"I'm telling you Kods, those cars give me a weird feeling. It's a feeling like real eyes are always watching me but there are no people or even animals around. What do you think?" I rolled out from underneath the1968 Plymouth Fury III and gazed up to the black mix puppy. He gave me a glance before walking over to his doggy bed and lying down on his large dog bed. "Thanks, you're no help at all dog," I scoffed before rolling back underneath the low rider.
It was true though, each time that I could see any of their vehicles, it feels like I'm being watched. That causes a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach, adding on to the list of weird things beginning the day Will got back from his deployment. They always say trust your gut and not your head.
My boss told me to start my shift a couple of hours later, giving me some time to work on my brother's old car. It needed new oil and a couple of upgrades with Cool Desert Nights coming up in June which is a little over two months away. She hasn't been ran in almost eight years; the last past Cool Desert Nights I couldn't make with my job getting in the way but being a game warden is a first priority.
"Hey Brey," Will called out, scaring me into banging my head on the undercarriage of the car. Groaning a little bit and rubbing my head to soothe out the pain, I push the cart underneath me and sit up once my body could. I set a glare at him and he sheepishly rubs the back of his head with a 'sorry' expression on his face. "I came in here to see what you're up to. Since you haven't left for work, I was getting a bit worried."
"Ah, thanks for worrying over my well being Will but as you can see, I'm totally fine," I responded before going back underneath the car to check on how the draining is going. I didn't want any oil on the floor to ruin it and stain it; this house isn't mine, I rent it.
"I never knew you owned an old car like this," he stated, not leaving just yet.
Still, under the car, I gave him a short answer. "It was my brothers." This was my brother's first car and he absolutely loved it, well until some lady on her phone decided to plow into the back end on the left side, totaling the car. My brother was crushed as this was his baby; he did get another car, a 1979 Chevy Camaro, yet it wasn't the same.
They sold it to a junkie for money and also getting money for the claim, I begged the junkie not to turn the car into scrap parts and he never did. I bought it back from him, bought the only other trunk in the United States, and begun the process of fixing her up. She has been sitting here for years, collecting dust, with everything fixed up in the rear end. It cost me big bucks in the end, it was worth it though.
"Your brother owned this? My dad used to own a fury too, he would never let us drive the thing when we were older," he commented. "Are you going to show it off in Cool Desert Nights?"
"Yep, whole reason of getting her oil changed and ready to roll out," I replied, my eyes trained on the fixing a wired mostly chewed off by a rat or something on the lines of that. It produced a tiny zap of electricity, shocking my hand and causing me to hit my head again on the underside of the car. "Ow." I rub my head with my hand glare at the wire that shocked me.
"You okay?" he questioned and kneeled down to look at me. I nod my head to answer his question before getting back to work on the wire while being much more cautious than before. Rather not get shocked again. "When are you going to take it out for a ride?"
"Probably after work, if I'm not too tired with dealing with everyone's lies and bullshit if you know what I mean," I joked about.
"I do know what you mean; some of the new recruits I had to deal with while stationed were the worst. Some knew not to goof around but the rest were like a cat with a laser pointer. But, do you think I could come with you?" he questioned with hope filling his voice.
"I'm so glad I didn't go into the military, being surrounded by idiots with guns is not on my bucket list. And I'm not making fun of any of them, it's just some people shouldn't be allowed to join. Sure, when you see my truck pull up to the house, just come over and we'll see how well she has been doing." I hoped my day won't mess up my plans. Hopefully, I didn't jinx myself, it's like saying the q-word while out on patrol, don't ever say that word.
"Okay, see you then." With that he left me to continue tweaking up a couple of things. She was in working order and could be safely driven on the main road without any problems, just a few bolts needed to be tightened and a good look over wouldn't hurt.
The alarm on my phone went off at the time it was set at, 10:00. It gives me enough time to clean myself up after being underneath a car that has been sitting there for over seven years. I turn off the alarm, close the hood of the Plymouth, and wiped my hands off before heading back inside from the three-car garage; it's pretty big for this house, can't forget about the barn in the back that is empty.
Taking a nice, burning hot shower to rid of the grime stuck to my skin and washing my dirty hair, I exit the shower and get dried. I get dressed with hips swinging to the beat of the song playing while humming the words and made my way downstairs. The dogs barked from the garage, wanting to be let back inside the house to which I did and also closed the open garage door.
After getting ready, eating breakfast, feeding the dogs, and putting them back in their kennels, I grabbed everything needed for the day and hopped in my truck. I start my patrol vehicle, turned on the radio, and called into dispatch that Wildlife 104 is ready for the day. I left my house for the main road and got a bit bounced around by the potholes.
While patrolling around, making sure there's no one up to any funny business, I receive a call from my sergeant to report to the eastern part of my district. It was strange on the reason for the call, she didn't give me any information on what reason for me to go there but I didn't question her and left the moment she hung up.
When I got there, it wasn't as bad as my mind wanted to think to be; like a pile of dead bodies and a pile of heads from said bodies or something relevant to death in general. My mind is weird and thinks up the craziest things to happen.
The ground was greatly disturbed as if some giant with shoes on was having a tantrum and kicked around the dirt. Trees were either knocked over from a great force or plucked out of the ground and thrown around like rag dolls. In a couple of places, small spots of fire were burning, threatening to cause a forest fire to start.
Firefighters were already on sight, putting the small fires out before they could grow by the fuel they are surrounded by. Before they could ruin too much of the sight, I snapped some photos of the area in its freshest state for whoever the case will be assigned to. I didn't want to be with the case, already have a few yet to be closed (needing to find more evidence. Robert you are super close to being put in jail).
Tipps was standing off to the side, speaking with an officer of the nearest city department until she spotted me and waved me to come over to her. I followed her silent order and stride over where she is with confidence in each step.
"Officer Cade, this is Warden Lambert. She is the Conservation Officer in this district and will be taking over the case from now on," Tipps introduced me and assigned me the case. Groaning internally from being given the case, I smile kindly at the hot officer standing to the left of me. But what threw me off was he gave me the same feeling as the others, it was unsettling all in all.
He was wearing a normal navy blue officer uniform without the hat and the shiny gold badge on the left side of said uniform. He stood at a height of about 6'1 with a cleanly shaven face and a chiseled jawline you could cut cheese on. His hair is black with a white stripe going through the middle of it. His eyes are what caught my attention; they are blood red and glowed in the daylight like the others I met.
"Nice to meet you Officer Cade but as you heard, I have been assigned to this case and need to get work on said case," I spoke with my voice monotone, filled with the seriousness of the case. When in this business, there is barely any time for fun and games, especially at a strange scene like this one. He gave me a scowl for talking to him like that but turned away and left to his vehicle which looked familiar in some sense. I turned to face my sergeant who called me down here. "Any witnesses or game cameras?"
Tipps shakes her head. "Nope, no one was in the area when whatever happened happen. The person who called in the sight because of the danger of causing a forest fire. God, we don't need any more of those. Anyway, she's over there speaking with Hardy." She points to where Warden Hardy and a beautiful woman were talking to each other.
From the angle I'm standing at, my eyes could see she was a perfect hourglass figure, not too big, not too skinny. She stood about 5'7, the normal height of a woman without high heels on. Her head was covered in a gorgeous brunette with highlights of a darker pink and ran to her shoulder blades.
Nodding my head to my sergeant and traveled over to where the woman and Hardy are standing, Hardy and I dip our heads to acknowledge our presence to each other. "Tipps handed me over the case. Could I have the notes you have taken from the witness?" I questioned, with my voice holding no emotion.
Hardy doesn't complain as he knows I'm a higher rank than him; he tears out the only page of notes he wrote from the witness and handed it over to me. He leaves us to it and goes over to talk with Tipps.
"Hi, my name is Warden Lambert and I'm with Fish and Game. As you're caller for the scene, we have to interview you for any clues on why or what has happened here. Warden Hardy most likely already asked you these questions but I would like to run them with you again, if that's alright with you?" I questioned while pulling my notebook and pen out to write everything important. I finally looked up to her at the end of my sentence and held in my gasp and shock.
Her eyes were the glowing just like the others but a different blue; the coloring around the irises were a bright sky blue and the further you got from the irises, they turned to a mixture of blue and purple. Damn, she's hot!
"That's totally alright. My de-name is Ar-Amber. Like I told the other officer, I was riding down from seeing a couple of friends at the gravel pit up the road and saw this sight. I was afraid of the fires spreading and called the cops so they could put out the fire," she explained briefly and pointed at a dark pink like her hair motorcycle parked off to the side of the road. She stumbled on saying her name correctly and was going to say something different then 'name', making me suspicious of her and how she is acting.
This beautiful woman and her bike seemed to give off the same feeling as the others (including Officer Cade). What in the hell is going on around here? Ever since the rumor and Will getting back, things have turned for the worse and bad things are happening.
"Okay, did you see anything of the ordinary? Or anyone leaving the scene or running off into the forest to escape?" I question, doing the normal questionnaire for any witness of a scene. This isn't necessarily a crime scene; no crimes have been committed here.
She shook her head to answer my question. "Sorry no." That's all she gave me with a forced smile. It wasn't much to go on and this case will most likely go cold. There's no evidence on who our criminal is. But none of this made sense; trees being plucked out of the ground like toothpicks, trees also knocked down from some kind of force from the top, and the ground disturbed like a giant came through here and had a tantrum.
"Thank you for giving me information, you may leave now," I offered her before turning away from her and sauntering over to the edge of the road, in front of the scene. The firefighters were done with putting out the mini fires and were making sure they couldn't start up again. I glanced over the sight as if there was anything, the smallest of things, that could lead me to who destroyed part of the forest.
Amber left, taking the weird feeling in the pit of my stomach with her. All of them, including Officer Cade, gave me a feeling that I shouldn't trust them, which I don't, and keep an eye on every one of them.
There was nothing in the slightest that could lead me to what even happened here in the first place. The cause of this was nothing ever shown during training or any case I have read, it left me with a puzzling thought: what in the hell happened here?
"Crap." Was all I could say in the face of the situation.
After the firefighters made sure the fires couldn't start themselves back up, I took multiple photos of the area for when I go home. There will be many pictures for me to look over. It took enough time for everyone to leave while taking the pictures, leaving me to my own doings until the sun was setting behind the trees and mountains.
While standing close to the back of the flattened area, my eyes caught the sight of strange-looking indents that appeared to be footsteps of some overly large being. There was a blue substance on the ground that glowed slightly from the sun leaving the sky and the ground had yet to suck it all up. I take more pictures of the new findings and followed the weird indents and a few drops of the blue substance until reaching a dirt road that connects to the other road.
The indents stopped on the road were the sudden placement of tire tracks appeared in the same place. It couldn't be a loader or anything big enough to hold this big of a creature, whatever it is. By the looks of the tire tracks, it was of a normal car. My mind reeled around for any explanation of where this being went; a crazy thought crossed my mind: it somehow turned into the car and drove away.
Anyway, need to get back before the sun sets and I'm left out here in the dark for a long hike back to my truck. I travel through the forest for about thirty minutes and reached where my truck is parked. Right as I merged from the tree line, my eyes caught the sight of the rear end of a silver Pontiac driving down the road and followed with the turn of the road, leaving my sight. I was only able to catch half the license plate from getting about two seconds to see the moving cars plate: JAZ and that was all.
Narrowing my eyes in that direction of the suspicion from why the Pontiac was driving down a dirt road, I hop back inside my truck, putting my evidence away, and starting up the truck. I headed home right as the clock turned 6:30 pm and was already feeling the tiredness of the chaos-filled day.
On the way home, I called Will for some help. "Willy Billy, I have a question for you."
"Don't call me that, it's weird. And that question would be…?" he requested back.
"I just got assigned a case and was wondering if you could help me with it. I can't really explain it but I'll have you read over the paperwork and what the witness saw. I really need help on this, please," I begged like a four wanting a toy from the store and heard him give a breathy chuckle.
"Sure, just stop by at any time. We are having dinner in fifteen miut-." He stopped himself and I heard Sarah's voice in the background yet it was too muffled to hear properly. "I take that back, thirty minutes. Bum-Brian was helping in the kitchen and burnt the bread. And during dinner, we can discuss your case." He was going to say another name instead of Brian.
"Thanks but I'm northeast of New Portland and it will take me about forty minutes to get back home. Don't save me a spot. Anyway, I should get home at about seven o'clock; do you have time around then?" I questioned and making sure it's okay with him.
"Yeah, I'll have a plate of spaghetti waiting for you and no saying you aren't hungry or I will shove the food down your throat." I sighed in defeat from the battle that didn't even start.
"Fine, see you around seven." I ended the call with a press of a button from the steering wheel and put my full attention to the road. Don't need to crash and cause the commute home longer than it already is; one of the downsides of being a game warden, having to patrol with a huge piece of land that is yours to watch over.
The drive home wasn't the greatest time in my life and I was tired when arriving home. I drove over to the Lennox's house and spot the same Pontiac from the scene with the first three letters of the plate being JAZ. So this is the car because of the chance of it being another silver Pontiac Solstice with the first three letters of the plate being the same when I got a glimpse of it before it turned the corner.
Hopping out of the semi-tall truck and strolling over to the Pontiac, I sat on my haunches and inspected the light coat of dirt on the lower end of the back end. It wasn't enough hard evidence as the driveway is made up of rocks and dirt. I step in front of the car and placed my hand on the hood (ignoring the shiver, my hands were cold for some reason, it gave off in response), it was warm meaning it was used in the last twenty to thirty minutes.
The sound of the front door opening caught my attention. "Brey, why are you touching Jazz's car?" he questioned when he stepped out of the open door. I calmly turn around to face while taking my hand off the warm hood and a serious expression grew on my face.
"Just investigating, doing my job. Anyway, let me grab the papers needed and we'll talk over the reason of me being here," I answered before going back over to my truck, giving the Pontiac a hard, quick glare, and grabbed said papers. We headed back inside to get to work on figuring out what or who did this.
When pulling out the papers and spreading them out for everyone here (Jazz, Paxton, Orion, Ian, Brian, Shawn, Scott, and Richard), I heard Will say the words 'shit' under his breath and at the moment I knew he knew something about it. "What is it Will? Do you know what happened here?" I questioned with my voice firm, hoping to push him to say the truth.
"Ms. Lambert, you need to tell your Sergeant you couldn't find who did these and forget everything you saw. We cannot have you meddling in our business, too many humans have lost their lives because of it," Orion spoke up this time and literally told me to fuck off with this case and never return to the Land of Oz.
"Excuse me?" I reacted with those words being the first to come from my mouth. "I'm sorry Orion but you don't have any jurisdiction over me." I saw the shock on mostly everyone's face for disrespecting Orion. A couple of them seemed like they wanted to attack me." This is dama-," I was interrupted my Will this time.
"Brey, you have to listen to him. You need to step away from everything on this subject and forget it all happened. I don't want you to get caught up in this," Will expresses his concerns. I shake my head with fire dancing in my eyes from the angry slowly boiling inside of me. They are telling me to stop doing my job.
"Will, I don't have to listen to him. Like I told him, he doesn't have any rule over me. And what do you mean by 'I don't want you to get caught up in this'? Is there something going on? Something that is endangering your everyday life and family? I'm an officer of the law; I can help you if you tell me what's going on," I nearly growled with a small glare set on him. All eyes in the room are set on me.
"Brey, I know you're an officer but this is above you and your position. I cannot tell you," Will threw back while rubbing the bridge of his nose in irritation. That is when I had enough of this bullshit of this 'I can't tell you because it's above your pay grade'. I grabbed everything on the table, quickly stuffing it back in the folders, and heading out their house.
A couple of the others tried to stop me. "Don't touch me." The sound of my voice must have scared them or at least stop them for the moment, giving me time to get in my truck and do a burnout on the gravel on the way back to my house. I will figure out what was happening, even if it will be the death of me.
It was the next morning when my phone began to quack, gaining my attention. I pick up the phone, seeing it was Tipps, and pushed the answer button. "What do I owe the pleasure of you calling me so early in the morning?" I question with my voice hinting in a joke.
"You are no longer on the case; I need you to meet me at Sunshine Hill's at the beginning of your shift." With that, she ends the call and leaves there with my mouth hanging open and my eyes nearly were bulging out of my head. Wild Bill: 1, Breezy Brey: 0. Well played Will, well played but two can play.
Breaking the law, I copy the papers for me to go over and have the chance to have a clue on what's going on. I did what Tipps told me to do; we met at Sunshine Hill's and I gave her the papers without another thought. I headed back out for a boring day, or at least hopefully.