Shadows Fall

by Denise A. Agnew

  Henrietta waggled one finger in affirmation. “The Simple Herald isn’t the most objective journalism I’ve ever seen. The paper would have you believe the whole place is going to hell. They jump on the latest panic faster than white on rice.”

  Jilly’s expression was sad, as if she’d lost someone close. Melissa instantly felt bad for pouring rain on the girl’s conjecture. “Look, I’m not saying that it hasn’t been a bit bizarre lately around here.” She explained what she’d seen the day she’d met Roarke. She held up her own wrist. “It’s still sore, but getting better. But I think as long as you keep protection around you, you’ll be fine.”

  “You don’t think evil has infected the whole town?” Jilly asked, her eyes widening.

  Melissa sighed and rubbed the back of her neck. She ached this morning as if she’d done a marathon. “I think the more people dwell on the bad, the more bad they receive. Karma is truly a bitch.”

  Jilly pouted a little. “But not everything can be explained by bad karma. Two couples my parents have known since before I was born and that live on our street ... they’re getting divorced. They were fine in church yesterday, and today they both tell my mother they’re calling it quits. And the Stepford Wives at church just keep getting weirder and weirder.”

  Melissa was afraid to ask, but did it anyway. “The Stepford Wives?”

  “Jana Peterson and Clementine Harvey came to visit our church yesterday. They joined. Jana and Clementine got up on the stage at the church and made the announcement that because I saw demons in Tranquil View, they are going to do an cleansing of the place soon. They’re petitioning Steele Company to allow it.”

  “This just gets better and better,” Melissa said. She groaned.

  Henrietta closed her eyes. “Holy crud on a stick.” She opened her eyes. “You saw demons?”

  Jilly tucked her thick hair behind her ears, but it didn’t do any good. The strands fell back over her face. “No. I ... to paraphrase the movie, I see dead people.”

  Melissa asked the question, knowing it sounded stupid. “Since when?”

  Jilly’s eyes were solid with self-assurance. Melissa couldn’t see deception within them. “Since I was three years old. That puts a crimp in Mom and Dad’s style, believe me.”

  Melissa didn’t know what to think or say at first, then she rushed to reassure the girl. “I sometimes sense ghosts, and I have seen them. I realized ghosts were real when I was a tiny girl, too. But I’ve learned to control seeing them and hearing them pretty well. Tranquil View is haunted, Jilly, but I’m just not sure that it’s evil.”

  Jilly stared at the floor, her expression rebellious. “I wasn’t supposed to be at the asylum at all. My boyfriend ... my parents hate him. They keep telling me I can’t see him. Anyway, I told them I was staying with my friend, Faith. Instead I was with my boyfriend. He’s the one that wanted to see if I would find ghosts at Tranquil View. I didn’t want to do it.”

  “Why did you?” Henrietta’s tone was soft and serious.

  “Because I’d never been there, and I did it on his dare.” Jilly rubbed her hands up and down her legs again. “It was more than I could handle. I didn’t have my boundaries up. These ghosts kept coming up to me, asking for me to help them. They’re stuck there. Some guys ... they look like soldiers from some war. I don’t know how long ago.”

  “That place was used as an asylum exclusively for soldiers during World War One,” Henrietta said.

  Jilly kept up her nervous movement, now rubbing the back of her neck, just as Melissa had done. “They kept talking to me. Then there was this thing ... I don’t know how to describe it.”

  “Thing?” Melissa asked.

  Jilly’s gaze drifted to the front windows. “A dark presence. I’d never felt anything that bad before.” Her gaze returned to Melissa and Henrietta. “When I went into Tranquil View and the basement, the ghosts overwhelmed me. They rushed at me. They were begging to be let free. The dark presence is in the bones of the place. In the woodwork and the stones. It dominates the soldiers trapped there and won’t let them go.”

  Jilly left the stool and walked up to Melissa. She touched her shoulder and then jolted as if Melissa had slapped her. Before Melissa could speak, Jilly said, “You saw a ghost Friday night.” She gasped. “Oh. Someone has made you doubt that you saw it.” Jilly jerked her hand away. “You may not believe you saw a ghost or two the other night, but they believe in you.”

  Melissa opened her mouth to say something. Anything. Nothing came out at first. “You’re right. I did doubt it.”

  “I wanted you to know what I’ve seen and heard around here. That way if anything happens to me, you’ll know,” Jilly said.

  Henrietta’s eyes narrowed. “What do you mean, happens to you?”

  “You can’t tell anyone what I’ve told you. If you do, my mom will lock me up or send me to some church camp or try an exorcism.” Jilly looked as frightened now as she had Friday night. “You can’t tell them. Promise me that you won’t say anything to them.”

  Henrietta shook her head. “Jilly, if you’re in any kind of danger you have to go to the police.”

  “No.” Jilly rubbed her hands together and then touched her temples, like she was trying to remove a headache. “That Roarke O’Bannion guy is involved in this, too. He’s strong and skeptical. I don’t know how he’s connected.”

  Melissa felt as if she’d fallen into a movie of the week. “He lives there.”

  Jilly gave Melissa a disgusted expression. “Yeah, but it’s more than that.”

  Melissa jumped on that. “You mean he’s a part of this so-called conspiracy of evil?”

  “He isn’t evil.” Jilly actually smiled. “And don’t worry. He’s into you.”

  Heat flooded Melissa’s face. “Okay, he’s into me.”

  Jilly shrugged. “Yeah, he’s old enough to be my dad, but he’s hot. My boyfriend thinks the Marines are cool, and he’s thinking about joining.”

  “Bully for him.” Melissa couldn’t keep the sarcasm out of her voice. “Back to the problem at hand. What do you expect us to do about this ... evil that’s munching down on the town?”

  Jilly looked uncertain. “You need to help Roarke when the time comes. He’ll need your support.”

  “You know the old saying about behind every good man is a good woman?” Henrietta smiled widely at Melissa.

  “When what time comes?” Melissa persisted. A word hissed into her mind, as if someone had whispered it. “Armageddon?”

  Jilly snorted. “This isn’t like that. It might seem like it before it’s all through. Things are happening in this town and it’s going to get a lot worse before it gets better. When you go up to the asylum, watch your back.”

  Melissa decided to reassure the girl. “I’ll take care. And we won’t tell your parents. They’d think we were nuts anyway. But I think you have some gifts, Jilly. Ones you shouldn’t ignore.”

  Jilly nodded. “I don’t ignore them, but it’s hard having parents that just think anything like this is evil. My parents think anything can be cured if you pray hard enough. They’ve been praying for me since I was little, and I made the mistake of telling them about seeing my grandmother’s ghost.” Passion filled the girl’s voice. “I woke them up in the middle of the night to tell them grandma died. They got down on their knees and told me to pray with them because there was no way I could know that.” She took a deep breath. “An hour later they get a call. My grandmother had died at the exact time I saw her.” Melissa grunted. “No one believes me. You know what they call me at school? Jilly the Joke.”

  Melissa winced. “I’m sorry.”

  With a shake of her head, Jilly brushed off the apology. “I didn’t come here for sympathy. I came to let you know that it’s coming. The evil has taken years and years to build its strength. It’s reached a peak and soon it’ll be able to take over the whole town.”

  “And you expect us to know what to do if that happens?” Henrietta asked.

>   Jilly headed for the door. “When the darkest days are here, you’ll know what to do.”

  Before Melissa could blink, Jilly pushed through the door and was gone.

  Melissa stared at Henrietta, amazed at what had happened. “Do you believe that?”

  Henrietta plopped down on the stool as if the energy had drained from her. “I’m not sure. I’ve never dealt with a whole town overtaken by evil.”

  Melissa itched her scalp. “Henrietta, you can’t seriously believe everything she just told us? I mean, even if she’d just told us about seeing evil or feeling evil or whatever at the asylum, that I believe. But she added all this other stuff on.” Melissa gestured with one hand. “If anything, that family of hers is mentally abusing her.”

  Henrietta’s doubtful expression said it all. “We won’t be able to prove it. Besides, even if we went to social services and they decided to remove Jilly from her home, they’ll just put her in evaluation to see if she’s bonkers. But I think we should listen to the girl. Very bizarre things have happened around here lately.”

  As if to punctuate her sentence, an explosion rocked the world outside.

  “What the hell was that?” Henrietta asked breathlessly.

  Before Melissa could answer, another explosion blew them both back from the windows.

  Chapter 8

  Roarke drove back into Simple Monday morning on his motorcycle, well aware it was too damned cold. He needed the lash of icy wind against his face, even though he wore a balaclava and helmet, winter coat, leather chaps, and sturdy boots. During the weekend, he’d spent time wandering his mother’s apartment, hoping he’d find the damn clues eluding him—the clue to her whereabouts, and the clue to why Melissa had insisted she’d seen someone who’d disappeared. Any other man would have chalked it up to dingbat city and kept as far away from Melissa as they could. Yet he’d seen the fear in her eyes; she hadn’t made that up. She’d seen something in the haunted house attraction that scared her.

  Nothing about Melissa Allan indicated deception or a fondness for dishonesty. Natural caution told him he shouldn’t have kissed her the first time, and that he must have lost his mind to kiss her twice. But God, the woman made him horny. Smart or not, his body wanted her, and the moment their lips met, his cock had wanted to sink deep into her warmth and feel her body surrounding his. As a Marine he’d learned sharp discipline. Anything less now wouldn’t prove worthy of his training. Time to cowboy up.

  That’s why he’d squelched the temptation to call her this morning and ask her out again. He stopped by the small grocery store located before the main thoroughfare into Simple. If he drove through town to the larger, more modern store on the south end of Simple, he’d pass Melissa’s store and might be tempted to stop by and say hello. He needed a few things he could carry in one bag. Nothing like mundane grocery shopping to take a Marine’s mind back to the practical and out of the gutter. Grocery shopping bored the hell out of him. He knew what he wanted and had already learned the layout.

  He’d barely made it down Aisle One when he heard the first explosion. Instinct kicked into high gear. He dropped his handcart and ran. At the front of the store, a few other people had stopped and were listening. He ran past them while they gawked at him as if he was insane. The automatic doors swung open and he ran into the tiny parking lot out front. Smoke billowed upward and proclaimed a mini Armageddon.

  “Jesus,” Roarke said.

  “What the hell is that?” An elderly man who stood near Roarke asked.

  Whispers started all around him. “An explosion.”

  Before he could react, a second, slightly less violent explosion came from the same area.

  “Holy crap,” the old man whispered.

  Stark fear riddled Roarke as he realized the location of the smoke. It was down the strip, closer to the end of the main part of downtown, near Melissa’s shop. He ran again, this time to his motorcycle. He hopped on, quickly worked on his helmet, started the cycle, and roared out of the parking lot. Roarke didn’t bother to call 9-1-1; he knew someone else would have already. Icy air bit at his face, but he hadn’t had the time to use the balaclava. He concentrated on making it down the street without causing an accident; he knew he was driving too damned fast. As he neared the scene, he saw people rushing toward the explosion site. Flames licked up from two buildings, and the one right next to Melissa’s was on fire. Sirens blared from behind him. He pulled into a parallel parking spot, shut off the engine and threw down the kickstand. He tore off his helmet and let it fall to the ground. He wove in and out of the backed up traffic at a run, glad for the workouts that gave him agility and speed. Cars were pulling over as best as they could to allow fire trucks and ambulances through. Rubberneckers already made things difficult, and he gritted his teeth in anger and frustration. It didn’t take long, though, to zig and zag his way through the snarled traffic.

  The new age shop windows were gone, blasted by the explosion. Flames were too damned close to Melissa’s store. He wouldn’t get into the building from the front. He ran down the alley between both buildings, determined to reach the back door at all costs. If they were in there, injured—

  He didn’t have time for that. Run. Help them. Before he reached halfway down the long alley, he saw two figures charging his way. His heart leapt with relief. It was Melissa and Henrietta. Both ran full blast, as if they expected more explosions.

  “Roarke!” Melissa waved at him.

  They met him halfway, reaching out as he gathered them close. Both snuggled into him, their eyes frightened. They talked at once.

  “God, it’s good to see you.” Henrietta managed to rasp out a few words.

  “What the hell is going on?” Melissa asked.

  Melissa shivered in his arms, and his protective instincts went into high gear. He scanned their faces. They had purses slung over their shoulders, but didn’t have coats. “Are you guys all right?”

  “Yes,” they both answered at once.

  He drew back and released them. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”

  They rushed down alley back toward the street with Roarke in the lead. They ran into more shop owners and patrons who’d poured out onto the street from other buildings. People were way too close. Heat rose high and fast. Firefighters were already there, geared up and pushing back the crowd. Ambulances were a little farther up the street, hopefully safe from any other explosions. Henrietta grabbed one firefighter to let him know the building that had blown up was empty.

  Roarke paused just long enough to notice there was blood on the side of Melissa’s face and running down her arm. “Damn it,” he hissed as he stopped and took her arm. He lifted her chin. “You’re hurt.”

  “What?” Melissa looked puzzled until she lifted her arm. “It doesn’t hurt. It’s a nick.”

  “Over this way.” He led them to an ambulance and got the attention of the paramedics.

  “They’re just scratches,” Melissa said, clearly not wanting any attention. “All I need is a Band Aid or two and I’m fixed.”

  The paramedics did a quick check on both women and patched up the small cuts on Melissa’s chin and near her elbow. Even though Roarke was concerned and wanted them to go to the hospital, Henrietta and Melissa refused. The paramedics told them to make an appointment with their own doctors for a check up. Henrietta had already made a call to her husband and assured him she was well. By the time all this had occurred, the sheriff’s department had started to herd people back from the scene because of fear of another explosion. The exodus began.

  Roarke took in everything around him with uncanny speed. He hadn’t always possessed such a skill. He’d learned on patrol in Afghanistan that perfect attention meant survival. Anything less assured a man would get dead sooner or later. Old habits died damned hard.

  “Come on. This way.” Roarke led them at a trot back up the street. “We need to find somewhere you both can rest.”

  “There’s my apartment,” Melissa said.

>   Roarke kept moving north. “That may not be far enough away.”

  Henrietta gestured. “Trail Nut Café is at the far end.”

  “Damn, I wish I’d brought my SUV. You guys are going to freeze,” Roarke said.

  “I can handle it.” Henrietta rubbed her arms. “It’s not that far.”

  Roarke took off his parka. “Melissa, take my coat.”

  “What?” Melissa shook her head. “I can’t.”

  He got behind her, ready to help her slip into it. “We don’t have time to argue.”

  “Good idea, Melissa.” Henrietta nodded vigorously. “I’ve got a thick wool sweater and you don’t.”

  “But—”

  He’d already slipped Melissa’s arms into it, grabbed her hand, and off they went. When they reached the cafe, the waitress that seated them in a booth bombarded them with questions. The restaurant had emptied out when the explosions happened. After explaining what they’d experienced to the curious young woman, they ordered hot coffee. Melissa slipped off Roarke’s parka and he gazed at her with concern. His heart still hadn’t returned to a normal beat. Memories flew at him from all sides. Explosions he’d heard and felt returned to him full force. He clenched his fists and took deep breaths.

  “Roarke?” Melissa sat next to him close to the wall, and she placed her hand on his forearm.

  He jerked into full awareness of Melissa’s voice, and focused on her. “What?”

  “You okay soldier?” Henrietta asked, a line of concern between her brows.

  “Sorry, I zoned. This is the last damned place I expected an explosion.”

  “God, I hope there isn’t a lot more damage to my store.” Melissa’s worry came through clear. “The window blew out, and we were damned lucky we weren’t hurt worse. At least I’ve got good insurance. But the lost revenue from repairs ...”

  Roarke felt reassurances coming from him would prove lame as hell. What did someone say to a business owner whose property had been mangled? Instead he offered a different vow. “Whatever it takes, I’ll help out. You can count on me.”