Alpha Me Not (24 page)

The doorbell rang.

Susie sloughed to her feet and trudged to the living room. She peered through the spy hole but didn’t recognize the features of the person standing on the porch.

She opened the door. “Yes. Can I help you?”

“I’m Fay Ward. I live on Birch Crescent.” This was the sprightly eighty-year-old Joe had described. She reminded Susie of Mrs. Claus, with her twinkling blue eyes, a mop of white curls, and apple-dimpled cheeks.

“Susan White.” She shook the elderly lady’s hand. “Pleased to meet you, Mrs. Ward.”

“Call me Fay, dear. Is Joe around?”

“He’s in the back at the moment. Shall I get him for you?”

“Please, dear.”

“Come on in, Fay. Why don’t you have a seat while I get Joe?” Susie gestured to the sofa.

“Thank you, dear.” Fay’s flowery muumuu swirled around plump calves as she ambled to the couch.

A whiff of her powdery perfume tickled Susie’s nostrils, and she knuckled the side of her nose to prevent a sneeze. “I’ll be right back.”

With that she whipped around and marched to the kitchen. Before Susie reached the doorway, she saw Joe, Tate, and Gray gathered in a circle to the right of the table.

“There you are. Gray said you weren’t feeling well?” Joe came straight to her.

“I’m better. Just needed a moment. Fay Ward is here to see you. She’s in the living room.”

“Fay?” Joe frowned. “I’ll go see what she wants.”

Tate and Gray sauntered past the stove just as Susie entered the kitchen. She plodded to the table.

“Lye. That’s why. Industrial-strength lye. The whole basement had been flooded with it.” Tate went straight to the fridge.

“Lye?” Susie collapsed onto a chair.

“Someone had punched a hole in the basement and emptied a few hundred gallons of industrial-strength lye into it before sealing it closed. Probably in an attempt to cover up the whole thing.” Tate peered at her. “Where’s Joe gone? You look like crap.”

“Thanks a whole lot.” Susie shivered. “Fay Ward wanted to speak with Joe. She’s in the living room.”

“Ivan’s probably gone on a bender again.”

“Who’s Ivan?” Gray crossed one ankle over the other and leaned a hip on the counter.

“Fay Ward’s son. He’s schizoid and every so often goes off his meds. Goes wandering in the preserve.” Tate grabbed a glass and eyed the packages from the store. “Any chance of juice in there? Joe never has anything other than that damned protein powder.”

“Yes, I bought juice and milk.” She thumbed her aching temples. “I’m going to lie down for a bit.”

“I’ll walk with you. You really are very pale, sis.” Gray hooked his elbow through hers and pulled her up.

A dull roaring started in her ears. The room spun. A draft of sheer ice sprouted goose bumps all over her flesh.

Dirt and grime covered the boy’s face.

He stared at her. Freckles dotted the bridge of his nose. Dried blood crusted one nostril. He lay in a ditch. On top of another boy. His chest rose and fell. A tear leaked out of one eye.

Her tongue lay flat and heavy in her mouth.

“Susie. What the hell’s happening?” Gray’s voice came from far away.

She staggered and squirmed out of Gray’s hold. Put up a hand to block the blinding light streaking through the window. Grabbed a chair, squeezed the back, and fought the bitterness racing up her gullet.

“Susie.” Joe swept her into his arms. “You’re seeing him again, aren’t you? You have that flint in your scent again. Can you talk? Can you see?”

She buried her face in his shirt and shook her head, the movement weak, and her neck quivered like jelly.

“It’s okay. I have you. Breathe with me. In. Out. That’s it. Tate, pour her a glass of water.” Joe sat on the bench and set her sideways on his lap. He took the glass from Tate and brought it to her lips. “Drink. Tiny sips.”

“Is this what happened before?” Gray came into her range of vision. He squatted next to her and squeezed her hand.

“Yeah. But this was much shorter. Better now?” Joe tightened the arm holding her waist.

She risked slitting her lids open. The sunlight didn’t stab at her pupils.

“Another sip.”

The cold water tasted like manna after the vile bitterness of her saliva. Greedy, parched, she clamped her shaking fingers on the glass and gulped down every drop.

Joe wrested the tumbler from her fervent grip. He nudged her chin. “Look at me.”

“I’m good.” She attempted a smile, but her trembling lips couldn’t quite curve, and met his gaze. “He’s alive. In a ditch. There’s another boy under him. I think… He can’t move.”

“Is this Eric from the bus stop?” Tate pulled up a chair.

“Yes. The same one. I could only see the leg of the other boy, the one under him. He had on shoes with cleats.”

“Could you see anything else? Was there water in the ditch?”

She shuttered her eyes and let the images play. “It’s steep like where we ran that night. By where we saw the slimy thing. But different. There’s no path. Just woods. I think it might be closer to the ravine where I ran that first time by myself.”

“The ravine again.” Gray shook his head.

“What did Fay want?” Tate set his glass down in the sink.

“Ivan’s off his meds again. He vanished sometime last night. I promised Fay we’d find him.” Joe dragged a hand through his hair.

“Is this Ivan violent?” Gray asked.

“He’s a cutter. When he goes off his meds, he cuts himself. He leaves so he won’t upset Fay.” Joe took her chilled hands between his and rubbed.

“Sounds as if you two know this Ivan well.” Gray glanced from Joe to Tate. “Am I missing something?”

“Ivan had a ton of trouble in school. He was bullied.”

Tate snorted. “Bullied. Try tortured. Humiliated. Joe, Kieran, and I put an end to it. But Ivan was too far gone by then.”

“Who bullied him? And how long ago was this? How old is he? And what do you mean too far gone?” Gray lurched to his feet as he issued the barrage of questions.

“Ivan’s twenty-three. The bullying happened when Ivan was in middle school. We were in high school at the time and didn’t cotton onto it until his last year.” Tate’s slate eyes had taken on a golden hue.

“Ivan was severely traumatized and never recovered. We never did figure out who was the ringleader in the bullying or what exactly happened, but we scared the bejesus out of the five kids who participated.”

Tate snorted. “Not enough for them to finger the asshole who started it all. Ivan gets hysterical when questioned about the past. You saw Fay, how tiny she is. Ivan tops seven feet, and he’s around two ninety. But he was scrawny in middle school.”

She gasped. “That little Mrs. Claus has a son that huge?”

“Yeah. Tate and I are going to head out right away. I’m going after Ivan, and Tate will head to the ravine to see if he can find Eric. Gray, you pull the short stick on this one.” He planted a wet kiss on her mouth, shifted her to the side, and stood. “I don’t want Susie out of your presence. Not for a second. She might be your sister, but she’s my mate.”

No way could she stay here and wait. She had to keep busy. Had to keep her mind occupied. Had to stop playing all the what-if scenarios in her head. What if she couldn’t help find Eric? What if it was because she fought the visions, no matter how hard she tried not to?

“Susie?” Joe’s forefinger grazed her shoulder blade. “You with us?”

“I’m fine. Don’t worry about me. Find Eric. Find Ivan.”
Alive
, but she couldn’t get the word past her fried vocal cords. “I have stuff to do anyway.”

“What kind of stuff and where? I don’t want you out of Gray’s presence for a second.”

Joe’s nostrils thinned and flared, a certain sign of his rising irritation.

“For heaven’s sake, is he supposed to accompany me to the bathroom too?”

“Actually it wouldn’t be a bad idea for you to leave the door open, sis.”

Joe leaned a shoulder on the wall, and the two men did an alpha-stare posturing that made Susie snort. “
Not
going to happen. I’m quite capable of taking care of myself. I have to see Dr. Surgue. Gray can run me to the university while you two are gone.”

“Don’t let her out of your sight.” He bussed her again. “The university and back. That’s it.”

“Will you call if you find something?” She caught his hand.

“Promise.”

Tate and Joe were out of the house in no time at all.

“Who’s this Dr. Surgue you want to see?” Gray picked up the keys to his car.

“I’m doing a thesis, and hopefully, he’s going to be the chairman of my committee.” Susie picked up her purse, remembered the folders that she’d graded, and retrieved them from the pink bedroom.

“All set?” Gray asked. “I put up the groceries. You haven’t eaten this morning. Want to grab a bite on the way in?”

Susie skipped to keep up with Gray’s long strides. “I’m meeting Dr. Surgue in the cafeteria. The food there’s actually pretty good.”

Gray shut the door after them and rattled the lock. They walked to his rented car.

“What happened to the construction crew?”

“Joe paid them off.”

“Gray, exactly what was in the basement?”

He opened the passenger door for her and glanced down. “Sure you want to go there, sis?”

“I think I need to know. Joe’s tiptoeing around me. Tell me what you found.”

He nodded, went around the car, and got in. After snapping his seat belt together, he started the car and said, “Whoever built that basement built it as a prison. There were six barred cages about the size you would use for a medium-size dog.”

A dozen lizards crawled up her spine. “Or a young boy.”

“Yeah.”

“You haven’t told me everything. What else did you find?”

“Bits and pieces of what looked like videotapes. Lye had been dumped on them too. I don’t think the authorities will get anything from them. My guess is that this sicko abducted kids, kept them for a while, and then killed them.”

And taped what he did to them. Susie choked back the rising nausea. “Who owned the house before Terri?”

“Tate checked the records this morning. This whole strip was owned and developed by one Mr. Carmine Arnold.”

Surprise had her gasping. “He’s Gemma’s father. Has Alzheimer’s.”

“He’s out as a suspect then. Too bad. Arnold sold the house to a company who rented it out. The company liquidated a few years back, and a Mrs. Wilson purchased it. Terri bought it from her.” Gray turned onto I-10. “Problem is that the basement could’ve been converted any time over the last four decades.”

“Four decades? Why four decades?” She massaged the aching muscles spanning the bridge of her shoulder and neck.

“The house was built in the 60s.”

“Oh. Surely this can’t have been happening for that long. Someone would’ve noticed all these kids going missing?”

“You’d think. The stuff in the cave has me wondering if this guy wasn’t operating between the two states. Half of Hallelujah Mountain is in Florida and half in Alabama.”

The whole Ritchie Henderson kidnapping and Joe’s conviction crowded her brain. “Where’s Joe’s cabin?”

“Haven’t you been there?” Gray pulled into the parking lot.

“No.”

“It’s about an hour out of town right on the state border in the opposite direction of Hallelujah Mountain.”

After unsnapping her seat belt, Susie gathered her folder and purse and hopped out of the car. Gray made no move to get out. She lifted a brow.

“While you meet with your professor, I’m going to tank up. Promise me you won’t leave the building.”

“Oh, for heaven’s sake.”

When Gray fixed her with a hard stare, she expelled an audible breath. “Fine. I promise. Where do you want to meet?”

“In the cafeteria. I don’t want you outside without me, not even for a second.”

She sighed. “I’ll call you if I’m done earlier.”

* * * *

Dr. Surgue was sitting at the same table as Vance Ellison. Great.

“Susan.” Dr. Surgue extended a hand. “I believe you know Coach Ellison.”

“I do.”

“Sit. I took the liberty of sharing your thesis topic with Coach Ellison, and he’s agreed to be the sports advisor for the committee. I, of course, am more than happy to chair your committee. How many participants have you signed?”

Susie sat opposite the two men. “I have all that I need signed up. As I indicated, I plan to focus on two groups—boys and girls aged six to nine, and men and women over thirty. The adults of both sexes are volunteers from the general population of Hallie. I’m working with the Girl Scouts for the younger females, and one of Coach Ellison’s assistants was kind enough to point me to the Sloan Foundation for the younger male participants.”

Coach Ellison’s bushy eyebrows rose. “Really? Who are you working with?”

“Assistant Coach Bristow. He was very helpful.”

The rest of the meeting went smoothly. Dr. Surgue suggested adding Drs. Eileen Vinters and Randy Berger as the final choices for the thesis committee and agreed to speak to both on Susie’s behalf. Coach Ellison invited her to the function at Chez Pierre the following night, and she felt compelled to accept.

The two men left, and she grabbed a sandwich and settled down in a chair next to the windows to watch for Gray’s arrival. She opened the folder and took out a term paper but, after reading the same paragraph three times, gave up. Sitting back, she stretched her legs and glanced to the entrance when the
pop-pop
of the cafeteria’s automatic doors reached her ears.

She choked back a curse as a couple halted in the small foyer.

Charlene and Grant Weber.

Arm in arm, the young married couple strolled up to her table.

“Hi.” Susie faked a smile, so not wanting to do the small-talk thing. “How are you two?”

“Fantabulous. Guess what. One of our friends has an over-the-garage apartment available for rent. I actually just left you a message with all the details.” Charlene jingled the charm bracelet she wore.

“Oh, that’s so nice of you. But I don’t need a place anymore. I’m going to stay on with Joe for the rest of the year.”

Susie enjoyed watching the other woman’s face shrivel like a prune.