by Lee Taylor
“Then let’s find Sage and Laurel and stop this guy from killing again.” He nodded at Cole. “We went out to have a look around the area bordering the Pine Fairways tonight—and unfortunately we left Sage at the motel.” He grimaced. “Because I thought the golf course was dangerous.”
“You were staking out the smuggling operation?” Judd asked.
“No. We stumbled into that.” Ben continued to watch the chief.
“Do you have any idea who’s got the women?”
“I’ve been over it in my mind a million times, and my best guess would be George Myers. He’s got plenty of space to hide somebody and plenty of money to set up anything he wants. Then there’s William Hinton. He’s got it into his head that he can do anything he wants around here.”
“And if Hinton or Myers had kidnapped Sage and Laurel, you wouldn’t be protecting them now?”
Judd blustered at that. “No.”
“But you kept the kidnappings quiet for years.”
“It was just foreign girls.”
“They don’t count?”
“I guess the town fathers don’t think so. Not if it means screwing up the tourist trade.”
“What about Laurel?”
“They told me to treat her disappearance the same way.”
Ben made a snorting sound. “That’s just wonderful.”
“Like I said, I couldn’t refuse.”
“They have something else on you?”
“Only what I mentioned. Once I agreed to let them bring illegal stuff in, I was as much a part of the operation as they were.”
“Is there anything you think would help find Sage and Laurel? Anything at all?”
Judd shook his head. “I wish there were.”
Ben clenched his hands into fists. “If you don’t have any leads, we’re going back out to Pine Fairways. And you’re going to make sure nobody stops us.”
“What’s the golf course got to do with anything?”
Cole answered. “Ben got a tip that there was another body out there. We went out to investigate, and I found it.”
“Wait a minute. That was you out there tonight?”
“Yes.”
“The way I heard it, they shot at a big dog.”
Cole shrugged. “I guess they had it wrong. Or they didn’t want to admit they shot at a person.”
Judd flapped his hands in frustration. “Christ!”
“The three of us are going out there again,” Ben said. “And this time you’ll make sure nobody interferes.”
“And what are you going to do?”
“Examine the body for clues,” Ben answered. “Like I did at the warehouse.” He didn’t explain the unusual way he did that.
“And you really think that will lead us to the guy who snatched Laurel and Sage?”
“It’s our best shot,” Ben answered. “Unless you can come up with something better.”
Judd shook his head; then he rose. “I’ll get some shovels.”
“No need,” Cole answered. “The body was lying on a blanket, on top of the ground.”
The chief looked at Ben. “Sounds like the way that other girl was laid out at the warehouse.”
“Exactly.”
And Laurel was next. Laurel and Sage, he thought with a grimace. Unless he could find them first.
He wanted to scream in anguish and rage. He wanted to sock the chief in the jaw for all the times he’d looked the other way, but he kept himself under control. An emotional outburst wasn’t going to do them any good. He had to keep cool—and do what he had to do.
They went in two vehicles, with Ben in the lead and the chief following in his fancy truck.
“You trust him?” Cole asked. “I mean, you think that when we get there, we won’t find a bunch of guys with guns pointed at us?”
“I think he’s telling the truth. He hates the position they pushed him into, and he wants to get out. And I do think he wants to find Laurel and Sage—and figure out who killed the other women. That will count in his favor, too.”
“But when push comes to shove, will he cave?”
“I have to take a chance on him. I know what he’s going through. That feeling of being trapped. And I understand why he wants to get himself out from under the thumb of Myers and Hinton.” Ben swallowed hard. “But I’m sorry I dragged you into this.”
“You didn’t drag me.” Cole paused before saying, “We need to focus on business. I didn’t have a chance to mark the location. I’ll have to find it again.”
“But you think you can?”
“I caught the scent before. It will lead me back.” He laughed. “Even when I’m not in wolf form, I’ve got a pretty effective nose.”
“I noticed.”
This time, they drove onto the golf course property, and Cole directed Ben to the closest place to park.
Judd eased up behind them.
As they all stood on the shoulder, one of the private security cars pulled up, and a uniformed guard got out. Ben tensed as he anticipated a confrontation.
The guard looked questioningly at Judd. “Sir?”
“Police business,” the chief snapped.
“Was this cleared with Mr. Myers?”
“I said, police business.”
Ben was astonished when the guard pressed the issue.
“What is the nature of the business?”
“A murder investigation,” Judd answered, punching out the words. “I suggest you leave us to it.”
The guard looked like he wanted to say something else. Instead he got back in his vehicle and drove away.
“Thanks,” Ben said.
“You see how it is.”
“I do.”
Ben looked up at the sky, and he could see dawn approaching. “We’d better get moving. I think we’re safest if you come with us.”
Judd brought up the rear as they headed into the woods. The ground was boggy, and sometimes they had to walk around patches of standing water.
“Should have worn boots,” Judd muttered. He looked at Cole. “I guess you already ruined one pair of shoes.”
“Yeah,” the Decorah agent answered without bothering to explain that he hadn’t been wearing shoes on his last trip to the area.
He walked rapidly, dragging in drafts of air as he went, and Ben knew he was sniffing out the remains.
He finally stopped in a stand of pines and pointed. “Over there.”
“You stay here,” Ben said to the other two men.
“You don’t want my help?” Judd asked.
“Not now.” He turned to Cole. “If I’m not back in ten minutes, come get me.”
When Cole nodded, he walked toward the pines. The last thing he wanted to do was touch another body. It had taken a hell of a lot out of him last time, but he was going to do it again, because Sage was missing, and he had to find her.
After a few minutes, he found a place where a blanket had been spread on the ground. It was partially covered with pine needles, as were the skeletal remains. It appeared to be a young woman with her hands folded across her middle and her hair dyed a vivid blond, like the previous victim.
Ben knelt down and examined her. Unlike the remains they’d found in the warehouse, this one was dressed in a torn and faded waitress uniform. Was it what she’d been wearing when she was kidnapped?
The outfit gave him pause. A waitress. Like Laurel. And as best he could remember, the same uniform as the servers wore at the Crab Shack. Where Laurel worked.
He studied the remains, trying to figure out as much as he could.
Like the victim in the warehouse, this one was carefully arranged. He knelt beside her, flexing his fingers. After the last time, he dreaded touching the damn thing.
But if it would help him find Sage, he would do it.
Closing his eyes, he pressed his hands to the skull.
Immediately, his vision swam, and a sick feeling rose in his throat. As before, his own consciousness faded away. He was no longer Ben W
alker. Instead he was another person. A frightened woman who know she was going to die.
Her lips moved. Although no sound came out, in her mind she was pleading for her life. A lot of good that had done her.
She was lying on the bed in the same frilly little girl’s room, her vision dim. And the same man was standing over her. The man with the black hood. Only this time, as he stood over his victim, he reached for the hem of the head covering.
The part of him that was still Ben Walker held his breath. Take it off. Take it off. He chanted in his mind. For a heart-stopping moment, the man hesitated, his hand trembling.
Then he grabbed the bottom and pulled the hood over his head.
Ben’s breath caught as he saw the face through the victim’s dimming vision.
He had only a momentary glimpse, but he was sure he recognized the person. Strange as it seemed.
The figure bent down and tenderly pressed a kiss on the woman’s cheek.
Jesus. Ben gasped. He had to tell Cole and Judd what he’d seen.
Only when he tried to claw his way back to his real self—to Ben Walker’s body—he was plunged into absolute blackness where nothing existed besides his consciousness.
Help me, he called out.
Nobody answered, because nobody could hear him.
He was totally and utterly alone.
Sage. He called to her, even when he knew she couldn’t hear him. Sage.
Chapter Seventeen
From far away, Ben heard someone shouting his name. Hope leaped inside him.
“Sage?” he whispered.
“No. It’s me. Cole. Ben, wake up.”
Strong hands shook him. Disappointment surged through him. It wasn’t Sage.
“Ben! Wake up.”
He struggled to obey but couldn’t do it until he felt a hard slap across his face.
An eternity passed before his eyes blinked open.
“Thank God,” Cole breathed.
He and Chief Judd were both on their haunches, staring down at him.
“What happened?” Judd asked.
“I . . .” He stopped and glanced at Cole, then back at the chief again. “I got inside the dead woman’s memories.”
The chief swore. “Is this some kind of joke?”
“No joke. And I know who the killer is.”
oOo
Laurel shifted on the bed. “I wish I could help you dig that thing out of the wall.”
“You’re stuck over there,” Sage said as she glanced up at her sister, then started picking at the bolt again, twisting the fork to scrape off more plaster.
“How long does he leave you alone?”
“For hours. I’m not exactly sure. But he’s gone more than he’s here.”
Sage cleared her throat. “Laurel, I’m sorry I abandoned you.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, I stopped coming back to town because I hated dealing with Mom. I felt different on my own, and I didn’t want to sink back into the relationship we had.”
“I understand.”
“I should have been there for you.”
“You were my role model. I was doing what you said I should. Studying hard so I could make something of myself the way you did. I was so proud of you, and I wanted that, too.”
“Did the two of you really have a fight at the Crab Shack?”
Laurel made a low sound. “Yes. She came in and started yelling at me.”
“The chief said it was about your grades. I checked with the college, and as far as I could tell, your grades were fine.”
“No. It was actually about money. She wanted me to give her more of what I was making at work. I mean, she came down there to see if she could get my check before Bettie gave it to me. You know she’s always short of cash.”
“She shouldn’t be taking it from you.”
“She says I should be paying her rent.”
“Give me a break.”
Laurel sucked in a breath and let it out. “There’s something I keep thinking about. The guy who’s got me knows about the fight. He said he’d be a better parent to me than Mom.”
Sage had been working while they talked. Now she looked up.
“Bettie overheard the fight,” she said. “She told us it was over your grades. Maybe she told that to the chief, too. And that’s what everyone thought.”
“I guess,” Laurel mused aloud. “She was real sympathetic afterwards. I guess she told the guy about it. The guy who kidnapped me.”
“Or she did it for him. Like she did with me.”
“He wants me for his little girl,” Laurel said. “He kept telling me how great it would be, but he doesn’t seem any better at it than Mom.” She waited a beat, then said, “He wants me to tell him he’s a good parent. But then when I do, he says that I’m just saying what he wants to hear. It’s scary, the way he can’t make up his mind.”
“Or he’s too volatile to keep anything good going.”
Sage went back to work. Once she’d gotten started, it was easier to dig into the wall. She broke through a layer of plaster and thought she might be able to pull the chain free. But when she yanked on it, she realized that the thing was screwed into a piece of wood.
Tears welled in her eyes, and she turned her head away from her sister.
“Sage?”
She didn’t answer. It seemed like she’d been working for hours, and she’d gotten exactly nowhere. Well, maybe not quite. As she jabbed at the wood with the fork, she saw that it was rotted. Maybe she could get the bolt loose, after all. And then what?
oOo
“What are you saying—that you did a séance out here?” Chief Judd made a snorting sound. “You expect me to believe you’re connecting with the spirit world? That’s what coming to my house and saying you needed my help was all about?”
Ben closed his eyes again, silently asking for the strength to keep himself from lunging at the jerk. Well, maybe that wasn’t fair. What were the chances he would have believed what he’d done was possible if he hadn’t experienced it himself?
When he opened his eyes again, he focused on the chief. “We don’t have a lot of time, so let me give you the short version of why I can do it. I was shot during a narcotics raid and had one of those near-death experiences you’ve heard about. I mean with my consciousness hovering in the air, looking down at Ben Walker lying on a table in the emergency room. As you may have noticed, I came back to myself. And since then, I’ve found that when I touch a dead person, I get their last memories. Not a skill I’d wish on anyone. But it does come in handy on occasion. Until I came to Doncaster, I’d only used it with the recently dead.” He laughed mirthlessly. “The quick in and out. But somehow, with these women who had been dead for months, I have trouble fighting my way back to myself.”
He kept his gaze on Judd. “I came out here because I thought I could learn something about the kidnapper. I think I have.”
He struggled to a sitting position. “Last time, when I got into the other woman’s memories at the warehouse, her captor was with her when she died, but I could only see a person whose head was covered by a black hood. This time, I saw the person’s face.
“Are you going to tell me it was one of the men who run this town?” Judd demanded.
“No. I’m going to tell you it was Bettie Henderson.”
“What? I thought it was a guy.”
“So did we. I guess that’s what Bettie wanted her victims to think. But when the guy took off the hood, I saw her standing there big as life.”
“How could she pull that off?”
Ben thought about it. “It was Bettie, but she didn’t look like herself. She was more masculine. Like she really was a man. Bettie’s twin if she had a brother.”
“Weird,” Judd mused aloud.
Cole’s gaze narrowed. “What if she’s got one of those split personalities? You know, another person inside her body.”
“Come on,” Judd said, incredulous.
“Y
ou have a better explanation?” Cole asked.
“No. But I don’t believe this one,” the chief said. He turned to Ben. “And I don’t believe that you had some kind of vision and decided there was a reason Bettie Henderson has been running around in a black hood kidnapping girls.”
Before Ben could say anything, the chief continued. “You met her at the restaurant, right?”
“Of course. How else would I know who she was?”
“I think this whole thing is bull. What are you going to tell me about this guy?” he gestured toward Cole, “That he used some kind of mumbo jumbo to find the body? Or did you all plant it here?”
“Why the hell would we do that?” Ben asked.
“To sucker me into something.”
“Think what you like.” Ben got to his feet. “All I want to do is find Sage and Laurel. And you’ve got another murder victim on your hands. She’s probably the other girl who disappeared last year. Take care of her while we go after Bettie Henderson. If I’m wrong, we’re no worse off than we were before I had that vision you’re sneering at. But remember, you’ve been losing women in town for the past five years, and you have no damn idea who’s doing it.”
They glared at each other. When the chief looked away, Ben gave it one more try.
“Is Bettie from around here, and if not, do you happen to know how long she’s been in town?”
Judd considered the question. “Seems like she’s been here five or six years. I think she arrived around the same time I did.”
“And what else do you know about her?”
“Not a lot. She did her job and didn’t give me any trouble.” He thought for a moment. “But I did hear that she could be hard on the girls who worked for her. Sometimes she was nice as pie, and other times she was a holy terror.”
Judd dragged in a breath and let it out. Ben could see that something was bothering the chief.
“What is it?” he asked.
“The girls started disappearing about the time she arrived in Doncaster.” He kept his gaze on Ben. “Okay, for now, what if we go with your vision?”
“Thank you.”
“It’s the only lead we’ve got.”
Ben didn’t point out that there might be a better lead if the man had taken Laurel’s kidnapping seriously.
“I’ve got a computer in my truck,” the chief said. “I can look up her address.”