Chapter 11

Ben Grant watched the short, plump Man pace back and forth across the cement floor of the station. Aaron Manning smoked a small, American cigar, blowing smoke out of the corner of his mouth like a steam engine.

"I know you don't want us in on this, Ben, but after the call you put out on that last one, I almost have no choice!"

Ben drew in a deep breath. It had been going on for hours now, this debate over whether the F.B.I, should be called into Seaside for an investigation. They had been alerted when the call for reinforcements had gone to L.A. and San Diego. Now, Agent Manning stood as the arson investigator for the Western States arguing with the stubborn chief of Seaside.

"Dammit, Mr. Manning," Ben moaned, trying to make his point for the twentieth time, "if you bring a bunch of agents in here we'll drive whoever it is away. They'll just go someplace else, start bigger fires and probably wipeout an entire forest!"

Manning stared at the two gas cans sitting on the shelf. They were the only lead, and the analyzation which his department had made revealed nothing more than Ben had told them over the telephone. The stocky agent relit his cigar.

"What makes you think you can stop him?"

"I know this town," Ben began, trying to figure out himself why he had made such a claim in the first place, "and I know the people in it. The whole place is like a second body to me....I can feel it."

Manning took a seat across from Ben. They both turned their heads and watched Jimmy Blacburn wander in through the large double doors, then disappear into the small living quarters.

"Listen Ben," Manning said, leaning close across the table, "I haven't contacted the agency yet. I mean, the things' unknown as far as they're concerned. I really can't see what a full investigation would serve, anyway. So, you can take the ball . ... but ... "

"If there's another fire," Ben continued, "I've got a lot of explaining to do, right?"

"We have no jurisdiction here because the last one didn't reach the national forest. On the assumption that the next one will, however, we can offer our assistance ... which, by the way, I have officially done here today with you. So, if you don't accept it, I'm afraid the burden goes directly on those fucking stubborn shoulders of yours!"

Manning had liked Ben Grant from the first moment they had met, the day after the big fire at Wilson's Grove. He had found in the fire chief, the burning dedication and firm conviction of duty which he himself had felt when he had first become a federal agent. The years had worn his conviction and sense of duty down; and to see it revived again in Ben Grant had made him enthusiastic about himself and his choice of his life's work.

Ben played with the wooden spoon in his coffee cup. His eyes darkened as he thought deeply about the consequences of taking the position he was about to. There had been something different about this series of fires than any Ben had confronted before. It was an instinctual thing with him, something deep inside that told him to keep the thing completely within his control. If he could beat the arson out before the pyro set the whole state on fire, he would win his private game. But if he couldn't?

"I don't know if I can really explain it," Ben said finally, throwing the spoon into a trash can, "but there's something about this one that I feel. I mean, no reason for it, nor any evidence. It's just there, inside me...."

Manning smiled. "Every agent has the one case, the one criminal who gets under his skin, Ben. Psychiatrists call it a meeting with your 'alter' ... Captain Ahab met his when he met the great whale Moby Dick. Maybe this is your private Moby Dick."

Ben laughed. "I just hope I'm not pulled under by him, that's all."

"You won't be," Manning said, picking up his coat and tucking his briefcase underneath his arm, "but you had better be careful."

"I will."

Manning threw him a wave, then truned and walked through the garage doors, got into his late model sedan and started his hour's drive back to Los Angeles. Ben watched his car turn the corner and was happy that once again he was alone. It was his thing again, his problem and his crisis. Without the reasonableness of agencies and law enforcement people, he could solve it through his own sense of survival and savvy. It was a country which Ben loved, the land of the wordless instinct, and one which was usually in direct conflict with the super-forces of modern sociey.

Ben was grateful for Manning's understanding that left him alone to walk through his country unmolested.

Ben waited impatiently for Elaine to answer the door. He knew that she knew it was he who had knocked loudly this Monday morning. His mind traveled back to the night when Helen had broken up their session the night of the fire. He figured that Helen had probably reclaimed Elaine, making her suffer for her infedelity to her. Ben hated the big woman more than ever. He also hated the fact that he had come back here, trying to get himself involved again with Elaine could be a big mistake.

"Why hello, Ben!" She was neither happy nor angry. She stood behind the screen, wearing a white tee shirt that revealed the fact that she was naked beneath.

"We were interrupted that night...." Ben smiled. Her thin body, her small pointed breasts beneath the thin mateial of the shirt made him tingle with anticipation.

"You want to fuck me?" Elaine was very serious. She lifted the bottom edge of her shirt above her black pubis and arched her belly into the screen. Ben stroked the wire, feeling her hairs as they penetrated through the small squares.

"Yes" he replied, seeing no reason not to be angry. He needed sex now, needed the 'clear' he received when he came inside a woman. He knew that he could get it with Elaine.

"I'm ready for anything, Ben. Come in." She stood back and watched him. Her eyes were set and empty of feeling. He had thought at first that her mood was ironic, which was a common one with Elaine. It startled him a little to discover that she had no mood at all, just a kind of stoic presence.

"Sit down, I'll fix you a drink." He watched her small buttocks shimmy beneath the shirt as she walked into the kitchen. He remembered that night after the fire, when she had almost lost her only child. She had been a different woman then; but that had been before Helen.

"What's been happening with the town arsonists?" Her voice rang through the house, seemed harsher than Ben had remembered.

"Nothing much," he replied, lighting a cigarette, "about the same as last year. Only I expect more action from him. A common pattern with pyro's, they go faster and more frequently once they discover it works for them."

"You mean like sex?"

"The more you get the more you want!"

Elaine stood at the kitchen door, holding two drinks and leaning against the doorjamb. The teeshirt rode up above her pubic hair, and her pink lips were visibly protruding. "Except" she said bitterly, "pyros always have matches."

Ben caught her meaning. Once again, he had to remind himself that her situation with regard to her husband and to Helen had not been his doing. He played the game with her again, as he always did.

"You look horny...." she said casually, sitting down on the couch next to him instead of taking her usual seat on the floor.

"I guess I'm a little uptight...."

"That's too bad" she laughed, "no one should get uptight not in this, the best of all possible worlds!"

"Don't talk like that, Elaine." Ben had seen this coming with her, had witnessed the growing bitterness inside her. He didn't want her this way, but her long, slim legs were almost entirely revealed and he could feel the warmth that came from between them.

"You want to ball me, right? well, then, there's no reason I can't say exactly what I want to say, allright?"

"Let's just drink and make love, Elaine...." His mind wandered. He could not stand to talk this way, could not tolerate this kind of cynical approach. He thought again of Lee and wondered if she was as cynical as Elaine had become.

Elaine rested her head on his shoulder. Her hand moved up his leg. She held his balls, and then stroked his penis. Ben grew hard immediately. He felt his blood surge through him, and remembered why he had come here.

Ben moved his hand up between her naked thighs. She parted her legs and pushed her belly out to meet his probing finger. He spread her lips, they were already moist and hot. Elaine moaned as he pushed first one, then two fingers inside.

"Oh God" she wispered, "I've missed that!"

She drew his face to hers and they kissed. Her sweet mouth opened as their tongues clashed. She roamed across his teeth, then penetrated deep inside his mouth. She was drawing him into her, opening herself with every once of strength she possessed. Ben felt himself growing strong in her arms, knew that his orgasm would clear him and forgot about Lee, about Elaine's cyncism and about the world in which he lived.

"Oh yes...."She moaned as she pulled his cock from inside his pants and rubbed its' length evenly. She withdrew her mouth from his and bent down to him. She licked at the tip, prying open the hole with her tongue. Her warm breath swelled around his hot staff as she opened her mouth and took his meat inside. Her lips rode up and down him, smoothly and expertly. Ben had never known a woman who enjoyed giving head as much as Elaine did.

He reached down to her firm buttocks and pushed her over. She squirmed under him and spread her legs. Still holding himself inside her mouth, Ben twisted his body around until he hovered over her open cunt.

The skin was shiny and pink, open and warm. The lips throbbed and seemed to beckon to him with their soft and delicious fragrance. He put his mouth to her, pushed his tongue against the skin and stabbed at her clit. He felt her body tense beneath his as he poked and stroked the small pearl. Her legs closed tightly around his head, and he became a captive of her womanhood.

The muffled groans grew in intensity as Ben licked and drove deep inside her. Elaine began twisting and writhing beneath him. He felt her thigh muscles tense then release then tense again. He pushed his way further and further inside her wet hole, trying to bury himself in her warm skin. Then her body began working into a frenzy and Ben held on. He felt her lips pulsate and throb, could feel the ripples of ecstasy flowing through her cunt. She was coming harder than he had ever known her to.

Elaine stretched and pushed as her body shuddered with the pulse of her orgasm. She reached up and pulled Ben from behind, trying to suck all of his penis into her mouth. She leaned her back so that her throat would be clear and allow all of his meat inside. He began pumping harder and harder into her, and Elaine was greatful for the fulfilling presence of him. When he finally came, she took all of his hot semen into her throat and pushed the stuff down so that she could take more. When he had finished, she continued to suck him. She licked his skin, moved her lips back and forth along his length until she had taken all of his juices into her mouth. She wanted to hold him there between her lips forever. But suddenly Ben withdrew.

"What's wrong?" She asked, feeling the emptiness return as he pulled his head from between her burning thighs.

"Nothing ... it was beautiful!"

She watched him walk naked to the kitchen and return with two more drinks. He stood above her naked body and smiled at the sight of her thin frame stretched so invitingly out on the couch.

"You embarass me that way" She said, taking the drink and modestly closing her thighs. Her black hair shone between her thighs, and Ben felt the excitement growing again.

He sat down on the floor and kissed her gently on the cheek. "I'm sorry I never married you ... it would have been different."

"What would have been different?" She did not look at him, but stared at the ceiling. She didn't want to think about it, to become involved in an idea that she took so seriously.

"Everything," Ben said, stroking her hair then letting his hand roam down across her small breast, "everything would have been different. I mean; I think I can't continue like I have been."

Elaine looked directly into his eyes. He had changed. The year which began with the fire at the old barn had warn heavily on Ben. She wondered if it was age, or boredom, or the presence of a woman who he had tried for and failed with. Lee Marks, Elaine knew, was still on his mind. A woman like that never left a Man's mind, and all other women only served to relieve the feelings of frustration during the interims. Elaine laughed once again at the absurdity of her existence.

"What's so funny?"

"You're like a little boy. You can't make up your mind about anything. You play with people, with nature and with yourself. But when someone refuses to play your games, you suddenly become very serious and very depressed!"

Ben stood up. He felt Elaine's laughter biting at him. He was suddenly aware of his nudity, and the fact that his prick hung directly in front of her eyes. She stopped laughing and gazed longingly at his manhood.

"But you're not a little boy, are you?" She moved her hand slowly up his thigh. She held his balls lightly, then wrapped her fingers delicately around his prick.

"Again?" Ben asked, wanting to come again. His head had been clear after their last session, but Elaine's laughter, her incisive remarks had thrown him off. She was a good fuck, thought Ben, but she always managed to fuck the head along with the body.

Elaine kissed the tip of his prick, and he was suddenly hard again. "I guess there's no choice. Put it inside me, Ben!"

Even though she was trying to be cold and abstract, Ben could tell that she was hot. He lay between her legs, and she threw them around his back. In one slow thrust, Ben was inside her moist vagina.

"Just use it, Ben, I don't think I can move anymore...." She smiled not from bitterness she felt towards him but from a complete sense of satisfaction. Ben loved her when he was inside her or when they were playing with each other. The other times, she seemed like a crazed woman bent on making the world angry with her.

He rode her slowly, with each stroke feeling the walls of her cunt closing softly around his prick. She moved just barely, inching her pelvis up against him, shuddering every other moment with soreness. She was wasted, had been taken and Ben loved her intensely. She was now a woman who had been ravaged and because of that all of her bitterness, her lousy memories of her lousy life, and her own guilt towards the relationship with Helen had been drained from her. The only thing remaining was the sweet movements of her aching body and minute pulsations of her swollen sex. Ben came hard and with ease. He throbbed inside her and Elaine moaned loudly. When he had finished, he collapsed on top and felt the room around him, her warm body beneath him and the clarity of mind he knew only after making love.

The phone rang three or four times before Ben realized what it was. He had been sleeping peacefully after his day with Elaine. The warm winds had been blowing through the canyons from the deserts. They had made a racket as they rattled windows and moved the vegetation with a steady hand. The phone's ringing finally brought Ben around. He picked up the reciver, beginning to fear the worst.

"Hello?" He said, waiting to hear the voice of Jimmy excitedly calling him into action. But there was nothing at the other end.

"Hello, who's there?" Ben waited, heard someone breathing at the other end.

"Goddammit!" He shouted, anger swelling through him. "Why the Hell don't you say something?"

Then came the click, and the phone went dead. He held the receiver in his hand for a moment longer, then lowered it onto the cradle. The wind whipped against his small cottage and shook the frame. Ben sat on the side of his bed, lit a cigarette and realized that sleep would not be his for the remainder of the night.

He dressed quickly, grabbed a couple of packs of cigarettes and walked quickly to his car. He had never received a prank call before, and to have gotten one at three-thirty in the morning sent his mind working. Something was up, there was that intangible in the air, that indescribible something that drove him on. As he drove out onto the highway, now deserted and spotted with some loose vegetation blown there by the wind, he felt possessed.

The streets of Seaside were empty. The wind whipped through the main thoroughfare as though bringing with it the void which now existed. The old theater, playing a movie about a Man who befriends wolves and raises them, looked strangely silent. The drugstore seemed like a play house full of strange toys and artifacts of another civilization. He drove slowly, looking at everything, taking in the town as though he were seeing it for the first time. It occurred to him that Seaside was a strange place, built on nothing concrete, existing only because the ocean was near. That, he thought to himself, did not seem reason enough for anything to exist.

After driving up and down the main street three times, Ben pulled off onto the side streets. The small, white houses stood quietly perched on their little tufts of grass. Ben watched one house then another as he passed by, thinking about the people inside, sleeping and comfortable in their own small worlds. He wondered why he was special, why this world of people had been something which he could never have. He thought about what he had said to Elaine earlier that day. He felt alone, afraid of his own future. There would be no children for him, no woman to care for. There would only be women for him to screw, and until now, that had been enough.

He turned from the residential section and drove back through town to the coast. The small fishing pier stretched out like a dark arm into the black ocean. A few small craft lingered in the protected waters of the bay, small and incomplete against the huge mass of ocean out beyond the breakwater.

A chill invaded his body. His eyes seemed unable to focus. He pulled into Myrna's Cafe, the only all nighter on the coast within twenty miles of Seaside.

The brightly lit cafe seemed garish. Myrna, a fat woman with broomstick hair smiled at him from behind her newspaper as he entered and took a seat at the counter.

"Looking for fires, Ben?" She was a gabber, a basically lonely woman who had learned the fine art of small talk.

"Coffee please...."

Myrna poured the black stuff from a fresh pot. Ben drank slowly, letting the warmth dispel his cold feeling.

Myrna stood behind the counter watching him. Her eyes were bright, and seemed out of place with the rest of her sluggish and fleshy body.

"What's troubling you, Ben?" She seemed to look through him. Ben had heard that she practiced the occult sciences, that she felt herself to be blessed with some kind of divine ability to read deeply into others. Tonight, he took those rumors without laughter.

"Why do you ask?" He watched her closely.

"You look troubled. Deeply troubled. Maybe it's the damn winds, through. People change when the hot winds blow, they become ... different. You know, the old moon lunacy thing, but near the deserts where the coyotes howl, the winds take the place of the moon."

Ben stirred his coffee slowly. She was talking nonsense, sure, but there was a certain amount of truth to her reaction towards the winds. After all, he thought, he wasn't just cruising around in the middle of the night for nothing. He had fully expected to deal with fire before the sun came up.

"But" she continued, "we live near the sea and the protects us. It does battle with the winds from behind us. Still, they affect us all."

"And you think I've become affected by the damn winds?"

Myrna smiled, poured some more coffee into his mug and patted his hand. "We both know that you have, don't we?"

Ben looked at her. There was something more to the woman than just her comical appearance or her strange ways. She actually could read into him. This fact made him very uncomfortable.

"There's no need to run away from me," she called after him as he quickly made his way to the door, "whatever it is will catch up to you sooner or later!!!"

Ben was grateful for the breaking dawn as he walked hurridely across the gravel parking lot. The sound of his shoes mixing with the small pebbles plus the oncoming light from the East renewed his sense of himself. He got into his car and headed down the coast, toward Lee Mark's Motel.

There was no fog or low clouds this morning. The sun rose brightly above the mountains behind him. Ben welcomed the warmth of its rays on the back of his neck. He had been sitting in his car, across the street from the Motel, for over an hour.

He had smoked cigarette after cigarette. His mind had worked feverishly, reaching for something 'out there' that he could neither pinpoint or understand. Coming to this place, sitting in silence across the street from where she lived seemed to allow him some sense of completion. Whatever it was that he had felt during the long night, Ben knew that somewhere the feeling had to do with Lee Marks.

He watched as a short couple, in their sixties, walked hand in hand from the their cabin from the end. They looked happy together, cheerful because they were on vacation and seemingly enjoying every minute of it. He watched them as they carefully placed their suitcases in the trunk of their Buick, then got inside and pulled out onto the highway. As they drove North, Ben saw the little woman slide across the seat and sit right next to her husband.

Theirs was the only car in the parking lot. The Motel was now empty except for Lee Marks. Ben tried to imagine what she would be doing now. He envisioned her walking naked into the bathroom, turning on the shower and rubbing her large breasts as the water cascaded down her body, swirling and dripping as it made it way like a river through the splendid curves. He became erect and suddenly felt foolish. It was like the time when he was seventeen years old and had stayed out all night, parked in front of Carol McCormick's house, waiting. When the morning had come, he had the great opportunity of watching the luscious redhead walk naked in her bedroom He had jacked himslef off, right there in his car in broad daylight. Ben laughed to himself and lit another cigarette. He had not thought of Carol McCormick for many years.

When the front door of Lee's house opened, Ben felt his heart beating wildly. It was a warm morning, and the day would be uncommonly hot. Lee emerged from the house wearing a small bikini. Her blond hair hung straight down her back, her tanned legs shimmied slightly as she made her way towards the cabin where the old people had stayed.

Ben leaned forward, mentally stripping Lee of her clothing. Her breasts seemed larger than he remembered, and her stomach was much flatter. The same air of distance existed in the way she walked, with her head held high and her back arched slightly. He started his car, pulled out onto the highway and then into the parking lot itself. Lee stopped in her tracks when she saw him driving towards her. Her startled gaze threw him off.

'Hello Ben." She was trying to smile, but seemed irritated and nervous.

"Hello Lee. I was just passing by and thought I'd drop in to see you."

Lee held an arm load of clean sheets and towels. She disappeared without saying a word into the room, plopped the stuff on the messy bed where the old couple had slept and maybe had even made love then emerged again out into the bright sunlight. Her blue eyes darted across the hillside behind Ben, then to his car and finally came to rest upon him.

"Why?" She asked, pulling up the small panties which boasted colorful flowers.

Ben's eyes roamed down to her navel, the blond streak of hair dipped gently underneath the cotton panties and he knew emerged into her full tuft of hair. He felt his prick throbbing again.

"I just wanted to talk, you know, see if you're okay...."

"Want some coffee?"

He followed her back along the wooden walkway towards the main house. He watched her back, the tight muscles rippling beneath her brown skin. Her buttocks swayed and shook as she moved quickly and with a certain lack of confidence. He had never seen her so vulnerale before. It gave rise to hopes within him.

When she had finished making the instant coffee, Lee threw a small terry cloth robe around her partially clad body. Ben's eyes had made her uncomfortable. He had looked at her with a penetration she had never felt before.

"I sat outside your place for over an hour this morning...."

"I know" Lee said matter-of-factly. She had awakened early noticing the familiar car parked across the street. Being naked in her bed, the thought of walking out into the morning wearing nothing ran through her mind. It was the first thought she had had this morning, and Lee realized that it was meaningless for this reason.

"I hope it didn't bother you." Ben felt relaxed with her. She wasn't as defensive as he had seen her before. He desperately wanted to communicate, to speak with her about what he felt. But he knew he must tread carefully, and at least she was allowing the formalities a chance to be exhusted.

"No, I guess it didn't. I wasn't sure it was you at first. Why did you come here?"

"I think you know why, Lee."

She became very withdrawn. There could be two reasons why he had come. Either because of his suspicions or because of his passion. Lee believed that it was his suspicion that had led him to her home.

The previous night had been a horrible one. She had drank until she could barely stand, but it had not stopped the burning desire she felt between her thighs. The anxiety clutched at her throat and the loins burned with their private fury. She had made it with herself, had even gone naked onto the beach and let the cool waters run into her spread cunt. But nothing had worked. Finally, she had called Ben's home. When he had answered the phone, she had her hands firmly planted between her legs. The sound of his voice had allowed her to satisfy herself. She had then fallen asleep, unaware that she had awakened something inside Ben that had kept him up all night.

"What do you think?" She asked finally, watching him closely.

"I'm not sure ... it's driving me crazy, that's all I know."

Lee suddenly felt that there was no more reason for her to be cautious. The possibility of being found out appealed to her. She decided to play with it.

"Well, you know now, don't you?" Her smile worked. Ben softened, then reached across the table and held her hand. They both remained suspended for a moment, feeling their blood running together through their palms.

"I've known for a longtime. I just let it work on me until I had to act on it...."Ben lifted her hand to his lips and kissed her smooth skin.

Lee watched him with astonishment. He had not been talking about the same thing that she had. His thoughts, his words were all directed in another direction. She felt herself grow tense at this revelation.

Ben reached across the table, took the top of Lee's bra and pulled the material down over her breast. She was so startled by his action that she did nothing to cover her nakedness.

"You're the most beautiful woman I've ever seen Lee. I need you...."

Ben felt himself acting and speaking as he had never done before. He stroked Lee's breast, feeling her nipple rise into an erection. He pinched the tip and looked into her accepting face.

But he did not realize that Lee was not accepting him. Instead, she was retreating into herself with a fear she had never known before. Each touch, each feel from Ben sent, her deeper and deeper. She wanted to scream, but like in a dream when the voice does not materialize, she remained silent. Ben took her silence as an invitation.

Ben got up from the table, walked to Lee, and stood her on her feet. Her body began to tremble.

"Don't be afraid, I'll be gentle...."

He removed her bra. Her large breasts beckoned to him and he lowered his mouth to the nipple. He ground the bud slowly between his teeth, tasting the sweetness which he had so long desired to have.

Ben felt her body in his as he pulled her close. She was like a small child. He held her firmly, feeling her breasts flatten against his chest. He puched himself gently against her belly. He moved his hand down her back, and went underneath her panties. Lee gasped as his fingers followed her crack down under and touched her furry sex.

"It's been all I've ever dreamed about Lee. Touching you, breathing you, being with you ... everything...."

He pulled the panties down across her hips. His mind reeled as he gazed upon her perfectly formed blond pubis. The golden hairs shone in the early morning light. She was so new, so young to him. He was never happier as he lowered his mouth down across her smooth, warm belly and dove into the jungle of her cunt.

Lee felt his tongue working in her slit as though her sex belonged to another. She stood perfectly still, staring out the window into the hillside across the highway. The images of the highway, the trees and the rolling greens were blurred in her mind. She could not bring them into focus. Then, she felt something warm and hard punching in between her thighs. Suddenly, the room seemed to snap into her mind. She looked down and saw Ben with his pants around his ankles and his pink dick between her legs. She screamed.

Ben shuddered and pulled himself away. He watched with amazement as Lee began shaking. Her eyes turned cold, and her mouth pursed into a permanent utterance of a cruse.

"Get out ... get out ... get out!!!"

Ben was destroyed. He had let himself go, had allowed himself that vulnerable state where feelings are most intense. And now, he was being completely rejected, almost spat upon. He pulled up his pants.

"Lee, it's me, Ben! Dammit, don't do this!!!"

But Lee was becomming hysterical. She picked up the coffee cup and threw the liquid into his face. Fortunately, the coffee was lukewarm. Ben could not react, he could not stop her nor could he strike her.

"You bastard! Get out of here!!!" Her naked body shook with the rage that had taken her over. Ben began backing away, not knowing whether to run or stay and fight. He had been so close, closer than he would ever get again.

The hysterical woman, however, forced Ben back into the living room then to the front door. He opened it and stood on the threshold. Lee was still naked, and even through her hysteria the sight of her strong loins and breasts still worked their magic.

She was like a wild animal. And Ben was not right for taking her by force. He had come to her softly and in a state of confusion. He had not come to conqueor out of strength. He had wanted to communicate with her, to begin a firm relationship. There was no place left to go now except out the door.

He shuddered as the door slammed behind him. He walked in a daze to his car, got in and drove blindly out into the highway. He had never felt so lost in his entire life. Ben Grant desperately wanted a fire. A fire would be his only salvation.