Black Creek Page 8

  "He's the last one," Pete said.

  "Well, him and the other one." Jess stood up with a sigh. There was a list written on the board just above her.

  Dorian Anderssen X

  Dorian Black

  Dorian Hitchens X

  Dorian Nazarian X

  Dorian Peters X

  Dorian Yancy

  She took a black marker and made an X-mark next to the last name on the list. It had been easy enough to run the name. Turns out, there were only six men in Allegheny County with the first name of Dorian. Even better, all of them had been very easy to find, and Jess had already personally interviewed four of them. Each was as uninteresting as the last. A doctor, a couple blue-collar workers, and a farmer. None of them met any sort of criminal profile that made any sense to her. Three had solid alibis for at least a few of the crimes. The fourth, Mr. Hitchens, wasn't able to provide any alibi but seemed the least likely of the bunch to be any sort of mastermind. The fifth, it seemed, she would be meeting soon.

  That would only leave Dorian Black. Truth be told, she'd never heard of the man until she met him a week ago. He turned out to be the easiest to find and yet the hardest to reach. Retired army special forces soldier, turned billionaire tech mogul. A generous philanthropist in public with a few nasty rumors about him in the tabloids and elsewhere on the fringe of public consciousness. That could be just the kind of man she was looking for.

  The problem, of course, was his recent, possibly too convenient, large donation to the department. She was thankful to know that the Chief backed her up on this one. "Run down the other leads first," he told her. "If and when the time comes you have to talk to him, you involve me."

  That time might be coming, she thought. Of course, there was also the distinct possibility that the whole name lead was a waste of time. After all, her targets were typically meticulous in all aspects of their work. Why would the one screw up so badly as to use a real name? That particular thought had hounded her for the past week.

  A phone rang across the office and Pete scampered over to answer it. Jess opened the file he had given her, skimming through it. Dorian Yancy, forty years old, a middle school teacher. Married, no kids. A couple of encounters with police for DUI in his early twenties, nothing since.

  "Mr. Yancy is here," Pete said, hanging up the phone. "They're putting him in the main conference room."

  "Thanks," she said. "Get out of here. See you Monday."

  A few minutes later she was standing in front of the frosted glass door of the conference room, just down the hall from the Chief's office. Jess knocked and entered the room.

  Mr. Yancy sat at the table, eyes on his cell phone, which he put down as soon as she entered. He looked, unsurprisingly, exactly like the photo in Pete’s file.

  "Hello, sir. My name is Detective Jessica Neil. Thank you for agreeing to come in."

  Mr. Yancy pushed back on the table and rolled toward her. It was only then that she saw he was in a wheelchair. "Dorian," he introduced himself, extending a hand up to her. She shook it and sat.

  "Dorian," she paused. "I'm investigating a series of violent crimes. If you'll forgive my question, how long have you been in that wheelchair?"

  He didn't seem fazed by the question. "Fifteen years. Car accident."

  "Are you able to walk at all?"

  "No."

  Jess sighed. "I apologize sir, I’ve wasted your time."

  ***

  "You left a little something out of your report, Pete." He'd been gone from the office by the time she made it back there, so she called him on her way out instead.

  "I'm sorry, ma'am. You'd have wanted to bring him anyway right? Get consent to confirm his medical records?"

  "Yes," she sighed. "Would have been nice not to be surprised though."

  "Won't happen again, ma'am."

  "Alright. See you Monday."

  She hung up, checking the time before putting her phone away. 4:58. Earlier than she'd planned, and still plenty of time to have a nice dinner before class. Jess was smiling as she slid into her car. Sitting down now, she could feel her phone buzzing in her pocket. What now?, she thought. She didn't recognize the number, but answered it after a moment's hesitation. The car speaker beeped as her phone linked into its system.

  "Hello?" Jess said.

  "Hi," said a timid, female voice. "Is this Detective Neil?"

  "Yes it is."

  "I'm... sorry to call you," the other woman said. "This is Meredith, I talked to you about the murder a week ago?"

  "I remember you, Meredith. What's wrong?"

  The girl's voice was soft, and it sounded like she had been crying. "I've had a really bad couple of days. I can't talk to anyone here. I just don't know what to do, and I had your number."

  "Hey, we'll talk," Jess said. "What's your address?"

  "I'm at a coffee shop on East Carson Street. I'm afraid what will happen if I go home."

  "I'll be there soon."

  "OK. I'm sorry. Thank you."

  "Don't be." Jess hung up, then tapped out a text before leaving the parking lot:

  Heading home. Gonna have a guest for dinner. Sorry, I'll explain later. See you <3

  Fifteen minutes later Jess pulled to a stop in front of a small café in the middle of the South Side. A car behind her honked, so Jess flashed the police lights in her back window. The car pulled around, offering an apologetic wave to her as they went. Jess was about to leave her car when Meredith came out to the street. She was almost unrecognizable from the last time Jess had seen her. She wore no makeup and her hair was up in a simple ponytail. Her body was hidden by an oversize sweatshirt.

  Jess leaned over and unlocked the door, which swung open a moment later. Meredith sat down quietly, closed the door behind her.

  "Hey," Jess said.

  "I'm sorry I called you."

  "It's okay. I told you to, if you needed to."

  "I did need to."

  "Is it okay if we go for a little drive? We can have dinner. And I know somebody you should meet. She, um, has been through what you're going through."

  "Okay," Meredith said.

  Jess pulled back into traffic. She heard a quiet sob from the passenger's seat.

  "When I said he never got inside of me. That wasn't true," Meredith said.

  Jess glanced over at her, but Meredith was looking down at the floor. "I know."

  "I'm sorry I lied."

  Jess laughed. "Sorry, I didn't mean to laugh. But you have nothing to apologize for. It's okay, really. You were still in shock."

  "I guess so. I thought I was stronger than I am." Jess put a hand on her knee, but didn't know the words to say.

  ***

  "This is my apartment," Jess said as the two women climbed the old wooden steps leading to her door. "Come on in." The apartment was warm and smelled of garlic bread.

  "Hey," Jess shouted as she entered, kicking off her shoes and closing the door behind Meredith, who sidled in awkwardly.

  "Hey," came the muffled reply from the kitchen.

  "Just a second," Jess said, leaving Meredith by the door. Rachel was by the stove, stirring a pot. She turned her head as Jess approached, and Jess kissed her.

  "What's this?" Jess asked.

  "Just some pasta. Salad and bread too. It'll be ready in a minute. Who's your friend?"

  "She's Meredith. I told you about her, my case. She was raped last week."

  "Oh, right."

  "She's not doing too well. I thought maybe you could talk to her. I'm sorry, I know we haven't had any time together lately."

  Rachel pulled the bread out of the oven, left it on the stove. "Please," she said. "I'd have been more angry if I found out you said no. Meredith?" she called into the hallway. The girl came in.

  "I'm Rachel. It's nice to meet you."

  "I'm Meredith," the girl offered a half-hearted smile. "Can I help you cook?"

  "If you want," Rachel said. "Go get changed, Jess. I've got everything under control here."
Jess retreated to the bedroom, where she happily switched out her claustrophobic dress clothes for black yoga pants and a comfortable blouse. She grabbed her backpack down off the shelf in her closet, checking its contents. Her anthropology textbook was inside, but it took her a few minutes of searching before she remembered her notebook was under her bedside table. Jess used the bathroom before returning to the kitchen, stepping quietly as she made it to the doorway.

  Meredith was mixing in a salad bowl, her cheeks tear-streaked but drying, and she wore a faint smile. Rachel was leaning in, whispering to her. Meredith laughed at whatever she'd said. It struck Jess then, as it did once in a while, how lucky she was to have Rachel, and how she ought to say so more often. Her smile wrinkled the just-slightly-crooked nose which Rachel hated but which Jess found so endearing. Her long ruffled waves of hair, dark with heavy streaks of pink. She was beautiful.

  Rachel caught Jess's eye and winked.

  ***

  After dinner Jess left the apartment, backpack slung across her back. "I'm heading to class. Do you want a ride?" she asked Meredith.

  "Rachel said I could stay for a while," she answered.

  "Of course," Jess said.

  "We'll watch a movie," Rachel said.

  Jess kissed her. "Sounds good. See you soon."

  Climbing back into her car and starting her drive across town, Jess felt good. Meredith was a sweet girl, and she’d known Rachel would be able to talk to her in just the way she needed right now. Jess herself never felt any good in these situations, even years ago when it had been Rachel who needed the help.

  Class was full tonight, which couldn't always be said of a Monday night class in November. Jess found a seat in the second row. It was never easy to find the time, but she made sure to take at least one class a semester, more when she could. Soon she would have the credits to finish her master's degree.

  The professor entered moments later, and a cheer came from somewhere in the back. Martin Singh smiled as he made his way to the front of the room, his usual Secret Service detail trailing silently behind him like ghosts before taking positions around the room.

  He was a very handsome man, even Jess had to admit. She knew there were more than a few young women in the room smitten with him.

  "Alright guys," Professor Singh said. "I've done a very good job, if you ask me, of not mentioning politics this semester. But since election day is tomorrow... well, I'll just say I hope every single one of you casts your ballot, either way. But especially if it's for me."

  Jess laughed along with the rest of the class.

  Eva

  Eva stepped carefully through the underbrush, raised roots and thick tangles of weeds occasionally tugging at her legs. The forest around her was pitch black, the only source of light a single ghostly beam cast by Frank's flashlight behind her. Ronny, whose footsteps she could hear only a few feet away, was barely visible.

  "How far is it?" Eva asked.

  "We're nearly there," came Frank's voice from behind. "Keep moving."

  Eva did. The forest was blanketed with the constant low hum of cicadas, occasionally cut by the hoot of an owl or the distant, yet no less unnerving, yip of a coyote.

  "Let me ask you something," Eva said. "Do you actually believe what you say?"

  There was a slight pause. "Of course. It’s all as the Bible says. God created all the creatures of the land and the sea, and they lived together with Adam in the Garden. The evidence of dinosaurs living on earth is incontrovertible. They’re even mentioned in the Bible. The story of the Leviathan, and the Behemoth. So they must have lived with Adam."

  "You know, most historians agree the Behemoth refers to an elephant," Ronny said.

  "Nonsense."

  "Then what happened to them?" Eva asked.

  "As a group, they weren’t able to survive in the post-Flood environment. But a few survivors endured. The Loch Ness monster, the Pensacola Sea Monster—clearly descriptions of plesiosaurs. The Natives of this country spoke of thunderbirds, great winged beasts which we believe may have been pterodactyls. The deepest tribes of Africa still tell stories of massive monsters living in their jungles."

  "What supposedly changed after the Flood?”

  "The very atmosphere of earth. In the time before the Flood, the waters which would eventually drown the world were suspended in the heavens. The air was richer in oxygen, the atmospheric pressure lessened. After the rain fell, creatures of their size could no longer survive."

  Eva laughed. "Well. Still sounds like a bunch of shit. But I'll give you this, you answered better than I thought you would."

  "And will you believe when you’ve seen the proof? Will you repent then?"

  "I guess we'll see."

  Before long, she could make out a faint light filtering through the trees ahead. With every step it grew brighter until they came into a small clearing. A large construction light sat off to the side, so bright that it gave the illusion of daytime in their small circle of trees. A gasoline generator rumbled somewhere nearby, and a man stood next to the lamp.

  "Lars," Frank said, striding past her and shaking the other mans hand.

  "Frank," he replied in a heavy Eastern European accent.

  "Have you found anything?"

  "I have. You should see this shit."

  Lars and Frank grabbed a shovel and pickaxe from a pile of tools behind the lamp. "Just over here," Lars said.

  Eva and Ronny followed quietly behind as the two men crossed the clearing. At its edge, two massive downed trees lay one crossed overtop the other, their bark rotten and soft. Lars pointed to the ground at the base of one tree. There Eva could see the hint of something white just under the dirt.

  Are those bones?

  "You two, help," Frank said. The four of them heaved and grunted against the top tree until it rolled off, crumbling as it hit the ground. Frank kicked at the bark of the lower tree, smashing it until there was nothing but dust, which Lars began to clear away with a shovel.

  Frank bent down on his knees, brushing away the last layer of dirt. "Careful now," he said as Lars joined him. A form slowly became clear. Eva crept forward to watch as they worked, eventually joining in to help.

  The thing, whatever it was, was huge. It took the four of them the better part of two hours to clear the dirt and leaves off what appeared to be only the front half of the skeleton.

  "I'll be damned," Eva said.

  The monster, and that's the only way she could describe it, had to be twenty feet long. Its jaws housed dozens of teeth, each the length of her arm. Its massive barrel-like ribs were long ago collapsed but still longer than she would be lying down. Its front leg ended in three toes, each crowned with a razor-sharp claw.

  "Is it a... tyrannosaurus?" Frank wondered aloud. "Good heavens."

  "Look," Lars said, pointing toward the ribs.

  "My God," Frank said. "It's true."

  Eva stumbled forward. There, amongst the tangles of fallen ribs, was a human skull.

  "Holy shit."

  ***

  "We must be certain to preserve the site. I will not have anyone accuse me of planting this."

  Back in the hotel, Frank was speaking manically on the phone. "Yes, Lars is standing guard. First thing in the morning, we'll get out there with that paleontologist from the university. Alright." He hung up.

  Frank was beaming, and the sight of it was not pleasant. On the other hand, he had put his gun away.

  I might get out of this alive after all.

  "You’ve held up your end of the deal, miss," he said to her. "The money is yours. You’re free to go." He pointed to the duffel, which sat on the couch. Eva scurried over to it, checking its contents. It all seemed to be there.

  "Can I count on a thorough report in the Times?" Frank was asking the reporter.

  "Yes. A full report," he added. "Including the kidnapping."

  "I would expect no less. Just write what you saw."

  "That I will." Ronny stood from his seat, then
retrieved his leather jacket which hung near the door. "You know, you've still got a pretty big problem here though."

  Frank's smile did not dim. "What?"

  "That skeleton, that whole scene. It couldn't be more than a hundred years old. Couple of big old trees like that will last a while, but they'll rot through in no more than a hundred and fifty years. At the most. And that was a skeleton. Not a fossil. You expect people to believe a Tyrannosaurus Rex walked the earth in the days when their great-grandparents lived?"