by K. J. Emrick
She did a very bad job of keeping her frustration out of her voice. "Why? I mean, what good will that do us?"
"I don't know, but I was thinking that maybe you could recognize something from your vision if you saw it. Some part of the forest or the trails themselves."
It made sense, and it was a good place to start. It was obvious they weren't going to get the help of the Sheriff's Office any time soon. Maybe if they found the body they had seen Sheriff Rockwood would come around. They still had three hours before they were supposed to meet JoEllen, at noon. They should make use of that time somehow.
She blew out a stiff breath and got into her side of the car. If their romantic getaway was ever going to heat up the way she wanted it to, they would have to solve this mystery first.
Chapter Four
There were several trailhead parking areas off the main road that lead from the town up to the resort lodge. Mount Borealis was deceptively large. It looked like an oversized hill to Darcy, but as they parked and got out at a random trail and then began hiking up, she got a better sense of how the gradual incline of the mountain had skewed her perception. There was a lot of ground to cover up here.
Thankfully they were dressed for a long walk. Twenty minutes up the slope, Darcy began to feel perspiration at the back of her neck. "This could take days," she said, waving away a buzzing insect that got too close to her ear. "Didn't the Sheriff say that he came up here with his deputies and the fire department already and couldn’t find anything? What makes us think we'll just stumble onto something I recognize?"
"We're due for some good luck, aren't we?" was his response.
"Come on. We've had our share of good luck."
His hand found hers and held it tightly. "Yes. We certainly have."
The trail meandered through the trees, their leaves whispering nonsense to them in the cool breeze. Nothing looked familiar. The trees were wrong, the lay of the land was wrong, even the trail was wrong. This was rich, dark soil littered with dead leaves and pine needles and small stones. Nothing like she had seen in the vision at all.
Still, they climbed the trail for another half an hour, both of them realizing they would have to turn back soon or risk losing their chance to talk to JoEllen over lunch. What was the woman up to, Darcy wondered. What was her connection to the dead man?
Then there was Carson Middlemiss, the big bear of a man who wrote humorous stories and loved books. Something else was going on there, too. Something Darcy genuinely hoped didn't mean he was the killer.
Jon had stopped walking. Darcy hadn't even really been paying attention to their surroundings, knowing they were possibly in the wrong place but knowing too that there were at least five other trails to pick from on this side of the mountain alone, not to mention the ski trails over by the resort that were also used as hiking trails this time of year. The places she had seen in her vision could have been anywhere.
Or they might be right in front of her.
"Look," Jon said, pointing to a square of dark wood screwed into a towering pine tree right in front of them on the trail.
"Danger. Trail closed due to slides," it said. Only, with the missing letters the last word read "lies."
The sign from her vision.
She looked up at the trees all around them. Yes. This was the spot from her vision, where she had seen JoEllen pause and get her bearings before continuing on her headlong run in…this direction.
Darcy led Jon straight ahead through the trees. Before long they came out to one of the ski runs, a torn up swath of ground that separated the forest like a scar. All vegetation had been worn away from the brownish-white sand that would probably never grow anything again. Rocks the size of Darcy's fists were everywhere along the trail of the run, giving her the uneasy feeling that the whole thing could start tumbling at the slightest provocation and spill both her and Jon in a tumbling heap down the mountainside.
Oh. Closed due to slides. Now Darcy understood the sign. The ground was unstable and hikers were warned not to climb on the ski run.
Good advice. Too bad they couldn't follow it.
They had to follow the trail instead.
"Where to?" Jon asked her.
"This way," Darcy told him, one hand waving him to follow. She started down the path, carefully picking her way, placing each foot down slowly and avoiding the loose rocks. Even so her feet slipped under her more than once, forcing her to wave her arms for balance as she slid forward like a barefooted surfer on an ocean of gravel.
Jon was always there with her, catching her by the elbow or the waist or reminding her to be careful. She was so glad he was here. Looking into the paranormal and mysterious without him had been harder than she realized.
"Do you recognize any of this? Remember any of it?"
She didn't have to ask him what he meant. It was her vision that was leading them. Only, this part of her vision had been a blur. Had they already gone too far? Should they go back? Search the forest on both sides of the trail? Checking her watch she saw that it was already quarter after eleven. They'd been at this too long as it was.
"I'm not sure where to go next, Jon. Maybe we should just follow this down to the bottom and regroup at the ski lodge. At least we'll know which of the ski runs to follow later when we come back to look."
Cold prickles danced up her spine. Goosepimples stippled her arms. She stopped in the middle of the trail. Or at least she tried. The rocks shifted and slid her forward another foot before she could grind to a halt.
"You sense something?" Jon asked her.
She nodded, scanning the trees around her. From behind her, the wind picked up. It pushed against her back and swirled past her to dance in the trees to her right. It pushed against her again. And again.
Until she got the hint.
One step at a time, she walked to the edge of the ski run and then back up onto the grassy soil that surrounded the first few trees on this side. Yes. This felt right. What they were looking for was this way.
The wind couldn't reach them once they were enveloped by the towering trees, but Darcy didn't need its guidance any more. She saw it. This was the area from her dream. A small clearing ahead. Freshly turned dirt, sod replaced haphazardly to cover something that would not be covered.
The remains of a hand stuck up from the Earth. The animals and the elements had not been kind to it.
She began twisting the silver ring on her right hand over and over. Her gift had led them to another dead man.
At moments like this it was hard to think of it as a gift.
Jon was beside her, his arm wrapped around her shoulders, turning her away from the grave site. She buried herself into his embrace, happy to close her eyes and lean into his comfort. She wasn't going to ever get used to seeing dead people, no matter how many times it happened or how many ghosts came to visit her or how many departed souls she helped cross over to the other side. It would just always be wrong for anyone to end up this way.
This place was so desolate. So isolated. No wonder the searchers hadn't been able to find it, Darcy reflected. They could have walked right by it on the ski run trail and never known it was here.
They had found the grave of Audie Berkstone. They had the proof they needed to have an investigation started, and have JoEllen questioned officially. It sort of seemed like a hollow victory.
A twig snapped behind her. She felt Jon tense, his hands tightening protectively on her back, as JoEllen said, "Put your hands up."
Darcy started to turn around, to confront the woman, but Jon held her close instead. "Do what she says," he whispered in Darcy's ear. "She has a gun."
Only then did he take his hands off her, lifting them up like JoEllen had ordered. Darcy turned, slowly, and stepped to the side of Jon. She didn't want to be in his way if he suddenly made a lunge for JoEllen or tried anything else. Seeing the heavy black automatic that was pointing their way made her hope he didn't try anything stupid.
She put her hands up and sto
od there, waiting for what would come next.
JoEllen took a step closer to them, her face angry, her eyes narrowed. She held her gun steady, the knuckles of her hand white and tense. Darcy's heart caught in her throat.
"Where," JoEllen growled at them, "is my son?"
Chapter Five
Of course JoEllen would know where this grave was. Darcy felt stupid for not realizing it sooner.
They had walked into a trap.
JoEllen was mad, her face set and her body language radiating anger, but Darcy took it as a good sign that she hadn't tried to shoot them yet. If she had wanted them dead, Darcy and Jon would already be joining Audie Berkstone over there in shallow graves.
But what was this about her son?
As Darcy watched, JoEllen swallowed and her eyes blinked closed and then open again. "I can't believe that twig snapped," she grumbled. "Can you believe that twig snapped when I stepped on it? I mean, how cliché can you get?"
Jon looked sideways at Darcy. She could see the same questions forming in his mind that she had herself. Slowly lowering his hands he tried taking one step forward. "JoEllen, why don't you put the gun down and we can talk about, well, whatever possessed you to point it at us in the first place."
"No," she said stiffly. "You have my son. I knew all I had to do was wait. I knew whoever killed Audie wouldn't be able to resist coming back to view their handiwork. You killed him. You have my son." She switched the gun to a double-handed grip and aimed it at Jon's heart. "I want my son back."
Two things became clear to Darcy. One, JoEllen hadn't killed Audie. She thought Jon and Darcy had done that. And two, there was a lot more going on here than met the eye. Every word JoEllen spoke was dripping with conviction and certainty. Whatever she thought Jon and Darcy had done, it wouldn't be easy to convince her otherwise.
Darcy knew they had to try. Especially since she didn't feel like being shot. "We don't have your son, JoEllen. We didn't even know you had a son. We just came here to have a weekend getaway. That's all."
"Liar!" JoEllen jabbed the gun at them like an accusing finger. "You took him! I knew the minute you moved into the cabin next to me. Not exactly subtle, by the way. Here's a tip. Don't blackmail someone and then move next door!"
"We're not who you think we are," Darcy tried, lifting her hands higher to show she wasn't any kind of threat. "Me and Jon. We aren't whoever you think we are. We don't have your son."
"Then why are you here? In the woods, next to Audie’s grave? Huh? Answer me that!"
Her voice had risen until now she was practically shouting and the way she was waving that gun, Darcy really had to worry about it accidentally going off. It wasn't the first time she'd stared down the black eye of a gun but this was one more thing that she would never get used to. Her breath was caught in her throat and beads of sweat stood out on her forehead. She forced herself to smile and act like there was nothing wrong. She had to keep this going.
While Darcy had kept JoEllen's attention on her, Jon had inched around, off to the side, without being noticed. He caught Darcy's attention out of JoEllen's line of sight and mouthed a countdown.
…four, three, two, one!
Darcy dropped herself to the ground in a sudden heap. JoEllen watched her in surprise, mouth hanging open, and momentarily forgot she was supposed to be keeping them at gunpoint. At that same instant Jon reached in and grabbed her gun arm in a vice grip, twisting it in a circle away from Darcy that forced JoEllen to her knees.
As Jon was taking her to the ground, JoEllen rolled onto her back and scissor kicked Jon's feet out from under him.
They both were down, one on top of the other, Jon managing to keep a grip on JoEllen's right arm and holding it up above them as she jammed a hand hard under his jaw and shoved his head back into the dirt. Darcy winced to see it. She thought for one horrible moment that his neck had been broken but then he was rolling into JoEllen's guard and had her underneath him with her arm bent around behind her back.
The gun went flying across the ground and stopped at Darcy's feet.
"Ow!" JoEllen suddenly cried out in pain. Jon had both of her hands pinned at the small of her back now, using his weight to hold her down on the ground. "Let me go! Let me go!"
"Darcy get her gun," Jon said without taking his attention off JoEllen. "Now. I'm going to ask some questions, and you're going to give me some answers. Got it, JoEllen?"
Darcy looked down at the gun, wrinkling her nose at it. Instead of picking it up she stepped on it. That would do just as good, wouldn't it? She really didn't like guns.
"Fine!" JoEllen shouted, giving up on trying to struggle her way out of Jon's grip. "Kill me too. Go on! Do it! Just please, don't hurt my son. Please?"
"What in God's name are you talking about?" Jon's question hung in the air, unanswered, as JoEllen began to cry.
With her mind spinning in circles, Darcy regarded the sobbing woman. Hadn't she just tried to kill them? Tracked them through the woods and held a gun pointed at their hearts? Wasn't she the bad guy here?
Then why did Darcy suddenly feel sorry for her?
"JoEllen," she said, "we don't have your son. We don't know who he is. We don't know who you are, for that matter."
"That's an understatement," Jon scoffed.
Darcy threw him a glare. Making the crazy woman mad was never a good idea. "What I mean to say," she continued, "is that we're not whoever you think we are. We didn't kill that man over there in that grave. We're just trying to figure out what's going on here and it looks like you might have the answers we need. But first, I think you should promise not to kill us."
"Sounds fair," Jon agreed.
"Shh," Darcy hissed at him. "JoEllen, what do you say?"
For a long moment no one spoke. JoEllen's tears continued until she had calmed down enough to take a shaky breath. "You really don't have my son?"
"No," Darcy promised her. "If he's in danger, or some kind of trouble, we might be able to help you. Jon is a police detective. He's very good at what he does."
Jon's eyes lit up smugly at the compliment.
When JoEllen didn't answer Darcy tried again. "Let us help you. Tell us what's going on."
JoEllen thought about it for another few moments, then nodded her head, her eyes closed. Her curly blonde hair had fallen across her face, and shadows hid her expression.
It was obvious that Jon didn't like the idea, but at Darcy's urging he let go of JoEllen's hands and quickly pushed himself up and off of her, stepping over to Darcy. He walked backward until he reached her so that he wouldn't have to risk turning away from JoEllen. Squatting down, he gently moved Darcy's foot and picked up JoEllen's gun. "It wouldn't have bit you, you know."
"I don't like guns," was her answer, even though she couldn't deny it made her feel better to see Jon holding one right now.
It was then that Darcy noticed the darkening bruise on the side of Jon's face and the little trickle of blood from a cut. "Are you all right?" she asked him.
"Yeah. I'm fine. She's good. I almost couldn't take her."
That wasn't something she ever thought she'd hear Jon say. She'd seen him in a lot of bad spots. He might not win any mixed martial arts competitions anytime soon but he was good in a fight. For him to say JoEllen nearly got the better of him said a lot about JoEllen, and made Darcy think.
Standing up, JoEllen turned to face Jon and Darcy, wiping at the dark soil on the front of her blue blouse and khaki shorts. They all stood there, watching each other.
"I was so sure," JoEllen finally said. "It was the only way I could think of to find you. Well. Not you, I guess. Audie's killer. Which, I guess, isn't you. Are you really a cop?"
Jon took the question in stride. From his back pocket he took out his wallet and flashed it open to his badge for her to see. She nodded and then stared down at the ground, shaking her head. "Wonderful. Now the police are involved. I could have strangled the manager of the resort when he called the Sheriff about Audie being missin
g. The last thing I need is the cops poking around in this."
"I think," Darcy said, "that you're starting the story at the end again. Want to start over? From the beginning?"
She shrugged. "Why not? I've got nothing to lose at this point. I'm boxed into a corner and if you really are what you claim to be, maybe you can help. I don't know. I just know I need to find my son."
"Someone has him?" Jon asked. Darcy was glad he was being direct. If they left JoEllen to tell the story in her own way they would probably be out here until sundown.
"Yes. Someone kidnapped my son," JoEllen said bitterly. "They have him, and if I don't do what they ask, they'll kill him just like they killed…Audie."
She choked when she spoke the dead man's name, and Darcy could see he had meant something to her. Something special.
"We'll get to Audie," Jon said. "For now, let's talk about your son. Why would anyone want to take him from you?"
JoEllen shifted her weight form foot to foot, crossing her right arm over herself to hold her opposite elbow. Darcy noticed how her eyes flicked to the gun in Jon's hand more than once. "It's complicated. You're a cop. You may not like the answers I have to give."
"We want to help," Darcy reminded her. Jon caught her eye with a do-we-really-want-to-help-her kind of look on his face. She ignored him.
"You could just walk away and pretend you never met me, you know," JoEllen said to them.
"I can't do that," Jon explained. "I'm a police officer. There's a man dead over there, and you came at us with a gun. I can't just turn a blind eye to all that. And like Darcy said, I might be able to help."
He left out the part where he was way outside of his jurisdiction. Officially, he couldn't do a thing here in Bear Ridge. Unofficially, Darcy knew that it didn't matter to Jon where he was. He was a police officer every minute of every day. When people needed help, he was there.
She was the same way.
JoEllen cleared her throat. "They took my son to force me to do something."