Blind Rage - Chapter 17

Tuesday, July 28, 1997, 11:15 am

Boerne, Texas

John opened his front door, and the moment he saw Jobe, he thought of Dave.

Before he could say anything, Jobe sighed and nodded. “Thank you, John. I won’t mention this to Bert, so I’d appreciate it if you don’t mention it to Dave, either.”

John sputtered without saying anything until Jobe was halfway across the yard. Then he started out the door and shouted, “Now, wait just a damn minute!”

Jobe turned on his heel as John opened his mouth to ask a question. “Yes, I read your mind. No, I can’t pick lottery numbers. I’m not that kind of psychic. No, I can’t control people. I’m not that kind of psychic either, but thank you for whipping Dave into an even more paranoid frenzy for us. Our job certainly wasn’t hard enough before you came along.”

Scowling, John opened his mouth, and Jobe added, “Yes, it is very annoying when a mind reader won’t let you get a word in edgewise.”

He waited for another thought, but he’d completely stripped the dispatcher’s mental gears. Nodding, he said, “I’ll see you around, John.”

Gavin waited until he dropped into the passenger seat of Rachel’s Neon to ask, “Is he tracking it too?”

“Yep, and he’s carrying a big bore rifle with a scope.”

“Big bore?” Gavin asked, swallowing nervously. “How big?”

“Magnum .458 rounds,” Jobe said, nodding his agreement when Gavin hissed. “He’s camping in the same area as the orc, so it looks like we’ll get to try hunting for both of them at the same time.” He frowned at a stray thought. “Now comes the fun part. Figuring out how to convince Rachel and Rosa that a week or two in the great outdoors is a good thing.”

Gavin winced, his face full of skepticism. “Are you sure it wouldn’t be easier to leave them at the lake?”

“I’m sure it would be,” Jobe said. “But with Dave and the orc both being in the same area, I’d rather have the whole pack ready. We already know that Dave outclasses us one on one, so we’ll have to dog pile his ass.”

***

Tuesday, 11:17 am

Rosa opened her front door and smiled politely. She didn’t recognize the scent of the man standing outside, but it was oddly familiar, as if she should remember it.

She asked, “Can I help you?”

The man who spoke sounded old, his voice a rasping croak. “Hi, I’m your neighbor, Woody Patterson.”

Rosa’s smile grew, and she stepped onto the first step. Hanging off the doorknob with her left hand to keep the door open, she offered out her right hand. “Hi, Woody. I didn’t recognize you. Is that a new cologne?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah, wifey got me a new brand for my birthday.”

“It’s nice,” Rosa said. She searched her memory and asked, “How is Maggie?”

“She’s just fine, aside from the usual allergies. Anyway, I just wanted to get together with you about this land bid and see how you feel about it.”

“Land bid?” Rosa shook her head. “I’m sorry, I don’t believe I know what you mean.”

“Maybe you might have been out this weekend?”

“Yes, I was for most of the weekend.”

“Then these fellas might come to see you later in the week. There’s five guys in real fancy suits who showed up on my property on Saturday, and they started asking how much I’d take to sell my land. The way they explained it, they want to turn this whole area into some kind of wildlife refuge.”

Rosa nodded, and then she didn’t need to fake her expression of interest. “Really? Well, what did they look like? I’ll tell my pack—my housemates to watch out for them.”

“Four of them are guards, I think. They all dressed in black suits, but the man they escorted was wearing a grey suit. He had dark eyes, maybe brown, but I’m not sure. His hair was brown, but it had grey strands in it.”

Woody fell silent, and Rosa was about to prod him with another question when he spoke again. “He was real friendly, but I don’t believe he ever gave me his name.”

Rosa asked, “What kind of numbers are they throwing out?”

“They aren’t,” Woody said. “They asked for a ballpark figure, so I thought I’d give them sticker shock. I asked for three times what I paid. You know what the man said?”

Rosa shook her head. “No, what?”

“He said, ‘would you prefer that in cash, or as a check?’”

Rosa gasped with what she hoped sounded like surprise. “So what did you say?”

“I told them to come back next week. I wanted to check around and see if anyone else was getting this kind of offer. So far, you’re the only one I’ve talked to who hasn’t been made an offer.”

Rosa nodded. “Yes, but I was out of the house, so maybe I just missed them.”

“Yeah...” The old man cleared his throat, and his voice was filled with concern when he spoke again. “Listen, most everyone asked me the same thing, and that’s why I’m here. All of the neighbors wanted to know what you were doing. I mean, if this is going to put you out—”

Rosa held up her hand. “Whoa, let me stop you there, Woody. If these guys are buying us out, I’ll take the deal.” Rosa grinned, laughing before she added, “If they’ll pay three times what my folks paid for this place, then I’ll be able to live comfortably for the rest of my life.”

She was lying, but it went over well with Woody. “If you’re okay with it, I think it’s a good deal. And really, it’s a nice idea, making an animal reserve out here.”

“It sounds like a great idea to me,” Rosa agreed.

“What does?” Rachel asked as she walked out of her room.

Turning halfway around, Rosa waved her hand. “I’ll explain it later.” She leaned on the doorframe and asked, “Was there anything else?”

“Nope, that’s it.” Woody took a step back, then stopped. “Uh, there is one other thing. I heard you went into town last week.”

“Oh.” Rosa sighed and dropped her head. “Yeah, I’m trying not to think about it.”

“I know something must have scared you, but it was brave of you to go back out. There’s a lot of folks who feel that way, and they’re real proud of you, even if they don’t have the guts to say so.”

Rosa put a hand over her chest, taken aback by the comment. “Well...thank you, Woody. That’s nice to hear.”

Woody said, “It was good to talk to you.” Then he walked back up the driveway.

Rosa shut the door and walked to the living room. She said, “That was Woody, and—”

“I know. I heard the whole conversation. I was just acting for Woody’s benefit.”

“Oh,” Rosa said. “Well, I’m not sure who the man making the offer is, but I think wildlife reserve is a nice way to say ‘wereprison.’”

“Yeah, that sounds about right,” Rachel said. She sat down in the middle of the floor, and then lay back to stare at the ceiling. “Still, it’s better than being chased and put down like rabid animals.”

“I wasn’t complaining.” Sitting beside Rachel, Rosa leaned back, propping her weight on her hands. “I guess the townsfolk are proud of me for getting outside again, but I don’t think I’d have a problem with staying here on my land. Whether someone orders me to do it or I do it myself, it’s still the same thing.”

She snickered and added, “So long as we have an Internet connection, I don’t think you’ll care either.”

Laughing with her, Rachel said, “I’m not that easy. I’d need pizza delivery at least once a week to keep me content.”

Turning her head, Rachel watched Rosa laugh. “Hey, what do you do for a living?”

For a moment, it seemed like Rosa would brush her off with another flippant answer. But Rosa’s brief look of irritation was replaced with embarrassment, and she bowed her head before she muttered, “I write erotica.”

“What?” Rachel sat up and giggled, and Rosa turned bright pink. Her shoulders slouched, and she fidgeted with her hands.

Rachel rubbed her arm. “Hey, I think it’s cool, okay? Will you let me read some of it?”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

“How did you get started on that anyway?”

“It was a lark.” Rosa sighed, shifting her legs around to sit Indian style. “I’d met a guy on the Internet, and he was really sweet to me. I wrote stories  for him about what we might do if we were living under better circumstances. He encouraged me to try publishing them, so I tried submitting a few short stories. Most of them were rejected, but one sold.”

Rosa paused, and Rachel sat up to pat her arm. “Every round of submissions, I got less rejections, and more stories sold. So I started trying to sell full novels.”

“You can support yourself on that?” Rachel asked.

Rosa shrugged. “I don’t have that many expenses, aside from what I’d owed on the property taxes. I don’t use much electricity on my own, and until the orc gave me this monster appetite, it was dirt cheap to keep me fed.”

Rachel laughed. “Then that was a yes.”

Rosa smiled and nodded. “I think so.” Her smile fell, and she patted Rachel’s hand. “Listen, Rachel, don’t tell the guys about this. I’d rather not have them tease me.”

“My lips are sealed, but I don’t think they would tease you.” Rachel had a random thought and asked, “So what happened to the guy?”

Rosa sighed and shook her head. “I sent him a picture of me without my glasses on, and he never wrote back.”

“Oh...sweetie, that’s—”

Rosa cut her off. “It’s okay, really. That was almost three years ago, and I’ve...I’ve gotten used to the idea that no guy is ever going to look at me as a great catch.”

“You shouldn’t think that way.” Rachel scooted closer to put her arm around Rosa’s shoulders in a loose hug. “Jobe likes you, right?”

Rosa sighed. “That’s not the same thing. I’m happy that he cares so much about me, but...but Jobe would want to help anyone at this point. He’s thinking of Wendy when he looks at me, and he knows that she would want him to offer his help. So he does.”

Rachel didn’t know what to say. She started to shake her head, and then she checked herself and rubbed Rosa’s arm instead. “Maybe that’s what motivated him at first, but you know that he really cares now.”

“I do, and I’m happy with that.” Rosa sighed, shaking her head before she raised her hand to pat the back of Rachel’s hand. “I might not say it often, but I’m happy to have all of you here with me.”

Rachel smiled and let go of a soft, breathy laugh. “Setting aside the werekin curse, I’m happy to be stuck out here with you.”

They sat together until they heard a car engine pulling into the driveway. Getting up, they went outside to greet Gavin and Jobe as they got out of the car.

Only moments after Jobe began explaining his plan, both Rachel and Rosa wore similar horrified expressions, and for the exact same reason.

“Jobe, I can’t go camping outdoors for a few weeks,” Rosa complained. “Where would I go to the bathroom? Where would I take a bath?”

Rachel nodded quickly, adding, “And there’s no place to log in, either. How are we supposed to check in with Wagner?”

“We’re going to have long-distance radios,” Jobe said. “If we can find the orc and contain it, our bosses can send in a chopper to fly it out to a sanctuary.”

“Who cares about the orc?” Rosa shouted. “You can’t take me out in the woods on a fucking camping trip! I refuse, and that’s the last word on the matter!”