Coyote Gorgeous (2 page)

Surprised by the woman’s
aggressive reaction, Madison resisted the urge to step back. To
diffuse a potentially volatile situation, she said calmly,
"
I’m very sorry. We’ll do everything
we can to find what did this.
"

As if regretting her
outburst, the woman sighed and her shoulders sagged.
"
Never mind. This
way.
"

Mrs. Esteban stepped out
onto the porch and Madison followed her around the side of the
house, stepping around pails and water hoses as they made their way
toward the back. Madison stifled a sneeze as the pollen from wild
flowers growing under the faucet tickled her nostrils. Positioned
at ten o’clock, a brand new stable with a corrugated roof and fresh
white paint sheltered a long row of vacant stalls. Above the door
of the closed room on the end of the structure, hung a
painted
Tack Room
sign framed with horseshoes.

"
You didn’t
touch anything, did you?
"

"
I left
everything as I found it, like they told me on the
phone.
"
The ranch woman led
Madison toward a ramada, in this case four posts holding a trellis
roof, shaded by a pink vine of queen’s wreath crawling up the
lattice.
"
This is bad for
business. We need our customers to feel safe leaving their animals
with us. The foal was mine, and very valuable. Such a
waste.
"

"
Surely you
had it insured.
"

The woman sighed heavily
and dabbed at a tear.
"
It’s
not about the money. I loved my babies.
"

"
I
understand.
"
Madison loved
animals, too. So much so, she’d sworn to protect wildlife as a
vocation.

"
I can’t
believe they are gone.
"
Mrs.
Esteban stopped under the ramada, as if afraid to tread any
further.

Stepping onto the brown Saltillo tile,
Madison gazed over what passed for a meadow in the desert, half
gravel, half grass. But in the meager pasture, a few feet away, a
bay foal and two large Rottweilers lay mangled and very dead. Blood
splattered the turf, dirt and rocks around them. Madison steeled
herself against the gruesome sight.

"
Here they
are.
"
Mrs. Esteban barely
glanced at the carnage in front of them, her shoulders shaken by
sobs.
"
My babies! My only
family.
"

Babies?
Surprised, Madison blurted aloud,
"
These are large, strapping dogs,
males, not easily overcome.
"

She did not mention aggressive. This
was no typical mauling. Madison gazed beyond the grisly scene at
the stretch of living desert. In the distance, the Black Mountains
jutted from the valley floor, harboring a fuzz of spring green. The
culprit was hiding out there.

"
I don’t know
how the foal got out of his stall.
"
The woman furrowed her brow.
"
Pablo told me he locked everything
last night, as usual.
"

Madison took mental notes
for her report.
"
Did you hear
anything? Didn’t the dogs bark?
"

"
I take night
time pain pills so I can sleep.
"
The woman rubbed her denim-clad shoulder.
"
Rheumatoid arthritis. But before
bed, I went for a stroll and saw dry lightning overhead. I heard
thunder, and coyotes howling.
"
She nodded gravely.
"
It
was
the
full moon.
"

Madison refrained from shaking her
head and bit her lips to prevent another blurt. Coyotes howled at
night, full moon or not.

Leaving Mrs. Esteban under the ramada,
Madison approached the foal carcass, careful not to disturb any
tracks or telltales on the ground. The body already buzzed with
flies in the rising heat, the stench of congealed blood and guts
filled her nostrils.

Kneeling near the foal, Madison opened
her kit and filled small vials with samples of blood and tissue
from the mangled wounds, hoping to get some saliva from the bites.
Then she placed a ruler next to the deep slashes and snapped
pictures for her report.

She glanced up toward Mrs.
Esteban.
"
The claw and tooth
marks indicate unusual strength. It takes a large animal, maybe a
mountain lion, to inflict such wounds.
"

"
A mountain
lion?
"
Mrs. Esteban turned
away from the scene.

Madison went through the
same sampling procedure with each dog. Once finished taking
pictures, Madison rose.
"
The
killer didn’t go for the neck but for the soft part of the
abdomen.
"

Mrs. Esteban turned back
with interest.
"
What does it
mean?
"

"
It kills for
the sake of killing. Such a bloodthirsty creature, rabid or not,
will have to be put down before it kills
again.
"
Most bothersome was
the fact that the beast did not eat the prey, or drag the carcasses
away to eat them later. Madison had a dangerous animal on the
loose. The hard ground didn’t lend itself to tracks, but Madison
noticed a paw indentation, too large for a dog or a coyote, and the
wrong shape.
"
I’ve got a paw
print.
"

"
A mountain
lion?
"
Mrs. Esteban ventured
closer.

"
Not likely.
Lion paws have only four pads. This track shows five, like the wide
back paw of a bear, but more elongated.
"
Madison took digital snapshots. She compared the
depth of the tracks with her own footprints on the same
ground.
"
The animal weighs
about three hundred pounds.
"

Mrs. Esteban’s body shuddered, but she
made no comments.

Madison found more partial tracks.
Instead of going back to the desert, the beast seemed to have
wandered toward the next property. Shading her eyes against the
morning sun, Madison surveyed the neighbor’s house in the
distance.

Beyond a low tree line along a dry
riverbed, rose a tall A-frame structure, not unlike a church
steeple, with shiny glass and metal panes on a steep, shiny roof.
Skylights? Solar panels? The futuristic architecture clashed with
the old west style of the area. The owner had an acute sense of
identity.

Madison closed her kit and
stepped into the shade of the ramada where a dark, stubby Latino
man with a grey moustache had joined Mrs. Esteban. Sweat stained
his yellow T-shirt as he fidgeted with the wide brim straw hat in
his hands.
Probably
Pablo
.

Madison nodded a
greeting.
"
Officer Madison
Huntley. Pablo, right? Did you hear or see anything last
night?
"

Pablo’s face took on more
color.
"
I see
Chupacabra!
"
The strong
Spanish accent indicated a Mexican immigrant.
"
I get the gun.
"
Still holding his sombrero, the man mimed the
action of shooting a rifle.
"
But when I come back, Chupacabra is
gone.
"

Mrs. Esteban
scowled.
"
Don’t spread such
stories, Pablo.
"

"
Chupacabra?
"
Madison
chuckled.
"
The legendary
blood-sucking creature? Four-foot tall? Hairless? With a spiked
spine and a long snout? Hops on two legs?
"
She couldn’t help the sarcastic tone and shook
her head, amazed that anyone could take such tales
seriously.

Pablo’s eyes widened and
he nodded frantically.
"
I
tell you I see Chupacabra
...
is not legend
...
is
real
...
big, like a
man.
"

"
Every bit of
so-called evidence of the Chupacabra ended up being large coyotes
with severe cases of mange.
"
Madison regained her professional composure, but obviously,
Pablo had seen something that scared him.

"
Shut up,
Pablo!
"
The sharp order from
the boss lady brought immediate silence. She scowled and pointed
toward the stalls.
"
Don’t you
have work to do?
"

Pablo shrugged then pounded the straw
hat on his head and stomped away mumbling in Spanish.

Mrs. Esteban smiled an
apology.
"
You have to excuse
him. Pablo also believes he’s seen aliens and
spaceships.
"

Madison nodded but
wondered why the woman had reacted so strongly to mere
superstition.
"
I’ll radio in
to have the carcasses removed.
"

"
Do you have
to take them all?
"
The dark
brown eyes implored.
"
Can I
keep the dogs? I’d like to bury them close to the
house.
"

"
I guess we
can manage with only the foal.
"

The woman offered a
grateful smile.
"
Thank you. I
hope you find what did this and keep it from killing
again.
"

"
Rest assured
we’ll do everything we can.
"
And that’s all Madison could promise. She motioned with her
chin toward the futuristic house, two hundred yards to the
east.
"
Do you know your
neighbors well?
"

Mrs. Esteban
frowned.
"
Rarely talk to him.
An artist from the Reservation. Moved here last year. Keeps to
himself.
"

Madison scanned the
gruesome scene a last time, making sure she didn’t miss
anything.
"
I guess I’m
finished here.
"
She and the
woman retraced their steps around the hacienda, toward the front of
the property.
"
Do you mind if
I leave my truck here while I look around?
"

"
As long as
you don’t stay all day. I’m expecting customers this
afternoon.
"
As they reached
the front of the house, the woman pushed the front door open and
paused. A black cat coming out hissed at her and scampered away
toward the barn. Mrs. Esteban shrugged then turned to
Madison.
"
And please, keep me
posted. I want regular updates. Whatever you find, I want to
know.
"

"
Sure.
"
Madison nodded
but found Mrs. Esteban’s insistence unusual. Then again, the world
was full of strange people.

Mrs. Esteban turned away and walked
through the door, into the cool darkness of the house.

*****

Madison went to the truck,
stepped in, turned on the air conditioning and opened her laptop.
After typing a preliminary report, she dialed headquarters on her
cell phone.
"
Huntley,
here. Can you pick up a foal carcass on Cave Creek Road? It’s for
the lab. Assignment 5634.
"

"
Sure can
do.
"

"
Make sure
they do a necropsy. I found strange tracks, and I could use a
second opinion.
"

"
Ten
four.
"

"
Thanks.
"

Leaving the truck in the shade of the
sycamore, Madison walked a wide circle around the corral, hoping to
find more tracks. Sure enough, she spotted a perfect paw
indentation in the sand of the dry riverbed separating the Esteban
ranch and the A-frame property. The same large hind paw. She
snapped a picture. Strangely, she found no front paw tracks. Did
the animal walk on two hind legs, like a dancing bear? Strange. She
loosened the collar of her uniform shirt. The sun burned hotter
already.

As she followed the tracks toward the
neighbor’s house, the violence of the attacks and the unusual
prints bothered Madison. Could this be a sinister prank? A
disgruntled neighbor taking revenge over a dispute? Imitating an
attack by a mythical monster to avoid being sued? Had he worn a
costume?