Chapter 4: To Hell and Back
The kettle drum band on the radio ZJB faded out when it was time for the 11 o'clock news: "MVO observations have shown several changes on the volcano. Steam venting activity has increased and a new fumarole has appeared on the northwest face of the lava dome behind Gages Mountain."
Yes, the authorities didn't stop warning for more significant activity in the coming days.
And Tim didn't like it a bit.
However, right now, Tim was steering the rental along the beautiful, winding and harsh terrain to Molyneaux.
He'd spent all of yesterday afternoon at the police station, going over a bunch of files Inspector Daley had given him.
By carefully correlating the information and after elimination he was left with a handful of suspects. When Tim mentioned one of them, Paul Dobbs, Inspector Daley, much to Tim's surprise, burst into a laughing fit.
"Preposterous! Look, Paul's what you would call a nerd. And did you see his age? Come now! He's just turned 16 and still a boy!" He shook his head. "More to the point; he wouldn't harm a fly, that one. He get's queasy at the sight of blood."
"His sister got raped. Cullin's name has been mentioned in that case. An unsolved case, too, since the perpetrator's never been caught. Moreover, the boy was very vocal about avenging his sister's abuse. He hasn't been really subtle about accusing Cullin."
"I think you've got it all wrong on that one, Agent McGee. Moreover, basing your evidence on mere speculations, and the sole fact his sister got raped and that Cullin had been questioned as a potential suspect, just isn't enough to go after Paul."
"I think you'd be surprised about the lengths teenagers go when protecting a loved one. He sure has motive, not to mention opportunity since he's working at the hotel as an extra. As he had been at the time Cullin got murdered." Tim doggedly countered, a little miffed the man so easily rejected this promising lead.
Inspector Daley, though, was unyielding. "The Dobbs family has been through so much. I'm not going to bring in their son for questioning. Not until I get hard evidence he's involved."
Daley gathered his files. "I've got business to attend to. I bid you a good day, Agent McGee." He opened the door but hesitated, his hand still on the knob. "I really hope you got it wrong, you know? I..." He stopped short what he was about to say and left.
Tim stared after him and then ran a hand through his hair.
-o0o-
The news reports had been mainly about the Cullin murder and that even got pushed more and more to the background by the increased seismic activity and ash fall in Soufrière Hills.
Tim couldn't shake the bad premonition the fire dragon was going for a real deep, resounding belch. The question now was, when.
After Daley's dismissal, he'd gone to the library to read on the crime reports on the island of which, thankfully, there were few. With his own findings and what both Gerald and Leora had added about the Dobbs' case, he was now even more than before sure about Paul Dobbs' involvement.
The few people he'd interviewed had all mentioned his frequent returns to the abandoned family property in Molyneaux on the northern flanks of the Soufrière Hills.
At first, droplets of rain splattered against the windshield which had Tim utter a soft curse as he recalled last night's weather forecast and lahar warnings.
His recurring dreams of the Chimera and gut feeling of impending doom didn't really help making him feel better.
Soon, the torrential rain obliterated the road ahead and the surrounding rainforest. The sound of heavy drops pelting down on the roof rang loud in the car, almost blocking out the ring of Tim's cell phone.
Pulling out his phone, he addressed the caller, raising his voice enough to be heard above the downpour, "hold on," before dropping the device on the passenger seat.
The wiper blades raking back and forth across the windshield were fighting a losing battle for a clear view as he pulled over to the verge and stopped the car.
Staring out at the heavy cloak of rain, he picked up his phone again. "Hello?"
"Tim? It's me. Leora. I'm now with Gerald. He explained to me you were heading for the Dobbs' old home in Molyneaux."
Tim sighed. So much for confiding in Gerald and relying on his professionalism, and he wondered how long it would take for the news to spread through the island community.
"Why did he..."
"No matter! Just listen. Paul Dobbs is also on his way to his former home. Tell me: where are you now?"
He relayed to her the last location from his GPS.
"He must've suspected something. Tim! He can't be too far behind you!"
"Don't worry, Leora. I'm..."
Whatever he was going to say, died unspoken on his lips as a shadow suddenly loomed from out of nowhere to stand beside his car. Without preamble, the stranger janked open the door to deliver Tim a nasty clout on the head.
Taken by surprise, mainly because his attention was directed towards the phone conversation, his reflexes were slow and before he knew it, he listed to the side as if in slow motion, the cell slipping from his fingers.
His vision blurred and the sound of the rain died to a whisper and then...nothing.
The squall had gone as suddenly as it had started and the man pushed Tim's unconscious body into the passenger seat before gliding behind the wheel, close the door and drive off.
A little further down the road, Paul Dobbs left the main road and soon he was out of the forest.
Then, he turned right for about 200 yards. He stopped the car, got out and quickly rounded the car whilst putting on a pair of gloves. Throwing open the door on the passenger side, Dobbs proceeded to haul out Tim's unconscious body.
He quickly started undressing Tim but leaving on his pants and shoes, before dragging the halfnaked man to a tree. He hurriedly sat Tim leaning against the tree with his head fallen forward as if asleep, his long slender legs stretched out. Next, he arranged Tim's clothes into a neat bundle and left them beside the still knocked-out agent.
Dobbs had worked efficiently and fast and, walking back to the car, he shook off the raincoat and deftly rolled the garment into a ball, making sure he wouldn't get in contact with any of the moisture. Getting inside the car, he tossed the garment on the floor, started the car and drove off.
The leafy killer tree oozed its milky white sap and poisoned rain water onto the man who was totally unaware of the extreme danger he was in.
-o0o-
"Hey! Isn't that Tim's rental?" Leora exclaimed, hitting the dashboard with the flat of her hand as if willing the car to go faster.
"I know! I know!" Gerald replied, hitting the brakes.
Leora turned to him; baffled. "Oy! What's that for? Aren't you going after him?" She couldn't believe he was giving up when they were this close.
Gerald turned to face her.
"He came from this secondary road and back onto the main road. Why, do you think, would he do that?" He calmly explained.
"Oh, no! Tim! That's why! Dobbs couldn't have gone that far into that direction."
"And Dobbs is alone in Tim's car. And we both know he's abandoned his own... Ergo..."
Leora stared at him intently before taking a decision. "Let me out, here. You go after him."
Gerald grinned as she threw open the door and hopped out. "That had been my intention, missus."
As the doctor drove off, Leora heard an ominous sound. One she had come to recognize. One all Montserratians knew too well.
The Soufrière Hills were waking up again.
She felt the slightest of tremors below her feet. She'd been feeling them at intervals since she'd been back on the Emerald Isle and she knew what that meant.
She looked towards the Soufrière Hills and saw a huge steam plume rise against the skyline.
There was no time to lose.
Leora ran down the side road from which they'd seen Dobbs emerge, making sure she wouldn't miss anything out of the ordinary. Meanwhile, she was praying for Gerald, hoping with all her heart he would be careful and heed the signs of the reawakening volcano.
There! Something was moving.
Somebody.
Pitiful sounds came from the stricken federal agent. His upper body was an angry red color and covered with burns and blisters. He was writhing in excruciating pain. She knew he was feeling as if being burned alive.
"Oh Tim..."
She rushed forward, toward him and without hesitation, she quickly grabbed a hold of Tim's legs and dragged him to safety; away from under the deadly and dripping canopy.
Above the growing rumble of the volcano, an engine could be heard and it made her look up briefly, relieved to see Gerald's car come to a stop.
He left the car and hurried over to help her carry Tim to the car.
Another loud crack made the earth quake and a cloud of ash and gas shot up from the volcano.
Ignoring the rumbling volcano and doing their best not to pay any heed to Tim's screams and thrashing, they loaded him onto the backseat and drove off.
Looking back through the rear window, Leora saw the first pyroclastic flows rolling down Gages Valley and into Spring Ghaut as the new dome, which had steadily grown in the old crater, finally collapsed.
"Step on it, Gerald!"
"I'm going as fast as I can, Leora!" He yelled back, his face grim with anxiety. He chanced a quick glance towards Tim from the rear viewer.
Tim, the pain having been too much to bear, soon found himself gratefully slipping away into oblivion.
"He's not doing too well, eh?"
Leora bit her lips and shook her head. What could she say? Tim could very well be dying.
"He's suffering from severe contact dermatitis...and more," Gerald, going into clinical modus, explained.
"Will he make it?"
"He will, if we get him at St. John's in time."
Leora nodded, trusting him.
She looked back at the darkening skies behind her as plumes of ash were billowing from the volcano. The fumes of sulphur found their way into the car...
...which brought her back to...
"Eh...Paul Dobbs?"
"He was way ahead of me, but I'm sure he was still heading for his old home...if not already there. Then...I felt something... Nearly lost control of the car. I decided it was time to make my getaway. Didn't trust it. The volcano was steaming and, I tell ya, she was venting huge quantities of steam! Air was stinking heavy with sulphur, too."
"Do you think he..."
"No. There's no way he made it out of there in time. His home's in the southern most part of the town."
Leora shuddered.
Soon, they left the gates of the exclusion zone behind them and both breathed out a sigh of relief.
They were safe from the Chimera.
lahar [ˈlɑːhɑː] n.
a landslide of volcanic debris mixed with water down the sides of a volcano, usually precipitated by heavy rainfall
[from Javanese: lava]