Blood Lust: A Supernatural Horror (36 page)

He got serious. “Look, my boss is going to come down on your boss
and you’re going to be caught in the middle. I’ll do what I can from
my
end
but my ass is in the sling with yours
. We got what we came for even
if
it was a bit messy. This creature …
”
H
e
e
yed the roof. “
I
s there anything I can do?”

“I need some real firepower. It took a .60 caliber to even injure this thing and it doesn’t stay injured long.”
Smitty was going to be very upset about the loss of his Pfeifer but the captain had it under lock and key.
I felt naked with just my .45.

He crossed himself. “I’m Catholic. I’ve seen these things on church
roofs
all my life, this gargoyle or
Chupacabra
, but I never believed.
I think maybe I’ll say a few more prayers this Sunday. I’ll get you whatever you need – grenades, Semtex, machine guns … hell, I’ve even got an elephant gun we
confiscated
from a dealer.”

My eyes lit up. “I’ll take the elephant gun and some ammo and a few grenades.
I’d love the Semtex but my captain wouldn’t like me blowing up half the city.
He’s already pissed about the monastery.
”

Escobar
smiled. “Maybe I can come up with something.”
He looked
over
at two agents putting out the burning van with fire extinguishers.
They wore masks to keep from breathing in the
drug-laden
smoke
.
“You made a good start tonight.”

Maybe I was getting high from the burning pot or the coke in the air, but I was feeling good. The creature was still around and I knew it would come after me again. I just needed to be some
where
no one else would get hurt when we confronted one another
, hopefully for the last time.

1
7

Escobar
proved
good
for
his word. His crew had made videos
of the
drug bust
operation
.
The film was grainy, but h
is boss could not argue the existence of the
Chupacabr
a
.
This kept most of the heat off me for my
second
deliberate act of arson
. He also made good his offer of help.
Later that day,
I received a package containing two magnesium flares and a box of .
5
0
caliber slugs.
One other item piqued my interest. Escobar had included a small explosive charge with a timer, the kind of device the DEA used to blow open locked doors. It came with strip of sticky tape – pull off the paper
,
slap it on the door
and
B
ang
!
A longer
, separate
box contained the elephant gun,
a .460 Wetherby.

The elephant rifle was double
-
barreled, heavy and long.
Someone had
lovingly cared for it
over the years
. The wooden stock
shone
bright
with
periodic
polish
ing
and the barrel gleam
ed
. It smelled of gun oil. I wondered how a drug lord had come by such a fine weapon. At some point in its history, it had been ‘wildcatted’
, or re-bored,
to accept the larger .50 caliber slug for more stopping power.
I had ideas for it.
I hope Escobar forgave me.
I took it
downstairs
to the shop and cut down the barrel to twenty inches. This reduced
the
weight but also
the
accuracy at a distance
but
I could live with the compromise. I had to be close to the creature to be sure of a kill shot.
The recoil would be damaging, but I could
endure that also
.
My right shoulder was back in good working order
, if a little scarred
.

I chose the
drug
warehouse
by the bay
as the site of
my OK
C
o
r
ral.
It was open
, away from innocent bystanders
and the creature knew where it was.
I hoped
that I would be playing the part of Wyatt Earp and not
that of
one of
the Clantons.
As I drove Lew’s SUV, (I still thought of it as Lew’s even though I owned it now) I figured the creature was watching me.
If he had followed me there before, odds were he would again.
I brought a pillow and blanket
with me
so
I could sleep in the Explorer. I
also packed
a cooler with beer, water and sandwich meat.
I considered using the loft office, but it had only one exit and I didn’t want the creature to trap me in a corner.

The DEA had made a thorough sweep of the place, removing the
shipping container
and
the
vans, including the
one I had torched
. There were no bodies
but b
l
oodstains marred the dirty
concrete floors.
I looked at the spot where Chuey had died and smiled. It had been a fitting death
.
T
he stench of death still lingered in the air, unmasked by the acrid odor of burnt rubber and metal. I
t was unpleasant but I
could live with it.
To feel safe while I slept, I installed four motion detectors around the building set for larger objects. I didn’t want to be awakened all night by rats or pigeons
setting off the alarm
.

I settled down for what might be a long wait.

The first day and night
proved
uneventful. I whiled away the time reading and playing solita
i
r
e
. My cell phone had
an app
that
I could
use to
download
games,
but I was
too
old school
for that
. I barely used it for calls. I walked around the warehouse, memorizing every
detail
.
I wanted to be able to move around in the dark as well as I could in the daylight.
I couldn’t give the creature any advantages.
Ripping out the power lines would be no trick for it.

Day two I received the call I had been dreading. A seventh girl was missing. Blood and other evidence at the scene indicated my
gray
friend back at his old habits.
The girl, Amy Mays, a twenty-year old flight attendant, was reported missing when her roommate, another flight attendant, returned from an overseas flight.
The authorities were scouring the streets, but I knew they would never find her.

I had blown my chance to end all of this in the basement of the
monastery
. The adult had escaped and rather than fleeing the area, was making certain that I knew it was still around, still watching. I was not sure who
se
need for revenge was greater, the creature’s or mine, but I knew the coming battle would be
a
bitter
one
.

The sun set a bloody red that
sifted
through the
dirty
windows of the warehouse painting the floors and walls crimson, an ominous sign. I
was certain
the
Chupacabra
would show up this night
, at least I hoped it did
. I was tired of waiting.
In my nervousness, I had eaten little the last two days and the hunger pains were beginning to get my attention. I sat down for a dinner of
a
roast beef sandwich with horseradish mayo, a bag of chips and a cold beer – not my idea of a last
supper
but it was all I had. I
would
have preferred meatloaf with
garlic
mashed potatoes and brown gravy
like they serve at my favorite diner
, maybe with a side of green beans, comfort food, food to soothe the troubled soul.

And my soul was troubled. Somewhere along the
way,
I had passed that thin line between cop and vigilante. If the creature came to me and offered itself up for arrest, repentant of its former life
of crime
, I would not hesitate to kill it. Bea
s
t or intelligent creature, it made no difference
to me
. It was evil
incarnate
and had survived in this world too long.

Waiting was
difficult. I
am
not a patient man
.
I loathe doctor and dentist offices
because of the waiting room. Even a long line at a fast food restaurant pisse
s
me off.
Sitting and waiting for the
Chupacabra
to return w
a
s more difficult than any
stakeout I had endured.
I kept the lights off, allowing my eyes to grow accustomed to the dark. Sitting and listening, each groan of the building, each scurrying rat drew my full attention.
I passed the time by reviewing all of my past mistakes, which made an alarmingly large list.
I couldn’t change the past but I made a quiet vow not to repeat it.
Finally, trusting to my alarms, I allowed myself to doze.

A
loud, persistent
hammering at the door awoke me a few hours later. Certain that the
Chupacabra
would not deign to knock
, I turned off the alarm and
I slid the door open
, curious to see my visitor
.
To my
astonishment
,
Joria stood there, a hesitant smile on her face
, as beautiful as ever
.
T
orn between
my desire to
grab her and hug her and slapping her
, I did neither
.
I simply stood and stared.

“Come in,” I offered
after a few moments hesitation
. I slid the door closed after she entered. She stood looking around the warehouse
, avoiding me
. I
walked over and
switched on the lights. She wore clean clothes, looking no worse for wear after her close encounter with death.
“We’ve been looking for you.”

She nodded. “Yes, I know. I didn’t want to be found.
”

As I stood facing her, I still felt the immense attraction
she had on me
, only slightly abated by her
sudden
disappearance. “You could have called to let me know you were still alive. I was worried.”

She frowned. “I couldn’t. They are tapping your phone.”

“The Feds? Who are they?”

“They are called Section One, a special unit of your Homeland Security. They are tasked with locating and capturing the
Chupacabra
.”

I nodded. I had suspected something like that. Suddenly, my raw emotions burst upon me.
“You used me to try to capture it
,” I shot at her.

“I, I had to. I had to capture it before Section One
succeeded
. I would study it. They would use it.”

“You’ve dealt with them before
?
”

“Once, in Baltimore. One of their agents died. They
suspect
ed
me.”

“Why?”

“He was following me when the
Chupacabra
killed him. A friend warned me they wanted to pick me up and I fled
the city
.”

“You’ve been lying to me.”

She took a step toward me, reaching for me
with one hand
. “I’ve been withholding information. I wasn’t sure how far I could trust you.
” She touched my hand. “I was not lying about
my feelings for you
.”