“
Questions are for pussies,” the sheriff chimed in.
I stopped shielding Miranda with my body but she clung on to my arm. She was in obvious pain.
“
You don’t ask questions?” I said.
The sheriff frowned at me. “Pussy.” The sheriff put away his gun and walked closer. “In my native language we don’t even have the concept of a question. It’s a sign of weakness.”
I studied the sheriff carefully. His skin was sienna, and his hair was long and black and pulled into a pony tail. He was lean but had a hard, muscular look about him. He might have been Native American, but his eyes told me he was something else too. I decided that, if he was a threat, he wouldn’t have holstered his gun.
He nudged the jaws clamped on Miranda’s shin with his foot, and she groaned. She looked like she might pass out. “You’re really stuck in there,” the sheriff observed.
“
Get me out,” she moaned.
The sheriff pulled out a small device that looked like a black universal remote. He pushed a few buttons and the trap released and sank back into the ground, as invisible as it was before Miranda stepped on it.
The sheriff sniffed the air. “We probably should get under cover before it comes back.”
“
Before what comes back?” I asked.
“
Something is taking people,” the sheriff said.
“
What?” Miranda said.
“
I don’t know what it is, but I keep finding bits and pieces of the folks it leaves behind. I’ve set traps to try to catch it, but no luck yet.” He pointed through the woods. “I have a place a few hundred yards through the forest. We can take care of your leg there.”
Miranda’s face was white and she leaned heavily on me. “We need to find Tyler.”
I didn’t like Tyler, but if he was in trouble, then I was responsible for him.
“
What’s your name?” I asked the sheriff.
“
Sheriff John Henry, but my friends call me sheriff or sir.”
I pointed at the sheriff. “Do you feel safe with John?” I asked Miranda.
“
I can handle myself,” she answered.
“
You go get your leg taken care of, and I’ll try to find Tyler.”
She hesitated and her eyes went narrow like she might argue, but the perspiration on her forehead indicated she needed medical attention quick. She closed her eyes momentarily and then nodded.
“
You have a place over that way?” I pointed in the direction John had already indicated.
“
You can’t miss it. You might watch out for the goat, though. He’s a bit protective,” he said.
“
I’ll look for Tyler and catch up with you.”
I watched John take Miranda into the woods and then headed in the direction I had last seen Tyler.
Chapter 7. Miranda
I had enough first-aid training to know that the metal trap had broken my lower leg in at least two spots. The sheriff held most of my weight as we made our way through the trees. Tyler had disappeared in an instant, and between that fact and the pain, I felt a sense of shock. Worst was the thought that this was only my second mission and already two agents working with me had been put in jeopardy.
The forest was dense, and the sheriff and I had to push our way through the undergrowth. I kept scanning the area for any movement, but I couldn’t see anything. With all the sound we were making, I couldn’t hear anything either. Each step was excruciating, and I struggled to focus on the danger we were in to keep from passing out. We had no idea what we were up against or what this menace was capable of, I told myself.
The way Tyler had vanished was indeed unnerving. I hadn’t heard of any creatures capable of complete invisibility, but maybe the source of our ping was capable of chameleon-like color adaptation. Then it occurred to me that there was a chance the creature could fly. Whatever it was, it took Tyler quickly and silently. One second he was there and the next he was gone. He didn’t even have a chance to shout for help. Then I was stupid enough to step in a trap, and now Max was left by himself against whatever it was that took Tyler.
I took a deep breath. I needed to stay calm and keep a level head. Max was resilient and resourceful. He had survived other assignments—Tyler had said so. Then again, Tyler was a senior agent. He’d been doing this longer than both Max and me, and he was the one missing.
“
My place is right over here,” John said.
A goat walking through the yard bleated at me and walked away as we passed. A few very large chickens were walking around, bigger chickens than I had ever seen. If KFC found out about them, their lives were at serious risk.
“
Oh, don’t kill the big guy with the white T-shirt and tan cargo pants unless he causes problems,” he said to the goat. The goat looked blankly at him.
John helped me into the house and sat me in a blue recliner. I couldn’t remember ever being so glad to be able to sit down. The initial shock was wearing off and my shin screamed in pain.
The sheriff knelt down and examined my leg for a moment. A jolt of electricity hit me at his touch like he had dragged his feet across shag carpet and then zapped me.
“
Sorry,” he said. “I’m going to find some first-aid supplies. I’ll be right back.”
“
No problem,” I said. “I’m not going anywhere, not without crawling.”
After he left the room, I pulled out my com link and called Wendy. It took about thirty seconds for her to answer. A hologram of her face appeared.
“
I hope you have good news,” she said.
“
Wendy, Tyler is missing,” I said. I thought about what the sheriff had said about finding bits and pieces of the folks that this whatever-it-was had taken. I didn’t have the heart to say that he might be eaten. Maybe Max would find him before that happened, I reassured myself.
She sighed in exasperation. “I can only imagine what you’ve done. Follow standard protocol and begin searching the perimeter for traces of him.”
“
I was injured, and so Max is looking for him. Can you locate Tyler using the GPS on his com link?” I asked.
“
I can’t believe you left your partner alone in a potentially hostile situation.” There was a moment of silence. “Tyler has no active com link. We’ll have to hope that Agent Maximus will find him.”
I fought to keep my cool. I saw Tyler’s com link this morning, I wanted to shout at her, but then I started to wonder if she was right about leaving Max. I had broken protocol. I left Max alone. “Tyler simply disappeared. We could really use more information on what we’re up against.” Then I remembered there was information missing from the brief. “Did you find out anything more on the erased brief data?”
“
I looked into it, but there are no records of any erased data. I checked with Stellar Command, and they know where all of their Phoenix craft are, so….”
“
I saw the data disappear right in front of me.”
“
Maybe it was a glitch,” she suggested.
I gritted my teeth. “Can you think of any creature capable of extreme stealth that might have taken Tyler?”
“
Computer, answer Agent Miranda’s question,” Wendy said.
“
Her name is Jasmine,” I said.
“
There are four thousand two hundred forty-two creatures on file with stealth capabilities sufficient to take Agent Tyler,” the computer answered.
I sighed.
“
You are there to investigate. Stick with your partner, investigate, and find Agent Tyler.” Wendy disconnected.
A large rooster wandered into the room. It was handsome, in a poultry sort of way. I suspected it wasn’t from this planet, but it seemed tame enough. Then some of my training kicked in. John wasn’t from this planet, which was obvious from the moment we met. Tyler disappeared right before we met him. What if John had taken Tyler out and then tricked Max and me into separating? He seemed friendly, and Max had trusted him. But maybe Max had been wrong. Though I couldn’t imagine how, maybe John knew Max could regenerate and knew he couldn’t risk a confrontation. Then I heard footsteps coming my way from the interior of the house. I loosened my pistol in its holster.
Chapter 8. Max
I looked for the trap Miranda had stepped in. I couldn’t see the device even though I knew right where it was. I realized that I stood in the middle of a potential minefield and had no way to navigate it. I picked up a fallen tree branch and poked the ground in front of me with each step, walking around the perimeter of the area where I had last heard Tyler. I found nothing.
If something had taken our partner, it didn’t leave footprints or drag marks. I didn’t see any traces of blood or even a bent twig that might give me some clue. I wasn’t trained in field tracking, but I had investigative skills and there should have been some hint of what happened. Tyler had just disappeared. I didn’t want to give up on him, but without any evidence to go on, I had to worry about my remaining partner, and she was with this guy John who was at least half something-other-than-human. I never liked Tyler, but I felt awful giving up the search, partly because I knew this would go on my record and partly because I didn’t really want him dead.
I walked through the woods in the direction John had indicated. Eventually I found a cottage in the woods. Chickens clucked and strutted in the yard, and then I saw a goat, which bleated as I passed. Other than having creepy goat eyes, I didn’t really see anything to be worried about.
The building appeared to be a one-bedroom home with shingles that needed to be replaced. The blinds were closed on all the windows so I couldn’t see in. White paint peeled off the trim in places, and the stairs on the porch were worn wood that had turned gray. A broken-down shed lurked in the trees.
The front door was unlocked, and so I walked in. Miranda sat on a blue La-Z-Boy inside the small, comfortable living room. I didn’t see the sheriff.
“
Did you find him?” Miranda asked.
I shook my head. “Not a trace.”
I looked around the room. The sheriff didn’t have a television or even a radio. There was a small table with a number of books on it in front of the recliner. As I stepped toward Miranda, the sheriff walked into the room with some bandages and splints.
“
I searched the immediate area and didn’t find anything,” I said.
Miranda frowned. “What do we do?”
“
The first thing we’re going to do is get your leg fixed.” My stomach growled loudly.
John looked at me. "I’ll take care of her. There's food in the kitchen. Help yourself."
I decided Miranda looked like she was in capable hands, and if John was a danger it seemed unlikely he would be giving her first-aid—and I was hungry. "Thanks, Sheriff."
I entered the door he had indicated. I could hear them in the living room while I looked for food. Something was cooking on the stove, but it smelled disgusting. I looked in the fridge, where I found an assortment of food I didn’t recognize and wasn’t brave enough to try. Then I saw a basket of fruit on the kitchen table. I grabbed a bright red, shiny apple.
Well, it looked like the apple, but after biting into it, I realized it tasted like a habanero pepper. My eyes started to water as I chewed, and I felt my throat constrict.
In the other room, I heard Miranda gasp. "Oh, my!"
John snorted. "Don't be scared. It's just my cock."
I started to choke, partly on the apple that was really a pepper and partly on what I just heard.
"That's the biggest one I've ever seen," Miranda said.
I fell to my knees, trying to dislodge the fruit. I was now just choking on the fruit.