Page 2 of In Her Bed
“Just someone snooping around,” Marcus replied.“Gets old.People get curious when you live out in the sticks.”
Todd chuckled.“From your call sign, I take it you live in Missouri.Maybe one of these days you’ll give your GPS coordinates.Or even tell me your real name.I might pay a visit.”
“Not a chance,” Marcus said.“For all I know, you’re not even who you say you are.”
“Now you gotta be joking,” Todd said, sounding almost offended.
Marcus’s tone grew more serious.“No more jokes.”
“You’re worrying me, Charlie Tango 4 Caesar Alpha.”
“That’s the idea,” Marcus replied.“I’ve been doing research, looking into some pretty dark nooks and crannies, and what I’ve found out isn’t pretty.State-of-the-art audio technology is a tool for government control.Integrated circuits, transistors, and microchips.All of it.”
“You have gone off the deep end,” Todd said, though there was more curiosity than mockery in his voice.
Marcus leaned closer to the set, determined to make Todd understand.“I’m getting rid of all of it.Keeping free from brainwashing, and giving you and the other operators fair warning.”
“Wait,” Todd said.“You’re serious?”
“As a heart attack,” Marcus replied.
There was a long pause.Then, breaking the silence, Todd erupted into laughter, a hearty, unrestrained sound that echoed around the room.
Marcus’s anger flared.“You’re the perfect example of a puppet to the powers that be.Better throw out that radio of yours before it’s too late.”
“And what?Switch to two tin cans and some string?”
Marcus felt his pulse racing.“If you want to be on the safe side.”
“Now you sound more like the Charlie Tango 4 Caesar Alpha I know,” Todd said.“Just looking out for number one.”
“Damn right,” Marcus replied.“I’d suggest you do the same.”
Another knock echoed through the room, louder and more insistent this time.
Marcus stiffened, his eyes wide with panic as his breath caught in his throat.
“Hang on,” he muttered to Todd, exasperated.This was no longer a simple matter of curiosity; it felt far more serious.Perhaps they had sent someone to find him.He couldn’t afford to expose himself for too long.He was all too aware of the fate that awaited those who mistakenly believed they were secure.
Marcus snatched up the pistol again and moved toward the door.“Don’t show your face,” he shouted, his voice cracking with intensity.“I’ll shoot on sight.”
He threw the door open.The deck was empty.The night was quiet.Marcus’s breath came heavy as he strained to see movement in the trees.The loudest sound was the blood rushing through his ears.
With mounting frustration, he stepped down from the deck, wishing he’d brought a flashlight instead of a gun.He squinted into the barely moonlit darkness, straining to see.Maybe it was a prank.He was too far from town for kids, but who else would be so brazen?
He fired a shot into the air to prove he meant business.
The crack of the gunshot seemed to reverberate through the woods.Marcus listened to it fade into the stillness.“You got your warning!”he yelled, wheeling around with suspicion in his eyes.“Now clear out!”
The attack came from behind.A figure leaped from the shadows.A cord wrapped tightly around Marcus’s neck.
He clawed at it, gasping, feeling his knees give way.Then darkness engulfed him, pulling him into unconsciousness.
From inside the trailer, a faint voice kept asking, "Charlie Tango 4 Caesar Alpha, are you okay?"
CHAPTER ONE
The long, slow unraveling of drunken arguments and settling of neighbors’ noise complaints actually was a relief to Sheriff Jenna Graves today.After the turmoil of the case she and Jake Hawkins had just solved, which involved dead bodies long since hidden in the walls of a local church, it felt good to return to the ordinary work of a small-town keeper of the law.
