Those damn altars had worked. Unbelievable! The cop was picking himself up off the ground. The Game Changer rocked back and forth, his grin broadening with each motion. Another check of his watch. Almost showtime. This was going to be fun. Jessie was smart, but no match for the boss’s skill. “Be patient, all you have to do now is be patient.” He knew his boss was close by. A shudder racked his body. He could almost feel the darkness swirling around him.
****
Jeremy joined Matt after following the women safely back. They hid in a place where they could watch the area for a while.
The night was quiet except for the chirping of a few crickets. The air was warm enough to be outside and enjoy the moonlight. Matt looked over at Jeremy. “How long have you known Jessie?
“Several years. I first met her when she set up a meeting with me. I was doing research on banking fraud in the housing industry, and she was doing a story on it at the time. She walked in, and it was all over for me.” He grinned. “I could hardly hold an intelligent conversation with her. I don’t know how, but somehow I managed to hold it together. We worked together several times after that.” Jeremy got quiet and then smiled. “It took a while, but eventually I realized she saw me as a brother and nothing more. I nursed my broken heart, and we became great friends. That’s what we are now.”
“How long did that take?” Matt asked him.
“Let’s just say long enough. How did you meet her?” Jeremy stretched out his arms behind his back.
“I met her right after she moved to Blue Cove. It was the first day of her arrival. She was at Angelo’s with Katie. I tried to play it cool, but one look and she hooked me. We both fought the attraction for a while. I was a jerk.” Matt’s grin broadened. “I wonder if I’ll ever escape the need to slug every guy who comes along and looks at her.”
“Once I got over I wasn’t the guy for her, I watched her reaction to those who came on to her. She seemed to take it all in stride and put them in their place fast if they crossed a particular line with her. She had to handle some sticky situations with co-workers and people she interviewed. She did it with class, but she still put them in their place with little doubt about how she felt about their actions.” Jeremy slapped Matt on the back. “That’s why I can say she’s different with you. Lots of guys have fallen for her, but she always kept her distance.” He shook his head. “Not so much with you.”
“That’s good to know.” Matt’s grin vanished. “Do you think it’s possible this guy is one on the long list of those who she’s discouraged? Are we looking at a disgruntled would-be suitor who is unstable, or a stalker?”
“That’s an angle to consider. Maybe Adriana’s stalker became hers, and maybe he’s setting it all up because Jessie’s the ultimate prize.”
“Hell, we could be dealing with someone’s obsession. We’d better dig deep and see if we can find anything.” Matt’s jaw flexed.
“I don’t know how you can stand the waiting.” Jeremy strained to see what had moved the bush on the other side.
“Let’s just say I can’t. I was never good at it.” Matt moved out of their hiding place. “I think we should call it a night.”
****
Jessie was restless. Sadie was asleep and so was Katie, but she was wide-awake. She remembered Reba’s words about being the gatekeeper of her mind and she shouldn’t let anyone into her thoughts who didn’t belong. Maybe Adriana would try to get in touch with her or maybe the dark figure who had been standing over Adriana would try to force his way into her thoughts. The resort staff had already turned down the bed and left a piece of chocolate on the pillow. She opened it, popped in her mouth, and let it melt slowly, savoring its goodness.
Shutting off the light, Jessie lay across the cool silky sheets, but sleep still evaded her. Adriana had been too quiet. Why? Drugged perhaps. Jessie didn’t want to consider the other possibilities. Her mind raced on. Is that what the note meant when it said tucked in tight? Talk to me, Adriana. Jessie rolled onto her side, the blankets bunching around her legs. Boy, another piece of that chocolate sounded good. She could still taste its smooth rich flavor.
She took a deep breath in through her nose, held it for eight seconds, and released it through her mouth. Whoever had told her breathing this way was supposed to relax you had it all wrong. It wasn’t working. The loud ticking of the clock shifted her attention. The numbers moved ever so slowly. One, one-fifteen, one-thirty, and then two. Jessie tossed and turned in rhythm with the ticks of clock. It was at five minutes after two when everything began to change.
The room came alive with dancing shadows and snake-like creatures with eyes that glowed in the darkness; hypnotic, hissing creatures spinning ever closer to the bed. Covers flew one way and Jessie rolled the other direction trying to distract them. Tightness settled across her chest. She gasped for air. Drums beat in the night. Had anyone else heard them? A quick peek out the window showed only a quiet night. No shadows, nothing. It was getting harder to breath. The curtain slipped from her fingers, and she crouched in the corner of the room in fear. “You’re the gatekeeper, don’t let them in,” Jessie repeated the words in a panic. The creatures stopped to stare at her with hideous glowing eyes.
Jessie started humming a song remembered from her Sunday school days as a child. The words came flowing back and she found herself singing it aloud with gusto. Her mind closed tight to the one who was trying to infiltrate it. The drums beat on, the creatures danced into a frenzy, whirling about the room. As long has she sang her song, they didn’t come near her.
The bedroom door flew open, and the light snapped on. Sadie burst through followed by Katie. They joined her on the floor and sang along with her until the sun peeked up over the horizon, and the darkness slunk away, taking the fear of the night with it.
****
“What happened?” He screamed at his boss standing beside him. “You didn’t do what you said.” He pulled his dark hood tighter. “You promised it would work if I did everything that you told me to do.”
The man mumbled under his breath. “She fought us. I’ve never seen this strength before.” He wiped the sweat from his brow. “She wouldn’t let us in. Let me worry about getting her ready for you.”
“I won’t give up, do you hear me? I’ve waited too long for this. You told me it would be easy for you to take care of.” He shoved his hands in his pocket. “I’ll do it myself.”
“You can try, but you’ll make mess of it. You always do,” his boss said, poking him in the chest. “Do what I tell you. Get back to Adriana and let me worry about Jessie. You don’t want a visit from my friends do you?” He got in his car and drove away.
Out of control, he lashed out in anger. The trashcan careened across the sidewalk, emptying its contents along the way. It was time to find a new place, a way to change the game. His racing heart slowed, the anger subsided, his breath returned to normal. Round one went to Jessie, but that’s the last one he’d give her or anyone else.
Chapter 12
“Jessie, what was that?” Katie’s voice trembled as it sliced through the thick air that still permeated the room in spite of the growing dawn light. “What just happened? I can’t stop shaking.” Katie hugged her middle tightly with her arms.
Jessie remained huddled in the corner, grateful for the wall’s solid support. “I don’t know—it was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before. Dark…evil.” She shivered. “I was balanced on a fine line between sanity and insanity. It…it took all I had to hold it together. I thought for a moment that I would lose it.” Tears filled her eyes. “That’s why I started humming the first thing that came into my head and then singing it. It seemed to help me focus.” She shivered again.
“What are we going to do?” Katie grabbed the chair to pull herself to her feet and stretch her legs. “It felt real. I wonder who or what it was?” She frowned. “Didn’t it feel a little weird how it just sort of went away with the light of day? At least I hope it did.” She plopped do
wn in the chair.
“My, sweet girls.” Sadie put her arm around Jessie and patted Katie’s knee. “We’ll be okay, but no more dilly-dallying. I think we need to let Matt know what happened, immediately. I’m going to call him.” Sadie tried to stretch her cramped legs, and then groaned as she rolled over onto all fours and held on to the chair to stand. Katie held out her hand to help her.
“He said he’d come if we need him. I hate to bother him and bring him running over now.” Jessie winced at Sadie’s slow progress. Her grandmother didn’t deserve this. She felt a pang. Her fault, she’d brought this danger with them.
Sadie shook her head. “We need him! The other man is here, and we need Matt.” Sadie frowned as Jessie’s chin started to lift.
“Okay, call him, but I don’t think he could have done anything to help us last night.” Jessie stretched her legs out in front of her. She shivered.
“Whoa! Back up. Did I miss something? Who’s here?” Katie grabbed Sadie’s arm. “You mean the guy who’s been writing those notes?” Katie stood up with her hands on her hips. “I told you he’d follow you, didn’t I? Now, what are we going to do?” She glared at Jessie. “Don’t listen to her, Sadie. Call Matt, and get him here now. I’m scared.”
“Matt flew in to help but wanted you girls to enjoy your vacation. You, my dear girl, can remove that stubborn look on your face.” Sadie wagged her finger at Jessie. “He wants to be here. He’s your partner. The case is here now, and so is he.”
“I hate that he forever has to come to my rescue.” Jessie shrugged her shoulders.
“I’m glad he does, with all the weird stuff happening to you and anyone else near you.” Katie sniffed.
“First things first, girls. We need to shower, get dressed, and we’ll have a lovely breakfast. We are going to be rational and sane about this. The three of us need to put our heads together and think.” Sadie stretched her arms and walked about a little bit. “Boy, it’s been a long time since I sat on the floor. I’m going to pay for it.”
“Are you okay, Grams?” Jessie bit her lip.
“Yes, it’s nothing that a nice hot shower and time in the hot tub can’t cure.” She held her hand out to Jessie as she stood. Sadie sat down on the bed. She patted the open space, but Jessie shook her head.
“I think I’ll get dressed.” Katie walked out of the room. “Call him,” she called over her shoulder.
Sadie nodded. “What do you think it was?” Sadie looked at Jessie as she asked it.
Jessie began to pace. “I don’t know. Matt had mentioned that the deputy in charge of Adriana’s case said strange things happened at their station when they started investigating her case.”
“What kind of strange things?” Sadie glanced at Jessie when she asked her.
“All the paper files, all the interviews from their legwork in the case went missing. Computer files were erased. They found blood and several small fetishes. Matt told me the deputy had sounded fearful.”
“It sounds a little like voodoo, but most voodoo rituals aren’t for evil purposes.” Sadie frowned. “Although, it seems, I read once that there was a dark side of voodoo, with practitioners who did curses and cast spells for a fee. They believed it could bring the dead to life again. That’s where the idea of the zombie originated. Who do you know that would be mixed up in that?” She looked thoughtful.
“I have no idea, but if their intent was to scare me, they did a good job.” Jessie pushed her hair behind her ears and started pacing again.
“You must’ve been up against a cultic ritual of some sort last night.” Sadie nodded. “It’s probably best if we don’t mention it to Katie.”
“I agree. All I know is that right before it all started happening, Reba’s words about me being the gatekeeper came back to me, and I knew I didn’t want to let anyone into my head. I focused on keeping them out.” Jessie stopped pacing and looked at Sadie. “I don’t know if they were real or only in my mind. Ugly and dark is how I would describe them.”
“You did well, girl.” Sadie stood. “Make yourself presentable, and I’m going to call Matt. I’ll speak to him about what happened last night and tell him we want him here. I’m doing this for me, as much as for you.”
Sadie had won! Jessie knew her grandmother was worried, and she was right. Matt needed to be here. She was in over her head.
She headed for the bathroom and turned on the shower. Stepping into the warm water, she let it wash over her, taking away for a moment the stress and fear of the night, sending it swirling down the drain. Again, Jessie hummed the song, feeling her spirits rise. She had survived to fight another day. Adriana, talk to me. I’m not giving up on finding you. You’re fighting this alone. I can’t imagine the fear you must be feeling.
****
Matt grabbed his phone off the table when it rang. “Hey, Sadie, what’s up?’
“Matt, I think you need to get over here tonight. We had an incident last night and I think it’s more than the three of us can handle.”
“You mean other than the one I was in on?”
“Yes.” He heard her exhale a deep breath.
“What kind of incident are we talking about?” Matt cursed under his breath as Sadie explained it. “How is she?”
“She’s decent, considering, but I think whatever it was wore her out. And, Matt, we’re all glad that you’re here.”
“That’s nice to know.” Matt raked his free hand through his hair. “While we were checking things out last night we found some fetishes and these little altars sprinkled with blood placed around your suite. Whoever it was must have prepared the area for some ritual. Are you sure she’s fine? I should have stayed in the area through the night.” He knew what he had felt and the strength of whatever it was that knocked him to the ground.
“I don’t think you could have done anything, and Jessie is fine. She fought it like a trouper. It was scary. Even Katie felt it. When the sun came up, it was gone.”
“It seems when it comes to Jessie, every wacko comes out of the woodwork. Does she come by it naturally?” He jotted a thought on the pad.
“I admit similar things happened to me when I was younger, and my mother was the same. I never had the strength I saw in Jessie last night.” Sadie sighed. “I’m proud of my girl, but I think we need to put our heads together to make sure we can keep her safe while finding Adriana.”
“We’ll come right now if you want.”
“Unless I call you back, around dinnertime will be soon enough. We can all eat dinner together. You might want to consider checking out of your room. I’m glad you followed your instinct to come. We need you!”
Sadie’s last statement both heartened and worried Matt. Sadie was seldom concerned, but she was now. He woke Jeremy up and told him what happened. “You need to look up any practitioners of voodoo in the area. I’m not sure you’ll find anything here. He might have hired someone from outside the area.”
“Man, nothing is easy when it comes to Jessie.” Jeremy sat up on the bed rubbing his eyes.
“No, it’s not, and we need to hit the ground running. We didn’t learn much from Carter that was useful. He didn’t know what hit him. He did mention he couldn’t catch his breath, that hands were strangling him, but no one was there. Strange, he was afraid still.” Matt pulled his shirt on. “I plan to check out of here later this afternoon before we meet them for dinner.” Jeremy nodded and headed to the shower. Matt grabbed his phone and called the station. “Dylan, how’s it going back there?”
“You know, just the usual petty stuff. With Jessie out of town, it’s our quiet community again.” Matt could hear Dylan chuckle. “Gary and I checked out the information you wanted. We learned some interesting things yesterday.”
“Let’s have it.” Matt frowned.
“The owner of Joe’s is out of the country. His name is Joel Cummings. He’s the brother of Jason, our past infamous mayor, now living in prison.”
“I forgot Jason had a brother. I didn’
t know he bought the coffee shop.”
“It’s a small world, as they say.”
“Yes, it is. I’d say it’s damn convenient for him to be out of the country right at this time.” Matt looked at his watch. They’d have to leave soon to make their meeting.
“It would be too convenient if he’s actually out of the country.”
“Did anyone know about the wires coming into Jessie’s place from Joe’s?” Matt asked.
“Cumming’s Enterprises had a work request and permit on record. Access was given to pull wires and install electricity into Jessie’s store through Java Joe’s. What I found interesting is Joel and Jason are partners in the company.”
“Who requested the access?”
“The company name given was Idle Time Books. I’m sure Jessie’s signature was forged. I doubt she requested the extra work. She thought she was paying technicians to install her lights only. The secretary couldn’t give us any other information.”
“I’ll ask Jessie about it, Dylan. Joel or Jason probably ordered it but covered their tracks. What else do you have?”
“We went through the security camera footage at the coffee shop and Molly pointed out the man she remembered. Gary has isolated the frame and is blowing it up to send it to you as we speak.”
“I doubt it will be any good. It seems like he might be working for our perp.” Matt grabbed his laptop off the bed.
“How’s it going out there?” Dylan asked him.
Matt filled Dylan in on the details. “That’s where we stand right now. Jeremy and I are working to find some link that can tie the two cases together, but who knows if they’re related.”
“Gary said you can expect that photo in about ten minutes. He’ll send it to your email so you can have it on your phone. Is there anything else you need?”
“See if you can find Joel Cummings. I’d be willing to bet he’s still in the country.” Matt put his gun in the holster.
The Game Changer Page 10