Fatalis

When he heard the sound of a chopper, Grand followed it until the vehicle could go no farther. He stopped between two and three thousand feet up Monte Arido.

"Come on," he said, getting out of the car.

"Where to?" Ha

Grand pointed up the mountain. "A chopper is hovering somewhere up there. They may have spotted the cats and are staying with them."

"Waiting for the cavalry to arrive," Ha

"Maybe," Grand said.

Grand looked for the most accessible slope, the one with the easiest incline, and started up. He half walked, half ran so he could reach a point that was clear of the lower peaks and ridges so he could see the top of the mountain. The section they were climbing would give them both a view and access to the top.

Grand climbed for nearly forty-five minutes before reaching the top of the slope. The first hint of twilight was touching the sky. Perspiring and breathless, he had a clear view of the rest of the mountain. He looked ahead. What he saw was not promising.

A long-bodied helicopter was hovering approximately one hundred feet above a wide, level ridge. What looked like a large canvas sling had been lowered from the side of the chopper, just behind the cockpit Grand could only see the ends of the sling; the rest of it was lying flat on the ground. There were at least a dozen people moving around the ridge.

Ha

The sling had begun to rise. Now he could see what was in it It was one of the cats, its golden hide blossomed with red.

Grand fell to his knees. And for the first time since Rebecca died, he reached into his soul for a scream and tears.

Chapter Sixty-Four

By the time Ha

Something.

The Wall snapped several pictures. The small, quick click of the shutter made the deaths seem more real, more tragic. It made Ha

They climbed the mountain, though their movements were now a blur. The smell of sinkholes being paved on nearby Route 166 wafted over. All Ha

When the trio finally reached the site it was worse than Ha

Grand reached the ridge first and ran toward the nearest of the cats. One of the National guardsmen moved to intercept him; Grand knocked him aside. Two other soldiers rushed forward to grab him. Grand reached the nearest of the cats before the men got to him. The soldiers tried to pick him up by his arms but Grand shook them off and stood.

"Leave him!" Gearhart shouted.

The soldiers stepped back as the sheriff approached. Grand crouched beside the cat. Ha

Gearhart stood on the other side of the dead cat. He spoke loudly to be heard over the chopper.

"This is a restricted area," the sheriff yelled, then looked at Ha

Ha

"You didn't have to do this," Grand said.

"No?"

"You see what these animals are now-"

"Yeah. Killers."

"And what are you?" Ha

Grand's hand moved along the lithe, muscular body. "It still didn't have to end this way. It wasn't necessary to kill them or lose any men."

Gearhart squatted and looked into Grand's eyes. "Is that your professional police opinion?"

Grand looked at the blood on his hand. "It's a fact."

"Is it? Sorry, but you were only batting.333 in your own field. There were more than two cats, you got that right. But you had the direction they were moving wrong and they came out in daylight." Gearhart reached across his body and slipped the hunting knife from his belt. "Deputy Bright was part of the unit up here. He had a wife and a young son who adored him." Gearhart wrapped his fingers around the cat's foot-long tail. Then he slid the knife underneath it and sawed across the base of the tail.

"Oh Christ don't-!" Ha

The tail came free. Gearhart held it replaced the knife, and stood.

Grand just stared at him.

"I know Mrs. Bright very well," Gearhart said, "and I don't give a good goddamn whether the animal rights people picket my office round the clock, throw red paint at my house, or build a shrine up here and burn me in effigy. I don't care whether I get voted out of office and run out of town. Knowing that I did my duty here is the only thing that matters."

"Is it?" Grand asked.

"It is."

Grand's eyes swept across the ridge and then he looked back at Gearhart The scientist stood and walked over to the cat that was being loaded onto the sling. He examined it and then he looked at the other cats. Finally, he walked back to Gearhart.

"You know what really matters, Sheriff?" Grand asked. "Patience. It gets you everything. Respect, cooperation, and most important-knowledge."

"What are you talking about?" Gearhart asked.

"Killing these cats may have created a bigger problem. They're just part of a larger group."

"You mean, the Chumash painting of the eyes?" Ha

"Not just that," Grand said. "The other group is almost certainly moving southeast, as I said. These cats were here for another reason."

"How do you know that?" Gearhart asked.

"A little zoological police work."

"Grand, don't fuck with me-"

"I'm not," Grand said. "I'm telling you that the worst is still to come. These dead cats are all female."

"So?"

Grand said, "The cats Ha