by Melody Raven
Sam had hoped that the situation between Derek and Bastian would improve after their excursion together, but as they drove closer to the Montgomery estate, she knew that if Derek was going to be hanging around it was going to be an uphill battle.
The first sign that things weren’t going well was that Bastian was in the backseat. Even though the Crown Vic was spacious, Bastian was a big guy and it couldn’t be comfortable for him.
“How sure are we that she started the fires?” asked Sam, trying to break the tension.
“No hard proof,” said Derek. “Suspicious activity and evidence that she was at the scene of the crime.” He glanced in the rearview mirror and Sam wondered whether he was looking at traffic or getting a feel for Bastian’s mood. “You sure she never set off any warning bells with you?”
“She’s only eighteen. Last time I saw her, she was barely a teen, but all things considered, she was normal enough. Her parents are well regarded.”
“And well-off,” said Derek as he pulled into the gated community. They were far outside the city and it was pushing on one o’clock in the morning. Sam could barely keep her eyes open, but the guys both seemed fine, so she worked to make sure her exhaustion didn’t show.
“They’re not going to be happy with us showing up at this hour.”
“The fires have escalated to once every twenty-four hours,” said Bastian. “They can wake up for this.”
Sam had texted her mother to ask for the address where Janet Montgomery lived. If she’d called, she would’ve had to answer questions she didn’t even know the answer to yet.
Janet was like any teen. Well, any normal teen as far as Sam knew, not that she was an expert in normal. Young, pretty. She was eighteen, gorgeous, and the member of a powerful family. She had it all. What would lead someone like that to run around setting fires? Then Sam realized the parallels to her own life and decided to let Derek and Bastian take the lead on this one.
Derek stopped at the guard station by the gate and flashed his badge. “I need to ask the Montgomery family some questions pertaining to a case,” he said confidently.
The guard didn’t look swayed by the badge. “I’m going to need to call in your badge number.”
“That’s fine—”
“Let us through,” said Bastian in a low and steady voice.
“Go on through.” The guard backed away slowly.
“He was going to let us in,” snapped Derek.
“Yeah and he might’ve called ahead to tell them we were coming. It’s safer this way.”
“Safer? You just violated that guy’s mind.”
“Yeah, well, he’ll live to hate me tomorrow. Safer.”
“Let’s just go.” Sam stopped the bickering before it got worse. She was at least going to have to pretend to be professional.
Derek studied the house numbers as they went deeper into the subdivision and Sam was quiet so he could focus on getting them to the right place. The houses were smaller than where she’d grown up, but that wasn’t saying much. The new subdivision still had massive estates with large garages and beautiful brickwork. The lots were relatively small, with most of the houses only a few meters from the next. The subdivision was in a circular shape with a large, probably manmade, pond as a centerpiece. It was pretty and all, but Sam bet the mosquitoes were a bitch in the summer.
The car stopped. “It looks like Janet’s family home is two down. I’m going to stop here so we don’t freak them out. Sam, you and the guard dog can handle greetings. I’ll hang back a bit to make sure no one runs.”
“You’re not coming with us?”
“No, I’ll go with you. But bombarding people at one in the morning sometimes leads to having to chase someone down. Just a precaution.”
“It’s a good idea,” said Bastian.
Sam didn’t like it when the two of them agreed with each other. “Okay then.” No sense in arguing with the both of them. She opened her door and the two men followed.
“Whew.” Derek waved his hand in front of his face. “What the hell is that?”
“What’s what?”
“That smell. God, I thought this was a nice place.”
Sam and Bastian exchanged a quick look. “It smells fine.”
“You’re probably used to the city,” said Bastian with as much of a smirk as he could give. “The fresh air is confusing you.”
Derek flipped him off. “Fine. Go on.”
Bastian didn’t think twice before he moved on to the sidewalk and Sam hesitantly followed. “Do you think we should be worried about him?”
“He’s a human with a knack for getting his nose in our business. You should be very worried.”
“Thanks for the comfort,” she said sarcastically. They turned up the driveway and Sam got her badass sentry persona on. Derek and Bastian seemed to have the confident air naturally, but it seemed like something she had to work for. It helped knowing they were with her as backup though.
“Do you think she’s going to be here?” asked Sam quietly as they got closer to the door.
“Maybe. But if I’d just declared war on witches, I’d be running as fast and far away from Claudia as possible.”
They reached the door. Bastian rang the doorbell and immediately started to pound on the door.
No subtlety here. Sam set a hand on her hip and steeled herself for the confrontation that could be coming.
After what felt like an eternity but was probably only thirty seconds, lights started to flip on and then the door swung open. A frazzled man, probably Parker Montgomery, looked between the two of them as stark fear crossed his face. “Oh my goodness, what happened?”
Sam kept her bitch face on. “Is Janet home? We need to talk to her.”
A woman came down the staircase. Her hair was a mess and she was pulling on a cream-colored silk robe. “Parker, what’s wrong?”
“It’s sentries, honey. They want Janet.”
The woman stopped about three steps from the bottom. “Oh no. What do you want with her?”
Bastian pushed past Parker and stepped inside. Unlike the police, they didn’t need a warrant. “Where’s her room?”
Even though Parker Montgomery probably weighed half of what Bastian did, he still puffed up at the intrusion. “Now hold on one second—”
Bastian looked to Sam. “I’ll handle this. Check upstairs.”
Sam wasn’t sure whether she’d rather handle a teen prone to starting fires or the angry parents, but she didn’t want to start an argument while she was supposed to pretend she knew what she was doing. While Parker made a grab for her, Bastian pushed him back. It looked as if Bastian had barely tapped the poor guy, but he slammed back into the entryway wall hard enough to shake the picture frames.
The mother—Helen, Sam remembered—stood stock-still on the stairs, her face now ashen and her eyes wide with fear. Sam quickly went past her, trying not to think about the fact that she’d put that fear there. She focused on Jennifer Barrett. Whatever fear these parents were feeling, Jennifer had gone through worse.
Once Sam reached the landing at the top of the stairs, she had the option of going left or right. There were more rooms on the right, so she chose that direction. She pushed open every door and did a quick glance inside. Maybe Bastian wanted her to do a detailed inspection of every room, but Sam’s instincts held her back. She’d seen enough horror movies to know how those detailed searches after the team split up went. If she didn’t find Janet right away, then she’d have Bastian or Derek come up with her.
After she passed an office-looking room and an empty bedroom, she hit the room that must be Janet’s. The walls were a soft pink and the unmade white princess bed seemed fitting for an only child of a well-off family. Sam stepped inside and glanced around, but there was no one inside. Along the mirror were pictures of smiling girls. Janet and her friends.
Maybe Derek and Bastian were wrong. Maybe she hadn’t started the fire....
“Sam!” called Bastian.
She bac
ked out of the room, taking one more look around. The girl could be under the bed or in the closet, but Sam wasn’t looking in there alone. She rushed down the hall and down the stairs. “I did a quick look in her room and she wasn’t there. Might be hiding, though.”
Bastian stood in front of the stairs and both of the Montgomerys were now in the entryway, as though he was acting as a barrier to keep them from coming up. Bastian raised a hand and made a strange gesture. Before Sam could ask what he was doing, she noticed Derek heading inside and realized he was who Bastian had gestured to.
“What do you mean she’s not there?” demanded Parker.
Sam ignored him and leaned closer to Bastian. “I didn’t do a detailed sweep. She could be hiding.”
He nodded his understanding as Derek came in. “I didn’t see anyone running.”
“Who the hell are you? Who are all of you?”
Bastian stepped forward, allowing Sam to finish coming down the stairs. “I’m Bastian. This is Detective Derek Pierce and Samantha Harris.”
If possible, Helen’s eyes got even wider once Bastian used Sam’s full name and Derek seemed to notice this. “You finish the search. I’ll stay down here with the parents.” He said the words casually, probably trying to help relax the tense situation, but his eyes told her it wasn’t just a recommendation.
Surprisingly, Bastian immediately fell back and started up the stairs. “Call if you need anything,” said Sam as she followed Bastian up.
“Is it safe to leave him down there alone?” asked Sam softly as she led Bastian to Janet’s bedroom.
“You’re the one who wanted to bring him. Might as well make him work.”
Well, that wasn’t comforting.
Bastian didn’t have any of her hesitation as he immediately walked to the closet and yanked the accordion door open and pushed clothes aside.
“Do you think she’s hiding here?” Sam faked some bravery of her own and bent down to look under the bed.
“I don’t know. I have a bad feeling though.”
Before she could ask what he meant by that, he was off and making the rounds through the rest of the upper level, but there was no sign of the girl. Maybe she just wasn’t home yet. It made no sense to run. Not when so many witches were capable of doing locator spells. Not Sam of course, but she was willing to bet Bastian knew how to do one.
She went downstairs while Bastian continued the search. She walked through the impeccable entryway and dining room to the TV-less living room, where the Montgomerys were sitting on a white couch and Derek stood in front of the fireplace.
“Couldn’t find her?” he asked.
Sam shook her head and Helen finally spoke. “No. She’s here. I heard her come home.”
“Shhh,” said Parker. “We don’t need to help them with anything.”
“When she came home, did she seem upset?” asked Sam, directing all her focus at Helen.
Parker put a hand on his wife’s knee and squeezed in warning.
Sam crossed her arms over her chest. She could understand them being protective of their daughter but this didn’t make sense. “Did you know your daughter was at the scene of a fire tonight?”
Helen stared intently at the ceramic tile floor and didn’t look up.
“Two people died in that fire.”
A small sound of pain escaped Helen, but she still didn’t look up.
“If your daughter saw something, she could be in trouble. We’re here to help.”
That had Helen looking up. “You’re not here to hurt her?”
She could feel Derek looking at her, silently asking the same question. “I want to protect everyone involved,” she said honestly, darting a look over to Derek before she looked back to the parents.
The dam seemed to break in Helen. “She came home and was upset about something, but she wouldn’t talk to me. She ran straight to her room and slammed her door. That’s all. I assumed it was normal teenager things until you woke us up.”
“You saw her come home?” asked Derek.
Helen nodded. “Yes. Parker and I were having wine in the family room and I heard her car.”
“Was she wearing shoes?”
“I—” Helen stopped and her brow drew together. “Why wouldn’t she wear shoes?”
Sam mentally noted that Helen never actually answered. “Has she been acting normal recently? Showing any signs of stress?”
“She was a normal eighteen-year-old.” Parker looked Sam right in the eye.
Derek stepped forward and looked down at Parker while he reached into his pocket to pull out his wallet. “See this badge.” He held it close to Parker’s face. The man didn’t say anything while he stared defiantly up at Derek. “I got my first NYPD badge when I was twenty-one years old. That’s fifteen years. I interviewed my first murderer when I was twenty-six. Had no idea he was a killer at the time, but it all came out eventually. Since then I’ve talked to rapists, pedophiles, sadists, and all sorts of genuinely unpleasant people. So what the hell makes you think you can lie to me and I won’t know it?”
Parker’s eyes were still defiant, but the nervous bobbing of his Adam’s apple told Sam that Derek had struck a chord. Finally he spilled, “She was stressed, but it wasn’t anything you think. Her car was broken into and she had to spend all day at the police station to report the theft.”
“Why wouldn’t you tell me that at first?”
As way of answer, Parker looked in Sam’s direction and then down. Sam went ahead and answered for him. “Because if he was having legal trouble of any kind, he should’ve come to us.”
“Us?” asked Derek.
“The sentries. But I’m guessing the Montgomerys don’t have much faith in the sentries at the moment.”
A flash of anger flashed over Parker’s face. “You can’t blame us after what—”
“She’s not upstairs,” said Bastian as he came into the room, immediately shutting Parker up. “We should look out back to make sure she didn’t run when we got here.”
“I was outside,” said Derek. “I didn’t see or hear anyone running.”
“Better safe than sorry.” Without waiting for approval or permission, Bastian continued through the house and through the back door.
Derek made eye contact with Sam and she shrugged before she followed him out. Once they were out the back door, Derek covered his nose with a hand. “God, you don’t smell that?”
She sniffed the air, but nothing was out of the ordinary. The automatic lights had gone on when Bastian had gone outside, lighting up the stone patio and reflecting off the dark pond.
“Here,” said Bastian as he stood below what Sam recognized to be Janet’s window.
She took two steps before she suddenly felt it. She had no idea what “it” was. A bad feeling knotted her stomach and tightened her throat. Sam gulped in a deep breath of air. “Something’s wrong.”
Bastian didn’t appear to hear her. “There are footprints here. They look older. She was gone before we got here.”
Sam shook her head. “Something....” She turned toward the pond. “Something is out there.” She didn’t know what came over her. Maybe it was the knowledge that Bastian and Derek were both close by. Maybe it was the strange effect of whatever was filling her with dread. But Sam carefully walked over the grass, which was wet. There was no rain so there must’ve been sprinklers.
The pond had a small dock. It was too small for boating, but they probably let the kids take paddle boats out.
“Sam!” called Derek, but she didn’t look back. She kept going until she reached the dock and walked to the end. Under the night sky, the water looked like an inky black. An ominous sight for something that was supposed to be uplifting and fun to the residents of the subdivision.
The dock shuddered as someone stepped on with her, but Sam still couldn’t look away. Something was down there....
She bent and reached down. There was something she needed to see.... Her fingers just went under the water w
hen arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her back.
“Sam!” said Derek loudly into her ear, helping to finally snap her back to reality.
She winced and blinked as she tried to clear her head. Even though she was back in focus, she was still certain of one thing. “There’s something in the water.”
“Then let it stay in the water,” said Derek.
“She’s right,” said Bastian from the edge of the dock. “There’s something bad here.”
“Like a chick who’s been burning people’s homes down?”
Bastian shook his head. “Dark magic.”
Sam looked down at her hand, still wet from the water. No. Not water. Her fingers were covered in an inky black coating. “Shit.” She jerked out of Derek’s arms and rubbed her hand on her pants, trying to get the stuff off as quickly as possible. She kept rubbing at it until her skin burned and then tried some more.
“Hey,” said Derek softly as he set a hand on each shoulder, stopping her. “It’s okay,”
Sam tried to catch her breath and focus on anything but the darkness on her hands. Derek. She focused on Derek. The warmth of his hands and the steadiness of his presence. Derek....
She opened her eyes and realized exactly how concerned Derek was for her and she tried to put on a normal smile. “I’m okay now,” she assured him.
A bright light caught her attention and she realized Bastian shined a flashlight over the water. “I think we found Janet Montgomery,” he called.
Sam jerked away from Derek as he awkwardly turned to where the light was pointing in the water. They looked over the edge of the dock and saw Janet’s pale, lifeless face in stark contrast to the darkness around her.
Janet Montgomery was dead.
“We need to leave the body there until the forensic people get here,” said Derek, but as soon as the words were out, he saw the skeptical look on Bastian’s face. “You’re not calling the cops.”
“They can’t help with this. Let’s pull her out and see what killed her before the parents find out.”
Derek didn’t want to be there for that conversation. He’d told his fair share of families that a loved one was dead and it never got easier. Sure, some were more deserving of the deaths than others, but a majority of the time, the families were innocent. They were the ones left behind to suffer.