Tales of Chills and Thrills: The Mystery Thriller Horror Box Set (7 Mystery Thriller Horror Novels) (141 page)

I plopped down in a chair smiling at Kate while I told her of the rabbit family scrambling around our campsite.

“You think they were looking for an invite to dinner?” she asked.

“As long as they behave, I’m okay with that. But they appeared to be over sexed. I mean really oversexed and I don’t want you embarrassed, m’dear, as a result.” I smiled coyly.

“Yeah, right. Those poor little dears. It’s getting dark and they’re out there looking for a place to party,” she said. “You gonna start the fire and get ta’ cooking us vittles?” She was talking like one of the Clampetts, which was something I hadn’t heard her do before.

So I chimed in, “Ain’t nothing but magic Ellie Mae; and I think you’d better be fetching Jethro so’s he can be callin’ in tha critters afore the foxes git ‘em.”

We were laughing — something we hadn’t done much of lately.

Kate began preparing a salad, using food provided by the people from whom we rented the mobile home. They also generously staked us to chicken breasts and seasoning and sodas, coffee and the basics to get us started on our camping adventure.

I fired up the grill with chicken breasts and seasoning in hand. As I watched the propane flames heat up the grill I heard a noise that startled me, and I was surprised to see a deer standing not more than fifteen feet away, staring me down. “Hello Bambi, where’s Thumper?” I said with a chuckle.

Kate poked her head out the door, asking me who I was speaking with. I nodded toward the deer and she laughed as she said, “He’s cute. Will he be joining us for dinner?”

As she spoke he turned and ran off into the gathering darkness.

“Now look at what you’ve done, woman,” I said in mock scolding. “You’ve offended our guest!”

I ckecked on the chicken, and as I did I heard the bushes rustle. I looked in the direction of the noise expecting to see my deer buddy return… but saw nothing.

The wind had kicked up a bit and I attributed the rustling in the bushes to that, until I thought I heard a hushed voice whispering.

“Who’s there?” I said loudly.

Kate came to the door again. “Who are you talking to?”

“I don’t know. I thought I heard someone saying something.” I pointed toward the darkness that began at the edge of the outside light from the mobile home.

“Something… something like what?”

“Nothing really, just a voice. Probably the wind blowing through the trees or maybe coming from another campsite,” I said as I took the chicken from the grill and went inside the rig to join Kate as we sat down to a very nice meal.

“Some Merlot, my love?” She smiled, holding up the bottle.

“Only if I can take advantage of you after you’ve had a couple glasses of that stuff.” I winked a big wink and threw in a nod too, pointing at the bottle in her hand.

After dinner we went back outside for the last bit of wine and some conversation under the stars of the California sky. We planned our trip from there to the next campsite north of San Francisco and the wine country of the Napa Valley. We mapped the route and decided to call it a night.

I locked the door behind us and turned off the outside light. Then I thought better of it and turned it back on. It didn’t take long for Kate to ask why I had done it. I explained to her that I was afraid of the dark. Only a mild exaggeration at that point.

“I’ll protect you,” she assured me as she mock-pounded her chest.

“Sure, sure,” I joked. “Just keep a flashlight handy in case we lose the light.” I bowed and said, “And now ‘tis my time to bid you, bid us, a fond goodnight.”

“How did I ever wind up with you?” she said, almost to herself.

“Um. I
heard
that,” I said, getting into bed.

“Oh no,” Kate chuckled as she also climbed into bed.

“This is the life, my darlin’,” was my last comment before I quietly fell asleep.

We awoke at the same time to the brightness of the early morning. At first I was a bit disoriented, but that passed as soon as I looked out the window at the trees half-encircling the rig realizing where I was and how I got there.

Coffee and honey bran muffins hit the spot as we sat outside, enjoying the morning sun. It was amazing to me how different I felt about life in general on sun-filled days, especially in the morning. Things seemed to make more sense and there was nothing to fear as long as I could see what was in front of me and a sense of what was behind. It was only on rainy days and dark nights that the weirdness crept back into my world, so I needed the recharge and reassurance of this beautiful morning — and as it came it was more than welcomed by me and my wife.

Kate checked the map as she said, “Let’s get cleaned up and hit the road. We’re bound for glory.”

“And where is that, my love?”

“What?”

“Glory.”

“Just before we leave California.” She pointed to the map and to the town of Glory nestled in the tall trees of northern California.

I showered and shaved, then went about readying the motor home for the trip. As soon as Kate had finished her shower I disconnected the water, sewer and electric lines. The motor was a near-silent purr, which was unusual for a rig this big. I drove through the campground very cautiously, wanting to keep the dust down and to prevent the surprise of people or animals walking into the road ahead of me.

Getting back on the highway was easy and we were off heading due north toward the Big Sur and the incredible forests of northern California where camping was born; or so we were told, by somebody on TV or in the movies.

Kate said that we had enough groceries to last for another three days or so. That made it easier since we didn’t have to negotiate mall marts or shopping center parking lots. The road was filled with all sorts of vehicles and I stayed hugging the right side, with irritated drivers following behind waiting for an opportunity to pass.

My phone rang and the voice of Kevin Maroso greeted me. “How’s your trip going?”

“We’re having quite the time, my friend,” I answered smugly.

“Where are you?” he asked.

“Approaching San Fran. Why?”

“Because I have a suggestion for you and Kate, when you stop for the night, find yourselves a country setting and watch the sky. The moon will be new tonight and there will be an incredible meteor shower around ten or so this evening on the West Coast. Do you have the camera I loaned you?”

“Sure. But we haven’t had a chance to use it,” I answered somewhat apologetically.

“Why not?”

“Well, we just got started on our trip, and—”

“And what?” He cut me off. “Wasn’t it dark there last night?”

“That’s rhetorical. What’s your point Kevin?” I was becoming a bit annoyed with the direction this brief conversation was starting to take and his tone of voice. Was this trip for us, or for Kevin?

“The direction it needs to go… here, Anthony wants to talk with you. See if he has any rhetorical questions for you. He just got in from Arizona to help with putting the presentation site together.”

“Teller… hey, Anthony here. What was that phone number you had when you were a kid?”

“Ulster 5-8076… why?”

“Last night I heard from one of my Iraq lieutenants. Teller? He had a message for you.”

“For me? What’s his name, Anthony?”

“Mester, Lieutenant Mester.”

“I don’t recognize the name. How’s he know me?”

“That’s what I’m wondering, Tell.” His voice turned unusually serious almost instantly.

“When’s the last time you saw him, Anthony?”

“When I escorted his body home, from Iraq,” he answered with a voice that was fading.

“What?” I pulled the rig off at the exit I’d just approached and continued talking. “How did he reach you? Was it in a dream?” I was stunned.

“No it was by phone… and you are not going to believe this… the number he called from? It was Ulster 5-8076.” Anthony went on tersely, “He said to tell you that they are all around you, at night. You need to be careful. They are trying to cause you to say the name and that mustn’t happen. For the sake of all, here, and there, it mustn’t ever happen. That is what he said. Verbatim.”

“Did he say anything else?”

“No… Jesus… I’ll be honest, Tell. I almost shit my pants when I heard his voice,” he said. “I didn’t have the presence of mind to ask him anything before he hung up. I can’t believe this is happening.”

“Do me a favor, Anthony, and write down everything you remember about this. Everything, the way you felt, if there were other voices in the background. Everything.”

“Okay, Tell. Be careful, man. This is some weird shit and I think it means something is coming. It’s like a scary movie. I swear. And you and your wife are out there on your own.”

“We’ll be careful. Wish you were with us right now. It’s been a long time since things have been normal for us and now it’s getting to the point of needing protection,” I said with growing concern.

Kevin got back on the phone. “See, wiseass? If there
is
something out there, you might be able to get a picture or two of them.”

“So I have their pictures. What do I do then… give ‘em to the police? Maybe have them arrested?”

“You kidding?” He sounded disbelieving as he went on. “If you can capture them in a photo just think how many words that’ll be worth. Maybe more than just a thousand… you think?”

“What do I do? Stick the camera outside at night and just start clicking?” I asked.

“Yes, Teller! Just start clicking. And believe me you might see something, something that just might knock you on your ass, my man.
On your ever lovin’ ass
.”

“What are you talking about, Kevin? I need specificity — what is it you know about this that you aren’t telling me?”

“Secret, Teller. It’s a secret that has been kept throughout history, but like all secrets it’s becoming apparent in bits and pieces. I am offering you a piece. Take it, because you will soon need it.”

Kate motioned me to look forward at a black car coming toward us. She pointed to her eyes and then at the car with a ‘look at this’ signal.

I did a questioning shoulder gesture to her without interrupting my conversation. “Okay Kevin, I’ll try that this evening. With all that’s happened to me of late, this should be commonplace.” I ended the call and asked Kate about the car she was so focused on.

“I’ve seen that car several times since we left LA. I
know
it’s the same; the sun screen on the driver’s side is always down.”

“Is the driver a man or woman?”

“I think it’s a woman. The windows are so tinted that I can’t be sure.”

“What makes you think it’s a woman”?

“The way she drives.” Kate said.

“Doesn’t that sound a little sexist?” I asked.

“Why do you say that?” She questioned.

“You are commenting on her driving style.”

“Yes I am doing that.” She stated with a bit of an edge in her voice.

“Well you being a woman and all.” I said with foot starting to protrude from my mouth.

“All what? She’s driving in a kickass way.”

“Oh… well, silly me for thinking anything else,” I said apologetically.

“No need to apologize for thinking like a man.”

I started the rig and headed back onto the highway. The black car didn’t move.

“Kate, Anthony just told me that he received a call from his former lieutenant with the caller ID showing Ulster 5-8076 as the point of origin. The thing is, the lieutenant was killed in Iraq.”

“I have to ask the mandatory question, Tell: did he dream this or was it real?” She was in the same ballpark as me on this.

“Honey… I don’t know what is real anymore, but it didn’t seem to be a dream to him. As you might think, this is blowing his mind because he was part of the escort team that took his friend’s body home.”

Kate stared straight ahead without particular focus she said, “You’re in the middle of a war. There are two unbelievably powerful forces conducting a battle in and around you. And all I can do is watch and pray for you… and us.”
Again, an echo of my Uncle Joe’s words
.

“You are doing a lot more than just ‘watching’, Kate. You are square in the center of this with me.”

“Yeah, and that’s where I should and need to be, but it’s like dying. No matter who is in the room with you, you still die alone.” She let out a breath then turned and looked my way saying, “I am afraid for you Teller, but I do believe that whatever is happening, in this case, you are not standing out there on your own.”

“No not as long as I have you,” I said, taking her hand and holding it in mine tightly. “But, what do we do?”

* * *

“Pray… pray hard, and pray a lot.”

The black car reappeared in my rear view mirror at that moment and I found myself wondering if it was a sign of friend or foe. It was hanging back but staying within eyeshot of us.

“Could you make me some coffee, my sweet?” I said, not mentioning the car.

“Coming up like a storm.” Kate obliged, and a few minutes later brought me a cup – along with the prettiest face that was made to smile. “When we get to Glory, we are going to take us a nice little walk. We need to keep the blood moving, Tell.”

My mind was filled with wondering just what the driver of that car was really up to, and, who was with him or her in that vehicle, if anybody.

With the black car no longer anywhere in sight, we stopped for lunch at a vineyard in the Napa Valley where we bought cheese, crackers and a bottle of Merlot. Planting ourselves at a table and bench in a tree shaded area, I couldn’t help but think of how Kate helped me find normalcy in the midst of turmoil. Just when it seemed we were going to get swallowed up by the frightening occurrences and unbelievable events, a sort of inexplicable peace would set in. Ever since my near death experiences my life was spinning sometimes out of control — but never actually totally losing control. And yes there was a battle in an epic war, and no matter what I wanted I was in for the duration. It may not have been my choice, but it was my destiny and I thanked God that I had a wife such as Kate standing with me. Otherwise I didn’t know where I’d be or in what state of mind. Kate was my blessing from God.