Chapter 85

T think this is exactly what we’ve been working for/ Kyle said as I 1 walked up to him. We shook hands, an old ritual that reflected on Kyle’s formality. He looked calmer and more in control than he had during the past week.’Let me show you something,’he said.’Come.’ I followed him down along the split-rail fence until we came to a broken-down gate. He showed me a faded image. The body and head of a tiger had been branded into the gate. It was subtle, but this was it, it had to be. We had arrived at the tiger’s lair¹.  ‘The group inside seems to be led by the Sire, the new and improved one, I assume. We haven’t been able to establish an identity for the leader. Alex, the past Sire was the magician, Daniel Erickson. Two members of the group just returned from a trip. They were in New Orleans. Pieces are finally starting to fit.’ I looked at Kyle, shook my head. ‘How did you find all of this out?  When did you get here, Kyle?’How much have you been keeping from me? And why?
‘Santa Cruz police contacted us and I came right out. We grabbed one of the “undead” when the little prick² left the ranch³ this afternoon.  He’s a local high school dropout⁴, wasn’t as committed as some of the others. He told us what he knew.’
‘Is the Sire in there now?’
‘Supposedly. This kid has never actually seen the Sire. He’s not part of the inner circle. The two males who traveled to New Orleans are in there, though. He heard they were the ones who killed Daniel and Charles. He said the two of them are total psychos.’
‘Well, I believe that.’ I looked down through the limbs of pine-cypress trees at the ranch. ‘What about Jamilla Hughes?’ His eyes shifted. ‘We found her car in town, Alex. But no sign of her. The kid we questioned didn’t know about her either. He claimed there was a commotion⁵ at the ranch late last night. He was bunked⁶ in with some of the younger ghouls. They thought that someone had broken the perimeter⁷, thought it might be the police. But then it got quiet again, according to the boy. There’s no evidence that she’s there.’
‘Can I talk to him, Kyle?’
Kyle looked away; he didn’t seem to want to answer me. “The Santa Cruz police took him away. I guess you could go into town to see him. I talked to him, Alex. The androgynous little twerp was scared of me. Imagine that.’
Kyle was acting⁸ strange, but I reminded myself that he understood the deranged⁹ criminal mind better than any other FBI agent or police officer I had worked with. The agents who worked under him were convinced that he would run the Bureau one day. I wondered if Kyle could ever take himself out of the field, though.  ‘Inspector Hughes may be there. I guess we could go in right now, but I think we should wait. I want to go at them tonight, Alex. Or possibly at sun-up. I don’t think she’s down there.’ Kyle paused. His eyes shifted toward the distant ranch house. ‘I want to find out if they hunt as a group. There are questions we need answered. What motivates these freaks? What makes them tick? I want to make sure we get the Sire this time.’

1 lair   

n.野兽的巢穴；躲藏处

参考例句：

• How can you catch tiger cubs without entering the tiger's lair?不入虎穴，焉得虎子？
• I retired to my lair,and wrote some letters.我回到自己的躲藏处，写了几封信。

2 prick   

v.刺伤，刺痛，刺孔；n.刺伤，刺痛

参考例句：

• He felt a sharp prick when he stepped on an upturned nail.当他踩在一个尖朝上的钉子上时，他感到剧烈的疼痛。
• He burst the balloon with a prick of the pin.他用针一戳，气球就爆了。

3 ranch   

n.大牧场，大农场

参考例句：

• He went to work on a ranch.他去一个大农场干活。
• The ranch is in the middle of a large plateau.该牧场位于一个辽阔高原的中部。

4 dropout   

n.退学的学生；退学；退出者

参考例句：

• There is a high dropout rate from some college courses.有些大学课程的退出率很高。
• In the long haul,she'll regret having been a school dropout.她终归会后悔不该中途辍学。

5 commotion   

n.骚动，动乱

参考例句：

• They made a commotion by yelling at each other in the theatre.他们在剧院里相互争吵，引起了一阵骚乱。
• Suddenly the whole street was in commotion.突然间，整条街道变得一片混乱。

6 bunked   

v.（车、船等倚壁而设的）铺位( bunk的过去式和过去分词 )；空话，废话

参考例句：

• He bunked with a friend for the night. 他和一个朋友同睡一张床过夜。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• We bunked in an old barn. 我们将就着睡在旧谷仓里。 来自辞典例句

7 perimeter   

n.周边，周长，周界

参考例句：

• The river marks the eastern perimeter of our land.这条河标示我们的土地东面的边界。
• Drinks in hands,they wandered around the perimeter of the ball field.他们手里拿着饮料在球场周围漫不经心地遛跶。

8 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

9 deranged   

adj.疯狂的

参考例句：

• Traffic was stopped by a deranged man shouting at the sky.一名狂叫的疯子阻塞了交通。
• A deranged man shot and killed 14 people.一个精神失常的男子开枪打死了14人。