Callie saw the expression on his face and immediately was concerned. “What is it Quinn?”
“Callista, I’m crazy about you.”
“I know, Quinton,” she replied. From the look alone, it seemed like he wanted to say more, or at least something else. “I’m crazy about you, too, big guy,” she said, leaning forward to kiss him. Callie wanted to tell him she loved him, but she didn’t think he was ready to hear it.
“Good, then you’ll still stick around after all this is over?” he asked seriously.
Callie tossed Zeke more chicken. “I think that can be arranged,” she replied, taking a bite of her watermelon. “Want a taste?” she asked.
Holding it out for Quinn, he accepted her offering. “It’s good, but not as sweet as you,” he replied, honestly. “Can I nibble on you next?”
Her heart fluttered. “Be good, Quinn, and eat your food. You promised me cotton candy at the carnival.”
“I did, didn’t I? Will you make out with me on the ferris wheel?”
“Of course.”
“In the tunnel of love?”
“Absolutely.”
“In my car after the fireworks?”
“Uh huh.”
“Well put on some more of that cherry lip gloss, baby, and let’s get going,” he said, jumping up and pulling Callie with him. “I have makin’ out to do.”
Callie was looking forward to the memories they were going to make at the carnival. It was a perfect night to put Zeke on his leash as they walked hand in hand. It had to be the most romantic date that she had ever been on in her life.
It was simple and perfect.
Every so many steps, Quinn stole another cherry flavored kiss, and it only made him wilder for Callie. He bought her cotton candy and let her feed it to him as they made out on the ferris wheel. His heart felt like it was going to burst with love when she laid her head on his shoulder. Looking out over the scenery, he never wanted this night to end.
It was the best night of his life.
When they got off the ride, they continued through the crowd. As they found a booth to take pictures, he pulled her inside. “I want to remember this night forever,” he murmured, knowing that he had finally found his other half in life.
She didn't protest. Instead, she allowed him to pull her along.
Once inside, Callie sat on his knee, draping her arm over his shoulders. The first picture was of them smiling, but then her lips captured his attention. The kiss began as a light meeting of mouths, but before long, it was so much more.
They stayed wrapped in each other’s arms, sharing the moment, until someone tapped the side of the booth.
Callie giggled and with her thumb, wiped the smudge of lip gloss from his lips.
Quinn didn't have much to say. How could he top this night? This was surely the pinnacle of his life.
As they got out of the booth, the two teenagers stared at them like they were insane.
That made Callie laugh even more.
“Oh, hi, Sheriff,” said the boy, staring at the man wide eyed.
He nodded, trying not to break into laughter. Yeah, they just got caught making out like teenagers, by teenagers. It was priceless. Slipping the photos into his back pocket, he didn't give a damn.
“You’re a bad influence on me, Quinn.”
“Oh, baby, you haven’t seen anything yet.”
* * *
A few hours later at dusk, they situated themselves on the checkered blanket so they could get ready to watch the fireworks. Quinn pulled Callie close and started nibbling on her throat. When she began giggling and running her hands up and down his chest, he wanted to do more than just tease her.
He couldn’t wait until later, when they were all alone.
Who knew that cherry lip gloss would fire every one of his hormones into this frenetic need? Quinn had just started kissing Callie, when he heard someone clear their throat.
No way!
The powers that be wouldn’t do this to him, not tonight.
Glancing up, Quinn sighed as he pulled away from Callie to deal with their uninvited company.
“Hello, Reverend Higgins.”
“Sheriff and Ms. Carter,” acknowledged the reverend.
From the tone of his voice, he obviously didn't approve of their display of affection.
Funny, Quinn was completely okay with that, and he was betting his date didn't care either.
“How are you this evening, Reverend? Margaret?” Callie noticed that the woman had stepped behind her husband, as if trying to blend into the scenery. Callie suspected that the man wasn’t aware that his wife was attending weekly therapy sessions. Come to think of it, he probably didn't have a clue that she was venting about her husband’s infidelity either.
“We’re enjoying a nice Fourth of July, thank you.”
“What a coincidence, so were we,” said Quinn.
Immediately, Callie elbowed him in the ribs as she tried to not break into laughter.
“What can I do for you this evening, Reverend?”
“I showed up at your office this morning and was told you were working from home all day,” he said, glaring at Callie accusingly.
“Yeah, we were there with the FBI, dealing with the three murders.” Honestly, his life outside of work was none of the man’s business, and the look he was giving Callie pissed him off.
“Well, I came to talk to you about HER, again.”
“Reverend, I assure you…” Quinn was unable to finish his sentence. The holy roller was already off on his trip to Slanderville.
“Did you check out the alibi of the witch?” he asked with hostility in his voice.
Callie tensed beside him. He couldn’t blame her, since Susie was her friend. “I spoke to Ms. Barnes, and I can assure you that she’s not killing these women.”
“Can you deny that this woman sacrifices things to Satan?” questioned the reverend. “She’s evil and in communication with the devil. Look at the tools, Sheriff. We’ve seen those tarot cards of hers, and all the crystals in her shop window. She’s in communication with evil, and now likely killing these women too!”
Quinn lifted a hand to stop him, but the man kept on going with his soapbox sermon.
“You need to run her, and this wicked witchcraft, out of our town!”
Callie had just about enough. “Reverend, in this country, we’re guaranteed the right to freedom of religion. I don’t see how Susie Barnes is harming anyone by worshiping how she sees fit.”
“It is an abomination.”
“Many things are, Reverend. I’ve seen things that are far worse than celebrating religion in a peaceful manner as a consulting adult.”
The man looked exasperated. “You can’t say that you condone such a thing?”
“What? Freedom of religion?”
He glared at Quinn. “You mark my words. That woman is involved in this, and while you do nothing, more good Christian women are going to die.”
Quinn rubbed the bridge of his nose. “I’ll talk to her tomorrow, Reverend. Now, if you don’t mind?” He let it trail off, dismissing them from their presence.
“Yes, Sheriff. You have a happy Fourth of July,” he angrily hissed, as he dragged his wife away by her arm.
Both Quinn and Callie noticed that Margaret Higgins gave them dirty looks as she followed dutifully after her husband.
“Well, hell. That went well,” said Quinn.
“You don’t really believe that Susie is killing those women, do you?”
Quinn looked at Callie like she was crazy. “You know I don’t. I have to appease that asshole, or he’ll have the town in an uproar. They’ll be standing outside that shop with pitchforks and torches. We both know that Susie is harmless. She is just a few bricks short of a wall with all her wackadoo witch shit.”
Callie pulled away from Quinn. “What?”
“Well, yeah, Callie. Come on! Wicca? There isn’t a more ridiculous religion out there, but as you pointed out, it’s her
right. Who are we to tell her that she’s misguided?”
Callie just stared at the man in front of her. “Do you think I’m crazy or misguided, Quinn?” she asked, staring right into his eyes.
“Well, hell no! There isn’t a more stable woman out there.” Alarm bells were going off in his head. He instinctually knew something bad was coming.
Callie pushed away from him.
“Where are you going?”
“I’m not Wiccan, Quinn, but I worship a nature based religion. So, I’m going to go to the ladies’ room to try to keep from punching you or crying. I’m not quite sure which will win out yet, but those are my two options right now.”
Quinn watched Callie angrily storm away. Well, hell, he never saw that one coming, and if he did, he wouldn’t have known what to do with it anyway. It explained why Callie never went to church and her brother’s comments about when she was shot, and the priest administered last rites.
He closed his eyes, leaned back, and sighed.
Well, shit.
So much for redeeming himself. He wondered if he’d get a redo on his redo date.
Yeah, probably not.
Callie raced to the ladies’ room. Pulling the door open, she stood in front of the sinks and began washing the cotton candy residue from her fingers. In all honesty, she couldn’t believe how bad the conversation had just gone.
In the back of her mind, she knew that she was going to have to eventually tell Quinn about her beliefs, but she didn't think it was going to go down like this. Her hopes were that she could gently tell him in the privacy of one of their homes. After all, she knew he attended church and was raised catholic. Religion probably mattered to him.
At some point, it was bound to come up.
When he said those things about Susie, it hurt her feelings. The woman was her only friend, and that meant something. Then again, so did Quinn. He had his rights, too, and if he wanted to believe that the religion, which offered her peace from playing in the minds of madmen was absurd, so be it.
Who was she to force her beliefs on him?
Okay, they could work through this. It wasn’t like she was out for the world to see, so he shouldn’t be too embarrassed by her. Staring in the mirror, she tried to regain her composure. Callie took a minute to close her eyes as she took a deep cleansing breath.
Then, she heard it.
There was a creak of the door, and an audible click.
The lights had gone out.
At first, she began rationalizing it. Someone must have accidentally shut them off on their way out. Callie paused where she was, listening to all the sounds around her.
No, someone was in there with her. She could hear their breathing. All of the sudden, the calm turned to fear, as she was plunged back into her past where a lunatic nearly took her life.
As her eyes began adjusting to the lights being off, she heard a noise behind her and turned.
“Is someone in here?” she asked, receiving no answer. Her heart began pounding as the hairs on the back of her arms stood up.
Callie knew she was in trouble.
Fingers touched her, and she spun toward the intruder.
Then, it came from the other side.
She was trapped as they played the scary game.
As a hand ran down her back to her ass, she spun once more.
It was the last thing she would remember, before an incredible pain radiated from the side of her head.
As thought left her, the entire world went completely black.
* * *
Quinn glanced at his watch, hoping that he would be able to smooth things over with Callie before the fireworks started. He noticed that Zeke was pacing and acting agitated.
“What’s wrong, boy? Are you mad at me too?” he asked. Suddenly, the dog yanked hard, pulling the leash from Quinn’s grasp. Immediately, he took off running through the crowd of people.
“Shit,” Quinn muttered, chasing after his dog. Apparently, this night was destined to be a complete and total fiasco.
It took him a few minutes to catch up, but when he found him, he was scratching at the door of the ladies’ room. “She’ll be right out, Zeke, relax.”
The dog wasn’t having it. He was pacing and whining like he’d never seen before.
“Okay, I’ll let you in, but behave,” he said, as he opened the door. Zeke charged into the darkened room, and Quinn got that feeling that something was definitely wrong.
It was pitch black.
Throwing open the door, he prayed that he wouldn’t be going to jail tonight for rushing into a ladies’ room. Once he hit the lights, Zeke whimpered from around the corner.
Now, he was getting sick.
This was all wrong. He watched Callie enter, and she wouldn’t be hiding in the dark.
Following the sound, Quinn turned the corner, only to find Callie lying in blood.
“Oh Christ,” he whispered in horror, as he pushed his dog out of the way to get to his woman.
Quinn checked her pulse. It was thready, but there. He grabbed his cellphone and called for an ambulance. The entire time, his brain kept telling him that this was all his fault.
“Callie, wake up for me, sweetheart,” he said, cradling her against his body.
When he stared down into her face, there was a monster-sized gash on her forehead. “Oh God, Callie! Please be okay,” he whispered.
In the distance, he could hear the sirens.
Help was coming.
She had to be okay.
Glancing toward the door, something on the mirror caught his attention. Someone had left a message, and it appeared to be written in Callie’s blood.
BEWARE DOCTOR CARTER
NEXT TIME YOU DIE.
Chapter Eight
T wo of ‘The Brethren’ stood in the shadows, watching as the next woman navigated through the parking lot. She was dressed in the most expensive clothing as she moved in the right circles. Of course, she had married into them nefariously.
What birth didn't buy her, money surely had.
She was twenty-eight and her new husband was sixty. He was loaded, proving for the right price, Jonnie Sharp could be bought. If it meant a nice car, prestige, and money in the bank, well, then she would sleep with whoever could provide her with the finer things in life.
Some called Jonnie a gold digger, but she referred to herself as an entrepreneur. After all, it was a job to have sex with a man older than her father. She was earning every penny of the old geezer’s money.
Jonnie arrived at her new Mercedes, pushing the button to disengage the locks before getting inside. Without warning, something came down over her mouth as she fought to escape. She kicked and screamed into the gag, but couldn’t get free from the bulkier figure holding her. She saw the glint of something as the entire world shifted, going black.
Tonight, where she was heading, her assets couldn’t save her.
Tossing her into the back of the vehicle, they covered her with a cloak. The last thing they needed was to draw suspicion to their cargo.
As they approached their secret place, they knew they needed to wait until their leader came.
But, it was hard.
They wanted to get started with the kill.
After all, sin was punishable by death, and they had the taste for blood.
* * *
Friday Late Evening
The ride to the emergency room was the longest of his life. Callie woke up a few times to look directly at him, but only closed her eyes without uttering a word. She was probably thinking the same thing that he was.
That he was a failure and really screwed up.
Once they arrived at the hospital, they whisked Callie away to give her the full exam. Quinn wanted to remain by her side when they administered the stitches, but he wasn’t allowed.
As he paced the hall, Quinn knew he was stalling. It was inevitable, he needed to call Nate. Dialing the man’s number, he broke the news. The man’s voice over the phone made
him feel worse, if that was possible. It was filled with terror that his sister was seriously injured.
Quinn tried to calm him, before he made the drive, but the line had gone dead. Yeah, the shit was going to hit the fan, and honestly, he wouldn’t stop it. Quinn fully knew who was to blame for this mess.
It was all on his shoulders.
When the doctor finally exited the examination room, he took off his rubber gloves and tossed them into a receptacle. “Sheriff Gaines?”
“Yes, Doctor! How’s she doing?” he asked anxiously. In his head, he was already praying to every saint who he could think of to forgive him for screwing this up.
“Well, she’s a very lucky lady. Fortunate for her, it was dark in the bathroom, or the blow to her head could have been worse. Whoever did this was off target, only grazing her. She has a mild concussion, and I stitched her up. We won’t be keeping her tonight.”
“She’s okay then?”
“Oh, yeah, she’s up and talking. The last thing she said was there was blood on her favorite shirt, and she lost her lip gloss somewhere.”
Quinn laughed sardonically. “That’s my Callie.”
Suddenly the doctor looked surprised, taking a step back. Quinn barely had time to register the look on his face before he found himself lying on the floor, flat on his back. Realization dawned as Nate stood above him.
“Sheriff, do you want me to call a deputy?” asked the doctor, crouching beside him.
“No, that’s Callie’s brother, and he’s a Fed.”
The doctor opted to back away.
“Where is she, you son of a bitch?” barked Nate. “You were supposed to protect her! Is this your idea of getting the job done?” he snarled, as Luke held onto his arm to restrain him.
They weren’t telling him anything that he didn't already know. He failed, and the woman he loved nearly died because of it. “She’s in there,” he said, pointing at the door as he rubbed his jaw.
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