Prelude of Lies (9 page)

CHAPTER 8

The sheriff couldn’t come right away due to trees blocking several roads, and a whole bunch of emergencies, all of which were more important than their teenager in a scary mask. They were to hold their prisoner and nothing else until he arrived. At least they had electricity. For now. The impending storm was moving in sooner than expected if the lighting and thunder were to be believed. Sydney paced the tiny front porch of Marshal’s cabin, not sure what to do.

Her anger got the better of her and she went inside. “Who put you up to this?” She stopped inches from the kid.

“N-No one. I don’t know.” He appeared scared, but that did nothing to ease her irritation.

“Oh please. Don’t lie to me. Start talking or . . .”

Marshal grabbed her arm and moved her away from the scared punk. “You can’t threaten him. Take a walk. Now.”

Sydney complied. Only because he was right. She was acting like a jerk. Going inside to confront the kid had been stupid. What was wrong with her?

This had to be something Jace cooked up. They’d tried to be careful letting anyone know Marshal and his crew was in residence, but Jace probably found out when he appeared here the other day. She shouldn’t be surprised.

She wasn’t really. But the nerve of Jace Levine.

Oh, she’d meet with him all right.

Headlights finally swept through the trees marking the arrival of the sheriff. She stepped down to greet him, another of Gramps’ lifelong friends.

He hugged her, releasing her with a sympathetic smile. “You girls sure are having the trouble.”

“You know it, Frank.”

“Everything’s going to work out. You’ll see. You two will do this and make Del proud. As much as I hate to say it, I think you’ll do better than old Del. The community wants Brookside back, not a casino. The people of this town don’t want that kind of change and the clients that kind of place would bring.”

“We’re doing our best.” She fought tears.

“I know you are. Most of the whole town is behind you. It’ll happen. Now, let’s go have a word with your creepy visitor.” Frank’s heavy shoes echoed through the pre-storm quiet.

Sydney followed, nodding when Daisy held her finger to her lips. Usually their roles were reversed. Sydney was always the cool head. Not this time. Why she’d gotten so worked up over something she was certain had been going on the whole time was beyond her.

“So, young man, why are you here?” Frank opened his notebook after reading the kid his rights.

“I don’t have to talk to you.” The kid had to be about sixteen.

“No. You don’t, but things might go easier on you if you do. And these pretty ladies might not press charges if you cooperate.” Frank nodded to where Sydney stood by Daisy.

Sydney took a deep breath in an attempt to calm the rage knotting her stomach. It helped a little, but it wouldn’t take much for it to come back.

The kid regarded them for a few seconds before moving his attention to Marshal and Dave. His gaze rested on Daisy before he lowered his head. “Some guy stopped me at the arcade and asked if I wanted to make a hundred bucks.”

“What guy?” the sheriff asked calmly.

“He didn’t tell me his name. Just said he wanted to play a practical joke on the people staying here. He said it was all in fun and that they’d laugh. He sounded like he knew everyone here.” The kid seemed even younger, and scared. Sydney softened.

“What did he look like?” Frank wrote the description and Sydney was disappointed that it didn’t sound the least bit like Jace. Damn.

She wished it was Jace wearing a disguise, but when the kid said the guy was stick skinny and like a skeleton with skin, she knew there was no way.

One of his cronies. Maybe. Damn. Why couldn’t it have been Jace? Who else had a vested interest in making them leave the campground?

No one. And that was the problem. It had to be Jace. Or Violet. Her temper rose again, but she tamped it down.

“This guy someone you’ve seen before?”

Good for Frank. Sydney definitely hadn’t thought of that.

“Once or twice. I think he lives in the trailer park off Liberty Road. His daughter, April, is in my class.”

“Last name.”

“Jones.”

“You friends with her?”

“Kind of. She’s quiet. Doesn’t really talk to anyone. Just sort of there. She only started school after Christmas. I don’t know where she came from.” The kid shuffled his feet a little, but met Frank’s eyes.

“Who are her friends at school?” Sydney wasn’t sure why Frank asked about the teenager. Unless it was to find someone he could ask about her family.

“She doesn’t have any that I know of. I’ve never seen her in the halls with anyone. She’s always got her face in a book.”

“That’s sad,” Sydney commented.

“I never thought about it, but you’re right.” The kid looked at Sydney and for a minute she thought he was playing her to make sure they didn’t press charges. When she saw no deception in his eyes, she nodded.

“Well, Mr. Jackson, I’ll take you home.” Frank closed his notebook.

“Am I in trouble?” he asked Frank, his eyes on her and Daisy.

“Don’t know yet. I need to verify your story and then the rest will be up to the property owners.” Frank waited for the kid to adjust his huge cloak.

“I am sorry. I hope you can believe me. I thought this whole thing was a joke. The guy made me think you all were friends and that you’d laugh. If I would’ve known, I wouldn’t have taken his money. This place is really creepy after dark.” He held a wad of cash out toward Daisy.

“Keep the money. As long as Sheriff Frank feels you’re as much a victim as we are, there won’t be charges.” Daisy looked at Sydney and she nodded. “And make friends with April. She’s new and probably lost. She could probably use a friend.”

“I’ll be in touch.” Frank smiled and touched the brim of his hat as he escorted their teenage spook out the door.

“Do you think Jace paid that guy to do the job and he passed it on to the kid?” Daisy stood at the window and watched Frank leave.

“Could be. I can’t believe we’re not supposed to mention this to Jace.” Sydney went to the door.

“Let Frank do his job,” Marshal said, his attention out the side window.

“I never said I wasn’t going to. I always listen to Frank.”

Daisy snorted. “Yeah. Always. Except for when he tells you not to call him any more about the stray animals you’ve found wandering the campground. And when he told you not to try to stop the state workers from spraying that section of highway that borders this land.”

She waited. Surely, Daisy’s stories would bring more questions than she cared to answer. Except they didn’t.

“Guess what, though? Frank is retiring in a few weeks. He promised to let the department know our situation and that they better look out for us. I’m sad,” Daisy said.

“No. That stinks.” She sighed. “I’m going in.” She walked away, hearing Marshal approach even though she didn’t turn around. Unlocking the cabin door, she went in but left the door open.

“Did you come to collect?”

Marshal leaned against the door frame, his bulk nearly filling the space. “Not tonight. You’re too stressed. How’d you know that ghoul was a fake?”

“Don’t tell me you didn’t.” She had a hard time believing that. Especially since he’d pegged the first night destruction of his cabin as a prank.

“I knew. I saw him sneak up to the car from behind us. I just wondered how you figured it out.”

“Ghosts, no matter how scary, probably don’t have hickeys on their necks. The makeup job was pretty poor. I guess for what he thought he was doing, it was pretty darn good, especially for a kid.”

“That it was. I didn’t see the hickey until you ripped his mask off. That wasn’t what I wanted to ask you though.” Marshal didn’t move and she wondered if he meant what he said about not collecting on their bet tonight.

“What then?” She sat at the table.

“Before he showed up and after. You saw them, all of them, didn’t you?”

She knew what he talked about, but didn’t understand why he questioned her and asked him. Hadn’t everyone seen the ghostly trio?

“We all saw them at the beginning. The second time Dave didn’t. Daisy didn’t either. She watched you from inside and called me over when you reached out. She couldn’t see what you tried to touch and neither could I then.”

“They were there. I couldn’t touch them. Three men, their shoulders sagged like they were defeated. I felt their misery, felt that their journey held a lot of pain and sorrow.” Why was she accepting her experience so readily?

“I wonder . . .” Marshal shifted but didn’t leave his spot. “You said you thought the Trail of Tears may have traveled through here. I think you might be right.”

“Oh.” Sydney stood, then sat quickly. “That’s the impression I had. I don’t know how to explain it. But I could feel different things. Anger, pain, regret, betrayal. There was a lot of helplessness and worry. One of the travelers buried his wife a few hours before. Oh.”

How would she know that?

Marshal only stared. “For someone who spouts off disbelief of the paranormal, you have a deep understanding. People who can absorb the emotional energy of the spirits around them are rare. I would have never guessed.”

“Neither would I, because that’s not true. It was just an impression I had. Kind of like seeing the sky and knowing it’s probably going to rain.”

“Exactly. What about in the cabin? What did you feel then?” Marshal finally sat down across from her.

“Scared.”

“Besides that. What went through your mind?” He grabbed her hand, the warmth there offering some comfort for her chaotic mind.

“Frustration, and not my own. It was different somehow. Desperate. Like someone I loved was lost. I was sad. I figured the feeling was because of Gramps and how much I miss him. They left, but not on purpose and there was no peace. What?”

Marshal smiled. “You’re gifted. No wonder you yell so loud about not believing. What you can do scares the hell out of you. Can you talk to them?”

How had he figured her out so rapidly? She didn’t know what to say. Or think. Should she continue denying the truth, or allow him to see the depth of what she’d tried so hard to hide from everyone? Including herself?

“I haven’t tried for a long time. In fact, I thought all of this had left me. Until we came back here.”

“What happened in the bathhouse that you hate so much?” Marshal leaned forward, clearly interested.

Sydney didn’t think he meant her extended janitorial duties.

“Suicide. She’s a young woman. She has bruises all over her body. She smells like liquor and vomit. She died in the last shower stall. The one with the broken tiles. Her wrists are slit wide open. When I see her, I can see the brief moments before she used the blade and then she’s dead. She took a whole bunch of pills and washed them down with booze before cutting herself.” She shivered at the disturbing image.

“You tried to talk to her.” Marshal rubbed her palm with his thumb.

“She doesn’t hear me. I tell her it’s over. That she should follow the path, but her eyes are blank and nothing ever changes. I read something once about the hell people who commit suicide have to endure before they can move on to a better place. Do you think that’s true?”

She shook her head. “There’s no way to know.”

“How did you know my feelings on the bathhouse?” She hadn’t told him anything.

“I didn’t, except by how anxious you became when we went there.”

“Did you catch her on film?”

“We haven’t reviewed the footage yet. We have two nights of video and audio from inside to go over. The first night we taped in the bathhouse Ron said someone pinched him when he cleared the equipment. That’s why we went back. Can you go through your grandfather’s records and see if there’s information on that woman? And try to find the journal?” Marshal glanced around the cabin as if the boxes of files were easily accessible.

“Tomorrow. I have to find them. The only journals I’ve found have been only business transactions.” She stood and stretched with a deep yawn.

“Good enough.” He wrapped his arms around her. The hug felt way too good. “For what it’s worth, you’re not a freak. Just an anomaly, and a damn cute one.”

He lowered his head and brushed her lips with his. Sydney’s exhausted system rushed to life and she leaned into him, taking what he offered and giving back the same.

The door banged open, breaking the precious moment and the promise in Marshal’s kiss. She was going to kill Daisy.

“That one doesn’t count.” Marshal released her, shooting Daisy an exasperated look on his way by.

“What’s wrong?” Sydney waited, but Daisy said nothing.

Giving up, she went to her room and grabbed her pajamas. Daisy followed.

“Graham is such an asshole.” Daisy plopped down on the bed with a sigh.

“I thought you two were getting along great. At least you were at Kay’s. What happened?”

“We were. We even had a bet. He was all hot for me and flirty. Until we got back here. He got a phone call and has ignored me ever since. What if he’s married?” Daisy flopped down on the bed in an exasperated movement.

“Find out. If he is, we’ll take turns kicking his ass all the way back to his hometown.”

“He can’t be,” Daisy almost wailed.