The Shadow Box: Paranormal Suspense and Dark Fantasy Thriller Novels

by Travis Luedke

  “So…you don’t need to worry about the abortion getting anyone off the hook.” He gave them a rubber smile. “I know you’re concerned about that. But rest assured, the identity of the father will be known.”

  “That’s good to hear,” Hunter lied. He nodded to Raquel, and she shot him a nervous smile. “Quite a relief.”

  “Mr. Dole I’d like to speak with Mrs. Dole alone, if that’s all right with her.” He looked at Raquel. “How about it?”

  She nodded nervously.

  “Are you sure?” Hunter leaned forward and hooked his head in front of her. She nodded again. “Can I talk to you alone, first?” he whispered, as though Max weren’t three feet away and capable of hearing every dammed word.

  “It’ll be fine,” she muttered.

  Max watched the door close, and then waited a few seconds before looking at Raquel. She was watching him, but looked away when he looked at her.

  He stared at her for a while. The thick silence was broken only by a murmur of passing voices or a distant telephone ring. Someone dropped something on the other side of the wall. It made a soft thump. Max knew it was the office assistant dropping a new box of paper reams next to the copier.

  It forced her to look up. Max locked her eyes with his.

  “What are you going to do?” she asked.

  That was how she dealt with life, passively. Everything was in everyone else’s hands. It made Max sick to his stomach.

  “I’m not going to do anything.” Max leaned forward. “You keep acting like any of this is in my hands. Judges decide these things, not social workers.”

  “What’s the judge going to do?”

  “What’re you going to do?”

  She was quiet for a moment. Max saw a mother somewhere in her eyes trying to get out. She seemed to recognize the reflection in Max’s face before hiding her eyes under a wrinkled brow. Her voice was weary, and her sigh betrayed hidden tears, “I love him.” It sounded like she’d been repeating it a lot.

  “You believe him?” Max asked.

  She nodded slowly.

  “You believe your daughter tried to seduce your husband to blame the pregnancy on him?”

  “She’s always been a little… loose,” she seemed to have trouble saying it. “I’ve caught her with boys. I even caught her with a cousin once—”

  “Fine, but that doesn’t mean she’s lying. Eileen is a child. If she had sex with Hunter, even if it was her idea, he’s still responsible.”

  “I just don’t believe that,” she said, shaking her head. “You only know the good side of Eileen. She can be plum vindictive, especially if she don’t get her way.”

  “You think that’s what this is about? She’s making this up against your husband because she didn’t get her way?”

  “She was seeing some boy who was over twenty and she’s just fourteen. We put a right stop to it, and she got mad. Then she turns up pregnant and says it’s my husband’s?” She gave Max a skeptical look. “It’s real easy for a girl to destroy a man’s life by saying he did something to her. And he’s got no way to prove he ain’t done it—”

  “You believe that?”

  She nodded. Max stared at her for a second.

  “We’ll know soon, though. DNA doesn’t lie. If the child is Hunter’s, we’ll know for sure they had sex. If she’s telling the truth about that, what are you going to do?”

  She didn’t answer.

  “What is that going to mean to you? That your husband had sex with your child?”

  “He’d never force her—”

  “No one is saying he forced her. But she’s a child, and he’s an adult.”

  “If she had sex with my husband…” She pointed at him as she spoke. She was starting to get a little mad. “If she slept with my husband, she’s just as responsible as he is. She knows what she did.”

  “Did?” Max’s eyes widened. “You think he did sleep with your daughter, or that he might have?”

  She made a clicking sound with her lips and searched for words. Finding none, she gestured in vain and shook her head. The last thing she said to him before leaving the room was, “He’s my husband. I still love him.”

  Max went to the bathroom and washed his face with cold water. He left the faucet running while he dried his eyes with a paper towel. Some of his splashing had thrown water on the mirror. It streaked down the uneven surface in erratic streams. A pair crossed paths and in the dim florescent light made a shape not unlike the crossed scars under his arms. He stared at the illusion briefly before cleaning his hands and turning off the faucet.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Sadie’s moped was outside his house when he came home for lunch. She must have had the day off. When he found her, she was on the couch in a brown t-shirt and panties looking through a familiar file.

  “You shouldn’t be reading that.”

  She didn’t look up. He thought about snatching it from her hands, but knew that would just start a fight. It was his fault for leaving it here, anyway.

  “This is what they’re doing?” she asked when he sat next to her. He put his arm around her shoulders. She leaned into him and closed her eyes after Max nodded. “I see what you mean then.”

  He kissed the side of her forehead. “Thank you.” Max took the file and closed it.

  The papers inside detailed the entire operation. Every detail, from the charmed or bribed humans running the church to the vamps snatching kids from the trailer park. Max was certain the Hagshead wasn’t the only park where the vamps stole kids, but it was the only one run by skinheads.

  “How can they just make children disappear?” her voice was weak, but he felt it through her skin. Max rubbed her arm.

  “It isn’t as hard as it sounds, especially if they can make people forget.”

  “They can make you forget your own child?” She looked up at him and sucked in her lips.

  “If they have long enough, they can make someone forget anything. Making people forget things is easy.”

  “But it’s different with a child!”

  He gave her a curious look. “Why?”

  “Because people love their children!” Max interrupted her with a laugh. She scowled. “Most people love their children. How can they erase love like that?”

  “You’re assuming all these kids came from loving families in the first place.” He looked her in the eye. “You know, I’m sure the vamps took their kids by coercion, but I wonder how many of them would have willingly sold their own children for the right money.”

  “Max, that’s awful! You’re just saying that because they’re poor!”

  “No, I’m not. Poor has nothing to do with it, there are just more poor people here than any other group so those are the ones I see. But don’t think for a minute there is any kind of parenting instinct that just magically kicks in as soon as someone sees their baby.” Max shook his head. “I’ve seen mothers lend out their toddlers to pedophiles so they can buy meth.”

  “Those aren’t typical parents.”

  “That isn’t the point, Sadie. The point is that not everyone is a good parent. It isn’t something that comes naturally. People have to learn to be good parents. Some people never do. You should know that.”

  She was quiet. He wondered if he might have offended her when she didn’t look at him for a while. Eventually she turned her head and nodded.

  “That’s why I don’t want to have kids.”

  He wasn’t sure what to say to that. He felt guilty for bringing her to this point, and he knew she could sense it. Should he say something anyway, even though she could feel it? What would he even say? He put his hand on her back and felt her heartbeat between her shoulders.

  “Besides, they aren’t making them forget how they feel, only who makes them feel that way.”

  “What about the school?” She turned on the couch and crossed her legs. “Wouldn’t the school notice kids weren’t showing up anymore?”

  “The school is in on it, Sadie.”<
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  “Everyone in the school is in on it? Even the other parents and kids? There can’t be enough kids from this one park alone to make up a whole school.”

  Max narrowed his eyes. She didn’t seem sure what to make of that, but her empathic abilities must have picked up on Max’s appreciation and pride. She smiled, nervous.

  “You’re a genius.” He leaned forward and gave her a little kiss.

  “What? Me? How the hell am I a genius?” She blushed. In her low cut top it made her boobs turn red. Max found that adorable.

  “Two breakthroughs I’ve had in this case have been from ideas you’ve either had or inspired.” He tugged her body against his and gave her a big hug. She seemed surprised, but didn’t fight it. “I’d talk to you about this more if it didn’t bother you so much.”

  She grinned and gave him a kiss. The way her body pressed against his made him want to take off her clothes. They were barely on as it was. He kissed her deep and ran his hands up the back of her shirt. He didn’t find a bra strap… that was incredibly hot. When she came around, her breasts fell into his hand and her nipples hardened in his palm.

  “I can’t stay though,” he said kissing the side of her face. “I’m going to have to go to the school.”

  She opened her legs and climbed on him, giving him a look that said he wasn’t going anywhere. Max pulled up the back of her shirt, and she wiggled out of it. He slid his hand into her rose print panties and squeezed her ass as she mashed her breasts against his chest.

  “What got you all horny all of a sudden?” he asked as she licked his neck. He put his fingers in her from behind, not very deep, but enough to make her moan a bit.

  “You complimented me.” She ran her hands down his chest and unbuttoned his shirt. She brought her mouth over his face and stopped next to his ear. With his free hand he undid his belt. “Complimenting women turns them on. I thought you would understand such a basic principle of seduction.”

  She moved to his jeans after finishing with his shirt. Max played with the little ring in her labia. It made her giggle.

  “Hmmm…” He pulled her body into his as she pushed his jeans down around his hips. “I was hoping maybe I was just so sexy it overwhelmed you.”

  “Maybe.” She smiled and bit her lip right behind the ring. Her eyes rolled back as she lifted above him and took the shaft of his cock in her hand. Max slid his fingers over her shoulders and caressed her breasts. He lowered his face to one of them and put her nipple in his mouth.

  Sadie pulled aside the thin strip of her panties and lowered onto him. His head penetrated her soft lips. Moaning, she squeezed his shaft with her hand as her little body slid down onto him. She stopped when he was barely an inch inside and matched his eyes with a wild, almost surprised look.

  “Oh my God.” She rolled her eyes as he took her hips and pushed passed her resistance. “It’s been so long since we did it like this!” She moaned and grabbed his shoulders. “I forgot how little it makes me feel.” She gave him a faux bashful look. “How big it makes you feel inside me!”

  “You know, I’m probably going to be near vamps tonight,” he said as she slid up and down, stroking his cock with the soft, tight lips of her pussy. “You know they’ll be able to…mmm.”

  She gave him an excited look and nodded. “Oh yes!” She pumped harder, almost hurting him. Max had to grab her by the waist to keep her from falling. “I want them to smell my sex on you.” She dug her nails into his shoulders and leaned into him. “I want them to know you’re mine! I’m making it mine! I’m going to make you mine!”

  Sadie came with a scream, biting his shoulder halfway through it and rocking back and forth on his cock until her hips gave out. Max took over before she was finished. He thrust into her from beneath and held her shuddering body against him. She came again as his moans increased—apparently sensing he was about to come. She always could, it was part of her gift. The sensation often triggered a massive internal orgasm. This was one of those times, though it didn’t hurt that he released a jet of cum into her body.

  Max felt a surge of moisture around the base of his cock. Sadie pressed the side of her face against his forehead and screamed again. No sense in muffling the second one if she hadn’t muffled the first. Max’s cries of pleasure were always quieter than hers. He’d learned to tone his down so he could enjoy the way she sounded when they were making love, especially like this. His cock throbbed as he emptied the last drops of cum inside her.

  She collapsed against him and let her sweat mingle with his. Her breathing slowed until she was riding the waves of his heavy breath. His legs would fall asleep if he kept her on him like this for much longer, but he liked having her in his arms. She felt soft and warm. The way her body fit against his made him feel complete.

  “I made it mine,” she whispered, kissing his ear. She wrapped her arm around the back of his head and rubbed his chest with her other hand. “All mine.”

  “Yes, you did.” He rubbed her soft, wet skin and squeezed her body against him. “All yours.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  There were several fine church-based schools in the Joplin area. The Eternal Life Christian Church School was not one of them. It was little more than a home-school program run by volunteers and church members. Missouri had lax laws regarding home schooling. Almost anyone could do it. If someone got enough kids together, they could run their own private, non-certified, church-based school.

  As Max expected, the “school” was based at the church. Max had seen this before. It was little more than a day care. Humorous as it may seem, the state laws regarding day-care centers were far stricter than the ones concerning private, non-certified schools.

  The church was an old building made of aging rock mortar out past Center City Road. Max had to pass through the microscopic town of Klondike to get there, which brought him close to the Kansas border. An old school bus, painted white and faded red, was parked next to a sheet metal addition on the northern end of the building. It was free standing, but connected by a short, covered walkway.

  He took a few moments to examine the building. The church was old, likely dated back to the original settlers of this area. There were quite a few churches like it in Southwest Missouri. The old gray and brown building had an undeniable charm, but Max still found most churches inherently sinister. He’d never had much trust in religion, and even less in organized churches. He had a hard time keeping that attitude hidden.

  The main door was locked, so Max walked to the rear of the building and started peering through windows. He heard voices, most of them small and high pitched. It was difficult to pinpoint the source, but he was about to do just that when he was discovered.

  “May I help you?”

  Max turned to see a large woman with light brown hair standing near a door he’d missed. She had her hands on her hips. Max pulled a business card out of his bag and approached her with a forced smile.

  “Child Protective Services.” She read from the card. “Maxwell Hollingsworth—”

  “You can call me Max.”

  Her change was instant. She gave him a smile and tried to hand back the card. Max told her she could keep it. She tucked it in her pocket.

  “What can I do for you? Are you here to see one of the children?”

  “I’m looking for a child who might have once gone to school here.”

  She nodded and gestured for him to follow. Past the white door they entered a narrow hallway with unfinished walls. The air smelled like sawdust. They passed a set of closed double doors on the way, through which he heard children singing. He imagined they probably did that a lot at a church school.

  “Since it’s a former student, I can help you,” she said as they entered her office. Max saw a name carved in wooden blocks on her desk: Ree Shay. “But unless you have a deputy with you or a signed note from a parent, I can’t let you speak to the children.”

  Max nodded. “You’ve dealt with us before?”

  She ge
stured to a chair. Max sat, and she walked around an old metal desk to a filing cabinet. The floor was concrete, though there was a rug under her desk and a small space heater in the corner. Max would have been cold without his jacket.

  “Oh, yes. We’ve had Children’s Division out here many times.” She nodded. “Our school is free to church members, so we get a lot of kids from unfortunate families. Those tend to be the ones with the most problems.”

  Max wouldn’t have quite agreed with that statement, but he wasn’t going to argue with her.

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t introduce myself,” she said her name and asked Max to call her Ree. She was the principal, though that wasn’t an official title. This was a volunteer job for her. Her husband was a church deacon. “Now, who are you looking for?”

  “How many children attend school here?”

  “Thirty-seven,” she smiled as she gave the precise number. Max wrote that down. She looked like she was about to repeat the question of the specific child.

  “Penny Winnans.” He watched her reaction. She didn’t flinch, but she did furrow her brow and give him a curious look.

  “Is she kin to Janet and Larry Winnans?”

  “You know them?”

  “Why yes, they’re part of our congregation. They don’t have any children, though. Maybe a niece?”

  “They attend church here?”

  “Not really, but they’re still members. They live in the park. A lot of our parents move there when they hit on hard times.”

  “Hagshead?”

  She nodded.

  “Do you have any record of a Penny Winnans?”

  Ree opened the cabinet and flipped through the files.

  “You know, that name does not sound familiar…”

  “Don’t you get a lot of children?”

  “Yes, but I know each one by name… It would be hard to believe I could have a little girl here and not know her.” She shut the drawer and slid into her chair. “I don’t think we ever had a Penny. And unless she’s a niece to the Winnans.”