The Tritium Hypothesis

  The Tritium Hypothesis

  Nicolle Morock

  Copyright © 2018 Nicolle Morock

  All rights reserved.

  ISBN: 9781791956219

  Acknowledgments

  Thank you to my family and friends who are a constant source of inspiration and encouragement and who put up with me talking about “the book I need to finish writing” for longer than I care to admit. I offer a special thank you to Gayle, Carol, and Elizabeth for proofreading this one. Your eye for spelling, grammar, typos, confusing sentences, and clarification was exactly what I needed to finally finish Tritium. Nathan, you have my gratitude for designing a cool cover for what I hope everyone will consider a fun story.

  Chapter 1

  The forest ranger squinted his blue eyes against the late afternoon sun in an effort to scan the bright sky for the source of the hum. There was nothing to see, at least nothing out of the ordinary. That hum, though, was not ordinary. In fact there was something other-worldly to it when it started softly and appeared to get louder as if something was approaching. There was a mechanical tinge to it that grated on his nerves like nails on a chalkboard and made his eyes water. He thought to himself that maybe whir was a better description. Just as quickly as the sound arrived, it faded away leaving no clue to its origin.

  Fifteen-year-old Shana Lovell was helping her mother prepare the picnic table behind their two story farmhouse for a nice dinner outside. It was too beautiful of an afternoon to stay indoors. “Mom, do you hear that?” Shana asked as she set a place for her father.

  Sylvia paused to listen. There was a faint hum coming from the woods several hundred feet behind the house. “Yeah, I do. Wonder what it is.”

  The hum grew a bit louder as the source was drawing closer. Both women were looking towards the trees. Suddenly, there was the crackling of breaking branches - lots of branches - then a loud thud.

  “Tim?” Sylvia called. She turned to see her husband flying through the back door with his shotgun in hand.

  “What the hell was that?” He asked.

  “Don’t know,” Sylvia answered. “It came from the woods.”

  Shana was still staring toward the trees. “I think it was above the woods.”

  Tim Lovell ran across the field toward the forest.

  “Be careful!” Sylvia yelled.

  “That’s what I want on my tombstone,” Rayna spoke into the cell phone cradled between her right ear and her shoulder with her brown curls crushed between them. Her hands were busy picking up Cloud, her sleek, black, green-eyed cat.

  “Excuse me?” Dawn asked from the other end of the line.

  “Yeah, that’s perfect. ‘She died trying.’”

  “And you want that on your tombstone?”

  “Why not? People always say, ‘I’m going to do this or die trying,’ or ‘you never fail until you stop trying.’ So, I want it to say that I didn’t fail.”

  “But if you died trying, then you stopped trying by virtue of dying. So you want your tombstone to say you failed?” Rayna’s sister always had an argument against anything unusual that Rayna wanted to do.

  “That’s not what I meant!”

  “You might want to rethink that. Why are we having this discussion anyway? Are you dying?”

  “No.”

  “Then why be so morbid?”

  “Tombstones aren’t morbid. You need to know these things.” Rayna stated matter-of-factly.

  “Tell Mom, not me.”

  “Mom won’t care. We’re supposed to outlive our parents, you know.”

  “Uh-huh. Speaking of Mom,” Dawn changed the subject, “you need to call her.”

  “I can’t today.”

  “Why not?”

  Rayna could hardly hear her sister over Cloud’s loud purring. “Every time I talk to Mom she gives me PMS!”

  “What? How?”

  “PMS… Please Marry Somebody! She wants more grandbabies, and you told her you were done providing them, thank you very much!”

  “You’re welcome,” Dawn ignored the sarcasm in Rayna’s voice. “I gave you two nephews and a niece, you know. My work is done.”

  “So the pressure’s on me now to get married and have babies.”

  “Don’t worry about it.”

  “That’s easy for you to say. You got married at twenty-four and wasted no time. Apparently, I’ve done nothing but waste time as far as Mom’s concerned.”

  “She’ll get over it.”

  “Right. Sure.” Rayna’s phone beeped. “Someone’s on the other line.”

  “OK. I’ll talk with you tomorrow.”

  “Ta-ta for now!” Rayna glanced at her cell phone as she hit the button to change calls. “Hi, Barb, what’s up?”

  As Rayna’s little red pickup truck cruised up the long, sloping driveway of the Lovell farm, she took in the picturesque scene. On each side of the driveway, horses stood in lush green grass. Beyond the curve in the drive, Rayna could see the Victorian house welcoming her visit. She had always dreamed of living on a horse farm like this one.

  Rayna parked the truck behind the sheriff’s car, and reality broke her daydream. On the porch, the sheriff and a deputy were finishing up their note taking. A man and woman in their forties stood speaking to the sheriff while a teenage girl sat on a porch swing about ten feet away from them.

  Sheriff Dean Sutton, a tall, broad-shouldered, middle-aged man turned his attention from Tim and Sylvia Lovell toward Rayna at the sound of her truck door closing. “Well, Rayna Smith, what brings you out this way?”

  Rayna was sure he knew the answer to his own question. “Two phone calls and some curiosity.”

  “You know what they say about curiosity.” He glanced at his deputy and turned his attention back toward the concerned Lovells. Without looking at Rayna again, he added, “Fieldman and Jenkins are around back.”

  “Thanks.” Rayna said and gave a polite little wave to Sylvia and Tim.

  “Is that…” Sylvia asked the sheriff pointing at Rayna as she walked toward the back yard.

  “Yes, ma’am.” He answered. “I just have a few more questions for you before we leave you to your other guests.”

  As Rayna rounded the back corner of the house, she looked up at the sky above the trees. Being a meteorologist, looking at the sky was as reflexive as swallowing, but there was something unusual above the tree line that caught her attention immediately. Floating on the wind currents and circling over a fixed location were what seemed to be hundreds of buzzards. It was as if they were pointing the way to the reason she had been called that afternoon.

  When she lowered her gaze to the backyard of the Lovell farm, she saw two familiar faces. Sam Jenkins had been one of Rayna’s best buddies since high school. With a slightly round face and nice dimples, the average-height black man always had a smile for Rayna even when the situation didn’t warrant one. James Fieldman was a bit shorter than Rayna. She noticed as she drew closer to the two men that Fieldman’s hair was becoming more salt than pepper. His blue eyes were still piercing, but nothing else about the man ever really stood out to her.

  “Hi, guys!” Rayna said to her two friends.

  “Hey, Sweetie,” Sam always greeted Rayna with a bear hug.

  “Rayna,” Fieldman was a bit more reserved and always to the point, “thanks for coming on such short notice.”

  “Do we ever get much notice on cases like these? I mean… not that we’ve ever had one quite like this.” Rayna said.

  “This one takes the cake!” Sam exclaimed. “Rayna, you gotta see this!”

  Rayna took a deep breath to steel her nerves and answered, “Yeah. I guess I do. You don’t have to lead the way, though.” She pointed to the buzzards circling above
the trees behind the yard. “I suspect they’re marking the spot pretty well.”

  The three crossed from the short grass into some taller grass and then into the woods. While they walked, Rayna asked how Fieldman’s daughter was doing in college. It had been a while since they had spoken.

  “Krista’s doing fine,” he answered. “She’s starting her junior year at the end of the summer. She still loves geology, so I guess she chose the right major.”

  “Like father, like daughter, huh?” Sam asked.

  “Yep. I was afraid I had pushed her into it, but her mother and I really tried to be as hands off on the subject as possible.”

  “So, is she going to be our next MUFON contact when she graduates?” Rayna asked.

  “I doubt it. She’s not a replica of me. She’s talking about working for the state or the USGS. Besides, I’m not ready to retire from all of this so soon.” Fieldman waved his hands in the direction of the little clearing in the woods that they were approaching.

  Rayna took another deep breath and decided that was not a good idea. “Ew!” She held her shirtsleeve to her nose. “I hadn’t thought about the smell.” Despite the odor, she did what she could to prepare herself for what they were about to see. She hated violence. She loved horses. This was going to be tough.

  In the clearing, they found the carcass of a dead horse to accompany the increasing stench. The animals jaw was missing as well as part of the mane and an eye. The rear end appeared to have been cored out. What was worse was the way the horse was situated on the ground. It was in a messy, broken heap, as if it had been dropped there by some unseen, gigantic hand.

  Rayna again looked up to the sky. The buzzards continued to circle above the trees directly overhead. Then she noticed something else. The tree limbs directly above them had been broken – all of them, all the way up to the sky. Rayna lowered her eyes to the ground and saw large limbs scattered about them everywhere. Happy for the diversion away from the poor, deceased animal, she walked over to the closest limb to examine it.

  The limb was fresh and looked as if it had been torn from the tree in an abrupt, violent struggle. It was obvious which side had been closest to the ground by the shape of the broken edge. Rayna stood up and glanced around her at the rest of the fallen branches. They all looked similar. Only their sizes varied.

  “Crazy.” She whispered to herself.

  “Rayna! Over here.” Fieldman was standing over the carcass with a piece of brightly colored floral fabric over his nose. Rayna noticed that Sam had a piece of the same fabric.

  “Hey, where’s mine?” she asked. “Sorry. The Lovell’s daughter only gave us two. We didn’t think to ask for an extra.” Sam held his out for her to inspect. It looked like a fancy napkin. “She took ‘em off the clothesline for us.”

  “They look good on you.” Rayna smiled while trying not to gag on the smell. “I really can’t stay back here too much longer. Did you notice anything else I should see?”

  Fieldman answered, “Just that there are no flies and the birds up there are circling but staying well above the trees. They won’t touch it.”

  “It will be interesting to see how long that lasts. They obviously know there’s a kill of some sort down here.” Sam added. “Fieldman brought some camera traps to set up out here tonight. We’ll come back and see how it looks tomorrow.”

  “OK. Let me know. I’m assuming you’ve already photographed, measured, and taken notes on the scene.” Rayna said.

  Sam answered, “Yes, we did it as soon as the sheriff cleared it. The family requested that I don’t put this in the paper, so my work here is strictly for the investigation. It’s definitely newsworthy, but I’d rather respect their wishes as long as I can. Once my editor gets wind of it, that might have to change, though.”

  “You’re a good man, Sam.” Rayna gave him a hug and then patted Fieldman on the back. “James, I’ll talk to you soon.” Just as she turned to leave, Rayna’s cell phone rang. “Hello?”

  “Rayna?” It was Barb again. “I’ve got something new for you, but it might be related to everything else. I mean… I don’t know.”

  “What is it?” Rayna asked.

  “There’s a forest ranger or park ranger or something… his name is Steven Wolf…”

  “Did you say ‘Wolf’?”

  “Yeah, Steven Wolf. He called down here a little while ago and asked if anyone in the area had called in about a strange noise. He described it as something between a hum and a whir.”

  “What did you tell him?” Rayna asked.

  “I told him that someone did report it and the sheriff is checking it out. I also gave him your name.”

  “What? Why?”

  “He sounded cute.” Barb answered. “I mean, come on! His name is ‘Wolf’.”

  “He’s probably some middle-aged, balding, guy with bad teeth.”

  “He’s a ranger. I’m pretty sure they have dental insurance.” Barb insisted.

  Rayna laughed. “What else did you tell him?”

  “That I’d have you meet him this evening at the diner in town.”

  “Barb!”

  “No worries. He’ll call when he gets there. Oh, yeah… I gave him your number, too.”

  “Woman! We need to talk!”

  “Oops! I have another call coming in. I’m still at work. Bye!” With that, Barb hung up.

  Chapter 2

  It didn’t take much for Rayna to convince Sam to go with her to meet a stranger at the diner in town. Sam was like the protective big brother that Rayna never had. While the idea itself of meeting a ranger didn’t worry her, the idea of meeting a strange man after the day’s events made her a little leery. Sam told her he didn’t mind joining her. He was hungry anyway.

  Their little town of Jupiter, Tennessee, sat in a valley in the Great Smokey Mountains. The picturesque setting hid the reality of a town struggling to survive. The sawmill and furniture factory closed the previous fall, and hundreds of blue-collar workers had to leave to find work elsewhere. Those that stayed were having a hard time making ends meet. The rest of the town’s population considered themselves lucky or blessed and did what they could to help their less fortunate friends and family.

  Sam and Rayna knew they were two of the lucky ones. Sam was a reporter for a paper in Chattanooga covering the eastern side of the state and focusing on life in the rural areas. Most of his work was done by telecommuting. Rayna had her own small business that kept her comfortable enough considering she lived alone with no husband or children to care for. Cloud was all she had, and that cat really seemed to be caring for Rayna instead of the other way around.

  As the pair walked into the diner, they both scanned the room for a man in a ranger’s uniform, but to no avail. The dark-haired waitress behind the counter gave a friendly smile. “Well, hello, Miss Rayna! How’s your day goin’?”

  “Pretty well, Gina, thanks.” Rayna answered politely.

  Gina leaned over the counter and motioned Rayna to come closer. “I’m not sure if you want to ask Mr. Sam to leave. Your blind date’s sitting in the corner over there.” She pointed to the man in the corner booth farthest from the door. Rayna tried to look as discretely as possible in his direction but couldn’t get a good look from her angle.

  Sam on the other hand was staring. He pulled Rayna away from the counter by the back of her shirt. “Thanks, Gina. I’ll be fine. You know… like a chaperone.”

  “Sure thing!” Gina answered. “I’ll be over in a minute to take your orders.”

  “Chaperone?” Rayna whispered under her breath.

  “Yep.” Sam answered.

  The man at the booth stood up, and Rayna thought she was going to fall over. Barb was right. He was cute. No. He was gorgeous.

  Steven Wolf did his best to stand up when he saw Rayna and Sam approach his table. The attempt didn’t work out so well since he was sitting at a booth and the table was in the way. He smiled anyway and held his hand out to Rayna from his crooked stance. “H
i, Rayna? I’m Steven Wolf.” He gave her a nice firm handshake. Sam held his out as well, and the ranger took it. “Nice to meet you.”

  “Sam Jenkins.” Sam introduced himself. “I’m an old friend and colleague of Rayna’s.”

  “I’m Rayna,” was all Rayna managed to squeak out. Her voice didn’t want to work. She just wanted to take in the view. Steven Wolf was a little taller than Sam. Rayna guessed he was close to 6 feet. He had blue eyes that could only be described as mesmerizing and long dark hair held back in a ponytail. His skin was tan, and he did not look anything like the man she had pictured. Sam gave her a little nudge to get her to take her place in the booth, so he could sit down. She slid along the bench and sat across from the ranger, smiling stupidly.

  Before Rayna could rein in her thoughts, Gina approached with two glasses of water in hand. She set them down in front of Sam and Rayna. “Thanks, Gina.” Sam said.

  “No problem.” Gina answered. She looked at Rayna and Steven apparently locked in a staring match. “I’ll just give you a moment to look at the menus,” she said and walked back to the counter.

  Steven didn’t realize he was staring. All he knew was that the woman who used to do the weather on the 6 o’clock news was sitting across from him with a silly grin on her face. She was even cuter in person, but her hair was curly. He didn’t expect that. She had curly, long brown hair and deep brown eyes. Those eyes were looking back at him. He was suddenly aware of his thoughts. “Um… sorry. I didn’t mean to… I mean… what’s good here?”

  Sam answered, “I like the beef tips on rice.”

  Rayna managed to break her gaze and look down at the menu. She was sure that her face was turning red. It definitely felt hot. She shot a sideways glance at Sam who had a funny little smirk on his face. “Those are good. I’m partial to the BLT on wheat.” Her voice was back. She took a sip of her ice water and tried to recompose herself. It wasn’t like her to swoon over a man, and she wasn’t sure how to handle it.

  Sam hadn’t seen Rayna react like that since high school. He thought no man could make her blush. “Miss Rayna,” he started, imitating Gina “you always get the BLT. Try something new. New and exciting is a good thing, right Mr. Wolf?”