by Gerri Hill
“Are you sure she was dead?” Don asked. “I mean—”
“Yes,” CJ said. “We’re sure.”
“Fiona?” he asked quietly.
Paige flashed her light back to the altar. “There. She died there.”
“He took her back into the cave with him,” CJ said.
“Okay, you guys are freaking me out,” Ice said.
“Sorry,” Paige said. “But we saw him.”
“Maybe he came and got Ester too,” CJ suggested with a shrug.
“I don’t think so,” Don said. “Fiona was his bride. She carried his child. Mother Hogan did his bidding, that’s all. Mother Hogan was just one of many.”
“Look, can we get out of here?” Ice asked. “I’d like to be above ground if we’re going to be discussing missing bodies.”
“I’ve never seen you so nervous, baldy,” CJ said. “Now do you believe me when I said this assignment sucked?”
“Yeah. I believe you. Now get me the hell out of here. I can face bank robbers, terrorists, murders. You name it. But not this spooky shit.”
Don motioned to their left. “The main tunnel will take us—”
“Let’s use Ester’s tunnel,” CJ said, interrupting Don. “It’s much nicer.”
They again retraced their steps from earlier, going through the tunnel and up the stairs to Ester’s house. They were surprised to find Howley and two other agents inside.
“What the hell? I thought you were at the school. You’re lucky we didn’t shoot you,” he said.
“You specifically told us not to shoot anyone,” CJ reminded him.
“How did you get here? I told Ice to have you stay put.”
“They didn’t listen. We came through the woods and then some tunnel,” Ice said. “And I don’t ever want to do it again.”
“Out in the woods? Then you must have heard that sound,” he said. “It was like an elephant’s roar or something and then this hideous scream.”
“Yes, that’s a good way to describe it,” Paige said.
“What was it?”
“A monster,” Ice said simply.
CJ shook her head. “It’s some creature that lives in the caves.”
“Yeah, like I said. A monster,” Ice said again.
“What’s with you, Ice? You don’t normally spook this easily,” Howley said with a laugh. “Probably a mountain lion or something.”
“Or something,” CJ murmured.
“Well, this is the last house for us to search,” Howley explained. “We have forty-four bodies. This is going to be a public relations nightmare.” He flashed his light to Don, causing Don to shield his eyes. “Who are you?”
“This is Don,” Paige said.
“Oh. You found the doctor. So everyone is accounted for now?”
CJ and Paige glanced at each other, then to Don.
“Well, the two men from here, the ones who took Don, they’re not exactly accounted for,” she said.
“Meaning?”
“Their bodies are in the woods. Somewhere,” CJ said. “Unless he’s eaten them.”
“Eaten them? Who?”
“More like what,” Ice said.
“And Fiona’s body is gone. He took her back into the cave,” CJ said.
“And now Ester’s body is missing,” Paige said. “I think that’s everyone.” She looked at Don. “Right?”
“Have you found her son? He lived here with her.”
“She had a son?”
“Yes. She kept him here. He was mildly retarded, from what everyone said. He didn’t speak. Didn’t communicate. He never came out. No one ever saw him.” He paused. “Antel was his father.”
“Jesus. Antel was Ester’s brother,” Paige said. “And Fiona’s father.”
“Yes, well, Mother Hogan was a little crazy herself,” he said with a smile. Then he gave a short laugh. “And it feels good to say that and not worry about being culled for disobedience.”
“Wait. We found remains of a young child upstairs. In a bed. Could that have been her son?” CJ asked.
“He was born before I was,” Don said. “But like I said, no one ever saw him, so yes, she could have killed him as well. No one would have known.”
Howley looked at them with a blank expression. “I don’t know what the hell you all are talking about. Someone want to explain? Now.”
“You know when we started this,” CJ said. “You said Ester Hogan was the matriarch, right?”
“Yes.”
“So there were others before her. And when they died, they placed them in a bed. In a room. Upstairs.”
“You found the burial room?” Don asked quietly.
“So you’re telling me there are...remains upstairs?” Howley asked. “This house isn’t secure yet?”
“Seven in the one room. Then the child in another.”
“Seven?”
“Skeletal remains,” CJ clarified. “Opal, Velma.”
“Estaline and...Estelle?” Paige said.
“Yeah. And Naomi and Eustice,” CJ said. “And Rosaline. Seven.”
“Eight beds, though. There was a bed for Ester,” Paige added.
“Rosaline was Ester’s mother,” Don stated. “I was a child when she died.” He glanced at them, their flashlights all crisscrossing in the room, little flecks of dust floating around them. “The burial room is...sacred. Well, at least it was to Mother Hogan. No one is allowed up there. As far as I know, Belden is the only other one who has been inside. Not even Devin.”
“Who’s Devin?”
“He’s the woodcarver.”
“He made the beds?”
Don nodded. “From what I’ve learned, they all died at a fairly young age. Ester was, by far, the oldest. Of course, her mother was poisoned, so that obviously shortened her life.”
“Poisoned?”
“By Ester, no doubt,” Paige said.
“Wait a minute,” Howley said. “Are you sure the remains are from Hogan women? We’re still looking for bodies of the missing girls. That’s the point of this, if you’ll recall.” He turned to Don with raised eyebrows.
“The ones who Belden brought back here,” he shook his head. “They were offered as a sacrifice,” he said. “In the cave.”
“In the cave,” Howley repeated. “Where Ice’s monster lives.”
“Yes. They are taken into the cave. Made to run. So he can chase them.”
“And?”
“And then he kills them.” He looked at Paige. “And then he eats them.”
Howley glanced between her and CJ. “What kind of crap is he feeding you?”
“I don’t understand,” Don said quietly. “What do you mean?”
“He’s telling the truth,” Paige said. “We’ve seen him. We’ve been in the chamber. We’ve seen the entrance to the cave. We’ve seen him.”
“Me too,” Ice said. “He chased us. It’s like...man, I can’t even describe it. A monster.”
“We’ve come across two skulls out in the woods,” CJ added. “I wouldn’t be surprised to find more. There’s a trail that links back to the school grounds. That’s the route we took. I would assume he travels along the same path.”
Howley stared at all of them as if they’d grown two heads each. “Okay. We’re obviously going to need a thorough briefing. Let’s secure this house. Get bodies accounted for, then let the forensics teams in. They should be here soon. We called in the locals too.” He rubbed his hair in frustration. “Like I said, public relations nightmare. I just hope we find a trace of young Trumbley. The senator won’t let it rest until we do.”
“I pity the poor souls who have to go into the cave looking for bodies,” CJ murmured.
“Me too,” Ice added.
“May I ask a question?” Don asked.
“What is it?”
“You said there were forty-four bodies. What happened?”
“I did the yellow rock thing with Belden,” CJ said. “You could have warned us it was a suicide trigger ph
rase.”
“We weren’t actually sure it would work. Like we told you, Fiona and I were able to block it out. It’s hard to believe they’re all gone.”
“Did you have...family?” Paige asked gently.
He shook his head. “No. My mother’s been gone a number of years. And like most, my father was just someone my mother coupled with. He wasn’t a part of my life.”
“Coupled?” Ice asked.
“Had sex, baldy.”
“Come on. Let’s get on with it,” Howley said.
“Okay, we took the stairs up through the study,” CJ said. “It’s a narrow passageway. Not quite a secret staircase. I mean, there’s a door. But it’s narrow. Not meant for frequent travel.”
“Let’s take the main stairs,” Howley said. “Make sure you didn’t miss anything.”
“We never found her bedroom,” Paige said. “It must be down here.”
Howley pointed to two of the agents. “You two, check all the rooms down here. Closets too.”
Ice cleared his throat. “Is it just me or is anyone else freaking out?”
Paige smiled and rubbed his arm affectionately. “We’ve just had more time to adjust to it all,” she said.
“Maybe if we had some lights, you know. I mean, how do people live like this?”
“Actually, most of the houses have solar power or generators,” Don said. “Mother Hogan preferred to live in the old way. She used lanterns and candles.”
“No offense, man.”
“It’s okay. Like I said, she was a little crazy.”
CJ laughed out loud at that statement. “A little?”
“Come on, people,” Howley said. “Can we get this over with?”
CJ glanced back over her shoulder. “Paige? You want to take the lead. Show them the rooms.”
“No, tiger. You’re doing a great job.”
With all of their flashlights, it was almost bright on the stairs. But the dust-covered steps led her to believe that Ester used the staircase in her study to travel to the second floor. Of course, since her bedroom was not up there, she may not have had cause to go up very often. Unless she went to...visit, she thought.
“Here,” CJ said at the landing, pointing to the burial room. “That’s where they all are.” She shifted her light down the hallway, walking that way. “And in here,” she said, opening the door, “is the child we found.”
“May I?” Don asked.
CJ stepped aside, letting him enter.
“Don’t touch anything,” Howley warned. “Ice, check the other room.”
“Oh, man,” he mumbled.
Don walked near the bed, bending over to inspect the skeleton as they held their light on it. “It doesn’t appear distressed,” he said. “Of course, I’m not a real doctor. You probably already know that. But I’d guess he wasn’t older than six.” He turned around, his gaze going over the room. “It’s obviously a child’s room. Her son was the only child to live here. It must be him.”
“Hey guys,” Ice called. “I thought you said there were only seven bodies.”
They all hurried from the room, she and CJ stopped up short as they stared at Ester Hogan, dressed in a white gown. She was laid out neatly on the bed that was made for her. The only evidence of her trauma was the light red discoloration staining the gown on her chest.
“What the hell?”
Paige shook her head. “She was in the chamber.” She turned to Don. “Who could have done this?”
“Belden is the only one who knows. No one else has been in here.”
“Belden? The bodybuilder?” Howley shook his head. “No. We found his body.”
“Besides, he was the first one—the only one—I told the phrase to,” CJ said. “He left the chamber, repeating the stupid little verse over and over again.”
“Yes. That’s part of it,” Don said. “To alert the rest of the flock.”
“So who the hell brought her up here?” CJ asked.
No one had an answer. Suddenly Paige felt Don grasp her hand and squeeze tightly.
“I feel her watching me,” he whispered. “I feel someone watching.” He looked around the room, their multitude of flashlights casting odd shadows across the floor and beds. “Doesn’t anyone else feel it?”
“Okay,” Ice said, slowly backing up to the door. “I’ve officially reached my limit. There are seven skeletons in those beds over there. And now this? A dead woman, dressed for a wedding? And nobody knows how she got here?” He pointed his light at Don. “And now he’s feeling somebody watching us.” He turned to Howley. “We don’t need to be up here at night. This is some spooky shit.”
“It’s like when we went to the grocery store that first day,” Paige told CJ. “We didn’t see a soul, yet we felt eyes on us.”
“Avery said the same thing.”
“Okay, we’re just speculating now,” Howley said. “But yeah, I’m a little freaked out too. Let’s close this up. We’ll let the forensics team in. We probably don’t need to be up here anyway.”
“Good call,” Ice said. “I’ll meet you guys at the bottom.”
They turned to follow, but Howley stopped them.
“Oh, and Don? We’re going to need you to come with us to Houston,” he said. “Your debriefing will take several days. If not weeks.”
“I understand.”
Paige touched his shoulder. “We’ll be there with you.”
“Thank you. It’ll be a little bit out of my comfort zone, to say the least.”
CJ laughed. “Yeah. Kinda like this whole thing was for us.”
Before closing the door, Paige took one last look inside. She let out a loud gasp. Ester Hogan’s eyes were open.
“What is it?”
“Look,” she said, holding her light on Ester’s face, her dull, lifeless eyes staring at nothing.
“They were closed earlier,” CJ whispered.
“I know.”
“What are you guys doing?” Howley asked as he waited at the top of the stairs.
“Nothing,” they said in unison.
CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
Ice leaned back in his chair, rolling tiny pieces of paper between his fingers into balls, then tossing them for strikes into the trash can. CJ was tapping away on her keyboard, a smile on her face. Paige was twirling a pen between her fingers, her gaze alternating between her monitor and CJ. Ice flicked his eyes to Billy, who sat watching them both.
“So, CJ, you’re in a good mood this morning. Smiling and everything,” he said.
She glanced up. “I’m always in a good mood. Besides, when we turn in these reports, we get three days off.” She held up three fingers. “Three. While you guys get to stay here and sort through all the mess.”
“So that’s all it is? I thought maybe you’d gotten laid or something.”
“Don’t smell tequila on her, and she’s wearing clean clothes,” Billy said. “No bar last night.”
“Like I have to go to the bar to get laid,” she said.
Paige looked over at her. “So you did get laid?”
Ice was shocked to see a blush cross CJ’s face, but she shook it off. “You know, I’m very charming,” she said.
“Really?”
“Yeah. And persuasive too.”
“Is that so?”
“Absolutely. That’s why I can get laid and I don’t have to go to the bar.”
Paige leaned closer. “So you got laid then?”
Ice couldn’t take his eyes off of them. Sure, they were doing their normal thing with the flirting. But something was different. It was their eyes. Their words were teasing, but the look they exchanged was not. He felt the temperature in the room rise, and he shifted uncomfortably in his chair.
“Is that your assumption? That I had sex?”
“Well, since you’re so charming and all.” Paige finally leaned back. “I never knew that about you. You know, charming and persuasive.”
CJ laughed. “See? You learn something new every day.”
The door opened to Howley’s office, and he and Don came out. Don looked like he’d been beaten.
“Somebody take him to lunch,” Howley said. “He needs a break.”
“How’d it go?” Paige asked when Howley walked away.
“I don’t think he believes me,” Don said.
“If we hadn’t spent nearly two months there, I wouldn’t believe you either,” CJ said. “But don’t worry. We’ve got it all in our reports. Including everything that Fiona told us.”
“How’s the hotel?” Paige asked.
He grinned. “Nice. I can’t seem to get away from the television. There are so many things to watch.”
“So what are you going to do?” CJ asked. “You know, when this is over with.”
He shrugged. “I guess I’ll have to get a job. Although, I’m not sure who would hire me. I have no skills. And if a background check was done?” His eyes widened playfully. “Yikes.”
They all laughed, including Don.
“You have a medical background. You could always go back to college,” Paige suggested. “I might know of a scholarship fund.”
CJ arched an eyebrow. “Oh?”
“Well, by all accounts,” Ice said, “you’re the sole remaining Hogan heir. You have some property you could always sell.”
Don laughed at this. “Yes, I could open it up as an amusement park.”
“Seriously, what are you going to do with it?” Billy asked. “I mean, it was pretty and all. If you can get past the thing in the woods.”
“Mr. Howley said they were considering closing the school,” Don said. “Is that true?”
“Two teachers died—Fiona and Ella,” CJ said. “He said four others resigned. I’m sure there will be more.”
“Well, as long as they think that...that thing lives out there, I’m sure they’ll all resign,” Ice said. “I know I would.”
“They’ve found no trace of it,” Billy added. “Are you sure you saw something?”
“It’s there,” CJ said.
“They’re going into the cave tomorrow,” Ice said. “I’m sure glad I’m not on that team.”
“You and me both, baldy.”
Paige pushed away from her desk and neatly rolled her chair against it. “I’m taking off,” she said. “I’ve submitted my report.”
“I’ve got a little bit more yet,” CJ said.