Unforgivable (42 page)

Though her pulse raced, her body absolutely would not budge now that it was in a prone position. Several nights of bad sleep, combined with the horrors of the day, were too much. 

Okay, she’d take a shower and eat before heading out. She was going to have to get a change of clothes, too. Maybe she could find an all-night discount store. She’d do that right after she ate, right after she took a shower, right after she closed her eyes for just a few minutes…

She jerked awake the next morning and felt panic settle into her belly along with acute hunger. The first thing she did, after using the bathroom, was call the Buchanan Veterinarian Clinic. When the receptionist picked up, Katie asked, “Is Dr. Buchanan in?”

“No, afraid not. He’s not workin’ much these days. Dr. Kane’s takin’ his patients,” she said in a thick, Southern voice. “We’re actually closed on account of the festival and all, but I’m in for a couple of hours doing some billing. Is this an emergency?”

“Yes, but not the animal kind. I’m looking for Dr. Buchanan particularly. Do you know if his sister is here with him?”

“Oh, you mean Mrs. Turner? She’s a sweet lady, ain’t she?”

“Yes, she is. I’m a friend of hers, and I’m…watching her cat, Tubby. Fuzzy, I mean. I’ve got some bad news for her, and it’s something I should tell her in person.”

“Oh, dear,” the girl said in a genuinely sad voice. “I thought she brought Fuzzy with her. Especially with the fires out thatta way and all.”

“Fuzzy wasn’t feeling well, so she asked me to take care of her.  You know how she is about her cat.”

“Oh, my, I sure do. Well, I ain’t see her this trip, but I know she usually comes over for the festival.”

“Can you give me Dr. Buchanan’s home number and address? She left it with me, but in the all the confusion, I’ve misplaced it.”

The girl recited the information. “But they probably won’t be there. They’ll be at the festival, I’m sure. Everybody’ll be there, includin’ me in about thirty minutes.”

“I’ll look for them there, too. Thanks.”

The girl was right; no one answered at home. Katie took a shower, then headed to the nearest department store and bought a new outfit, sunglasses, and a sunflower-adorned straw hat from the sale rack with her cache of change. All she had to do was make sure Ben was there, and then find a police officer to tell her story to. He could at least be detained for assault. With all of Silas’s notes in the back of the Navigator, they’d probably be interested in checking further into the case—and hopefully detaining Ben until they had some kind of evidence.

Evidence. There would be no evidence, not unless she could prove that Ben was in the area when each abduction occurred. The jewelry and clothing might not be of help if he hadn’t left any evidence. She glanced at the payphone outside the department store. She should let Silas know where she was and what she was doing anyway.

She dialed his beeper number and left a voice message. “Hi, it’s Katie. I’m in Macon. I think Ben is here trying to get another identity with a Dr. Ken Buchanan. They’re probably at the big festival that’s going on this weekend. Don’t worry, I’m just going to find him and alert the police. And try to convince them he’s a killer. Hah, that’ll be easy. Anyway, I know you’re kind of tied up, and I don’t know what’s going on with the fires, but I need your help. I need you to get the computer out of the hospital so we can compare those dates to when Ben was out of town. It’s just inside the door. It’s not locked, though I’m sure you can get in anyway. Get a key from Bertrice if you need one and if you could get my suitcase out of my house—it’s by the front door too—I’d appreciate it. I’ll check back with you in a while and see how you’re doing. Right now, I need to find Ben. Oh, and I’m sorry, but I had to use your credit card for my hotel last night. Okay, bye.”

Just leaving him a message ripped her heart apart. What a damn fool she was about men. Well, she was going to rectify one of those mistakes. She got back into the Navigator and headed to the address the girl had given her. The big white van was nowhere in sight. Mrs. Turner’s sedan was there, however. Had Ben ridden over with her? He’d probably want to ditch his van, if he thought there was a chance of the police looking for him. He hadn’t gotten away with murder all these years by being careless.

The curtain in the front window of the small house shifted slightly. She watched it for a few minutes, but saw no sign of a face peering out. Could be a cat, she supposed. 

Speaking of easy-to-spot vehicles…Silas’s beast of a car wasn’t likely to blend in, either. She headed over to where the festival was being held. The streets were closed off and parking areas had been created for the event. The place was already busy. She found a spot at the far end of a row and turned off the engine. When she reached for her new sunglasses, her fingers brushed the plastic bag the nurse had given her.

Katie had been so tired when she’d finally found a hotel and realized she’d need money for the room, she’d only taken out the wallet. Now she picked up the bag and remembered how scared she’d been that she was going to lose him.

“You never had him, not really. He only had you.” 

She crushed the empty bag in her hands—no, not empty. She’d almost missed it. At the bottom of the bag was…the crystal she’d given him. Her heart stopped beating for a moment. He’d had it on him, maybe in his pocket. He’d been carrying that crystal, the gift she’d given him and that he’d taken. Did it mean there was hope?

She couldn’t let herself think about it. The flow of people into the festival area was picking up. A scan of the immediate area showed no sign of Ben. She was on her guard none-the-less as she stepped out of the vehicle. She tucked the crystal into the pocket of her jean shorts and headed toward the entrance. Admission was two bucks, a donation to those who had suffered from the fires. She spent her remaining money on orange juice and a breakfast sandwich. 

A Dixie band was jamming in the far right corner. Even at ten in the morning, kids were already running around with cotton candy and ice cream cones. It reminded her of a larger, more sophisticated version of Flatland’s fair.

She reminded herself to put on her sunglasses, at least some disguise. She wasn’t used to wearing them. All she had to do was cruise around the festival until she spotted Ben. If he were trying to finagle Dr. Buchanan’s identity, he was no doubt using all that phony charm on both him and his sister. If he weren’t there, she’d stake out the house.

It was already warm by eleven-thirty. An up-and-coming country band was now commanding the main stage. When she spotted Mrs. Turner at last, her heart went into triple time. The man walking at her side looked pale and fragile, though he laughed at something his sister said. Ben wasn’t with them. 

She watched them for twenty minutes, waiting for Ben to join them. Though Mrs. Turner occasionally glanced around as though looking for someone, Ben never showed. Back to the car, then, to cruise by the doctor’s house. Maybe she’d been wrong about this. Maybe Ben was long gone in some other direction.

The door handle on the Navigator was burning hot, and she pulled back her hand with a hiss. When she reached for it again, a hand came from behind her and covered hers. Before she could even take that in, an arm went around her and covered her mouth, and a voice whispered in her ear, “You’re smarter than I gave you credit for. But it ends here, Katie girl.” 

Silas checked himself out of the hospital—against doctor’s orders—as soon as he got Katie’s message. He would have done it last night, but when he’d tried to get up, he’d nearly passed out. He was still dizzy, still had a hundred pile drivers inside his head, but nothing was stopping him now. He narrowly missed Gary who looked as though he’d been heading toward Silas’s room. He’d been dressed in a hospital gown.

Bertrice was waiting by the doors, fidgeting. “Are you sure you should be out of the hospital yet?” she asked when he joined her.

“I don’t have a choice. Thanks for coming.”

“If my mom found out…” She shook her head, but her expression grew dark. “Silas, I still can’t believe what you told me…about Ben.”

He couldn’t believe she’d come to the hospital to see him. After getting Katie’s message, he’d asked her to stick around. “It’s hard to believe that someone you think is nice is really evil inside. It’s easier to think someone like me is a murderer.”

He had thought that once. He felt relief, even though deep inside he’d known he couldn’t kill anyone. But the connection was too eerie. Now the connection seemed gone, both with Ben and Katie. With everyone. He wasn’t sure if the concussion had knocked something loose or if because of the painkillers, his empathic feelings were subdued. For the first time in his life, his brain was free of other people’s feelings.

That left his own feelings banging around inside him. They were more unsettling than anything he’d ever felt.

“Do you know where I can get a car? I’d rent one, but I don’t have my wallet.” He followed her to an old truck.

“My brother’s working on my car now, getting it ready for the big exodus if they can’t keep holding the fires at bay. This is his truck.” She looked at him. “Katie’s in trouble, isn’t she?”

“More than she knows, probably. I need to get to Macon right away.”

“Ben killed Geraldine and Dana, didn’t he?” Her voice sounded tight, but that was the only indication Silas had as to her inner feelings.

“Yes.”

“Take the truck. Do whatever you have to do to catch him. And to keep Katie safe. Drop me off at home. I’ll get a ride to the hospital and get that computer for you.”

“Thanks,” he said.

Bertrice’s lower lip trembled. “Kill the bastard, okay? Do it for Geraldine and Dana.”

Killing Ben would be harder without his gun. He’d probably taken it after conking Silas on the head. He’d been coaching Katie to shoot someone if it came down to it; now he had to think about the possibility of taking a life, too. If Ben hurt her…Silas didn’t want to think about it.

The sky behind him was a dark mass of storm clouds. The truck rattled and shook as he neared eighty. He couldn’t afford to go too fast, not while driving someone else’s truck and without his driver’s license. Going the speed limit wasn’t an option, either. Gripping the wheel was a painful proposition, though, even with the bulky bandages. He eyed the bottle of painkillers on the seat, but he didn’t want to waste time opening the bottle.

He still hadn’t tuned into Katie’s feelings. That may or may not be a good thing. All his life he’d viewed his empathy with mixed feelings. Mostly they ran to disdain. Celine had convinced him that his was a gift from God, given to him for a reason he would understand someday. Then she’d been taken, and his gift hadn’t helped one bit. When he’d started seeing through the killer’s eyes—through Ben’s eyes—he’d once again been grateful for this gift. He thought it would save Katie’s life, at least, even if she hated that he could see into her soul. Now his wish had come true, and his “gift” had disappeared when he needed it the most.

He started to tighten his fingers on the wheel as another realization hit him. The action and realization both hurt as much. Katie’s love had been the same kind of gift, given to him even though he’d never asked for it. He’d rejected that gift, too. Celine had offered him her love too, but he’d turned her down. Then he’d lost her forever.

Katie’s love was even more precious. He patted his shirt pocket—no crystal. No talisman against the darkness that lived inside him. He didn’t need a crystal. He’d known that all along. He needed Katie to keep away the shadows, to pull him into the light.

Now that he was willing to try to accept the gift she’d offered him, he might lose her forever, too.

The needle bobbed just over ninety miles per hour. Macon was thirty minutes away.

CHAPTER  23

“I’m proud of you. You made the selfish decision in trying to save Silas. It’s nice to see some human faults in you. For the longest time, I thought you were perfect. Everyone has evil inside them, but I couldn’t find any in you. But all you needed was a little temptation, and you slid right down into the gully.”

Katie’s terror mounted with each passing minute. He drove them in Silas’s car to the outskirts of Macon. It was a rural area, like the stretches between Flatlands and the other towns. She was handcuffed to what people called the Jesus strap. If anyone needed Jesus just then, it was she. She leaned her cheek against the tethered wrist and closed her eyes. Her prayer had worked last time—Silas had been alive. Now she was being selfish and praying for herself.

Ben hadn’t looked at her since they’d headed out of Macon. He’d checked on her peripherally, but he hadn’t met her eyes once. “Did you tell Silas where you were going?”

She wanted to say yes, that he was probably on his way, but that wasn’t going to save her now. That would only make Ben speed things up. “He’s in the hospital,” she said in a dull tone. “He was unconscious when I left him.”

The only thing that could save her, if Silas was indeed heading to Macon, was that spooky empathy. His words about not having the feelings dampened that hope.

He smiled when he saw a road leading off to the left. He turned onto it. In the distance, an old farmhouse sat surrounded by abandoned fields. The fence was broken in places and overgrown with weeds. The road leading to the house was gutted out in spots.  The cuffs bit into her wrist every time they hit a pothole. She hated Ben driving Silas’s car, though she thought it was odd that of all things that should bother her.

He drove through one of the broken spots in the fence and pulled up to the house. The front porch was nearly collapsed; glittery eyes peered out from the darkness beneath it.

“Home sweet home,” he said in a chipper voice. He held the gun against her side as he unlocked the cuffs. He clamped the other cuff around his wrist.

“Ben, what are you going to do with me?”

“Don’t call me that.” His voice had changed to a clipped one on those words. He pulled out the large duffel bag he’d taken from the van. She heard metal chinking inside and shivered.