“Fine. Go for the face, and with luck, you’ll blind him long enough to get away.”
“Will it make a difference if the Glamour comes after him?” Danny asked.
“No, but it’s the best we can do given the circumstances and DL’s stubbornness,” she admitted.
“Okay, DL. You agreed to do what I said once we got here. I want you to stay in the car and keep alert. If anything crazy happens, get the hell out of here. Don’t wait to dial 911, just leave.”
“But what about you and the guys?” DL asked.
“Don’t worry about us. We’ll be ready for him. You need to take care of yourself at this point. Agreed?”
“Yes, agreed.”
Stepping out of the car, she adjusted her pistol in the holster on her hip and motioned him over to the driver’s seat to take her place. While she waited for him to shift in behind the wheel, she squatted down to check on the knife she had sheathed in her boot. No need for a concealed carry pistol tonight, but not a time to go without some kind of backup weapon. As soon as DL locked the door, she turned to survey the warehouses.
“Can you sense anything, yet? Getting hints of the Glamour’s aura?” she asked.
“Not yet.” Danny turned to gaze at each of the nearby buildings. Then he twisted his head to grin at Grace. “But it looks like I won’t have to play bloodhound today.”
“Why not?” She followed his gaze back to the building nearest them.
“Because here comes ‘Plan B’!”
The ghost of a girl walked between the buildings, heading toward the car. She walked past Grace and Danny to stand outside DL’s window where he was sitting and looking out through her body.
Grace recognized the pink sweater the girl was wearing as the one she had read.
“Sabra?” Grace called. “Sabra, can you hear me?”
Sabra turned her head to look at Grace then returned to staring at DL.
“Sabra,” she tried again. “We need your help. We’re trying to find the man who hurt you. He’s got Celeste, and if we can find him fast enough, we might be able to save her.”
Sabra continued to ignore Grace while she stood outside DL’s window, a mixture of grief and anger playing across her face.
“Danny, can you get her to talk to you?”
“I don’t think she wants to talk to us, Gracie. I think she wants to talk with DL, though.”
“Let’s give it a try.” Grace turned back to DL’s side of the car and motioned for him to roll down the window.
“What’s happening?” he asked. “You hardly went anywhere, and now you’re back?”
“Plan B,” Grace responded.
“Plan B?” DL’s eyes widening as he rotated around in his seat to check out the front, sides, and back of the car. “A ghost? One of my girls? Where?”
“Outside your window.” Grace jutted her chin toward where Sabra’s translucent form was standing.
DL pulled back from the window as far as the driver’s seat would allow.
“It’s Sabra. She won’t talk to me, but she might talk to you. I’m hoping you can get her to show us where to find Celeste.”
DL looked uncertain but settled back into the seat.
Sabra’s ghost leaned in close, peering through the open window. “Why ya bringin’ them here, motha fucka? They the ones doin this to us!”
Grace translated for DL. “Sabra’s angry because you’re here with me. She knows I have supernatural abilities since I tried to talk with her, and she thinks I’m a carbon copy of the Glamour. You need to tell her why we’re here, in your own words.”
“Shut-up, bitch!” Sabra snarled at her.
DL gazed out the window, focusing on the area where he imagined Sabra was standing.
“Sabra, I’m here to stop this man from hurting Celeste or more girls. You know me. You know I’ve always tried to do my best to help you kids however I could. I help in whatever way you’ll let me. If I had the chance to stop this guy before he hurt you, I would have done it.” He leaned further out the window.
“Grace is my friend. I need her help to stop this man because I can’t do it on my own. She is not like him. She doesn’t use her abilities to hurt people. She uses them to help people, like Celeste. Grace will stop him from hurting anyone else if she can find him.” DL rubbed his face with both hands.
“I failed you, Sabra, but please don’t let me fail Celeste. You don’t need to trust Grace. Simply watch her take him down. We just need you to show her where he is. Can you do that?”
Sabra studied DL as tears streaked down her cheeks. After a long moment, she turned to Grace and Danny.
“Fine. ‘Cause DL vouch for ya, I go with ya. If I find ya lyin’ to me, I fuckin’ haunt ya for life!”
“Got it,” Grace said.
“Definitely,” Danny agreed.
“He startin’ on Celeste. We better fuckin’ move.”
Grace checked her watch, noting the time and the GPS coordinates.
“DL, I need to go.” She leaned in toward the window. “Sabra says she can show me where Celeste is, but I’ve got to go right now because she’s in real danger.”
DL nodded, his face grim.
Grace straightened and motioned for him to raise the window. “Don’t forget. Get the hell out of here if things get weird or out of hand.”
DL shook his head, muttering “Weirder than it already is?” as he pushed the button and raised the window.
“Let’s go,” Grace said to Sabra and Danny.
Sabra darted away from the car and toward an alley way between two of the warehouses.
Grace spoke into her mic as she hurried after the retreating ghost. “We’ve contacted a ghost of one of the girls. She’s taking me to the Glamour. I’ll relay the coordinates once I’m at the location.”
“That’s fantastic,” Billy said. “We had come up empty on the first buildings we searched. Now we’ll know right where to go. Are we going to be in time?”
“Sabra says he’s started on Celeste. We’ve got to get moving,” Grace answered.
Grace broke into a run to keep up with Sabra as the ghost rushed through the maze of streets and alleys. Sabra stopped at the edge of one of the buildings, motioning Grace to hurry over to where she was standing.
“There a hole right here.” She pointed to a few loose boards. “Ya gots to sneak in here.”
Grace examined the spot Sabra pointed to, seeing there was space for her to squeeze between the boards of the wall. She would be able to enter with minimal noise to avoid alerting the Glamour.
She spoke into her mic again in a whisper. “We’re here. I’m getting ready to enter where there are some loose boards on the corner of the building.” Grace read the coordinates off her smart watch. “How soon can you get here?”
“In less than five minutes, it looks like. We’re a couple of buildings over,” Billy answered. “We’re on our way.”
“Roger. Here’s the plan. You and Anthony will provide a bit of a diversion. Try to be quiet getting in, but then make some noise. I’ll come in the back way and take advantage of the distraction to get Celeste out of there. My primary objective is to rescue Celeste. You focus on getting the Glamour contained.”
“Roger,” Billy said.
“Keep Anthony with you at all times, Billy,” Grace cautioned. “I don’t want the Glamour to surprise you.”
“Got it already,” Billy said. “Let’s get this done.”
Grace drew her pistol and pushed the boards aside with care. She placed the pistol on the ground right inside the opening. Then she lay down to snake her body through the compact hole and enter the warehouse.
She was careful not to snag her clothing on the rough edges of the planks as she wiggled through the wall, moving as fast as she could without making too much noise. The last thing she wanted was to let the Glamour know they were coming.
Chapter 29
As soon as Grace headed away from the car, DL unlocked the door. He opened it wi
th care to avoid making any noise, pushing it back against the frame with just enough pressure to connect with a soft click. Then he ran to follow Grace into the alley.
He couldn’t see the ghost that was leading her to Celeste. But he had years of experience trailing people to keep up with her at a distance that wouldn’t draw her attention. As he worked to control the sound of his breathing, he felt a pang of guilt at not keeping his promise. But he would not be left behind this time.
DL stayed behind when they were staking out the location for the Glamour, and the bastard had gotten away. The result was Celeste kidnapped and in danger because he hadn’t acted when he knew he should. He wouldn’t make the same mistake this time.
DL slowed as Grace approached the wall of a building. When she knelt beside it, he could see there was a hole in the wall near the ground. She spoke into her mic briefly, but she was too far away for him to hear what she said. Assuming she was coordinating with the rest of the team, he pressed himself against the corner of a building to wait.
Without looking behind her, Grace pushed her gun through and followed it. DL counted to five and scrambled across to the hole Grace had entered. He counted to fifty to give Grace a chance to clear the other side of the hole.
Chapter 30
Grace grabbed her pistol and rose to a crouch. She waited for Danny and Sabra to join her during the few moments it took for her eyes to adjust to the dim lighting. There were no electrical lights on in this part of the warehouse. But the holes in the roof and walls let in scattered rays of late afternoon sunlight spotlighting areas of the dusty warehouse floor. The light threw the piles of rubble and loose building material in stark contrast to the surrounding shadows.
Sabra waved to get Grace’s attention. “Celeste over here.”
“Can he see you or hear you?” Grace moved with caution around the better lit areas, keeping to the shadows. She was aware of how quiet it was in the warehouse and worked hard to keep the noise of her movements as minimal as possible.
“Dunno,” Sabra answered. “The bast’ad blows us off when we try fight him or protect the other girl’s he brings here.”
“Blows ‘us’ off?” Danny asked.
Sabra shot him a penetrating look. “Of course, ‘us.’ All the ones he brought here to cut up an’ kill.”
A bright light leaked around a wall of stacked crates ahead of her, as Grace slowed. This was artificial light unlike the natural sunlight which she had been avoiding until now. She paused at the back corner of the stack, crouching down to reduce her profile.
“Is this it?” she asked Sabra.
“Yeah, this where he do that shit.”
“Does what?” Grace focused her attention back on Sabra.
“Fuckin’ cuts them an’ takes pieces.”
“Pieces?” Danny asked.
“Yeah, he fuckin’ took my hands!” Sabra raised her arms in front of her. The figure of the ghost shimmered before coalescing again. But now instead of hands showing, there were only ragged bloody stumps at the ends of her arms.
“He takes everyone’s hands?” Grace stared in fascinated revulsion at Sabra’s mutilated arms.
“No, he take diff’n parts from each girl.” Sabra seemed to be growing more frustrated by the moment. “He makin’ som’thun, some fuckin’ horrible monster. He puttin’ it t’getha from all the parts!”
“But why?” Grace asked.
“To create it…her.”
“‘Her’ what?” Grace dreaded the answer Sabra would give.
Sabra shook her head again, exasperated. “Come here, and ya see.”
“Fine. Danny, you go with Sabra to the top of these crates and give me a rundown of what you see. Try to keep out of sight. I’m still not convinced the Glamour can’t see ghosts.”
“Okay.” Danny sounded somewhat leery of the idea. He followed Sabra as she scaled the crates, both leaning over the edge once they reached the top.
Grace heard a scraping sound behind her. In one fluid motion, she stood up, whipping around and aiming her gun with both hands at the sound. DL’s frightened face appeared in the gloom, standing with hands raised.
“Shit, DL!” She whispered as she lowered her weapon. “I came within a heartbeat of shooting your damn ass. Which is supposed to be. In. The. Car!”
DL lowered his hands and crept to press his back against the crates next to Grace.
“What’s happening, Gracie?” Danny said from the top of the crates.
“DL is just trying to get himself shot by following us. Now I have another person to keep track of, dammit!”
“DL, you are not helping me out by being in here. I’m trying to scope out the situation before Billy and Anthony get here,” she whispered in his ear.
DL met her angry gaze with a stubborn one of his own. “I’m not just gonna sit on the sidelines, Grace. Do what you have to, but I’m here to help rescue Celeste.”
“God save me from men with hero complexes,” she said under her breath, while motioning DL to stay where he was and be quiet.
“Danny, what do you and Sabra see?”
“A huge open space. There are large portable lights all pointing at a table of some sort, and there’s a girl on the table!”
“Is she moving?” Grace asked.
“No. It doesn’t look like she’s conscious. She’s on her back. Her hands and feet are roped down and there’s a rag tied across her mouth.”
“Where’s the Glamour?” Grace asked.
“He’s right by the girl. I’d recognize his aura anywhere! He’s messing around with the ropes tying her down. There are some knives on a small table next to him.” Danny gulped. “They all have blood stains on them.”
“He ain’t finish with her,” Sabra interjected. “He waitin’ for her wake up, just like the other girls.”
“Jesus!” Grace’s stomach clenched.
DL leaned close and whispered into her ear. “What’s going on? What’s happening?”
“I need you to stay quiet. I’m talking to Sabra and she is letting me know what’s going on out there. I can’t focus on what’s she’s telling me if you keep interrupting. Stay there and stay quiet.” She gave him a small shove with her free hand.
“What else do you see, Danny?”
“There are these weird mounds all over the place. Looks like piles of concrete or something. At least two dozen all together.”
“He do that to the girls,” Sabra supplied. “Pours concrete and shit on them—says he saving them. See, that me over there.”
“Gracie,” Danny said. “I see what Sabra’s talking about. It looks like the girls aren’t only buried under the concrete.” Sounding sick, he continued. “He’s got them posed under there.”
“Posed?”
“Yeah, like mannequins. Sabra’s mound has concrete-covered arms sticking out of the slab—arms with no hands. Each of the slabs has a different body part sticking out of them—legs, arms, faces. I think I’m going to be sick.”
“Easy, Danny. I think you’re safe there. I don’t think ghosts can vomit.”
“Yeah, well tell that to my stomach,” Danny moaned back.
“Where is this ‘it,’ this ‘her,’ he’s making?” Grace asked, trying to get them back on track.
“There,” Sabra said, “that’s it under the big light over there.”
“The creature is standing in the center of a pentagram in a cleared space. There are objects laid at each point and at the intersection of the lines. It’s too far away for me to see what they are.”
“What about the creature? What does it look like?”
“Well, it’s naked and looks almost human. Gross! It’s got a woman’s body, but its face isn’t complete. It only has a nose and mouth—it’s missing eyes and lips and ears. The other body parts are a mishmash of different sizes and skin colors. And where the parts connect, it’s like they were melted together somehow. I think he’s building a female Frankenstein’s monster.” Danny seemed amazed despite his r
evulsion.
“Yeah,” Sabra agreed. “As he cuttin’ us, he tellin’ us we fuckin special, that we goin’ be part of his ‘grand creation’. He one sick motha fucka; he makin’ a monster.”
Grace had heard enough.
“Billy,” she whispered through her mic. “I need you guys in here, now! We’ve found Celeste and the Glamour, and he’s getting ready to torture her!”
DL tried to barge past her, and Grace had to restrain him by barring his way with her arm. She glared at him. “Follow my lead, and stay out of the way, dammit!”
Grace crept to the edge of the crate and leaned to peer around the wood. She gave her eyes time to adjust to the bright lights in the center of the room.
“Where are you guys?”
“We’re here. Moving into position now,” Billy’s whisper came back in her ear.
All at once, Anthony’s shout echoed through the warehouse. “Vietato! E’ vietato!”
“God dammit, Anthony, what the fuck are you doing?” Billy shouted from other side of the warehouse.
“What the hell?” Grace ground her teeth.
“Must be our diversion.” Danny slid down the crates to join her on the floor.
Anthony ran toward the monster, shouting. The Glamour stood up from where he was bent fixing the ropes on the table holding Celeste. With an inarticulate cry he grabbed a wicked looking curved blade from the nearby table. He reached out with the knife to cut across Celeste’s thigh and darted to intercept Anthony.
“Billy, I’ll get the girl. You get the Glamour.”
“On it.” Billy headed toward the growing action near the woman-thing.
Grace ran toward Celeste, her gun raised as she scanned the table and the surrounding area. DL followed right after her, heading toward Celeste without paying attention to anything else going on in the warehouse.
She trusted Anthony and Billy would handle the situation while she and DL got Celeste to a safe place. As she neared the table, she hesitated before she detected the shallow rise and fall of Celeste’s chest.
“She’s still breathing,” she said to DL as he stepped in to help the girl.
Glamorous: A Grace Bishop Novel (Grace Bishop Novels) Page 14