“What are you proposing exactly? We can’t exactly follow twenty different cars.”
“No,” David said. He took a moment to let an idea formulate in his head. “But we can record their license plates.”
David pulled over to the side of the road and grabbed his camera phone. “Try to get as many license plates as possible.”
I grabbed my phone and began snapping pictures. David took a number of shots of his own.
A few minutes later, all of the cars had left the lot.
When the final car had pulled away, David and I turned to each other.
“How many did you get?” I asked.
“I’d say at least half a dozen,” David replied.
“Same here.”
“It looks like I have a number of plates to run in the DMV database.”
“Yeah. You have your work cut out for you.”
“Work like this doesn’t bother me as long as it leads to results.”
“The problem is, even if you find out who all the members of this secret group are, that doesn’t mean you can get them to talk to you,” I said.
“True. But I can try,” David replied.
I had to give David credit. Even in the face of long odds, he had no shortage of confidence. I could not say the same about myself. Then again, I had already talked to two men who I knew were a part of the group. Neither of them had given me anything to work with. The conversations had been akin to slamming my head against a brick wall.
“I have tried,” I said. “And I failed miserably.”
“That’s why I’m glad I have a badge,” David replied.
During my time dating David, I had learned that a badge could open all kinds of doors. But sometimes, even a badge came up short. One time in particular stuck out in my brain.
“As I recall, your badge didn’t make William Bolton flinch when you tried to get answers out of him. He shut you down in a hurry.”
“Look, I know we haven’t had the best luck getting these guys to talk, but spotting these cars tonight is the biggest break we’ve had yet. There’s a chance that it could really lead to something. So what’s with all the negativity?”
“Sorry. I’m just frustrated.”
“And I’m not?” he asked. “By all indications, there is a secret society operating in town whose motivations remain a complete mystery to me. Trust me, I am frustrated beyond belief.”
“I get you. The problem is, despite the suspicions we have, we don’t know that they are even doing anything illegal.”
“Which is why I’m going to investigate these men until I get answers.”
“I understand.”
He gazed deep into my eyes. “Sabrina, I can tell that something else is going on. Do you want to tell me what it is?”
I took a deep breath. “I guess I’m just feeling nostalgic for a time when there weren’t so many mysteries shrouding this town.”
“Hey, I’m with you on that. And I wish that I had better news for you. But just because I want the past to return doesn’t mean it ever will. This is the world we’re living in now, for better or for worse.”
I exhaled. “Maybe we should get dessert.”
Chapter Five
My willpower did not survive the drive home. All it took was passing by Teresa’s Tarts & Treats to make my mouth water to the point where I could no longer say no to dessert. A slice of apple pie later, my taste buds were thanking me profusely.
There was something so wonderfully delicious about warm apple pie with a crumbly crust and a sweet filling. It was almost too scrumptious. To the point where I worried that I wouldn’t be able to stop at just one slice. Luckily, I dragged myself out of the treat shop before I broke down and ordered a second slice.
With our bellies full, David and I got back in his car. He began to drive me back home.
“Feel better now?” David asked.
For the moment, yes. Unfortunately, my pie-based delight didn’t last nearly as long as I thought it would. David and I hit an unusual figurative speed bump on the way home. It came in the form of a strange sight that I caught a glimpse of out the corner of my eyes.
David had been heading back toward the north side of town when he drove by the old Watterson estate. That was when I saw a light on in the upstairs window of the house.
I did a double take. “Wait. What was that?”
David’s forehead wrinkled. “What are you talking about?”
I swiveled my body to the right and looked behind me. “Stop!”
He reached out to me. “Sabrina, what is it?”
I kept staring at the Watterson estate. “Back up.”
“Will you please tell me what’s going on?”
“Just turn your car around and you’ll see.”
“Or you can just tell me.”
“There’s a light on in the upstairs window of the Watterson estate.”
David’s eyes widened. He slammed on the brakes. When his car had stopped, he spun his steering wheel to the left, made a U-turn, and pulled up in front of the Watterson estate.
I pointed at the upstairs window where a light was still on. “See. I’m not crazy.”
David stared wide-eyed. “No, you aren’t.”
That was especially significant because it was the first time David had seen the light on with his own eyes. He had heard me talk about it a number of times, but nothing beat firsthand experience.
David looked just as baffled as I had the first time I had seen it. There was a simple reason for the befuddlement. A murder-suicide had taken place there twenty years ago. The estate had been vacant ever since.
Given the fact that the estate had no current residents and that the electric company had shut off the power to the estate long ago, I had no explanation for how a light could be on in the upstairs bedroom.
Each of the previous times that I had seen the light on, I had called the police to check it out. Unfortunately, by the time deputies had arrived on the scene, the light had gone off and there was no sign of anyone around.
Being in front of the estate now with David meant that I had a rare chance to get to the bottom of this mystery before the light went off again.
“I told you something suspicious is going on there,” I said.
David reached for his police radio. “I’ll call it in.”
I shook my head. “No. That’s going to take too long.”
“What are you proposing?”
“By the time your deputies get here, the light could be off and whoever is in there could be gone.”
“Do you have a better idea?”
“As a matter of fact, I do.”
I opened the passenger-side door of the car.
Panic came over David’s face. “Sabrina, what do you think you’re doing?”
“Getting to the bottom of this.”
“Oh, no you don’t.”
“David, we have a chance to figure out what’s really going on here. This opportunity may not come around again. Are you really going to pass it up?”
“No.”
I began to get out of the car. “Good. Let’s go, then.”
David held his hand out. “You’re not understanding me. I’m going to figure out what’s going on here. You’re going to stay in the car.”
I threw my arms out. “Come on. You’re not serious.”
“I’m dead serious.”
“But—”
“Sabrina, I’m not arguing about this. We don’t know who is in there. Or what is in there. There’s just way too many question marks.”
“So what, you just want me to stay here?”
“I know it’s not what you want to hear, but yes. Like I said, I don’t know what’s going on in there. I can’t afford to put you in danger.” He stared deep into my eyes. “Please.”
I groaned. “All right.”
“Promise that you won’t follow me,” he said.
“Fine. I promise.”
David put a call in to police head
quarters, notifying the dispatcher to send any available units to this location. He then headed into the estate to investigate what was really going on.
***
It didn’t take long for my patience to wear thin. A mixture of curiosity and fear gnawed at the back of my brain. The problem was, since I didn’t know what was up there, I couldn’t help but worry if David was in over his head. I knew that as a trained detective, throwing himself into danger was part of his job, but that didn’t mean I was okay with him venturing into the unknown all alone.
When my anxiety finally got the best of me, I got out of the car. It took all the willpower I had not to just follow David inside the estate. As I inched my body toward the front gate of the property, I mustered just enough restraint to stop myself from continuing.
I had made David a promise and I would stick to it—for now.
I didn’t know how much longer I could wait around.
Grr.
What was taking him so long?
My panic grew as I saw the light in the upstairs window of the estate turn off.
Oh no.
Had something happened to him? I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself if that was the case. After all, he had only gone in there because I had noticed the light on. If David had been in the car alone, he would have just kept on driving, none the wiser.
My whole body began to shake. I had succeeded in working myself up. But was it over nothing?
A few minutes later, I got my answer.
I heard a rustling coming from the thick patch of weeds that lined the front yard of the estate. Instinctively, I reached into my purse, where I always kept a can of pepper spray. Unfortunately, in a panic, I instead pulled out a whistle that I also kept in my purse.
That was when I heard another rustle.
A shiver went down my spine.
I immediately put my hand back in my purse and grabbed the can of pepper spray.
“Who is it?” I asked. “David, is that you?”
Now that the light was off in the upstairs window of the estate, the entire property was shrouded in darkness. I couldn’t see a thing. With my free hand, I pulled out my phone and loaded the flashlight app.
Just as I pointed my phone at the front yard of the estate, I spotted David emerging from the darkness. He wasn’t alone. David escorted a handcuffed teenage boy toward the car.
I noticed that David was holding a flashlight in his spare hand.
He held it up. “This is the mysterious light we were seeing.”
Chapter Six
A few minutes later, two squad cars arrived. David immediately sent the deputies inside the gates of the estate with orders to search the place from top to bottom. While the deputies began combing the estate for signs of anyone else on the property, David loaded the teenager, Craig Coburn, into the back of one of the squad cars for questioning. Before getting to his questions, David rifled through a large hiking backpack that he had confiscated from Craig.
David was surprised by what he found inside the pack, but only because the contents were so unremarkable. No illegal goods were discovered. As a matter of fact, the only things he found inside the pack were a sleeping bag, some trail mix, a bottle of water, and a camera phone.
Now those were all pretty standard items—for a camping trip. The question became, had Craig planned on camping inside the estate? If he had, I didn’t know why. Craig didn’t look homeless.
As a matter of fact, as I got a closer glance at Craig, he just looked like an ordinary teenager. The long-haired, eighteen-year-old had hazel eyes, an angular face, and a tall, gangly body. He wore a retro concert T-shirt, jeans, and running shoes.
The more I looked at him, the more confused I became. Before that evening, I had entertained a number of different theories that could explain why the light had been on in the upstairs window of the estate. They had ranged from the simple explanation of the light turning on as a result of an electrical malfunction all the way to the chilling possibility that the estate was legitimately haunted.
The idea that some punk teenager was behind this hadn’t really entered my mind. Mostly because I couldn’t figure out what he was doing at the estate in the first place.
David didn’t hesitate to get straight to the point with him. “Do you want to explain to me what you were doing there?”
There was a look of intense fear in Craig’s eyes. “Am I being arrested?”
“Craig, I’m the one asking the questions here. Now what were you doing in there?”
“Trying to complete the challenge.”
David’s forehead wrinkled. “What challenge?”
“The haunted house challenge.”
“What’s that?”
“Come on, you haven’t heard of it?”
David narrowed his eyes. “Not yet. But if you’re smart, you’ll clue me in.”
“It’s really simple, man,” Craig said. “Everyone knows the Watterson estate is haunted, right? Well, the challenge is all about seeing who is brave enough to spend a whole night in the bedroom where the Watterson murder-suicide took place.”
A look of disgust came to David’s face. “That’s one of the dumbest things I’ve ever heard.”
“Says you. Complete a challenge like this and you become a legend at Treasure Cove High School.”
“So that’s why you were up there? To become a legend?”
“Yeah.”
“Do you really expect me to believe that?”
“Of course,” Craig said. “Why else do you think I was there?”
“A drug deal. A party. Or maybe you ran away from home. There are a number of reasons that teenagers are drawn to vacant properties.”
Craig shook his head. “No. You’ve got it all wrong. I just wanted to be the first to complete the challenge.”
David scrunched his nose. “How many other people have tried this challenge?”
Craig tensed up.
When a few seconds went by without him answering, David spoke up. “Answer the question.”
Craig groaned. “A few.”
“How many?”
Craig averted his eyes. “Three.”
“What are their names?”
Craig shook his head. “I’m not ratting on them.”
“So you’re going to take the fall for this yourself?”
Craig grimaced.
David raised his voice. “I want names.”
“I already told you, I’m not snitching.”
David exhaled. “Suit yourself.”
“Now, what’s going to happen to me?”
“That depends. We’re not done yet.”
“What else do you want from me, man?”
“The three other people who attempted the challenge. Did they fail?”
“It’s not that they failed,” Craig replied.
“What is it, then?” David asked.
“They just didn’t get a chance to finish.”
“Why not?”
“Because the cops showed up before they had the chance to get through the night.”
It all made sense now. I could recall three previous times when the bedroom light had been on at the estate. That must have been when the three separate attempts had been made to complete the haunted house challenge.
Crazy.
It was amazing to think that this whole time, the light I had seen was a flashlight that had been brought by the challengers, not one of the light fixtures that were a part of the house.
“Cops tend to show up when they discover that people are trespassing on private property,” David said.
“What’s the harm, man? No one lives at the estate. It’s not like I hurt anyone.”
“You only have yourself to blame for this. No one forced you to do something so stupid.”
“Don’t you have real criminals to arrest?”
“So what, I should just let this slide because you were trying to become a legend at your high school?”
“Yeah. Like I said, I did
n’t hurt anyone.”
“Yes, you did. You hurt yourself with your own stupidity.”
“This is ridiculous.”
David shook his head. “No. What’s ridiculous is you thinking that you can commit a crime and get away with it.”
Craig’s eyes widened. “You’re seriously arresting me?”
David nodded. “That’s what happens when you’re caught trespassing on someone else’s property. In addition, I also have you for breaking and entering.”
“No. You’ve got it all wrong.”
“Nice try, but I caught you in the act.”
“Fine. I admit it, I was trespassing. But there was no breaking and entering going on.”
David shot him a glare. “Craig, I’m not stupid.”
Craig raised the volume of his voice. “The back door was wide open when I got there. The thing is barely on its hinges to begin with. You can’t call that breaking and entering.”
“We’ll see about that,” David said. “Craig Coburn, you are under arrest.”
Chapter Seven
I stared out into the distance while David finished reading Craig his rights. A few moments later, my boyfriend wrapped things up with the gangly teenager.
David then approached me and let out a sigh. “It’s amazing the things people are willing to do for a little taste of fame.”
“Especially considering that Craig’s actions are just going to bring him infamy instead,” I said.
David nodded. “Apparently, he didn’t show up to school the day they taught common sense.”
“Now he’s going to get his own lesson named after him—‘How not to become a cautionary tale.’”
“What a shame,” David said.
“It sure is.” I took a deep breath. “Well, no one can say that our date nights are boring.”
“They sure can’t. What a crazy night.”
“A little too crazy. It’s getting to the point where we can’t go out on a date without drama taking over our lives,” I replied.
“I admit, this hasn’t been the best date of our relationship. But they’re not all like this.”
Daley Buzz Cozy Mystery Boxed Set Page 33