Read Online The Chronicles of Beast and Man by J. Charles Ralston - Free Book Online

yourself.” Steve said as he lit up a cigarette.
    “I don’t know about that.” Rod replied. “What I really want to know about is that Malibu.”
    “Umm, some Freddy kid owns it, did the paper work on it last night.”
    “Freddy Alexander.” Rod told Steve.
    “That is the one, something wrong?” Steve asked.
    “No, did he say anything about it?” Rod asked curiously.
    “Not really, he said he hit a dog the other night.”
    Rod now knew that Freddy’s story hadn’t changed at all.
    “I’ve got Shawn down under it, giving her a quick oil change. Isn’t that right Shawn?”
    “That’s right.” A voice answered from under the car.
    “You are doing the body work on it right?”
    “God, that boy keeps causing me trouble. He just acts kind of out of it. I think him and his Mrs. might be having problems.”
    “Who?” Rod asked.
    “Shawn, the kid under the car. He came in last week looking like hell. He said he got in a bar fight. I think he and his Mrs. might be fighting. I sure hope she didn’t do that to him.” Steve said and began laughing loudly.
    “Okay, that is great.” Rod said not knowing or caring how they got on the topic of Shawn the mechanic. Steve was a good guy, and a great mechanic, but he tended to jump around to different topics during conversations.
    “Back to the car, I don’t know what kind of dog this Freddy kid thinks he hit. But it sure as hell couldn’t have been any kind of dog I’ve ever seen.”
    “What do you mean?” Rod asked.
    “I mean that this dog would have had to be huge.” Steve said, then turned to spit on the ground behind him.
    Rod did not say anything else, but agreed with Steve. This was not an accident caused by a dog.
    As the two men leaned up against Rod’s truck and talked, Daniel Montvale slowly walked by. He glared at Rod with fire in his eyes; Rod looked away out of impulse. A feeling of shame came over Rod. Had this punk kid just glared as him and caused him to back down?
    Rod lifted his head back up and stared right back at him.
    There was a chilling moment of silence and Steve noticed the whole thing.
    “What the hell was that?” Steve asked once Daniel was out of sight.
    “I don’t really know.”
    “Listen to me Rod, that boy right there is trouble with a capitol T.” Steve said referring to Daniel. “His daddy was nothing but shit, and he is turning out to be exactly the same.”
    Rod had never met Daniel’s father Chris Montvale, but he had heard stories. One of the infamous stories involved a fake pistol and a bank hold up. Daniel’s father was in and out of trouble, as well as in and out of jail. You could say his Dad had become somewhat of a legend in Medusa. It just wasn’t the kind of legacy you’d want to leave for your offspring.
    Rod agreed with Steve and both men went on their separate ways. Stopping at the shop might not have been the most beneficial thing to do, but Rod wanted to do it. It felt as if it needed to be done, as if something were telling him to look a little bit closer. Obviously Rod’s instincts were working for him better than he realized.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    B ack at the station, Clara was reading another romance novel and had very little to say. There was an awful sense of sadness felt through most of the people in Medusa. Everyone in town felt so bad for poor Gabrielle and her parents. The Main Street Café and Sheila’s Bar and Grill both planned on holding benefits to raise money for the service. The situation was dreadful, but Rod was glad that the people came together in this way. It made him proud of his town, not that he wasn’t already.
    Despite how much the morning seemed to drag and left Rod empty, noon came fairly quickly. As Rod walked down the street to have lunch at The Main Street Café he was stopped by a stranger. The stranger was a tall man, dressed in a gray suite, with a fedora perched atop his head. He walked with graceful strides that seem to suit him