The Bridge (Para-Earth Series) Read online

  After pulling him out, they had stayed by his side in the hospital until his grandparents came for him. And they had stayed in touch, keeping careful tabs on him ever since. But this wasn’t out of a sense of guilt, they truly cared.

  “What should I tell them?” he wondered aloud.

  The next morning found Julie doing a hard run on the treadmill in her home. Hercules had declined to join her on the machine. Usually he was the first one on it, meowing for her to join him. But today, he opted to just watch, which was fine. She wouldn’t have to worry about accidentally stepping on him while her mind was busy thinking about Cassandra.

  She was convinced the girl was definitely a lesbian. And she would undoubtedly need more advice and guidance, which wasn’t a problem. She was more than glad to help the heiress. But she was beginning to worry about one issue that was bound to come up. Sooner or later Cassie would want to talk about getting into a relationship with someone. “And then she’ll ask me if I’d be interested,” Julie sighed, hitting the stop button on the treadmill.

  As the belt under her feet slowed and came to a stop, her mind was still in high gear. Cassandra was not like any of the girls she’d ever dated in the past. For one thing she was a petite little thing. But she was also well endowed. The girl had to be at least a large C or small D-cup, a size she was very partial to. Most of her wrestling video opponents were built that way. Plus Cassie had a lovely face and nice legs. So physically she was attractive and quite desirable.

  But, there were other problems. For one thing, the girl was just coming out of the closet, and was totally inexperienced in certain areas. Admittedly, time and a gentle teacher like herself could rectify that.

  But you don’t want to get too involved with anyone, her brain pointed out. You’re still not over what happened with Allison.

  “Shut up,” she muttered under her breath and headed for the bathroom. She needed a shower.

  By the time she reached the tub, Hercules was already in it waiting for her.

  “You are the goofiest cat I’ve ever known,” she told him, as she undressed. “You guys aren’t supposed to like water.”

  But Hercules was different. From the moment she’d found him abandoned by his mother, when he was only a couple of weeks old, she realized he was different. For one thing he was a fighter. Since he was only a few days old, the vet she had told her there was only a slim chance he’d make it. But she’d insisted on trying and had been given instructions on how to feed and care for him. Now a year and a half later, he was 25 pounds of solid muscle and love, who also liked showers.

  As the water cascaded over her sore muscles, she found herself thinking more about Cassandra. After the chauffer was convinced the limo was okay, they’d gotten back on the road and stopped at a dry cleaner’s along the way.

  Cassie told her about what happened to Alex’s jacket and got out of the car to drop it off. A moment later, she heard the girl open the trunk and let out a shriek.

  Immediately, both she and the chauffer had gotten out of the limo to see what had happened. They found Cassie clutching her chest and breathing hard. She also looked a bit pale and dazed.

  When asked what had happened, the heiress had told them she thought she’d seen a girl, covered in muck, curled up in the trunk wearing Alex’s jacket.

  “She opened her eyes and looked right at me and that’s when I jumped back and screamed,” Cassie told them. “But when I looked again she was gone. There was the just the jacket and that horrible smell coming from it.”

  And it had been bad. Both she and the driver had taken a step back from the car to get away from it, while Cassie retrieved the article of clothing and rushed it into the dry cleaner’s. A few minutes later she’d emerged taking large breaths of fresh air.

  After that the three of them climbed back into the limo and came back here, where she and Cassie spent another hour talking. Then they’d made plans to meet again today and now she was feeling a little torn about it.

  Down at her feet, Hercules started rubbing up against her affectionately.

  “You really took to her yesterday, didn’t you?” she said, looking down. “Are you trying to tell me something?”

  The cat meowed loudly and began to purr.

  “What would you know?” she replied and finished cleaning off.

  An hour later she heard a knock at the door. Looking at the clock over the fireplace she saw it was only 9:30. Cassandra wasn’t due until ten.

  “Oh God, don’t tell me she’s getting ideas too,” she muttered and then called out, “Come on in, it’s unlocked.”

  But instead of the typical click-click sound of high heels walking across the wooden floor, she heard a heavy booted treading followed by, “Julie? It’s Chief Peterson. Where are you?”

  “Bedroom, I’ll be right with you,” she shouted back and quickly finished fixing her hair. What could he possibly want with her at this hour? If he’d simply had more questions, he would’ve called her. Something must’ve happened.

  Within seconds she joined him in the living room and asked, “What’s up?”

  Hat in hand, the big man replied gently, “I need to ask you about your uncle Jason.”

  Julie rolled her eyes and said indignantly, “Oh don’t tell me you think he’s involved with what happened to Dr. Wells.”

  “No,” the police chief shook his head firmly, “but I need to know if you’ve seen or heard from him in the last twelve hours.”

  Confused and growing more worried again, she answered, “I saw him yesterday afternoon.”

  “And he was fine when you left?”

  “Yeah, in fact we had a good talk and some tea,” she replied becoming more worried, “Has something happened?”

  Instead of answering he asked, “Did he mention anything worrying him? Or if he was planning on going someplace?”

  “NO!” she snapped losing her patience. “And I’m not going to answer another question until you tell me if something’s happened to him!”

  Peterson nodded and took a deep breath. “Sometime yesterday afternoon one half of your uncle’s house fell in on itself.”

  “WHAT?” Julie cried in disbelief. This could not be happening. No way. Houses just don’t fall in on themselves. Unless they’d been poorly maintained and she knew damn well that was not the case now. She’d personally watched and even helped work on her uncle’s house with her cousins over the years. Uncle Jason and his wife had been sticklers about keeping the family homestead in good condition, and had even added onto it over the years. And she proceeded to tell her visitor just that.

  When she’d finished he nodded, “That’s what I thought when I saw the destruction. It didn’t look right to me or the forensics team that came out. The first thought had been a gas leak or some other kind of explosion had taken place, but there were no burn marks anywhere. And, as I said before, that part of the house had fallen in not out.”

  Julie’s eyes narrowed at this. “How do you mean?”

  He looked away and started walking around the room, “To be honest, when Ronnie and I first saw the destruction, we both thought something had fallen onto the place, from above. Like maybe a plane or something, only there wasn’t any evidence of that either.”

  “What about my uncle?” Julie asked anxiously, “Was there any sign he was inside the house when it happened?”

  “No,” Chief Peterson replied shaking his head firmly. “That was the first thing Ronnie and I checked on when we saw the destruction. And the team that went in found no blood or evidence that he’d been inside when it happened. That’s why I came to see you and ask if you’d heard from him. We wanted to make sure he’s okay.”

  These words eased Julie’s mind considerably. But now the question was where did her uncle go? And why hadn’t he come home? Or if he had, why hadn’t he contacted anyone about what happened? “Was his car still in the garage?” she asked.

  “Yes, which means either he took off on foot or someone came by and took
him somewhere,” Peterson replied. “And from what you told me, he hadn’t made any kind of special plans.”

  Hearing this Julie sat down and started thinking aloud, “Obviously you checked the grounds and the big house to see if he’d been up there when it happened.”

  “Those were the first places we checked,” her guest nodded.

  Thinking back to yesterday, she remembered Cassie’s question about her uncle being a shaman. “He might have gone into the woods to spend time among nature and be under the stars,” she said finally. “In which case, he’ll be back in a few days.”

  “That would make sense,” Chief Peterson nodded. “Could you give me a list of any friends he might’ve gone to visit as well? I’d like to eliminate any other possibilities in case he doesn’t show up in a few days.”

  Julie smiled gratefully. “Thanks, I was thinking the same thing,” she told him and started making a list of people in and around the nearby towns her uncle was known to hang out with. But one thing was still bothering her, “Any idea what might’ve caused part of the house to cave in?”

  Before Peterson could reply another voice, Cassie’s, answered, “A percussion wave or sonic boom?”

  Both looked up and saw the heiress standing in the entryway. “Sorry,” she apologized sheepishly. “I saw the police car out front and I wondered if there were more questions about Alex, so I came up to the door and knocked but no one answered. Then I heard voices and let myself in.”

  “And how much did you hear?” asked the police chief suspiciously.

  “Only something about a building caving in on itself,” Cassie answered. “May I ask what’s happened?”

  “It doesn’t concern you, Miss Elliott…” Roy began, but Julie interrupted him saying, “Actually it does. Remember she’s buying the Graham estate and my uncle’s house is part of the grounds.”

  Immediately, Cassie’s face took on a look of worry. “Something happened to your uncle?”

  Quickly Julie gave her a recap of what had taken place since the two of them had been there. Once she’d finished the heiress started asking questions of her own.

  “What side of the house fell in? Was it the front, back, the side facing the stream or the one pointing towards the road?”

  Chief Peterson gave her a curious look and replied, “The one facing the stream. Does it matter?”

  “Possibly,” the heiress replied. “We all know something weird is in the water and it gives off a terrible odor. Perhaps it’s a gas of some kind. And if that’s the case, it could have built up into a huge bubble that finally came to the surface and was released in a kind of explosion. I know some swamps have this problem. And Julie and I both heard some kind of boom yesterday, a powerful one.”

  “It was heard all over town,” Roy nodded, “But nobody could tell where it came from.”

  Cassie became more animated as she continued. “Now when Julie and I were visiting her uncle yesterday, I noticed that side of his house had a clear view of the stream. There were no trees in the way, just open ground. So if some kind of gas bubble did come to the surface, and was big enough…”

  “The shockwave would’ve hit that side of the house,” the chief finished. “But it would’ve had to have been a monster of a gas bubble to do that kind of damage.”

  Julie had to agree. The stream was big and wide, but surely it couldn’t have contained a gas bubble that big or strong, could it?

  But now something else was on the chief’s mind. “And just what were you doing there?” he asked curiously. “It sounds as if the two of you headed over to his place right after you left the station.”

  Julie shot a look at Cassandra hoping for her to come up with a good excuse. Much to her relief the girl did.

  “Well, I promised Julie that I would let her uncle keep his job and his home if I bought the Graham place. And since my offer had been accepted, I wanted to meet the man who’d been taking care of the grounds and let him know the arrangement I’d made with his niece. And since I’m from out of town, I needed her to show me the way to his place.”

  ‘Good excuse,’ thought Julie and waited. Peterson studied Cassandra and then over at her. Finally he spoke.

  “So neither of you talked to Jason about what happened with Alex and asked if he’d seen anything?”

  “Of course not,” Julie replied quickly.

  “That would be interfering with a police investigation,” added Cassie nodding her head firmly.

  “Good, I’m glad to hear that,” said the police chief, but it was easy to read the ‘Bullshit’ expression on his face. Then he turned to Cassandra and asked, “By the way, I’d like to borrow Alex’s jacket, the one you found on the bridge.”

  “Evidence?” asked Cassie curiously.

  “Not at this point,” Peterson replied evenly. “However, you did mention a moment ago about the smell around the stream. I remember the jacket reeked of it, and I’d like to get it tested. It could be dangerous.”

  “How so?” asked Julie.

  “We suspect the fumes may cause terrifying hallucinations, which is why I want people kept away from the stream until further notice,” he explained. “Now, it appears not everyone is affected by them, like your Uncle Jason. He’s been around there for years and never complained about seeing anything odd. But, Dr. Wells saw something before he died after being exposed to the fumes for an extended period of time. This is the reason I want you to keep people away from the stream, Miss Elliott…” Here he paused and looked closer at Cassie. “Are you all right?”

  The heiress nodded absently and quickly recounted what had happened the day before when they dropped the jacket off at the dry cleaners.

  “Which dry cleaner’s was it?” asked Peterson quickly.

  Julie told him.

  “Right, I’ll go and get it. You two stay out of trouble and contact me immediately if you hear from Jason. And I’ll do the same if I find him,” he told her. Then he turned to Cassandra. “Miss Elliot you can visit the main building on your new property, but stay away from the stream.”

  Then, without saying goodbye, he turned and left. A moment later, Julie and Cassie heard him start his vehicle and hit the siren.

  return to the morguE

  Patrolman Ryan O’Connor stood with his brother Charlie in the elevator heading for the hospital’s basement. They had talked about a lot of different things on their way here, but lost their desire for further conversation when they entered the building.

  As soon as the doors opened again Charlie led the way. He had taken this route dozens of times over the last six months, but this time it seemed alien to him. Had the corridor always been this long? And did his footsteps always echo off the walls so loudly?

  Deep down he knew it had always been like this. The real problem was going through the double doors up ahead. His mentor wouldn’t be there to greet him and rib him for not bringing coffee. Dr. Wells had been a friend, as well as a boss.

  As they reached the doors, he stopped.

  “You don’t have to do this,” his brother said gently.

  “Yes I do,” Charlie replied firmly, “I owe it to him. If I don’t go back in there, then all my studies will have been a wash.”

  His brother nodded in silence.

  “I just never expected my boss to be a victim,” Charlie continued. “Especially not here. Which is why I have to know if I can handle working in the room where he died or not. Who knows, maybe I’ll spot something you all missed, that might lead to his killer.”

  Ryan beamed with pride at his younger sibling and said, “Then, let’s do it.”

  Charlie pushed the doors open and strode into the room. Right away he noticed his boss’ desk had been cleared off. Even his favorite coffee cup was gone. The area looked as barren and cold as the operating table where they performed autopsies.

  A man’s life, and his work, had been swept up and carted away just like that. It seemed obscene.

  Continuing his inspection of the room, he
noted a microscope was missing along with some slides. Probably taken as evidence, since that was what Dr. Wells had been working with when he died, he realized.

  Ryan had been watching his younger sibling carefully and was about to make a comment, when he caught a whiff of something foul in the air. His brother must have noticed it was well, because he started to sniff loudly.

  “That damned smell again,” Charlie muttered, “It was here when I left that night. Doc told me to make sure the extractor fans were going before I left.”

  “They were still on, when we got here.”

  “And it’s still hanging around? That’s weird.”

  The two brothers stood there, each lost in thought. The room was silent, until the sound of a drop of water hitting the floor caught their attention.

  It had come from the rows of metal doors where bodies were kept, in the far wall.

  Approaching slowly they noticed the little pool of water that had been forming at the base of the wall. The smell was stronger over here.

  They traced the water up to one of the metal doors. “That’s the one Chase had been in before he was buried,” Charlie remarked and reached for the handle.

  Ryan stopped him. “Something’s not right,” he said.

  Some part of Charlie’s mind agreed. After a quick discussion, they rigged a string to open the door from a safe distance and pulled.

  The metal door flew open and a torrent of dark, foul smelling water poured out of the locker. Covering their mouths and noses, the brothers fled the room.

  At that same moment, Roy found himself inside the dry cleaners staring down at the body of the proprietor. The man’s face was a frozen tableau of terror.