Misery County

Chapter 18 - Part 1

His faithful shovel – his morbid friend – safely in his trunk, Eric started his engine and drove away from the woods. He would have liked to give Cassie a more decent burial, but bringing her to the authorities, or even a mortician, with her injuries would lead to no good news for him. Her impromptu funeral in the woods of Missouri County would have to do.

The car navigated through the dirt road and reached its first intersection, and for the first time, Eric realized he had no idea where he was going. Sure, he had plenty of intelligence from the monsters, but what good had that done him? They were always ahead of the game. There was no way to act that wasn't walking into one of their traps. He only wondered why they hadn't bothered to flat-out attack him in his motel room or while he was out and about. He supposed they didn't need to. He was doing a good enough job of serving himself up to them for them to need to bother.

Flipping a coin in his head, he took a left at the intersection. That would lead him to the county seat and his motel room. Although he still wasn't sure what he needed to do or where he needed to go, he knew one thing, and that was that he needed a shower. The night had not been kind, and the rising sun was doing nothing about the sweat sticking his clothes to his back.

The drive was surprisingly serene. The country station on the radio was interspersing songs with banter from the DJs, and Eric couldn't help but think back to the many pointed conversations he'd had with Cassie. It was far from a distant memory, and yet, the conversation with Fflur had laid his worries to rest. He no longer felt mournful when he thought about Cassie. Instead, his mind immediately went to the good times they had together. Still, when he thought about it being over forever, he couldn't help but build up a lump in his throat.

His reminiscing was interrupted by a "woop" from behind and the flashing of blue lights. Was a Sheriff's car pulling him over or did he just need to get past? Eric pulled over to the side of the road, and the cop car did the same behind him. This wasn't good. Was it worth taking the opportunity to take off and run? No, that would only attract more heat. This was surely something simple like a burned-out taillight or something.

The deputy got out of his car. Eric watched in his side mirror as the man approached his vehicle, hand on his pistol. He looked oddly familiar, but where did he know him from?

"Step out of the vehicle, Mr. Nelson," the deputy said.

"Hey, Bill, I thought I recognized you! It's good to see you, man. How've you been?"

"That's Deputy Schattner to you, Mr. Nelson, but I'm not here for small talk. Step out of the vehicle now."

"Shatner, huh? Hey, and your first name is –"

"Different spelling, asshole. Now I'm not going to ask you again. Step. Out. Of. The. Vehicle."

"All right, all right. Relax there, buddy. It's all cool," Eric said as he opened his door and slunk out of his driver's seat.

"No, 'buddy,' things are not cool. In fact, things are very uncool. Put your hands on your car and separate your feet."

"Come on, what's this about?"

Deputy Bill mumbled something into his radio, ignoring Eric's question.

"Hey, don't you need probable cause or something to stop me?" Eric said, patience faltering.

"You don't think I've got it, Mr. Nelson? You don't think I know how to do my damned job?" the deputy said as he rummaged through Eric's pockets. "I'd normally ask if you have anything that could stick me or stab me in there, but you seem so much worse than a garden variety junkie."

"Now, there's no need for that, friend," Eric said as he felt his wallet get pulled out of his left side trouser pocket.

"I'm not your fuckin' friend," the deputy spat. "Well, Mr. Eric Weber," he said as he rifled through the documents in Eric's wallet, "that certainly wasn't the name you signed in with at the station."

"Look, there's no need to –"

"You know what your first tip-off was? It was signing in with the name of a famous historical figure, Mr. Horatio Nelson."

"Oh, come on, don't pretend you know who that is."

"Do you think we're all a bunch of hicks that don't read, Mr. Nelson? Or, shit, it's Mr. Weber, isn't it? I forget, what with you using all those fake identities and everything."

"I've used all of one fake –"

Eric stopped talking as Deputy Bill mumbled into his radio again.

"What, you ain't even gonna listen to my excuses?" Eric said after the man finished. "Man, that ain't cool."

"Shut up. I'm arresting you for the murder of Deputy Jerry Snyder."