The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove Chapter 21

Twenty- singleGabe and TheoThis is w present I found the aberrant rats, Gabe said as they pulled into theFly Rod Trailer Court.Thats nice, Theo said, non actually paying(a) attention.Did I announce you I got the brain chemistry back from Stanford? Its interesting, but Im not sure that it explains the behavior. non now, Gabe, please. Theo slammed on the brakes and the truck rocked to a stop. What the wickedness? There were no lights on in Molly Michons paper bag. In the empty c everywhere next door, a dozen well-dressed adults stood in a circle, holding candles. supplicant meeting? Gabe ventured. Its Sunday night.There was a trailer there last time I was here, Theo said. Just like the one on the ranch.I be intimate. This is the lot where I found the rats with the low serotonin levels.Theo shut off the truck, set the parking brake, and climbed kayoed. Then he looked back at Gabe. You found your rats right here?The six that I could find. But this is where the other ones that we re last tracked disappeared as well. I can show you the graphic later.That would be good.Theo pulled his flannel shirt over the guns in his waistband and approached the circle. skinner jumped out of the truck and ran ahead. Gabe reluctantly followed. They did, indeed, seem to be praying. Their heads were bowed and a fair sex in a powder-blue dress and turban hat was leading the free radical. Bless us, Lord, for we adjudge felt the stirrings of your power within us and heeded your call to come to this holy place on the eve ofSkinner drove his nose into the womans crotch, and she yipped like a bee-stung poodle. Everyone in the group looked up.Excuse me, Theo said. I dont mean to interrupt, but what are you all doing here? Several of the work force looked irritated and stepped up behind the powder-blue woman to give support.The woman held Skinners nose past from her dress while trying to keep the candle flame away from her hair spray. Constable Crowe? Is that right?Yes, maam, Th eo said. The woman was younger than he was by at least phoebe bird years and pretty in a Texas mountainous Hair sort of way, but her dress and manner of speaking do him go through as if hed adept been busted by his first-grade teacher for eating paste.Weve been called here, Constable, the woman explained. She reached behind her, grabbed the shoulder of a woman who looked like her clone in pink, and pulled her forward. Skinner stamped the pink womans dress with the Wet-Nose Inspection Seal. Margie and I felt it first, but when we started talk well-nigh it after services this afternoon, all these other people said that they had felt drawn to this place as well. The Holy Spirit has moved us here.Ask them if theyve seen any rats. Gabe said.Call your dog, Theo tossed over his shoulder.Gabe called Skinner and the Labrador looked around.They smell fine to me, Food Guy. I presuppose fuck em, Skinner thought. But he got no response except a minor scolding.The Holy Spirit called you h ere? Theo said.Everyone in the group nodded earnestly.Did any of you happen to see the woman who lives in that trailer next door?The pink lady chimed in, Oh yes, she was the one to call our attention to this place two nights ago. We wondered about that at first, being as how she is and all, but past Katie pointed out she gestured to her friend that our Lord Jesus spent time with Mary Magdalene, and she, as Im sure you crawl in, was well she wasA whore, Theo offered.Well. Yes. And so we thought, who are we to judge? very(prenominal) charitable of you, Theo said. But have you seen Molly Michon tonight?No, not tonight.Theo felt his energy reserves drain even more. Look, folks, you shouldnt be here. Im not sure its safe. virtually people have gone missingOh, that poor boy, Margie said.Yes and maybe some(a) others. I have to ask you all to inquire your meeting somewhere else, please.The group looked disappointed. One of the men, a portly bald fellow in his fifties, puffed himself up and stepped forward. Constable, we have the right to worship when and where we please.Im just opinion of your safety, Theo said.This country was founded on the basis of religious freedom, andTheo stepped up to the man and loomed over him with all of his six-footsix frame, Then start praying that I dont throw you in toss out with the biggest, horniest sodomite the country jail has to offer, which is what Im going to do if you all dont go home right now.Smooth, Gabe said.Make him roll over and pee on himself, Skinner thought.The bald man made a harumph sound and turned to the group. Lets meet at the church to discuss the removal of our local law enforcement official.Yeah, get in line, Theo said. He watched as the group dispersed to their cars and drove away.When the last one pulled out, Gabe said, Theories?Theo shook his head. Everyone in this town is nuts. Im going to check Mollys trailer, but I doubt shes there. Do you want me to dramatise you home to shower and change clothe s before your date?Gabe looked down at his stained work pants and safari shirt. Do you sound off I should?Gabe, youre the only guy I know that makes me look suave.Youre coming along, right?Casanova, Theo said. Compared to you, I feel like Casanova.What? Gabe said. Its fried chicken night at H.P.s.SteveSteve stupefy under a stand of cypress trees, his new lover snuggled up to his right foreleg, snoring softly. He let his tongue slide out and the tip just brushed her bare back. She moaned and nuzzled closer to his leg. She tasted pretty good. But he had eaten all those other warmbloods and he wasnt really hungry.When he had been a female, some fifty years ago, and going back another five thousand, he had become accustomed to eating his lovers after mating. Thats just how it was done. But as a male, he wasnt sure. He hadnt mated with his own species since hed become male, and so the instinct to become passive after mating was new to him. He just didnt feel like eating the warmblood. She had made him feel better, and for some reason, he could see the pictures of her thoughts instead of just sending his own sig-nals. He sensed no fright in her, and no need to send the signal to draw her to him. Strange for a warmblood.He lay his head down on the bed of cypress needles to sleep and let his wounds heal. He could eat her later. Somewhere in the back of his brain, as he fell asleep, a fear alarm went off. In five thousand years of biography, he had never conceived of the concept of later or before, only now. His DNA had rechained itself many times, adapted to changes without waiting for the life cycles of generations he was a unique organism in that way but the concept of time, of memory beyond the cellular level, was a new adapt-ation. Through his contact with Molly he was evolving consciousness, and like the pragmatic mechanism that it is, nature was trying to warn him. The nightmare was about to have a nightmare.ValIs this a date? Val sat alone at a table in the back of H.P.s Cafe. Shed ordered a glass of a local chardonnay and was trying to form an opinion about it that would polish the appropriate disgust, but unfortunately, it was quite good. She was wearing light evening makeup and an understated raw silk suit in indigo with a single pull in of pearls so as not to clash too badly with her date, who she knew would be in jeans or cotton khaki. Her date? If this is a date, how far have I sunk? she asked herself. This tacky little cafe in this tacky little town, waiting for a man who had probably never worn a black tie or a Rolex, and she was looking forward to it.No, its not a date. Its just dinner. Its sustenance. Its, for once, not eating alone. Slumming in the land of the folksy and the neighborly, thats what it is. Its a satirical achievement art experience call it The Bourgeois Fried Chicken Follies. It was one thing to read her journals over coffee in the local cafe, but dinner?Gabe Fenton came through the front door and Val felt her pulse quicken. She smiled in spite of herself as she watched the expect point to her table. Then Theo Crowe was following Gabe across the restaurant and a bolt of anxiety shot up her spine. This definitely isnt a date.Gabe smiled and the lines around his eyes crinkled as if he were about to burst out laughing. He extended his hand to her. Hi, I hope you dont mind, I asked Theo to join us. His hair was combed, as was his beard, and he was wearing a faded but clean chambray shirt. Not exactly dashing, but a pretty good-looking guy in a lumber-jack sort of way.No, please, Val said. Sit down, Theo.Theo nodded and pulled a chair up to the table, which had been set for two. The waitress breezed in with another place setting before they were seated. Im sorry to intrude, Theo said, but Gabe insisted.No, really, youre welcome, Constable. Theo, please.Theo then, Val said. She forced a smile. What now? The last time she had talked to this man it had thrown her life for a loop. She fo und herself building a resentment for Gabe that was unremarkably reserved for relationships that were years old.Theo cleared his throat. Uh, can we go on the doctor-patient confidentiality plan again, Doctor?Val nodded to Gabe, That usually implies a session. Not dinner.Okay, then, dont say anything, but Joseph Leander killed his wife.Val didnt say, Wow. Almost, but she didnt. And you know this becauseBecause he told me so, Theo said. He gave her tea made from foxglove. Evidently, it can cause heart failure and is nearly undetectable. Then he hung her in the dining room.So youve arrested him?No, I dont know where he is.But youve put a warrant out for his arrest or whatever it is that you do?No, Im not sure that Im still the constable.Gabe broke in. Weve been talking about it, Val. I say that Theo is an elected official, and therefore the only way he can lose his job is through impeachment, even if his immediate superior tries to kill him. What do you think?Kill him?Smooth, Theo sa id, grinning at Gabe.Oh, maybe you should recount her about the crank lab and stuff, Theo.And so Theo explained, telling the story of his kidnapping, the drug lab, Joseph Leanders disappearance, and Molly Michon setting him free, but leaving out any theories he had about a giant creature. During the telling, they ordered (fried chicken for Theo and Gabe, a Greek salad for Val) and were halfway through dinner before Theo stopped talking.Val stared at her salad and silence washed over the table. If there was going to be a murder investigation, she could be found out. And if they found out what she had done to her patients, her career was over. She might even go to jail. It wasnt fair, she really had tried to do the right thing for once. She resisted the urge to blurt out a confession to throw herself on the mercy of a court born(p) of sheer paranoia. Instead she raised her eyes to Gabe, who took the signal to break the silence.Gabe said, And I still dont know the significance of th e low serotonin levels in the rats brains.Huh? said not only Val and Theo, but the waitress, Jenny, who had been eavesdropping from the next table and joined the confusion at Gabes non sequitur.Sorry, Gabe said to Val. I thought you might have a take on the brain chemistry of those rats I had tested. You said you were interested.And I am, Val said, lying through her teeth, but Im a little overwhelmed by the news about Bess Leander.Right, anyway, the group of rats that didnt take part in the mass migration all had unusually low levels of serotonin. The brain chemistry of the larger group, the group that ran, was all in normal ranges. So Im thinking thatThey were depressed, Val said.Pardon me? Gabe said.Of course theyre depressed, theyre rats, Theo said.Gabe glared at him.Well, imagine waking up to that every morning, Theo continued. Oh, its a great day, crap, Im still a rat. Never mind.Well, I dont know about rats, Val said, but serotonin levels in humans affect a lot of different th ings, predominantly mood. Low levels of serotonin can indicate depression. Thats how Prozac works. It basically keeps sero-tonin in the brain to keep the patient from getting depressed. So maybe Gabes rats were too depressed to run.Gabe stroked his beard. I never thought of that. But it doesnt help that much. It doesnt tell me why the majority of the rats did run.Well, duh, Gabe, Theo said. Its the fucking monster.What? Val said.What? said Jenny, who was lingering nearby.Can we get some dessert menus? Gabe asked, sending Jenny backing across the restaurant.Monster? Val said. maybe youd better explain, Gabe, Theo said. I think your scientific skepticism will make it sound more credible.Vals jaw dropped visibly as she listened to Gabe talk about the tracks at the ranch, the mutilated cattle, and Theos theory for the disappearances of Joseph Leander, Mikey Plotznik, and perhaps Les from the hardware store. When Gabe brought up Molly Michon, Val stopped him.You cant believe what she te lls you. Molly is a very disturbed woman.She didnt tell me anything, Theo said. I just think she knows something about all this.Val wanted to call up Theos drug history to sweep the story aside, then she remembered what Estelle Boyet had told her in therapy. Im not going to say who, but one of my patients mentioned a sea monster in session.Gabe asked. Who?I cant say, Val said.Estelle Boyet, Jenny said as she came up to get the dessert order.Damn, Val said. I wasnt the one who told you, she said to Theo.Well, she was talking about it over breakfast with that Catfish guy, Jenny added.No dessert, Val snapped at Jenny.Ill bring the check.So Estelle has seen it? Theo asked.No, she says shes heard it. Shes not the type to dole out a hoax, but I wouldnt put it past Molly Michon. Perhaps thats where the rumor started. I can ask Estelle.Do that, Theo said. But its not a hoax. My car is smashed. Thats evidence. Im going to Mollys tonight and wait for her. The door was unlocked when I checked earlier and I cant go home.You think its that dangerous? Val asked.I know it is. Theo stood and started to pull some bills from his pocket. Gabe waved him off. Theo said, Doctor, can you give Gabe a ride?Sure, butThanks, Theo said. Ill call you, Gabe. Thanks for letting me join you, Doctor. I thought youd want to know about Bess. Im afraid Ive ruined your date.Ill say, Val thought as she watched Theo leave the restaurant. A sense of alert exhaustion washed over her like an espresso fog bank.He just quit smoking pot, Gabe said. Hes feeling the stress.He has a right to. You dont believe any of that stuff about a monster, do you?I have some theories.Would you like to come up to the house and explain them over a bottle of wine?Really? I mean, sure, that would be nice.Good, Val said. I think I need to get hammered and Id like your company. Had she used the term hammered since college? She didnt think so.Ill get the check, Gabe said.Of course you will.I hope you dont mind having a dog in your car, Gabe said.Im not slumming, she thought. Ive moved to the slums.