Shadow Of The Past Trilogy ∞ THE DISPLACED

38 ∞ branded

Day Ten ∞ Early Sunday morning

IT CAME AS NO SURPRISE to Danny that his attempt to fall asleep would be a futile endeavor—his brain just wouldn't shut down.

A wild cat.

A big wild cat.

He couldn't get over the fact that he'd brought the wild cat home with him. What if something really bad had happened? He had to remind himself that the bad that did happen had nothing to do with the cat he unknowingly brought home with him. Instead it punished the cat that had caused the bad thing to happen. He was almost one hundred per cent sure of that. He'd just have to call the police to confirm that.

The killer cat was dead... Some consolation... It wasn't. The black cat was still out there. And he felt like he was missing something.

Of course his brain had to lock onto that thought and go on the unbidden mission of finding an answer; it went into systematic playback mode:

Something dark in the hallway—something light in the yard...

Scratches on his truck—scratches on her chest...

"She was blind and she's not blind – blind – blind..." Gina's voice echoed in his head.

Black hairs between his fingers—tan hairs between hers...

"I have met this creature before – fore – fore..."

She'd said that twice.

But she couldn't have: the memory wasn't hers...

I'm still missing something...

He groaned: sleep was nowhere near in sight.

Once again he went outside to run himself into exhaustion. He let Zorro join him as he completed the first lap and started the second one. That was when Zorro growled and took off at a tangent, heading for the car shed.

"What, Zorro?" Danny said in a hushed voice and followed. Something in the garage? Zorro was sniffing around the wooden door, growling between breaths, then barked once and followed his nose around the side of the shed to the backyard. "Zorro, sssch!" Danny jogged after the dog and found it making a beeline for the woods beyond. "No, Zorro, no! Come here!"

Zorro stopped and looked back at him with a bark.

"Quiet, Zorro! Come here right now! Heel!"

The dog came back to him and he grabbed hold of its collar; he didn't want it to go chasing something or somebody in the dark—losing one dog was enough. He walked the dog to the back porch and got the leash from a hook. He needed to run, but he didn't want to be out here alone. He had to think about both his own and his dog's safety.

∞

He'd only slept for three hours when he woke up again with one thought in his head. He needed to find out exactly what kind of animal was on his truck that night. It wasn't too early to call the police for information. He went to his room for the business card, Sergeant Eldon, City of Eufaula Police Department. Then he went downstairs to make the call.

It wasn't seven o'clock yet but Eldon was on duty and took his call. Several seconds after ending the call, Danny still held the receiver, replaying the conversation in his mind: "Yes, I remember you. The cougar that killed your dog was killed by a jaguar."