by Joyce Lavene
I left to meet Tim at the bar. Lucas said he’d practice spelling several items to find out if he was capable of it before Gerald and I went against the werewolf. I wasn’t sure how he’d figure that out until I saw him in the rearview mirror as I was leaving. It looked like he was trying to get the garden shears to cut one of the bushes near the house by themselves.
If that was the case, it was a miserable failure. The garden shears danced around on top of the bush and then went after him. The last glimpse of him—the ancient, feared sorcerer from the past—was running into the house and slamming the door behind him.
“God help us, Gerald. I hope Tim has something better.” I pulled the van onto the main road.
Tim was waiting for me at the bar. It took me longer to get there because I had to stop for gas. The bartender nodded when he saw me and got me a beer. I thanked him, surprised at his memory, and sat opposite Tim at the table.
He glanced at his watch. “I was about to leave. Where were you?”
“I had some errands.” I wondered why he was so edgy. I hoped he hadn’t paid Gerald a visit and found him stocking up on werewolf-killing weapons. “What’s up?”
He was in his uniform but must have been off-duty since he was drinking too. Not beer this time but scotch. Not the best scotch either by the smell of it.
“You got Linker out of jail, didn’t you?”
I nodded. “I don’t think he belongs in jail. Do you?”
“Where else would he be ranting about werewolves killing his wife?”
“Maybe a mental hospital—if it wasn’t true.”
“Don’t tell me a level-headed woman like yourself is getting dragged into his crazy fantasies.” He shook his head and polished off his scotch, pointing to the glass when he caught the bartender’s eye.
“How do you know it’s crazy?” I leaned forward and whispered the question. “I might’ve thought that too a few years ago. But I’ve seen stuff that doesn’t have a rational explanation. Open your eyes, Tim. It’s out there.”
I thought he might get up and walk out. This wasn’t a conversation most rational people would get involved in. If I hadn’t been so upset by everything that had happened that day, I might not have said anything. I didn’t really think I could convince him that I’d been dead for three years and had a sorcerer living with me.
“There’s something I have to show you.” He took a wrinkled sheet of paper from his pocket and smoothed it out on the table. “This is a map of this area and about fifty miles around it.”
That wasn’t the response I’d been expecting. “What’s with all the red X’s on it? What do they represent?”
“People who were killed just like your husband and Gerald’s wife.” He took a deep, ragged breath as the bartender brought his new glass of scotch.
I looked at all the X’s on the map. There had to be two hundred of them.
“Some of these deaths are attributable to wild animal attacks, no vehicles involved. But too many of them are accounts of people being ripped from their vehicles after accidents and breakdowns. After each event, the victim was mauled and dragged too far away from the vehicle for them to have crawled or been thrown.”
I searched his face. His eyes were filled with terror and questions.
“What do you make of it, Tim?”
“It’s impossible. The wild population isn’t there for that number of animal attacks, much less the incidents with the vehicles. I don’t know what to make of it. But now that I know your reasoning, Skye, I like it even less.”
“I don’t like it either.” I glanced toward the bar where the bartender was drying glasses. There were a few other men that were drinking beer and watching sports on TV. “I don’t like thinking that there are werewolves out there killing people. I don’t like that there is anything out there I can’t kill with my Beretta.”
“How do you deal with it? I couldn’t sleep last night thinking about it. It feels like the whole world has gone insane.”
I agreed as I sipped my beer.
He finished his new glass of scotch and called for more. “So what do we do about it? What do you and Gerald have planned?”
His question rolled around in my head. I wasn’t sure if I should tell him the truth even though he seemed to be a new believer in the supernatural. It had been thrust on me at the same time that I’d found out I was dying. I had to make a decision immediately, and I had chosen to go on.
But I didn’t think he was ready for that kind of commitment.
“Whatever is killing people out in those woods at the top of the hill—we’re going to kill it. I don’t know if it’s a werewolf. I don’t know what it is, but I don’t think it’s human. Gerald won’t be at peace until it’s dead, and I owe him that after bringing him into this. I’d like to catch it, but neither one of us can do it alone. I’m siding with him.”
Tim let my words sink in. “You know, it’s been an age since I went hunting. When are you gonna to do it? Maybe you could use another hand.”
“Are you sure?” I searched his face. “I don’t know what we’ll find out there, and I have it on good authority that we may not survive the experience.”
“If all this is true, I plan to retire anyway.” His grin was crooked. “My wife always told me I’d go out with a gun in my hand. She may be right.”
“Okay. We’re meeting at the woods at seven p.m. Bring whatever you’ve got. We aren’t sure what can kill it. I hope between the three of us that we have whatever it is.”
He nodded. “I’ll be there.”
I put my hand on his. “Don’t let me down on this, Tim. If you think it’s crazy, just don’t show up. I don’t want to see a group of law enforcement up there waiting for us.”
“That’s not what I’m about.” He glanced at the map and the X’s on it. “My little girl is twenty-three now. She travels those roads to school and back in Nashville every day. Her car broke down on the side of the road last week. If it wasn’t for a farmer who picked her up and brought her home, she could’ve been one of those X’s. That’s what I’m about.”
I finished my beer and got up to leave. “I’ll see you at seven.”
Chapter Twenty-seven
I stopped by the school and surprised Kate by getting her off the bus. We went to the convenience store in Wanderer’s Lake and each got junk food snacks and sodas. We sat on the shore and picked up empty clam shells. Each of us tried our hand at skipping stones across the water.
Being with her, watching her laugh and run down the shore, almost made me back out of helping Gerald.
I was supposed to be here to watch her grow up, not hunt for Jacob’s killer. Maybe that was why Abe had told me not to investigate his death. Looking back was never a good thing. No matter what I did, I couldn’t bring Kate’s daddy back to life.
But I was pretty sure there was no such wisdom behind Abe’s request.
It was more likely that he’d created werewolves with his zombie magic, by accident of course, like the creature Terry had become. Abe might even know that Jacob was killed by one of his creations. I wouldn’t go so far as to think he’d set up Jacob’s death, but I felt like anything was possible.
Maybe he knew I’d end my twenty year service to him if I went against the werewolf. That would mean the tiresome ordeal of looking for someone else to pick up his people when it was time for them to go.
But as much as I loved Kate, I was also determined to find out what had happened to Jacob. My heart still ached when I thought about him being gone. A part of me hoped we were right about a werewolf killer. Taking an unruly, murderous beast’s life would be a satisfying end to the ordeal.
If I was killed while doing it, I had at least given my daughter a few years to grow up. Addie was much stronger now, and Lucas had sworn to protect her. I believed that he would. They wouldn’t be me. I had to hope Kate would understand if the worst happened.
“Why are you so sad and quiet?” she asked, holding a quartz rock in her hand.
“I don’t know. Just thinking, I guess.” I smiled for her benefit.
“You’re thinking about Daddy, aren’t you?” She sat on my lap. “I know because I look like that when I think about him too.”
I hugged her close. “Yes. I was thinking about Daddy.”
“Grandma says it’s good to remember him but bad to be sad. She says he’s in a better place now and that he loves us very much.”
“She’s right.” I smoothed her fine hair that the lake breeze had ruffled. “But sometimes I get sad anyway. Do you?”
“Yes. I miss him. And sometimes, I worry that you’re going away too.”
I wished I could promise her that it wouldn’t happen, but that would be unfair. It could happen, if not tonight then some other time.
“Everyone dies, Kate. We have to love people as much as we can while they’re alive.”
“I love you, Mommy.” She looked off at the lake. “If you’re still alive next week, can we go on a boat ride? Mary’s family just got a new boat. It made me wish we could go on a boat ride. I remember doing that with Daddy once.”
“Yes. If we’re both alive next week, we’ll go on a boat ride. We’ll take Lucas with us because he might not have ever been on a boat ride.”
“Really? Is that because sorcerers don’t like boats?”
“I don’t know.” I glanced at my watch. “Let’s ask him when we get home. We’d better go get cleaned up for supper. Grandma won’t like it if we’re late.”
She skipped along beside me to the van. “Can ghosts go on boat rides too?”
I laughed as I opened the door for her. “I don’t know. We’ll have to ask Grandma about that.”
I didn’t know if it was right to encourage an eight year old to think about death and dying, much less sorcery, but this was Kate’s life. She wasn’t going to grow up to be a normal adult. But I hoped she’d grow up happy anyway.
And that she wasn’t the granddaughter of an evil sorcerer.
The last thought was uninvited. I tried to banish it as we drove back to Apple Betty’s Inn. It seemed like the more I tried not to think about it, the more it took hold of my mind. It couldn’t be true, and yet it was so weird and strange that I couldn’t imagine why Artemis would say it if it wasn’t.
Debbie’s minivan was in the drive as we got back. I sent Kate up to get washed as I searched my partner’s grim face. Bowman and Raina were watching TV.
“You didn’t find him.” I guessed.
“No. I looked everywhere, but I had to be back for the kids.”
Lucas was at the stove with Addie. They were making corn fritters—he had a thing for pancakes.
“I’m sorry,” Debbie called out to him. “I didn’t mean the things I said. You saved my life, Lucas. I’d be gone like those others if you hadn’t been there.”
He nodded but didn’t speak.
“What now?” I asked her.
“I’m sending the kids away to my parents. I went to the school this afternoon and let them know Bowman and Raina were taking a few extra days for summer break. It’s the only way I know to protect them, and this way I can look for Terry.”
“I can attempt a spell that could help you locate him,” Lucas volunteered. “He has an unusual vibration that you might be able to follow.”
“Thank you.” Debbie blinked the tears from her eyes and faced me again. “I went to see Abe again. You were right, Skye. He’s not going to do anything for Terry. He made it clear that I still belong to him, and he expects me to honor my commitment. He won’t release me.”
“I’m sorry. We’ve both known for a while what he wanted from you. I don’t know if what happened with Terry was on purpose, but—”
“It doesn’t matter. I’ve decided that I’m going to find my husband and a way to get us both out of Abe’s grasp. I don’t know how yet, but I’m going to do it.”
I invited her to stay for supper, but she had to go home and pack for the kids. They were leaving that night. Debbie wasn’t willing to take any chance on Terry coming back.
“At least I know that he’s still inside that thing.” She smiled. “As long as there’s a chance I can get him back, I’m going to keep looking for him.”
“I don’t blame you. I think he still loves you. I could see it was driving him crazy not to help you. You’re lucky to have him.”
“I know. I’ll be back as soon as I can. If we get called on a pickup, can you cover for me?”
“Sure. Abe might be a little put out, but we know he’s not going to do anything about it. We’ve got him there.”
“Thanks.” She waved to Lucas and Addie. “I’ll see you later.”
I said goodbye to her, Bowman, and Raina. Like Kate, Debbie’s kids had a glimpse into an unexplained world that they shouldn’t have been able to see. It was going to impact them the rest of their lives. There was no way to take it back.
“The longer the man goes as the beast,” Lucas said when she was gone. “The harder it will be for him to recall ever being a man.”
“I’d do the same thing if it was Jacob.” I set the table for supper. “She has to try. How could she ever love someone else knowing he’s out there suffering?”
Addie did her ghost version of clearing her throat. “I don’t know. You fell into another man’s arms pretty quickly. It didn’t seem to bother you.”
“Jacob is dead,” I harshly reminded her. “There is nothing I can do for him. And I’m tired of you making cracks about Lucas and me all the time. It won’t be long, and Kate will notice. Cut it out.”
“This is still my house. I can say what I like.” She glanced at Lucas. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean any disrespect to you, and you’ve been a big help to all of us. But it’s just not right.”
She disappeared, and I sighed as I put the beans she’d been cooking into a bowl.
“It’s hard for her,” Lucas said as he put the giant mound of corn fritters on a platter. “Her son is gone. She wants everyone to know her despair.”
“I think we all know it. There’s no reason for her to drive it into the ground.”
I had no sympathy for her that night as I was about to put my life, such as it was, on the line to avenge her son. I would have told her, but I knew she’d never believe a werewolf had killed Jacob. Unless I came back with its head on a platter, like the corn fritters, it was unlikely she would ever believe it.
I called Kate for supper. Lucas poured sweet tea into glasses filled with ice.
Kate put one corn fritter on her plate with a spoonful of beans.
“We’re never going to eat all these fritters,” I said as I took one for myself.
Lucas put at least a dozen on his plate. “I believe we can put a sizable dent in these fritters. Kate, eat another one. Let’s show your mother that one cannot make too many fritters.”
After supper, we put dozens of leftover fritters in the refrigerator while Kate did her homework at the kitchen table. Lucas and I washed and dried the dishes. Addie still hadn’t put in an appearance. I had to look for her upstairs so she could be with Kate when Lucas and I left to join Gerald and Tim.
I wasn’t surprised to find her in Jacob’s bedroom. “I have to go out. I need you to watch TV or something with Kate.”
“I know something is up,” she remarked without looking at me. “Lucas is going with you, isn’t he? Does it have something to do with Debbie’s husband?”
I frowned.
“I can’t help it. I hear everything in this house. It’s part of me.” She patted one of Jacob’s old stuffed animals. “You might want to consider that when you’re in bed with Lucas.”
I sat at the old desk. “I don’t want to hurt you. You’re one of the few things I have left from when my life was normal. I don’t want to fight with you. Can’t we get along for Jacob’s sake if nothing else?”
“Why? We never did when he was alive.”
“I’m going out tonight to find his killer,” I confessed. “We both know he
didn’t die in the crash, Addie. I have a chance to prove that he didn’t and do something about what killed him.”
“Do something like what? What do you think killed him?”
I took a deep breath. “A werewolf. We think a werewolf killed him and some other people in those woods.” I told her about Tim and Gerald. “We’re going to kill it.”
Her dark eyes for once looked happy. “Good. That would make me feel a lot better than all these newspaper clippings on the wall. I guess you’ll need Lucas’s magic.”
“Probably.”
“That makes sense.”
“Why do you believe me? I thought for sure you’d laugh me off.”
“I’m a ghost, Skye. You’re dead. My husband was dead for twenty years before he went away. Lucas does magic. It’s not too much of a stretch for me to believe there are werewolves and that one of them killed my son.”
I was completely amazed. I hadn’t given her enough credit.
She sniffed. “You know he’s a good man—Lucas. He’s not my son, mind you. But he’s a good man. You could do worse, I suppose.”
“Thanks, Addie.” I smiled as I got up to go.
“But keep it down in the bedroom. There’s a child here, for God’s sake.”
She disappeared before I could leave the room.
It would’ve been nice to have that ability as a zombie.
I looked around at all the evidence I’d collected for the past three years as I’d haphazardly looked into Jacob’s death. It had brought me to this moment where there was no way to go back. All I could do was plunge ahead and hope I was doing the right thing.
“I love you, Jacob,” I whispered to the empty room before I went downstairs.
Chapter Twenty-eight
Kate barely noticed when I left. She was so engrossed in a BBC show that was also a favorite of Addie’s. For all of my mother-in-law’s rough charm, she was a hopeless Anglophile.
It was just as well, I told myself as I walked out to the van. I’d rather Kate not worry about what I was doing. I could do that well enough for both of us.