When the sun went down, James wasn’t tired, so he sat in the squad room and played poker with Emilio and Chad, who was staying at the jail as a sort of reserve.
No one could have imagined what the beast had in store for that night.
CHAPTER 23
The Beast’s Gambit
The beast moved inside the city limits of Newton during the late afternoon. It was much more difficult to move around with the townspeople and reporters still out and about, but it wanted to get into position before James went to sleep, enabling him to spy on the beast’s movements. The demonic creature limped on, every now and then entering minds and making people see it as nothing more than a large dog. But mostly the beast stayed in hiding, just in case someone happened to drive by and catch a glimpse before it could enter their minds.
The beast hid under a house on Houston Street, only two houses down from where it had killed Tina Beck, a short distance from the Newton County Jail. It waited there until just after dark. Then it moved through the shadows, until it came to a small alley running behind the now abandoned stores on the square. Once in the alley, it found a back entrance to an old hardware store that had been closed for years. It looked up and down the broad alley and smelled the air. No one was near.
The beast slammed a shoulder into the door. The rusty hinges gave easily and the door crashed to the ground after only one blow. The beast took one last look up and down the alley to make sure no one had heard the door fall. It stepped inside.
An old display window at the front of the shop provided the perfect vantage point. The beast could clearly see the front door of the Sheriff’s Department, as well as the parking lot, while remaining in the dark shadows of the old store. It watched and waited.
Time was of the essence. It wasn’t sure when The One Who Sees bedded down, but it didn’t want to be caught vulnerable when he did. It was fairly certain The One Who Sees would be able to wake up and warn the others before it could strike unless everything went perfectly.
It was over thirty minutes before all the patrol cars that were to patrol that night left the station. All that was left in the parking lot were four vehicles.
The beast pulled the bolt lock then slowly turned the doorknob, as it had seen the frail ones do so often. The door creaked open. The beast set out across the street as quickly as its wounded condition would allow, boldly loping across the road toward the Sheriff’s Department parking lot. Once there, it picked the vehicle nearest the front door and quickly climbed under it.
It shut its eyes, not to release the vision, but to keep James from seeing where it was should he fall asleep before the beast could carry out its plan.
The beast waited.
James hated to drop out of the poker game. He was having a good time, and, even more importantly, he was winning. But he knew his primary reason for being at the jail was so his dreams could be used to catch the beast. So, at around ten o’clock, James got up, stretched and did his best to fake a yawn. “It’s been nice taking y’all’s money, but I’ve got to get some rest.”
“Well, I think I’ve lost enough for one night,” Emilio said.
But Chad was still shuffling for another hand when James got up. “Oh, come on,” Chad said. “I’m sixty in the hole here. Give me a chance to win some of it back.”
“I don’t think so. The way I’m playing tonight, I’d just take all your money and have to feel guilty tomorrow.”
Chad finished shuffling and distributed the five cards to himself, Emilio, and the chair James had just vacated. “Just a couple more hands.”
“No thanks, I’m through for the night.”
Chad picked up his hand and glanced at his cards. He wasn’t exactly an accomplished poker player; James could tell by the look on his face that he had a good hand. And if that was the case, it would be his first good hand of the night.
“Hell, James, You’ve been sleeping all night and halfway through the day since you’ve been here,” Chad said crossly. “How on earth could you be tired?”
Emilio was quick to defend James. He knew the reason James had been sleeping so much during the day, and he also knew the importance of James getting to bed and keeping an eye on the beast’s movements. “That’s hardly fair, Chad,” Emilio said. “James has been up here working reserve like you’re doing tonight, and still working with Carl during the day. He’s been pulling two shifts like this since he moved in with me a week ago.” It was a lie, but it sounded good.
Chad sat there for a few seconds, studying his cards. Then he smiled and fanned his cards out on the table — three sixes. “Can you believe this shit. My highest hand of the night is a pair and as soon as James quits, I get three of a kind right off the bat.”
“That does suck,” James agreed. Then in an effort to prevent any hard feelings he suggested. “Do you want to put ten dollars on the highest hand dealt? I haven’t seen my cards.”
“Naw, don’t worry about it,” Chad said, as he scooped the cards together, pushing them into a neat rectangular pile before placing a rubber band around them.
“Okay, I offered,” James said. Then he tried another fake yawn. “Goodnight.”
As James was walking out the door, Chad said, “I want a rematch tomorrow night.”
“You’re on,” James said.
When James got back in his room/cell he became worried that he wouldn’t be able to get to sleep. The beast had slept much of last night, which, in turn, allowed James to get quite a bit of real sleep. Over the past few weeks, James had grown accustomed to only three or four hours of real sleep a day, but last night he’d slept for a solid nine hours.
Despite James’ fears, it only took him thirty minutes to nod off, but by then it was too late.
The Texas Department of Public Safety cruiser turned in the driveway at the Sheriff’s Office.
As part of the governor’s moves to send Captain Jones more manpower, DPS officers Nathan Travis and Ron Kaiser had been ordered to Newton from the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Their orders were to leave for East Texas first thing in the morning after they came in from their night shift; however, someone in the office at headquarters had dropped the ball. It wasn’t until around noon that they were contacted about the temporary transfer. Now, even though they were scheduled for a later shift, they were still running late. They would have to drive all the way to Newton, check in with the local officials, then backtrack fifteen miles to Jasper — where they were to be quartered due to lack of room in Newton — get settled in, then go back on duty in about an hour. All this running around, combined with the foul up at HQ that could have prevented it all, certainly didn’t set well with the two officers. In fact, they thought the temporary assignment itself was a crock.
Nathan and Ron had heard the numerous rumors before they had been transferred. Hell, the death of Jana Parish was big-time national news; everyone in the nation had heard rumors of what was going on in East Texas. Rumors, yes, but the one thing the officers were not clear on was what was really going on in Newton County.
It was seven o’clock when the officers reported in at the Newton County Sheriff’s Department. They found the chubby little police chief for this one-horse town, John Banks, had been left in charge while the sheriff had gone to check on his house and Captain Sam Jones was giving a statement to the media. Banks had asked them not long after their arrival if they had seen ‘The Video.’ When they told him they hadn't, he almost didn’t allow them to go on duty that night, which would have suited Nathan fine, but it hit a nerve with Ron’s tender ego. Ron thought this overweight redneck police chief was insinuating that unless they got some little tidbit of what the State and Federal governments were now calling continuing education they weren’t prepared for the wild woods of Newton, Texas. Ron, a twelve-year veteran, informed the police chief that time was running out if they were going to get their rooms in Jasper before they went on duty and that if they didn’t go on duty there would be a gap in this almighty schedule they’d been told about; a verbal briefing would have to suffice. Banks reluctantly agreed to let them watch the film tomorrow morning as soon as finished their patrol.