Raven Falls

by Jill Sanders

  “I’m clocking out early,” he said, turning to Andre. “Lock up, will you?”

  He didn’t even stop by the house to pick Blue up as he’d planned. Instead, he headed out to the resort as he called Raven’s cell phone.

  When she didn’t answer, he knew without a doubt that something was wrong. He could almost feel it in his bones. Like he had when Reggie…

  He stopped that thought from metastasizing and pushed the gas pedal down farther.

  When he rushed through the front doors of the resort, he noticed his uncle in the lobby area, talking to two of his men, and frowned.

  “Where’s Raven?” he barked out.

  Sean turned and frowned at him. “How did you…”

  “I’ve been trying to call her. She’s not answering.” He held up his phone, not wanting to explain about the feeling and Andre’s conversation.

  “Your mother said she stepped outside for a walk during lunch and hasn’t returned. No one noticed until about half an hour ago. We were just going to head out and start looking for her ourselves.”

  Cade’s heart sank. “She likes to walk towards the lifts for lunch,” he said, remembering a conversation they’d had a few weeks back.

  “Right. Want to take that route?” Sean asked, and Cade took off at a sprint. “Call if you find out anything,” his uncle called after him.

  He was totally breathless when he reached the park bench that she’d mentioned. He called out her name and tried her cell phone again.

  “Damn it,” he said loudly enough that the sound echoed.

  His eyes scanned every blade of grass, looking for any sign that she’d come this way hours earlier.

  When his phone rang, he jumped at the loud sound and fumbled to answer the call from his uncle.

  “She never picked up her lunch,” Sean said quickly.

  “What?” he asked.

  “We checked in the kitchen. She called down an order for lunch, but never picked it up. Which means…”

  Cade turned to look at the massive buildings in the distance. “She’s still inside.” He started running back. His ankle throbbed and burned as he rushed up the back stairs.

  He didn’t even know where to begin looking. Where could she be? Who had her?

  The bar.

  Andre’s words echoed in his head. He’d heard the gossip at the bar.

  Taking the stairs from the back of the building two at a time, he rushed to the front area and stopped when he noticed a handful of people sitting around the bar top enjoying lunch or drinks.

  It was Friday afternoon, and he knew that soon the place would be packed.

  Had Raven come this way? He asked a few people he knew, who all shook their heads in response.

  Then his eyes caught his own in the new mirror that hung behind the bar, and he remembered the extra space that had been changed back there. Only employees would know about the space.

  He pushed past the crowd to check the space, only to come up short when he bumped solidly into Heather. She was straightening her bartender’s apron and hair and looked pleased to see him.

  “Cade Stone. To what do I owe this pleasure?” she purred.

  “Have you seen Raven?” he asked, his eyes scanning the small dark space.

  “Why do you want her when I’m right here?” Heather wrapped her arms around his shoulders.

  He moved to push her aside, but then stilled when a memory of how Heather looked back in high school flashed in his mind. It was as if he was seeing her for the first time. His hands froze on her wrists as he looked at her. Really looked at her.

  She was vaguely the same build as Raven. A little shorter and a few pounds lighter. But back when they’d been seventeen… They’d been almost the same. At one point, she’d started dying her hair different colors. He couldn’t remember it ever being red, but then again, he’d been away at college. Anything was possible. Right?

  He remembered the rumor Raven had told him about Reggie and Heather hooking up just before the fire. Another rumor that had made the rounds and broken Raven’s heart.

  “Did you used to have red hair in school?” he asked as he felt his heart start to race.

  The moment he spoke, the version of Heather that had been standing in front of him—the crisp bartender’s outfit, the pleasant smile, the feminine sexuality—all of it changed. Even the way she held herself… shifted. She someone became more masculine. Stronger.

  “Very good.” Even her voice had changed, to a lower pitch, almost a baritone. “I believe you’re the first that has followed my trail of clues.” She laughed a sickening sound so low he shivered.

  “Why?” He started to put his hands in his jacket pocket for his phone but stopped when Heather pulled a gun from the black bartender’s apron that she wore and pointed it at his chest.

  “Look who wants to play?” She motioned towards the narrow set of stairs that sat directly behind a stack of boxes. “Come join the fun below.”

  “Tell me Raven’s alive,” he warned without moving.

  Her eyebrows rose slightly. “Why don’t you come see for yourself.” She chuckled and waved the gun.

  “If you shoot me, everyone will hear it,” he said, still not moving.

  “We’ll simply tell them you attacked us.” She turned her head slightly, and he noticed a dark bruise on her cheek. He hoped that Raven was the one who had given the mark to her.

  Then her words hit him.

  “We?” he asked, feeling his stomach roll. If it was just Heather, there might be a chance he could overpower her. But if there were two…

  “She likes to go into hiding.” Heather’s face twisted slightly. “So, I take over and do what needs to be done.”

  What was she talking about? She? Heather? Then he stilled and realized he was no longer talking to Heather. Whoever it was standing in front of him wasn’t the sexy brunette that always flirted with him. Instead, it was the murderer pointing the gun at his chest. The gun waved towards the stairs. “Down the stairs or you won’t see the bitch again.”

  “I’m not going anywhere with you,” he reiterated, still trying to understand it all.

  “Fine by us.” Heather shrugged. “But if you want to see that bitch alive”—she glanced down at her watch and smiled— “you have about five minutes left before she suffocates.”

  Cade jerked towards her, but she held up the gun and then motioned with it towards the stairs.

  “Tut, tut, do you honestly think you could search this entire place in that short of time?”

  He turned and walked fast, taking the stairs quickly, ignoring the pain in his ankle as he went.

  “Where?” he barked out. When she motioned with the gun towards a door, he pushed through it quickly. He couldn’t remember being in this part of the resort before. It looked old, untouched by all the changes and upgrades. Which meant chances were good that no one had been down here in a while.

  There were shelves and shelves of bottled wine and unopened bottles of hard liquor and soda machine syrups. The entire room was no bigger than his closet.

  “Where is she?” he growled out.

  Heather smiled. “Aren’t you going to ask us why?”

  “Why?” He continued to scan the room in search of Raven.

  “Why we killed old Joe, snooping Rachelle, and gossip Kim.” She laughed, the deep sound reverberating in the small space. “Not to mention the worst party throwers on the face of the planet, controlling Steve and his dumb wife, stupid, gullible Amy.” He lost what she was saying. Who were Steve and Amy? Then he stilled when he heard the next name. “As well as the boy who wouldn’t give us the time of day, until I roofied him at a party.” Another laugh. “Cheating Reggie.” Her smile grew. “That was a fun night. Until he threatened to tell on us.” Cade’s eyes grew at the knowledge that his brother had basically been raped by this girl more than ten years ago. “That’s right. Now you’re catching up.” Heather’s eyes practically glowed with mischief, and he could see more of the ma
dness within. Could tell for sure that this was no longer the woman he’d seen around town. The girl he remembered from school. This was something darker. Something full of evil. Full of hate.

  “You. You’re the one who set the fire?” he asked.

  “Ding, ding, ding.” She laughed as the gun wavered. “I was stuck. The bitch somehow locked me away until she needed me again, when the original bitch returned and brought old Joe back into town. Delivered him right into our hands.”

  For the first time since running into her, he watched as worry flashed in her eyes. As if Heather, the real Heather, was trying to break free.

  “She thought she’d gotten rid of our past. That he’d walked away. Then he came back and threatened to expose our little high school enterprise.”

  “Enterprise?” he asked.

  She laughed. “Since our parents wouldn’t pay for all the things we liked, we had to make money somehow. So, I was born.” He remembered the grainy image of the redhead and Colin causing him to recoil at the memory. “I kept her safe and did what had to be done. I always have and always will.”

  “You… and Colin, as well as Joseph?” he asked.

  “Just a few of our clients that kept her in the style she liked. In what she deserved.” She shrugged. Cade thought about the other people she’d murdered.

  “Why the fire?” he asked.

  “You were long gone by then, but they had the audacity to throw us the worst party ever. People were talking about it, making fun of her. Gossiping.” Her voice rose to an almost scream and he got a glimpse into her ugliness.

  “So, you set the fire?” He shook his head. “That doesn’t add up.”

  “She hated it. Hated them all. Everyone needed to burn.” A slow smile twisted her lips. “Here’s a little tidbit that no one else knows. Both of her parents were already dead when the house burned up.” She laughed again. “I knew all about Raven and Reggie’s plans to meet at midnight for her birthday. Of course, her parents, being the perfect people they were, would have the perfect party once again for Raven. So, we followed the two lovers out there, held in our rage and laughs as they quarreled over poor ol’ Reggie’s infidelities. It was too perfect when Raven threw the candle down. We finally had a way out of this hellhole. A way to get rid of everyone we hated. Everyone who had betrayed us. Controlled us. Used us.”

  He wanted to glance at his watch. Surely more than five minutes had passed by now. Was Raven still alive? Had Heather just been lying about the time?

  “We never expected the bitch to live,” Heather said with a sigh. “But even that worked out to my benefit. There was someone to blame. Misdirection. Until she returned.”

  “Where is Raven?” he asked forcefully.

  “Don’t you want to hear about ol’ Joe?” She tilted her head slightly. “He was easy. We’d planned it out for a while. A little flirting with the repairmen working on the elevators. He showed me how to turn the power to the elevator on and wait for ol’ Joe to step in, then off they went, halfway up. We hadn’t expected it to be so perfect.” She waved the gun. “A knock over the head was easy enough with this when he was trying to climb out of the stuck thing. Then, after turning the power back on and disabling the security controls on the outdated elevator”—she laughed and swiped her finger across her throat— “the doors did the rest. All I had to do was hit the button.” She shrugged and laughed again. “It was perfect seeing his blood all over Raven. We enjoyed watching her slip and slide and fall into it. Very funny.”

  He felt his anger grow and understood that there wasn’t anything he could do to stop her from telling him everything.

  “Do you want to hear all about Rachelle?” she asked cheerfully. “You see, Rachelle and our mother had been besties.” She rolled her eyes as she crossed her arm over her chest, propping up her gun arm as if she were tired of holding the thing pointed at his chest. “She suspected about us. Somehow, she knew. Then she found the Polaroids we’d kept and well… intuitively knew it was us. She confronted us, accused us of killing old Joe and of needing counseling because of the photos.” Heather’s laugh turned higher. “She thought we’d been raped by ol” Joe. Then she started to demand that we go get help.” She laughed, the gun shaking with her movement. “Like there is any help for us. So…” She smiled. “We took some of the pesticides they keep stored in the supply room across the hallway and asked her to meet us for some tea to discuss it. After I slipped a little into her cup, that is. Simple as that.”

  He bit back the desire to call her sick. “Where is Raven?” he asked in a calm voice instead.

  Heather glanced down at her watch and smiled. “We still have two minutes on our break.” She shifted her eyes back to him. “Now, where were we? Oh right, Kimmy, Kim, Kimber.” She chuckled. “That bitch didn’t know how to keep her mouth shut. We’re the only one in town who can spread lies.” She drew out the S sound. “And she had no right gossiping about us in the grocery store to everyone.”

  “So, you killed her?” he asked.

  “Oh, it was easy. The girl was high as a kite that night, thanks to a few pills we’d sold her earlier in the week. Besides, she was a small little thing. Not very heavy.” She shrugged. “Our only regret was that we couldn’t stage her death in this grand ol’ place.”

  “Where is Raven?” He took a step towards Heather.

  She sighed, one of those I’m-so-annoyed-and-bored kind of sounds as she motioned with the gun.

  “What are you going to do? Shoot me?” He shook his head.

  “Did you know that this room is not only airtight but soundproof?” She smiled and lifted the gun again, this time pointing it at his head.

  He felt the air leave his lungs as his heart raced.

  It was true, Cade thought. Moments before death, your life really did flash before your eyes.

  Raven felt groggy and cold. So cold. Her teeth chattered and her body shook uncontrollably.

  She moved to sit up and bumped her head, which sent ice particles raining down on her head.

  “What…” She coughed when frigid air filled her lungs. Reaching out, she scraped the ice over her head, her nails, sending more ice particles falling over her already frozen body. Her knuckles split as she punched at the icy roof, and the knees on her slacks split open when she used them to kick against her prison.

  Her throat burned as she screamed to be released.

  Once the sheer panic of being locked in an icy coffin dissipated slightly, her brain kicked into gear.

  It was obvious she was in an old freezer. The kind she used to get ice cream out of in the kitchens at the resort when she was younger. They used to have those small orange sherbet cups that she loved. The kind that had their own wooden spoons.

  Then she realized she was most likely still at the resort and wondered vaguely if this was the very same freezer.

  If it were… she held her breath as she searched for the release handle her mother had forced her father to install in the freezer for fear that their eight-year-old daughter would accidently get locked inside, just like the little boy they’d seen on a special news report who had suffocated inside his parents’ freezer in their garage.

  There was several years of ice buildup to claw through, and it seemed to take hours, but when she felt the cold metal of the bright red handle her father had installed all those years ago, warmth seeped into her body.

  Older model freezer lids wouldn’t lock, but this kind had a small button you could push on the outside to lock it. The handle overrode the lock and latch, allowing the lid to pop open freely.

  Even though her parents had died more than ten years ago, they were still here. Protecting her. Saving her life.

  The moment the lid popped open, she took a deep gulp of warm air, relishing the heat that seeped into her body. Still, her entire body shook as she used her frozen limbs to climb out of the box.

  As she scanned her surroundings, she realized instantly where she was. The one room she hadn’t had a chance to
really survey yet. It was a small storage area that was tucked behind the wine and liquor supply room.

  The moment she could feel her limbs again, she crawled towards the doorway. Seeing a light under it, she leaned against it and took several deep breaths as she tried to remember how she’d gotten there.

  When the answer rushed in and hit her over the head, she gasped. Heather.

  At the moment she thought the name, she heard the woman speaking. Fear leapt into her and she frantically looked around for someplace to hide or for a weapon.

  Then she remembered the gun Heather had used to get her to follow her down into the storage area.

  At first, she’d been convinced to head down there when Heather had called her to the bar area, claiming that someone had broken in and stolen some wine and had broken a bunch of other bottles.

  When they’d arrived downstairs, Heather had pulled out the gun.

  She couldn’t remember getting into the freezer, but now that her body was warming up, she could feel a dull ache in the back of her head. Heather had most likely hit her and then put her into the freezer herself.

  Leaning her head against the door, she listened again. It was definitely Heather talking.

  When she heard Cade’s voice, she almost cried out. But then his words sunk in.

  “What are you going to do? Shoot me?” he asked.

  Images of Heather holding Cade at gunpoint flashed in her eyes. She needed to do something. And quick.

  Then she felt her cell phone vibrate in her pocket. It was as if the device had just connected with the internet now that it was out of the metal box.

  Pulling it out with shaky fingers, she sent a text to Sean with frozen fingers, quickly telling him where they were.

  Still, she doubted the man would get there in time. From the sound of things in the next room, she had seconds. Not minutes.

  She would not let this woman take the man she loved from her. Not again.

  Seeing her grandmother’s heavy sterling silver tea set sitting on a shelf over the freezer, the tray her mother used to make her shine every holiday season, she got a very stupid idea.