Matthew’s checks were red. Tufts of hair stuck out from under his black knit cap. “We have to get there before Nicolas finishes work at the welding shop and returns home.”
“You’re going to an awful lot of trouble to save a guy that doesn’t deserve it,” Hunter said.
“Everyone deserves saving,” Sarah replied. “Maybe if your people were more forgiving, you wouldn’t have a teenager shooting up your school.”
Hunter’s mouth dropped open and his eyes became slits. I placed my hand on his chest. “I talked to my aunt about it. She said some people have mental problems that they hide very well, and then one day they just explode.” I leveled a stern look at Sarah and felt all of my own guilt slip away. “There wasn’t anything we could have done to prevent Jackson from doing what he did. Just like you couldn’t stop David Lapp from killing Naomi.”
“Some people are just lost causes, Sarah.” Matthew stepped up behind her. “You know that.”
She swung around, her blue skirt swishing beneath her black jacket. “Do you think Monroe is a lost cause, too?”
Matthew’s mouth twisted and he raised his head. Snowflakes swirled in between the trees and landed on his face. “I don’t know about that, but he sure has problems. I’m not sure we can help him.”
“You agreed to come, though. I thought Monroe was your friend.” Sarah’s voice rose.
“I came for you and Taylor. Monroe hasn’t been my friend for a long time.” Matthew dared to return his gaze to Sarah. “He’s scary, Sarah. If you’d been there the night he threatened Taylor, you wouldn’t want to talk to him at all. I realized then just how far gone he really was, and I’ve avoided him ever since.”
Sarah sighed with a heavy breath. She turned to me. “I’m sorry I spoke so harshly about your school shooting. Of course it wasn’t your fault, but it makes me wonder if Jackson had real friends, maybe he wouldn’t have killed all those kids. We have an opportunity to help Monroe.” She took a step closer to Matthew. Her voice was pleading. “He’s still with us, and we might be able to help him. Shouldn’t we at least try before it’s too late for him, too?”
Hunter rubbed his forehead and Matthew stood quietly, his arms tightly folded across his chest.
I swallowed down the first reply that came to me. Sarah’s eyes were desperate. She really wanted to save Monroe. She wasn’t playing a game.
“We’ll do what we can, but you have to prepare yourself that it might not work out the way you’re hoping it will. Regardless of whether Monroe has friends, the law is going to catch up with him. He sold drugs to a girl that died from them,” I said.
“It was an accident. I’m sure of it.” Sarah’s face became bright with hope.
Hunter snorted. “It won’t matter. Danielle died. She was a nice girl.”
“I’m very sorry for her. I know you’re upset that you lost a friend, but Monroe isn’t a bad person. He’s just lost,” Sarah insisted.
“We better get moving. The snow will light our way, but I’d rather get this over with.” Matthew trudged away.
“Dude, I agree with you,” Hunter chimed in.
I took Sarah’s hand and we followed Matthew through the trees. Hunter was close behind us, and I was glad he was there. His presence made me feel like the crazy walk through the woods with the Amish teens wasn’t a dream I’d wake up from soon. It was all too real.
Matthew raised his hand and hissed, “Shhh.”
We stepped up behind him and I peeked around his shoulder. Snow covered hills were nestled between thin tree lines. Smoke puffed from the chimney of the white farmhouse, and there was a cluster of sheep next to one of the barns. They were eating from a round bale of hay and making soft bleating noises.
“Is that it?” I whispered into the cold air. Matthew nodded and we began moving again.
Everything looked harmless enough, but my skin prickled. With each step I took, my heart pounded harder. Suddenly, the chill pierced my coat, and I felt numb. I remembered what Serenity had said about listening to my gut.
But it was too late to turn back now.
32
Serenity
I was still plodding through the snow to the porch when Toby knocked on the door. He peered through the window and looked over his shoulder.
“No one appears to be home,” he said.
I looked at the area around the porch and then up at the chimney. “There’s a fire going in the woodstove and there’s tracks leading up to the house and back to the barns,” I pointed out.
Toby joined me at the bottom of the steps. “It’s hard to say how fresh they are. It’s been snowing on and off all day long.”
“True.” The wind picked up and I shivered. The temperature was dropping and the snow on the ground was developing a crisp, shiny sheen on it. Darkness was complete, and the half moon was coming and going through the thickening clouds. I zipped up my jacket. “We’ll start on the sheds and work our way back to the barns. Hopefully Nicolas or Monroe will arrive soon, and we can get into the house. I’d rather not force our way in unless we have no choice.”
Toby nodded and followed me to the shed beside the house. We hadn’t ventured into this one the last time we were here, so I wasn’t sure what to expect when I pushed the door open. I flashed my light into the cramped space. Bumping into a push mower, I had to duck my head to avoid hitting it on a chain saw that was hanging from the low rafter.
Cans of oil lined the wall, and three bicycles were parked along the back of the small space. One was a woman’s bike and the other two were for men. I imagined the Swarey family biking down a country road together. Thick dust covered them now.
Toby’s voice broke the silence. “I checked land records. This farm is two hundred and forty-six acres. That’s a lot of places to hide a body or two.”
I grunted. He was right. I was still having a difficult time wrapping my mind around the possibility that while I was tracking down the Amish driver, Caleb, for the serial murders of three young women, Nicolas Swarey, who was also a suspect in that investigation, was murdering his wife and her friend.
“It’s hard to believe that around the same time those poor Amish girls were being raped, killed and mutilated, there was another demented man just up the road carrying out his own demented acts on two more women,” I mused.
“It would be sensational, wouldn’t it?” He pushed his cowboy hat back and slanted to look at me in between the hanging tools. “I’ve found in many cases, where there’s evil, it tends to run deep.”
“You’re more screwed up than I am,” I commented, wrinkling my nose at the musky odor in the shed. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary, so I squeezed past Toby and walked out into the falling snow.
“That’s why we get along so well.” He shut the door behind us and grinned like a wolf. “Sounds like you worked out your problems with your fiancé.”
His tone was sarcastic and I rounded on him. He drew back when I jabbed my finger into his chest. “Look, I love Daniel. We have some things to work on, but I’m not going to be depressing and cynical for the rest of my life. I’m going to take a chance. I might regret it one day, but I’d rather have that kind of remorse than the kind you have when you’re too chicken shit to take a risk. Yes, I’m going to trust another human being and attempt to be happy. Maybe you should try it.”
The grin was cemented on his face. “That’s exactly what I’m doing right here.”
“Don’t say something stupid like that.” I started walking, not bothering to look back. I could hear his boots crunching in the snow behind me.
“You’ll regret it, Serenity. Marriage and kids will be a disappointment to a woman like you.”
“You’re wrong. Daniel loves me and that’s all I need.”
“Do you love him?”
“Of course,” I snarled.
A sound whistled on the wind and
I stopped in my tracks. Toby nearly bumped into me. “What was that?”
A piece of metal from the nearest barn roof flapped in the wind and branches cracked against each other. A sheep bleated.
“What?” Toby’s breath was warm against my ear.
“I don’t know,” I muttered. “I thought I heard a voice—like a wail.”
“It’s probably just the wind.”
“Probably,” I agreed, but I headed toward the barn with purposeful strides all the same.
33
Taylor
The hill was steep, and I lost my footing and slid down in the snow until my feet finally struck flat ground. Hunter helped me straighten up, and he didn’t immediately release my arm when I had my balance. His helpfulness was confusing. Until the day of the shooting, he’d hardly shown me the time of day.
Matthew motioned for us to move faster and we jogged over. We caught up just as Matthew and Sarah disappeared through a small barn door. The wind felt like it was cutting into my face as I lifted it to the sky. Dark rimmed clouds were threatening, and only a thin shard of moonlight light shined. I took a deep breath and ducked into the shadows.
My senses were immediately assaulted with warm, moist air and a stink that made me cover my nose. Then came loud squeals and grunts from all around us.
I squinted into the darkness. “Are those pigs?”
“Afraid so,” Hunter said. His hand reached back and brushed mine. I didn’t hesitate and grabbed onto it.
Matthew said something, but I couldn’t hear him with the angry pig noises sharp in my ears. We must have disturbed them when we entered the barn.
Sarah came back and said, “We have to get to the other side of the corral.” She pointed across an expanse that came into view as my eyes became accustomed to the darkness. “We’ll climb along the fence panels. Be careful!”
She swirled away before I could tell her she was crazy. Giant shapes, the size of ponies, moved in the pen. They bumped into each other and I saw flashes of tusks in the crowd.
I was sweating inside my coat and my pulse raced when I leaned closer to Hunter. “I don’t think I can do it…”
“You don’t have to. We can go back. These are ridiculous the lengths we’re going to for a drug dealer who got Danielle killed.” Hunter’s eyes sparked.
Matthew and Sarah were already halfway across the pen. They had easily climbed the railing and shimmied their way past the annoyed swine. My heart throbbed into my throat as I watched the giant animals follow along below them. I could barely breathe from the rank smell and my stomach rolled with nausea, but my pride urged me to get over my fear and step up on to the metal pipe. I couldn’t let Sarah down because I was terrified of pigs.
Ignoring Hunter, I grasped the higher rail and pulled myself up. The metal was slick with moisture and my hand slipped with my first attempt. I wiped my hand on my pant leg and tried again. This time I was able to hold onto the cylinder railing. Hunter quickly followed suit, but he was scowling. He didn’t say a word and I was glad. I didn’t think I could have spoken if my life depended on it. I was so focused on inching my way slowly across the livestock panels I couldn’t even glance his way.
“You’re doing great, Taylor,” Sarah shouted out above the squeals.
A pig’s snout brushed the bottom of my foot and I froze.
“Don’t look down,” Hunter ordered.
But my eyes had already strayed in that direction. A black and white spotted boar that must have been at least seven hundred pounds, looked back at me with a gaping mouth. Another pig rammed into it and they began snapping at each other. I stretched my legs and arms, scooting along the poles faster. I could see Sarah’s face pressing against the railing on the other side. Her eyes were wide.
Sarah and Matthew had taken the pigs by surprise. By the time Hunter and I made the trip across the panels, they were worked up into a frenzy.
My hands slid along the wet pole and my foot slipped once, but I quickly drew it up. When I looked ahead, there was only a few more feet to go.
“Just take your time, Taylor. Calm down. We’re almost there.” Hunter’s voice was steady and my heart slowed with the sound of it.
My foot came down and missed the railing. It swung for only a blink of an eye, but it was enough time for the black and white boar to hook it with its jabbing tusk. With a jerk, my leg was dragged into the pen.
“Hold on!” Hunter shouted. His hand swiped the air at me, but too late. Something pounded my leg, twisting my body and snapping my hands away from the wet railing. I fell backwards, landing on the back of the giant boar. It screeched and surged forward, knocking into a solid black pig. I clawed the darkness, but it was like being caught in a riptide. I had no control over my body. I bounced off of the boar’s back and slammed into another one. Spots peppered my vision. Sarah screamed and then I was surrounded by legs and hooves as I sunk into thick mud. I didn’t dare open my mouth. A hoof struck my cheek and then something landed on my stomach. I sunk deeper into the muck, until my arms were stuck in the stuff. Pain shot through my arm and I saw a pig’s mouth around it.
Squeals, grunts, and shrieks flooded my ears. A hard jab tore into my leg, and then I was being dragged. The skin on my arm ripped apart. I couldn’t see as everything blurred. The sounds of shouting and squealing grew fainter. A huge black object hovered over me.
My hand closed around something, and then the light disappeared altogether.
“Taylor, Taylor—open your eyes,” a voice demanded.
I blinked until I could see again. Hunter and Sarah were kneeling over each side of me, and Matthew loomed over all of us with a glowing lantern. I tasted mud in my mouth and choked. Hunter pulled me up into a sitting position and my stomach rolled. I leaned over and spit up a gob of the putrid stuff. I kept spitting until my mouth cleared. Caked with black muck, warm wetness pulsed on my arm. I looked down and saw dark blood pooling on the bite wound.
Sarah yanked her scarf from her neck and wrapped my arm snugly. “Oh, my Lord. I thought you were a goner. You just disappeared into the pigs.”
Memories rushed back and I gasped. “How did I…get out…of there?” I coughed out.
“Hunter jumped in. He kicked and punched the swine away from you, like he was a super hero or something.” Sarah bobbed her head. “Matthew went into the pen, too.”
The boys’ legs were splashed with the same black mud that was all over me.
Tears welled in my eyes. The water works weren’t because of the pain in my throbbing arm or shooting up my leg. Hunter squeezed my hand and Matthew offered a faint smile. “Thank you—both of you—for getting me out of there.”
“They would never have saved you if it weren’t for him. He’s the one who climbed over the panels with a pitch fork and began swinging, so the boys could pull you out,” Sarah said.
I followed her gaze. Monroe Swarey leaned against the wall. He was smoking a cigarette and his eyebrows arched wickedly when he saw me looking at him. His legs were splattered with mud. The fork Sarah had talked about was resting against the boards beside him.
I dipped my head in a curt nod and he smirked back at me.
“We have to get her to a hospital. She’s lost a lot of blood,” Hunter said.
“Her leg is bleeding too,” Matthew commented.
I felt a jab against my thigh and I shifted my weight. There was a muddy object there—like a jagged rock. I reached for it and began rubbing the dirt away. My fingers found something long and slender. I pulled on it until it was free of gook. It was a shoe string.
I began wiping the thing even more vigorously.
“What’s that?” Hunter asked.
“It looks like a tennis shoe,” Sarah breathed.
Yes, I think Sarah is right, I thought as I turned it over and reached inside to scoop more mud out. My fingers touched something that made me s
natch my hand back. Sarah’s anxious face urged me on. I slowly pushed my fingers back inside and wiggled the object until it was free. Then I pulled.
Sarah was the first to cry out, but my scream wasn’t far behind hers.
I tossed it on the ground and scurried backwards, bumping into Hunter, who nearly fell over.
Matthew brought the lantern in for a closer look. After a long pause, we all leaned over and stared.
It was part of a human foot.
My head snapped up and I looked for Monroe. He was gone.
34
Serenity
The gust of blowing snow carried another sound that made the hair shoot up on my neck. I pulled my 9mm from its holster and began running in the direction of the pig barn. The snow pelted my face as I forced my legs faster.
“That was a scream, I’m sure of it,” I shouted to Toby, who was running abreast with me. He had drawn his revolver.
“It’s probably the hogs. They make noises like that.” He took a gulp of air. “You heard them the other day.”
I really hoped I was wrong and ended up feeling foolish, but I highly doubted it this time.
Toby reached the barn door first. He backed up to the side of it and waited for me to push it open. My hand grasped the handle.
“Drop your guns!”
Toby and I whirled together. Nicolas Swarey stood about twenty feet away. He aimed a shotgun at us.
I raised my gun and focused on his head. “Put your weapon down, Nicolas. There’s two of us and only one of you. You might get a shot off—but only one. You’ll be a dead man.”
He held the shotgun steady. “You have no business here, Sheriff. We’ve answered your questions and you already snooped all over the farm. Your behavior is turning into harassment.”
His words startled me. Nicolas Swarey hadn’t struck me as an overly bright man, or one with the ability to manipulate others. My first impression of him was that he was a religious zealot. He had been on my short list of potential suspects for the Amish girl killings because of his callous comments about how the girls had somehow brought on their torturous deaths themselves. I had also discovered he had had a violent past and had mutilated a couple of dogs who’d attacked his sheep the year before. But Nicolas hadn’t been the killer in that case, and he’d slipped back under the radar once the investigation wrapped up. If it wasn’t for his still missing wife and her friend disappearing after a visit to Blood Rock, I wouldn’t have given the man much thought. His simmering anger had always been palpable, and his aloof and unfriendly attitude made people avoid him, but none of those things alerted me to the possibility that he was a real threat to myself or anyone else.
Evil in My Town Page 15