Steve nodded and remarked with no malice, only new understanding, “I can see why you’re so unpopular around here.”
“EVELYN!” Tracy cried from Collins’s office. “Evelyn, don’t come in here!”
Evelyn backed up against the nearest wall and let it hold her up as she tried to resume breathing. She couldn’t see Tracy at all, only hear her voice coming from the office. “Tracy, are you all right?”
Tracy was still on the floor, still trying to recover her senses. “I’m alive.”
“What’s happened?”
“Stay back.”
Evelyn was too wound up to keep her voice down. “I am staying back! Now tell me what happened!”
Tracy was still trying to believe it as she said it. “Sheriff Collins tried to kill me.”
“What?”
Tracy’s voice started to tremble. She was about to fall apart, and she couldn’t help it. “He made sure the other deputy wouldn’t be here. Then when I came into his office he jumped me and tried to shoot me. I think he was going to kill both of us.”
“Oh, Lord . . .”
“Just like Phil tried to kill you. It’s the—the Hyde Valley thing. The Oath, the—the—”
“The dragon.”
“Yes,” Tracy admitted with reluctance. “I think so.”
“Are you sure you’re all right?”
“I’m alive. He didn’t hurt me.” Evelyn took a few steps, and Tracy heard her. “Don’t come in here!”
Evelyn stopped, but now she was closer to Collins’s body. “Tracy . . .”
“You saw the dragon, didn’t you?”
Every time she thought of that night, Evelyn felt a deep, wrenching pain. “Yes.” She had to force herself to say it. “I saw it. I saw it . . . eat Cliff.”
“Then you’d better get out of here. Get away. I don’t know who we can trust anymore.”
“Tracy, what’s that on the sheriff’s chest?”
Tracy didn’t want to look at it. “I don’t know. Some other people had the same thing. Phil Garrett had it, and Charlie Mack—and Maggie Bly.”
Evelyn’s voice choked with emotion. “Cliff had it. He was trying to hide it, but I could see it—I could smell it.”
“Oh, my god.” Tracy’s hand started going to her heart, but she quickly withdrew it. “Evelyn—”
“Tracy, I’m coming in there!”
“Stay away!” Tracy’s eyes flooded with tears. Her hand went to her heart. Her eyes focused on Collins’s oozing chest. “I have it, too.”
SEVENTEEN
THE TAVERN
EVELYN’S MIND was racing, putting pieces together. Cliff. The dead sheriff at her feet. Now Tracy.
And if Tracy, then— “Tracy, where’s Steve?”
Tracy couldn’t answer.
“Tracy! Do you know where Steve is?”
Tracy winced as the wound over her heart stung her. “He’s—” A flash of pain stole her voice.
Evelyn decided she was going to go into that room and help Tracy whether Tracy wanted help or not. She carefully stepped over Collins’s fallen body. Now she could see Tracy across the room, huddled on the floor near the coat rack, arms tightly clasped around her, pain etched in her face.
“Don’t come in here!” Tracy almost screamed.
Evelyn came no closer, but she would not be turned back. “You are hurt.”
“I’m not really hurt. It’s just this—this thing on my chest.”
Evelyn locked her eyes on Tracy and asked again, “Do you know where Steve is?”
Tracy finally got it out; it felt like a confession. “He’s at my place. At least he was this morning.”
Evelyn took hold of the doorjamb to steady herself. Tracy had not fired another shot, but Evelyn felt a bullet pierce her soul. Tracy had just confirmed Evelyn’s deepest fear.
Tracy could see it. “Evelyn, it’s okay . . .”
Evelyn tried to be stoic even as tears filled her eyes. “Tracy, was Cliff—seeing someone?”
Tracy hesitated, but the cornered look on her face gave away the answer.
“Who was she?”
Could more news do more damage? Probably. But Tracy knew she’d have to deliver it anyway. “It was Maggie Bly. She was the wife of the town boss . . .”
“Was?”
Tracy felt a wave of shame coming from somewhere as she explained, “She’s dead. The dragon took her.”
More confirmation. Pain and sorrow threatened to overwhelm her, but Evelyn gathered her strength. It was all she could do. “And she was marked just like you are, just like those others.”
Tracy couldn’t answer. The answer was too obvious and it terrified her.
Then Evelyn pushed further. “So now Steve must have it, too.”
“We don’t know that.”
“Well, didn’t you sleep with him last night?”
“I don’t think that’s any of your concern.”
Evelyn pressed on, more sorrowful than angry. “Tracy, I’m not trying to act like your mother. But let’s face it, people are dying. The dragon’s killing people, and people are killing people for the dragon, and now you’re on his list and my brother-in-law is too.”
“You don’t know that!”
“I know it and you know it!”
Tracy looked away.
“And you’re saying it’s none of my concern? Somebody tried to kill me too, remember?”
Tracy sighed and looked at the floor. “Phil Garrett is dead.”
Another blow! “And he was marked, too, did I hear you right?” Evelyn asked, her temper flaring.
“Just get a grip, will you?”
“This is all so pointless! I can’t believe it!”
Tracy had done enough talking. She gathered her strength and got up from the floor, still wincing with pain, then slipped her gun back into its holster. “You don’t have to believe it.”
“So, what now?”
Tracy went to the sheriff’s body and searched for the key to the handcuffs. “You’re going to get as far away from Hyde Valley as you can.”
“We should call the police.”
Tracy found the key and unlocked the cuff around her right wrist. “I am the police—the only one you can trust, anyway.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I’ve got to find Steve. If they tried to kill me they’ll try to kill him—and you, don’t forget. We can call for help later. First we’ve got to get out of here.”
JUST WHEN Steve thought Levi had finished, just when he was sure Levi couldn’t get more weird and enigmatic, Levi went behind the phone company’s ladder truck, clanked, clattered, and rummaged around, then came back with a long steel rod tipped with a—
“What in the world is that?”
Levi let the butt end settle to the concrete floor and held it at his side like a Roman soldier holding a lance. He looked up at the broad spear tip welded to the end and answered, “My best guess at how to kill that thing.”
Steve sighed. “You are pushing my credibility. No. No, you’ve pushed way beyond it! I suppose this has a horse and shining armor to go with it?”
Levi actually smiled in amusement. “I suppose you’d like to take your burned-up rifle you told me about and try it again?”
“This can never work!”
“Well, just about never. You’d have to get up under the dragon to use it.” He brought the tip down so Steve could see it close. “You see, bullets can’t get through the scales; they’re too strong— I’m sure you’ve noticed that. But this tip here can slide between the scales, knife up under ’em like going between shingles, you see what I mean? Once you get through those scales, you just keep shoving ’til you hit something vital.”
“Okay, functionally, it makes sense,” Steve agreed. “But of course you’ve figured out how to get under the dragon without him knowing it, and how to make him hold still while you probe around with that thing?”
Levi chuckled. “Not entirely.”
“I didn’t think so,” Steve said, and smiled.
Levi continued. “But things might be swinging our way a bit. The old boy’s getting careless; he’s getting cocky. He killed your brother, somebody who didn’t even live around here, and left part of him behind. He tore Charlie’s car open, not something you’d do if you wanted to stay a secret. He played with you a little bit. He’s getting bold now, coming out in the open.”
Levi set the lance down and took his seat on the shop stool. “So, I’m thinking maybe the dragon’ll get crazy sometime, get all distracted with what he’s doing so he won’t guess what we’re up to.”
“What do you mean, we?”
“It would take two people: one to be the lure and one to handle the lance. The dragon goes after one man, and the other man comes up under the dragon from behind and rams the lance under the scales. Heh. That oughta do it.”
“But what if the dragon falls on the guy holding the lance?”
“That’s one of the problems with this whole idea,” Levi admitted.
“Yeah, and another problem is that the dragon could eat the ‘lure’ before the other person could even get the lance in place,” Steve pointed out.
Levi nodded. “Yep, that’s another problem. But maybe there’s another way.” He cocked his head and looked at Steve. “Maybe we could prop the lance up somewhere and get the dragon to back up and stab himself.”
Steve rolled his eyes as he said, “Oh, right. It’s bad enough that someone has to be dragon bait. How do you propose we get the dragon to back up?”
“You can’t,” Levi said. “The dragon would kill you. As far as I know, the dragon’s only ever backed away from two people—your sister-in-law Evelyn and me.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Evelyn’s a religious woman; she knows Jesus, right? Just like I do. He lives in her heart.”
Steve shrugged. “Well, yeah, I guess.” Where was Levi going with this crazy line of thought?
“It’s pure and simple logic,” Levi continued. “The dragon is sin. So since Jesus is living in our hearts—Evelyn’s and mine—we’re saved from sin, which means we’re saved from the dragon and it can’t touch us.”
“Oh, that’s logical all right,” Steve said sarcastically. “We set the lance up somewhere. Then we get the dragon to follow me, and then somehow you get between the dragon and me and get it to back up and kill itself. That’s a ludicrous plan!”
“I don’t know . . . seems the Lord gave it to me. He must know how it’s going to work.”
Okay. Steve had given Levi his time, he’d listened to Levi’s pitch, he’d paid whatever courtesy was due, and now he was satisfied: If Levi wasn’t crazy he certainly came close. It was time to end this meeting. “Well, I doubt we’ll need your spear anyway, Levi. I’m going to go back to Colorado and report my findings. After that, I’m sure we’ll be able to raise all the help we need to capture that creature.” He looked at his watch, then rose to leave.
“Hold on,” said Levi.
“I’m late for another appointment.”
Levi stood in his way again and took a moment to study his face. “Benson, listen to me. You aren’t going to capture the dragon. He’s already captured you. It’s his game now, not yours.”
Steve looked around as if missing something. “Levi, the dragon hasn’t captured me. I’m sitting right here talking to you—ow!” He grabbed his chest in pain. Levi had poked him.
Levi raised an eyebrow. “He’s got you, all right. Right through the heart.” Levi poked him again and it hurt. “Got you hooked like a fish, all set to pull you in.”
He was about to poke Steve again, but Steve blocked him. “All right, that’s enough!”
Levi withdrew his hand. “Be glad it still hurts. When you get close to the end, you don’t feel a thing.” He sighed and shook his head. “You could have escaped, Benson. You could’ve steered clear, but now you’re in the thick of it, and it’s too late, just like it’s too late for this town.”
Steve just kept his hand over his chest and glared at him.
The big mechanic pointed toward the mountains. “That dragon’s bigger and stronger and madder and more hungry than he’s ever been before, and he’s gonna get what he wants. You can count on it. And he wants you, Benson. You’re hooked. I tried to warn you about getting tangled up with that woman.”
Steve tensed. Levi had said exactly the wrong thing. “This meeting is adjourned.” His tone could have frozen a lake.
Levi still blocked his way. “She’s married, Benson. That makes you a thief, Tracy a promise-breaker, and both of you liars. How clear does it have to be before you can see it?”
Steve pointed a finger in Levi’s face. “Not that it’s any of your business, Cobb,” he said angrily, “but let me remind you that Tracy’s separated from Doug—she can do whatever she pleases!”
“It ain’t the first time she’s ‘separated’ from Doug,” Levi muttered. “Ain’t the second time, either. It’s a pattern with her. And you ain’t the first person she’s hooked up with, either.”
“You’ve crossed the line, Cobb! I’ve had it with your gossip. If Tracy keeps leaving Doug as you say, then there must be a reason. He’s a real hothead. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s a wife-beater.”
Levi kept his voice steady and calm as he said, “Doug has his problems, sure, but wife-beating isn’t one of them. He’s got a lot of changing to do, but he still loves Tracy.”
“If Tracy wants to find a better man, isn’t that her business?”
Levi couldn’t hold back a smirk. “A better man? Benson, you’re the kind of guy who sleeps around. Doug ain’t much, but at least he’s stayed true. As for you, how many other Tracys have there been? How many will come after her?”
Enough. Steve landed a punch on Levi’s jaw. The big man absorbed the blow without taking a step, but his glasses went flying. He didn’t retaliate. He just stood there, sadness in his eyes.
Steve rubbed his fist. “I’m sorry. But you brought it on yourself. I don’t like anyone sticking their nose into my personal life!”
Levi responded, “Yeah, and they don’t want you messing with their dragon either.” With those words, he stepped aside and let Steve pass.
TRACY HAD tried to reach Steve at her home and via his mobile phone, but couldn’t get an answer at either number. Now she feared the worst as she drove at breakneck speed along the Hyde River Road.
It’s just you and me, Steve, she thought. I’ve plugged the county sheriff, and who knows what trouble you’re about to get into! It’s us against them.
Evelyn was already on her way back to Oak Springs, and if she took Tracy’s advice, she’d be going farther than that. Tracy was hoping she and Steve could make a quick exit as well, but first she had to find him.
When she finally pulled up in front of her little house on Nelson Creek, she could see his camper was gone.
She found a note on the kitchen table:
Dear Tracy,
Gone to Hyde River to meet with Harold Bly at ten. I think we can talk the whole thing out. Will call later, or you call me. Join us if you can. We’ll be at the tavern.
Steve
She grimaced. He was walking right into it!
STEVE DROVE his camper slowly down the main street through town, not wanting trouble but looking out for it. He was sure he would not be welcome, but somehow he had to change that. He would talk it out with Harold Bly, man to man, with all the cards on the table. No more sneaking around, no more us-against-them mentality. It was time for tolerance, time to negotiate, compromise, do whatever it took to make peace. Harold Bly was not a man Steve admired, but he had to have a mind for business, an eye that could see an economic advantage when it presented itself. Steve would try to approach him on that level, addressing Bly’s business concerns and suggesting new ideas that would further those concerns. With the right incentives, Bly might even be willing to talk openly about the dragon and find ways for both the town an
d science to benefit.
As he pulled up in front of Charlie’s Tavern and Mercantile, Steve actually smiled. He was seeing things in a fresh new light now. Okay, so now it was known: There was a creature up there, a predator responsible for killing Cliff and the others. Okay. That was just nature’s way. No one blamed grizzlies for acting on their instincts, so no one needed to blame this creature either. The creature needed to be understood, not killed, and if people wanted to worship that thing or serve it, well, that was their business.
He opened the door and stepped out, smiling at some folks passing by. They didn’t return his smile. Fine. Things would change soon enough. Steve noticed all the trucks parked in front of the tavern. That was odd for a weekday morning, he thought. Maybe Harold Bly had created a new holiday. Maybe even a holiday in honor of the dragon. Steve smiled again.
“Here he comes,” said Bernie, spotting Steve through a front window.
Harold Bly sat in his usual corner, smoking a cigar and enjoying a cold beer. Sitting with him was Rosie, who seemed to be settling into a long-term relationship.
“Honey,” he told her, “why don’t you go on home? This could get unpleasant.”
Her grip on his hand lingered as she rose from the table. “You be careful, Hal.”
“Don’t worry,” he told her.
She left through the back door.
Harold caught the eye of his favorite retired employees, Elmer McCoy and Joe Staggart, who were seated at tables on either side of Bly. They nodded. Andy Schuller and his two buddies immediately started playing a game of pool and looking like they didn’t have a .357, a .38, and a .44 hidden in the ball rack under the table.