Page 1 of In Her Bed
PROLOGUE
The hum of electricity mixed with the drone of crickets outside, filling Marcus Derrick’s mobile home with a peculiar melody.He flipped the switch on his newly purchased antique ham radio, bathing his workspace in the warm orange glow of the vacuum tubes.“Charlie Tango 4 Caesar Alpha,” his ham radio call sign, glowed into the dim room above the set’s outdated analog dial.
Marcus settled into his chair, his face illuminated by the warm flicker of the tubes.He stretched a bit, cleared his throat, adjusted the headphones over his wild gray hair, then keyed the transmitter with the exaggerated flair of a maestro taking the stage.
“This is Charlie Tango 4 Caesar Alpha,” he announced, sending the call out with a self-satisfied grin.The words echoed against the metal walls of his small home.“Calling November, Charlie Zero Sierra Echo.Are you out there tonight, Todd?”
Marcus leaned back and surveyed his surroundings, taking in the neat array of older equipment and scattered army surplus.He found the hum of his new setup comforting, blending perfectly with the solitude of his surroundings.He could imagine the trees and darkness outside closing in around the trailer, but none of that mattered.This world was his, and he felt safe here within it.
A crackle came through the speaker.“November Charlie Zero Sierra Echo here, up in Nebraska.Did I catch that right?Is this the same Missouri operator I’m thinking of?”The voice was warm and friendly, laced with a Midwest twang.
“You’ve got him,” Marcus replied.“Sounding a bit different tonight?”
“I thought maybe I’d tuned in the wrong call sign,” Todd said.“I could swear you’re the same guy who was coming in strong on my end just last week.But you’re not the same Charlie Tango 4 Caesar Alpha I’m used to, are you?Come again.”
Marcus paused, reaching over to adjust the gain on the set.“That better?”he asked, expecting Todd to be impressed by the improved clarity.
“No change,” Todd said, almost laughing.“You must be using different equipment.”
Marcus beamed.“You’ve got that right.Same operator, different setup.Brand-new rig.It’s an old rig, just newly bought.”
“Knew it,” Todd replied.“I hardly recognize the sound.Why the switch?”
Marcus felt a thrill of excitement.“Bought it at an estate sale.Pre-transistorized set,” he said.He leaned forward, anticipating Todd’s reaction.
Todd broke in.“You mean it’s an old clunker?”
“More like a piece of history,” Marcus corrected, with an edge of pride in his voice.Vintage vacuum tubes.Circa 1950.”
There was a pause before Todd’s voice came back through.“You’re pulling my leg, right?”
Marcus chuckled, shaking his head.“Nope.It’s exactly what I was after.The old solid-state rigs are on the scrap heap now.”
Todd’s disbelief was palpable.“That’s a mistake, my friend.You’re too good an operator to settle for that junk.”
Marcus was ready for this.“I knew you’d say that, but you haven’t heard why.”
He was about to explain when a sudden, sharp knock at the door halted him mid-sentence.He sat frozen, his body tense, with his eyes darting nervously toward the source of the sound.But now everything was silent.Surely, he thought, it had been just his imagination playing tricks on him.
Then, another knock shattered the stillness, echoing through the room with even greater force, reverberating like a thunderclap in the silence.
“Hold on, Todd,” Marcus said, putting the set on standby.“Be right back.”
Swiftly, he yanked open the desk drawer and retrieved a sleek, cold semiautomatic pistol, its metal glinting under the dim light.He loaded it and stopped to listen again.Whoever was out there, they were about to make a grave error.
Marcus approached the door with caution, his senses heightened, fully expecting to glimpse a form slinking away into the inky night.Steeling himself, he took a deep breath and flung the door wide open, muscles tense in preparation for whatever confrontation awaited him.
Only darkness stretched beyond the weathered wooden deck, an oppressive void that seemed to whisper of hidden dangers.It enveloped him, accentuating the silence with its oppressive presence.
He called out into the night, his voice steady and commanding, concealing the tremors lurking beneath the surface.“You better get away from here!Next time you knock, I’ll shoot for sure!”
His words lingered in the air, a stern warning, before he added with a hint of menace, “I’ve killed trespassers before!”
It was a bluff, of course.But he shouted it with lots of conviction.Marcus scanned the trees, looking for movement, but the night remained silent.He slammed the door shut and returned to his radio, the gun still close at hand.
“Sorry about that,” Marcus said, settling back into his chair.“Where were we?”
“Everything okay?”Todd asked.“You sound a bit spooked.”
