Witches of Palmetto Point Series Boxset Books 1 - 3: Haunting Charlie, Wayward Spirits and Devil's Snare

by Wendy Wang

  “Yeah?” Charlie said.

  “Yeah. Did you get anything?” Jen asked quietly.

  Charlie glanced back at the front window. The old man stood there watching them. A chill skittered across her back, and she headed to the car. “Come, let’s get out of here.”

  Chapter 20

  “What happened?” Jen asked for the fourth time. Charlie didn't answer, instead she just kept driving, ignoring the icy keys digging into her hip.

  “Charlie! Answer me! You're freaking me out.”

  Charlie slammed on the brakes, jerking them both forward. Jen heaved in air and pressed her hands against her chest.

  “I'm sorry,” Charlie finally said. “Are you all right?”

  “I’m fine,” Jen said but her voice sounded strained with fear. “Are you all right?”

  “Yeah. I didn't mean to scare you.” Her voice shook a little a she spoke. “I took some keys.”

  “What?” Jen glared at her, incredulous.

  “When I was in the kitchen I found some keys in his freezer.” She swallowed hard. “And I stole them.”

  “Oh my god,” Jen said. “What if he goes looking for them? He's gonna know it was you.”

  “I know,” she whispered.

  “Charlie, we should take them back.”

  “And tell him what? Sorry but are these yours? They seemed to have jumped into my front pocket? I think he would have me arrested.”

  “Do you think they’re keys to the shed?”

  “I don't know.” Charlie shook her head. “I'm gonna go back tonight and find out.”

  “Charlie. I don't think I can go with you,” Jen said, sounding horrified.

  “I'm not asking you to.”

  “I don't think you should go either. I mean he's a dying old man.”

  “I know,” Charlie said. “But he killed those girls. I know he did.”

  “You could be wrong. You've been wrong before.”

  Charlie pulled the car over onto the side of the road and put it in park before turning to look her cousin in the eye. “I saw Trini. Inside the house.”

  “Did she tell you definitively this is the man who killed me?” Jen’s cheeks reddened.

  “No. But she did point me to the keys. He killed her. I can feel it.”

  “Maybe it's not him, maybe he has a son or —”

  “It’s him, Jen. I love your big heart and I know you want to feel sorry for him because he's a broken old man who’s dying from cancer and needs oxygen to even live, but trust me when I tell you. It's him.”

  “What are you gonna do?” Jen asked.

  “I’m gonna find some evidence. Prove he took Trini and Macey and all those other girls I saw in my dream. I'm going to make sure he pays for it.”

  “So, you’re God now?” Jen said.

  “No, I'm not God. But I'm not afraid to make someone pay for their crimes. I'm also not about to let my sympathy for a sick old man stand in the way, especially if he's a murderer. What if it was Ruby? Would you feel differently then?”

  Jens eyes widened with shock, as if Charlie had slapped her. She grew quiet for a moment. When she spoke, her voice was flat. “He kills little girls.”

  “Maybe not now. But yeah, I certainly believe he has.”

  “Oh my god,” Jen muttered and covered her mouth with her hand. “I felt sorry for him.” Suddenly she opened her car door and leaned out just in time to be sick.

  Charlie rubbed a circle between Jens shoulder blades, offering comfort. Jen wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and sat up. “I'll go with you if you want.”

  “No. It could be dangerous.”

  “You gonna take Jason?”

  “No.” Charlie met her cousin’s steady gaze and did not flinch.

  “Then I’m going. End of discussion,” Jen said.

  “Yes ma’am,” Charlie relented.

  “I'll call Lisa, Daphne, and Evangeline and make sure that we have a protection spell in place. For us both.”

  Evangeline took two plain cotton sachets from the pocket of her sweater. They’d been sewn shut and strung onto a black silk chord. She slipped a sachet around Charlie’s neck first, smiling and meeting her niece’s eyes as she did it. Then she did the same for Jen.

  Charlie clasped hands with her cousins, Lisa on one side and Daphne on the other. The five women formed a circle in Charlie’s small living room. Charlie had left Evan in the care of her uncle and had avoided his questions when Evangeline’s little truck pulled in behind Charlie's at the cottage.

  “Salt and herbs, nine times nine,” Evangeline began, “Guard well these women I love from harm.” She closed her eyes, and Charlie watched curiously as Jen, Lisa, and Daphne followed suit.

  “Light flows through you. Light reinforces the talismans hanging around your necks. The pentacle of protection. The black tourmaline. The protection herbs.”

  Charlie felt a warmth begin in her belly. It stretched in opposite directions, toward her head and feet until her whole body was encompassed in heat and light.

  “Keep them safe as they face the darkness ahead and protect them from those who would inflict harm, both mental and physical,” Evangeline said. “So mote it be.”

  “So, mote it be,” Jen, Lisa and Daphne echoed her words in unison.

  “So, mote it be,” Charlie chimed in last. It wasn’t that she didn’t believe in the ritual and its power or the talismans hanging around her neck. Still, even after all these years of taking part in her aunt and cousin’s pagan ways, she felt like a fraud. “You're both wearing tourmaline, right?” Evangeline asked.

  Charlie nodded and pulled out the necklace with the pentacle pendant and the two black beads strung on either side of it. Jen held up her wrist, showing a leather band with a large black tourmaline wrapped in silver wire fastened to it.

  “I still think this is a bad idea.” Lisa chewed on her thumbnail.

  “Are you sure there's no way Jason can be involved?” Daphne asked.

  “I'm positive,” Charlie said. “And my plan is just to break in to the shed, take some photos and get out. I'm not taking any physical evidence with me.”

  “You both have some latex gloves, right?” Lisa asked. “Just in case you have to touch anything?” Jen nodded and pulled two pairs of gloves from her pocket.

  “If there's a window,” Lisa lowered her voice. “Make any evidence you do find visible. It’ll be much easier for Jason to get a warrant.”

  “I'll keep that in mind,” Charlie said. “Thanks, Lisa.”

  “Just make sure that you text as soon as you’re safe,” Evangeline said.

  “Or as soon as you’re arrested,” Lisa chimed in, but there was no joking in her voice.

  Charlie opened the messenger bag holding her wallet and DSLR camera. She checked the battery one last time to make sure it had plenty of juice and double checked that she had inserted a memory card before she flipped the power button off and tucked the camera back into the padded insert.

  “You ready?” Jen asked.

  Charlie slung the strap of the bag across her body and slipped on a black knit hat to cover up her pale blonde hair. “As ready as I'll ever be, I guess.”

  “Let's do this.” Jen said.

  Charlie parked her car behind a dumpster filled with construction waste on one of the streets where there was new construction going on. Then, camouflaged in black clothes, she and Jen walked into the woods that backed up to the row of houses along the cul-de-sac where the old man lived.

  They came out of the woods near the center of his next-door neighbor's yard. The moon shone brightly in the sky lighting their way, and Charlie had no need for the flashlight yet. They slunk through the darkness together in absolute silence, focused on the goal of getting into the shed, getting their evidence, and getting out as quickly as possible.

  Charlie made her way around to the door of the shed. The middle and bottom padlocks were easy to get into and popped right open, but the one at the top was harder to reach. C
harlie had to stand on her tiptoes to jiggle the key in the rusty lock.

  “Dammit,” she muttered. “I should've thought to bring some WD-40. This thing doesn't want to budge.”

  “Let me see if I've got some,” Jen whispered.

  “You keep WD-40 in your purse?”

  “Yeah.” Jen rifled through the bag. “Shoot. I think I lent it to Daphne last time she was having problems with squeaky hinges at the salon.”

  “Hello?” The small desperate voice of a child called. “Hello? Please help us.”

  Charlie dropped to flat feet. “Did you hear that?”

  Jen stopped digging and looked around. “Hear what?”

  Charlie pressed her ear against the door. “Hello?”

  “Help! Please help us!”

  Adrenaline flooded through her. “Hang in there! We’re coming.”

  “Charlie, shhh,” Jen looked around.

  Charlie stood up on her tiptoes again, jiggling the key in the lock again, harder this time.

  “Careful,” Jen scolded in a harsh whisper. “You’re gonna break the key off. Just hang on.” She went back to digging through her bag. “Here it is.” She pulled a small spray can with a straw taped to the side from her bag and handed it to Charlie.

  Charlie slipped the straw into the sprayer and directed it into the bottom of the padlock. The acrid chemical smell filled the air and the slick liquid dripped down her fingers. She put the key back in and gave it a couple of good turns. Finally, it moved and popped open. She removed it and pulled the door out just enough for them to slip inside the darkness.

  Charlie twisted the flashlight until the beam flashed around the shed. She looked for the child belonging to the voice she’d heard.

  Dust and mold stung her nostrils, and the smell of rotting grass and motor oil coated the back of her throat. Charlie sprayed light around the edges of the walls.

  “Hello?” she said. The shadows of garden paraphernalia hanging from the walls distorted in the light. She made out a weed whacker, a leaf vacuum and blower, various sized rakes and shovels, a spade, and a post-hole digger. A couple of rusty lawn mower blades hung on a nail by the door. On the floor, there was a large lawn mower with a bag attachment. But there was no sign of a child.

  “Does it seem small to you in here?” Jen peered around the room with her own penlight.

  Charlie swung her light to each of the four interior walls. “Compared to the outside, yeah, it does.” Charlie walked over to a wall holding different types of rakes and shovels. She knocked on the wooden wall. It sounded hollow.

  “Help,” a small child's voice said. “Please, help me. Please.”

  Charlie's heart jumped into overdrive hammering hard against her rib cage and she began to search variously for some way in.

  “Hang on, we’re coming,” Charlie said. “What's your name?”

  “Please help me.” The child's voice cried again.

  “Jen, help me.”

  “What's going on?”

  “Please help me.” The voice sounded smaller and more distant.

  “Don't you hear that child? Is that an ax over there?” Charlie pointed her flashlight beam at a tool leaning against the wall on the opposite side of the door.

  Jen reached down and grabbed the ax by the handle and handed it to Charlie. “Charlie, what is it?”

  “I hear a child crying for help.”

  “Charlie, I don't hear anything,” Jen said softly.

  “Please don't leave me here, please.” The child’s words wrenched Charlie’s heart.

  “Step back from the wall, okay?” Charlie swung the ax before Jen could stop her.

  It only took two good swings to rip through the thin plywood. With the third swing the ax got stuck and when she yanked the tools came crashing to the floor.

  “Well, if nobody knew we were here before, they do now,” Jen muttered. The wall hung askew just enough to see behind it. The stench of rot hit them both hard, and Charlie dropped the ax and covered her nose with the crook of her elbow.

  “Oh god, I'm gonna be sick,” Jen said.

  Charlie pulled her cell phone out of her back pocket and quickly called Jason. He picked up on the first ring.

  “Jason, I need you to come. It's important.”

  “What's happened? Did you have another encounter with Brianna?”

  “No, nothing like that.” Charlie closed off the back of her nose and her voice became nasally. “But I think I found our missing girls.”

  “What? Where the hell are you?”

  “I'll explain everything once you get here but you need to call your forensic friends. I’m pretty sure there are bodies here.”

  “You see bodies?”

  “Not exactly. But I see blood.”

  “Real blood or ghost blood.”

  “Real blood,” Charlie said with irritation. “Jen sees it too.”

  “Oh god,” Jen moaned nearby. Charlie found her cousin standing over a large cooler on the floor, with her hand over her mouth. All the color had drained from Jen’s face.

  “Oh shit,” Charlie muttered. “Jason, there’s a body in a cooler.” She flitted the beam across a row of nearly identical coolers. Her heart dropped into her belly, and she fought the urge to be sick. A flash of metallic blue caught her eye, and she shined the beam toward its source. A dusty girl’s bicycle leaned against the back wall in the corner. Charlie recognized the blue, white, and silver plastic streamers hanging from the handles. “Trini Dolan's bike is here as well. I also see a couple of scooters and a skateboard.”

  “Gimme the address, I'm on my way,” Jason said.

  “What are you doing in my shed?” a harsh voice called. Charlie turned to find the old man holding a pistol in one hand and propping himself up with his cane with the other.

  Charlie raised her hands in the air, still holding onto her phone. “Mr. Hatch, we came back to check on you, sir,” Charlie lied. “And I heard a child crying. It was coming from this shed.”

  The man gritted his teeth. “I don't know anything about that. Get out of my shed. Before I call the police.”

  “You don't have to worry about that.” Charlie inched forward. “I've already called them.”

  “What?” He stepped backward and glanced out the door.

  “Yes. I couldn't let a child be trapped in here. So, I had to break in and call the police.”

  “I don't know what you're talking about?”

  “I think you know exactly what I'm talking about, Henry. I think it's weighing on you. Maybe even killing you. Why don't you put the gun down and we’ll talk. Figure this out.”

  “Not a chance in hell,” he said.

  Ten minutes later, Jason arrived with Marshall Beck in tow and enough back up to take out a small army. The police cars lined up all along the cul-de-sac, their lights flashing. The old man was not in view, but Jason knew they were still alive. He’d listened to Charlie and Jen talk to the man in quiet soothing tones trying to keep him calm on his phone, trying to keep him from shooting them.

  “All right, how do you want to handle this?” Beck fastened his bulletproof vest in place. Jason surveyed the scene.

  “We should go up that neighbor's driveway and come around the backside of the shed see if we can get a look in. Charlie said there's a window.”

  “Why on earth was she here?” Beck asked.

  “From what I overheard she said she was there to check on him. I guess they had delivered food to him through some sort of outreach, and she heard a child crying. Said it was coming from the shed so she went to check it out.”

  “And you buy that?” Beck said, his voice full of doubt.

  “Yeah,” Jason said flatly. “I do.”

  Beck narrowed his eyes. “All right then,” he said. “I'll go instruct these guys. And then we’ll head around back to see what we’re dealing with.”

  “Good,” Jason said.

  They got out of the car, and Jason removed his weapon from its holster and grabbed hi
s flashlight from the center console. A few minutes later he and Beck quietly made their way alongside the house next door and cut across the side yard around to the shed. He slunk along the outer wall and peeked inside through the window.

  Jen’s flashlight was pointed to the ceiling because her hands were raised—giving Jason just enough light to see the scene. The old man propped himself up with a cane and held a gun in the other. Charlie was closer to him than Jen, and she was still talking. Beck signaled for them to keep moving around the perimeter of the shed toward the door.

  Jason tilted his head to the opposite direction where he began to move so they could each cover one side of the door.

  Jason overheard Charlie say, “Look, the police are here. See the lights? I think you should put the gun down and we should just all go talk to them about this.”

  “There's nothing to talk about. You’re the ones trespassing.”

  “Why don't we just go out and talk to the police then.”

  The man fell silent “No. I don't want to go talk to the police. They're gonna want to start poking around, and I don't want them in here.”

  “Well, it's a little late for that, Henry,” Charlie said. “I can tell you from experience that you holding that gun is not a good scenario with a bunch of cops around. The best thing you can do right now is to put that gun down and give yourself up.”

  Beck signaled that he was going to go in. Jason shook his head. But Beck ignored him.

  “Police!” Beck charged into the shed with his weapon drawn. “Put your gun down and your hands in the air.”

  The old man turned slowly, pointing the gun at Beck.

  “I can't do that. I can't let you take them. They belong to me.”

  “Sir, put the gun down now.” Beck didn’t take his eyes from his target.

  “Please, Henry, put the gun down,” Charlie said, sounding panicked. “They will kill you.”

  “This is all your fault, you little bitch.” Henry snarled. He pivoted quicker than anyone could have anticipated, aiming for Charlie’s head. Two shots rang out and a scream pierced the night.

  Henry fell to the ground. It took Charlie a second to realize she felt no pain, had not been shot. Quickly, she stepped forward and kicked the gun away from Henry's hand. Marshall and Jason rushed inside, but Charlie ignored them and knelt next to Henry’s prone body.