by Sarah Barrie
‘No, we’re fine. Thanks.’ Indy sat. ‘Connor tells me you recently purchased a share of the property.’
‘That’s right. What’s wrong?’
‘We found some things in the tunnel. There’s no doubt in my mind that whatever’s been going on out there is human, not supernatural.’
‘I didn’t think Ned would want to be involved in any of that,’ Paisley said. ‘But after last night, I don’t think I know Ned at all. I knew everything that used to go on affected Ned the worst. But I thought he was okay. Or I never would never have left Callie with him … ever.’
CHAPTER
36
Connor spent his afternoon in the office. He figured he’d have to put in at least another couple of hours before he caught up, and to do that he’d need something decent in his stomach. He headed out in search of food and came across Indy coming into the guesthouse.
‘Hey,’ she said. ‘All good?’
‘Yeah. You’re not working?’
‘Just finished what’s amounted to a fifteen-hour shift. Thought I might grab a—’ she checked her watch, ‘—very late lunch.’
He grinned. ‘And defensive about it.’
‘Tired,’ she said. ‘How’s Callie?’
‘Refusing to take it easy. She’s out at Waldron Park with Paisley. They’re into a mass clear-out, while Jared’s setting up more surveillance around the property. Sorry,’ he added when his phone rang.
‘Is that Connor? This is Adelaide. Your Callie came to see me the other day.’
‘My Callie?’ How did Adelaide know anything about him or their relationship?
‘I need to see you. I know quite a few things you should hear. I’ll be home around seven. Come then, please.’
He frowned when the phone went dead and put it down. ‘Adelaide wants me to go and see her. She said, “Your Callie.” How could she know about our relationship? I’ve never even met the woman. Did Callie mention me when you were both out there?’
‘I don’t think so.’
‘And she knew my number.’
‘So she knows about the connection too. I don’t trust this woman. In some way or another she’s much more involved in this than she let on. I think I’ll come with you.’
‘Indy, it’s one old woman. I’ll be fine. Besides, she wasn’t keen to talk to you. Maybe I’ll get more out of her.’
Indy thought about that. ‘I’ll put a car at the end of the street, listen in. She might say something valuable that you miss. Another set of ears can be handy.’
When she put it like that it made sense. ‘All right. Let’s just hope she knows something worthwhile. I’ll let Callie know I’ll be late.’
Connor followed Indy’s instructions and found the house with no trouble. A quick look in the rear-view mirror showed Indy pulling up just around the corner in the unmarked car. Another plainclothed officer got out, gave Connor the briefest nod and strolled down the street. Their presence made him nervous. Made this feel like a big deal. Just a little old lady, he reminded himself. But if Indy believed that, she and another officer wouldn’t be lurking quite so close on his heels.
Keen to get the whole thing over and done with, he opened the iron gate and walked up the path. Before he got up the two steps to the front door, the woman he assumed was Adelaide opened it and beamed him a smile.
‘Come in, come in,’ she said warmly. ‘It’s lovely of you to come out here at such short notice.’
He stepped into a narrow hallway and turned left into a rustic kitchen and dining area.
‘Take a seat. I’ll pop the kettle on for some supper,’ Adelaide said, then fussed around in the kitchen. Biscuits were meticulously arranged on a china plate, then she very slowly and accurately cut thin slices of sponge cake and placed them carefully on another plate.
‘You really don’t need to go to all this trouble,’ Connor said after she’d been at it for several minutes.
‘It’s no trouble at all, dear. I don’t get many visitors these days. Thank you for coming.’
Another few minutes of fussing with the tablecloth was followed by tea leaves and hot water going into an antique teapot, milk poured into a fancy jug, and a difficult decision over which tea cups and saucers to use including a discussion on where each set came from and the story behind the purchase of each. She even talks slowly, he thought impatiently.
Finally he was seated with—no arguing!—a biscuit and a slice of cake on a delicate china plate in front of him, while Adelaide strained tea into his cup.
‘Would you like sugar, dear?’
Had his life depended on it he would have died before suggesting he did. No doubt that would be another ten-minute exercise, this time in selecting the finest cubes and arranging them into some sort of geometric perfection in a sugar bowl she would also dither over choosing. Or something.
Adelaide contentedly sipped her Earl Grey tea. ‘Oh! Napkins!’ she announced suddenly and got up to collect some, folding them carefully and handing him one.
‘So what was it exactly you wanted to tell me, Adelaide?’ he asked.
Adelaide carefully lowered her cup to its matching saucer, dabbed her mouth with her napkin and placed it very correctly back on the table. ‘Before I tell you that, I’d just like to apologise for how dreadfully rude I was to Callie during her last visit.’
‘I’m not sure she thought you were rude,’ he said. ‘But don’t worry about it. If you could just—’
‘But I do! Of course I do. I wasn’t brought up to be rude. My darling old nan—Jonah and I were brought up by our nan—well, she wouldn’t have approved at all. She was very prim and proper. Would have had our hides …’
Connor gritted his teeth as she prattled on, and glanced out the window. How long was this going to take?
‘So you see, it’s just that I was very surprised that she’d found me. And when Callie said Jonah had been talking to her, had brought her here, well, you just could have blown me over with a feather. Such a sweet boy, he was, such a tragedy. It’s quite lovely to know he’s still around.’
‘It must be,’ Connor said, finding it hard to remain polite when he didn’t believe a word she was saying.
‘So tell me, how’s Callie getting on? Having some trouble out at the cottage, I hear?’
‘The police are all over it,’ he said. ‘They’re looking into everything very carefully.’
She nodded slowly, a smile sliding across her face. ‘There have always been rituals held at Waldron Park. Eileen saw them simply as a way of controlling people, but those before her were much more serious about it. I’m not surprised there’s ghosts out there. Do you know how it all began?’
Connor took a sip of tea—he hated tea—and resigned himself to her getting to the point. Slowly.
* * *
Callie read Connor’s message. He was running behind—had something to do. Well, that made two of them. Paisley hadn’t turned up either. She looked around the pretty pink bedroom she was tidying up. She’d thought she’d dreamt it with its pink-wallpapered walls, lacy canopy bed and assortment of little girl’s things in the wardrobe. But she’d been in here. Cliff had been right, he’d seen her in the house. Had he realised she was sleepwalking? Was that why he’d had her padlock the cellar door? But why was she sleepwalking again when she hadn’t in so long? And those dreams … why had they always ended so badly?
She walked to the window and looked out over the trees to the river. It was so quiet. So still.
Twin headlights swung across the drive over by the house. Paisley’s car. Callie left the window and walked downstairs to meet her.
‘Hi. What happened?’
‘It took a bit longer to get the groceries than I thought.’ Paisley stretched and smiled. ‘I still can’t believe I’m down here for good. Did you get everything cleaned out of the cottage?’
‘Pretty much. Jared’s over there getting himself sorted out.’
‘Then let’s unload the food.’
It
took a few trips. Callie was just unloading the last items when Paisley crashed into her as she turned around from the boot.
‘Whoa. Are you okay?’
Paisley’s attention was on the drive just beyond the car, so Callie put the bags down and stepped around her to look for herself.
‘Jonah?’ she called out in disbelief.
He was standing several feet away, completely still, carrying his dog. It wasn’t moving. Then he dropped it. It fell, lifeless.
‘He made me kill her. He made me.’
‘Oh my God.’ She’d already taken a step towards him when Jonah’s head turned towards the house. The thump of Paisley’s hand against her arm that turned into a biting grip stopped Callie, had her turning to look too. ‘Adam,’ Paisley whispered.
It was the same cloaked figure she’d seen at the river. There was no mistaking that. Same black floor-length cloak, same terrifying grin looking out from underneath the hood. Paisley was already backing up.
‘Go into the house now, Jonah,’ the cloaked man ordered. ‘Wait for me there.’
‘Yes, Dad.’
‘Jared!’ Callie called out, wondering if she’d make the dash to the cottage.
‘Jared can’t help you I’m afraid,’ came Adam’s taunting voice.
Her eyes went back to the cottage in desperation anyway, but Jared didn’t emerge from it. What had Adam done?
‘Run!’ Paisley ordered under her breath, and disappeared into the darkness. Having little choice, Callie followed.
‘Paisley, where are you going? Paisley!’ Callie ran, tripping and sliding, desperate for breath as they reached the clearing. She stopped, stared. ‘What the hell is all this?’
Jewellery hung from branches of trees on the edges of the circle. A ring, a gold necklace, an earring, a bracelet. ‘Metals hold energy,’ Paisley said in a strangely calm voice. There was no trace of the terrified woman of only seconds ago. ‘Dale and Lisa, Orson and Mitch, Kaicey. They couldn’t be here but a part of each of them is. We need them, we need the original circle.’
‘We?’ Callie asked, heart thundering in her chest. ‘Why do we need them? I don’t understand. Paisley, Adam’s going to be here any second …’ But Paisley already knew that, she realised with sick certainty.
The shock rendered Callie incapable of thought, of movement.
Paisley picked up a bag, moved it out of the trees and put it down gently. A knife similar to a letter opener slipped to the ground. ‘Oops.’
Callie took one careful step back, then another. ‘You led me here on purpose.’
‘I had to, Callie.’ Paisley’s tone was resolute. ‘This has been too long in the making not to go through with it.’
The chills just kept washing over her, wave after wave of icy, electrical currents across her skin that warned her to run. Run. But where? Where was Adam? And still, she couldn’t quite believe it. ‘Go through with what?’
Nothing about Paisley’s calm face was reassuring. ‘I’m sorry to put you through this. It’s just something I have to do.’
Callie was grabbed hard from behind. ‘Welcome home, Ava,’ a voice rasped in her ear.
CHAPTER
37
‘Adelaide, I really do need to get going,’ Connor said a little more impatiently. ‘Why did you ask me here?’
She checked her watch, nodded. ‘Goodness, time is getting away. You were interested in finding Adam, weren’t you?’
That got his attention. ‘Ah … if this is about Adam you really should be speaking to Indy.’
‘I’ve always been a bit wary of police,’ Adelaide said, taking another biscuit. He waited while she took a bite, swallowed, dabbed at her lips with her napkin. ‘I just don’t feel comfortable around them.’
‘Okay. Then … why don’t you tell me and I’ll pass it on?’
‘You can tell the police if you like.’ She took another bite, another swallow, another dab. ‘But they won’t stop him.’ She smiled, drew in a deep breath. ‘He’s smart and he’s had a long time to plan all this. And he’s dangerous, because he doesn’t have a conscience. At least, no one’s ever seen any trace of one. His parents joined the group hoping to drive the devil out of him, but exposing him to that darkness only made him worse. Once he witnessed one of those rituals he was completely fascinated. Wanted in. Eileen said no. Adam never did accept no very well. And if there’s one thing you can rely on him to do, it’s retaliate when he doesn’t get his own way.’
‘Respectfully, you don’t know Indy. She’ll stop him.’
‘Did you know Ava was his sister?’
‘Ava was Paisley’s sister. And what has that got to do with anything?’
‘Well, you see, Eileen Waldron had an affair with Adam’s father. Adam’s mother was understandably furious but she was one of us. It wasn’t easy to walk away from that. It looked like she wouldn’t. Then Eileen found out she was pregnant and that was it. Heather packed up and left. Ava was born a few months later.’
‘So Adam killed his sister.’
‘There was something about that child. Ava, I mean. Something innately good and kind. Bright. Adam hated her with a passion. He hated that his father doted on her, hated that Eileen favoured her when he wanted her approval so much. He hated everything about that child. Every chance he got, he’d try and hurt her.’
‘I know what he did. Paisley told us.’
Adelaide shook her head sadly. ‘When they dragged her from the river, Eileen just about broke in two. Never recovered. I wasn’t surprised she took off. Weight of guilt and all that.’
‘And you all covered it up and sent Adam to prison. Made the kids testify against him and now they’re all dead. I hope you’re proud of yourselves.’
‘We did what we thought was best at the time. But yes, they’re all dead. Marcie too. She really shouldn’t have spoken to Callie.’
‘He killed Marcie too?’ And then, with another, bone-chilling thought, ‘What exactly was she trying to warn Callie about? Is Callie in trouble? And Paisley?’
Apparently, that was funny. ‘Paisley? Oh—no. Of course not! Paisley’s his high priestess. His queen, if you like.’
His thoughts were all crashing in at once. ‘I have to go.’
‘Uh-uh!’ Adelaide said, lifting a gun from somewhere under the table. ‘You’re just going to sit there, and we’re going to wait this out. Adam will be along when he’s finished.’
‘Wait this out?’ It wasn’t easy to think when you had a gun pointed at you. Had stalling him been the goal all along? Stalling him from what? Callie. She was out there with Paisley. She had no idea. Indy was listening, he reminded himself. But she didn’t know about the gun.
‘We both know you’re not going to let me go,’ he said very clearly, ‘so what’s stopping you from shooting me with that gun of yours right now?’
‘I’d prefer to wait. I’m enjoying the conversation and, well, guns are so noisy! In a quiet neighbourhood like this the shot might draw attention. I’ll risk it though,’ she said, ‘if you try anything. Wouldn’t you rather just wait for Adam?’
‘Why would you protect him? How do you know he won’t come after you?’
The smile she gave was devoid of any warmth. ‘Because I’m his mother. I’m Heather Adelaide Mansfield and I’m raising his son for him.’
‘Let me guess,’ Connor said over the surprise, wondering why Indy wasn’t hurrying up. ‘Jonah.’
‘His mother, Rowena, was Marcie’s daughter. Died giving birth to little Jonah. Such a tragedy.’
Anger shot through him. ‘You’re as sick as Adam! You made Callie think she’d been seeing a dead kid.’
‘Adam made the photo up. Good, wasn’t it?’
A knock on the door had her turning with a frown. ‘Oh dear. Now that’ll be Maya from next door. She’s the only one who comes over at this hour. She’s nosey, but lovely. A young single mother with two preschoolers who’ll be orphans without her. I mind them for her occasionally. You’re going to shut
up, and I’m going to get rid of her. If she sees you, or hears you, I’ll have to shoot her, and it will be your fault, understand?’
Gun behind her back, Adelaide opened the door just a crack. ‘Hello, M—’
The door was kicked in with a blow that sent Adelaide skidding backwards across the floor. Indy rushed in, wrestled the woman onto her stomach and cuffed her.
‘You’re under arrest.’
When she’d read Adelaide her rights the other police officer came in and took over.
‘You okay?’ Indy asked him.
‘Better than her. Nice kick.’
‘We have to go. I can’t get hold of Jared.’
They raced to the car with Indy calling instructions to another police car as it pulled up.
Indy sped, siren on, towards Waldron Park.
‘Do you think Adelaide could be telling the truth about Paisley and Adam being in it together?’ he asked her.
‘There’s no other way they could have orchestrated this.’
‘Orchestrated what?’
‘All of it. To gain control of Waldron Park. I think she and Adam have visions of picking up where Eileen left off. She’s manipulated this whole thing: getting Callie down here, convincing her to tie up all her money in the place, opening a joint account with an enormous stockpile of Callie’s funds to go into restoring it.’
‘That was partially because Dale’s parents were suing.’
‘Who do you think convinced them to? And now it’s all official—if anything happens to either Callie or Paisley, the other one gets the lot.’
Connor allowed that to sink in for a moment before slowly shaking his head. ‘I don’t believe it.’
Indy flicked her gaze from the road just long enough to shoot him an apologetic glance. ‘I’m sorry, you know I can’t always tell you details about the case. There are three things you need to know right now. The first is I believe Callie is Ava Waldron. Ava supposedly drowned when she was five years old. Her father, Bruce, disappeared right after the incident. Eileen made it a priority to get Adam behind bars, but Bruce didn’t wait around for that.
‘Callie was raised by her father following a car accident when she was five years old. Her mother supposedly died in that accident and Callie has no memory of it. The thing is, I can’t find a coroner’s report on either of those events. Paisley says she pulled Ava’s body out of the water, Jared’s father says they never recovered a body. And it just so happens that Callie and her father turned up in the same small town Dale’s family ran to in order to escape the fallout from the trial.’