Unmasking Evil

by Desiree Holt

  Alex, who had been trying to observe as many people as possible, spotted Micki at the edge of the crowd, her face a frozen mask. For a moment, he wondered if she’d refuse, but then she set her drink and went to stand beside her brother.

  “You all know why we’re here at this shindig. It’s for a very special occasion. Our dad’s sixtieth birthday. And here comes the cake.”

  Two of the waitstaff carried in a tray bearing an enormous multi-tiered cake that they set on a table in front of the band.

  Jason grinned. “We’re gonna light this sucker in a minute, but first, Dad, if you’d come up here so we can embarrass you in front of everyone. And, Mom, you come over here, too.”

  Alex saw Bill Schroeder lift his glass, drain it, and head for the cake. He noticed the man’s step was a little unsteady and wondered how much he’d had to drink. But then, just as Schroeder reached the cake, he paused and suddenly collapsed onto the ground. A loud gasp echoed from the gathered crowd.

  Jason hurried over to his father and knelt beside him, Micki on his heels. Dana Schroeder stood there staring, all color drained from her face.

  Alex put down his empty glass and raced to where the man lay on the ground, convulsing. Kneeling beside him, he felt for a pulse, found one but very weak. Lifting an eyelid, he realized the man was completely unconscious. He pulled out his cell and hit the button for county emergency response.

  “This is Sheriff Rossi. We have a man down of unknown causes at the Schroeder ranch. Scramble every deputy on duty plus every detective plus an ambulance ASAP.”

  The moment he was acknowledged, he dropped the phone and began doing chest compressions. Jason did the count for him, while the huge crowd looked on in stunned silence. He couldn’t be bothered to check for reactions. He was too busy trying to pump life into the man on the ground. He was still pumping when the EMS unit arrived, pulled him back, and did their thing.

  “Sorry,” one of them finally said. “He’s gone. We could transport him to the hospital, but he’s beyond lifesaving services. Want us to cover him until the medical examiner gets here?”

  Alex nodded. “Please. And thanks.”

  Bill Schroeder’s rocks glass that he had been drinking from had fallen next to the body. Alex grabbed a napkin from the nearest table, wrapped the glass, and stuck it in a pocket until his deputies arrived with, among other things, evidence bags.

  As the paramedics began packing up their gear, signaling the end of their services, a shrill cry broke the air. Looking up, Alex realized it was Dana Schroeder. She leaned into the woman next to her who had put her arms around her and was trying to comfort her.

  “No.” Jason spit the word out in a harsh voice. “Don’t stop. Keep trying.”

  “Jason.” Alex rose and put his hand on the other ‘man’s shoulder. “He’s gone, man. Take my word for it. Take your mother and sister inside and stay with them until I can come and talk to all of you.”

  “What about the…the body? You just going to leave it here?”

  “Until the medical examiner gets here.”

  “And all these people?” He gestured wildly at the crowd that seemed frozen in place.

  “Get your mother and sister out of here. I’ll take care of everything.”

  Jason looked at him then exhaled a slow breath and turned to his mother and Micki. The two women had white, pinched faces, and Dana was twisting her hands together. The man spoke in low tones to them, overriding their objections and finally guiding them into the house. Alex was surprised that the crowd was still relatively silent, but he chalked it up to a ghoulish interest. He couldn’t imagine this crowd being shocked much by anything. He expected any moment to be bombarded by questions.

  He stepped aside to let the EMS techs cover the body with a plastic sheet and grabbed the microphone, tapping it to make sure it was still hot.

  “Can I please have your attention? As you can see, we’ve had an unexpected tragedy. I’m going to need to speak to most of you, so if as many as possible could take seats I’d appreciate it.”

  A tall man in an expensive Western-cut suit stepped forward. “How long do you expect us to wait? And what the hell is wrong with Bill?”

  Alex’s ingrained patience learned as a SEAL stood him in good stead as he answered the man and called for the medical examiner. As he was speaking, four of his deputies arrived, and he immediately put them to work on crowd control. All except Miranda, to whom he gave specific instructions. Someone would have to survey the scene and figure out what else to collect until they all knew for certain what happened.

  People had broken their silence, sound erupting as if a volume switch had been turned on, and were talking to each other and over each other. Their resentment of the deputies was obvious. Some of them were belligerent about being asked to stay put until questions could be asked.

  It was going to be a long night.

  Chapter 4

  Micki washed her face and pulled her hair back into a ponytail. She’d yanked off her fancy dress the minute she got to her room and pulled on worn but familiar jeans and an equally worn sweatshirt. She didn’t care if she looked sloppy. The clothes were familiar and comforted her. When she looked in the mirror, she nearly scared herself, she looked so gaunt and traumatized. The night had been endless. The early part of the evening she’d spent wound tight as a drum, eying every man at the party, wondering if one of them was him. Listening to voices and wondering what each one would sound like if it was hoarse. Raspy. And driving herself nuts doing it.

  Thank the lord for Alex Rossi. While he casually chatted with the partygoers, he also managed to check up on her every so often, as if he expected her to bolt any minute. And truthfully, if she could have, she would. But she’d made a promise, and she stuck to it.

  Then her father collapsed, and…

  God. Would this nightmare never end?

  Getting her mother settled had been an ordeal until the doctor Jason called arrived and gave her a sedative. Nina Osterhaus, her mother’s best friend, had insisted on coming into the house, saying they could interview her here, but she wasn’t leaving her friend. Micki had been more than grateful, positive she wasn’t up to the task herself.

  Jason had stopped her when she went to change clothes to ask if she was okay, but she’d shaken him off. No, she wasn’t okay. She might never be okay again. On top of everything else, she had no idea how long she’d need to stay here now. Tomorrow she’d call her office and explain the situation.

  Logically there was no reason at all to think her father’s death had anything to do with the evil that had gripped this part of the Crazies for more than two decades. Or to think that he himself was part of it. The thought that he might be made her stomach roil again. She knew the medical examiner would do an autopsy, since it was a sudden, unexplained death. No devastating illness to precipitate it or anything. What would he find? Had something her father said or did precipitated this?

  Dramatic, much, Micki?

  But drama had ruled her life for so long, she wasn’t able to change the pattern.

  God! She wanted to crawl into bed and pull the covers over her head, the way she’d done all those years ago. Too bad she had to go back downstairs now.

  The thought of an extended stay sent the nausea bubbling up again. She needed to get hold of herself. Taking off her party clothes and pulling on familiar jeans and sweatshirt had helped a little. The last thing she felt like, even before her father keeled over, was playing pretend in a festive atmosphere.

  She turned out the light in her bathroom just as a knock sounded on her door.

  “Jason?” she called, as she pulled the door open.

  But it wasn’t her brother who stood there. Instead it was a commanding looking Alex Rossi. He should have scared her to death, but instead that unfamiliar feeling of safety swept over her again. How was that possible with a man she’d only met once? The shrink she’d been seeing for what seemed forever had told her over and over again, when she despaired
about her future, that at the right moment the right man would come into her life and change things for her. She’d never thought, however, that would be in the midst of yet another crisis.

  “Sorry. Did you want me to get him for you?”

  She shook her head. “Uh, what do you need, Sheriff?”

  His strong, masculine lips curved in a smile that made her toes tingle. She had a sudden urge to throw herself into his arms and burrow against him, making all this go away. And what the hell did that mean?

  “I was hoping you could spare me a few minutes.”

  Micki drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. Of course he’d want to talk to her. She’d been expecting this. “Sure. Did you want to do it now?”

  “If possible.”

  She studied his face, looking for some kind of clue to his thoughts, and saw intense kindness in his gaze. Kindness and…something else. Something that looked a lot like a desire to protect her and keep her safe. How was that even possible when they barely knew each other? She had to be imagining this.

  She blew out a breath. “No problem.”

  “Your brother offered to sit in if it would make you more comfortable,” he added, “but I’m hoping you’ll be okay with just the two of us. I have a few basic questions for the moment.”

  Her big brother was intuitive enough to suspect after she unloaded on him that being alone with a strange man made her nervous. But, for whatever reason, the same way it had struck her earlier, she felt no threat from Sheriff Alex Rossi, despite the severity of the situation.

  “I’m good.” And she hoped she was. “But if it’s all the same to you, let’s do it in the sun room. That’s the enclosed porch on the side of the house. I’m sure there are people everywhere else on the place, and this will give us some privacy.”

  She closed the bedroom door and led the way down the stairs.

  “Unfortunately, you’re right,” he agreed. “My deputies are helping my detectives take statements from people as quickly as they can. We’re trying to get this done as fast as possible, but there’s a good-sized crowd here tonight, and some of them are not, uh, too amenable.”

  She snorted a laugh. “I’ll bet. They probably think my father dropped dead just to inconvenience them.”

  When he didn’t answer, she knew she’d come pretty close to the truth. She hadn’t liked many of her parents’ friends growing up, and she liked them even less now.

  “Well, I’ve called in everyone who’s off duty to help get this handled, so hopefully we can be finished before dawn. Not that I expect anyone to have seen anything, or if they did, to admit it.”

  “Do you know when the…autopsy”—she stumbled over the word—“will take place?”

  “I asked the medical examiner to rush it, and he promised he’d bump it up and do it tomorrow.”

  “Thank you. And here we are.”

  She led him into her favorite room in the house, a side porch that had been glassed in years ago so they could enjoy it in winter. It was furnished with comfortable couches and chairs and had become her sanctuary after the event that nearly destroyed her. It was the one place where she felt safe. She closed the door to give them privacy, and curled up in one of the big arm chairs. Alex took the other one. He was sitting so close to her, she could smell the clean scent of his aftershave and count the late-night whiskers on his chin. What she really wanted was to sit in his lap and burrow into his strength. It continued to amaze her that he was the first man in as long as she could remember who didn’t light that flame of fear that always waited inside her. What, she wondered, would sex with him be like? She had a feeling that for the first time in her life she would find out what others raved about and she had yet to experience.

  “I’d like to ask you some questions, if you’re up for it “

  “First, can you tell me how my mother is? I was going to check on her, but her friend Nina is with her and, in fact, is much closer to her than I am.”

  He nodded as if there was nothing unusual in that. “She was fairly hysterical,” he told her, “but the doctor came and gave her some medication. Her friend helped her change out of her party clothes and get into bed. I’m smart enough to know tonight is not the time to talk to her, but…”

  “But it has to be done, and we’ll make sure it takes place. So. What is it you think I can tell you, Sheriff?”

  “How about calling me Alex?” He gave her that toe-curling smile again. “And, basically, all I want is to take you through what you remember of tonight.

  She bit her bottom lip, a nervous habit that had plagued her all these years. “Okay, but I am not sure how much help I can be. I…didn’t mingle much.”

  “I’m aware of that. But anything you can tell me will be a help.” His smile was warm and reassuring.

  “Okay. Shoot.”

  “I’d really like anything you can remember about people your father chatted with.”

  She sighed and pulled her legs up to rest her chin on her knees. “I’m sorry I don’t have much to tell you, but I’ll do my best.”

  “Let’s start with this. Would you happen to know who your father’s closest friends are? Men he does a lot of business with or socializes with?”

  Micki frowned. “This is nothing but a guess, based on what I remember and things my mother says in her emails.”

  “Understood.”

  “Okay.” She wrinkled her forehead. “Probably his closest are Frank Harding, Jim Northrup, Adam Hoffman, and Drake Brandt. They do business deals together. Have monthly dinners at a restaurant, usually in Billings. I don’t know much more than that.” She rubbed her cheek, another nervous habit she wished she could get rid of. “But I can tell you that he’s been on edge the whole time I’ve been home, and I don’t know why.”

  “Did you mention it to your mother?”

  Micki nodded. “She just told me he has a lot on his mind. She was hoping the party would help him relax.”

  “Speaking of that, did you notice him spending more time with any of the men you mentioned.”

  She shrugged. “Not offhand, but I stayed away from the tent until a sufficient number of people were there. Then I could move through the crowd without getting involved in conversation. Accept good wishes for my father and move quickly from person to person.”

  “You didn’t spend much time with anyone?” he persisted.

  “As little as possible.” She swallowed. She might as well get past the elephant in the room right away and tell him why she avoided people like the plague. “I’m not…comfortable with most of them.”

  Alex leaned forward, resting his arms on his thighs. “You don’t have to answer this if you don’t want to, but why do you live across the country? And why is it you come home so seldom?”

  “It’s…a personal matter.”

  “Okay. If it has nothing to do with what happened tonight—”

  She held up a hand. “That’s the thing. I don’t know. I don’t want to believe it did, but if he knew, or found out…” She closed her eyes a moment, gathering herself. “I’m going to tell you something I’ve never told another person except, well, you’ll see. It explains why I don’t socialize at these events but also, in some way, might have to do with my father’s death. Although if he was part of this, I’m sorry I didn’t kill him myself.”

  “Part of what?”

  She drew in a deep breath to steady herself and let it out slowly. “I’m sure before you even took this job, someone gave you chapter and verse about the evil that’s been like a shroud for more than two decades.”

  “They did, and the brutal murder of Holly Martino really brought it home to me.” He rubbed his jaw. “Not a fun way to start off.”

  “I’m sure you know about the young girls who were killed over the past fifteen years or so. Teenagers. Usually fourteen or so. You’d have to have been told.”

  “Yes.” His features hardened for a moment into an expression of hatred. “I can’t imagine how their parents lived throug
h that.”

  “Do you know all those girls were raped by men who managed not to be identified? And that there were a lot more besides the girls who were killed?”

  He’d wondered about that. “How do you know that, if I might ask.”

  She swallowed. “Because I was one of those girls.”

  Shock raced through his system. “Micki, I—”

  She shook her head “Please. Let me get this all out. I’ve never told this to anyone before. Except other girls it happened to, and lately my brother. Somehow, we knew to seek each other out. Kind of a victims’ connection.”

  He nodded, waiting for her to go on.

  “Hardly anyone talks about it because they’re afraid. The rapes all took place at parties like tonight, in places like this ranch. The assumption is that a small group of very wealthy, very elite men decided this would be a new way to have fun. Rape young teenagers and threaten them. That’s what they get off on. That and being able to conceal their identities.”

  “But if it took place at their homes, why didn’t they tell their parents?”

  “If a man was able to rape you without you even seeing who he was, and threatened to kill you if you told, would you say anything? Young girls can easily be terrified, Sheriff.”

  “Alex.” He said his name in a soft voice. “Please. Call me Alex. And yes, I see what you mean. It smacks of the arrogance of men who believe they can get away with anything. And I’m not saying your father was one of them, but, like you, my senses tell me there’s some kind of connection.”

  She folded and unfolded the hem of her T-shirt, nearly undone by the look of caring in his eyes. She didn’t remember anyone ever looking at her like that. She’d seen pity. Sympathy. Disappointment, as if the few people who knew what happened thought it was somehow her fault. Sadness. But not that look of compassion she saw in Alex Rossi. It was nearly her undoing. For the first time in sixteen years, she felt tears clog the back of her throat and had to swallow hard against them.