Somewhere Over the Freaking Rainbow - By L.L. Muir Page 0,15

whole thing, sheriff. They killed someone last night. My bet is, it was Marcus. Ray and Burke saw it happen.”

Lucas laughed. “And did you witness this murder too, young Jamison?”

Jamison looked first at Lucas, then at the sheriff. Here was his last chance to save himself, but he tossed the chance over his shoulder, like a pinch of salt, for luck.

Boy witnesses a murder. Boy reports the murder. There is no body. Soon...there is no boy.

Screw it.

“Yeah, I saw it too.”

***

Ten minutes later, Jamison fidgeted while he, the sheriff and Jonathan watched Lucas maneuver his big shoulders up through the drop door of the clubhouse.

“This is dangerous. We should tear this thing down.” The sheriff pushed on a beam that held up the roof; it didn't give an inch.

Jamison grinned. “A Scotsman built it. It won’t budge unless God blows the tree down. Sir.” It was his now. Okay, if Granddad never came home again, it was his.

“Your grandpa’s said that a hundred times. But any of us could have been killed climbing up here. One day some little kid—”

“—little kids can't even reach the second rung. Sir.”

The sheriff huffed and stepped over to the window. He'd called for a deputy to pick up Mom. She was going to freak out when the guy got to her, thinking instantly that her son was either not safe, not warm, not fed, or not happy. When they told her he was fine, she wasn't going to be too happy herself, but he'd deal with it when she got there. Right then, he had some confessing to do.

“Okay, let's hear it.” The sheriff moved to the picture window.

Lucas and Jonathan stood back. They looked only mildly curious.

“Well, Ray heard Skye talking to another Somerled about how she wasn't looking forward to the three a.m. gathering.” Jamison looked at Lucas. “It wasn't Skye's fault. Ray likes to pretend he's listening to his music, with his earphones on, so he can eavesdrop.”

No one interrupted, so he turned back to the window and went on.

“So we came up here to see what might happen. It was cold.” He shivered with the memory of the temperature alone. “At three we heard their screen door open, so we knew something was up. But then Ray and Burke had to pee and climbed down. That's when I saw them.”

“Who?”

“Somerleds, I guess. Lots of people dressed in white robes. Moving through the field, to the circle...over...”

Damn.

It was gone! The crop circle was gone. Holy crap, how did they do it?

Lucas cleared his throat, probably to cover his laughter. He knew what Jamison was going to say, knew he’d look like an idiot if he said it.

Crop circles and conspiracy? He'd be headed for his first drug test if he opened his mouth.

Not this time. He wasn't going to cave now.

“They all had little flashlights or something, because I could see what was going on. They...made a big circle in the field, and I know this is going to sound stupid, but someone walked into the center of the circle and then...there was an explosion. The guy in the center just exploded. There weren't even any chunks left of him I don't think.”

“Woah. Hold it.” The sheriff looked not out the window, but at the two men behind him. “I don't suppose you want to confirm anything he's said so far.”

“No. No. Let him keep talking.”

Jamison could feel himself blushing hot in the cool air. Dusk was coming fast. If they were going to find traces of anything in the field, they had to move quickly.

“The field. We should look before it gets any later.” Jamison waited for the Somerleds to move away from the hole before he started climbing down. He chose his grip carefully, in case he got shoved from behind. His hands were shaking, and that pissed him off.

It didn't matter. The sheriff would be able to tell where the stalks had been bent over. There had to be char marks from the explosion. There had to be something. What he really needed was a couple of friends to back him up, but they'd already been eliminated. So if he was going to be vindicated, they had to get to the field. Who knew how well the Somerleds could clean a field in the middle of the night, if given the chance? They'd already managed to un-circle a freaking crop!

Just as he touched ground and backed away from the mighty tree's roots, however, a sheriff's truck pulled up