When I got close to the maze, I slowed down. I was still almost half a mile away from it. Since I was going so slowly, I couldn’t help but notice when my headlights bounced off a metallic object that was halfway obscured in the ditch. A bicycle?
I don’t know what possessed me to do it, but I killed the lights on my car. I slowly rolled it to a stop, parking alongside the side of the road, and exiting my vehicle curiously. I know. I’ve seen enough horror movies to realize that this is exactly how you get yourself killed – and yet I did it anyway. I moved back towards the area where I saw the sudden reflection of light. It wasn’t a full moon, but it was close. There was enough illumination for me to get at least a semblance of what was in the ditch.
It was a motorcycle.
My mind immediately jumped to Landon. Why was he in the corn maze? Then my mind went to another place. What if it was Russ? Then my mind went to the worst place. What if it was all of them?
I had a decision to make. The smart thing to do would be to run to my car, drive it into town and use the office phone to call Chief Terry. Like an idiot, my cell phone was sitting on the nightstand in my bedroom. And the office was closer to me – and in a more populated area – than the guesthouse.
Instead, I did the stupid thing. I squared my shoulders and headed towards the corn maze purposefully.
One could argue that self-preservation isn’t my strong suit – and they would be right. I should be the lone girl that survives a horror movie. Instead I’m her dippy friend that gets killed in the opening reel.
I tried to be as quiet as I could as I entered the corn maze. I had to dip low to slip underneath the police tape, but it’s not like it was much of a deterrent. I had a small flashlight on my key ring, but I didn’t want to risk using it. Truth be told, I had no idea what I was going to do – even if I found someone in the maze.
I had been moving through the maze for about five minutes when I realized I wasn’t sure if I could find my way to the center of it without Chief Terry. He had led me the first time. Had I paid attention?
Not only was I trying to make my way through the darkened maze by the power of moonlight alone, but I was also trying to do it as stealthily as possible. If someone was in the maze and they heard me traipsing around, they would undoubtedly try to find out who was here.
I had just about convinced myself to turn around when I felt a presence slip in beside me. I froze in fear. It wasn’t a human presence, though. When I looked to my left I saw that Sophie was beside me. “What are you doing here?” She whispered, even though I was the only one who could hear her.
I shook my head. I couldn’t bring myself to open my mouth and answer her. Someone would definitely hear us then.
I felt another presence move up to my right side. I didn’t have to turn to see that it was Shane. I looked at them questioningly. What were they doing here?
Shane must have read the confusion on my face. “We thought that revisiting this place might jog our memories. We went out to where I was found first, but nothing happened. That’s why we came out here.”
Sophie had obviously heard a noise in front of us because she quirked her head slightly. “There’s someone else here?”
I nodded mutely.
“Do you think it’s the person that killed me? That killed us?”
I could only shrug. Even if I could speak out loud, I wouldn’t be able to answer that question.
“Go to the car,” Shane ordered. “We’ll go see who it is and meet you back at the guesthouse. We can’t die twice.”
I wanted to listen to him. I honestly did. My feet didn’t seem to be working properly, though. I looked up to them both helplessly.
Shane looked perplexed. “I think she’s frozen in fear.”
“Wouldn’t you be?” Sophie admonished him. “We’re already dead and I’m terrified.”
We could all hear the footsteps getting closer. It was too late at this point. If I did manage to move, he would hear me and give chase. If I didn’t move, he would inevitably run into me.
I could hear the slow shuffle of feet just around the corner. I was powerless to do anything but take a deep breath and wait. When the dark figure moved around the corner it froze a couple of feet in front of me.
“Who is that?” The voice was low and clearly male.
“Don’t answer him,” Sophie urged me. “Maybe he’ll run the other way in fear.”
“Not if he’s the killer,” Shane argued.
I couldn’t make out the figure in the dark. I could see a couple of furtive movements, but in general it was just a tall blob. The only thing I knew for sure is that it was a man – or a female wrestler. The figure reached behind its back. I held my breath for a second, exhaling sharply when the figure brought the hand back out and snapped a light on my face.
It took my eyes a second to adjust to the light – and the only refrain going through my mind was: Please let it be the cops. Please let it be the cops. Jail is better than death, after all.
I was shocked when the figure openly swore. “Jesus H. Christ! You’ve got to be kidding me! Bay? Bay Winchester? Just what in the hell are you doing here?”
Despite the fear ripping through me only seconds before, I recognized the voice, and it didn’t bring the heart-gripping fear I expected it to. “Landon?”
“Yeah, it’s me,” he grumbled. He still hadn’t lowered the flashlight from my face.
Sophie had moved over to the side of him and was giving him a piercing look. “I don’t recognize him,” she said finally. “He is really hot, though.”
Shane shot her a dirty look. “I don’t recognize him either. I think he looks like he’s up to no good, regardless.”
I wanted to snap at them both to shut up, but I didn’t think that now was the right time to give Landon further evidence that I was crazy. Plus, if he did kill me and carry my body away, the two of them would be the only ones capable of telling Thistle and Clove where to find me.
“Are you suddenly deaf?” Landon snapped. “Are you in some sort of shock? Why are you here?”
I managed to recover – if only momentarily – and shot him an evil glare of my own. “I might ask you the same question.”
“I asked you first,” he muttered.
“I thought I saw someone going into the maze and I thought I should probably check it out.” That’s not really a lie. Okay, it’s not really the truth either, but it’s not an overt lie.
“You saw a shadowy figure go into a corn maze, after dark, a corn maze where a body was found less than 24 hours ago, mind you, and you thought it was a good idea to follow that figure?” Landon ran the flashlight up and down my body. “In your pajamas?”
What? That’s totally possible. “Yes, I did.” If you’re going to lie, commit to the act and don’t even think about abandoning it.
Landon regarded me for a second. I could tell he didn’t believe me, but he didn’t look like he particularly wanted to challenge me either. He seemed to be waging an internal battle with himself instead. “That story makes no sense,” he said finally.
“Why don’t you tell me what you’re doing here and I’ll tell you if that makes sense?”
Landon looked flustered again. “What?”
“You were obviously the person I saw go into the corn maze. Why are you here?”
Now Landon looked uncomfortable. “I just wanted to look around.”
“At a murder scene?”
“I thought the cops said that this was just the body dump?”
Body dump? That was a weird way to put it. “How did you know that? I didn’t see that on the news.”
Landon ignored the question. “I guess I was just a little morbidly curious.” He was trying to act badass. He lacked a certain level of conviction, though.
“You get off on seeing body dump locations?”
“I didn’t say that,” he protested.
“I still don’t understand why you’re here,” I repeated.
“I just
wanted to see the crime scene,” he snapped.
“I’m sorry, but that seems weird for a random biker guy.”
“That seems judgmental for a random newspaper woman.” He challenged.
I narrowed my eyes as I regarded him. “I’m not judgmental.”
“You’ve been obsessed with me since the moment you laid eyes on me.” Even under the pale moonlight, I could see the twinkle in his eye.
“I am not obsessed with you,” I said hotly.
“I would be,” Sophie said from beside me. “He is dreamy.”
“He is not dreamy,” I muttered.
I saw Landon look around for a second. It was clear I’d said that last statement as part of a conversation – and yet he hadn’t heard Sophie’s comment. “What did you say?”
“I said, I hope I’m dreaming,” I lied.
“You dream about me a lot, do you?” Landon was back to being flirty. At least he wasn’t trying to kill me.
“Listen, as much as I would love to sit in the middle of a corn maze and continue to get nowhere with you, I really need to get some sleep.”
Landon smiled at me. “You want to go somewhere with me?”
I was confused for a second, and then I realized what I said. “I meant as far as you telling the truth,” I said through gritted teeth.
“Oh,” he nodded knowingly.
“I don’t have time to play games with you,” I said harshly. “Some of us have actual jobs.”
I turned, mustering as much righteous indignation as I could, and started to flounce out of the corn maze. Instead, I tripped over something on the ground – I think it was the corner of a bale of hay -- and sprawled forward.
“Oww!”
“Are you alright?”
“Yeah, I’m great. I just broke my ankle. What couldn’t be great about that?”
“You broke your ankle?” Landon sounded genuinely concerned.
He flicked the light around until he saw me sitting on the ground, rubbing my ankle. “It’s not broken,” I grumbled. “It’s just twisted.”
I saw that Landon was trying not to laugh. The absurdity of the situation wasn’t lost on me, but I didn’t think now was the time to start making fun of me either. “Don’t you dare laugh. This is not funny.”
“I’m not laughing.”
“You’re laughing inside.”
“No, I’m not.”
“Don’t lie to me; I can see it written across your face.”
“It’s dark; you can’t even see my face.”
Landon reached down and helped me to my feet. I could put a little weight on my ankle, but I had a feeling I was going to be in a world of hurt tomorrow. Landon must have realized that, too.
“Are you going to be able to drive home?”
“I’ll be fine,” I said crossly.
“Is there someone at home that can help you in the morning?” He asked the question innocently enough, but I noticed the slight edge to his voice when he uttered the words. He was hoping for a specific answer.
“Yes, I live with someone.”
“Your cousins,” Shane scoffed. “That’s not what he was asking, and you know it.”
I ignored him.
I saw Landon’s face fall slightly. He didn’t say anything, though. “Well, let me help you to your car anyway.”
I wanted to tell him no, but I could feel my ankle starting to balloon. As it stood now, I was going to have to sit in the driveway at home and honk until Thistle and Clove came out to help me into the house. Thankfully, Twila was a master at making healing poultices, and I would probably actually be able to walk tomorrow (even if it was with a limp).
It took Landon about ten minutes to maneuver me to my car. He opened the door and helped me slide in, but he didn’t shut the door even after he was sure I was settled inside comfortably.
“Are you sure you’re going to be able to get home?”
“I already told you. I’m fine.”
“Are you sure the guy you live with will be able to help you?”
I saw him grimace when he said the word guy and couldn’t help but smile to myself. “I don’t live with a guy,” I admitted. “I live with my cousins. It will be fine. They should be home by now.”
“I’ll follow you to make sure you get there,” he said finally, although I did see him perk up when I admitted to living with my cousins.
“I don’t need a babysitter,” I protested.
“It will make me feel better,” he mock pleaded.
“Fine,” I relented.
I was surprised when he started moving away from me instead of towards the ditch. In other words, he was moving away from his motorcycle.
“Where are you going?”
“I parked my bike behind the maze,” he said. “It will just take a second for me to get it and then I’ll follow you home.”
“I thought your motorcycle was in the ditch over there,” I faltered, pointing in the direction where I had found the motorcycle earlier.
Landon’s eyes narrowed. “Why did you think that?”
“That’s why I stopped,” I finally admitted. “I saw the bike in the ditch.”
“Where?” Landon’s voice had taken on a hard edge.
I made a move to get out of the car but Landon stopped me. “Just point.”
Landon jogged over to the area I had identified. I watched as he dropped to his knees and peered into the ditch, but I couldn’t see what he was looking at. After a few minutes, he jogged back over to me.
“There’s nothing there,” he said. “It looks like something was there, the grass is flattened but it’s not there anymore.”
I bit my lower lip. “So someone else was here?”
Landon nodded grimly. “And I have an idea who.”
Neither one of us said it aloud, but we were both thinking the same thing – I could tell. Russ.
Twenty
There was good news and bad news the next morning. The good news was that I was right, the poultice I had put on my ankle the night before had done wonders. It was still a garish looking purple color – but I could put some weight on it. I would be limping for the next two days, but it was nowhere near as bad as it could have been.
The bad news? I still had no idea who had committed these murders and I was now completely convinced that Landon’s friends – if not Landon himself – were tied up in something hinky. He had been out at the corn maze looking for something. I don’t know if he found it or not. Of course, he could have killed me. No one knew I was out there, after all. Still, he hadn’t even showed the slightest inclination that he was considering that.
I stumbled out into the kitchen. Thistle looked up when she saw my very ungraceful entrance. “How are you feeling?”
“Like I got caught in a corn maze when I shouldn’t have been there.”
Thistle smirked. “I mean your ankle.”
“Oh, it’s okay. It doesn’t feel great. It doesn’t feel like it’s going to fall off or anything either, though.”
“Well that’s good,” Thistle said with fake enthusiasm. “It’s good to start out every day with something to be thankful for.”
Smartass.
I slid into one of the stools, being careful not to jostle my ankle against anything hard, and accepted the cup of coffee Thistle shoved towards me. It smelled like heaven in a cup – with cream.
“So . . .” Thistle started.
“So what?”
“You want to tell me who the guy on the motorcycle was last night?”
“What guy?”
“You know very well what guy. Long black hair. Killer blue eyes. If I had to guess, a washboard stomach and some truly impressive shoulders are probably part of that package, too.”
“He’s just a guy I know,” I averted my gaze from her, although I could feel the heat creeping up my neck.
“Who are we talking about?” Clove was coming out of the bathroom and she looked interested in our conversation. “Mr. Hottie on the motorcycle
last night? You said you weren’t going to ask her about him if I wasn’t here,” Clove said accusingly.
“Well, you should have been faster. I couldn’t hold it in anymore.”
“She’s been up for like two minutes,” Clove countered.
“Well, you know I have zero impulse control. You should have planned accordingly.”
Clove frowned. “You’re dead to me.”
Well it looked like we were both up to three deaths this month. I wondered who would get the tiebreaker.
If I thought Thistle and Clove had forgotten what they were originally interested in – I was sadly mistaken.
“So, who was he?” Clove asked. She was still shooting angry mental dangers in Thistle’s direction.
“I told you, he’s a guy I met around town,” I said evasively.
“Well, we have a store right on the main drag in town and we’ve never seen him,” Thistle argued. “Where did you meet him again?”
“I met him at the corn maze the day we found Shane’s body,” I admitted.
Thistle puzzled the answer over in her head for a few minutes. Then I saw a sudden flash of recognition register on her face. “He’s one of the people Chief Terry thinks is involved in the meth trade, isn’t he? He’s the guy Chief Terry warned you to stay away from?”
Who told her that? Don’t freak out, I cautioned myself internally. If she smells blood in the water she’ll attack. She’s like Jaws that way. I mentally calmed myself and then shrugged calmly. “I have no idea what Chief Terry thinks of him.” I just know he hates him.
“If Chief Terry thinks that you should stay away from him, maybe you should?” Clove bit her lower lip as she thought about it. “On the other hand, he’s really hot. Screw Chief Terry. There’s probably nothing wrong with him.”
Sometimes I love the way Clove’s mind works.
“At least have sex with him before you ask if he’s a drug dealer,” she added. “If you do it beforehand, that could make the sex really weird.”
Sometimes Clove’s mind is a frightening place – like a house of mirrors at a carnival, or a bag full of really angry cats.
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