The War Gate (32 page)

Too late. Chubby swung the door open. An opossum reared up on its hind legs. It gave out a hiss, before it bolted across the parking lot. Gretchen scrambled after it, her tiny nails clicking on the pavement.

“Gretchen!” Chubby squealed. He rushed through the door and out across the lot, disappearing into a mat of scrub-like weeds beyond the yellow haze of the parking lot lamps.

Sebastian upended a pack on the bed and grabbed a flashlight. Avy followed him out into the parking lot at a swift trot while he shined the light toward the field. The heavy thuds of Chubby’s steps along with the snaps of twigs could be heard in the distance. Avy called out. Gretchen’s hoarse barks faded in the distance. Stopping at the end of the parking lot, the couple looked for a way into the tangled briar. Sebastian stepped onto a narrow path. Avy followed, catching her ankles on sharp thorns. She could see nothing save the weak flashlight beam panning side to side, illuminating the tops of the brittle foliage. They stopped to listen.

“Do you hear anything?” Sebastian tried.

“Not anymore.”

They called out, melding their voices into a loud hail. No answer. Avy found it amazing that anyone could have rushed off in the dead of night into the thick scrub and been able to see where they were going without a light source. Unless Chubby was functioning on sonar, she couldn’t understand how he’d gotten away so fast.

“Why does every opossum in the county have to show up at my motel room?” she wondered aloud.

“I’m telling you they’re after food,” Sebastian shot back.

She smelt something on the wind, but it wasn’t food. A brief gust brought it to her. One second she had inhaled crisp air, while the next moment brought a putrid skunk smell. In a few moments, it dissipated. It brought back a nasty premonition. She wanted to get out of the field, retreat back into the light. Back to the parking lot where it was safe.

“I think I see something,” said Sebastian, aiming his light.

Avy saw it too. It looked like a small penlight beam darting around amongst the thick brush. A keychain light. Avy called out. Chubby answered in a faint voice, telling her he was on his way back. When he reached them, he asked for Sebastian’s flashlight, then headed back out. He spoke over his shoulder. “You two get back to the motel. I’ll find her. She’s out here somewhere.”

Avy felt terrible having to abandon the quest to find the dog. Yet logic won out. It was better to get back to the room where the dog might show up.

One motel resident had his door open, squinting into the night. He asked about the disturbance. Avy explained the situation away, not wishing to raise a panic. A few other curtains swung closed.

Back in the room, Sebastian busied himself preparing a quick breakfast. He fried some bread in a pan, then melted some cheese over some scrambled eggs. Avy paced from the open door to the kitchenette. She couldn’t see how anybody could eat at a time like this.

“You’re going to wear the carpet out if you don’t slow down,” said Sebastian. “Why don’t you have something to eat?”

“Did you smell something awful?”

“I’m not that bad of a cook.”

“I didn’t mean that. I meant out there. It seems that for a moment I could—” She let it drop. Women had better noses than men. He hadn’t picked up on the odor. Then again, her mind might have been playing tricks on her.

She accepted the breakfast plate. She took small bites while watching the doorway for any sign of Chubby. After she finished, she sat on the edge of the bed with Sebastian, holding hands. It wasn’t long before the sound of Chubby’s footsteps approached. When the large man appeared at the doorway, he held a lifeless mop of hair in his arms. His cheeks were wet with tears. Several thorns protruded from his pants, and his shoes were covered in a thick layer of dust.

Avy and Sebastian stared at the bedraggled figure. Neither of them spoke.

Chubby gulped hard, forcing his words out. “Her little heart gave out, I guess. Too much excitement. She thought she was protecting us. The spirit was willing, but the rest of her didn’t hold up. I have a spade in the trunk. I’ll be back when I finish.”

“God, I’m so sorry,” said Avy, meaning it with all her heart. She watched Chubby disappear around the corner, then she collapsed flat out on the bed, gazing up at the ceiling. “I don’t believe this is happening.”

Sebastian rubbed his face hard, then sat on the end of the bed next to her. “Oh, it’s happening all right. Jesus, he really loved that little mutt.”

Chubby came back to the room after twenty minutes, looking wearily defeated. He sat down, but refused to eat the offered plate of scrambled eggs and fried bread. Brooding, the heavyset man stared at the floor without a word.

Avy walked to the door. She took a quick peek outside, preparing to lock it. Her nose crinkled. There it was again, more pervasive than ever. She couldn’t mistake that foul stench for anything else. She fanned the door several times.

“There, do you smell that?” she asked. “It’s him. He’s out there.”
Sebastian walked to the door and thrust his head out. “I do now.” He pulled his pistol from the backpack. Chubby tossed his plate in the sink and retrieved his sidearm. They filed out of the door, Sebastian in the lead with his flashlight. Avy brought up the rear. During their trek across the parking lot, Avy could smell the odor stronger, causing her to stifle a gag. Chubby peeled off to disappear around the corner of the motel. Moments later, an engine started. Chubby pulled around the side of the motel and parked his car, aiming the high beams into the scrub field. He left the engine running.

They couldn’t see much past the shafts of the headlights at the edge of the field, but the beams lit up the foliage for a good fifty yards. Nothing moved or made a sound.

Avy cupped a hand over her mouth. This was so creepy it was off the scale. She didn’t know why, but she felt uncomfortable with both men brandishing weapons in front of the small roadside motel. She didn’t know if the situation warranted the use of deadly force against a transient who had been guilty of nothing more than stalking them. Then again, she couldn’t think of an alternative that would afford them protection.

Sebastian stepped through the weeds. Avy fell in behind him, resting a hand on his shoulder. Her boyfriend moved with deliberate cat-like steps, trying to keep the noise down. The smell intensified. Avy knew that the vile man was out in the thicket somewhere. She had the unmistakable feeling they were being watched. She could almost feel the hot stink of his breath on her neck. The sensation made her hair stand on end.

There seemed something more to this homeless vagabond. She likened the feeling to icy fingers of thought that reached out to her, promising havoc and destruction. He came from another place, a residence that bespoke of evil. The sight of him conjured up terrible images, like the nightmares she often had after eating too much lasagna laced with garlic. She sensed he was a spawn from the pit of hell—a very ancient resident. She had no way of knowing this other than an inner voice that cried out in warning.

Sebastian stopped for a moment, holding his breath. Avy followed suit. Chubby, yards to their right, also ceased movement. A twig cracked in the distance beyond the flood of light.

Avy’s voice was urgent. “Let’s go back. It is not safe here at all. He wants us in the dark where he can have control. I can feel it.”

“He’s toast,” Sebastian cursed. “We have to end this bullshit now.”

“You don’t understand,” Avy pleaded. “He’s something else, something that we have no control over. I think he’s more than dangerous.”

“So am I.” Sebastian crouched, peering into the darkness.

Something arose out of the weeds like a specter, a shadow in human form. It raised its arms in a crucifix pose, presenting a full frontal profile. He looked like a scarecrow staked to a pole, or maybe a filthy Jesus. But they all knew who this was.

“Squeeze one off, you’ll set me free,” taunted the voice from the weeds.

Sebastian turned his head with a slight movement. “Chubby, you seeing this?”

“Yeah, I got a bead on him.”

Something was on the man’s shoulder, an indistinct lump. The lump moved. Every so often two small points of light reflected back from the headlight beams. Animal eyes.

“Now I know where the opossum came from,” said Sebastian. “He’s wearing one like a piece of costume jewelry.”

The man made a few steps toward them, arms still extended. “Go ahead—shoot. Remove this pitiful piece of trash from society. I can hear the accolades now—do what has to be done.”

Chubby raised his weapon in full combat stance, but his arms were shaking. “Don’t take another step,” he warned. “Or I’ll take you out like a cheap date. Your damn pet killed my Gretchen.”

“Always promises,” said the man, pushing through the weeds toward them. “It’s three against one. Pointing guns, too. For your information that mutt was beyond its prime. You should thank me. It was painless.”

Chubby tensed up, drawn like a tight wire. A hammer cocked.

“Don’t do it, Chubby!” Avy screamed. “He’s rousing you to anger on purpose.”

Sebastian slapped some sweat from his forehead, then blinked several times. “What the hell do you want with us, man? We haven’t done anything to you. You’ve been stalking us. There’s no reason for it. Just leave and there won’t be any trouble.”

Avy stepped backward, pulling on Sebastian’s shoulder. “Don’t do this,” she said. “Can’t you see this is what he wants? He’s orchestrating the whole thing, making us fall right into his trap. Let’s call the police. Please, please, let them take care of it.”

Sebastian mumbled, “He wants us to drop him. Assisted suicide. That’s
got
to be the reason.”

Avy watched terrified while the figure approached to close the distance. She couldn’t be sure what the man’s motives were. Assisted suicide might have been the reason for his persistence, but she felt that something else lay behind the true meaning for his appearance. It still didn’t matter.

Sebastian dropped his weapon. “Okay,” he called out. “Have it your way. We’ll see how you like it in jail.”

“Go ahead, call the cops,” the man dared. “You should see how I clear out a cell.” He let out a ghoulish laugh, continuing to move closer with each step.

The three of them broke off in a dead run for the parking lot. They retreated to the side of the running car. Chubby shut off the engine, locking the door, but he left the headlights on. They made a quick dash for the motel room and bolted themselves inside. Sebastian called the Raleigh Police Department, explaining the situation. Avy kept a watch through the curtains. She could see the man standing in the weeds. He had dropped his arms down, but remained in a defiant stance in the glare of the headlights, oblivious to whomever might see him.

Ten minutes later, a police cruiser pulled into the motel parking lot. Avy watched the haunting figure fade into the dark. The patrolman exited his vehicle and shined a light on Chubby’s car.

Avy summoned the officer with a frantic wave. He met her at the door after a brisk walk.

“Are you the party that reported the disturbance?” asked the tall cop.

Sebastian served as the spokesman. “We did.” He explained the reason for the call. He left out the part about the suicide wish, not wanting to complicate things or come off like some half-assed psychologist. He did mention that Chubby’s dog had been frightened to death in a confrontation with the mysterious man. The officer recorded each of their names on a field report. He thanked them before he walked across the parking and out into the weeds.

The threesome waited in a nervous vigil in front of the motel. They watched the outline of the blue uniform disappear past the end of the headlights. They heard nothing that resembled raised voices or a scuffle. Tense seconds rolled into minutes. Still, the officer did not reappear with the suspect in custody. A half hour passed, a very long time to apprehend a suspect.

“He’s got him cuffed up by now,” explained Chubby. “Maybe he’s giving him a good cussin’ out, too.”

“This long?” Sebastian asked, doubt evident in his voice.

The patrol cruiser door had been left open. The radio squawked out call letters. The message repeated. “Baker three-five, what’s your twenty and status?”

They waited a quarter of an hour before they decided to creep across the parking lot. Sebastian aimed his light into the tall weeds. Chubby took the light from him and said, “Wait here.” He walked into the tangled shrubbery, vanishing in a thick curtain of darkness.

In the next moment, a shriek cut through the night air, followed by the sound of thumping footsteps. Chubby burst from the weeds, running with all his might. He passed by the couple, headed for the police cruiser. Once inside the car, Chubby spoke into the dash mic with frantic words.

“Officer down, officer down! I repeat, Baker three-five is down. Request immediate assistance at—” Chubby gave the address of the motel then acknowledged the callback, verifying what had happened.

Avy ran up to Chubby, smashing into the open door. “Dear God, what’s going on?”

Chubby slid out of the cruiser, holding onto the doorframe for support. His breath came in rasps, while his eyes would not center in their sockets.

“He doesn’t have a pulse.” Chubby coughed. “He’s just lying there face down, holding on to his handcuffs. I think he’s dead.”

Chapter 20

The interrogation room in the Raleigh Police Department claimed no more space than a large walk-in closet. The detective sitting across from them seemed oblivious to the tight quarters. He had one thing on his mind—the facts. They had not been brought in because they were suspects. They had volunteered to have their statements recorded regarding the “officer fatality.”

The detective, a large man, had a scar on his bald pate that resembled a worn groove in an old piece of luggage. He seemed calm, but concerned while he filled in the boxes on the report form. The first few questions he’d asked were very soft-spoken. His aftershave might have been the harshest thing about him. He hadn’t looked up for the last five minutes. An ID card hung from his neck on a lanyard: Detective Tony Bulmer. Two other uniformed officers stood against the wall, very still and quiet.