by K Carothers
“Jesus Christ, Luke, I don’t need a goddamned marriage counselor!”
“Scott—”
“I can handle things on my own, Luke. Just give it a rest.”
Luke mentally sighed, feeling increasingly helpless and frustrated. Scott’s personal problems were yet another layer of ugliness this case had uncovered, and now he’d just lost two valuable days chasing shadows instead of investigating the murder, which was going nowhere otherwise.
On Friday morning the State Crime Lab sent him their latest report. They’d recovered DNA from under Tina Murdock’s fingernails, as well as elsewhere on her skin and on the bed, and all of it belonged to one person—the man who’d fathered her baby. But they hadn’t gotten any hits off CODIS, the national DNA database, so their new prime suspect was unknown.
To make matters worse, on Friday afternoon patrol cops in New Dublin reported that Seth Slater’s truck was gone. But like Wayne and Jesse, he’d disappeared without a trace.
And to top it off, this morning the chief sent them a text message that he was going to Minneapolis for the rest of the weekend to visit his son, despite the fact that they had a murderer on the loose and two fugitive kids on the run.
Luke knew Jeff wasn’t looking forward to Monday, when shit was really going to hit the fan in New Dublin. The DA had arranged for an independent forensic accounting team to come in and start the embezzlement investigation. The plan was for Jeff to break the news to the mayor and Stella Givens when the team arrived, and then they’d bring them to the station for questioning.
At the meeting on Thursday Luke had pushed for DCI, and even the FBI, to get involved. But the chief had been adamantly against it, arguing that they were doing good work on their own and didn’t need too many cooks stirring the pot. But Luke had a feeling Jeff’s friendship with the mayor—who also happened to be his boss—was affecting his objectivity. And the mayor answered only to the people, unless there was evidence of serious misconduct or a crime. But for all they knew he and Stella were just having an affair, which would hardly raise an eyebrow these days. And it certainly wasn’t a crime.
Chapter
18
Erin was surprised at how easily she found the big rock, even though she had to go fairly deep into the woods to reach it. But she’d spent so much time in these woods as a kid, she’d become familiar with every tree, every path, every rock. And it was all coming back to her now, this piece of her childhood she’d left so far behind.
The dark, quiet mystery of the woods had always intrigued her as a child. She’d enjoyed roaming through them, making new discoveries, immersing herself in a world that gave her comfort, just as she’d found in her books. Jenna, on the other hand, preferred lots of sunshine and green grass, so she'd rarely come along—especially after her dad warned them about all the wild animals they might encounter in the woods.
Erin smiled at the thought as she walked up to the big rock and lightly touched its solid, moss-covered surface. It was slightly taller than her and somewhat rectangular in shape, with the edges having been whittled away over time by Mother Nature. There were a number of smaller rocks scattered about as well, and she’d always wondered how they got there—yet another mystery of the woods.
But as much as the rocks had fascinated her, she’d never stayed in this part of the woods for long because of the cross that had been pounded into the ground near the big rock. It made her think of her grandmother and cast a forbidding shadow on what might otherwise have been her favorite place.
She walked around to the other side of the rock and saw the cross was still there, standing slightly askew, made of two thick tree branches held together with twine. And without hesitation she went over to inspect it more closely. But nothing was inscribed in the wood, and there weren’t any other obvious signs to indicate that it did indeed mark a grave.
Searching for other clues, Erin used her foot to push aside the branches, leaves, and pine needles that covered the ground at the base of the cross. She had no intention of trying to dig up a body, though. The cross was enough evidence for her. But much to her surprise, she uncovered a square, concrete slab several feet in width.
Squatting down, she brushed away more of the debris with her hand and discovered a crudely written inscription in the concrete:
Anne Marie Harris
August 20 to September 1, 1967
Rest in Peace
Erin stared at the inscription in shock. August 20th was her mother’s birthday. Then she did a quick calculation in her head to figure out the year her mother had been born…1967.
“Bella, did Helen say where she found the second Anne Marie?”
“No, she wouldn’t tell me. She was too afraid Walter might hear ‘cause he told her never to talk about it.”
Erin slowly stood up. So it really all hadn’t been just the imagination of a child. With the proof she had here, there was no doubt about it: Helen and Walter had kidnapped her mother. But where had they stolen her from? Who had her mother really been?
Erin wondered if the answers might lie in her own childhood memories. Maybe there was a clue buried in the recesses of her mind. But before she could think about it any further, she was suddenly startled out of her reverie by the sound of footsteps coming from somewhere deeper in the woods to her right, soon followed by a male voice pleading, “I have to stop, Wayne. I’m dizzy…I’m gonna be sick.” Then she heard the sound of vomiting.
“What the fuck, Jesse!”
Erin quickly crouched down on the other side of the big rock, her heart racing. Oh God. Wayne and Jesse were here. And she hadn’t brought her cell phone along.
She desperately looked around for something she could use to defend herself and crawled over to a pile of branches that caught her eye. She picked up the longest, thickest one amongst them, hoping to God she didn’t have to use it, then crept back over to the rock and huddled against it, waiting.
“Come on, we need to keep moving,” Wayne said. “That hunting shack has to be around here somewhere.”
Erin heard them start walking again, and they were getting closer.
“I can’t make it,” Jesse said a few minutes later. “I think I’m gonna pass out. I need to lay down.” Leaves rustled as he collapsed to the ground somewhere near the group of stones.
“Fuck! Where is that goddamned shack?” Wayne said angrily.
Erin listened to the sound of his footsteps get closer and closer. Then he abruptly stopped, and all she heard after that was the rapid pounding of her heart in her ears. Concentrate on your breathing, Erin, she silently told herself. Inhale and exhale. Inhale…and exhale…
“Holy fuck!” Wayne suddenly exclaimed.
“What?” she heard Jesse ask.
“There’s a cross here. It’s a fuckin’ grave,” Wayne said. “And it looks like someone was just here. We need to get the fuck somewhere else. Now.”
Erin heard him walk back to Jesse, and she leaned her head against the rock with a silent sigh of relief.
“I can’t, Wayne,” the other boy said weakly. “Just…Just leave me here.”
Wayne sighed in exasperation. “I’ll keep looking and come back for you.”
The sound of his footsteps became more distant, and Erin dared to peek her head around the rock, just in time to see him disappear into a thicker part of the woods to the east—right in the direction of the Carey’s house.
When she could no longer hear him, she got up from behind the rock and tentatively approached Jesse. He was lying on the ground next to one of the smaller rocks, and as she got closer she saw his eyes were closed and his face looked flushed. There was a duffel bag nearby, but she didn’t see any sign of a weapon.
She took another hesitant step forward. A twig snapped, and in the quiet of the forest it almost sounded like a gun going off. She froze, not sure what to do.
Jess
e immediately opened his eyes, turning his head in her direction. And a shocked expression crossed his face. “You…” he whispered, but made no further movement.
Erin rushed over to him and knelt down, setting her stick aside. She’d long ago learned to tell who was really sick and who wasn’t the second she looked at a patient. And this kid was sick, though it didn’t look like the cause was a pneumothorax this time. She felt his forehead with the back of her hand. He was burning up with fever. And his brown eyes were glazed over. He was septic.
“I must be hallucinating,” the boy murmured through dry and cracked lips.
“I need to get you some help, Jesse. Do you have a cell phone?”
He nodded. “In the side pocket of the duffel bag.”
Erin quickly found the phone and came back over to Jesse, sitting down next to him while he turned it on and unlocked it. He also had to show her how to use it since she wasn’t familiar with that particular model. Then she punched in Luke’s number, thankful she remembered it, especially now, with her mind racing in a thousand directions.
“Hello,” he answered.
Erin felt relief wash over her as soon as she heard his voice. “Thank God you answered, Luke,” she said in a rush. “I’m with Jesse Torres. We’re in the woods behind the Carey’s house—the place I used to live. Wayne Raabe is headed that way right now. You need to get over there as fast as you can. And call an ambulance for Jesse. He’s really sick.”
“Erin?…I didn’t…Where…Something about…”
“Luke, you keep cutting out. Can you hear me?”
Silence followed, and Erin looked at the phone screen: Call Failed.
“Damn it,” she whispered, turning back to Jesse. “I need to go—”
She abruptly stopped talking and whipped her head around, hearing the sound of footsteps approaching again. And when she saw who it was, her eyes widened in horror: Wayne Raabe was walking through the trees toward them.
He hadn’t seen her yet, and she hovered in indecision…But there was really only one choice she could make. And with her heart pounding and her stomach clenched in a knot of fear and dread, she grabbed the stick and slowly stood up to face him.
Wayne shifted his gaze in her direction and halted in surprise. But then he looked her up and down, and his lips lifted into a slow, lascivious smile. “I came back for the bag, but I see we’ve got something a lot more interesting here now.”
Erin knew exactly what Wayne Raabe was the moment she got a good look at him. She’d seen countless patients like him at Boston General: the gaunt face covered in angry-looking abscesses as a result of injecting; the bony frame and sallow skin with scabs all over from itching; the disheveled appearance and lifeless demeanor. He was a classic heroin abuser in the final stage of addiction. And now that he’d reached it nothing mattered to him except the next fix. Death didn’t even matter. Not really. He’d already become one of the walking dead.
“This kid is really sick and needs to get to a hospital now,” Erin said desperately, clutching her stick and hoping there was at least a tiny bit of humanity left in Wayne Raabe. “Take your bag and go. I’ll help him.”
Wayne responded with another leering grin, then pulled a hunting knife out of its sheath on his belt and slowly walked toward her again. “I just took a ride on the white horse, so I’m feelin’ pretty fuckin’ good. But I haven’t had much fun lately, and right now I’m thinkin’ it would be a whole lotta fun to make you scream in ways you never have before.” He laughed, and it sent a cold shiver running straight down Erin’s spine. “Then I’m gonna cut you up into little tiny pieces and bury you in these woods.” He was just a few feet from the end of her stick now.
“What are you talking about, Wayne?” Jesse said in distress. “Don’t touch her.”
Wayne met the boy’s gaze and let out another laugh. “Didn’t I ever tell you I go both ways? You’re a good fuck, kid, but right now she’ll be better.”
Erin knew she should have tried to hit Wayne as soon as he got distracted by Jesse. It would have been her best chance. But she could only stand there, frozen in fear, her arms trembling as she held up her paltry weapon.
Wayne turned back to her and smiled tauntingly. “Are you ready for the party, baby? We’ll make real good use of your little stick there.”
He took another step toward her, and even though he was only a few inches taller than her, and way too thin, Erin knew by the look on his face that she was no match for him. She should at least try to defend herself, she thought in a panic. But she still couldn’t move. Her heart pounded in her ears, and she could barely breathe.
And in that instant she realized she was as good as dead.
* * *
With red and blue lights flashing, Luke sped into Jenna’s driveway and came to a screeching halt behind a delivery truck that had backed into it.
Both he and Scott immediately jumped out with guns drawn and approached the truck from opposite sides, cautiously looking into the cargo area.
“Luke, I’m so glad to see—”
Jenna came out of the garage, but abruptly stopped in wide-eyed surprise when Luke spun around to face her with his gun in hand.
“Jenna, where is Erin?” he urgently asked.
“I don’t know,” she answered in a worried tone. “I got up from a nap about half an hour ago and I can’t find her anywhere. I thought maybe she took a walk. But she knew the hot tub was coming, and she still hasn’t shown up. She left her phone here too. Something’s wrong, I’m sure of it.”
Luke turned to Scott. “Call for backup from the Sheriff’s Office, and get the K-9 unit over here ASAP.”
“What’s going on, Luke?” Jenna asked, fear filling her eyes as she watched the other detective run to the car.
Luke holstered his gun. “Erin called me on Jesse Torres’ phone as we were heading into town. We have the phone under surveillance, and the cell company alerted us as soon as it was turned on. The call dropped, but they were still able to pick up the GPS signal and localize it to a point less than a half-mile west of here.”
“Oh no,” Jenna whispered after a moment. “They have her in the woods.”
“I only caught a few things she said before I lost her, but I’m pretty sure I heard the name Carey. Do you know who she’s referring to?”
“Yes, the Careys. They’re renting the old farmhouse Erin grew up in. Dear God, Luke—”
“Get in the house and lock the doors,” he abruptly told her. “Keep your phone with you and call 911 for anything suspicious!” And on his way back to the police car he yelled to Scott, “I think they might be next door. Let’s go!”
He jumped into the driver’s seat and did a quick U-turn, tires squealing on the way out, and raced over to the Carey’s house while Scott called in the new location. Then they sprinted up to the house, guns once again drawn.
“You take the front, I’ll go in back,” Luke said.
Meghan was hanging up laundry on a clothesline when he came around into the backyard, and as soon as she saw him she let out an involuntary scream, dropping the pants in her hand.
“I’m Detective Mathis, New Dublin Police,” he told her. “Have you seen Erin Pryce here?”
“Dr. Erin?” Meghan asked in confusion. “She came to visit about an hour ago. Then she wanted to look around the property a little. I—I thought she went home after that.”
“Is anyone else here?”
“Just my daughter Bella and her baby brother. She’s—she’s feeding him a bottle in the living room right now.”
Luke ran to the back porch door and opened it, yelling in, “Scott, the house is clear! Come out back and help me search the property!”
Meghan rushed over to him with a look of panic on her face. “What’s going on?”
“We think the two boys who’ve been on the run are nearby and have Erin
with them,” he explained as calmly as he could. “Gather your kids and lock yourselves in a room until the sheriff’s deputies arrive. It shouldn’t be long.”
“Oh my God!” Meghan cried, dashing into the house just as Scott came out.
They quickly checked the garage and barn, then made their way to the edge of the woods, but found no signs of Erin or the boys.
Luke knew it would be foolish to go in and try to find them on his own, as desperately as he wanted to. But there were hundreds of acres of woods to cover, and he’d risk losing even more valuable time if he headed the wrong way. His best bet was to wait for the K-9 unit.
“Erin!” he yelled helplessly. “Erin…!”
* * *
Deep in the woods Erin was oblivious to his cries.
Wayne stood in front of her, still just beyond the reach of the stick. But he clearly knew it would do little to stop him. In fact, he seemed more amused by it than anything, though the amusement didn’t reach his eyes. They were cold and empty, reflecting a much different illness than Jesse’s.
“You ready to play for real, darlin’?” he asked.
Erin opened her mouth to say something, but she couldn’t get a single word out. Terror had stolen her voice.
Then Wayne started to make a move for the stick.
But in the next instant it was the last thing on his mind.
A bear cub appeared from amongst the trees and ambled past Jesse, followed by the sound of a much larger animal crashing through the woods. And a few seconds later they all watched in horror as a full-sized black bear—presumably the mama bear—charged toward them.
“Holy fuck!” Wayne exclaimed.
Erin shook off some of the fear that had paralyzed her a moment ago. “Don’t run,” she said, pointing her stick in the direction of the bear instead. “If you run she’s more likely to attack.”
The words of Jenna’s dad came back to her from years ago when her friend had asked him if there were bears in the woods. “Sure, there might be black bear,” he’d said. “But they’re usually more afraid of you than anything. They just want to be left alone. They’re a lot like humans, though: They’d rather attack you when your back is turned. So never run if you see one. Face it with any kind of weapon you have, look as big as you can, and try not to show any fear. Let it know you’re human and willing to fight, but don’t step toward it or yell, unless it keeps coming at you.” Then he’d chuckled and said, “Now grizzlies, they’re a different story. They won’t listen to reason. So if you ever run into one of those, your best bet is to play dead and pray.” Jenna had never gone into the woods with her again after that.