The Bridge (Para-Earth Series) (10 page)

             
Pam, who was Dispatcher that day, responded. “He didn’t say anything to us about leaving early.  And he usually checks in even if he’s going out for a bite to eat.”

             
Something was definitely wrong.  With growing concern he asked Pam, “When did he check in last?”

             
“Lunchtime.  When did you last hear from him?”

             
“About two hours ago.  He was going to check on that wreck from this morning.  We got a report that there might have been another passenger in the backseat,” he answered, gazing around the yard.  Where the hell could Chase have gone? 

             
“Hang on while I check with the Chief,” Pam told him and the radio went silent. 

             
Ryan started walking around the yard.  Maybe Chase had gotten hurt or collapsed.

             
He quickened his pace as he searched the lot.

             
‘Why is it so quiet? And where is that smell coming from?’
he wondered uneasily.

             
That was when he realized the security dogs weren’t barking at him, which they did to everyone who came by.  Immediately, he went over to their cage and found them huddled in a corner trembling.  What the hell was going on? 

             
His radio crackled loudly, making him jump. “Ryan, I just spoke with the chief and he hasn’t heard from Chase either.  He’s heading over to join you.  Where can he find you?”

             
“Next to the cage where the dogs are kept,” he replied looking down.  The Dobermans had crept over to him and were huddling close by, as if asking for police protection.

             
“Are Mars and Ares okay?  I don’t hear them in the background?  Those two usually want to tear someone apart.”

             
Leaning up against the fence to get closer to him, the two dogs started whimpering.  “I’m not sure, Pam.  Right now they’re so spooked, that if a cat came through here he’d own the place.”

             
“Holy shit!” the dispatcher exclaimed, “Ryan, keep your radio on so I can stay in touch with you until the chief arrives, okay?”

             
“Copy that,” the young patrolman replied and continued scanning the immediate area with his eyes.

             
From here he could see the wreck from this morning in the distance.  It seemed to glare back at him from its green tinted windows.  Feeling uneasy he turned away.

             
Between the silence and a strange smell, the yard was getting to him.  The odor seemed to be everywhere.  He headed over to the workshop to escape it, only to find the odor was even stronger here.  Especially around a large puddle of dark liquid that left a trail all the way back to the mystery wreck.  Maybe, Chase had broken a hose while checking the vehicle over.  But what engine liquid had an odor like that?

             
Just then he saw his boss’ patrol car pulling into the yard and quickly headed over to it.

             
“Any sign of Chase?” his boss asked getting out of the vehicle, “Or did the two of you cook this up because you needed a third hand for poker?”

             
“I wish, Chief,” Ryan sighed, “I haven’t been able to find anything.”

             
“Pam said there something was wrong with the dogs.  What’s happened to them?”

             
With a rueful laugh, Ryan told him, “I’ll show you.”

              Peterson shook his head as the two dogs did their best to climb through the fence and into their laps.  “I don’t believe this,” he murmured.  Do you see this?”

             
Ryan nodded.

             
“Did you already look around the entire lot?”

             
“Even under the cars,” the young man told him.

             
“What about inside them?”

             
The patrolman shook his head.

             
Roy gestured towards the nearest car.  “You start there, while I go check the one from this morning.” 

             
As his subordinate headed off, Roy moved towards the wreck at the heart of their mystery.

             
He’d spent the better part of the morning consoling the families of the victims, never an easy task.  Which was why he hadn’t sent Veronica, he knew she was taking this pretty hard already.  They had been good kids who’d never gotten in trouble with the law.  And now they were both dead. 

             
As he approached the wreck he made a face.  The smell that had been assaulting his nostrils since he arrived was getting stronger as he got closer.  Then he noticed the mud and water stains on the outside of the car’s doors.  That must be the source.  What the hell had this thing been driven through? 

             
He tried to look inside, but the greenish tint of the windows got in the way. He wondered if that had been partly to blame for the accident.  What was the visibility like from the inside?

             
Then it hit.  Ronnie had said she could see the driver and passenger through the rear window.  He moved to the back of the vehicle and was greeted by the same murky green.  Then he noticed the sound of dripping.  Looking down he saw it was coming from the bottom of the car’s rear door.  Another dark drop appeared and fell as he watched.

             
Without thinking, he reached for the handle and pulled.  The door flew open, and a wave of brackish water swept him off his feet.  He came to rest a few feet away just as something heavy slammed up against him.  Cursing he turned to see what it was, and found himself staring into the dead eyes of Paul Chase.

the promise

            
 
In a private room of the hospital, a man lay on the bed hooked up to numerous wires and hoses.  As one machine beeped in time with his heart, another assisted with his breathing.  He had been here for 16 years, unable to move or exist on his own.  His only visitors were the doctors and nurses. 

             
The door was closed and no one had entered for some time.  But, he was no longer alone.  A black silhouetted figure seemed to rise up from nowhere and stood over him.  Sensing a new presence the patient’s eyes opened and stared at the newcomer. 

             
The man had long silver hair and wore clothing from another age, but time had not touched him. 

             
The figure on the bed made an effort to smile.  It had been a very long time. 

             
“You’re efforts have succeeded,” the stranger announced. “The merging will be completed shortly.  The promise will now be fulfilled.”  With that he sank back into the darkness. 

             
A moment later, the bed-ridden figure stopped breathing.

             
Immediately the sounds of the machines changed, raising an alarm.

             
A Resuscitation Team rushed into the room and sprang into action. 

             
The man’s dressing gown was pulled open and syringes were prepared, while the lead physician grabbed the Defibrillator paddles and placed them against the patient’s now exposed chest. “CLEAR!” he shouted and pressed down.

             
A moment later he shouted again, only this time in horror. His hands and the paddles had gone right through the man’s skin, which had cracked open like old papyrus. 

             
The entire team started back as the rest of the patient’s torso continued to crack and collapse.  Soon the arms and legs followed suit and finally the head.  As they stared in horror, the remains continued to crumble and sink into the bed itself and disappear. 

alex

              Alex was in the kitchen pouring some more tea.  Having finished the pot Julie had left for him, he had reasoned it was okay to get out of bed and make some more.  Actually, he’d been looking for an excuse to get up and move around ever since he’d woken up.  He still felt weak physically, but his mind was racing over everything that had happened.

             
According to Julie the two teens had nearly run her down just before 7:00AM.  An hour later, the car forced Veronica off the road, and then crashed.  His beloved came looking for him at the bar around 10:30AM and from there they had gone home for her stress relief session.  The call about the Medical Examiner’s findings came about 12:30 and they had arrived at the hospital around 1:00 PM.  A few minutes later he was assaulted by…  Assaulted?  Was that the right word?  Yes, it was.  The more he thought about it, the more it felt like he had been attacked.

             
Slowly he wrapped his hands around the hot cup, as if fearing the terrible cold would return.  Naturally, he’d felt the underlying chill of the Morgue, just as he had when he was a child.  But that intense wave of cold that hit when he touched those doors was something else entirely.  And that wail.  He trembled in spite of himself. 

             
It was almost like what happened back at Harlequin House…

             
Suddenly, the phone rang making him jump and spilling the hot tea over the sides and onto his hands. 

             
Swearing colorfully, he picked up the handset and answered, “Whoever this is, you just bloody well made me spill my tea.”

             
“So you’re out of bed, huh?” Julie’s voice replied.

             
‘I’m in for it now,’ he thought, his anger replaced by worry. “Please tell me Ronnie’s not standing there listening,” he begged.

             
“No, you’re safe,” she told him.  “I just wanted to check up on you.  How are you doing?”

             
“Well, I’m capable of cognitive thought.”

              Back at the station the brunette raised an eyebrow and said, “Wow, there really is a first time for everything.”

             
“You’re taking advantage of my being under the weather,” she heard him complain.

             
“Alex, if I took advantage of you, you’d have a memorable time,” she replied in a sultry voice.  There was a yelp at the other end of the phone.  Wincing she said, “Spilled your tea again?”

             
“Yes!”

             
“Sorry,” she apologized.  “Look the reason I called was to give you a heads up.  Ronnie and I are going to be leaving here in a few minutes, and she’s in a bad mood.”

             
“What happened?” 

             
“She had me describe the girl I saw in the vehicle to one of the sketch artist’s here at the station.  When he was finished she took one look at the drawing and her face went all tense.  You know the look I mean?”

              Back in the living room of his house, Alex nodded.  Obviously, the benefits of this morning’s therapeutic love session had just gone out the window. “Maybe you could take her out for a drink or two,” he suggested.

             
“I’ll do that.  See you later.”

             
“Bye,” he replied and hung up.  Immediately, the phone rang again.  “Hello?” he said carefully, in case it was Veronica.

             
“Hey Captain Britain, I need your help,” cried a voice from the other end.  Alex smiled.  David Brinks was one of his oldest friends from junior high school, and was now a close business associate.  Since graduating they had worked on a number of commercial real estate projects together.  Currently, Dave was working on a project back on Long Island. 

             
“Why?  Did my Dad give you the bum’s rush because you criticized his blueprints?” Alex asked.  “I warned you not to do that.”

             
“Nah, I love working with him.  He’s great.  He doesn’t talk all funny like you,” Dave laughed.

             
“Oye, I took after me Mum who was born and raised in England,” Alex replied evenly, “In fact I was born there, and we lived there until I was five.  You can’t learn to speak English better than that.”

             
“Yeah but you’ve been in America for 25 years, how come you still talk like you just got off the boat?”

             
“Simple, I promised myself to keep my accent after my Mum died.  So I watch mostly British television and have spent a number of summers back in England.  Not every summer, but a good number of them,” Alex explained proudly.

             
“Bullshit, you just keep it up to get girls.  Everybody knows English accents draw in the babes,” his friend shot back. “Hey, you’re still in living in New Swindon Connecticut right?  Ever hear of a guy named Graham?”

             
A strange feeling of foreboding crept over Alex as he answered, “Yeah, he owned a huge estate around here.  I believe the old fellow’s been in the hospital for the last few years.  Why?”

             
“He died this afternoon,” Dave told him.  “Apparently, he left orders that his will was to be opened by his lawyers as soon as he passed away.  Turns out he was the last of his family and he left instruction for the place is to be put on the market, ASAP!”

             
“So why call me?  I don’t do residential,” Alex pointed out.

             
“We’re not talking residential my friend.  The place has about 30 acres of manicured lawns, statues, gardens, and a stone bridge over a large stream.  We’re talking golf course, resort or conference center.  Get my meaning?”

             
For a brief moment Alex felt cold again, and then it passed.  What the hell was going on?  Shaking his head he said, “You want me to get it on the market and show it off.  Put together a big Open House and whatnot, right?”

             
“Exactly!” his friend said excitedly, “Hey are you okay? You don’t sound too good.”

             
“Flu bug,” Alex replied absently and then assured his friend that he’d take care of things and hung up.  “At least I hope that’s all it is,” he said aloud and headed back to bed, pausing briefly at the linen closet to grab an extra blanket.

              An hour later he awoke to the sound of the front door opening and Julie calling his name.

             
Already he could sense something was wrong. “I’m in the bedroom,” he replied and sat up.

             
As Julie entered the bedroom he noticed Veronica wasn’t with her.  “Where’s my other half?” he asked worriedly.

             
Sitting down heavily on the bed his friend turned to him and said, “Still on the job.  Remember those drinks you suggested?  Well we were on our way to JT’s when we passed the Police Impound Yard.  Ronnie spotted the Medical Examiner’s car and an ambulance there, so of course we had to pull in and see what was up.”

             
“They find another body in the wreck?”

             
The big brunette nodded, “But it wasn’t the girl I saw.  It was the mechanic who worked there, Paul Chase.  He drowned inside the wreck.  Somehow it filled up with water, while he was inside of it.”

             
“Bloody Hell,” Alex murmured, sensing they wouldn’t be able to find a rational explanation for what had happened.  He looked at his companion and said, “You knew those kids were already dead when you saw them, didn’t you?”

             
To her credit, Julie didn’t grow pale or gasp. Instead, she got up and wandered over to a window as she gathered her thoughts. 

             
Finally she spoke, “I thought they were just done up in make-up at first.  You know, goofing around, scaring people.  But, something didn’t feel right.  As soon as I saw them I felt cold and frightened.  It was like I was seeing something that didn’t belong in this world.”  Suddenly, she turned to him with frightened eyes and asked desperately, “Am I losing my mind?”

             
Alex got up and went over to her.  Then he pulled her close saying, “Definitely not.”

             
Julie relaxed in his arms slightly, but not as much as he’d hoped.  Then she asked, “Are you afraid?”

             
“No.”

             
“Scared shitless?”

             
“Spot on,” he admitted and felt her hold on tighter.

             
They remained that way for a few minutes, before she spoke again.  “There’s something else.”

             
Inside his mind, Alex could see the fast moving vehicle with its macabre driver and passenger. 
One of them turned to him and…

             
“The driver spat up water,” she told him and shuddered. She hated herself for it, but it couldn’t be helped.  “I kept telling myself that they were just a couple of kids screwing around.  But there was so much of it.” 

             
“I know,” he murmured and pulled her even closer, “Did you tell Veronica?”

             
The tall girl shook her head.  “I was afraid she’d give me a breathalyzer and order some blood work to see if someone slipped me something when I wasn’t looking.”

             
Alex nodded in sympathy.  He knew his lady could have an open mind, but even he wasn’t sure how far it went.  Which was why had never told her about his gifts.  Or his other experiences with strange phenomenon.  Including one place he longed to erase from his memory forever. 

              Three days later, he and Veronica stood together under an umbrella in a cemetery.  He wore a dark blue suit and a black arm band, while she was in full uniform.  Next to them, Roy Peterson kept an arm around Alice.  On the other side of the grave a row of policeman stood with rifles ready for a final salute to a fallen brother of the badge.  Paul’s widow, consoled by her two sons, stood at the head of the grave next to the priest.

             
Alex shook his head. Death by drowning had been the official verdict from the Medical Examiner’s office.  But, many questions remained.  Someone had rendered Paul unconscious and put him in the backseat.  Yet there was no evidence of a blow to the head or other trauma.  The only mark had been a bruise around one wrist, like a rope or something had been tied around it.  But nothing like that had been found at the scene.

             
Then, the vehicle had been filled with the same kind of water that had been used to drown the two teens.  Tests on the liquid found inside all the victims’ lungs had confirmed this.  And it did not match the water sources found at the Impound Yard.  So where had it come from?  And how had the wreck managed to hold the water?  Why hadn’t any of it had leaked out?

             
A team of experts examining the vehicle hadn’t been able to find an answer to either of those questions. 

             
Three mysterious deaths inside the same car, in less than 24 hours had left the entire police force on edge.  Especially, since the last victim had been one of their own.

             
Veronica had come home in a dark mood each night and had been taking her frustration out on Eric, her practice dummy inside what had been his grandfather’s cathouse.  He’d had part of the building converted into a large workout room for her shortly after she moved in with him.  Last night, he’d watched her practice her martial arts and found himself feeling sorry for Eric.  The dummy’s latex covering had started to break open and leak foam in several places from the abuse.

             
The crack of rifle fire interrupted his thoughts.

             
As the coffin was slowly lowered, he felt a familiar chill creeping inside of him.  Keeping his eyes fixed on the coffin he saw a black tendril snake out from the crack in the lid and began waving about.  Several more followed, while greenish water seeped out the sides of the lid.  He glanced at Veronica who mouthed, ‘Are you all right?’ at him.  The cold was beginning to fade, so he nodded.  Looking down he saw only the coffin, nothing else. 

             
He sighed quietly.  Coming here had been a risk.  He knew that he was likely to see things he’d rather not.  Even now, as he looked around he saw a number of figures in different parts of the cemetery.  But none of them were looking at him.  As he stared, one pair of mourners walked through one lone figure in a dark suit, without realizing it.