Randy White - Haunted

“You have a son? Tell me about your son. What’s his name?”

More mumbling, which my ears locked onto. I turned toward the lights of the SUV and slowly, very slowly, allowed my eyes to drift upward from the ground to the moon-bright branches of an oak tree-and there was Belton Matás, his shirt ripped off, sprawled over a limb that was eight feet off the ground.

I yelled, “Belton!” and ran toward him. Maybe I screamed, too. I’m not sure, but something I did caused an explosion of movement high, high in the oak tree. I looked up. Three stories above, blackened by the full moon, a man-sized creature stared down at me. Hanging from his distended arm was something that resembled a life-sized rag doll.

This time, I definitely did not scream. But I did yell with all the fear and anger in me, “Get the hell away or I’ll shoot you!” It was an empty threat, the gun was in my SUV. But the creature responded, replied with a metallic screech that threatened me even while it retreated. At the same instant, I heard the snare drum crackle of limbs shattering and something heavy falling toward me from above.

Instinctively, I threw my hands up… then was knocked sideways by a weight that numbed my shoulder before it thudded to earth. The sound alone was enough to sicken me-a gaseous thump, like hitting a pumpkin with a sledge. There was sticky residue, too, a sheen of black on my arm. Dazed, I tested with my fingers and sniffed-it smelled of brass.

Blood. I was bleeding. I explored my face, forearms, my shoulder, yet found no wounds.

What had happened? It took me a moment to figure out I was on my knees. I got up, eyes automatically seeking the creature in the tree. The thing was gone. A crashing noise told me it was traveling fast through the oak canopy toward the river. That was good… But there was still something very wrong. Something missing from the sounds and odors I had become accustomed to. What? I couldn’t think straight.

“Are you hurt, Hannah dear?”

Belton’s voice. He was several yards away, still in the tree but making an effort to swing down. Then he yelled, “Watch out!” just before he fell and landed hard on his side.

I ran and knelt, then helped to steady him when he sat up. “Don’t try to stand,” I said. “Don’t do anything until the police get here.” I was trying to make sense of events and also trying to remember what I had done with my phone. I’d had it in my hand until…?

“It’s too bad about the child,” Belton said. “I swear, an animal that strong, there was nothing I could do.”

“What child?” I replied, but shushed him before he could answer. Suddenly, I understood what was troubling me. My SUV-the headlights were still on, but someone had switched off the engine. Captain Summerlin’s journal, the gun, everything except my phone, was in there. I said, “Shit,” and started toward the road… but only got a few steps before I stopped and whispered, “Oh my god.”

It was because of what I saw at my feet. Illuminated by headlights was the rag doll body of a girl who had fallen through tree limbs before knocking me down. Nothing identifiable left of her face. But the lavender blouse told me the blood on my arm was Krissie’s.

Belton startled me by hollering to someone, “Figured I was dead, didn’t you? Idiot. ”

I looked up. A man crossed the ditch into the headlights, coming toward us. It was Theo, not the simpleton guide. I found out for certain when I tried to run-Carmelo had exited the camper, aiming a shotgun.

THERE WAS A PARTY under way in Theo’s garage apartment, but no one saw him bully me into the building of tile and neon with steel doors that protected the reptiles housed inside. Shelves of acrylic trays and large terrariums in a space that smelled of lab rats and Clorox. No windows, only air-conditioning ducts, so the stink of snakes mixed with decades of mold.

“This is all her fault,” Theo reasoned, talking to himself. “She got nosy. Now she won’t cooperate-there’s no choice when some mark acts like a hick.” He swung me around by the shoulders and stood close enough that I felt his breath on my face. “Last time I’m going to ask… Where’s the Civil War journal?” He waited for pressure to build inside his head, then screamed, “I know you’re lying about that book being in the car!”

I had ceased trying to fight-couldn’t, the way my hands and ankles were bound-but I wasn’t going to beg. Several times he had accused me of lying about the backpack, which was missing. At first I thought it was to distance himself from the theft. But now, half an hour later, I was convinced someone had beaten him to my SUV and stolen the backpack. Carmelo, I assumed, until Carmelo-that bastard-had slapped me while demanding the same information.

Except for a brief meltdown, I had managed to maintain control. Or at least sound calm, which was evident when I replied, “Birdy is a deputy sheriff, Theo. How many times do I have to say this? She knows where I am. A dozen squad cars will be here soon, so why make it worse? I’ll be your witness by telling the truth: they can’t blame you for a murder your chimpanzee did-even if he is your responsibility.”

I was too mad not to add that last barb. And too late to take it back. Theo, his cheeks coloring, sputtered, “Don’t call him that. Oliver isn’t a chimp. He’s part ape-a Bondo. Get that through your thick skull. He makes one little mistake and it’s like the end of the world. “

I started to say One little mistake? but caught myself in time, while Theo jabbered on. “Don’t you dare blame him. That… teenybopper was an idiot to be out there alone, probably taunted the poor guy. Then you showed up. If anyone’s to blame, it’s you and that stupid little redneck twat.”

“Don’t call her that. Krissie -she has a name.”

I thought Theo was going to slap me as he loomed over me, six inches taller. “You threatened to kill Oliver, didn’t you? I heard you. Screamed you’d shoot him. So it’s no wonder he did what he did. Scared the hell out of the poor guy-Carmelo was there and he heard you, too. Ollie’s sensitive, him and Savvy both. And intelligent-they’ll know it was you. If you keep lying, I’ll stick you in one of the cages for a night to prove it.” He looked across the room to another door, a door that had outer bars and what looked like a mail slot. “Maybe I will. Then you’d understand .”

I should have grasped the significance of the bars on the door but was stunned by what I’d just heard. Two chimpanzees-Oliver and Savvy-and at least one was a killer. I dipped my head toward the floor. Theo waited, expecting me to apologize, but I couldn’t force such a sickening lie. I had seen what one of those animals had done to a frightened, innocent girl. All I could manage was, “I don’t know much about chimps. Sorry if you took it the wrong way.”

He found my stubbornness infuriating. “Well, now! Lucia won’t put up with your bullshit. I warn you right now.”

I wasn’t surprised the woman was on the property, but his deference to Lucia took me aback.

Again, he waited. “Is that all you have to say?”

It should’ve been, but I couldn’t keep my mouth shut. “Where’s Belton? I want to see him.” The old man had been lying on the floor, Carmelo as guard, when Theo had dragged me from the RV.

“If he’s smart,” Theo said, “he’s telling the truth about why he came here.”

“That’s not what I meant. Belton has a heart condition. I don’t know how much alcohol or drugs you poured down him, but letting him die is a mistake. When the police get here, the more Belton and I can say in your favor, the better off you’ll be.” Then the anger boiling in me had to add, “ Pretending to be smart isn’t going to save you this time, Theo.”