The Serpent and the Crow

Book 2: Chapter Seventeen

They parked the work truck on the side of the trail while Elmer sat in the backseat, rocking back and forth, singing a lullaby. Cortez rifled through the rear of the work truck. She assembled a rifle she discovered in the toolbox. Elmer stared at her through the rear window.

"Small," Cortez said, "I don't think you could take down a cat, let alone a snake with this thing."

"Yes, Boss. You can take down anything with that."

"A BB gun ain't going to do it."

"See that trunk there."

She saw what he was talking about. She reached into the toolbox and opened the cardboard box to reveal darts with green and red feathers attached to them.

"It can bring down the Emerald Eye, Boss."

"You and that Emerald Eye. I wish I knew what the fuck you were talking about, Elmer," She stared out towards the dark ponderosa pines, "How long does it take to take a piss, Doug."

Cortez looked at Jimmy-Bob's carcass lying on the back of the work truck. Cortez hopped off the truck and relaxed back into the passenger seat. She angled to see Elmer drooling. She held a photograph, and Elmer reached for it, which was a bit of a struggle with the electrical ties. He gazed at the picture and his pupils enlarged. He felt himself being aroused in his sweaty employee overalls.

"She sure is pretty, Boss."

"That's the reason we're out here, Elmer. Have you ever seen that girl?"

Elmer shook his head and gave the photograph back. His fingers touched Cortez and gets turned on. He placed his hands back on the crotch of his pants.

Douglas hops back into the truck. He turns around to glance at Elmer.

"Thank God, you recognize this place. There was an abandoned out-house there, alright. I hope the leaves I used don't give my ass a rash."

"I assumed you had to take a leak."

"I thought so, too, then I need to do more."

Doug's walkie blared and rattled the front dash it perched upon.

"Detectives come in. Over."

"Douglas here, over. Chief Kelly, it's Doug here over."

The radio responds with a patchy message, "Detective Nez... Immediately... I repeat..."

"Turn that shit off. You ain't going to get shit up here. The forest is thick. Let's drive a bit until we hit a better spot along the route."

"She's right, boss. We are long ways up. Jimmy-Bob found it hard to reach back to Doc Ray Ray."

"Yeah, I suppose you're right, Elmer."

Douglas turned the key, and the motor roared. A murder of crows scattered in the air.

Elmer watched Douglas through the rear-view mirror. Douglas wondered how they could employ a man like Elmer to hunt something that could kill him. He took another peek and recognised something about Elmer. Meanwhile, Elmer worked his restraints with a projectile dart he found in the backseat.

Douglas asked, "Have I seen you before, Elmer?"

"I can't recall, Boss. I'd remember you. You're nice."

"You just have that... I know what it is. County Coroner's Office. Merrin Lindsey, am I right?"

"Why good lord? You know Merrin?"

Douglas thought it odd. He remembered the Coroner talking about a worker who was obsessed with looking at how she conducted inquests. He knew Elmer could not have been responsible for his colleague's death, at least directly involved, but it involved him in some other way. Douglas moved his hand down to his holster while driving. He realised he took off his holster before he ran to the bathroom. So many times he had feared he would drop his gun in the toilet.

"Have you got any music here, Elmer?" Cortez said.

"In the glove box."

Cortez popped the glove box open, and a few things fell out. However, the pictures of Native American symbols struck a chord with Douglas. One of them was the symbol that was carved in the tree at Katie Harding's crime scene.

Cortez asked, "What are these?"

"You'll never know."

Elmer clutched the projectile dart and jammed it into her neck. Cortez's body twitched. Douglas reached for his weapon on the dash. But Elmer restrained Douglas. Elmer's bicep went under Douglas' chin and choked him. Doug's eyes bulged as he gasped for air.

The truck swayed and broke through a barrier. It smashed against an unmoveable ponderosa. Douglas watched as the life drained from Cortez's neck wound. Blood gushed down the dash and broken glass. Douglas loses consciousness as he listened to Elmer humming the same lullaby he sang to all his victims.