiting for one of us to make a stupid mistake and play into his sick game. Who could resist looking under a tarp spread so enticingly across the road? I knew I could and I was going to make sure Will did as well.

“Put your flashing lights on. We need to close this road down.”

“You think it’s something pretty bad under there don’t you?”

Will backed the car down the road.

“I was almost killed in an explosion and I just woke up next to a corpse. What do you think? Call it in. Now.”

He called for backup and then we sat and waited, watching the tarp move just a little more than it should have done in the soft breeze. I realized then and there that Olin needed to come. Whatever was under the tarp was probably as much for him as it was for me. He answered his phone on the first ring.

“What’s wrong?”

“How did you know something was wrong?”

“Because I know you wouldn’t call otherwise.”

“I might,” I said.

“Really? So nothing’s wrong then?”

I knew he could tell I was bluffing.

“Well, would you classify a large silver tarp left in the middle of the road and pinned down by rocks as being wrong?”

I heard his breath catch in his throat.

“Where are you?”

I described where we were and as I did I heard a door slam and an engine start.

“I’m on my way.”

“I know.”

“Stay on the line okay? Just in case.”

“He’s out there watching. I can feel him.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll be there soon.”

“I’m not worried. I just don’t want you guys to miss the opportunity to catch him this time.”

“Very funny.”

I grinned. As much as I liked to think I never needed anybody, I had to admit I was glad Olin was on his way. Though I liked Will, I had little doubt he would fall apart in an instant if anything bad happened and that would leave me trying to protect not only myself but him as well. His life was in my hands and that didn’t bode well for poor Will.

Olin arrived first, despite the fact that Will had radioed in for backup long before I had even made my call. He must have driven like a mad man. He arrived from the opposite direction and parked quite a distance back from the tarp. When he ran towards us he gave it a wide berth, probably afraid that it was some sort of explosive device just like I had been. Except now that I’d had some time to observe it while I was waiting, I wasn’t so sure it was a bomb after all. In fact I was pretty certain whatever was pinned beneath the silver plastic was something that was alive and thoroughly pissed off.

“I asked you to do one simple thing. Come down to the station. You can’t even do that,” Olin said breathlessly.

I gave him a withering smile. “I guess trouble just finds me wherever I go.”

“No. I think you were right before. You are trouble.”

“I might be trouble but I’m not stupid. I got a police escort. What more could you ask for?”

“Good point. Will, why the hell are you way out here in the woods?”

Will, who had been silent up until that point, squirmed uncomfortably in his seat. I guess he had hoped to blend seamlessly into the interior of the car like a chameleon so that Olin would never notice he was there. He made a gurgling sound and unbuttoned the starched collar that was biting into the flesh of his neck.

“It’s a shortcut,” he said.

“It’s not a shortcut. It’s the route the high school kids take when they want to make out.”

“Will!” I laughed. “How dare you be so presumptuous?”

“It’s not like that Sam, I swear. I just thought you could use a bit of a break before you got down to the station and were interrogated for hours on end.”

“Interrogated?” Olin and I blurted out at the same time.

We both started to laugh. Poor Will just looked out into the darkness sadly as three other squad cars arrived. Cops gathered around the silver tarp. None of them seemed particularly worried but then they didn’t know what we did.

“Step back guys. Watch out. Move back please.”

Olin moved diligently and respectfully through the growing crowd. He was careful not to offend anyone but by the time he had finished all the cops were somehow corralled behind their own crime scene tape with only Olin on the inside.

I sat perched on the hood of Olin’s truck, smoking a cigarette. This time I was determined to be a good girl and keep my distance. Having just had a close encounter with the Tangerine killer and his handy work I wasn’t too keen to get another glimpse so soon after the first. I rubbed my sore ribs gently, trying unsuccessfully to massage away the pain. I was too old for games. I just wanted it all to be over. Surely he couldn’t keep this up forever.

“Is he waiting for the bomb squad or the television crews to arrive?” Will asked.

He heaved his massive frame up onto the hood next to me and the truck groaned miserably on its suspensions.

“Don’t worry. It’s not a bomb.”

“But I thought you said it was.”

“Trust me, it’s not a bomb. Whatever is underneath that tarp is alive.”

“Alive? Like a person?”

“Not exactly.”

Images ran through my mind like flash cards. The way it moved. The smell. The muffled hiss. Shit. I knew what it was and it wasn’t good. I bolted towards the tarp, bustling my way through the crowd that had now grown three deep in size. Disgruntled cries from the cops I pushed out of the way didn’t stop me from reaching the tape and ducking under. Good girl be damned. As much as I had a love, hate relationship with Olin, I didn’t want him getting his leg bitten off.

“I know what it is,” I whispered in Olin’s ear so as not to spook the overeager crowd of cops into action. “And you’re lucky it hasn’t already taken your leg off.”

I watched as the pieces of the puzzle finally fell into place in his mind. He yanked me back from the tarp and back under the tape. Somehow the killer had snagged a giant alligator and pinned it beneath a tarp in the middle of the road.

I spent my misguided childhood attempting to escape the sprawling suburbs of Florida and had rescued a gator or two in my bored wanderings through the brush. Once I even captured a tiny baby who was less than a foot long and took it home to keep in the bathtub. Needless to say my mother was less than amused. Especially when it bit into her finger with its little razor sharp teeth and wouldn’t let go. That was the last time I had attempted to domesticate any of Florida’s wildlife.

However I knew enough about gators to know they were the cunning dinosaurs of the swamp land. They could lunge fast, blend in and disappear into muddy waters without leaving a trace. For the killer to have captured one he had to be a trapper of some kind or else he was walking around minus a hand. This was a lead I could go on but for the moment we had more pressing matters.

“Call fish and wildlife,” Olin turned to the nearest cop.

“And tell them what?” he asked. “You don’t even know what’s under there.”

“Sure we do,” I smiled sweetly. “Want to see?”

I ducked forward before Olin could stop me, kicked the two nearest stones off the corners of the tarp and flipped it back like a giant sheet. It hung in the breeze for a second before being snagged back by the remaining rocks and crumpling to the ground like a giant plastic bag.

The alligator was easily the most gorgeous creature I had ever seen. An albino that was at least ten feet long and thoroughly pissed off. He emitted a persistent hiss through his mouth even though it had been taped shut with orange tape. His legs had been strung together at some point but he had managed to loosen his bindings considerably. His milky white back shone faintly in the lights of the trucks parked in the road.
 

“Holy shit! Jesus Christ!”

More than one of the cops blurted out expletives as the more adventurous ones dashed forward for a closer look. Others scuttled backwards like they had just seen their worst nightmare. You couldn’t blame them for being intimidated. The alligator had the power and strength to rip a human limb from limb and this one had seen his share of battles. He’d lost the tip of his tail, probably severed by a passing boat or lost in a fight with another gator. He was also missing one of his eyes. The gaping pit stared out blindly at the crowd and I felt sorry for the poor guy but not enough to free him from the remaining restraints. He wasn’t a pet, he was a predator.

From the stunned look on Olin’s face, I knew he wished he was one of the rapidly retreating cops and not the lead detective on the most important case the town had ever seen. I was pretty sure he was beginning to rue the day he met me.