Carol Shenold - Tali Cates 02 - Bloody Murder (20 page)

“There’s a window in the back door. We can open that easy.” We went around the house.

“Stand back.”

I jumped back when Cherilyn raised her axe and swung it at the door. Glass and wood crashed into the kitchen. I reached through and down for the lock and found a latch to turn, turned it but the door didn’t budge. It was a deadbolt, locked from the outside.

“Well shit. What now?”

“I guess you crawl through.”

“You’re skinnier. Can’t you do it?”

Cherilyn’s fair skin blanched more. Damn, she was going to faint.

“But Tali. I don’t want to go in there again. I can’t, not for anyone.”

At that moment a scream shot through the room. “Help! Get me out of here! Mom, is that you? Is someone out there?” It came the direction of the pantry. “Please, please get me out of this! It’s dark and something’s in here with me.” Her voice went from pleading to whimpering.

“Hang on, Cass! It’s Mom. I’m coming.”

I grabbed Cherilyn’s axe from her limp hand as she stared into the house, her face lax with fear. The handle swung in a circle, knocking all the glass from the door. I was desperate for something to step on so I could try to heave myself through. I didn’t let myself think about getting stuck, wedged in the door for the rest of forever, listening to Cass pleading for help. I threw the axe down.

A large rock put me high enough. I launched myself into the air and through the window, praying to the universe that I’d miss the worst of the glass. My hips grazed but didn’t stick. Both shins scraped in spite of the jeans but my boots stayed on.

I yelped and would have cussed loudly if I hadn’t knocked the air out of my lungs. I lay gasping until I could get up. I’d only cut myself in a couple of places.

“Someone please, is someone out there? Help me.” Cass’s voice scratched against the ear like nails, as if she’d been yelling for a long time.

I pulled myself up from a prone position for the second time and stumbled for the wooden door opposite me. “I’m coming Cass. I’m here, baby. It’s all right.”

“Mom. I knew you’d come. Hurry, they’ll be back, I know it.”

I grabbed for the door, jerking on it. It refused to open. “The door’s stuck. Can you open it from the inside?”

“Well no. If I could, I’d be out. They locked me in here so I wouldn’t get away.”

“Who did? Who were they?”

“Mom, hurry up. Don’t ask a bunch of questions right now.”

I heard Cherilyn from outside. “Tali. Someone’s coming and I don’t know who. It could be the bad guys.

Great. We didn’t know who the bad guys
were
.

I grabbed the door handle and rattled the door as hard as I could, then saw the damned latch with the padlock at the top of the door. Well, shit. That hadn’t been there before.

“Cherilyn, throw the axe through to me.”

“Something’s watching me.”

“Do it anyway, I have to get Cass out of here.”

“Where is it?”

“I don’t know. I’m in here, you’re out there. I know I dropped it before I launched myself through that little hole.”

“Oh. Here it is.”

I waited. “Throw it already.”

“All right, watch out.”

I dodged to keep from being hit by the flying blade. I picked it up and whacked at the padlock with the thick end of the tool. The angle was too high for any decent leverage but I figured if I banged at it long enough the wood might give way.

Finally, the wood splintered and the lock fell off. Cass burst through the door much as Cherilyn and I had the day before, her eyes wild as her tangled hair. She threw herself at me, catching me in a bear hug that took my breath away once again.

I staggered back, grabbed her in a hug and dragged her toward the door. “Let’s go, babe. Cherilyn said something was coming.”

She stopped, stiff like a post, her eyes wide with fright. “Wait. I can’t go out there if they’re coming.”

“Who do you think is coming? Why?”

“I don’t know who. Something grabbed me from the house. I passed out or something and woke up in that room. But if the thing is coming back, I don’t want to go out and meet it.”

“Was it Chase or his friends?”

“Mom. What part of
I don’t know
don’t you understand? I passed out. I was alone here when I woke up. End of story.”

Well
she
was feeling better. Every muscle in my body hurt from jumping through windows to rescue her. “Not end-of-story if the mysterious kidnappers are coming back. And why did they or he take you in the first place?”

“I wouldn’t know, I’m not a mind reader like you. I know it’s better here than out there.”

“It’s not safe in here so let’s go, now, without any more argument, young lady.”

“All right, already. Don’t get your stuff in a bunch.” She dragged a chair to the door, stepped up and climbed through, much more gracefully.

I climbed up, sat on the edge of the window, grabbed waiting hands, and jumped down. “JT what are you doing here? How did you find us?”

“I could ask you the same thing. How did you end up here?”

“I asked you first. Cherilyn and I cut over from the lake, not realizing we could get here from there. Her car is still back there.”

“We got a call reporting activity at the old Rayburn house so we headed out.”

“That was convenient. Who reported it?”

“Didn’t leave their name.”

“Do you think someone wanted you to find Cass?”

JT raised on eyebrow. “Seems that way but then why bother taking Cass in the first place? What would that accomplish other than scaring her and you?”

“Maybe that was the idea, making us feel vulnerable or something. I don’t know. I keep trying to find some logic in all of this. Do you think the murders are somehow connected with the kidnapping?”

JT shook his head. “I don’t see how or why. It has to be coincidence.”

I took a deep breath and let it out. “How long have you been in law enforcement? How often do you see true coincidence?”

Cass’s eyes were smudged by dark circles and her voice shook. “How long are we going to hang around out here?” she snapped. “I’m cold, I have to go to the bathroom, and I’m tired. Can’t you guys figure this out at home and let me get cleaned up, take a shower?”

* * * *

I was right. Home didn’t feel secure any longer. It was the second time in six months someone had broken the front window. I was so tempted to take it out, or add bars, but I refused to live in a jail. I hoped Mumsie’s homeowners insurance would pay. I’d have to come up with the deductible because if we hadn’t come, it wouldn’t have happened.

Poor Mumsie. If we hadn’t moved into her house last spring, her life would have been so much simpler. No one would have broken windows or scrawled graffiti to the front. She wouldn’t have been pulled into rescuing us from the killer who was after me because I served on his jury. An angry ghost might not have settled into the house for a while. Now, it had started again.

I hadn’t been back to the amphitheatre or auditorium to check behind the cleanup crew. I felt as if it should be later in the day but there was another hour before Sean made it home from school. I heard the shower still running. Cass might turn into a prune and use all the hot water before she came out, but that was fine. I told Mumsie I’d be right back and jumped into the car. As I pulled out of the drive, I saw Mumsie gesture and wave, and I waved back.

The amphitheatre was empty, the dressing rooms padlocked so no one could set up housekeeping or decide they were public restrooms. The rows of concrete steps were swept clean of food containers, funnel cake plates, drink cups, cotton candy cones. The carnival was gone, the Ferris wheel down already. The Pavilion stood empty of animals. Something watched, waited. The hair on the back of my neck rose, sending shivers down my back.

I was creeping myself out. Time to go. I turned to go up the stairs and saw a flash of red, more than a flash.

Oh, please. I couldn’t breathe. Not blood. Please, not blood.

Chapter Twenty-one

I trudged up the stairs to the fourth row up and saw something stuffed under one of the wooden benches next to the wall. Stuffed, not pooled, so it wasn’t blood. But what was it? How did the crew miss it? I pulled it out and shook it, saw it was the missing costume from the Queen Contest.
That’s odd.
The contest was in the auditorium, not the amphitheatre. How did it end up here?

I waited for a flash of something from holding the outfit, but nothing. Go figure. If I had paranormal gifts, they were not being too helpful at the moment. Nothing was right.

Okay. I was whining again. There must be something positive I could do to make myself feel better. Like have sex with a good-looking man. Now that was random.

I climbed back down the stairs, crossed the stage, and climbed the hill to the street. It was clear and empty except for one red Chevy.

I started across the street when the car shot toward me. Something hard slammed into me, carrying me into the ditch at the side of the road. I knew I was dead and gone. When I landed, I was still conscious and not hurting—much. I wasn’t among the deceased. What hit me? Who? Why? I was so tired of questions.

I looked down at my body… and the one under me. Under me? I rolled over. “Aiden, what are you doing here, and why are you under me?”

He grinned. “A good place to be, if you ask me. What did you do to make her so mad?”

“Who?”

“The person who just tried to run you down.”

My knees shook to the point I had to sit on the curb and look up at him. “How did you happen to be here to rescue me, and how do you know that person saw me?”

“She saw you all right.”

I couldn’t have heard him right. “You’re telling me someone tried to run me down, on purpose? What? You could read her mind? Why didn’t you stop her or chase her down?”

“In broad daylight? Where people can see? I can’t do that.”

“You did your thing—whatever it was—twice with me.” I held out my hand. “Help me up, you’re making my neck hurt.”

“In an emergency, because someone has to keep you from getting killed. You managed to be where the wolves gathered to prepare for the full moon. You ended up involved with murder and witchcraft in such a short time.”

“Witchcraft. We are not witches. Why won’t anyone understand that having a gift doesn’t automatically make you a witch?”

Aiden shook his head. “I wasn’t talking about you or your family. I was talking about the black magic surrounding this town. Something evil.”

The quiet street filled with traffic as people passed on their way to pick up kids from school. “What are you talking about? Like, the wicked witch of the west?”

“No. Not a fairy tale. Reality, Tali. Magic exists, as does evil. Some people would consider me evil. That thing you held in your hands when I tackled you reeked of magic.”

It was my turn to shake my head, in disbelief. “It’s a kid’s dance costume from the contest. What did you think it was?”

“I think the dress could be part of the magic that killed those women… girls. I think you are dealing with something beyond what you or JT realize or have the ability to handle.”

I shivered, wishing I’d grabbed my jacket when I jumped into the car to leave. My cell was in the pocket. “Aiden, I need to go. Sean will be showing up soon. I should be with the family now that we’re all together again.

“You found Cass? Where was she? You should have told me.”

“You’re right. That was thoughtless of me. I’ve been so wound up with everything, I’m becoming way too self centered.

“We need to talk about this and we need to talk about us.”

I turned to face him, my hands in fists so tight my nails dug into my palms. “I don’t think there
is
an ‘us’ and I don’t know why you are trying so hard to scare me, but you’re doing it.”

Aiden reached out to touch my shoulder. “I’m not trying to frighten you, just find a way to keep you safe. Make sure you know what you are facing.”

“No one can keep anyone else from harm. I’m responsible for myself and my family.” I walked away from Aiden without looking back, leaving the man who just saved my life standing alone in the street.

* * * *

At home, after dinner, Mumsie paced the kitchen. “I tried to stop you from going out without more help. You didn’t pay attention.”

Hot water steamed the window as I rinsed dishes and set them in the dish drainer. “I’m sorry, I didn’t hear you say anything.”

“I ran out and tried to stop you.”

“I’m sorry. I was in such a hurry, but everything is fine. I’m not hurt.”

“Through no fault of your own. Why would you rush out like that and go back where the murders happened, by yourself without at least talking to me first?”

“I really don’t think I was in danger. This is the town I grew up in. I can’t be afraid to go anywhere or to be at home.”

“Tali, there are things going on I’m not sure you understand or would want to know.”

“You sound like Aiden. He babbled on about black magic and witchcraft, fairy tales. I tried to tell him we were not witches. We just have a gift.”

Mumsie turned off the water in the sink and handed me a towel.

“Hey, I’m not done.”

“Come sit down. We need to talk about this.”

I followed her to the table.

She gestured and I sat down. She sat opposite. “Aiden is a smart man. He knows what he’s talking about. You have to listen.”

“But he’s not making sense—wicked witches, monsters, evil.”

“Tali, do you really think the murders have nothing to do with magic? You described the bodies to me. A person couldn’t do this—at least not anyone we know. But someone or something did. Who do you know strong enough to jump through a window, snatch a full-size girl, run away on foot, and not get caught? Are these what you would call normal, everyday incidents?”

“You really think something from a horror movie is stalking women in Love, Texas.”

“I know Love attracts magic and magic attracts all kinds of things. This town is a magnet and things are drawn here that don’t always appear elsewhere. Most of these convergences take place in cities, but we got lucky enough to have one in our little town.”