“Are you an empath too?” Novah asked.
Rachel shook her head. “No. Just ghosts for me. Though I never thought I’d end up one myself.”
Her pulse sped up. She was finally getting answers. She’d finally found someone who was like her, even though Rachel was dead.
“Are there others like us?”
“I’ve met a few here and there over the years. I promised them my discretion, but that nosey agent got my files. They’re in code, but if he’s stubborn and smart enough, he’ll be able to figure them out in time probably. You need to get my cipher from my other hiding place. If he finds that, he’ll be able to read everything about you.”
“You had to keep files?” Novah groaned.
“Yes. My memory isn’t what was it once was.”
“Where is the cipher?”
“It’s on a USB inside my Aliens are People Too. The agent hasn’t really looked at my books yet, but he still might.”
Novah pinched the bridge of her nose. “How am I supposed to get in your place?”
“Don’t worry. You’ll have access soon.”
“What does that mean?”
“Sorry. I have to go.”
Novah blinked, her mouth dropping open when Rachel disappeared. “Okay then. I guess we’ll talk later.”
Samantha hurried over to stand in front of Novah, her eyes worried. “She never spoke to me. I would’ve told you if I knew she could see me.”
“I know. I never doubted you.”
Samantha’s shoulders slumped. “I wish she had though.”
Poor thing. She was so lonely.
“I’m sorry, kiddo. She has always been pretty private and careful and paranoid.”
“Why do you think she’s like that?” Samantha asked.
“I’m not sure. But I hope to find out.”
There was a lot Rachel had yet to explain. A lot of things Novah needed to know and to understand.
It was no longer just about discovering Rachel’s killer. Rachel finally had the answers Novah had been searching for her whole life.
If only Novah could hold Rachel down long enough to get those answers.
Chapter Eight
Novah followed Diana up the steps of the rancher’s porch. Diana made the call earlier to ask if they could come ask questions. She even made pretty realistic looking fake IDs proclaiming them to work for They’re Out There Journal.
Novah had laughed for almost a minute straight when Diana showed them off. But at least this way, it felt a little less like lying.
She was surprised the rancher was still willing to meet with them. Usually natives to Roswell steered clear of anything to do with aliens or conspiracies. They were sick of them by this point.
Novah could understand their viewpoint. If she didn’t have her own mysteries to solve and had grown up surrounded by alien statues all over the town she lived in, she’d probably avoid it all too.
Diana knocked on the cracked white wood of the screen door since there wasn’t a doorbell for her to ring and stepped back.
A woman in faded jeans, red flannel, and work boots opened the door and frowned at them through the screen. “Can I help you?”
Diana smiled brightly at the woman. “Yes. I called yesterday, Miss Jollins. We’re from the Journal and wanted to interview you about your sheep.”
Recognition registered on her face. “Right. Of course. Come on in. And call me Erica, please. I’ve got coffee on if either of you want any.”
“No thanks.”
Erica led them into her sitting room which was surprisingly modern for what Novah had imagined a sheep rancher to have. Everything was white and gray and really lovely.
Novah preferred a little color and was glad they’d turned down the coffee since she’d be terrified to spill it on the pristine white couches or rugs.
“Please have a seat.”
“Thanks.” Novah and Diana said the word at the same time before they sank onto the couch.
Erica curled up in the pale gray chair across from them. “So, you were a bit vague on the phone. Why are you so interested in a couple dead sheep?”
Diana took the lead. “Well, there have been a couple ranches in the area that have had the same problem. And there was an animal attack downtown yesterday. We were wondering if there was any correlation.”
Erica’s brows shot high on her forehead. “I heard about a death on the news last night, but I didn’t pay attention. An animal attack in the middle of the city? That seems strange.”
Diana nodded. “Our thought as well. Usually urban animal attacks are dogs. Not some unknown wild creature.”
“And you think the same thing killing my sheep killed the woman?” Erica asked.
Diana shrugged. “We’re looking into the possibility.”
“Do you think it’s some kind of alien or monster?” Erica couldn’t cover the skepticism in her voice.
“We aren’t ruling it out.”
“I have to say. I’ve never been interviewed by any of the...fringe newspapers around here. Well, I’m rarely interviewed by anything that doesn’t have to do with farming or 4H.”
Diana grinned. “I take it you’re not a believer.”
Erica spread her hands. “I honestly don’t know. I try to have an open mind, but with all the technology these days with camera phones and everything, it’s hard to believe proof wouldn’t have been found by now.”
“I can understand that.” Novah’s reply was careful.
They didn’t want to go too hardcore with their talk of conspiracies and government coverups and freak her out, causing her to clam up.
For the moment, she was open and curious. They needed to keep it that way.
Erica sat forward a little. “So, what do you want to know?”
“Our main question is rather distasteful I’m afraid, but what did the wounds look like? There wasn’t a description about those in any of the stories we saw in the news or online.”
“Oh, that’s part of the reason I agreed to meet with you two. The wounds were strange and I can confirm that the other two ranches hit had the same marks.”
“What were they?” Novah asked.
Erica’s nose wrinkled. “They were strange. There were two puncture wounds side by side in their necks.”
“Two?” Diana interrupted.
“Yes. But their was a third right below and in the middle.”
Diana straightened. “So three?”
Erica nodded. “Yes. Sort of a triangle.”
“Huh. Odd.”
“Why? Does that mean something?” Erica asked.
Diana rubbed at her bottom lip. “Not sure. But that sounds incredibly odd. Did the vets or animal control have any theories?”
Erica shook her head. “No. They were stumped. They even called in extra professionals to take a look, but no one had ever seen wounds like that before. Their best guesses were either some kind of wolf who lost most of his teeth or an actual woman with some weird fetish and weird weapon.”
This was fascinating. And very odd. And scary.
“I’m not sure which idea is more horrifying,” Novah said.
A toothless wolf or a serial sheep killer? This is what they came up with in order to keep from accepting there were some things about the world they didn’t understand.
Erica snorted. “Yes. I thought both sounded ridiculous. A monster sounds more likely than either of those two options.”
“I don’t disagree.” Novah rubbed at her forehead.
This entire interview was creating more questions than it was answering.
“What time did these attacks happen?” Diana asked.
“Another odd thing. They happened during the day.”
Just like Rachel.
Novah’s brow furrowed. “Aren’t wolves usually nocturnal?”
“Yes. My sheep are kept safe at night, but during the day, they graze in the fields. Which made them easy pickings.”
“I’m so sorry. Did it e
ffect your business badly?”
Erica shook her head. “No. Thankfully I only lost three, so it won’t hurt my bottom line, but I love all my animals here on the ranch. And I’m terrified of the thought that whatever it is might get one of my horses.”
“Understandable. Is there anything else that sticks out about the attacks?”
“No. I never saw or heard a thing and I was outside in the barn. Whatever or whoever did it was fast and quiet.”
“Okay. Thank you so much for your time. This had been really enlightening.” Diana stood, putting an end to the conversation.
Novah and Erica stood as well.
Erica accepted the handshakes from them with a smile. “Of course. I’d love to check out your blog. Do you have a card or anything?”
Crap.
The corners of Diana’s eyes tightened. “Uh. No. Not with us. But I have your email, so I’ll send you the link once the story is live.”
“Great. You’ve really peaked my interest. Please let me know if you figure out what’s behind this.”
“We will.”
After a few more pleasantries, Novah and Diana finally escaped the woman’s house, eager to discuss everything they’d learned.
Once they were inside the car, Diana turned to Novah. “Is it just me or does a chupacabra sound even more likely?”
Novah chuckled. “It’s not just you. But I don’t think the same thing that killed the sheep killed Rachel.”
“Right. Ben said it was two puncture marks. Not three. I wish we had photos of the sheep’s wounds.”
“Me too. But I still think we have two killers.”
“Two monsters?” Diana asked.
“Maybe. Or a toothless wolf and a human with a vampire fetish.” Novah could barely get the words out with a straight face.
“There are plenty of weirdos around here who believe the same things we do, but take their obsessions way too far.”
Diana wasn’t wrong. Their little group absolutely believed, but above all, their goal was the search for the truth, whether it was what they wanted to hear or not.
Others were willing to go to great lengths to prove aliens and everything else Roswell was accused of were real.
“On the off chance it was a vampire, there will be more killings. Same if it’s a vampire wannabe. If it’s just Rachel, then it was probably personal and a human.”
Sometimes Novah thought the reason she wanted monsters to be real so badly was because she didn’t want to believe humans were capable of such cruelty. But she should know better after the things she’d gone through.
She should’ve lost that naïveté a long time ago.
“We need to get Dorothy to revive the blog. I think Sarah might go searching. She was incredibly curious.”
The last thing they needed was her calling and asking questions and possibly calling the cops on them.
“I’ll stop by and see her after I drop you back off at your shop.”
Novah stared out the window at the passing scenery for a moment before speaking again. “At least she didn’t kick us out for suggesting it was something other than the usual.”
“She might have if what the supposed experts claimed wasn’t so outrageous.”
“It’s insane they couldn’t come up with something a little more realistic.” Novah shook her head, still struggling to believe it.
“I know.” Diana pulled to a stop in front of Novah’s shop.
Novah gathered her stuff. “This was fun.”
Diana beamed. “Right? I love it when we get to do things like this. So often, it’s just the group of us sitting around, sharing theories and arguing legends.”
“True. Though that’s fun too.”
“This group saved me. I was so lonely before I finally found like-minded people.” Diana sighed.
Before the group, she was just always at home with her kids or with other moms on playdates.
“I know what you mean. I’ll see you tomorrow, okay? Thanks for the ride.”
“Of course.”
Novah grinned at her friend and climbed out of the car, waving as Diana drove off. She and Diana always had a good time together. Maybe they could start hanging out a little more often. It was just hard finding time with Novah’s work schedule and Diana’s schedule with her kids.
Novah adored Talia, but sometimes their vast differences in beliefs made things difficult between them.
She smiled as the familiar X-Files tune played as she pushed open the door to her shop, but the smile fell right off her face when she saw who was waiting for her inside.
Agent Smith.
Chapter Nine
Novah dropped her stuff behind the counter and ignored a look from Talia before she met the irritating man in the corner of her shop. “Agent Smith? What are you doing here?”
“I wanted to talk to you a little more about Ms. Diaz.”
Novah blew out a breath. “Okay. But I told you all I know. I don’t know what else I can tell you.”
“Those files we found are in code. I was wondering if you knew where the cipher might be. I have a program running on it, but she apparently made up her own. I’ll crack it eventually, but it’ll take time I don’t have.”
“Why are you so insistent on knowing what her files say?” Novah asked. “She was attacked by some random animal. The only people who should be investigating are the park rangers or animal control.”
“She has hacked into government databases. It’s why I was brought in. Because of that, I have to find out what information she was able to get and who she shared it with.” His voice was so stiff, like he was hiding something or lying.
Novah really hated not being able to feel his emotions.
“Well, she never shared anything with me.” She clenched her jaw, frustrated and tired of him popping up all the time, making her nervous and worried.
“Her lawyer and next of kin’s info was also in her files, the one thing unencrypted. She only had a brother remaining and he’s been called and informed of her passing. He’ll be here tomorrow and hopes you’ll help with the funeral. I mentioned from what I could find, you were closest to her.”
“Uh. Okay. Give me his information and I’ll get in touch with him.” Novah frowned, confused. “I didn’t realize government agents facilitated meetings with friends and family of a death investigation.”
Agent Smith shrugged. “He asked who could help and so far you’re the only person who knew her at all. I just answered his question.”
“Okay. Well, thanks.”
“Sure. Now have you thought about any other places she might have hidden more files or the cipher?”
“I thought about it, but like I told you before. We weren’t super close. We were friendly and helped each other from time to time, but neither one of us were exactly involved in each other’s lives.”
“I see.”
“Was there something else?” Novah asked.
“Yes, actually.”
“What is it?”
He pointed to her chest. “The lanyard around your neck. I didn’t realize you were a journalist as well as a donut shop owner.”
Merlin’s beard. She completely forgot it was still around her neck.
“It’s just a cosplay thing.” Novah wanted to shove the words back into her mouth as soon as they fell out.
Such an obvious lie.
Smith quirked a brow. “Really? You weren’t pretending to be a journalist to interview someone?”
Novah decided to just lean into it. “So what if I was? It’s not a crime.”
He straightened his shoulders. “Actually it is. You can’t lie about what you are and then trespass on someone else’s property under false pretenses.”
Novah wasn’t that uninformed about the law. “Technically, it wasn’t a lie. There is a website we...I mean I run that publishes articles. And I will publish another one about what I learned today. I may not be a paid reporter, but I still run a blog. And the person I interviewed would
probably have to press charges. And I doubt she’d do that. And I have no plans to tell you who she is so you can go try to get me in trouble.”
She definitely wanted to keep everyone out of this. Especially Diana. She had kids.
“I have no plans to get you into trouble. Unless you’re investigating Ms. Diaz’s death.”
“I wasn’t. It had to do with sheep.”
His eyes narrowed. “Sheep?”
Novah jerked her head in a single, short nod. “Yes.”
“That’s all you’re going to give me?” Smith asked.
“Yes. I’m not obstructing your investigation and you have no legal reason to question me unless I’m under arrest for something?” Novah glanced around her shop, making sure no one was eavesdropping and they weren’t drawing any kind of attention.
“I just want to make sure you aren’t making the same mistakes Ms. Diaz made.”
“I’m not, but it’s not like that’s what killed her, right? Just an animal attack? Wrong place, wrong time?”
He cleared his throat. “Right. But I don’t want to have to turn my attention from her to you and your little group.”
“You have no need to. Unless it’s a crime to investigate chupacabras.”
“Is that why the sheep? The deaths lately?”
Novah sighed. “Fine. Yes. You can ask my group. We were planning on discussing them yesterday when you came by and interrupted. I decided to get a little more information before we reschedule the discussion.”
“I see. Well, if you think of anything else, please give me a call.”
“I’ll be sure to do that.”
He tipped his head in a shallow nod and strode through the door, the X-Files tone playing in his wake, sounding a little more ominous than usual.
Talia sidled over to Novah. “What is the deal with you two? Why is he so interested in what you’re doing?”
Novah threw her hands up. “I don’t know. Maybe he thinks I’m a hacker or something?”
Talia snorted. “He’s way off base there. How many times did I have to show you how to use that app you downloaded to control the lights and temperatures in your apartment?”
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