Devil's Lair

by Sarah Barrie

  ‘Really?’

  ‘Yeah, Peggy. She’ll come back when she’s hungry.’

  ‘That’d be a pretty safe bet.’

  ‘What are you up to?’

  ‘I thought I might take Bracken and Gypsy out. That okay?’

  Logan pulled another two feed buckets from the Gator tray. His eyes gleamed with laughter. ‘Can barely get you to take one horse out usually, now you need two?’

  ‘I’d like to show Callie around, let her see the place.’

  ‘It’s no problem. Enjoy.’

  ‘Thanks. I’ll go find her first, make sure she’s—’

  The scream was sharp, loud and bloodcurdling.

  ‘Bunkhouse?’ Logan guessed.

  ‘Yeah, I reckon.’

  The two feed buckets hit the ground as they took off. Connor was puffing hard by the time they rounded the bend in the garden, loped up the stairs and down the hallway.

  ‘Ah, hell.’

  The scream had come from Meghan and now she cowered from the pretty black and white pet goat swinging from the fan light in the room Kaicey had stayed in. A circle of blood had dripped from its neck onto the bed. Other staff stood behind Meghan, all equally as repulsed, eyes wide, voices hushed.

  Logan switched off the fan and examined the goat. ‘Throat’s been cut,’ he muttered unnecessarily. With an oath, he spun on his heel and walked out, fists clenched, head tipped back to the roof. Then he turned around. ‘We can’t touch anything. Everyone needs to get out.’

  Connor already had his phone in his hand. ‘I’ll call Indy.’ Guilt and anger made his words difficult as he relayed what had happened. What kind of fucked-up lunatic were they dealing with? Normal people didn’t do this shit. Bailey, then Orson, now Peggy—in Kaicey’s room. He took one steady breath, then another, fighting against the urge to lose his breakfast.

  ‘No chance of keeping this quiet any longer,’ Logan said.

  ‘No,’ Connor agreed. ‘Prepare for panic.’

  * * *

  Callie was a good couple of hours behind by the time she reached Calico Mountain. She’d followed Indy to the police station and waited for the artist to come in. Working up an identity sketch wasn’t a quick process and at some point during it, Indy had stuck her head in to say she had to rush off, and Callie had been left with the quiet, friendly Daniel to finish the sketch. She’d been pretty happy with the end result though. It wasn’t perfect, but the stare that had met hers from the page was alike enough to send prickles of unease skidding over her skin.

  She was looking forward to seeing Connor, though nerves danced in her stomach as she remembered yesterday’s kiss. She hadn’t wanted to complicate her life like this. But it didn’t seem to matter what she told herself, as soon as he touched her she forgot all her own good advice.

  She looked down the drive to the bunkhouse and saw two police cars and a couple more unmarked vehicles outside. Her stomach dipped. What was going on? She thought about Orson. Someone came out of the bunkhouse wearing what looked like a surgical suit. She turned her car towards the parking area and called Connor.

  ‘Should I be here?’ she asked when he answered. ‘What’s happened?’

  ‘Where are you?’

  ‘Just pulling into the carpark.’

  ‘I’ll meet you out there.’

  She wasn’t sure where he came from, but he was already jogging across the gravel as she got out.

  ‘Hey,’ he said with a smile, but there was enough tension in it to tell her it had taken some effort.

  ‘Did someone else die?’

  ‘Hold on.’ He pulled her in for a kiss. ‘Good morning.’

  He fried her brain when he did that. It took her a few seconds to remember her question. She cleared her throat. ‘Morning. So?’

  ‘It’s an animal, not a person.’

  That didn’t make sense. ‘Four carloads of police for a dead animal?’

  ‘Yeah. I know how it sounds but—’

  ‘But that horse was killed before Orson and you said Kaicey took off because she was worried about that. Was that animal in Kaicey’s room?’

  ‘Yeah.’

  ‘So there’s a pattern. Dead animal, dead person.’

  ‘It seems so. You’d have to ask Indy.’

  ‘I tried. She doesn’t say much.’

  ‘You tried? When?’

  ‘She came to the cottage to ask me some questions this morning. It ended up with me going into the station to meet a sketch artist to describe some guy who was hanging around during the trial. She was asking if I knew of any animals that had been found dead just prior to Lisa’s murder. She must think there’s some kind of connection.’

  He frowned, putting an arm around her and trying to guide her towards the guesthouse. ‘Or she’s simply ruling one out. Why don’t you come inside? Have you eaten anything? Do you want a coffee?’

  How could there be any connection between what Dale did and what’s happening down here? Dale was dead. Could the media have been onto something with their theory about some sort of cult? Callie shook her head and ducked out from his hold. ‘Don’t fuss.’

  ‘I’m not fussing,’ Connor objected. ‘Fussing’s what little old ladies do.’

  He sounded so insulted Callie laughed. ‘I’m fine. I’d rather get stuck into it.’

  Though they couldn’t see the bunkhouse, Connor’s gaze slid off in that direction. ‘I might help for a while. Stick around out here.’

  ‘Still fussing,’ she said.

  He gently grasped her chin and looked into her eyes. ‘I was going to ask if you’d like to go for a ride this morning. I had the horses organised. I wanted to take you up into the mountains—it’s beautiful out there and I could have had you to myself for a couple of hours to … fuss.’

  She felt the colour work its way up to her face. ‘That might have been … nice,’ she said.

  ‘I could do a lot better than nice,’ he promised, then stepped back, dropping the pressure building between them before it erupted. ‘I won’t fuss, but I would like to help you in the garden. That all right with you?’

  Could she speak? She cleared her throat, decided it was worth a shot. ‘Sure. Gardening. Right.’

  CHAPTER

  24

  On Friday night the devils returned. Callie had woken up to screeching and the sound of what she thought might have been two of them fighting. Even telling herself she knew the source of the Armageddon being waged outside her window wasn’t enough to stop the damn things completely freaking her out and keeping her awake, so when she arrived at Calico Mountain, bleary eyed and yawning, she went straight up to the guesthouse in search of coffee.

  Connor was taking Meghan through something on the reception computer and spotted Callie as she walked in, his smile warming before he looked her over with a furrowed brow. ‘Don’t move,’ he told her, and finished his conversation with Meghan before coming out from behind the reception desk. He put an arm across Callie’s shoulders to pull her in for a kiss and steer her into the dining room.

  ‘Where are you thinking we’re going?’ she asked.

  ‘I haven’t had a coffee yet and—don’t take this the wrong way—you look like you need one.’

  She looked at him, eyes narrowed. ‘What’s the right way to take that?’

  He grinned. ‘What if I said you looked … adorably sleepy?’

  ‘I’d call you a liar. I was already headed for coffee. And maybe some breakfast.’

  She followed him over to the coffee machine then they found a table. She took one long, blissful mouthful of coffee and moaned. ‘Last night I spent way too much time awake listening to the devil apocalypse.’

  ‘The devil apocalypse?’

  ‘It’s not fair. I wasn’t having that stupid nightmare for a change and, bang, they turn up, fighting over something or other. That sound they make is unnatural.’

  ‘How do you think they got their name? What nightmares?’ he asked.

  She thought about it,
shrugged. ‘It’s just one dream—it doesn’t start out bad, but the further I get through it, the worse it gets. It’s like every time I have it there’s a little bit more tacked on, and that bit gets worse and worse. And I can’t breathe. My whole chest just freezes and I have this feeling that someone’s there—someone bad. I know they’re bad because everything around me turns nasty. When I wake up, I almost expect to see that someone still there, standing over me.’

  ‘That doesn’t sound like much fun.’

  ‘I actually looked it up on the internet this morning. Read an article about how unresolved issues can manifest as nightmares. Like how Dale and I started out so perfect, then everything went bad and I haven’t fully faced up to it or something. I know—’ she laughed at herself, ‘—Google diagnosis. But it was interesting.’

  ‘Do you think you should talk to someone?’

  ‘I am—you. Because I figured you, more than most, might understand unresolved issues.’

  ‘I would?’

  She could see she’d surprised him, but tested her theory anyway. ‘Did you speak to your ex after she shot you?’

  ‘Wasn’t game,’ he joked, but his smile fell. ‘No. I’ll admit I’ve thought about it once or twice but I don’t know that she’d want to talk. I don’t know that I do.’

  ‘I wish I could.’ At Connor’s sceptical look she shrugged. ‘We had some really good years together. Dale was warm, caring, a wonderful husband. It doesn’t gel with what he ended up doing. I guess I’d just like to look him in the eye and know what he would say. Whether there was anything he could tell me that would explain it. Even if there wasn’t, at least I’d have some sort of closure. But that’s never going to happen for me.’

  Connor’s hand covered hers, warm as he squeezed. ‘If you’d feel better out of the cottage, you can stay here.’

  She knew her face reflected suspicion when he smiled in amusement.

  ‘And though I’d be more than willing to share my apartment, you could have your own room, your own space.’

  ‘I appreciate that, but I’m fine where I am.’ Callie turned her hand over under his and linked fingers. ‘Thank you.’

  ‘At least tell me Ned’s fixed the power out there?’

  She pulled a face and shook her head. ‘I don’t think he’s talking to me. I’d get an electrician—I’m happy to pay for it—but he refuses to let me, and it’s not my cottage, so I’m stuck. Anyway, Paisley’s coming down to stay for another weekend.’

  ‘We’ll have to get the power sorted and those cameras up,’ Connor said. ‘I’ll talk to Logan about—oh hell, here we go. She’s still wearing that face.’

  Tess stalked in with an unimpressed expression and headed right for them.

  ‘Face?’

  ‘All women have a face,’ Connor assured Callie. ‘That’s Tess’s.’

  ‘What happened?’

  ‘A hen’s party trashed the spa suite last night. They broke one of the big mirrors and clogged up the spa. How is it?’ he finished as Tess joined them.

  ‘It looks like the remnants of a world war waged with champagne flutes and chocolate wrappers. I’m going to have to call someone to fix the spa. Don’t get me started on the confetti. Then, of course, I have to reorganise a booking in order to clean it up. Then in the midst of all that, the father comes in to pay for the party—this is five minutes ago—and when I mentioned the damage, he comes on to me and offers to take me to dinner to make up for it!’

  ‘What did you do?’ Callie asked with interest.

  ‘Smiled and gave him a bill that wiped the damn smirk off his face.’

  ‘Do you need a hand to clean it up?’ she offered.

  ‘I’ll ask one of the cleaners to help, but thanks. I need a serious breakfast before I tackle it.’ Tess got up again and headed to the food.

  Connor grimaced. ‘It’s my fault, because I booked them in. She’ll remind me of that six times while she eats that big breakfast.’

  ‘I could distract her with my story,’ Callie said.

  ‘I doubt a tornado would distract Tess at present, but by all means, try.’

  Callie laughed and Connor’s eyes went dark and dropped to her mouth. She realised he would have kissed her had he been closer, and was tempted to lean in.

  ‘Thanks.’

  ‘For what?’ she asked, wrestling her senses back into order.

  ‘Making a shitty morning better.’

  Tess’s plate hit the table and she sat down. ‘So, as for hen’s parties from now on …’

  * * *

  Callie spread mulch around a newly planted azalea, deciding she’d have to get another scoop of it from the pile.

  ‘Looks good.’

  ‘Paisley! Hi. I didn’t expect to see you until tonight.’

  ‘I needed to get off the property. Dad’s in a mood. This is nice work,’ Paisley said with a sweep of her hand. ‘Are all these yours?’

  ‘Yep. And now that you’re here, you can help. I’ll dump the mulch in piles, you spread it with the rake.’

  ‘Okay.’ She took a rake and did as Callie asked. ‘So how are the Athertons?’

  ‘A bit shaken up by this thing with Orson.’

  ‘Orson? Kaicey had said he was here. What happened?’

  ‘He was murdered on the mountain behind us.’

  Paisley looked shocked. ‘When?’

  ‘Just after you left last time.’

  Paisley stared at her, then her gaze moved beyond Callie, lost in thought. ‘That’s awful.’

  ‘Indy was going to call to ask about the support group. I thought she would have told you.’

  ‘Yeah she called … left a couple of messages. I haven’t had a chance to call her back. Anyway, there was never an official list as such. People didn’t want everyone outside the group knowing about their problems. Some of the issues were the “don’t show your face in public” kind. At least, back then.’

  ‘But Orson and Marcie were involved.’

  ‘Marcie? There’s a name I haven’t heard in forever. How do you know her?’

  ‘She’s the one who bailed me up in the garden.’

  ‘Really?’ Paisley asked with interest. ‘Did Adelaide find out for you?’

  ‘No. I saw her on the television and recognised her. She was involved in a boating accident. She’s missing.’

  Paisley’s face fell. ‘Hell.’

  ‘Hey,’ Connor said, appearing on the path from the guesthouse. ‘Hi, Paisley.’

  Paisley visibly pulled herself back together. ‘Hi.’

  ‘I just wanted to remind you about tonight,’ Connor said to Callie, and turned to Paisley. ‘We’ve got this thing on—a farewell do for our groundsman. You should come. We’re taking over the restaurant. It’s a send-off, but it won’t be as boring as it sounds, and the chef is sensational.’

  ‘Sounds good to me,’ Paisley said easily enough.

  ‘Great. Make sure you bring Callie,’ he said with a teasing grin. ‘I think she wants to bail.’

  ‘You just leave Callie to me.’

  ‘Are you two just about finished?’ Callie asked, annoyed. ‘Because I’m going home.’ All day she’d been trying to forget it was her anniversary. She didn’t want to dress up and eat in a restaurant, it would just remind her of every other damn anniversary, every other damn dinner in every other damn restaurant. She didn’t want to think about how just a couple of years ago she and Dale had celebrated by driving down the coast, eaten seafood in a charming restaurant by the ocean and wandered hand in hand along a deserted beach at midnight. She didn’t need to remember how he’d gently woken her at sunrise and made love to her with the waves crashing and the gulls calling just outside their window. Because how could he have been dead just a few short months later? How could any of what followed stay buried in the back of her mind when she thought about the rest of it?

  She didn’t expect Connor to know all of that, but she expected Paisley to.

  Yet Paisley just grinned at her
before returning her attention to Connor. ‘See you tonight!’ she told him.

  ‘We should go,’ Paisley insisted when they were back at the cottage. ‘It won’t take long to throw something on and get back out there.’

  Callie had been waiting for it—Paisley loved a party. ‘I just don’t really feel like a big social gathering tonight. You know what day it is, right?’

  Paisley thought for a few seconds then understanding flooded her face. ‘Your anniversary.’

  Callie flopped into a lounge chair. ‘Yep. I’d rather just stay home and mope.’

  ‘Moping is no good for you.’

  ‘I don’t much care! I don’t want to go. I want to make your dad some dinner and eat ice cream and have an early night.’

  ‘Piker.’ Paisley smiled sympathetically at Callie’s grumbling. ‘Ned’s over there. He can make dinner for Dad.’

  Callie frowned. ‘I wasn’t sure about that, actually. Your dad’s staple has been microwave meals. And they’re fine, I know, but week in week out, I imagine he must get bored. Besides, won’t Ned be going to this thing tonight?’

  ‘Didn’t think of that. I’ll talk to Dad. Let him know what’s going on.’

  ‘He’s probably not there. He goes down the track every evening about this time and stares at Ava’s plaque.’

  ‘Mum put it there.’ Paisley went to the window and looked out.

  ‘I thought perhaps that was it. I cleaned it up, gave the rose some attention. Cliff was grateful.’

  ‘You—really?’ Paisley looked around in surprise. ‘That was nice of you.’ When her eyes filled with tears, she pressed her fingers to them. ‘Sorry. I should have known coming back here would bring up bad memories.’

  ‘Paisley, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have mentioned it. Especially on top of telling you about Orson and Marcie.’

  ‘It’s fine.’ She pulled a pitiful face. ‘But can we not be morbid for a while and go and have a nice dinner?’

  Damn it, she really didn’t feel like it. ‘Are you going to carry on about it all night if I don’t?’

  Paisley wiped her eyes and a smile took over. ‘You know I will.’

  ‘Fine.’ Callie sighed heavily. ‘After we get your dad some dinner.’