Weeping Walls

by Gerri Hill

  CJ rolled toward her then, and they lay facing each other. They both moved at once, their legs entwining. She heard CJ give a contented sigh and she smiled. But CJ’s mouth was on hers again, this time just a little harder and she felt her heart flutter. She kissed her back, opening her mouth, moaning quietly as the tip of CJ’s tongue met hers.

  She rolled to her back, pulling CJ on top of her, spreading her thighs to give CJ room. Her hips rose up to meet her, her breathing labored now as their kisses turned heated. Her eyes slipped closed as CJ left her mouth and found her breast instead, her tongue twirling around her nipple, teasing it before closing her lips around it.

  Paige’s hands moved at will across CJ’s bare back, then lower, cupping her from behind and pulling her harder against her. She nearly whimpered when she felt CJ’s hand moving between them. No words were spoken as she parted her legs. CJ’s fingers glided through her wetness, eliciting a quiet moan as Paige drew in a sharp breath. CJ entered her slowly, surely, drawing out each stroke before going back inside her, deeper and harder, but not faster. Not yet.

  Paige let her set the pace, not rushing her, and she enjoyed the slowness of it, relishing each stroke, her hips moving as slowly as CJ was, letting CJ pause inside of her before pulling out again. It was so slow, so deliberate, that she was surprised when she felt the familiar build of her orgasm.

  CJ’s mouth still nuzzled against her breast, her tongue bathing her nipple as slowly as her fingers moved inside of her. The sweet, unhurried pace made her body melt under CJ’s touch and she let her orgasm come, moaning quietly as it washed over her in effortless pleasure.

  As many times as they’d made love before, it was this time…this simple, purposeful lovemaking…that pulled the words from her.

  “I love you.”

  CJ’s finger’s brushed against her face, her eyes, her lips. Paige didn’t care if CJ felt her tears or not.

  “God, Paige…I love you too.”

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  CJ’s eyes fluttered open, but she closed them quickly, willing sleep to take her again. Even though she knew she was alone, she reached for Paige, grabbing her pillow instead and hugging it to her. She heard the shower but couldn’t work up the energy to join Paige there.

  Or maybe she was simply feeling a bit shy this morning.

  I love you.

  She felt nearly dizzy as she remembered the words Paige had whispered to her, words that CJ had returned. They’d made love again after that, with an intensity that was meant to show exactly how much they loved. They’d fallen asleep immediately, still tangled in each other’s arms.

  And now the light of day was upon them. And she was feeling a bit exposed. And more than a little vulnerable.

  She heard the bathroom door open and rolled over, releasing Paige’s pillow. Their eyes met, held, both questioning. Paige finally gave her a small smile and CJ did the same.

  “Do we need to talk?”

  CJ hesitated, wondering if that was Paige’s way of saying she wanted to talk. “Umm, I’m good,” she finally said.

  Paige stared at her for a moment, still holding her eyes captive. Then she nodded, releasing the towel that had been tied around her, giving CJ a wicked smile as she walked naked back into the bathroom.

  CJ laughed, feeling the tension leave the room.

  “Tease,” she called.

  “I’m not stopping you from coming in here.”

  CJ flung the covers off and hurried into the bathroom after her.

  * * *

  “They said all was quiet,” Ice said. “Of course, I wouldn’t doubt if they’d fallen asleep. They look like they’ve been napping.”

  “No hits on her car; I wonder where the hell she went,” CJ said. She glanced at Paige. “Do you think there’s a chance she went back to Midland?”

  Paige shook her head. “Where would she go? Her mother’s in a nursing home and they sold the house.” She shook her head again. “I think this is home to her,” she said, motioning to the Wicker house. “Her husband was here.”

  “A man she most likely killed,” Billy reminded them.

  A man she was most likely forced to kill, CJ thought, but she didn’t voice it. She still hadn’t told Ice and Billy everything that she’d learned that night in the house.

  “So what’s the plan? Continue to hang out here and hope she shows?” Ice asked.

  “She has to get to the root cellar somehow,” CJ said. “Maybe there’s a trail through the woods.”

  “Oh, great,” Paige said. “Let’s take a trail through the woods. Nothing bad ever happens there.”

  CJ laughed. “I don’t think any big, scary monsters roam these woods.” She headed toward the ruins, then stopped. “That’s okay with you, right?” she asked, looking at Billy and Ice.

  Ice shrugged. “Sure. You know me, I love the woods,” he said sarcastically.

  “I won’t let anything happen to you, baldy.”

  The area around the door—the wooden plank—did not look disturbed. After they found the tunnel yesterday, they’d covered it back up, much like they’d found it. CJ walked around it, her eyes scanning the area, looking for any sign of a trail.

  “Here,” Paige said. “Through the vines.”

  CJ looked where she pointed. It was another spot where the vines had been cut. Billy went first, moving limbs out of the way. It didn’t take much of an imagination to find the trail. It had been partially covered in brush for the first twenty feet or so. After that, the trail was well formed until it reached the back fence.

  “She must have used this trail a lot,” Paige said.

  “She’s been back a year. Maybe she visited Herb regularly,” she said, going closer to the fence. “Here’s the break.” The wire had been cut in a straight line but had been repositioned to look intact. She pulled it apart, revealing the gap.

  “Do you think this is how she brought the boys in?” Ice asked.

  CJ ducked under a low wire and to the other side. “Most likely, what with the gate being locked in the front. I can’t see her driving them here.”

  “Listen,” Paige said, and they all stopped. “Birds.”

  CJ nodded. “Yeah. I guess we’re out of the dead zone.”

  “I hate that term,” Ice said.

  “It is what it is, baldy.”

  They walked on, single file, another fifteen minutes or so before they came to a fork in the trail. The one to the right looked well used. To the left, not so much.

  “What do you think?” Billy asked.

  “We need to check them both out, see where they go,” CJ said. “You and Paige, take that one,” she said, pointing to the right. “We’ll take this one.”

  Paige looked at her questioningly for only a second. CJ offered her a quick smile. Yeah, she’d rather be partnered with Paige too, but frankly, she didn’t trust the guys together. Paige seemed to understand and nodded.

  When they walked off, she turned to Ice. “Ready?”

  “So we’re taking the one less traveled?”

  She laughed quickly. “Yeah, I guess so.”

  “The other one is more likely to turn up something,” he said.

  “Maybe. But this one was obviously used at one point. And while it’s not as well worn, it’s been used in the last fourteen years. And I’d guess it’s been used in the year she’s been back. Besides, I got a feeling.” She stopped, touching a small limb that had been recently broken. The leaves on the damaged end were still clinging to life. She pointed at it. “Recent break.”

  He nodded, his glance going to the woods behind them.

  She moved on, slower now, looking for footprints, looking for signs. Leaves were starting to fall from the trees, covering the trail in spots. If they had been a month or two later, she doubted they would have even found this trail.

  “Is this private property?” Ice asked.

  “I have no clue. Maybe the county owns it. Maybe it’s a greenbelt or something.”

  He laugh
ed at that. “We’re in the middle of the woods. I think greenbelts are reserved for the cities.”

  “Yeah, okay, so I’m a city girl now,” she said, continuing along the path.

  After a short while, he said, “Does this remind you of Hoganville?”

  “No. Should it?”

  “Well, we’re in the woods on a trail,” he said.

  “And that is the only similarity. We were on that damn trail at night with your big scary monster chasing us. This is a walk in the park.”

  * * *

  Paige let Billy take the lead, and she followed close behind, ducking under a low limb as he had done. She was glad she’d worn jeans today as a vine caught against her leg.

  “So, you and CJ okay?” Billy asked.

  “Yes. Why do you ask?”

  “’Cause she’s with Ice, and you’re with me.”

  “Well, you and I are partners,” she reminded him.

  He stopped and turned. “Is this whole ghost thing getting to her?”

  She tilted her head. “Wouldn’t it get to you?”

  He shrugged. “I’m not entirely sure I believe it all.”

  “I know it’s farfetched. For me too,” she admitted. “But how else can you explain how she knew about the tunnel? Or about Herbert being on the third floor?”

  He frowned. “What about Herbert?”

  She bit her lip. She’d forgotten CJ had not shared that with them. “That night when she went in the house, when she told us about the root cellar, about the tunnel. She told me that we would find Herbert on the third floor.”

  “Are you serious? So she’s like…psychic or something?”

  “CJ’s not psychic, Billy,” she snapped. “How do you think she knew about it all?”

  “So you believe a ghost is talking to her? Telling her all this?”

  “You were there,” she said. “You saw her take a dive down the laundry chute.” She arched an eyebrow at him. “Or are you forgetting that?”

  “Maybe I’ve had a chance to sleep on it,” he said. “In broad daylight, it all sounds a little crazy.”

  She wanted to be angry with him, but she couldn’t. Because yes, in broad daylight, it did seem a little crazy.

  “Let’s just follow the trail,” she said, giving him a gentle push.

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Paige stopped up short. “Are we where I think we are?”

  “Shady Pines?”

  Paige bent down, peering under the limbs of a thick cedar, shocked to find herself staring at old, shabby trailer homes.

  “Do you know which one is hers?”

  “I don’t know that I’d recognize it from this direction, but I could find Lizzie’s,” she said, moving along the trail again.

  A short time later, the trail disappeared into a pile of brush. She looked at Billy with raised eyebrows.

  “She hid the trail at both ends,” he said.

  They were still a good forty or fifty feet away from the break in the woods and the nearest trailer. She could hear a dog barking off in the distance but other than that, all was quiet. They started moving the brush out of the way, exposing the trail. It took a sharp turn to the left, leading them away from the trailer houses they’d seen. The limbs and brush covering the trail now were scattered haphazardly, and they could easily make out the trail until they came to another large pile of brush. Paige grabbed Billy’s arm as he went to move it.

  “That must be hers,” she said. “Lizzie’s home is across the street.”

  “I don’t see a car,” Billy said. “You think she’d come back here?”

  “Probably not. Let me call CJ.”

  * * *

  The ringing of her phone pierced the silence of the woods. CJ answered it immediately. “What’d you find?”

  “You won’t believe where the trail leads,” Paige said. “Back to Shady Pines…and Edith’s trailer.”

  “You’re kidding? I didn’t think the Wicker house was that close.” She glanced at Ice. “The trail led back to Shady Pines.”

  “Her car’s not here,” Paige said. “We’re going to take a quick look around, make sure she hasn’t been here.”

  “Okay. I don’t know where the hell we are,” she said, looking around them. “We’re still in the woods. If we don’t come upon something soon, we’ll turn around.”

  “Be in touch.”

  “I will.”

  She pocketed her phone again and started walking. “Makes sense it goes back to Shady Pines, doesn’t it,” she said.

  “Easy for her to come and go without being seen,” he said.

  “Man, but I saw her. She just doesn’t look the type. I mean, she’s overweight, kinda frumpy looking. I can’t see her taking this trail through the woods,” she said.

  “It’s been fourteen years. People age.”

  “I suppose. But that trail has seen use recently.” She stopped, seeing what looked like stones. “Look. What’s all that? Big rocks?”

  He followed her gaze. “There’s chain-link fence,” he said.

  They walked closer, then she stopped again. “Whoa,” she said. “Headstones.”

  “Oh, shit. We’re at the cemetery.”

  “Yeah. This must be the back side. Look how old the headstones are.” The trail ended at the fence, and she didn’t see any evidence of a breach. “I know damn well she didn’t jump this,” she said as she leaned over, looking for anything disturbed.

  “Over here,” Ice said.

  She followed him as he made his way through the brush and around the corner of the fence. Through the trees, they could just make out the road. She grabbed his arm as she saw the sun reflecting off of glass…or maybe chrome.

  “What?”

  “There’s something in the woods,” she said.

  He turned pale. “Something like what?”

  She laughed. “Relax, baldy. I mean I saw a reflection. Could be a car. Come on.”

  She hurried now, dodging low-hanging limbs and stepping silently over dead, fallen trees. The car was well-hidden from the road. She held her hand up, signaling for him to stop. She pointed in the other direction, motioning for him to take the flank. He nodded, and they pulled their weapons from their holsters. She waited until he was in position, then started walking toward the car.

  As he circled from the back, she walked directly toward the driver’s side. It was hidden in shadows, but she saw no movement inside. She waited again, letting Ice draw nearer.

  “Trunk is open,” he said quietly.

  She nodded, then reached for the door handle. It was locked. She leaned closer, peering inside.

  “Empty.”

  She joined him at the back, then stood aside as he lifted up the trunk. They both took a quick step back.

  “Jesus Christ,” Ice murmured.

  “Oh, God, no,” CJ said, reaching inside.

  “Who is it?”

  “Lizzie.” She was bound and gagged, and CJ was shocked to find a weak pulse. “She’s alive. Call Brady, get an ambulance,” she said quickly.

  She pulled the duct tape from her mouth as gently as she could. Lizzie groaned but didn’t open her eyes.

  CJ slowly lifted her up, seeing the dried blood on the back of her head, marring her snow-white hair.

  “I’m so sorry,” she whispered. And she was. They had no business asking this ninety-year-old woman to assist them, no business leaving cards and asking her to call them if Edith showed up. Damn.

  “Brady’s on his way. Ambulance too.”

  “Looks like she got whacked on the back of the head,” CJ said.

  “Why do you think she left the trunk open?”

  “Edith has probably known Lizzie most of her life. I imagine she couldn’t bring herself to kill her.” Her gaze went into the woods as she held Lizzie’s thin, frail body. “So if Edith isn’t here, where the hell is she?”

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  “Should we knock?”

  Paige pulled out her weapon. “I’m goi
ng to say no.”

  He nodded, then turned the doorknob. It wasn’t locked. “Wonder why they didn’t lock it up when they left yesterday.”

  He went inside and she followed, both of them covering their noses immediately. Ice had told them the stench was bad, but this made her eyes water. It was dark inside and she flipped on a light switch. Nothing happened. Her eyes darted around the room. Something wasn’t right. She could feel it.

  “Ice didn’t say anything about there being no power. He did say there was a raw chicken in the garbage though,” Billy said. “He wasn’t lying about that. You’d think—”

  “Shhh,” she said. “Did you hear that?” she asked in a whisper.

  He shook his head.

  She glanced down the dark hallway, seeing nothing in the darkness. “I left my flashlight in CJ’s truck,” she said quietly. “You?”

  He shook his head again.

  The hair on the back of her neck stood out, and she knew they weren’t alone. Adrenaline kicked in and her heart pounded in her chest. Even then, she had no time to react. Edith Krause leapt up from behind the sofa, lunging at them. Paige cried out in pain as her arm was smashed, knocking her gun from her hands. Billy spun around, only to take a bat to the jaw, dropping him in his tracks. Paige fell to her knees, scrambling for her gun along the dirty carpet. Just as she reached it, just as her fingers wrapped around it, the back of her head exploded in pain and her world plunged into darkness.

  * * *

  After seeing Lizzie safely inside the ambulance, CJ and Ice caught a ride with Brady back to the Wicker house. It was already after one and CJ’s stomach rumbled. She looked at Ice.

  “So I’m hungry,” she murmured.

  “Me too.”

  Brady stopped his patrol car at the gate. “You want me to hang around?” Brady asked.

  “No, we got it. I’d rather you make sure her car gets impounded so we can have our guys go over it,” she said as she got out.

  “I can do that. I guess you’re going to want us to have a patrol car here again tonight, right?”