Witch Hunt (42 page)

Leigh jumped to her feet and leaned across Brody’s desk until their faces were an inch apart. “You get her some medical attention, or I’ll see to it that your ass is publicly bared and roasted.”

Lieutenant Brody’s glow faded, and he rolled his chair backward to get away from her. “Officer Hancock is due into the station at noon. I’ll have her take your niece to the emergency room.”

Leigh turned and walked out of his office, satisfied with her one minor triumph.

A voice came over the loudspeaker. “Judge Barker is going to hold a special arraignment hearing at three o’clock this afternoon for the prisoners arrested in the Whittaker murder.”

Leigh found Marek waiting for her. “Special arraignment?” she asked.

“Most of those arrested were minors. And I don’t think Montvue really has the facilities to keep so many minors in custody; they have to be kept segregated from the adult prisoners.”

“How are we doing on getting a lawyer?”

“No luck. We may end up using a public defender, for today at least.”

“Where do the Hawthornes keep their money?”

“Montvue First National.”

“Is it open today?”

He nodded. “Until noon.”

“Good. I’m not sure what a good risk a bail bondsman might find a Hawthorne right now. I think we should have the cash to be able to get her out ourselves.”

“I just spoke to Helena. Mrs. Hawthorne’s taken to her bed again.”

“Well, we’ll just have to get her out of it, won’t we?”

As they were walking out, Leigh saw Diane. “Miss Fox?”

Diane looked at her but didn’t seem to recognize her.

“Leigh Hawthorne,” Leigh said.

Diane’s eyes cleared. “Oh, yes.” Her voice was dull.

“I wanted you to know that Melanie didn’t do it. She and the Whittaker girl were both prisoners of the Satanists.”

Leigh began to feel Diane’s confusion.

“What?” Diane asked.

“The murder of Amber Whittaker.”

“Murder?”

“Are you okay?”

“They took my baby.” Diane’s eyes welled with tears. “God help me, they took my baby away.”

Leigh felt the assault of Diane’s unbridled emotions, and she instantly understood. “Oh, no,” she whispered.
Oh, how it hurts
, she thought. She put her arms around Diane and drew her to her. She tried to take into herself some of the other woman’s pain; she felt a measure of responsibility for her plight.

“I should have bought a dog instead of a fire extinguisher,” Diane said. “A dog would have been better.”

“I’m sorry, Mrs. Hawthorne, but your account’s been frozen,” James Bradshaw, the president of First National, told Vivian.

Vivian sputtered but didn’t articulate anything of value.

“Why has it been frozen?” Leigh asked.

“Raymond Hunter obtained a court order to freeze it … ah, yesterday, I understand.” He glanced over the top of his glasses at the two women. “Haven’t you been notified?”

“Not a word.” Leigh glanced at Vivian’s pale face. “Vivian?”

“Ray’s been calling. I … didn’t return … I’ve been out of sorts …”

“It’s my understanding it has something to do with questions of misappropriation of funds from Hawthorne and Hunter. The injunction is pending an investigation. I’m sorry I didn’t notify you. I thought you surely knew.”

Leigh sighed and rose to shake Bradshaw’s hand. “We’ll be in touch, Mr. — ” Upon touching his hand, she felt the smug satisfaction he was feeling. In a moment of comprehension, she realized that he was one of them; he was in Cody’s camp. Had Ray actively sided with Cody, too? Her gift didn’t give her that knowledge.

“Bradshaw,” he offered, filling in the gap her startled reaction had left open.

“Bradshaw,” she said. “Yes, I won’t forget again, Mr. Bradshaw.”

Dr. Cole, the emergency room physician, was a young man. He had a simple and direct manner, and Leigh felt comfortable with him. She was glad that Melanie had a compassionate doctor.

“Miss Hawthorne suffered no permanent damage as a result of her attack.” He paused, then looked at Leigh with embarrassment. “Excuse me, I’m sorry. Physically, she’s going to be okay. Unless, well, there’s always the possibility of an
STD
. We’ve taken appropriate tests.” He cleared his throat. “The baby wasn’t affected.”

Leigh was startled. “Baby?”

“Why, yes. Miss Hawthorne’s eight weeks pregnant. I’m sorry, did I let the cat of the bag?”

Leigh offered him a weak smile. “Yes, but it’s a good thing you did.” She felt his compassion for Melanie. “You’ve been very kind.”

“The policewoman took her away as soon as we were done.”

Leigh shook his hand. “Thank you.”

“Witch!”

Leigh was well conditioned. She spun around to see Cody standing a few feet away, pointing at her.

“Witch!” He was frantic.

People stared.

Leigh couldn’t restrain a smile. She found it ironic that now she really was a witch. “Why, Preacher Cody, what’s your problem this time?”

Her attitude seemed to disarm him. He dropped the accusing finger and inched toward her. “Which one of you witches cast the spell on my wife?”

Leigh laughed. He really was absurd. “Pardon me?”

“My wife … she’s in there,” he gestured toward an examining room, “dying. I received a message from a Hawthorne saying he’d let her live if I stopped God’s work.”

“God’s work?”

“You know what I mean.”

“Oh, yes, the persecution you’ve instigated.”

He now stood less than a foot from her. For the first time, he didn’t scare her. And for the first time, she threw up an invisible barrier of will to prevent an empathic connection. She didn’t need to be inside the man to know how dark his inner world was. The saddest part was that he was so sincere. It was too bad he was so terribly, tragically wrong.

“Well, I’m not going to succumb to blackmail,” he said. “Even if my beloved Rachel is sacrificed to the cause, you can tell whichever witch it was who did this that I won’t relent.”

Gil and me, we’ve got a plan … They want a war, they’ll get a good one … They’re the ones that started the trouble. Gil and me, we’re just going to finish it.
Jason’s words came back to Leigh, but she didn’t miss a beat in the dance she and Cody were performing. “You’re really quite pathetic.”

“I’m no longer going to maintain my national silence on the issue of the Hawthornes. Tomorrow night I’m going to tell America what you people are and what you’ve done to my wife. And then I’ll tell the world; I’ve just signed contracts for foreign distribution — thirty-one countries in all — of
Preacher Cody
. The whole world is going to hear my message about witchcraft, and there won’t be any place that’ll be safe for the likes of you.”

They’re going to kill us all. All of us. Everywhere. It’ll start here, but it’ll spread. There will be no place that will be safe.

“You know something, Cody? I think you’re truly insane.” She gave him a consoling pat on the arm, which caused him to flinch. She laughed again, then winked at him. “Don’t worry, I didn’t hex you.” She turned on her heel and walked away.

“Don’t mind me, Preacher, I’ve just grown up since our last encounter,” she whispered after she was on the other side of the emergency room doors.

Marek was waiting for her in his truck. As she slid into the seat beside him, she realized that she was not only older but wiser.

“We’ve got to get Melanie out of jail this afternoon so we can all get out of town,” she said.

“Why?”

“Because dead’s dead. Alive and in hiding, we have a chance to turn things around, form an underground network, fight to stop the madness.”

“You think it’s gone that far?”

Lieutenant Brody had told her the town would probably riot. Cody had been driven over the edge. “I know it has.”

Leigh had never been a good decision maker.

But that was before she became a witch.

Katherine Winthrop sat on the brocade couch and sipped tea. Her house was elegant and her wealth, obvious.

“I understand that you’re very involved with the local Methodist charities,” Leigh said.

Katherine nodded. She had said little in the fifteen minutes since Leigh had arrived. She seemed cautious.

“You never married?” Leigh asked.

Katherine shook her head.

“It’s hard to be alone. I — ”

“State your real business, Mrs. Hawthorne.”

Leigh sighed. She could feel that Katherine’s wariness stemmed from the hurt she had been dealt by the Hawthornes. Leigh didn’t blame her. “The Hawthornes need your help.”

Katherine giggled, a reaction that seemed incongruous coming from someone as refined as she. “That’s very good.”

“Melanie, who’s pregnant, has been arrested for a murder she didn’t commit, and the family’s bank account has been frozen pending some ludicrous investigation for fraud. We need to post bond — in an amount that I’m sure will be quite substantial — for her this afternoon, and we don’t have the means. We — ”

“What about your money? I understand your husband was a doctor.”

“He …” Leigh faltered. She had never participated in financial matters with Craig. He invested, donated, carried patients, and in general, kept little of their assets liquid. “There isn’t enough.”

“Why should I help them?”

“Because you once loved one of them.” Craig had told her the story.

“They treated me like a dog.”

Leigh decided to just tell the truth. “Your father was the one who wouldn’t allow the relationship to continue. He made Tony Hawthorne promise to keep you and Alan apart. He used his political position to hold him to that promise.”

Leigh could feel Katherine’s shock, then understanding, and finally a sense of consolation. “Then Alan did love me?”

“Very much.”

Leigh felt Katherine relax, but just for a moment. Her defenses came right back to attention. “All I really have that’s important to me is my reputation. If I put up the money, the town will find out. That could implicate me in your … situation.”