Devil May Ride

by Roberts, Wendy

  It took all of two minutes for Zack to call her on her cell.

  “I’m sorry,” she said as a greeting when she answered. “When the cops get there, you need to find a way to tell them Thuggy is the guy buried with Bambi under the tree. The burned body. It was his. I guess the reason he wasn’t watching Dawn is because he was already dead. He doesn’t know he’s dead. He’s still working undercover. I’ll deal with that later, but right now, there’s no way I can spend the rest of the night talking to police about Egan when I need to be looking for Dawn.”

  “You need to be letting the police look for Dawn!” he shouted. “Don’t do anything stupid.”

  “When have I ever done anything stupid?” she demanded, and hung up before he could start listing days and times.

  When the cabdriver was within a block of Onyx House, Sadie asked him to drop her off. She paid him and stepped out onto the dark tree-lined street, immediately feeling vulnerable. For the first time she wished she’d listened to Zack and carried her gun. But she had no talent for shooting. The only talent she had would have to do. Hopefully, a certain five-year-old ghost was available to help her get inside the house.

  Sadie ducked inside the yard and crept to the edge of the bushes.

  “You shouldn’t’ve come,” Rhea whispered. She was glancing around and nervously fading in and out.

  “Why? Is that other man still here?” Sadie asked, standing in the shadow.

  “They will hurt you.”

  “I’m not going to get hurt,” Sadie insisted. “But someone’s taken my sister and I have to find her. Have you seen a pregnant lady?”

  Rhea nodded sadly.

  “Where is she?!” Sadie insisted, her voice rising, and she reached for the girl in spite of herself, but Rhea was gone.

  Suddenly, she felt the bite of cold metal as a blade pressed against her larynx.

  “Make a sound and you’re dead,” said a firm male voice.

  She was brought into Onyx House through the back door.

  “Keep going,” snarled the man with the knife still at her throat. “Through the kitchen and down the stairs.”

  He pushed her along and the edge of the knife made tiny cuts into her throat, making her afraid to even swallow. The stairs to the basement of the old home were extremely steep and there was only a faint glimmer of light coming from below. Once she reached the bottom of the stairs, he turned her around and pushed Sadie forward into a larger room.

  “I told you if we waited long enough, she’d come to us.”

  Sadie recognized the voice as Joy’s, but when she turned toward the sound, she spotted her sister.

  “Dawn!” Sadie screamed.

  Her sister was gagged and tied to a straight-backed chair. Sadie lunged to be with her, but a hand clamped on her arm and held her firm.

  “Make sure she’s s-s-secured,” Joy said, sounding almost bored. “She’s a s-s-slippery one.”

  Sadie was forced into a wooden chair not far from Dawn.

  “You’re going to be fine. Everything’s going to be okay,” Sadie assured.

  She hated the naked fear in Dawn’s eyes and she planned on making everyone in the room pay for putting it there. Unfortunately, her hands were immediately restrained behind her back with plastic cable ties that dug into her flesh. Then her ankles were each bound to a leg of the chair.

  “Please don’t gag me,” Sadie pleaded. “Let me talk to my sister.”

  “Just go along, Sweets. It’ll be easier.”

  Sadie spun her head in the direction of Scott Reed’s voice.

  “You!” she spit. “You did this!”

  But he looked just as afraid as Dawn.

  “Shut up,” Joy said to Reed. “You have no power here.”

  She looked around the room for the first time. There were about half a dozen people in the room. They looked at Sadie with a mixture of revulsion and excitement. A coffee table was pushed into the center of the room by a young man with a goatee that was similar to Tim’s. But where was Tim?

  “Keep me and let my sister go,” Sadie said. “Please.”

  “You’re both needed for the ritual. Trust me, this wasn’t my wish, but Tim s-s-said one day you would come to Onyx House and he was right!” She shouted the word “right” and the room erupted in applause.

  “We had our doubts,” she admitted when the claps died down. “Even I began to wonder. Especially after our dear Rhea died.” Pain flashed across her eyes, but when it was gone, all that remained was madness. “You are the proof,” she said to Sadie. “You and your powers. You are what made today possible.”

  There was more applause.

  “You should actually feel quite honored,” Joy said.

  “Oka-a-ay,” Sadie said. “If it is all about me, let my sister go.”

  “Oh, we will be letting her go all right,” Joy said.

  “They only want her baby,” Reed spoke up.

  “Shut up,” Joy hissed. “Nobody has given you permission to s-s-speak. You did your investigation into S-S-SADIE and you got proof for Witigo Alliance that she had the power we hoped, but now your work is done. Now you are useless to us.”

  “You were investigating me for this bunch of wackos?” Sadie called out to Reed, but he slunk off to stand against the wall with the others. Sadie could see him break out in a sweat.

  “If you continue to s-s-speak, I’ll have you gagged,” Joy barked at Sadie.

  Just then the door to the basement opened and everyone was silent as someone came down the stairs. Sadie prayed it was Zack. With his gun and maybe a couple dozen trigger-happy cops.

  Unfortunately it was Tim.

  “Greetings, Master,” the crowd murmured together as if on cue.

  He was carrying a large cloth sack that he dragged behind him. He walked over to the coffee table and turned the sack upside down. The body of an eviscerated goat tumbled out. Its white belly hair was matted with fresh blood.

  Sadie glanced at her sister and saw Dawn’s eyes were wide with fear.

  “Don’t look at it,” she whispered to Dawn. “Close your eyes.”

  Tim turned to look at Sadie and he clapped his hands. “Wonderful!” he exclaimed, obviously delighted to see her. He walked over to Joy, embraced her, and planted a long wet kiss on her mouth. When he finally released her, Joy’s face was absolutely radiant. She looked drunk with pleasure.

  “You have redeemed yourself,” he told her, looking into her eyes. “Producing me a powerless, worthless heir is all forgiven now.”

  “He calls me that only ’cause I didn’t have power,” Rhea said.

  Sadie twisted around to see the ghost of the little girl just behind her.

  “Please help me,” Sadie said. “Think of a way for us to get out of here.”

  “I can’t help you,” Rhea whispered back. “I don’t know how, but I’ll help your friends.” The little girl folded her arms over her chest angrily. “It’s not my fault Daddy’s power went to you and not to me,” Rhea continued with a pout. “I wasn’t even born yet. If Daddy didn’t die so early—”

  “They would’ve killed him,” Sadie murmured. She turned away from Rhea and looked at Tim with hatred in her eyes. “If Brian hadn’t taken his own life, you planned on killing him anyway. That’s why you told him he was crazy. You didn’t want him to know he had a gift, because you wanted his power for yourself. When Joy told you she was pregnant, you knew that Brian’s power would go to her baby.”

  Sudden realization hit her.

  “So that’s why you need both me and the baby. When you kill me, the power will go to the baby and you’ll have your heir, but actually it isn’t about having a child. You want to use that child to connect you to the dark forces. To be your bridge to the other side and give you power to communicate with the dead.”

  “Not the way you do,” Tim said slyly. “My communication with spirits will be on an entirely different plane.” He chuckled and the entire room erupted into laughter to join him.

&nb
sp; “Did you kill Rhea too, just because she had no power?”

  “Of course not!” Joy said.

  “Why isn’t she gagged?” Tim asked heatedly, and two or three men leapt forward to do the job.

  “She wasn’t even Brian’s child!” Sadie screamed out.

  A big burly guy succeeded in thrusting a rag that reeked of damp and mildew into her mouth, but Tim shoved the man aside and yanked the rag from Sadie’s mouth.

  “What did you say?” His eyes were narrowed to slits.

  “I said the reason why Rhea had no power wasn’t because of me. It was because she wasn’t Brian’s blood.” Sadie looked beyond Tim to nod to Joy. “Tell him, Joy. Tell him that Rhea wasn’t Brian’s child.” Sadie looked up at Tim. “Rhea was your flesh and blood, not Brian’s.”

  “What?!” His eyes bulged and Tim whirled to face Joy. “You lying whore! You told me you were pregnant with Brian’s child. You knew that was the only reason you would gain entry into the order, and you knew it was the only reason I chose to take you as my bride!”

  Joy shrank back until she was flat against the wall.

  “She’s lying!” Joy said.

  “Oh yeah? Rhea herself told me,” Sadie shouted hurriedly. “I speak to the dead, remember? And they speak to me, but there’s something that you don’t know—the dead also talk to each other. Rhea had a nice chat with Brian and reported back to me.”

  Sadie turned to offer an apology for the lie to Rhea, but the little girl was gone. Sadie turned back at the sound of Tim’s fist slamming into the wall an inch from Joy’s face. Sadie thought Joy would flinch or move away, but she merely stood there as if prepared to take whatever punishment he dished out.

  Suddenly, Tim took a deep breath and turned away.

  “What’s done is done,” he said. “The past doesn’t matter anymore. Today’s ritual is what’s important. The only way Witigo can move on is to have the power of both the living and the dead. After tonight, we’ll have both.”

  Sadie thought she heard a sound upstairs. She strained to listen but realized it must be her imagination or the sound of her own heart pounding painfully in her ears.

  Tim stepped forward and unrolled the satchel and laid the contents out on the table. There were six knives with ornate black and silver handles that he spaced evenly on the table. Next, he added a clear bottle of red liquid and a chalice.

  For two weeks the heat wave had made Sadie feel overheated, but now her blood ran like ice in her veins.

  Please, God, she prayed. Oh please, no.

  She thought back to her Catholic roots and began to recite the prayers of her youth. She could almost smell the incense. Then she opened her eyes and realized it was incense. Incense and smoke.

  I’m losing my mind.

  “What’s that smell?” Tim demanded. He nodded to Joy. “Did you leave something cooking in the kitchen?”

  “I—I don’t think s-s-so.”

  “Go check,” he ordered.

  Joy hurried up the stairs. When she reached the top and opened the door, she screamed.

  “Fire!”

  It was pandemonium. Everyone scrambled up the stairs at once. Even though Tim shouted for all to remain calm, nobody listened. Apparently, the wrath of their master was nothing compared with the thought of burning alive in the basement of an ancient B and B.

  Dawn and Sadie were left in the basement. Dawn’s face was white as paste and her eyes were wide with fear.

  “We’re going to be okay,” Sadie said.

  She made hopping and wiggling motions until her chair was right next to her sister’s.

  There were chaotic shouts upstairs and the sound of gunshots. Followed by the joyful sound of Zack’s voice as he screamed, “Sadie!”

  He bounded down the stairs and ran to her, lifting her, chair and all, right off the floor. Then he went to Dawn and removed her gag.

  “Are you okay?” he asked her.

  “I really need to pee,” she said.

  Zack looked around, saw the knives, and used one to cut away her ties first and then Sadie’s.

  “We’ve got to get out of here.” Dawn coughed. “What about the fire?”

  She tried to get to her feet but stumbled. Zack caught her and pushed her back onto the chair.

  “There’s no fire. Not really. Let the cops do their thing upstairs and paramedics will come down and examine you.”

  “But the smoke?” Sadie asked.

  “Maeva and her friend Louise did something they called smudging. They started it before the rest of us got here. It turned out to be a great idea. Everyone was afraid we’d end up in a standoff with you two as hostages. This way, the bad guys all ended up running right into the arms of the cops.”

  “We heard shots,” Sadie said.

  “Tim tried to make a run for it. I think he took one in the leg.”

  “Between the legs would’ve been better,” Sadie grumbled.

  She grabbed her sister in a hug.

  “I’m sooo sorry you got dragged into this.”

  “You can make it up to me by helping me to the washroom.”

  They found one down the hall and Dawn waddled quickly inside. When she reappeared, she breathed a sigh of relief.

  “That shower tomorrow had better be frigg’n awesome. You owe me.”

  “You still want the shower after all this?” Sadie asked incredulously.

  “Especially after all this!” Dawn exclaimed.

  The paramedics looked Dawn over and pronounced her and her baby healthy despite the trauma, but they insisted she go to the hospital anyway. Sadie promised to be along shortly. As soon as she spoke to the police and gave her statement no less than half a dozen times. It was par for the course.

  Louise and Maeva were pleased as punch that they’d taken matters into their own hands.

  “Rhea helped show us where you were,” Maeva said.

  “What would you have done if everyone came running out of the house assuming there was a fire, but the cops hadn’t arrived yet?” Sadie asked with a smile.

  “Actually, we hadn’t thought things out that far,” Maeva admitted.

  “Like hell we hadn’t.” Louise lifted the front of her shirt to reveal a revolver tucked neatly into the waistband of her pants.

  “If you don’t have a license to carry concealed, you’re going to want to get rid of that thing before you give your statement,” Zack said with a pained expression on his face.

  “Oh. Right,” Louise said, and she hustled off to her car.

  “Terry threatened not to let me hang out with you anymore,” Maeva said. “You should be prepared for a lecture.”

  “He can yell at me all he wants after the baby shower,” Sadie said.

  “The shower’s still on?” Maeva asked, her eyebrows raised in surprise.

  “Yep. It’s still on.”

  “Awesome. I’ve got my present all wrapped and ready to go.”

  “Please tell me you didn’t get the baby a miniature tarot-card pack or something like that,” Sadie groaned.

  “Of course not,” Maeva exclaimed, but the twinkle in her eye promised the gift would have Maeva’s special touch. She rubbed her arms with her hands. “Is it finally cooling off or am I hallucinating?”

  Sadie took a deep breath of the cool, damp air, enjoying the smell of the ocean.

  “I think Seattle’s finally getting back to normal.”

  It was at least another ninety minutes before Sadie was free to go. Maeva and Louise went home. Zack offered to bring Sadie to the hospital to be with Dawn. On the drive over to the hospital, they sat quietly, each buried in his or her own thoughts.

  “I’m sorry I left you at Egan’s house to deal with all that crap,” Sadie said.

  Zack stopped his car at a red light and glanced over at her.

  “You had to rescue your sister. I get it. While we’re apologizing, I’m sorry for everything that’s happened too, but I didn’t sleep with Jackie.”

  “What?” S
adie whirled and gaped at him. “What do you mean, you didn’t sleep with her? Why would you tell me you did if you didn’t?”

  “I was drunk. She was supposed to sleep on my couch and I told her I’d drive her home in the morning. When I woke up, she was naked in my bed and I just assumed . . .”

  “And who corrected that assumption?”

  “She did. When I put a gun to her head earlier tonight.”

  “What?” Sadie shrieked.

  “She was feeding information to Scott Reed in return for cash. Her gambling problem was bigger than I thought. Guess she was back to owing a lot of money and didn’t want to lose any more fingers. Jackie also admitted that I wasn’t the one who told her about your ability to speak to the dead. Reed was trying to get in good with the WA for his story, and he knew WA wanted proof of your abilities. For what it’s worth, I don’t think Reed realized he was putting you in danger. He told Jackie that Witigo were a bunch of nuts, but he didn’t think they were dangerous. She believed that.”

  “She was willing to believe anything for the cash,” Sadie grumbled.

  “Yeah. In the beginning, Jackie just told Reed the cleanup jobs where we were working, so that’s why he always seemed to be around.”

  “And he was photographing me at home too.”

  “Reed asked Jackie to see if she could confirm your ability.” He looked at Sadie. “Unfortunately, I did.”

  The light turned green and he punched the accelerator.

  “I had a feeling something was up with her,” Sadie admitted. “But I thought that feeling was all about how she looked at you.” Sadie thought about things a minute. “I don’t blame you for thinking she was hot. I mean, c’mon . . . you’re a man after all.”

  He reached and put a hand on her leg.

  “You’re the only woman who can turn me on by wearing a hazmat suit.”

  Sadie laughed.

  “Well, you know what this means, don’t you?” she said after a while.

  “What?”

  “I’ve gotta put another ad in the Times for an employee.”

  “Maybe we can handle the cleans just the two of us for a while.”

  “Yeah. Maybe.”

  “I want to be more involved,” he said, steering the car into the hospital parking lot.