by R. D. Hunter
The trail of fear led straight ahead, then curved to the left and followed a small path downhill. The duff on the forest floor was slick as ice and we each slipped more than once. I went down once and instinctively used my hands to break my fall. Ribbons of pain caused me to yelp and I couldn’t see. Maybe I blacked out for an instant.
Michael was instantly by my side, pulling me up gently under my arms. “You okay?” he asked, full of concern.
I nodded. “She went this way. Let’s keep going.” He didn’t argue for once. Smart man.
We followed the trail for another ten minutes. Michael radioed in our position regularly. The feeling of fear became stronger and I found myself shivering under my poncho.
Ruby was beyond scared, at this point. She was terrified. What could have frightened her so badly that she would risk this dangerous trek in the darkness and the weather? We were about to find out. My thin flashlight beam picked out movement just ahead.
“Ruby!” I called. “It’s Ava! We’re here to help you.” Just then my foot slipped again on a loose rock and I went down. My left hand went down hard on a piece of wood
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and the world went away for a while.
When it came back, Michael and Jenny were standing over me, radiating with worry. “Come on,” Michael said. “We’re going back. We were crazy to get out in this.”
I struggled to my feet. “No. We’re close. She’s just ahead. Let’s keep going.”
He shook his head. “It’s too dangerous, Ava. I want to find her as bad as you, but this isn’t the way to do it.”
Part of me knew he was right. That we should go back, give up and wait until the storm breaks before resuming the search. If Ruby had lasted this long, she’d likely last until then.
But the rest of me rebelled against the idea. I was feeling her fear. It was sharp and pungent. I couldn’t let it go on if there was the slightest chance I could alleviate it.
I started to voice my argument but was saved when the wind carried to us the sound of a female screaming. It was coming from down the trail. We all knew who it belonged to.
“Ruby!” I yelled, hoping she could hear me as I heard her. We started running.
Michael got on his radio, told them what we’d heard and gave our position. Jenny stayed by my side, ready to catch me if I fell again. Bless her.
Michael trailed a little behind, still giving instructions on how to get to us. We rounded a bend and saw the object of our search. But she wasn’t alone.
Ruby was in the arms of a large man. I couldn’t get a good look at his face. The rain and darkness was too thick. At first, they looked like two lovers, caught in the act of some act of debauchery. But the fear I felt from her and the overwhelming sensation of pleasure I got from him made it clear this wasn’t a mutual act.
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“Ruby!” I screamed and charged forward. I got one glimpse of her eyes. One flash of hope that maybe this wasn’t the end of her. Then the man picked her off her feet and threw her head first down the steep embankment.
There was one long, wailing scream as she went over, then a sharp crack as her head struck something hard. Then silence.
The killer took off the other way, so swift and surefooted that I knew we’d never catch him. Besides, he wasn’t my main concern. Ruby was.
We slid, stumbled and fell down the embankment. Trying to control our decent as best we could without going head over ass. Finally, we reached the bottom and found Ruby.
She was there, lying on her back, staring up at the night sky. Her mouth hung open slightly and her eyes were still wide with surprise and hope. But there was nothing inside. She was gone. I knew that before the others.
There was no feeling coming from her and her neck stretched at an awkward angle. She was empty, like a rock or a tree. No emotion of any kind. The person that I’d known was gone, and I’d been too late to save her.
I dropped to my knees beside her, my tears mixing with the rain. As I screamed in horror and outrage, a blast of thunder joined, adding it’s fury to my own.
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Chapter Fourteen
The funeral was a modest affair. A priest reciting generic words of little comfort, a hymn sung by those present in a monotone voice, and a simple brown coffin slowly lowered into the waiting earth. It was a beautiful day. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky or any hint of the vicious storm that had passed just two days ago. Even nature didn’t seem to mourn the passing of Ruby Tipton.
The coroner had officially ruled her death as accidental. I’d told anyone who would listen about the man on top of the ridge with her. But I hadn’t gotten a good enough look to describe him, and I was the only one who’d seen him. Jenny had been partly behind me and Michael was lagging as he gave entry instructions to the rest of the search team. Any and all evidence of the killer’s presence had been washed away almost as soon as he’d made his escape.
But I knew who it was. The only person it could have been. Donald Lawson. I’d felt his sick, twisted pleasure as he threw Ruby down that hill. He’d wanted it to be me.
But he’d settled for hurting someone I cared about. And if I got half a chance, I’d make
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sure he paid for it.
Michael had been great through the whole thing. He’d gone up to bat for me when the questions starting rolling in. How had I known which way Ruby had gone? What was I doing on the search in the first place? Had I really seen somebody out there with us when Ruby fell?
He’d been in closed door sessions with the Chief of Police, the Mayor and the head of Emergency Services all the next morning. When he came out, looking haggard and worn, he’d assured me that everything was taken care of. I don’t know what he told them, but apparently it was good enough that there wouldn’t be an extensive investigation into my involvement.
He’d even insisted on escorting me to Ruby’s funeral. With me still not close to being a hundred percent healed and Lawson still out on the loose, he wouldn’t have it any other way. I was grateful.
I stayed by the grave after the service was over. I could sense Jenny behind me; waiting with all the patience and sympathy a friend like her should have. Michael had gone to stay by the car, giving me the time alone he could tell I needed. I sensed the grave diggers hanging around the fringe, waiting for me to leave so they could get at their task filling it in.
But from the gaping hole before me, there was nothing. No trace of the woman I’d come to know remained there. Even my acute empathic senses, that picked up so many things I wished they hadn’t, could find no trace of her. She was just gone. It was all so final and empty that I had the sudden urge to throw myself down that hole and let the waiting earth swallow us both.
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As if in response to my thoughts, the ground began to hum under my feet. The vibration rose into my knees, then continued up until my very core seemed to thrum with energy. I didn’t need to turn around to know who was standing there.
“Did you know this would happen?” I asked.
“No. But I was afraid something like it would,” Sebastian King said. If he was surprised I knew he was there, it didn’t show.
I turned to face him. He was impeccably dressed, a far cry from how he’d been at our last encounter. He wore a suit of deep midnight black for the occasion. His dark hair was slicked back and his square face held neither reproach nor forgiveness. It simply was.
“Ruby’s death wasn’t an accident,” I said. “Something drove her out into that storm. Something frightened her so bad she’d rather face hell falling from the skies than whatever was after her.” I searched his face and heart for some kind of acknowledgement. “You have to believe me.”
“Belief isn’t the problem. Proof is.”
We’d come full circle. It seemed like ages since I’d confronted him in that office, cutting short his conversation with the most powe
rful man in the free world. Even then, I’d sensed something in him as he made his case. I couldn’t define it at first. It was caught up in the pulsating symphony of his emotions, like picking out a single voice among a choir. But now I recognized it for what it was; desperation.
“I’ll do it,” I said, meeting his gaze for the first time without blinking. “I’ll get you the proof you need. And when I do, you make sure whoever’s responsible for this fries in the deepest pit of hell there is.”
He nodded. “You have my word.”
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“Now wait a minute!” Jenny burst in. She marched over and glared at both of us in turn. “You’re not Xena, Warrior Princess and you, Sir, are not sending her in there by herself. The last time she was there she nearly got turned into an Avasicle. She needs backup.”
I couldn’t be sure, but I thought I saw a smile flicker at the corners of his mouth.
“And did you have someone in mind for such a role?”
“Yeah. Me. I might not have a degree, but I’ve been around. I’ve done everything from waiting tables to secretary work. And, plus, I won’t let this chick out of my sight without hanging a bell around her neck.”
Now it was my turn to smile. Only a fool would take Jenny Powell lightly, and Sebastian King was no fool.
“I think something can be arranged,” he said.
“One more thing.” He looked at me. “I want Michael in on this.” The hum of his emotions took on a distinctive sour note.
“Officer Parker? Why is that?”
“Because he was with us when we found Ruby. Because he covered for us afterwards. And because I’ve known him a long time. I trust him.”
King considered this for several seconds before nodding. And just like that, I had added private detective to my professional resume.
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Chapter Fifteen
Ten minutes and two phone calls later, we were all set. Jenny had traded in one food service job for another. She was now the newest food service technician at Sunny Pines, due to start tomorrow. Then it was time for my part.
I hitched a ride back home with Michael while Jenny went out to buy some scrubs. I brought up the subject as gently as possible, but when I told him what I was doing, he jerked the car to the side of the room and slammed it in park.
I didn’t need to be an empath to tell he was upset. His heavy breathing as well as the red flush in his face told me all I needed to know about his emotional state.
“Are you trying to get yourself killed?” he demanded.
“No, I just--”
“Because that’s what it sounds like. That place almost ended you once. Now you want to go back into the belly of the beast on some kind of spy mission. What is it about that place that makes you lose all sense of self-preservation?”
I knew his anger stemmed from fear for my safety. He didn’t want to see me get
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hurt again…or worse. It was the only reason I bit back a sharp reply of my own that would almost certainly have cost us his cooperation.
“The people there are helpless, Michael.” I felt some of his anger drain away at this simple statement, so I pressed on. “They’re good people. Kind hearted and they’ll talk your ear off if you let them. But they’re helpless. Most of them have little to no family and they depend on the staff there to live. If they’re being taken advantage of, someone has to do something about it. “
“But why does it have to be you?” he asked. “And why we’re at it, how did you know which way that woman went? How did you find her? And how did you know Donald Lawson was the one who sent his wife to the hospital the other night?”
They were all fair questions. He deserved an answer to each and every one, but I couldn’t give him that.
“I can’t tell you,” I said.
He banged his fist on the steering wheel in frustration. I could sense it welling up inside him like a spring, ready to overflow its banks at any second.
“You can’t tell me any of what I need to know, but still you come to me for help?”
I swallowed hard before replying. “I can tell you I’m sorry. I’m sorry I can’t answer your questions. I’m sorry we weren’t in time to save a good woman from a terrible death.” My voice cracked, but then it grew hard. “I can also tell you that I won’t sit by and watch another Ruby Tipton die or suffer because I failed to act. I won’t. And I need your help.”
For a few moments, I wasn’t sure which way he was going to go. I didn’t even
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think he knew which way he was going to go. But in the end, he did what all good men do.
“Where do we start?” he said with a sigh. I couldn’t help it. I took off my seat belt, reached right over and gave him the biggest, longest hug I had in me. It went on for a long time, and it felt good.
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Chapter Sixteen
Our roles were simple enough. Jenny and I would work the crowd while Michael and King would provide background intel. She’d keep her eyes open, talk with the residents and snoop around when able. I was to talk to the residents, get them to open up and watch for any medical abnormalities. Michael would start conducting background checks on all the employees. King was good enough to provide a roster. The man himself would start checking references, try to get a more inside view of their hiring processes.
Between the four of us, we hoped to turn up something pretty quick.
Jenny and I left five minutes apart the next morning. The mummy covering bandages around my hands had been replaced by thinner gauze, so I could at least operate a vehicle now. We’d agreed to pretend not to know each other. Any claim to association would only make our fact finding jobs harder. Better she come in with a fresh pair of eyes, untainted by the stigmata of associating with the woman who’d found Ruby Tipton’s body. Things had been so hectic during the search we didn’t think anyone would remember her.
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Even I didn’t know how deep those wounds would run. As soon as I walked in I felt everyone in around draw away from me emotionally. The wounds on my hand and Ruby’s death had made me a pariah again, similar to how I was when I first started. Gone were the pleasant smiles, the thankful pats and the occasional hug from those I assisted.
Instead, as soon as I did my job they retreated to some far corner so they wouldn’t have to interact with me any more than necessary.
I tried engaging with a couple of them. I chatted about how nice they looked, asked about their families, which was always a sure way to get your ear talked off. I even tried getting them to share memories of Ruby. No one took the bait. It wasn’t that they blamed me. I felt no sense of personal attack coming from them.
They were afraid, pure and simple. They knew what happened to Ruby could just as easily happen to them. And the bandages on my hands showed that even I wasn’t immune to the harm that could befall someone at any instant if they didn’t fall in line.
Even Nancy had withdrawn. She was still the same warm person I had come to know, but now she was curt. Her smiles were more forced and the pleasant vibe I got off her was polluted with fear and uncomfortable.
The only one who didn’t seem affected was Gary. He still met up with me between sessions, brought me coffee when he could and didn’t seem at all afraid to be seen talking with me. I had to take his sincerity at face value, because his emotional state was still closed to me, which was a nice change of pace.
Three days later me, Michael met me and Jenny at our house for a dinner conference to compare notes. I wanted to go out for pizza, but they wouldn’t hear of it.
Donald Lawson was still out there, so I was confined to my residence when not at work.
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The whole thing made me antsy and I chafed under the increased security, but I put up with it. We ordered in.
King was in Tokyo, buying a
n island to clone dinosaurs on or something, but he joined us on conference call. He sounded tired.
Turns out, Jenny had enjoyed more luck with the residents than I had. They chatted with her freely, not about anything of consequence, but it was still communication. The fact that she could bribe them with extra helpings of jello didn’t hurt matters.
“They’re scared, no doubt about it,” she said through a mouthful of takeout.
“They won’t say about what, but it doesn’t take a genius to figure it out. When that Thorny Bitch or her goon, Randy, enter the room they freeze up like a mouse in a cat’s paw. It’s sad.”
“There’s no one who might have the guts to testify in court if it came to it?”
Michael asked.
Jenny shook her head. “Not without having some kind of iron clad assurance that there wouldn’t be any retaliation.”
“I can give them that,” King said. “I can relocate them to one of my facilities in another state. No harm would ever come to them.”
“And what about the people they left behind,” I pointed out. “Even if we get one to testify against Lowry, Thornbirch or their pet, we’d be idiots to believe they’re the only ones who have a hand in what’s going on around there. Unless we get everyone responsible, there will be reprisals.” I turned to Michael. “Did you dig anything up?”
“Not much. The goon you mentioned is Randy Pooler. He’s got a record
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dating back to juvie for larceny. Since then he’s been in trouble numerous times for assault, possession and disorderly conduct. Mostly petty stuff. He completed his last stint in jail three years ago and hasn’t been heard from since. Not even a traffic ticket. He‘s the only one I could find anything on.”
