The Scottsville Vampire Invasion

Chapter 32

Chapter 32 

I sit at my desk, chug down coffee, lean back in my chair, rub my eyes and open the paper.  

"The SS in Scottsville?"  

"During the last several days, the office of Sheriff Taylor has resorted to some heavy-handed tactics towards the press in this town. There has been a police car stationed in front of the residence of this reporter for the last several days. Also, on several occasions, it's become obvious that someone had gone through the contents of this newspaper's garbage." 

I put the paper down and laugh. He's playing right into my hands. He's feeling the heat and I have hardly started yet. 

I go back to reading the paper. "This is a blatant attempt by a frustrated police department to silence a critical free press. All citizens should be worried about overaggressive law enforcement, but it should be particularly concerned about one that tramples on our freedom of speech." 

I chuckle at his usual melodramatic nonsense. "The members of the police department should be aware that this type of intimidation will only make this newspaper more willing to reveal the secrets that this administration, under Sheriff Hamilton, is hiding." 

I drop the paper. That was directed at me. He's going to hit me back. I know he will. Damn, I can' let him publish one of his stories about me before I get a chance to bust him. He can't get ahead of me. I'm running out of time. I have to cut him off. I need to get after his ass. 

Niki knocks on my door and sticks her head in. "Clark, the DA is here and he's pissed. I told him you were in a meeting, and he said that he would wait until you're out. He's not leaving." 

"Fine, tell him to come in." 

I've done my best for the last several weeks to stay away from this prick, but I guess I'm going to have to deal with him sooner or later.  

Chip walks into my room. I say, "Mr. DA, I didn't realize we had a meeting scheduled this morning. I've e-mailed you several times to set up a time in the evening when I'm available, but you never responded."  

"Screw you, Clark. You know I'm not going to make those meetings," he says as he sits down across from me. 

"What's the problem?" 

"You know why I can't make those." 

"Let me guess. You're too scared to go outside when the sun goes down. You want me and my department to be out there, but you won't do it yourself." 

He seethes. "I'm not a cop." 

"Yeah, that's for sure." 

"What the hell does that mean?" 

"It means that you want me and my officers to go out and get our hands dirty, line up all the evidence for you and let you have a stellar conviction record, but when we need you to cut us some slack during the worst crime spree this town has ever seen, you're more aggressive than ever. I guess I'm not surprised since you've got an election coming up." 

He jumps out of his seat. "Clark, it's my job to make sure the laws are followed in this town and that the police department is working legally and ethically. If you want this crime spree to go away, then arrest someone." 

"That's a good speech. You should save it for your campaign." 

Chip takes a deep breath, reaches into his suit jacket, clicks his pen, takes out a legal pad and sits back down. "Clark, I didn't come here to fight. I came here to get your side of the story."  

"Okay, fine. What do you want to know?" 

"I want to know what happened to Officer Green's body and all these bodies that are leaving the morgue." 

"They got up and walked out." 

He drops his pen on his notebook. "Come on, Clark this is serious. What the hell is going on?"  

As he says that, my office phone rings. Niki is on speaker phone. "Glenn is on the phone and he wants to talk to you." 

I look up at Chip. "Sorry man, I need to take this call. Maybe we could get together some other time." 

He shakes his head and stands up. "Clark, I know you're balancing a million things and I came here to help you out. If you want to play this game, I can be a pain in the ass too. You're leaving me no choice but to find a suspect and convene a grand jury." 

"Unfortunately, there's barely enough people in this town for that anymore." 

He jams his pen back into his suit pocket, gets up and walks out. "Trust me, I'll find the people." 

By the time that dumb shit even gets it together to investigate this, I'll have Glen nailed down and that will calm the need for an investigation.  

I pick up the phone. "Glen, great article today. What's going on?" 

"You know exactly what is going on. You got your boy, Josh, sitting outside my house right now. You know my mother has anxiety. You're stalking me. She hasn't slept in three days. I have to take her to the doctor." 

"Glen, don't you think it's time to move out of your parent's house?" 

"Fuck you Clark," he says with a violent acid to it. 

"When's the last time you had a vacation? Sitting behind a computer screen all day long can't be good. Maybe you could get some sun, so you're not so pasty white." 

"Listen to me, Clark. You know all the shit I have on you and what I can do to you. I'll bury your ass." 

"I know you spent a long time gathering dirt on me just so you would have some cover for yourself, but guess what asshole? It's over for you." 

There is a long pause on the other end. "What the hell does that mean?" 

"You know what it means. You're enjoying all of this chaos and having everyone hanging on your every word. You think I didn't notice all these murders corresponding with your increased circulation? You think old 'Concussion Clark' can't even put that together?" 

There is a long silence. I want to jump in and go at him some more, but I just let it hang in the air. Finally he says, "What?" 

"You heard me Glenn. You may think that this is all a game, but people are dying and they're leaving broken families and friends and I'm going to stop it. I'm going to stop you." 

He laughs. "You've lost your fucking mind." 

"Maybe I have but you're about to lose everything you have." I hang up the phone. He's scared. I can hear it in his voice. He thinks I'm so stupid that I can't see right through him. I'm getting closer and closer.