Taming the Night (Creatures of the Night Book 1) (2 page)

“I copy
, sergeant,” the dispatcher replied in a voice rough from too many years of cigar’s and pipes. There was a slight tint of disappointment in Lou’s voice over the loss of a little bit of excitement. Lou put Jerry in mind of one of those people that sat around listening to their CB radios all day, waiting to see if someone would find their channel and start up a conversation.

“Did you hear what I said?
” the sergeant growled over the mike and Jerry knew he wasn’t talking to Lou.

“I copy. I will follow at a distance and make sure the motorcycle leaves town. That’s all,” he responded.

He clicked on his blue lights and siren and hit the gas. The old car might not have looked like much, but in the spirit of the crown vic, when he hit the gas, the engine purred and pulled the car to such an alarming speed that he was afraid that the engine would detach and go running ahead without him. He reveled in the speed of the chase as the rear lamps of the motorcycle finally came back into view.

He cursed to see how close the bike was getting to the
mile marker that marked the end of Taming and the beginning of Fairfax. He at least wanted to give the motorcycle a ticket, but at the speed it was going, he would be lucky to even catch up to it within the three mile limit much less get him to stop. Just when the bike would have crossed over it veered off to the right. Rocks and dirt kicked up behind it as it hit the little dirt road there.

Jerry
picked up his mike as he slammed onto the little dirt road with a hard right. The car nearly fishtailed. Something dug into his back side as the car jostled and he remembered his music player belatedly. As he fought to regain control of the car he dug around beneath him until he caught the player and tossed it aside with a muttered curse.

He
finally righted the car and took off after the bike again before he keyed up. “536, control.”

“Go ahead
, 536.”

“We have changed direction. The bike veered off down a dirt
road to the right of mile marker 118. I’m in pursuit.”

“
Are those sirens I hear!!!”

Jerry rolled his eyes
again. “I hit them when the bike almost fishtailed in the gravel trying to take this dirt road,” he replied to his sergeant.

“Damn
it, Jerry. I told you no chase. That back road probably leads to that old boy’s house. Let him get home and sleep it off. We’ll go and talk to him in the mornin’.”

The Crown Vic went
airborne for a moment as he hit a dirt clod and it took him a moment to reply.

“I’m going to make sure he gets home and stays there. It won’t take me long and I’
ll check in with you when I’m through.” The motorcyclist was skilled. He dodged clumps of grass and rocks like they were nothing while his car took a bit of a beating. He wasn’t giving up though. He stayed on the cycle the best he could. It had been a long time since his blood had pumped like this.

“Boy! You are gonna learn the hard way to let those old codgers go to their houses and sleep it off. You are going to make me arrest someone tonight. You’re always trying to make me arrest someone.”

This was no old codger by the looks of him. His leather duster flew out behind him menacingly and the hair that flew out behind him like a flag suggested he might be a
real biker. Those that patronized the biker bar on the edge of town rarely came to this part of the woods. There was nothing out here but old hunting and fishing shacks. What was he doing out here?

“That is sort of our job,” he snapped before h
e could sensor his tongue. The Chief was bound to hear about this before morning. He could scarcely care, he was so caught up in the moment.

“Well I’m not going to be the one to deliver you to your uncle in a body bag, not on my shift. You do what I tell you or you switch to days so that he can watch over you!”

That hit home. The Police Chief in Taming was also his uncle and the only reason he still had a job in law enforcement. The last thing he wanted to do was upset him. He clicked off his siren but let his blue lights blare on as he hit the mike button again.

“Control. I’m no longer in pursuit. I’m in route to the dinner,” he said
as docilely as he could manage. Gerald wasn’t fooled.

“If I don’t see you there within the half hour I’m calling the Chief,” he said without preamble.

“I copy,” he snarled as he pushed the gas a little harder.

So be it. He was tired of this little town living. He was a cop and a damn good one and he would follow
this punk into the ground if he had to. The motorcycle was just ahead of him now. He was just about to back off a bit when the motorcycle hit its brakes. Jerry had to maneuver not to hit him. He hit the brakes so hard that he whizzed by the bike and did a near one eighty.

Once he got his bearings again he slammed the car in park, unfastened his seat belt
, and stood in the apex of the car door. He drew his weapon and took aim. As the dust began to settle his jaw nearly hit the floor.

This was no biker. This was a woman, an
d not just any woman. She wore tight leather pants, a slip of leather that might have been called a shirt, over which she had a black leather duster. She was medium height and of a petite frame. Her bone straight black hair hung past her butt. The bone structure in her face hinted at an Indian heritage, but her skin was a creamy mocha. The most shocking thing about her was her violet nearly purple, eyes.

He had never in his life seen such a
sexually beautiful creature. He found it hard to compose speech for a moment. Once he got over the shock, his police training kicked in again. “Suspect. Get down on the ground with your hands above your head and don’t move,” he said in a commanding voice.

*

Al’s first impression of the uniform was not one she would have expected. At least not for this little backwoods town. He was like a diamond in the rough. He was tall, at least six foot four inches, and lean with just the right amount of muscle. He was a clean shaven white boy. The tan of his skin and his black hair suggested that perhaps he had some type of ethnicity in his background, however. His eyes were sharp as a hawk as he trained his weapon on her.

“
Cher. I don’t get on the ground for no man, lessin’ he’s plannin’ on comin’ down there with me,” she said in her best Creole accent. She nearly laughed at the look on his face. So serious.

“Are you refusing the d
irect order of a police officer?” he asked in that tone that cops used to try to take control of a situation. She shook her head feeling bad for him. He had no idea what was about to happen, but she did. All too well.

“Naw. I’m just sayin’ that it a
int very courteous or gentlemanly of you to be askin’ a lady to get down on the ground in the dirt like a dog.
D’accord
?” She began to remove her gloves and waited for the tell tell signs of an over anxious cop. If he was going to loose his cool his finger would begin to tighten uncomfortably on the trigger of his gun.

He didn’t move a muscle as he seemed to think over her words. She saw him come to some sort of conclusion. “Turn around
and put your hands in the air as you slowly back towards me,” he changed his directive.

She couldn’t help but to grin at this. “Well well. Chivalry aint all the way dead anyhow,” she teased.

“Ma’am. I said turn around and put your hands in the air,” he repeated with more force.

He was so handsome with his strong hands and serious face. If he weren’t a cop she might have had a go at him. Maybe she would anyway
and risk Bateman’s wrath later. Her mentor hated her to get involved with law enforcement. It made the clean up that much harder.

“Don’t get your cute buns in a twist. I heard you the first time
, but if you are going to slap cuffs on me, then who is going to help you with them?”

*

Jerry told himself not to look in the direction to which her gaze had shifted. It was obviously a ruse to divert his attention. There was nothing and no one in this deep part of the woods but him, her, and the birds. Still, the tension that entered her body, as if she were preparing for a battle, caused him to briefly glance to his left. At first glance he saw nothing, but then… deep in the foliage he saw it. Two dots glowing red in the dark. It was like the reflection of a dog’s eyes in the darkness only instead of the iridescent green glow, these eyes were starkly and menacingly red.

He swung his gun that way just as the creature stepped out into the moonlight at the edge of the clearing they were in. His heart hammered in his chest as he struggled to see what it
was. It was as big as a grizzly bear but the snout was… wrong. It was long like a dog’s, and the arms and legs didn’t look like a grizzly’s. The arms and legs looked like… like a very hairy human.

He blinked a few times in stunned silence as he watched it move steadily forward. Was he dreaming? Was he still sitting in his car on the side of the road
asleep? Had the heat finally rotted his brain? His police training took over his stalled brain and before he even knew what was happening he was shooting. As far as he could tell he was making direct body shots but the thing only paused as slugs hit it.

The bullets only seeme
d to enrage it further. His magazine was empty before he knew it and there wouldn’t be time to reload before it reached him. He heard someone screaming as he closed his eyes. He braced himself for the attack. Who the hell was screaming? He remembered the woman then and suddenly the screaming stopped. He realized with a start that it had been his own voice screaming like a frightened woman.

On the heels of that thought was the realization that instead
of having his arm ripped off like he expected, he heard a blast come from somewhere near the hood of his car. He opened his eyes to see the monster fall clutching its chest as it burst into flames. The stench that came off the burning body was putrid and he covered his nose with the back of his hand.

He turned to see the woman standing up on the
hood of his car. She had pulled the flaps of her jacket back to reveal a small arsenal of guns, knives, bullets and grenades. For the second time his jaw nearly hit the floor. She had two guns, both the size of cannons, one in each hand, and she was taking aim into the woods. As she fired again he turned to see two more figures in the woods burst into flames.

“What the hell are those
things and who the hell are you?” he screamed as he turned back to her.

“Right now
cherie… I’m here to save your tight little ass and that’s all you need to know,” she said as she turned those piercing violet eyes on him. Her little smile did something to his heart that he hadn’t felt in a long time. She tossed one of her cannons at him and he was shocked by the weight as he caught it.

“What the hell! Are you crazy, you don’t just go tossing loaded weapons at people! I could have shot something important off trying to catch this thing,” he said in shock.

She laughed in the face of his concern and he knew his face had turned red. “That will work a little better than your police issued pistol I think cher. Hopefully you’re better at shootin’ than you are at gettin’ people to lie down in the dirt sugar,” she said with a wink.

He was still staring at her in astonishment when she turned and shot into the wo
ods. Her boots left dents in the hood of the Crown Vic. He was about to demand she get down when he saw one of those creatures come running out of the woods at her back. He took aim and pulled the trigger. The kickback nearly tore his arm off as it knocked him to his ass. He scrambled back up to his feet to see that he had hit his target and it was burning in the grass.

He smiled up at her and saw her briefly roll her eyes. “Good job stud but you
might want to watch your own back.”

Jerry turned just in time to see another creature burst through
the trees. It released a blood curdling snarl and was so close that Jerry had to cover his ears. When it was through it came at him like a freight train. He took aim and fired. Blood, ash and saliva burst in his face. Another scream came from his right and he turned just in time to see two attacking the biker woman simultaneously.

The creatures had left the woods so swiftly that they had hit her like linebackers. He heard the breaking branches and crashing trees that indicated more
of them were in the distance on their way. He jumped up on the hood and took aim. He didn’t want to hit the woman but these things were going to tear her to shreds. He took two shots and seemingly hit his mark when he was hoisted into the air.

The woman got to her feet and he saw a deep gash in her face. She had a
feral angry look as she shot the beast that had gotten a hold of him and was about to toss him like a stone across his car. He fell to the ground with a thud and rushed to his feet to avoid getting burned by the rancid smelling burning body. He had just gained his feet when he was hit on the right side. He was hit so hard that he fell into his car across the front seat.

The gun was knocked from his hand into the floor board and the creature was on him in that same second. Jerry used all of the strength in h
is arms to keep the thing off him. He cried out as the thing leaned down into him, digging into his shoulders with its big claws. It was slimy to his touch and it stank of dead bloated flesh. It breathed on him as it got closer and closer, its rows of razor sharp teeth inches from his face.