Krewe of Hunters, Volume 1: Phantom Evil ; Heart of Evil ; Sacred Evil ; The Evil Inside

by Heather Graham

  “You should just stay. I can call Jamie—”

  She rose out of his arms onto her elbow and stared down at him. “You’re going to call my uncle and tell him that I’m staying the night?”

  “Better than have him worry.”

  “He was almost a priest!”

  “Exactly. Almost a priest. The key word there is almost.”

  “But—”

  “Jamie is human, Jenna.”

  She laughed and lay back down by him. He pulled her against him. “He’s my uncle,” she said.

  “And I’m sure he knows that you grew up.”

  “Still…”

  “Okay, okay, I’ll take you home. He’ll think we’re assuming that he’s either stupid or entirely blind himself.”

  “That won’t work,” Jenna told him.

  He laughed.

  “I really can’t stay long. Of course, we could be discussing the case, should be discussing the case—”

  “No, definitely not. Not now, not here!” he whispered, and pulled her against him again.

  This time, he was achingly, deliciously slow, teasing and tormenting, and she struggled to do so in return. When they were spent at last, she collapsed next him, ridiculously glad to know him so well and so thoroughly. She wasn’t sure where it could lead, and she couldn’t allow herself to care. It was now, and it was still magic, and she’d never regret having come here, because somehow, on this night, no matter what aspects of philosophy and life divided them, they were one for those few hours.

  They lay there entwined as seconds ticked by. Then, rather than Jenna, it was Sam who rose, and after a minute, he returned to stand in the doorway. She couldn’t help thinking that he was something like an indifferent Adonis, unaware of himself. She wondered if he had any idea of just how perfect he might be; in his world, his tailored clothing was his mask.

  “We’re all set,” he said.

  “What?” She leaped out of the bed. “All set for what?”

  “I called Jamie—”

  “And you asked him if I could stay the night?”

  “No, I said you were here, safe, with me, and I was about to walk you back, and he said that we should both just get some sleep and he’d see us in the morning.”

  “Just like that?” Jenna asked.

  “I swear, God as my witness,” he said.

  “I’m not sure you believe in God,” she said.

  He stood there a moment. “I do believe in…something. A greater power. I believe in life, and all that goes with it. I even believe in people, and that love itself is one of the greatest powers on the earth. The things I’ve seen done when love is real are remarkable. And, anyway, on all that, I swear, it was Jamie’s idea that you stay.”

  He walked to her, taking her into his arms.

  “I’m hungry,” he told her.

  “Yes,” she murmured.

  “No, I mean, I’m really starving, although, of course…all my creature desires seem to be calling to me at once.”

  She laughed and stepped away. “Got another robe?”

  * * *

  There wasn’t much in the house despite their attempts to concoct something substantial from the meager pickings. Sam found a takeout menu from a pizza restaurant that delivered as late as two in the morning, so they sent out for pizzas. There was enough for a salad, which they had just managed to finish putting together when the pizza arrived. They sat at the kitchen table with a bottle of sauvignon and their food, and Jenna found that she couldn’t help but bring up the case again.

  “I feel we have the answer, as if we’re looking right at it,” she said.

  “So far, we know that a number of people like to dress up as the horned god, and that they probably do so because the teaching facilities use that likeness to show why the Puritans were easily led to believe that Celtic religions and paganism did have a devil. And since the Puritans were busy getting rid of Calvinism—by any means necessary—and were supposed to be the most amazing fundamentalists, they could be convinced easily enough that there was a devil, and, at first, that those who weren’t good churchgoers might easily dance with the devil. Midwives and healers were always the first suspects.”

  Jenna drummed her fingers on the table. “Yes, but Rebecca Nurse was accused by the girls, and she did hang, and she was an extremely noble woman.”

  “Ah!” he said, waving his fork at her. “There were two main families who held the money in the town at the time—they didn’t seem to be against money. It was the Porters and the Putnam family. Okay, they were a little messed up and inbred by then, but it seemed that each section of the families had to side with one of the families. The Putnams were throwing out the accusations—Rebecca Nurse was on the Porter side.

  “It all started with Tituba, the slave from Barbados, telling tales. Tituba was different.”

  “As Malachi is different.”

  “Yes, but I guarantee you, John Alden—and many other fine people in this city—are not going to let people run around crying, Witch!”

  Jenna shook her head. “No, but we saw tonight that children listen to their parents. Okay, maybe not when the parents want them to, but they definitely listen to adult conversation. The Smith family was disliked. Many people felt sorry for Malachi—they hated his father. But the family itself was hated. So, that made Malachi different. Then there was the incident with David Yates. Okay, logically—and yes, I believe this— David was afraid in his own mind and hit himself in the head. Sam, that was like the girls twitching and crawling around the floor and speaking in so-called tongues. They were afraid. Tituba told the girls stories. David had been cruel to Malachi, and he’d heard that the family was fanatical.”

  “I agree. It’s a sound correlation. But here’s the thing. I believe, and if you’re right about the murderer wearing a costume, the murders were well planned, as well. And if that’s the case, they were well planned to make it look like Malachi was the murderer. That doesn’t go along with hysteria,” Sam said.

  “Maybe it’s all a combination of both,” Jenna suggested.

  “And the past,” Sam said thoughtfully. He smiled at Jenna across the table. “Somebody wanted something, so they were using prejudices that were already there to accomplish what they wanted.”

  “But who—and what do they want?” Jenna asked thoughtfully.

  “The diamond answer,” Sam said. He looked at her. “Somehow, now, you have to get to see David Yates, and I have to find a way to talk to Joshua Abbott. We have to get them apart.”

  “All right. Oh! Oh!”

  “What? What?”

  Jenna grinned. “I’m sorry—I forgot to tell you. I went and had my tarot cards read yesterday.”

  “Okay?”

  “I went by A Little Bit of Magic. I spoke to Ivy and Cecilia, and saw another old friend, now known as Merlin. Anyway, they said he had competition— Madam Sam. Who is Samantha Yeager.”

  “She gave you a reading?”

  “Yes, but she already knew who I was.”

  “Really—why bother with the reading? And what did she say?”

  “She said that she didn’t kill anybody over a house, basically. She’s interesting. And she had an alibi—as far as killing the Smith family, anyway. The clerk verified that she had been giving tarot readings when they were killed.”

  “I should meet her,” Sam said.

  “Yes, you should. She’s interesting. I mean, very theatrical. But she admits it’s all an act. I think she’s entirely different when she’s not being Madam Sam.”

  “Well, then, I’ll go and have a tarot card reading.” He paused a moment, looking at her before speaking softly. “Then I think that we have to go back to the murder house again.”

  “Lexington House?” Jenna asked. She felt as if her skin crawled with the thought of it. She wasn’t afraid of the house, she told herself. The house was a shell.

  A shell that had witnessed terrible cruelty and violence.

  “If you can,” he
said. He set his hand on hers. “Jenna, I don’t want you to do anything that hurts you in any way. I still don’t know what I believe, but you were practically bleach-white the last time we were in there, and…”

  “It’s what I do,” she told him. “And I’ll be all right.”

  “You’re certain?”

  “Of course. You’ll be there, too.”

  He stood up, finishing the last swig of his wine. “We do need to get some sleep,” he said, setting down his glass and reaching for her hand.

  “Are we going to sleep?” she asked him.

  He grinned. “Eventually.”

  * * *

  Jenna was startled awake by the very loud ringing of her phone.

  She groped blindly for it, remembered her handbag was in the foyer where she had dropped it, and bolted from the bed.

  Sam was already up. He had showered and was dressed, and she could smell the delicious aroma of freshly brewed coffee.

  He handed it to her as she came dashing out.

  “Wow, I do like the way you look in the morning!” he teased.

  She gave him a warning glance, dived into the bag and found her phone.

  She answered with a quick, “Duffy!”

  “Jenna.”

  It was Angela Hawkins, Jenna’s team member, and one of her favorite people in the world. Angela had been a cop before joining the unit, and though she was a slim, blue-eyed blonde, she really was tough as nails. She was also wonderful at making contact with whatever spirits might remain behind.

  “Angela! Hey, how are you? Is everything all right? Oh, please, I hope we don’t have to be somewhere right now—”

  “No, no. Jackson thought we should come up. Unofficially, of course. So, we’re just here for Haunted Happenings.”

  “Here?” Jenna said.

  “We’re at your uncle’s house—Jackson, Will and I.”

  “Oh! You’re in Salem already.”

  “Yes. Actually, Will has a permit—we’re sending him out to perform magic in the street and he can see what passes by—we’re going to put him just outside one of the museums on the pedestrian walkway. Anyway, should we come to you?”

  “No! Ah, no,” Jenna said, glancing at Sam, who had poured her coffee and brought it to where she stood. “No, fifteen minutes, we’ll be there. Sam and I.”

  “Take your time. Jamie is filling us in.”

  She hung up, feeling panicked, and then laughed.

  “Is that hysteria? What’s going on?” Sam asked.

  “Jackson, Angela and Will are here. Part of my team.”

  “Jackson Crow—the behavior guy. The profiler.”

  “Angela and Will, too. She was a cop in Virginia…and Will was an entertainer, from Trinidad, originally—fascinating guy. He works with film and sound and all that. He’s going to do surveillance down by the shops and museums on the pedestrian walk, pretend to be a street performer doing magic.”

  She was afraid for a minute that he was going to be angry—afraid that his rapport with John Alden would be destroyed if the FBI showed up.

  “Brilliant,” he said. “A worker who can see a zillion tourists, of course, but also get to know all the people in the area—shopkeepers, guides, Puritan and Witch Trial actors and actresses.”

  “Brilliant? You’re sure?” she asked.

  He nodded. “I liked your speech to John Alden the other day. We will happily use what we can get.”

  “But what about John? Will he become defensive?” Jenna asked.

  “I don’t know. We’ll see. Hey—they’re here, right? And it’s a free country. They don’t have to have police cooperation to be here and look around a tourist city as private citizens.”

  She let out a sigh of relief and took a long swallow of coffee. “A shower. I’ve got to get into the shower…my clothes! I need both boots, oh, hell….”

  “There’s a shower in the back of the bedroom, in the bath, extra toothbrushes and stuff like that in the cabinet above the sink, and…” he said, caught her arm before she could tear off and kissed her lips quickly. “Don’t panic. Sex is older than the hills, you know.”

  “No, I’m not panicked. I’ve just got to move!”

  He laughed as she hurried away.

  Twenty minutes later, Sam and Jenna had walked the short distance to Jamie’s house.

  Since he’d met Jenna, Sam had found himself intrigued to meet Jackson Crow. The man was about his own height and build with exceptional features that told of a Native American background. Angela was a slim, stunning blonde with grave eyes, and Will Chan was tall with a fascinating mix of cultures, predominately Asian, visible in his features, as well. They seemed relaxed and easy, but ready to hear everything they could about the case.

  “We’ll be discreet,” Jackson assured Sam. “No problems with the locals. We can just be your legs or eyes as needed—you can’t be everywhere at once. And we can send any questions straight to Jake Mallory. He can find out about any human being in the world, and he can do it legally. Most of the time. I believe.”

  Will had given Jenna an affectionate kiss on the cheek, as had the others, when they had met. Sam was surprised to realize that he felt a twinge of jealousy—this was a team that was tight and supportive. He was accustomed these days to doing most of his own work in his head, arguing out plans and actions by himself, despite the fact that Evan Richardson was such a great assistant. He’d come up in the world; sometimes he missed the early days when he’d been in the D.A.’s office himself and he’d sat in a pool with others, all searching out legal histories and planning stratagem. Not to mention the larger group—being friends with the cops instead of being considered a thorn in their sides, as a defense attorney often was.

  “Excuse me, I start right away,” Will said, rising and shaking Sam’s hand. “I have my cell, and it’s on buzz.” He hesitated. “I’m trying to get in for a guest performance at the school. We’ll see how that goes.”

  “Maybe I can help with that,” Sam said. He hadn’t told Jenna, of course, but he believed her angry speech about law enforcement being open to whatever help there was might have given John Alden a twinge. Maybe John even believed—just a little—that he wasn’t in the right. Or, at least, that Sam’s involvement—and Jenna’s—could only help to prove Malachi’s guilt. And if he couldn’t pull this one off, he knew who could. “Jamie!” he said. “Don’t you still take cases from the school?”

  “I do. But I’m assuming that I’m not particularly loved there at the moment,” he said. “They all know how I feel about Malachi—that he’s being railroaded.”

  “Yes, but most people are basically decent, even when they’re swayed by a common concept,” Sam said. “I think you should go in first.” Jamie nodded.

  “All right. I’m heading out,” Will said and left them.

  Jackson asked Sam, “What about getting back into Lexington House?”

  “I’ll talk to John Alden. He’s the lead detective on the case.”

  “All right, what can we do?” Jackson asked.

  Sam went over everything that he and Jenna had discussed the night before. Jackson listened attentively. “I have to ask this—do you honestly believe that the young man is innocent?”

  “Absolutely,” Sam said.

  “I believe in him and, Jackson, when you meet him, you’ll believe in him, too,” Jenna said. “There’s something…I don’t know. He’s special. And I don’t mean that in any kind of a negative way. His belief is so strong. And antiviolent.”

  “I think,” Sam said, “that Andy Yates would definitely be someone to get to know better. He was interested in purchasing the house, and it’s his son who was involved in the altercation or whatever with Malachi. I still want to talk to his son, David Yates—and the friend, Joshua Abbott—who agreed that they’d seen Malachi rush out of Earnest Covington’s house. Their statements directly contradict those of the grocer.”

  “I spoke with the grocer,” Jenna said. “And he’s adamant about
what he saw.”

  “So the boys are lying,” Jackson said.

  “At the moment I’ve got them on hold, but this has to change now. However, Andy Yates’s wife threatened me not to get near the boy,” Sam said. “As the defense attorney I do have the right to speak with the witnesses. I’ve been trying to think of a way around that. I’d rather not walk in pulling out the official card, just yet.”

  “Yeah, and we can’t compromise the case in any way,” Jackson said thoughtfully. “But it’s not compromising the case if it’s the law.”

  “It is the law, and I can argue the issue—but only if the prosecution is calling him in. If David Yates is going to be a witness, I can get a court order for the kid to talk to me,” Sam said. “I was hoping not to force the issue, since people talk more easily when they’re not forced to do so. And then there’s this—so far, Malachi has only been accused of the murders of his family. If the prosecutor doesn’t press further charges and doesn’t intend on bringing further charges against Malachi and bring David Yates into court, I won’t have any standing. But, still, I’m hoping I could sway them to drop the prosecution if they can see the other two murders were done by someone other than Malachi. I think that should work.”

  “The kids are always hanging out at the cliff park-that’s-not-really-a-park,” Jenna said. “Maybe I can show Angela the view, and we can hope the boys wind up there.”

  “All right,” Sam said. “You two try the cliff after school. I’ll take Jackson with me. I’ll introduce him to Councilman Yates, then we’ll take a ride over to Beverly. I still think someone at the church Abraham Smith was attending might know something.”

  “You’re forgetting something,” Jenna told him.

  “What’s that?” Sam asked.

  “Samantha Yeager.”

  “Ah, yes, well, we definitely need to have our cards read!” Jackson said.

  After they discussed arrangements to get Sam’s car and get everyone where they needed to be, Sam noticed Jenna seemed to be getting a touch antsy. “What are you going to do before you go to the cliffs?” he asked her suspiciously.

  She arched a brow to him. “Ghost hunt!” she said.

  “Ghost hunt,” he said. “Just like that—ghost hunt. I thought you told me that it wasn’t anything like dial-a-ghost?”