by Rachel Lee
“What about a serious talk with Todd about his past?”
“Next on the menu. Maybe before the barn.”
Candy nodded. “I think it’s time.”
Then he shocked her to her very core. “After this is over...”
She looked at him, waiting attentively.
“Man, I can’t believe I’m going to be this boorish. Candy, I want you. But even more importantly, I want to get to know you. Really know you. You’re like a puzzle box, and I want to turn the key.”
She couldn’t catch her breath. What was he saying? Sex was one thing, a dangerous thing, especially for women who tended to get emotionally involved. “I’m not a puzzle, Steve.”
It was the only objection she could honestly offer.
“I’m not sure I meant it that way. Or maybe you are. But more and more I need to know you better outside this hunt. I’m fascinated.”
Nobody had ever claimed to be fascinated by her before. Nor had anyone ever tried to get to know her much beyond the surface.
Her squad had known her as a soldier. They knew how much they could depend on her, what kind of fighter she was, but they’d never really gotten personal. Maybe because when you got to know someone under those circumstances, grief might not be far behind. Besides, the guys had been pretty much superficial with each other. Gab about letters from home, pictures of the kids. Sexual exploits.
Easy-to-share stuff.
Some of them had seemed to grow deeper friendships, but what had really mattered was the brotherhood, and she’d been invited inside it. She had become one of them.
But there were plenty of places none of them went, as far as she knew. Self-protection. Like the saying, Don’t get to know the FNGs. The freaking new guys. Because they were inexperienced, they might be gone soon.
But now here was a guy who wanted to get past that point with her. She hadn’t wanted to risk sex with him, but this was an even bigger risk.
She cleared her throat. “You’ll be leaving in a couple of weeks.”
“I’m talking about hanging around for a while. About building a friendship that can last longer than this job. Just think about it, if you can. If you don’t want to...” He shrugged. “I’m a boor and you can just pretend I never said that.”
Pretend was the right word for it, because it would be pretending. God, what to do now?
She honestly didn’t know. All she knew was that with a few words he’d made her ache for a future she’d never believed would happen.
It also meant getting raw and exposed and vulnerable in ways she wasn’t sure she could anymore.
“Thank you,” she said finally and left it there. For safety’s sake.
* * *
STEVE WANTED TO kick himself in the butt for pushing her that way. But there seemed to be no way to really get through to Candy that wasn’t blunt. All the cards on the table where she could see them. Maybe no more suspicion about what he might want from her.
If she believed him, anyway.
Hell’s bells. He’d never wanted to get that close to a woman, but now he did. A fling was one thing. This was no fling he was talking about. He didn’t know where it might lead, if it ever happened, but with this woman he wanted to chance it.
After Candy left for the office and he settled on the bed in his motel room, he dragged his thoughts away from her and tossed around the Castelle case like a ball, one side to the other. Maybe mentally batting it against the wall.
He wanted to shake something out, but he still didn’t have enough. He was by no means ready to ascribe all this to paranormal entities, residual energy or anything like that.
Proof. He always demanded it and hated it when he couldn’t find any. There had been cases when all he could do was assure people they weren’t in any danger. This time he couldn’t even do that because of Todd’s past.
Usually there was no measurable threat, just people who mainly wanted to be assured they weren’t losing their minds. He understood that.
But this was different because of Vivian. There was no evidence that anyone or anything wanted to harm her physically, but that wasn’t enough. She was being harmed in another way, a vital way.
Todd was willing to ditch the house and move. Steve would have given him props for that except it was possible that he knew how Annabelle would respond, knowing she wouldn’t want to leave.
Or it might be that Todd didn’t believe his past could be a threat. Also possible.
But then what? Damn, there were dried peas rattling around in this can somewhere and he needed to find one. Just one, to get him started in a useful direction.
But maybe he was already on that path and just hadn’t pulled out the information that would show him.
A bedroom with nothing under it but a foundation and a slab. Sounds he’d heard last night, sounds that Candy had heard, as well. Traveling through that wall as if it were wires to a phone.
He tended to discount the speaker idea, but he wasn’t ready to throw that off the table. Nothing would be discarded until he knew he was clearly on track.
Dena was in an earlier time zone, so he wasn’t especially surprised when she called him shortly after seven.
“Nothing on the street so far,” she reported. “I’ll keep feelers out, but you know these drug operations are pretty strong on secrecy. The Pentagon could learn something from them.”
He didn’t doubt it, he thought as he walked into the shower. To get anything out of these drug rings you had to plant someone on the inside. Difficult and dangerous. Then you had the problem of cops who fell into the dark side after living that life for so long. They closed up like clams.
First a talk with Todd, he decided. Then the barn. He had become fixated on it. If he could find evidence that someone was hiding in there...
Then what? How would the guy be scaring Vivian?
It was another stone to turn over. He was willing to turn stones over until his fingers were bloody. And then more.
He couldn’t stop thinking about Vivian. About that little girl who needed to be rescued from something or someone.
No way was he going to leave her in a lurch.
* * *
IT WAS TEN before he phoned Candy, hoping she’d managed to get some sleep.
“Hey,” she said.
Her voice didn’t sound as if she’d slept much. Well, neither had he, and with another night investigation coming up, they needed to manage a few Zs somehow.
“Anything?” he asked.
“We’ll see. I came up with more than a dozen Ivy Brides. Who would have thought the name would be that common. Anyway, more seem to still be popping up, so I’ll let this run a while longer before I start investigating them individually.”
He had no problem with that. “Wanna go with me soon?”
“Sure...”
Her voice trailed off. A ruckus sounded in the background and Candy cursed vigorously.
“I gotta go, Steve.”
“What’s up?”
“A repeat of the other day. Two more.”
Now it was his turn to cuss. Two more? Hadn’t Wittes said there’d be more?
But his primary reaction was feeling his stomach turn over and his mind kick into detective mode.
“Tell the sheriff my skills are available if he needs them.”
“Sure.” She disconnected.
God, he hoped she didn’t have to go to the scene. Watching the video feed had messed her up enough.
He sat a while thinking about this. Two more murders. Maybe in keeping with the old lore? Tate had quoted the stories as saying there had been four murders.
A week before Halloween. Man, he’d be surprised if any parent let their youngsters go door-to-door.
Which always disappointed kids from what he’d seen. The adventure of trick-or-treating vanish
ed at a big party.
But now he’d have to deal with a frightened, possibly angry, town that had already focused on him, the outsider.
He swore again, torn between the two halves of himself: the cop and the TV host. No way he could do both.
And there was still a little girl who desperately needed help to return to a normal life.
But there were also two double murders, and since there’d been no major release of information on the first two, it was evident that the case hadn’t been solved.
He was left wondering for the umpteenth time how humans could do this to each other. Stupid question. If he wondered, Candy could tell him.
Because that woman had seen it with her own eyes.
* * *
CANDY TRIED TO stay in the background. Watching the video had been troubling enough, but to have to go live to the scene... Well, she wondered how she’d handle it.
Yeah, she’d seen it in the Army, but that was in the past as much as she could shove it there. This might awaken the absolute worst of her nightmares.
But... She was a cop now. She’d have to face this sooner or later.
She stiffened herself, seeking her backbone. She could do it. She might have to.
Then Gage approached. “I’m a little shorthanded this morning.”
Here it came.
“Who found them?” she asked, hoping her voice sounded steady. Or hard. She needed the hardening, and it was growing like ice within her.
“I’ve got four people out. One of them’s sick. Another three left town on vacation. Mainly because I thought we’d be quiet for a while. We were hoping it was someone with a grudge. Nobody expected this to happen again.”
“Why would anyone? Who found them?” she asked again.
“A couple of hunters. I expect they’re being sick behind some trees.”
She might do that, too.
“Candy...”
“I’ll go out there.” She heard the steel in her own voice. Combat mode was taking over.
“Thanks. If you get out there and feel it’s too much, let me know. I can manage somehow.”
But why should he? He’d given her this opportunity when no one else would. She didn’t want to fail him. Not on a case as important as this.
“I’ll be fine.” She hoped. Then she added, “You know Steve Hawks’s background. Former detective? He offered to help if you want him.”
“I may need everyone I can get my hands on. Tell him he’s on standby. This has to stop, and there’s only one way.”
* * *
CANDY DROVE OUT to the site, following her GPS. Her hands were steady on the wheel. The shakes and nausea had vanished for now. For now.
Why should Conard County be immune from the ugliness of people? Her vain hopes had been just that: vain. Now she was in the thick of it, and she knew how to manage. Later, after it was over, she might face other problems.
And she’d deal as she always had. Because she must.
Seeking refuge, she returned her thoughts to the Castelles. She hoped Steve continued his investigation for Vivian’s sake. That little girl was still alive, unlike these latest victims. She deserved a kind of priority.
But her mind wouldn’t let her off the hook for long. Instead she braced for the coming hours.
* * *
STEVE REALLY DIDN’T want to pursue the Castelle case. Not now. His internal tug-of-war was strengthening. Vivian, he reminded himself.
Somehow the Castelles had already heard about the murders. Maybe the grapevine had reached rapid-fire. Regardless of how they’d heard, they were visibly shaken.
Annabelle grabbed him as he came through the door. “You don’t think... Vivian?”
“I don’t see how these cases could be related.” But he wasn’t going to dismiss the possibility.
“Todd? I needed to talk to you privately.” Might as well get this much out of the way.
“Sure,” Todd answered. “Outside.”
It was cold as hell out there this morning, but Steve agreed. He didn’t want Annabelle or Vivian to hear any of this.
Out back, with Buddy running around like an overgrown demon, he faced Todd. “I need the truth from you, and I need it now.”
For the first time Todd looked more than uneasy. He looked frightened.
Steve continued. “I heard about your drug conviction. Cocaine. Rehab.”
Todd’s nod was jerky. “Yeah. Rehab worked.”
“Did it? Honestly? Look, I’m not a cop anymore, but I sure as hell need to know all the possibilities if I’m going to help your daughter.”
Todd’s gaze slid away. “Yeah, it worked. But maybe what worked more was Annabelle packing to leave and take Vivian with her. That’s part of the reason we moved out here, to try to rebuild our marriage. I wasn’t sure she’d ever forgive me. I’m still not convinced she has, at least not completely.”
“Okay. I wondered. But there’s something else.”
Steve looked at him again.
“Did you leave the city while you owed someone money? Even a small amount.” Because drug dealers sometimes made an example for even the smallest sums. Nobody was allowed to cheat them.
“I don’t think so. I spent the last two years paying the guy off. It wasn’t easy with the interest.”
“Did they threaten you? Vivian? Annabelle?”
Todd shook his head. “I was paying them. They never said a word about my family.”
Steve wasn’t sure about that, even if it hadn’t been explicitly stated. He sighed. Maybe this wasn’t totally cleared up after all. Steve had needed a time-payment plan. This whole deck would be a lot cleaner if he had paid up front. But the odd thing about cocaine. It was expensive to begin with and as the need grew so did the cost.
“Okay,” he said to Todd. “I won’t mention it elsewhere.”
At last Todd looked relieved. “Thanks.”
Don’t thank me too soon, he thought as he followed Todd back inside. He still had to recheck all his recording equipment in case he’d missed something.
He wondered if Candy would escape before he went to the barn. He might well need her help.
She’d become his right hand, and now he was glad his crew wasn’t here. At this point he didn’t need the confusion they’d bring.
But he might not have a show here at all.
And he didn’t care.
* * *
CANDY WALKED TOWARD the bodies, her stride purposeful. She’d forgotten her qualms and was now focused. As in battle.
Never had she dreamed she’d need that mind-set again.
The area was roped off with crime scene tape. Men in clean suits were scouring the area around it. A weapon. They needed a weapon.
Candy looked at the two teens, a boy and a girl, and seriously doubted a weapon had been used. She knew what those kinds of wounds looked like. Too well.
“Looks like the same thing,” Gage said.
She nodded. “They were drugged.”
“How can you be sure?”
“I’ve seen everything any kind of weapon can do, from knives to guns to bombs. Unless you turn them over and find something, I have to conclude they were drugged before they were brought here.”
Gage nodded. “The thought had crossed my mind.”
“Were they an item?”
“I believe so. I seem to remember them dating.”
“Probably. Else why take them both? Any toxicology on the first two?”
“Not yet.
“Hell.” She stared, her feelings silenced. “What are you going to do?”
“You mean apart from the investigation? Plant posters and warnings all over town. Take your kids to the party at the high school or keep them home.”
“Good idea. I’d assume at this point, though, that the very young k
ids would be safe.”
“But that’s not a reliable assumption. I’ll get the teens who are staging the party to set a room aside for the little ones. Maybe soften the haunted house. I’m sure they will, under the circumstances.”
Candy nodded, using her eyes to seek more information. Then the techs arrived with their yellow numbered markers. Someone called out that he’d found a trail that looked as if the kids had been dragged.
A drag trail. That fit with Candy’s idea of drugs. But how? “I hope they’ll check stomach contents.”
Gage nodded. “That’s one thing we can do here.”
“But not the toxicology?”
“Not complete enough. There are some things the local hospital can’t look for. Not yet anyway. Not enough call for it.”
Candy understood, but she sighed anyway. Waiting on information wouldn’t prevent another set of murders. They needed to find the killer.
Just as Steve needed to find a perp so he could help Vivian.
* * *
STEVE SET ABOUT reviewing all his equipment for any signs that someone had been in this house. Or that a spook had been making noise.
Several hours later he had nothing except the faint sounds coming up the wall that both he and Candy had heard. He didn’t want to tell that to the Castelles, because it would only confirm their ideas about the paranormal.
Not yet. He needed more before he fell back on that. Much more than rhythms of speech coming through that wall.
He decided to leave all his equipment in place, then saw Ben Wittes in the driveway. Oh, for God’s sake. Like he needed that idiot right now.
But Annabelle let him in anyway. Steve met him in the hallway. “What’s up?”
“I told you there’d be more murders. My spirit guide says it’s the guy who killed his wife. Talking. Mumbling.”
Steve wanted to sigh. Nothing there. Finally he busted the guy’s bubble. “You need to tell me something that isn’t part of the legends that appear to have been created by local kids years ago. No real murders showed up in police reports back then.”