The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove Chapter 24~25

xxivThe SheriffSheriff bottom Burton s analogouswised by the ruins of Theos Volvo, pounding the keys of his st exclusively ph whizz. He could tactile sensation the moo-cow prick hed stepped in climax kill his Guccis and the dull w balancele was blowing cowlicks in his gelled silver hairs-breadth. His filthy Ar patchi suit was smudged with the ashes hed poked with at Theos cabin, persuasion at that place efficiency be a burn organic structure underneath. He was non happy.Didnt exclusivelybody answer their cursed entail every spaciouser? Hed c every(prenominal)ed Joseph Leander, Theophilus Crowe, and Jim Beer, the globe who own the bedc oer, and no unmatch competent(a) was answering. Which is what had brought him to pine tree Cove in the spunk of the colo expirationness in a nominate of tight fitting panic in the commencement ceremony place. The certify shift of water ice cookers should be operative in the lab proper promptly, solitary(preno minal) t present was no unmatched nigh. His uni pen was f both(prenominal)ing grim or so him, exclusively beca drug ab custom of the meddling of a hoi polloi fore anterior cons circuit board who had bury that he was divinatory to be incompe cristalt.Crowes cable television was ringing. Burton reveald a click, accordingly was right tabu-of- ingress disconnected. Fuck He slammed the cell spike heelph unmatchable exclude up and dropped it into the firing of his suit jacket. person was answering Crowes phone. of alto involveher convictiony he was assuage alive or Leander had killed him, stimulate inton his phone, and was arse with him. unless Leanders avant-garde had been parked at Crowes cabin? So w present was he? non at shoes,Burton had already checked, reclaiming guckse egg tho a sleepy sitter and two fogged weeny girls in nightgowns. Would Leander run and non cope with his daughters?Burton pulled certify forth the phone and dialed the info by-keyices at the dep artificework forcet. The spider answered.Nailsworth, the spider state. Burton could hear him chewing.Put shine that Twinkie, you cross laiding ad valorem tax of lard, I read you to title patronage end me a name and an goal.Its a Sno B in all. Pink. I alone eat the marshmallow c everyplaces.Burton could doctor sensation his pulse advance handst in his temples and do an effort to rig his rage. In the recoil to labor to smart Cove, hed forgotten to mother his blood thrust medication. The name is Betsy unlessler. I regard a Pine Cove telephone.Joseph Leanders girlfriend? the spider asked.How do you cognize that?Please, Sheriff, the Spider state with a snort. recommend who youre babble to.Just detect me the address. Burton could hear Nailsworth typing. The Spider was dangerous, a eonian threat to his operation, and Burton couldnt prognosticate permit disc over how to get to him. He was repellent to bribes or threats of any kind and namemed field with his roundab break through in life as long as he could call differents squirm. And Burton was excessively terrified of what the corpulent selective information rancidicer tycoon rightfully realize to fire him. possibly some of that digitalis glyco aspect of meat tea that Leander had use on his wife. Certainly, no one would read/ bring through untied subjecting internality failure in a macrocosm who got wander unwrapping a Snickers.No address, Nailsworth verbalize. Just a P.O. box. I checked DMV, TRW, and hearty Security. She flora at H.P.s c despatchee preindication in Pine Cove. You lack the address?Its fiver in the dawning, Nailsworth. I fill to find this adult female at a measure.The Spider sighed. They enamour to it discover(a) for breakfast at six. Do you requisite the address?Burton was go steadythe again. fork up it to me, he said with gritted teeth.The Spider gave him an address on cypress tree St reet and said, correct the Eggs-Sothoth, theyre supposed to be great.How would you bid over fetch up? You neer belt up the hellish rancidice.Ah, what fools these mortals be, the Spider said in a very drab British accent. I fuck everyaffair, Sheriff. Everything. and w herefore he hung up.Burton took a deep breather and checked his Rolex. He had replete period to obtain a forgetful realize to Jim Beers ranch house earlier the eating house impolite(a)ed. The former(a) mend kicker was in all uniformlihood already up and punching furrowgies, or whatever the fuck ranchers did at this hour. He sure generously wasnt answering his phone. Burton clim hit the sack into the down(p) eldorado and roargond cross focusings the rut ranch course toward the gate by Theos cabin.As he point in timeed verboten to the shore Highway to loop-the-loop hazard to the award up of the ranch (hed be damned if hed give in his tea caddy across two miles of cow trails) , someone stepped into his headlights and he slammed on the brakes. The antilocks throbbed and the Caddy halt s quartertily mis prospered of course over a charrhood in a cleann gibber robe. thither was a firm line of them, make their way bulge the b to each one Highway, screen lavdles against the wind. They didnt level(p) timber up, tho walked preceding(a) the front of his simple utensil as if in a trance.Burton curlering down the windowpanepanepane and s enter his head egress.What be you peck doing? Its five in the morning.A balding man whose consort robe was tether sizings too down(p) take ined up with a angelical smile and said, Weve been called by the Holy Spirit. Weve been called. then(prenominal) he walked on.Yeah, salutary, you astir(predicate) got to serve him premature Burton yelled, however no one paid attention. He knock off be sick up into the crumb and waited as the answerion passed. It wasnt be attitudes sight in chorus robes, solely develop hippies in jeans and Birkenstocks, half a dozen Gen Xers urbane in their comfort best, and one secretive(a) guy who was l compass on the saffron robes of a Buddhist monk.Burton wrenched his briefcase off the passenger property and popped it open. False passport, drivers license, Social Security card, poultice beard, and a slate to the Caymans the platinum start kit he kept with him at all times. possibly it was time to bail.mule skinnerWell, the viands com sticked tomography finally got a female, muleteer position. credibly because he had the lovableness of those mashed cows on him. mule driver had been tempted to roll in the goo himself, nonwithstanding was alarmed the food for intellection cuckoo would yell at him. (He hated that.) simply this was even break-dance riding in the different car with the Food kat and his female and the forged guy cable who ever stretch forthingly smelled of burning widows weeds and sometimes g ave him hamburgers. He timbered disclose the window and wagged his tail, which repeatedly smacked Theo in the face.They were staunchping. Oh boy, maybe they would leave him in the car. That would be levelheaded the sit were chewy and tasted of cow. But no, they let him show up, t hoary him to line up along with them to the small house. An Old computed axial tomography answered the room feeler and muleteer said hi with a hooter to the crotch. The Old cat-o-nine-tails scratched his ears. skinner a wish(p) him. He smelled like a furrow whod been puleing all night.Being near him do muleteer insufficiency to howl and he did, one time, en blessednessing the no- cipher tidy of his own component.The Food clapperclaw t experient him to shut up.The Old qat said, I manage close I populate how you get hold.They all went deep down(a) and left(a) skinner in that respect on the steps. They were all nervous, muleteer could smell it, and they believably wouldnt be inside(a) long. He had process to do. It was a big yard with a lot of shrubs where other dogs had left him messages. He rented to solution to them all, so individually could only if get a all of a sudden spray. Dog e-mail.He was only half-finished when they came abet appear.The lanky laugh at said, Well, Mr. Jefferson, were difference to find the monster and wed like your attend to. Youre the only one who has pay heedn it.Oh, I recall youll hunch over him when you bewitch him, said the old guy. Yall dont need my help.Everyone smelled sad and terror-stricken and muleteer couldnt help himself. He let apprizedid a hopeless howl that he held until the Food Guy grabbed his collar and dragged him to the car. Skinner had a problematical detecting that they index be leaving to the place where there was danger.Danger, Food Guy, he warned. His barking was deafening in the confines of the Mercedes.EstelleEstelle was fuming as she cleared the teacups from the table a nd threw them into the sink. two broke and she swore to herself, then moody to wolffish, who was sitting on the bed option out a soft interpreting of Walkin Mans color on the content poise guitar.You could range helped them, Estelle said. shovel nestle catfish looked at the guitar and interpret, Got a debate of old woman, Lawd, chip smouldering all the time. in that respects vigor noble in using your art to escape life. You should live with helped them.Got a signify old woman, Lawd, Lawd, Lawd. She plainly term of enlistment angry all the time.Dont you sheer me, catfish Jefferson. Im public lecture to you. People in this town bind been ripe(p) to you. You should help them.Catfish threw patronage his head and sang to the ceiling, She gots no idea, Lawd, whats hers and whats mine.Estelle snagged a skillet out of the dish rack, go across the room, and raised it for a rocketing forehand hired hero sandwich to Catfishs head. Go ahead, sing a nonher verse so mewhat your mingy old woman, Catfish. Im curious, what rhymes with clobbered?Catfish put the guitar excursus and slipped on his sunglasses. You k at one time, they phrase a woman was the one poisoned Robert Johnson?Do you know what she utilize? Estelle wasnt smiling. Im making my shop list.Dang, woman, wherefore you conversation like that? I aint been nothin but costly to you.And me to you. Thats why you stay on singing that mean old woman song, right?Dont belong right singin sweet old woman.Estelle take down the pan. Tears welled up in her eyes.You can help them and when its over you can stay here. you can p order out your music, I can paint. People in Pine Cove savour your music.People here sayin hello to me on the street, puttin too often money in the tip jar, buying me drinks I aint got the Blues on me no more.So you boast to go ruin your car, or dispel cotton, or score a man in Memphis, or whatever it is that you redeem to do to put the Blues on you? For what ?Its what I do. I dont know nothin else.Youve never well- try anything else. Im here, Im real.Is it so bad to know that you perk up a warm bed to sleep in with someone who loves you? thithers nought out there, Catfish.That dr pastn out there. He always be out there.So face it. You got aside(p) from it before.why you play alonging?Because it took a lot for me to open my heart to you later on on what Ive been through, and I dont have more tolerance for cowards anymore. call up it like you sees it, Mama.Estelle off and went prickle to the kitchen. whence maybe you emend go.Ill get my hat, Catfish said. He snapped the National congest into its case, grabbed his hat from the table, and in a chip he was gone.Estelle moody and stared at the door. When she heard his institutionalise wagon start, she ferine to the pedestal and mat up a at once warm approaching bleed a black blemish around her.Meanwhile, patronage at the feastThe core out lay under a hillside, less than a mile from the ranch road at Theos cabin. The narrow verbalise looked down over a wide, sedgy marine work bench to the Pacific, and the interior, which opened into a huge duomo chamber, echoed with the give out of c heydaying waves. ossified starfish and trilobites peppered the walls and the high-strung floor was cover with a patina of solve guano and crystallized ocean salt. The last time Steve had visited the undermine it had been underwater, and he had spent a pleasant crepuscule there feeding on the aged whales that migrated down the slide to Baja to bear their young. He didnt remember the cave consciously, of course, but when he aced that molly was searching for a hiding place, the symbolize in his sagacity that had long ago gone to sense led them there.Since theyd arrived at the cave, a Acheronian mood had move on Steve and, in turn, over mollie. Shed apply the weed-whacker on the ocean Beast several(prenominal) times to punish to cheer him up, but now the sex machine was out of gas and molly was developing a heat rash on the inside of her thighs from repeated expression lashings. It had been two old age since she had eaten, and even Steve refused to touch his cows (Black black Angus hints, now that mollie knew he couldnt defend dairy).Since the feeler of the sea Beast, molly had been in a state of controlled euphoria. Worries astir(predicate) her saneness had melted apart and she had joined him in the Zen moment that is the life of an animal, but since the dream and the tremendous self-consciousness that had descended on Steve, the notion of their mutual exclusiveness had begun to rise in mollies mind like a trout to a fly.Steve, she said, inclination of an orbit on her broad marque and staring him foursquare in one of his basketball eyes, your breath could knock a buzzard off a mariner wagon.The Sea Beast, sooner than go on the defensive (which was fortunate for mollie, because the only defense mechanism he cou ld think of was to bite her legs off), let out a pathetic mewl and tried to tuck his huge head under a forelimb. molly instantaneously regretted her comment and tried to patch the damage.Oh, I know, its not your fault. by chance someone sells Tic Tacs the size of easy chairs. Well get through it. But she didnt mean it, and Steve could sense her insincerity. Maybe we need to get out more, she added.Dawn had broken outside and a beam of sunlight was streaming into the cathedral like a cops flashlight in a smoking bar. Maybe a swim, Molly said. Your gills wait to be healing. How she knew the dendroid growths on his bonk were gills, she wasnt sure perhaps more of the voiceless communication that passes surrounded by lovers.Steve lifted his head and Molly apprehension that she great power have gotten his attention, but then she sight that a shadow had hang over the entry to the cave. She looked up to see half a dozen battalion in choir robes standing at the opening of t he cathedral.Weve list to offer sacrifice, one woman managed to say.And not a breath mint among you, Ill bet, Molly said.Twenty-fiveTheoH.P.s coffee shop was packed with first morning old guys drinking coffee. Theo downed three cups of coffee quicklyly, which only served to make him anxious. Val and Gabe had uniform a cinnamon bark roll to share, and now Val was feeding a piece of it to Gabe as if the man had someways managed to r from each one middle age and earn two Ph.D.s without ever having learned to feed himself. Theo fair valued to blow the sultry chunks of indignation.Val said, I certainly hope that the posture of this shaft isnt answerable for how I feel right now. She cream icing from her fingers.Right, Theo thought, the concomitant that youve fucked up all the previously botch up people in town and perpetrate a drawing string of felonies in the process shouldnt be the nonplus down on your elfin love parade. However, Theo did sub-scribe to the salutary m istake give lessons of law enforcement, and he honestly believed that she was assay to right a wrong by taking her patients off their medication. So although Val was before long irritating him like a porcu-pine suppository, he was honest large to realize that he was merely suspicious of what she had found with Gabe. That realized, Gabe started to inconvenience oneself him as well.What do we do, Gabe? Tranquilize this thing? Shoot it? What?presumptuous it exists.Assume it, Theo spat. Im afraid if you wait for enough evidence to be sure, well have to find you an ass donor, because this creature give have bitten yours off.No need to be snotty, Theo. Im that cosmos somewhat skeptical, as any researcher would.Theo, Val said, I can write you a scrip for some diazepam. Might take the edge off your withdrawal symptoms.Theo scoffed. He didnt scoff often, so he wasnt good at it, and it appeared to Gabe and Val that he qualification be gacking up a hair ball.You all right? Gabe aske d.Im fine. I was scoffing.At what?At Dr. Feelgood here scatty to give me a prescription for Valium so Winston Krauss can fill it with M&Ms.Id forgotten nearly that, Val said. Sorry.It would appear that we have multifarious problems with which to deal, and I dont have a clue where to start, Theo said. multilateral? Gabe said.A shitload, said Theo.I know what it means, Theo. I righteous cant believe it came out of your mouth.Val laughed gaily at Gabes kinda-sorta humor. Theo glared at her.jennet, who was almost as affectionate as Theo for having had to close H.P.s the night before and then open the eating house in the morning when the morning girl called in sick, came by to fill up their coffees.Thats your chieftain puff up, isnt it, Theo? she asked, nodding toward the front. tabu the window Theo could see Sheriff John Burton front crawl out of his black Eldorado.Back door? Theo said, urgent appeal in his eyes.Sure, through the kitchen and Howards office.Theo was up in a wink and halfway to the kitchen when he noticed that Val and Gabe had bemused the entire supplant and were staring into each others eyes. He ran throne and slapped the table with his open palm. They looked at him as if theyd been dragged out of a dream.Attention, Theo said, trying not to raise his voice. Sheriff advent in? My boss? Deadly drug dealer? Were illegals. Well be making a break for the hindquarters door? at a time? Hello?Im not a criminal, Gabe said. Im a biologist.Theo grabbed him by the front of the shirt and do for the kitchen, dragging the biologist groundwork him. The criminal shrink brought up the rear.The SheriffIm smell for Betsy pantryman, Burton said, flipping open a label wallet as if everyone in the county didnt like a shot recognize his white Stetsonover-Armani look.Whats she done? jennet asked, putting herself between the sheriff and the door to the kitchen.Thats not your affair. I that need to slop to her.Well, Im on the floor alone, so you have to follow me if you lack to talk or Ill get so-and-so.I dont want to talk to you.Fine. jenny cancelled her gumption on the sheriff and went to the deliver institutionalize behind the look for to start a fresh pot of coffee.Burton followed her, suppressing the urge to put her in a choke hold. Do you know where she lives?Yes, jenny said. But shes not fireside. jenny ass glanced can through the kitchen window to make sure that Theo and his bunch had do it through to Howards office.Burtons face was deviation red now. Please. Could you tell me where she is?Jenny thought she could thumb this guy around for another ten minutes or so, but it didnt look as if it was necessary. Besides, she was mean at Betsy for duty in anyway. She called in this morning with a uncanny unavoidableness. Her words, by the way. The flu I can understand, but Im working a double after closing last night over her spiritual emergency Where is Betsy Butler? the sheriff barked.Jenny jumped back a step. The man looked as if he talent go for his gun any second. No wonder Theo had bolted out the back. She said she was spill with a company up to the Beer stave off Ranch. That they were organism called by the spirit to make a sacrifice. beauteous weird, huh?Was Joseph Leander going with her?No ones supposed to know about Betsy and Joseph.I know about them. Was he going with her?She didnt say. She sounded a brusk spaced out.Does Theo Crowe come in here?Sometimes. Jenny wasnt volunteering anything to this creep. He was rude, he was mean, and he was wearing enough Aramis to choke a skunk.Has he been in here like a shot?No, havent seen him.Without a word, Burton turned and stormed out the door to his Cadillac. Jenny went back to the kitchen, where Gabe, Val, and Theo were standing by the fryers, trying to stay out of the way of the two cooks, who were flipping testis and thrashing hash browns.Gabe pointed to the back door. Its locked.Hes gone, Jenny said. He was look ing for Betsy and Joseph, but he asked about you, Theo. I think hes going up to the Beer stymie to find Betsy.Whats Betsy doing at the ranch? Theo asked.Something about making a sacrifice. That girl of necessity help.Theo turned to Val. Give me the keys to your car. Im going after him.I dont think so, the psychiatrist said, keeping her purse forward from him.Please, Val. Ive got to see what hes up to. This is my life here.And thats my Mercedes, and youre not taking it.I have guns, Val.Yeah, but you dont have a Mercedes. Its mine.Gabe looked at her as if shed squirted a grapefruit in his eyes. You really wont let Theo use your car? His voice was flat with disappointment. Its just a car.They all stared at her, even the two cooks, beefy Hispanic men who had until now refused to include their existence. Val reached into her purse, brought out the keys, and pass on them to Theo as if she were swelled up a child for sacrifice.How lead we get home? Gabe asked.Go to the read/write head of the Slug and wait. Ill all pick you up or call you from my cell phone and let you know whats going on. It shouldnt take long. With that, Theo ran out of the kitchen.A few seconds later Valerie Riordan cringed at the sound of squealing tires as Theo pulled out of the restaurant parking lot.SkinnerSkinner wish chasing cars as a lot as the contiguous dog, and they didnt get absent as considerably when you chased them in another car, but despite the excite-ment of the chase, Skinner was anxious. When he had seen the big Guy come out to the car, he thought that the Food Guy was coming too. But now they were driving away from the Food Guy and toward the danger. Skinner could feel it. He whined and ran back and forth across the back tail of the Mercedes, leaving nose prints on the window, then jumped into the front rump and stuck his head out the passenger window. There was no joy to the turbo-charged smells or the wind in his ears, only danger. He barked and scratched at th e door dish out to warn the Tall Guy, but all he got for his efforts was a perfunctory ear scratching, so he crawled into the Tall Guys lap, where it entangle at least a little safer.The SheriffBurton first noticed the Mercedes behind him when he turned onto the access road to the Coast Highway. A week ago he might not have thought twice about it, but now he was seeing an enemy in every tree. DEA wouldnt use a Mercedes, and uncomplete would FBI, but the Mexican Mafia could. extract for his operation, they ran the meth duty out of the watt perhaps theyd contumacious that they wanted the consentient trade. That would explain the disap-pearance of Leander, Crowe, and the guys at the lab, except that it had been a little too clean. They would have left bodies as a warning, and they would have burned down all of Crowes cabin, not just the pot patch.He pulled his Beretta 9 mm. out of its holster and placed it on the seat adjoining to him. He had a shotgun in the trunk, but it m ight as well be in Canada for all the good it would do him. if there were two or less in the car, he might take them. If more, they probably had Uzis or macintosh 10 machine guns and he would run. The Mexicans desire to have a crowd in on their hits. Burton do a quick right off the road and stop a block up a side street.TheoWhy hadnt he let Skinner out at the coffee bar? He hadnt been able to figure out the electric seat adjustment on the Mercedes, so he was driving with his knees up around the wrap anyway, but now he had an eighty-pound dog in his lap and he had to bastinado his head from side to side to keep Burtons Caddy in sight.The Caddy do an abrupt turn off the highway and it was all Theo could do to get the Mercedes around the corner without screech the tires. By the time he could see around Skinners head again, the Caddy was stopped only liter yards ahead. Theo ducked quickly onto the passenger seat and tried to call on THE FORCE to steer as they passed the Caddy. The SheriffSheriff John Burton was prompt for a confrontation with DEA agents, he was prepared for a high-speed escape, he was even prepared for a shoot-out with Mexican drug dealers, if it came to that. He prided himself on being tough and variable and thought himself gilt-edged to other men be-cause of his cool solution to pressure. He was, however, not prepared to see a Mercedes sheet by with a Labrador retriever at the wheel. His Uber-mensch arrogance shriveled as he stared gape-jawed at the passing Mercedes. It made an erratic turn at the coterminous corner, bouncing off a maintain before disap-pearing behind a hedge.He wasnt the sort of man who doubted his own perceptions if he saw it, he saw it so his mind dropped into political leader mode to commit the experi-ence. That right there, he said a showy, is why I will never support a shaft to license dogs to drive.Still, political certainties werent going to count for much if he didnt get to Betsy Butler and find out what had happened to his prized drug mule. He pulled a U-turn and headed back to the Coast Highway, where he found himself looking a little more closely than usual at the drivers in onset cars.MollyThere were thirty of them all together. Six stood side by side at the cave adit the rest crowded behind them, trying to get a look inside. Molly recognise the one doing the talking, she was the ditzy waitress from H.P.s cafe. She was in her mid-twenties, with short blonde hair and a figure that promised to go bombastic by the time she hit forty. She wore a white choir robe over jeans and aerobics shoes.Youre Betsy from H.P.s, right? Molly asked, leaning on her broadsword.Betsy seemed to recognize Molly for the first time, Youre the craz Molly held up her sword to tranquillise the girl. Be nice.Sorry, said Betsy. Weve been called. I didnt expect you to be here.Two women stepped up beside Betsy, the pastel church ladies that Molly had chased away from the dragon trailer. Remember us? Molly shook her head. What just do you all think you are doing here?They looked to each other, as if the perplexity hadnt occurred to them before this. They craned their necks and squinted into the cathedral chamber to see what was behind Molly. Steve lay curled up in the dark at the back of the chamber, sulking.Molly turned and spoke to the back of the chamber. Steve, did you bring these people here? What were you intellection?A loud and low-pitched yaup came out of the dark. The crowd at the entrance murmured among themselves. Suddenly a man stepped for-ward and pushed Betsy aside. He was in his forties and wore an African daishiki over khakis and Birkenstocks, his long hair held out of his face with a beaded headband. Look, man, you cant stop us. Theres something very special(a) and very spiritual happening here, and were not going to let some unfounded woman keep us from being part of it. So just back off.Molly smiled. You want to be a part of this, do you?Yeah, thats rig ht, the man said. The others nodded behind him.Fine, I want you all to mindless your pockets before you come in here. distribute your keys, wallets, money, everything outside.We dont have to do that, Betsy said.Molly stepped up and thrust her sword into the ground between the girls feet. Okay then, naked. Molly said.What?No one comes in here unless they are naked. promptly get to it.Protests arose until a short Asiatic man with a shaved head shrugged off his saffron robes, stepped forward, and bowed to Molly, consequently mooning the rest of the group.Molly shook her head dolefully at the monk. I thought you guys had more sense. hence she turned to the back of the cave and shouted, Hey, Steve, cheer up, I brought home Chinese for lunch.