Her father’s crooked smile didn’t seem so unknown to her anymore. She remembered bits and pieces of the night her parents died but she knew there was more for her to remember. Going back to the place her parents died was one of the hardest things she could think of doing at the moment, but she knew it was the only thing she could do. She had to remember the rest of that night.
Chapter Four
Shiloh looked out the plane’s window and watched in awe as the ground came closer. She’d seen the farms appear from nowhere a few minutes ago and now she could feel the plane’s wheels as it touched down on the tarmac. When the plane pulled up to the tunnel for unloading, Shiloh turned to look at Charlie. They had flown into the airport in La Crosse and still had about an hour drive to go before they would finally arrive in Whiskey Bend.
“I’m afraid,” she told him.
Charlie reached over and patted her hands. “I know, but you needn’t be. I won’t let anything happen to you.”
“Did you promise Donna the same thing all those years ago when she left Whiskey Bend?” Shiloh asked.
Charlie stiffened with anger. He was about to say something then changed his mind. He hesitated briefly and told her, “No I never promised her something like that. She wouldn’t let me.” he chuckled briefly. “You may not know it, but your aunt was one hell of a woman. Once she had her mind made up, there was no turning back. Once she had your parents properly taken care of, she didn’t hesitate. She took you and left town. She didn’t even stay for the funerals. As much as she loved her sister, Donna loved you more. You needed her, and she needed you. Over the years, I tried to get close to her, but she always kept me at bay. She felt it was her job to keep you safe. It was hard for her to give control over you to anyone.”
Shiloh could see the other passengers getting their things ready to deplane but there was one more thing she needed to know. “Why didn’t she ever tell me the truth? I’ve been all grown up for some time now, why didn’t she ever tell me about my parents?”
Charlie shook his head. “I don’t know the answer to that question. I asked her once a couple of years ago and she wouldn’t say. She gave you the best she could. She once told me that for about a year after your parents died, you had nightmares every night. She said she never felt so helpless in her life. She couldn’t take the night fears away and she couldn’t stop wishing you could forget. When you got older and the nightmares finally stopped, there was no way in hell she was going to remind you of them. Maybe she was wrong by not telling you, but she felt she was protecting you.”
Shiloh looked at the near empty plane and stood up. She reached up to the storage area above her seat and grabbed her small bag. She hadn’t said a word to Charlie’s comments.
It wasn’t until after they cleared the airport when Charlie asked her, “Well, aren’t you going to say anything?”
Shiloh glanced at him and said, “Nope. You were right on target about my aunt. She sometimes smothered me with her fussing over little things, but I knew deep down that she loved me. When she died, I felt all alone but now I know I’m not. They may no longer be here in person, but I know they are watching over me.”
Charlie stopped and grabbed her arm. “They?”
Shiloh smiled. “My parents and my aunt.”
Charlie shook his head. “You are relying on ghosts to keep you safe?”
Shiloh giggled. “Of course not. After my aunt died, I felt I so alone. For a moment, I didn’t know what I was going to do. Then I met you and knew I had a purpose in life. As unpleasant as it is I have to find out the truth about the night my parents died. Maybe once we find out the truth, I can move on with my life.” She paused and added, “At least I hope I can.”
Charlie led the way to his own car and began the drive home. He needed to check in before he took Shiloh over to her house. When they arrived at the station, Shiloh followed him into the building.
The station house wasn’t very busy. Shiloh had never been inside a police station before but there were only a handful of other people present. An old woman was on the phone while another three officers sat at the other desks in the room. All of them raised their heads as Charlie and she walked in. She followed Charlie through to the back area his office was.
He placed his small suitcase on the desk and motioned for Shiloh to wait there. She sat down in his chair and looked around. There wasn’t much to see in his office other than the desk and numerous file cabinets. There was a wall with plaques and certificates hanging on it but she wasn’t interested in those. There was a wall next to the door that had wanted posters on it.
She frowned and got up to go see the posters. As she got closer, she saw they were actual wanted posters. Shiloh gasped. She hadn’t realized they still did that. She thought wanted posters had gone out of fashion a very long time ago. Everything was digital now.
Charlie returned and when he noticed her staring at the posters, he nodded at the wall. “I keep those around to remind me that my job is needed and that there are still some very bad people out there. My wife and nephew think I’m crazy but it’s so true.”
Shiloh smiled gently. “I don’t think that’s crazy, I think we all need that little reminder in our lives that life isn’t always as simple as it was years ago.” Shaking her head, she also noted, “I think that’s a sad reminder that life is very often harder than it needs to be.”
Charlie studied her face as she spoke and he knew instinctively she knew something more. “Did you remember or find something last night?”
Shiloh hesitated then nodded. “I remembered the night my parents died.”
Charlie froze. “Did you see the face of their killer?”
Shiloh could feel the tears run down her face and she nodded slowly. “Yes, I saw his face but it was twisted with so much rage I couldn’t tell who he was,” she could barely whisper her answer.
Charlie took her by her elbow and led her over to the chair beside his desk. Gently lowering her into the chair, he knelt beside her. Grabbing her hands, he rubbed her cold skin. “Honey, its ok, nothing is going to hurt you here.”
A movement from the door disturbed the air around them then a disgusted voice sneered behind him. “Well Uncle Charlie, this is a new one even for you.”
Charlie didn’t bother even turning to face his nephew. “Demon, don’t be an ass.”
Shiloh didn’t bother looking at the other man, Charlie held her gaze and she couldn’t let him go. The nightmare from the night before still lingered in her memory. It was too fresh not to feel the overwhelming fear in her soul.
Charlie kept his eyes on hers as he murmured, “It’s ok child, nothing will hurt you as long as I’m breathing. You hear me? Do you understand what I’m saying?”
Shiloh nodded. “Ok, I hear you.” She shuddered. Taking a deep breath, she finally closed her eyes and got a grip on her emotions. When she opened them, again she lifted her eyes to view the man standing in the doorway and gasped.
He was tall and dark, like an avenging fallen angel would look she thought. His face had a scruffy beard and his entire body blazed with heat and fire. His dark eyes seemed cold at first but then she realized his eyes were glowing with an internal blaze that would burn her alive if she got too close to him. She didn’t know why but that very blaze tempted her to him.
Charlie had called him Demon and it was a name that fit him. She felt his heat even way over here. She looked back at Charlie and felt his calm. She flushed a bit.
Charlie glanced over his shoulder to stare at his nephew. He saw the shock on his face and Charlie got a naughty thought. He couldn’t be with Shiloh 24/7, but Demon could. He groaned as he got to his feet, turning to face his nephew he stared at the other man for a long minute.
Demon read his uncle’s face and began shaking his head. “No. I don’t know what you’re going to ask, but the answer in no.”
Charlie went over to his desk and unlocking one of the bottom drawers, he pulled out an old file and threw it down on hi
s desk. “This file is over twenty years old. It’s about a double murder that happened here a long time ago. The murder itself was especially brutal. A young couple were beaten to death and the only witness was their four-year-old daughter who was hiding in the closet, covered in their blood.”
“Your point?” Demon asked as he narrowed his eyes against his uncle.
Charlie slowly turned his head to look at Shiloh. “Meet the four-year old child.”
Demon hissed and turned his head to gaze at Shiloh.
She wouldn’t meet his eyes again and her face was flush with embarrassment. He turned back to his uncle.
“What does this have to do with me?”
“I need to know she’s going to be safe and I can’t stay with her twenty-four-seven. But you could.”
Demon shook his head.
Charlie knew he had to work fast so he continued his story, “There is still a killer out there that wants what she knows. Her father found a shitload of uncut diamonds that connects either him or his partner with a smuggling ring that is international wide. We believe her father Mike Corbin has a hidden safe somewhere and we think Shiloh is the only person who knows where the safe is. If the killer gets to her, he will use everything he’s got to get her to tell him where the safe is and how to open it. Once he does that, he’ll not only get his hands on the diamonds, but he’ll also kill her, finishing what he started twenty years ago. He will have taken out an entire family. Her aunt Donna died in what the police are now saying was a murder, only days ago. Donna was the only family member Shiloh had left.” Shifting in his seat, he stared at his nephew. “I can’t be with her twenty-four/seven but you can. I just need someone with her to watch her back in case her father’s old business partner comes looking for her.”
“Who is her father’s old partner?” Demon asked.
“Simon Pratt.”
“Who the fuck is Simon Pratt?” Demon frowned. His eyebrows wrinkled as they drew together above his stormy eyes.
Charlie flipped through the file, found a picture of Simon, and handed it to his nephew.
Demon took the photo and stared at it for a long moment then his fingers tightened on the photo as his eyes blazed with hatred. Raising his head, he glared at his uncle. “Pratt? Is that what he calls himself?” Demon growled as he straightened to his full height of six foot four.
Charlie watched in awe as Demon’s shoulders seemed to widen and he clenched his muscles in a rage he’d never seen before. Charlie nodded.
Demon began to pace back and forth. When Demon came over to his desk and laid both fists on the surface, he leaned toward his uncle. “I’ll give you three days then I’m gone. If Pratt shows up I’ll deal with him my own way.”
“Wait just a minute here,” Shiloh called out. “Don’t I get a say in this at all?”
Demon slowly turned his head and glared at her. “No, you don’t. Not. One. Fucking. Word.”
Shiloh sat back in her chair and stared at the man. She looked over to Charlie and saw him shake his head slightly. Exhaling deeply, she wisely kept her mouth shut.
Charlie stiffened. “I’m taking her over to the house now.” He sighed. “I suppose you want to come along.”
Demon nodded.
“Come on then.” Charlie grabbed his bag and Shiloh followed him out of the station.
Demon was right behind her all the way to Charlie’s car.
When Charlie unlocked his car door, he looked over at Shiloh. “Your dad’s house is just outside of town. We can be there in a few minutes.”
Shiloh got into the front seat while Demon walked over to his own bike. A few minutes later Charlie pulled out of the parking lot. They turned to go north out of town but before they could go too, far Charlie turned his vehicle onto another road called Buena Vista.
He traveled a couple of minutes then turned again. Buena Vista was a long road, rural yet not. Houses sprang up on either side of the road but only here and there. It wasn’t a heavy populated road and it seemed to be the only street in this section of town.
About fifteen minutes later, he pulled up to the curb and Shiloh viewed the house she’d been born into. She barely paid attention to the fact that Demon pulled in behind Charlie’s car.
It was a nice-looking house, set in a semi- rural area. A sprawling one-story ranch type house with attached garage. The house was bigger than the other ranch houses she’d seen, even bigger than the other houses in this little cul-de-sac. It sat on a lot about half an acre big. The yard had just been mowed and the house looked lived in for some reason. There was a wooded area behind the house as well. She turned to Charlie. “Is someone living here?”
Charlie shook his head. “No but I do have someone maintaining the property. They come in every week or so and take care of it. Mowing and stuff like that. If the property looks abandoned, you would have all sorts of riffraff moving in and destroying the place. Especially in this area.” He paused then added, “Your aunt wanted it this way, she said the house belonged to you and that one day, she wanted you to be able to return to the home you belonged in.”
Shiloh swung her gaze back to the house. She could feel the butterflies in her tummy fluttering their wings, but instead of letting them get into flight, she reached for the handle in the door and opened it. A few moments later, she found herself walking across the lawn to the front door. As she looked over the house, she found that she couldn’t remember living here.
Charlie stepped around her and unlocked the front door.
Shiloh pushed the door open and stepped inside. The fluttering feeling, she had felt earlier was now moving toward fear and as she entered the tiled foyer she could feel the fear growing.
Shiloh took a step into the living room and stopped. Her eyes were drawn to a spot on the floor. The floor was clean now but in Shiloh’s mind, all she could see was the past. The carpet had a blood stain and her mother’s body was lying there.
Fear exploded through her body and she turned to the small hall on the other side of the living room. She froze in her tracks as she saw her father’s body. She staggered toward where her father laid and dropped to her knees. She reached out her hand but couldn’t quite touch him. She remembered every detail from that night, the blood pool under his body and the spatter on the walls. His dark hair was mattered with blood and the small statue on the floor beside him. Tears rolled down her cheeks as her mind remembered and relived that night so many years ago.
Charlie rushed over to her and helped her to her feet. Pulling her into his arms he held her and whispered, “It’s ok baby. No one can hurt you anymore.”
Shiloh could feel herself shivering. Her memories were so real. She buried her face in Charlie’s neck and sobbed. “There was so much blood that night.” Charlie stiffened for a moment.
He glanced at Demon quickly then looked back at Shiloh. He felt surprised she remembered anything. “I know, I remember,” he whispered quietly as his hand roamed up and down her back in a soothing manner.
Demon leaned back against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest as he listened to her story.
Shiloh tipped her head into Charlie’s chest. “I was so afraid that night. I couldn’t understand why anyone would want to hurt my parents. I was supposed to be asleep, but I was excited. I could hear the music and I knew we were having company that night. My Mom told me to go to sleep but I knew she wouldn’t be mad. I was waiting for Donna to come and kiss me good night.”
“Was Donna coming here that night?” Charlie asked with a frown. He quickly glanced to Demon then back to Shiloh. “What else do you remember?”
Shiloh nodded. “My Mom and Dad were celebrating. They told me that morning at breakfast that I was going to be a big sister.”
Charlie steered her toward the sofa. He helped her sit down. Shiloh glanced at him then looked around the room. “There were decorations everywhere. I helped them put up balloons and pink and blue ribbons all over the room. My mom was so excited that day.” She paused and w
iped tears away from her cheeks.
“What else do you remember?” Charlie asked and he glanced at his nephew.
Demon hadn’t said a word since they got there. He was leaning against the wall watching the drama unfold.
Shiloh shook her head. “I don’t know if I want to remember anymore.” She gazed around the room and fought to hold back the rushing memories. But as hard as she tried, she couldn’t hold them back.
Charlie glanced over at Demon and back to Shiloh. “Maybe coming back to this house wasn’t such a good idea.”
Shiloh turned her head to stare at him. “No, I need to remember. As horrible as that night was, I need to remember. It’s the only way to find the truth.”
“That may be so, but this couldn’t be worth the pain you’re feeling now,” Demon finally spoke.
Shiloh swung her gaze to him. “What do you mean?”
“Whoever murdered your parents hasn’t been caught yet,” Demon reminded her. “If Simon Pratt murdered your parents he might come after you next, now that you’ve come home again. At this point, he’s got nothing to lose and everything to gain if you remember where the safe is and he can get his hands on those diamonds.”
Shiloh thought about what he said, “Even if he did murder my parents, he won’t kill me yet. He needs something only I can give him.” She smiled sadly. “He needs me to tell him where the safe room is.”
“The safe room?” Charlie asked. “Your dad had a safe big enough to fill an entire room?”
“My father had a special room built into the house. If you don’t know where it is, you would never find it. He stored a lot of his more valuable imports in it.”
“Do you think that’s where your father put the gems he brought to the station that day?” Charlie asked. “As far as I know, those stones have never been found.”
Shiloh nodded. “I’m sure that’s where they are. Simon won’t hurt me until he has the gems back.”
Demon's Stand Page 3