“Hike south for one mile to the sign on the tree. Turn west and hike another half mile to the next sign. Go south a quarter mile to your destination. There will be a sign on the building.”
“We are clearly not in the right spot. If we go any further west, we’ll end up in the Raven. I’m sure we’ve gone further than a half mile, and we haven’t come to the other sign,” I said.
“Chief Deputy Kenner said they put a couple of these together at the last minute. We must have drawn the short straw. Should we call him?” Donny asked.
Weber, Zubinski, and I all said “No” together.
Donny held his hands up. “Whoa, you guys scared of Kenner?”
Stueman raised his eyebrows. Weber laughed.
I rested my hands on my hips. “The chief deputy said we should be able to figure it out. They might have even done this on purpose, so we work together to find a solution. So team, what are your wishes?”
Zubinski went first. “I say we head back to the last sign and go east instead of west.”
“I agree with Mandy here. For once,” Weber said.
I sent a silent plea for him to be nice.
“Donny, Eric?” I asked.
Nickles shrugged. “I’ll go along with the rest of you.”
“I’m open,” Stueman added.
“Okay, let’s head east.”
34: The Coven
Cyril heard voices and moved closer to the clearing. He stayed out of sight behind a thick grove of trees and tried to figure out what that group of people was doing on his private property. It took a minute to realize three of them were armed and wearing badges. His heart picked up its speed. Why were they here?
He noiselessly set the cloth bag he was carrying on the ground, pulled out his cell phone, snapped a few pictures, then turned it off before it rang and alerted them. One of the officers looked familiar. He recognized her as the deputy who had responded to a burglary complaint at his mortuary business a couple of years before.
Aleckson. That was her name. The one they were keeping an eye on.
He listened to their prattle about the table. They didn’t appear to be looking for anything in particular, and they weren’t in uniform. Undercover? What were the other two doing with them? If they were out there for an official reason, they would all be armed, and they wouldn’t be wandering around like a bunch of lost lunatics. He had a few good shots of their faces to show Noris. He should have an explanation of what was going on.
Cyril quietly backed away, deeper into the woods. He had every right to be on his own land, but he did not want to talk to them or answer any questions. The group stayed a few minutes, then took off. Cyril waited a long while. When he was confident they wouldn’t return, he went to the temple area. He brought something they needed for the evening’s rituals. Dieter, the executor, normally handled that task, but Cyril enjoyed it. It enhanced his mental preparation.
Dieter, Cyril’s greatest convert. It was as though he had been born into the coven. He was a natural, gifted Satanist. At his initiation ritual he had recited with certainty, “I swear to give my full allegiance to our Lord Satan and worship him; to strive to undermine the faith of those who practice false religions; and bring them to the true faith, when desirable. I swear to give my mind, body, and soul to further the work of our Lord Satan.”
Yes, Dieter was a true success.
Cyril went to the storage unit that was buried in the ground, close to the river. He brushed away the leaves and lifted the trapdoor. No one had disturbed the contents: the gong, woven pentagram, chalice, black candles, matches, and a basin. He looked in the bag at the newly sharpened dagger, then set it in the box. He pulled down the lid and covered it with leaves. Everything was there. Everything they needed for the human offering to their Master.
35
Weber locked his hands together in a loud clap. “Miracle of miracles, we actually found it. A barn, no less.”
Most of the red paint had peeled off the outer siding. We piled into the old, weathered structure. It was fairly clean. We found hay bales and all sat down for our final project of the exercise—composing seventeen-syllable poems.
The packet was crumpled and worse for the wear after traveling miles clutched in our hot little hands. We had taken turns carrying the precious cargo so Donny wouldn’t have the lone responsibility. Zubinski dug into the envelope and extracted five memo pads and five pencils. She handed a set to each of us.
“Anyone here ever written a haiku before?” she asked.
“I have,” Stueman admitted in a barely audible voice.
“Why?” Weber looked puzzled.
“I got my BA in English. If it had not been preordained that I pursue law, I would have been an English professor.”
Weber tapped his pen on the notepad. “Oh. Huh. So you think you can give us a few pointers here?”
Stueman’s eyes moved from point to point in the barn, then fixed on Vince. “Keep it simple. It can be about something in nature, maybe something you noticed on our hike.”
“Why don’t you write one to give us an idea,” Weber said.
“I’m not much of a creative writer.”
“Vince, you’re putting Mister Stueman on the spot,” I said. As if we were in school and Mr. Stueman was our teacher.
“Eric,” he corrected me. “Okay, give me a minute. All of you should give it a try.”
Weber drummed his hands on his thighs. “I can’t believe we’re being held hostage in a barn until we write a dumb poem.”
“That’s a good point. The sooner we write, the sooner we’re free.” Donny’s face brightened.
We kept silent for five minutes, diligently writing, counting syllables, scratching out some words and writing down others.
“I’m done.” Stueman stood and brushed some hay off his behind. “Here goes,
“Sun cutting a path
across fields green once again
Show us the way back.”
Mandy lifted her chin. “Not bad at all. Way better than mine, Eric.”
“Read it,” he encouraged.
She held up her paper. “Don’t laugh. Since we’re in a barn, it’s about a pig. Okay, you can laugh.
“I dig the big pig
The pig grunts and snorts and eats
I dig the big pig.”
We all chuckled. “Nothing wrong with that,” Donny said.
Weber coughed to get our attention. “I’ll go next. I used the barn theme, too.
“Hay, straw, makes me sneeze
Old barns make me almost wheeze
Let me go now, please.”
“Yes, let me go with you,” Mandy groaned.
“You done, Corky?” Donny asked.
“You go ahead.” I picked a piece of straw out of the bale.
Donny sat up straighter. “All right.
“Flow on river flow
from rise of sun to moon’s glow
To where does it flow?”
Stueman nodded his approval, and Donny smiled.
“Your turn, Sergeant. Corinne,” Stueman said.
I sucked in a breath and twirled the straw between my fingers as I read.
“The thoughtful flower
reflects the sun on its face
Lift your flower face.”
I raised my eyebrows and shrugged.
“Isn’t that sweet?” Weber said, jutting his lips forward when he talked.
“Very good. Everyone. Original. All of them,” Stueman said and stood.
Each of us tucked our notepads and pencils into our pockets, and Donny picked up the packet.
Weber sprinted to the door. “And we’re out of here!”
“Yes!” Mandy jumped off her bale and took off after Vince.
The rest of us jogged to catch up with them.
36: The Coven
Cyril left a cryptic message for Noris. It was Noris’s day off from work and he had plans, but when the high priest beckoned, he had no choice. He drove to the outdoor temple, foll
owing the dirt path next to a newly planted field. In two months, the corn would be as tall as he was. The road ran south for a half mile then veered to the right toward the river.
Noris had seen that look of wrath on Cyril’s face many times in his life and reminded himself, once again, that one of his jobs was to calm Cyril or they would all pay.
“Can you tell me what the sheriff’s deputies would be doing out here?” Cyril demanded and handed Noris his phone so he could have a look at the photos.
Noris covered the feeling of surprise that immediately gripped him. He knew each one of them, of course. “Those morons. They were on a team-building exercise and obviously didn’t know where they were going. Chief Deputy Kenner wouldn’t send them on private property without permission.”
Their stupidity was their salvation. Well, not everyone’s, Noris thought.
Cyril stepped close to him and exhaled an unpleasant combination of onion and garlic near Noris’s face. “Is there a reason to move our outdoor temple to a new site?”
“Did any of them act like they were suspicious of anything?”
“As you said, they are morons. One sat down for a minute, and they left soon after that. I moved further away, so I couldn’t hear much.”
“Then I say no. There is no reason to relocate. This is the best site we’ve had to date. It looks exactly as we intended. In the very rare event that anyone should happen on it, no one would think it is anything other than a picnic area, plain and simple.”
Cyril looked around and smiled. “It does look like a picnic area, doesn’t it?”
“Anything else we need for tonight?”
“Things are in order here, and Roman and Dieter are preparing the sacrifice.”
“Good. I will be here early to adorn the temple.”
37
We hashed over the team-building exercise experience all the way back to the station and agreed on two things. We had worked well as a team, and none of us would ever write another haiku in our lives, unless we were threatened with death or dismemberment if we didn’t. Donny added the death and dismemberment clause, just in case.
We pulled into the sheriff’s parking lot a little after one thirty. My stomach growled loudly enough for everyone to hear. “I’m going to grab something at The Sandwich Shoppe, if anyone’s interested.” I didn’t care how disheveled I looked.
Donny opened his car door, climbed out, and opened the back door. “Thanks, but the family’s waiting for me. We’re taking a little trip to the in-laws’ house.”
Weber jumped out and opened the back driver’s side door, leaving his own open. “I got a lot of stuff to take care of.”
“Me too, but thanks,” Mandy said as she slid out.
“I’ll go,” Stueman said.
My team spirit disappeared, and I willed it to return. “Um, good.” I would eat as fast as possible.
We exchanged hasty goodbyes.
Eric and I took off on foot as the other three took off in their vehicles. Neither of us spoke on the walk to the deli. When we arrived, I reached for the door pull, but Eric stepped around me, opened the door, and held it for me.
“Thanks,” I said.
We walked in and read the day’s menu. A glance at the selections told me all I needed. The soup choices were chili or corn chowder. Check by the corn chowder. The chicken salad on whole grain bread with lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, and Swiss cheese was my favorite. Another check. I pulled a bottle of water out of the beverage cooler and set it on the counter.
I gave my order to the ponytailed teen behind the counter, paid, and stepped aside while Eric did the same.
“The back table okay?” I asked, heading that direction before he answered.
“Sure.”
We sat on opposite sides of the table, and Eric resumed his habit of silently staring at me.
I swallowed a bite of sandwich. “Eric, I can’t stand it anymore. Have I done something to offend or upset you?”
The puzzled look on his face seemed genuine. “What?”
“We spent the morning crammed into the back seat of a squad car, hiking over fields and pastures, and writing dumb poems. You even accepted a lunch invitation from me, knowing it would be just the two of us.”
He dipped his spoon into his soup bowl. “I don’t know what you’re getting at.”
“You don’t talk to me, and you stare at me like you’re mad at me.”
“I didn’t realize that. I’m not mad at you, Corinne.”
“You can tell me if you don’t like me. It’s okay.”
“But I do like you.”
“What is it then?”
“I went to school with him. College.”
“Him, who?”
“Langley Parker, the one who—”
“I know what he did.” The name sent a wave of nausea through me.
Eric searched my face and his eyes squinted. “Sorry. Are you okay to talk about this?”
“I’ll let you know. Go ahead. You have me curious.”
“He’s one reason I’m here, in Winnebago County. You’re the other reason.”
I opened my mouth to speak, but could not force out one single word. A sound similar to “eh” finally spilled from my throat.
“You dropped your sandwich.”
I looked down. My plate was blurry, and I couldn’t focus well enough to see it.
“You’re wondering why.” He sounded like he was talking to me from the next room.
I think I nodded.
Eric picked up my glass and put it to my lips. “Here, take a drink.” I managed a sip, and he set the glass down.
“Last summer, when you—Winnebago County—had that case with the dismembered woman they found up by Lake Pearl State Park, I followed it closely in the news. Then when they caught and identified the serial killer, after he attacked you, imagine how shocked I was he was someone I knew. Granted, I didn’t know him well, but we had a few classes together.”
Langley Parker had sat in classrooms, walked the streets, and raped and tortured and killed and dismembered.
“I’d go over the case in my mind and think of the arguing statements that would put Parker away for life. The victims’ faces are etched in my mind. They were gone, like too many victims, and I wanted to be the attorney that mounted solid cases against people who did unthinkable things to others. I had trouble sleeping for a while until I made the decision: I needed to be a prosecutor.”
How did I fit into his decision? “You said I’m one reason you’re here.”
He nodded. “You survived the attack, and then you went back to work. I didn’t know you, of course, but I admired you for not letting something so awful stop you from doing the work you loved.”
“And you didn’t talk to me because?”
“You awed me.”
That was a first. “I awed you?” I took a quick sip of water.
He leaned a little closer. “Don’t take this wrong, but I think you are quite beautiful.”
There is nothing more embarrassing than blushing when you’re trying to look unaffected by someone’s words. I took another swig of water, hoping it would cool my burning face and body.
“The first time I saw you was in court during my orientation. I was there observing, and you came in to testify. When they called you to the stand, I was surprised how petite you were. It made me admire you all the more. I wanted to tell you that, but I was always a bumbling idiot around you.” Eric smacked the tabletop with the palms of his hands. “All right, I said it. I hope I didn’t offend you, Corinne.”
“No, um, not at all. Thanks.”
Sara would not believe it.
I stopped by Sara’s house after lunch, and I was right. She did not believe it.
“Corky, Stueman is not like some stalker dude, I hope.” She opened a bag of Oreos and passed it to me.
“Sara, I can always count on you to cheer me up.” I took a cookie and handed her the bag.
“That came out wrong.”
“Don’t try to take it back. I know what you mean. But after I confronted him, he seemed normal for the first time.”
“That’s encouraging. So how did your team do?” She bit into a cookie and it crunched between her teeth.
“I would rather run seven miles through the woods of Lake Pearl State Park than hike to a barn and write a haiku.”
Sara laughed. “I think I would, too. And I don’t run. My team was okay, but still, it was a strange, strange day. I’m going to be honest on my evaluation form, but I’m having trouble thinking of a diplomatic way to say, ‘It sucked.’”
I reached over for another cookie. “That would be blunt. First our team got lost. Our directions sent us the wrong way, which we figured out when we ended up at a little park by the Raven River and couldn’t go any further. So we all trooped back and went the other way. That error took up a good half hour. But the funny part is, we all got along pretty well as the morning went on.”
We exchanged details on our adventures, laughing until our sides hurt. I stretched my arms. “Okay, I can’t take any more. I am going to take this sweaty body home and soak in a nice lavender-salts bath.”
“Hot date?”
“Yeah, trying to decide on Cornwell or Reich.”
“Why do you read cop and forensic stuff, anyway?”
“For fun.” I took a third and final cookie.
“You should come over here tonight. Casey wants to watch a movie, and you are welcome to join us.”
“Sara, I am not going to join you on your date.”
“We could invite Eric Stueman to even things out.”
“I am so out of here.”
Smoke phoned after I’d finished bathing. “What did you think of the exercise this morning?” he asked.
I groaned as an answer.
“Yeah, it was painful, all right. And the worst part is the time it took when we got hundreds of hours of work on our open cases. That’s the reason I called, to tell you I did a little unplanned surveillance last night.”
“Oh?”
An Altar by the River Page 20