Westbound on 1-80
A sharp rattle snapped Cole out of a heavy, dreamless sleep. He sat up, looked around, and saw a few smudges of pink and purple in the sky. The ground was flat and barren enough that he wouldn’t have been too alarmed if Paige was asleep behind the wheel with a brick holding the gas pedal down.
She was awake, although the bags under her eyes made it clear she was struggling to stay that way. Taking notice of him, she looked over and said, “Welcome to Iowa.”
“What time is it?”
“Early. You want some breakfast?”
Just as he was about to give Paige a hard time for always wanting food, he realized his stomach was gurgling almost loud enough to be heard over the engine and radio. Something from the sixties was coming through the speakers, but he was too groggy to think of the singer’s name, and Paige had the volume down low enough to keep him from hearing anything more than a few murmured melodies. “Breakfast sounds good. How about some sort of muffin-egg sandwich from somewhere?”
“Perfect.”
“How long was I out?”
“About two and a half hours.”
“That’s all?” Cole growled. “No wonder I feel like I could drop off again.”
“Well, you’ve got until I find somewhere to stop for breakfast. I need some sleep too and it’s not a lot further to KC.”
Cole stretched his arms and looked behind him. Daniels was lying on his side on the backseat. His arms and legs looked strange curled around him, but not as strange as the blackened bald spot that took up most of his scalp. “I don’t suppose he can drive?”
“He’s only just gotten to sleep,” Paige said. “He was on the phone most of the night, talking to his girlfriend. He’s gonna be working hard once I get him set up, so it’s best if he gets all the rest he can.”
Lowering his voice, Cole asked, “So Nymar really have girlfriends?”
“I only met her once, but she’s really nice. She was almost a quick snack for another Nymar last night, so she needed plenty of comforting.”
“I never pictured a Nymar having a girlfriend. That just seems so…I don’t know…normal.”
“Lots of Nymar are pretty normal. They feed on people they know, or work out some sort of trick for hunting. When I was training, me and another guy found this Nymar in St. Louis who used to run a three card monte game outside of a pool hall. He’d let himself get caught cheating just to start a fight. During the ruckus, he’d scratch and bite and get enough blood to hold him over for a few days.”
Cole winced. “Feeding in public, huh? That’s not good.”
Shrugging, Paige told him, “We let it pass. He was on the receiving end of most of the beatings, and they were handed to him by loudmouthed jackasses who had something to prove outside of a pool hall. None of them wound up dead, and the Nymar was actually pretty slick. Creativity should never be discouraged, especially when it involves creatively beating up loudmouthed jackasses.”
It wasn’t much longer before Paige pulled off of I-80 to fill the gas tank and snag a few breakfast sandwiches from a drive-through window. Before heading back to the highway, Cole got behind the wheel so she could curl up to get some rest. Daniels woke up for some coffee and then got to work on his laptop. Twenty minutes later Daniels needed to stop for a bathroom break.
“Vampires still need to use the can,” Cole grumbled. “Learn something new every day.”
The car was quiet as it idled in front of a rest stop. Cole closed his eyes, brought a foam cup to his lips and held it there so the coffee steam could make its way to his nose.
“You ever fight a puppy?”
Paige asked the question in a soft, breathy voice that made Cole think she was talking in her sleep. He tipped the cup back and sipped his coffee.
“Cole?”
“Yeah.”
“Have you ever fought a puppy?”
“Why?” he asked. “Are they running wild in Topeka?”
She coughed and nestled into her seat. Just when it seemed she was going to drift back to whatever she’d been dreaming, she said, “Sure you have.”
“Do you realize you’re saying this out loud?”
Lifting her head from where it had been resting upon her folded arms, Paige turned toward him, but not enough to actually look at him. “You know what I mean. Haven’t you ever wrestled with a puppy or let a kitten swat and scratch your hand? They’ve got those little soft teeth and their claws don’t have enough muscle behind them to really do any damage.”
“I had a kitten that used to climb up my leg,” Cole told her. “He went all the way up to my shoulder and laid there. Once he got bigger, he really tore me up trying to do that.”
She fell silent for a second, keeping her head raised and her eyes cast toward the window without really seeing through the glass. “Puppies just sort of gnaw on you,” she mused. “Their teeth feel like rubber or wet plastic. It’s cute, but you can see the concentration in their eyes. They really think they’re goin’ to town and messing you up. That’s how I felt last night. Fighting that Full Blood, I was just some puppy with bad intentions and no teeth. It’s been a long time since I felt that way. I didn’t like it back then and I hate it now.”
“Well, for a bunch of puppies, we did pretty good,” Cole told her. “The last time two Skinners were in the same room as that Full Blood, neither one of them made it out alive.”
“We’re only alive because of Daniels.”
“True, but he’s not at all like a puppy.”
“Because he’s Nymar?” Paige asked.
“No, because he’s bald and stabs people in the face.”
Paige’s head drooped back down to where it could rest against the door. Her shoulders seemed to curl up around her ears, which made Cole wonder if he’d picked the wrong time to make a lame joke. When he heard her start to laugh, he felt a lot better.
Daniels was set up in a hotel just off of I-35 in Kearney, Missouri. It was on the outskirts of the greater Kansas City area, which was only a short drive to the southwest. The room wasn’t much, but it had enough space for him to work. After promising some results later that night, he turned his back to Paige and shuffled into the room. Nymar might not melt in the sunlight, but this particular member of the species looked as if he really wanted to.
“You can talk to Sally if you want,” she told him. “Just make sure she doesn’t find out where you are. And don’t use the room phone.”
That perked him up a little, but not much.
Before long Cole was driving head first into the moving jungle that was morning rush hour in Kansas City. Even after trudging along for almost an hour, they didn’t make much progress. As if the sheer number of cars and crazed drivers wasn’t enough to contend with, he had another set of obstacles strategically placed around the multiple lanes of traffic. “What the hell is the deal with the construction?”
“Potholes don’t fix themselves,” Paige said as she dialed another number on her cell phone.
“I know that, but we’ve been sitting at a dead stop for half an hour. I see blinking lights. I see cones. You know what I don’t see? Workers! Is anyone out here doing anything?”
“They’re somewhere.”
“Sure,” Cole griped. “That’s what they want you to believe.”
“And if you paid taxes here, you’d have every reason to complain. Since you don’t, just shut up and let me make my call.”
After a few minutes of choppy conversation over her phone, Paige snapped it shut victoriously. “We’ve got an appointment!” she declared.
“With who?”
“Remember that cop named Stanze? The new girl answering the phones for MEG got a contact number and I finally got a message through to him! We’re set to meet him for lunch. He even said he’d take us around to the spots where those animals were sighted.”
Cole nodded. “I could have gotten the number for you, but whatever. So what do we do until lunch?”
“Let’s worry about getting downtown before you start trying to ration your free time.”
The traffic inched along all the way to Crown Center. It would have taken a row of topless bikini models lining the streets to make it a destination worth the hassle of getting there, but it was a nice place all the same. The buildings along Pershing Road had a futuristic, glassy look to them complete with walkways crossing above the street in several places. Cole couldn’t take in many more sights than that because he had his hands full trying to drive without getting killed. By the time he found a spot to park, he practically had to peel his fingers from the grooves they’d dug into the steering wheel. For someone who’d become accustomed to driving in Chicago, that was saying a lot.
As soon as he turned the engine off, heat seeped into the Cavalier from all sides like an invading army that had been waiting for the right moment to make its big push. “Where to?” he asked.
Since the air conditioner barely managed to turn the air lukewarm, Paige hung her arm out the window. “He said he’d come by to pick us up.” Before long her phone rang. She answered it and immediately perked up. “Officer Stanze? We’re a little early, but we’re here…That’s right. The Cavalier with the Illinois plates…All right. Thanks.” Hanging up, she looked over to Cole and said, “He’s almost here.”
When Cole saw the red and blue lights flashing nearby, he swore under his breath. There were no fire hydrants or important signs nearby, but the police cruiser separated itself from the traffic on Pershing and headed his way.
“Just take it easy,” Paige said as she patted his arm. “If anyone asks, we are not carrying firearms in the glove compartment.”
After pulling to a stop behind the Cav, a policeman who looked to be anywhere in his late twenties to early thirties stepped out. He had the build of a football player and carried enough gear on his belt to make a superhero jealous. Judging by the spotless uniform and friendly smile he wore, one of his powers was immunity to the summer heat. “Is Paige Strobel in that car with you?”
“Yes,” Cole replied.
“I’m Officer Stanze. We spoke on the phone.”
Paige leaned toward the driver side window. “Officer Stanze? That was quick.”
“My shift’s over, so I was just waiting for you to get here.”
“Oh. I was expecting someone a lot more…never mind. I’m Paige.”
“Right. So you two are with the Ectological Group?”
“Yep. I’ve been with MEG for a few years and Cole’s new.”
“Cole, huh?” Stanze asked as he offered his hand. When Cole tried to shake it, Stanze shook his head and asked, “Mind if I see some ID?”
“We don’t carry badges or anything,” Cole said.
Paige took something from her pocket and placed it into Stanze’s hand. It was one of the few business cards she carried around that she hadn’t designed herself. Apparently, MEG offered more benefits than a phone service. “You can call the number on there if you like,” she said. “Just ask for Jarvis.”
Taking the card from her, Stanze examined it for a few seconds and then tucked it into his shirt pocket. “That’s the same number I called when I spotted that UFO a year or so back. Sorry if I seem suspicious, but messy cases attract all sorts of crazies. Not that you or your friend are crazy, but would you mind answering a question for me?”
“Ask away,” Paige said.
“What’s the stick for?”
Cole reflexively glanced toward the spear propped within his reach behind Paige’s seat when she answered, “It’s a divining rod. You can find anything, from spiritual activity to a well, from a hundred yards away.”
“A divining rod, huh?” Stanze said. “Takes all sorts, I guess. That’s Penn Valley Park over there. Some of those strange calls we talked about before came from there. Most of ’em were weird animal sightings, but we haven’t been able to spot anything ourselves. There’s a good amount of nutcases living in that park, so the calls are probably just them trying to get some attention.”
Paige found a notepad somewhere among the garbage on the floor at her feet and flipped it open. “What kind of animals were sighted?” she asked in her best reporter impression.
Stanze glanced toward the park. Only a few trees could be seen from where they were, but he pointed as if the place was laid out in front of him. “Some homeless guy named Alvin swore a giant dog with big teeth ran past him over at the west end of the park. He said it moved like a cougar or some sort of mountain lion, but the animal I found definitely has a snout like a dog.”
“Like one of those pit bulls on the news?” Cole asked.
Shaking his head, Stanze replied, “That’s in North Terrace Park and it’s not a pit bull. My cousin Terry has pit bulls and they’re not as big as the things these people are seeing.”
“You think this is connected to the people that were killed?”
Stanze pulled in a breath and chewed on it for a second. “Hard to say. People tend to get crazy during the summer and this is a hot one. We’ve been establishing a solid presence in the areas where those attacks happened, but haven’t turned up any more bodies than what was on TV.”
“Have you found any suspects?” Paige asked.
“It’s an ongoing investigation,” Stanze replied. “Every-thing I’ve told you has already been released and I can’t say anything more. I can show you where those animal attacks happened, though. You can finish your interview back at the station, where I’m keeping that body, and then we can catch some lunch. How’s that sound?”
Paige flipped her notebook shut and said, “That would be great. I’ll come with you while Cole has a look at this park.”
Glancing down at Cole as if he’d forgotten about him, Stanze grinned and said, “I wouldn’t suggest drinking from any wells you find with that stick.”
“Thanks,” Cole said uneasily. “Should I bother looking for this Alvin guy?”
“Sure. He’s not hard to find. Hangs out in the southeast corner of the park under a little bridge that crosses Penn Valley Drive. Long hair. Approximately a hundred and fifty pounds. Caucasian. Early fifties. Lots of black tattoos on his neck and arms.”
“Black tattoos?” Cole asked.
“That’s right. No real pattern. Just a bunch of lines that’re probably covering a whole lot of needle tracks. He’s not dangerous, though. Just some poor old junkie. You have any trouble, just give us a call.”
“I should be fine.”
“So you’re riding with me, Paige?”
“Sure thing.”
Officer Stanze gave them a curt nod and walked back to his car.
After the policeman moved away from the window, Paige said, “He seems nice. A lot younger than I thought he would be. I know I haven’t slept much, but I don’t look too bad, do I?”
“No,” Cole grunted. “What interview was he talking about?”
“I told him I was coming to interview him for the MEG newsletter,” Paige said as she fussed with a few stray pieces of hair sticking out from the mostly disheveled whole. “He’s a fan, so that worked out really well. I asked him to show us where those people were supposedly attacked by dogs so I can write up a story. It was when you were bitching about the traffic. Check out that park and see what you can find. If there are Half Breeds around, that’s the sort of place they’d make a den.”
“You seriously want me to look for Half Breeds in this park. Alone?”
“This park and the other one, North Terrace Park.” As Cole fumbled for something to say, she told him, “You’re gonna have to be on your own sometimes. Remember that run we made to Indiana?”
“Yeah, but that was just one little Chupacabra and it only ate dogs,” Cole said.
“But you found the den, so you know what to look for. You can handle some sleeping Half Breeds.”
“Oh, so they’ll be sleeping?”
Climbing out of the car, Paige said, “They don’t like the sun, remember? We need to find as many as we can before more people are killed or turned. You’re ready to head out on your own for a bit, so just wander the parks and use your radar to zero in on any hot spots.”
Stanze poked his head through the window of his cruiser and asked, “You want to do this some other time?”
“No,” Paige replied. “I’ll be right with ya.” She gripped the Cav’s door as if she was going to tear it off. “All right, Cole. Let’s see if I can spell it out for you. There’s a park over there where a bunch of animals who look like inside-out Dobermans have probably made a den. Where do you think you should look for them? Under a picnic table where a bunch of kids would have already found them? What about by a water fountain? Maybe they’re on the swings!”
“All right, all right. I get it.”
“You’ve seen Half Breed dens. Just look for a hole by some trees off the beaten path. It’ll be big enough for a man-sized thing to crawl into and is probably hidden by leaves or branches or something. Use what you already know and let the scars do the rest. It’s just something you’ve got to go out and do, Cole, so go out and do it.”
“What if I run into trouble?” he asked.
“Deal with it.”
He gritted his teeth and was about to snap back at her when he realized he was just looking for someone to hold his hand. As soon as he thought of it that way, the little drill instructor voice in his head called him a few degrading names and then everything was fine. “All right,” he said. “I’ll look around, but I’ll save the good stuff for when you decide to stop flirting with the cop. What about Alvin?”
“He should be easier to find,” Paige said as she moved away from the window. “Just listen for the high-pitched singing.” By the time she’d walked to the cruiser, Officer Stanze was holding the door open.