by Terri Reid
Suddenly, they heard a pop, and all of the lights on the ground floor shut off. “Dagnabbit,” Stanley said back behind the curtain. “How’s a man to know that outlets in the kitchen and the porch are connected?”
Bradley sighed. “Don’t worry,” he said. “I’ll take care of it.”
“But what are we going to do?” Timothy asked. “With no lights on, how are we going to surprise her?”
Bradley looked around the room frantically until he spied the bags of candy for the trick-or-treaters. “Margaret, Mary expects you and Timothy to be here, so would you ask her to fill up all the candy bowls? By that time, I’ll be back upstairs, and the lights will be on.”
Margaret laughed. “I’ll be happy to get rid of my daughter,” she teased. “Now hurry and get the lights back on.”
Bradley had barely dived beyond the curtains when Mary entered the front door. With just the light from the stairs on, she saw Clarissa and her parents in the room. “Hi,” she said. “Where’s Bradley?”
“Oh, he had to run downstairs to flip the breaker,” her mother explained. “He’ll be back in a moment.”
“Well, I really need to speak with him,” she said, walking towards the kitchen.
“No,” Timothy said, taking his daughter’s arm. “That’s his surprise. You don’t want to ruin it, do you?”
“Well, this is pretty important,” she said.
“But, it can wait for just a few minutes, can’t it?” her mother asked. “Besides, Bradley wanted you to fill the candy dishes out on the porch when you came home.”
“What?” Mary asked.
Clarissa came over with four large bags of candy and handed them to her mother. “Daddy said it was really important that you do it right away,” she insisted.
Mary shook her head. “But, I really do need to speak with Bradley.”
“Darling,” her father said, “fill the candy dishes, and we’ll send Bradley out there in a trice. You don’t want angry trick-or-treaters now, do you?”
“But…” she tried to argue.
“Go, darling,” her father insisted, guiding her to the door. “There’s nothing that important that it can’t wait a moment.”
Shaking her head, Mary closed the door behind her and walked down the steps to the sidewalk where a large bowl of candy sat on a chair. Since there was no light from the front porch, the bowl was in complete darkness. She could make out the shadow but had to feel around to be sure. “This is ridiculous,” she muttered.
She began to open the first bag when she felt a pinprick in her side. She started to turn towards the pain when a strong hand reached out and grabbed her arm. “If you don’t want your baby to die,” the low voice threatened, “you’ll do exactly what I say.”
Mary gasped softly when she saw the glimmer of a knife up against the side of her stomach. She dropped the candy on the ground and nodded. “I’ll do whatever you want,” she said. “Just don’t hurt my baby.”
“Walk with me,” the low voice said, “and don’t make any stupid moves.”
She was pushed forward onto the sidewalk and then guided down the block. She looked around at all of her neighbors and their children, dressed in costume and running from house to house. She knew any word from her would risk their safety. Then she glanced at the person next to her, and her heart stopped. A soldier dressed in camouflage with black face paint smeared over his face was her abductor.
“Where are you taking me?” she whispered.
The knife pressed a little tighter against her, and she felt it scratch her skin. She was suddenly shoved off the sidewalk and stumbled against the side of a dark SUV. The soldier reached out, opened the back door and pushed Mary into the back seat. “Turn with your hands behind your back.”
Mary slid sideways on the seat and did as she was asked. She felt the coarse rope tighten against her wrist, and then she was forcefully shoved back against the seat. The solider reached over to grab the seatbelt just as another car turned the corner and light flooded into the back seat. With a jolt, Mary recognized her captor. She took a deep breath and waited until the soldier had climbed into the front seat and turned on the ignition.
“Where are you taking me?” she asked again.
“Someplace we can have some privacy,” Viv replied. “Someplace in the jungle.”
Chapter Fifty-one
“How long does it take to fill a bowl of candy?” Stanley muttered. “She don’t have to arrange it pretty-like.”
Rosie giggled. “Why of course she would want it to look nice, and maybe she’s visiting with some of the neighbors,” she whispered back to Stanley. “She’ll be in any moment.”
Bradley tapped his fingers impatiently and then shook his head. “This is taking too long. It’s been nearly ten minutes,” he said, and he hurried to the front door and pulled it open. The lights were now on, and he could clearly see the chair and the bags of candy dropped by the side. His stomach dropped.
“Mary!” he yelled, walking to the edge of the porch and scanning up and down the sidewalk. “Mary!”
He ran down the stairs and up to the sidewalk. “Mary!” he yelled. “Mary!”
“Bradley what’s wrong?” Margaret asked, standing in the doorway.
“Mary’s gone,” Bradley said.
“She said she needed to talk to you,” Timothy said, his voice filled with self-recrimination. “As soon as she came into the house, she said she needed to talk to you. And I told her it could wait.”
“Okay, we need search the neighborhood,” Sean O’Reilly said as he walked onto the porch and was joined by his two brothers, Art and Tom. “She can’t have gone too far. Everyone have their cell phones?”
Bradley reached to his back pocket and shook his head. “My cell phone,” he said.
He ran back up the stairs and into the house, grabbing his jacket that he’d thrown over the couch. Pulling the phone out of the pocket, he looked at the screen. “She tried to call me twice,” he said, clicking on the message.
He listened to the message and turned to Mary’s brothers. “I think she’s been taken,” he said.
Maggie, standing in the corner of the room, tugged on Clarissa’s arm. But Clarissa, concentrating on her father, ignored her. Maggie tugged on her arm again. “What?” Clarissa asked impatiently.
“There are some ghosts in your house,” Maggie said. “And they’re trying to talk to your dad.”
Clarissa grabbed Maggie’s hand. “Where?”
Clarissa gasped. The two ghosts stood next to Bradley. One was a woman with her head partially bashed in and blood covering her face, and the other was a man with a pale face and blood covering his clothes. “Mary!” the woman was shouting. “Mary!”
Clarissa pulled Maggie across the room with her. “What?” she asked. “What did you say about my mom?”
Bradley turned to Clarissa. “Clarissa?”
“There are ghosts here,” Maggie said to Bradley. “And they know about Mary.”
Kristen turned to Maggie. “We saw a soldier take her,” she said. “Tell your dad a soldier has her, and he told her he was taking her to a jungle.”
“They said the soldier has her,” Clarissa said. “They said the soldier is taking her to the jungle.”
“A jungle?” Bradley asked. “What jungle?”
“How the hell am I supposed to know?” Kristen huffed. “I’m not from Freeport. Where do you have jungles in Freeport?”
“She’s not from Freeport,” Clarissa said. “She doesn’t know.”
“The woods,” Andrew suggested. “He’s taking her to the woods.”
“The other one said he’s taking her to the woods,” Clarissa repeated.
Bradley looked around the room. “Our best guess is that she’s being taken to a woods, either Krape Park or Oakdale,” he said. “Probably in a heavily wooded section.”
“He has a knife,” Clarissa said, her eyes filling with tears. “He has a knife on mommy.”
Kristen punched A
ndrew. “You didn’t need to tell that little girl about the knife,” she said.
“Yes, I did,” Andrew argued. “That’s how he killed me, and it’s how he’ll try and kill her.”
“Okay,” Sean said. “How do you want us to do this?”
“We’ve got at least two highly likely places,” Bradley said, “one on the south side of town at Oakdale and the other one in Krape Park, following the road up to Flagstaff. I want at least two cars going to Krape Park and two to Oakdale. No loud noises. We don’t want to panic this guy.”
He turned to Sean. “You take Krape Park,” he said. “Call me if you see anything.”
“Got it,” Sean called. “Art, you can come with me, we’ll take the front.”
Timothy threw Tom his keys. “You drive,” he said. “We’ll follow Sean.”
“I’m going,” Clifford said, standing up and pulling his keys out of his pocket. “Stanley, you can come with me. We’ll go the back way to Oakdale.”
“Okay, I’ll see you there,” Bradley said.
Bradley was running towards his car when Ian stepped out of his car.
“Hey, I thought the party was inside,” he said.
“No time to explain,” Bradley called to him. “Jump in the cruiser with me.”
Running to his car, Bradley quickly turned it on and shoved it into drive. He waited only a moment for Ian to get in, and then he pulled down the street towards Highway 26.
“Mike!” he yelled, and Mike appeared next to him.
“Go to her,” Bradley said. “Be with her.”
“On my way,” Mike replied and faded out.
Chapter Fifty-two
Mary stared into the rearview mirror and looked at the driver. Beneath the smeared, black paint, she could see the familiar features of the friendly waitress who had helped them the other day. But her eyes were now slightly dilated, and her jaw was clenched tightly. She looked like someone who was in a trance.
“Viv?” Mary asked.
“I’m not Viv,” she barked out, her face emotionless and her voice several octaves lower than Mary had remembered. “I’m Private Victor Kutchens. My family calls me Vic.”
Is she just playing a game, or does she really think she’s her dead brother? Mary wondered.
A movement in the passenger’s seat across from Viv caught Mary’s eye, and she turned to see the ghost of a young man appear. He was clothed in a military dress uniform, and he bore a striking resemblance to the woman driving the SUV.
“The real Vic?” Mary whispered.
The young soldier turned to Mary and nodded. “I’ve been trying to help her for years. It’s like she goes away and this other person comes out. This person isn’t like me at all,” he said. “But she doesn’t realize when he takes over. It’s like she goes to sleep, and he comes out.”
Mary had read that multiple personalities can be caused by trauma, and it sure sounded like Viv had had plenty of trauma in her life. But, whoever the bad Vic was, he obviously thought Mary was a threat and needed to be eliminated. Her only hope was to try and get in touch with Viv.
“I think I met your sister, Viv,” Mary said. “Doesn’t she own a diner in Polo?”
“She bought that diner with blood money,” Viv snapped.
Mary was struck by the anger in Viv’s voice. Did she have so much guilt about buying the diner that she hated herself?
“I’d think, as her brother, you’d be more understanding,” Mary replied. “I mean, she lost everyone in her life. What else could she do?”
“She could have died with me,” she growled. “She could have laid down her life and died with me.”
“I never felt that way,” the real Vic said. “I was grateful she had money to start a new life.”
Mary nodded sympathetically at Vic.
“You wanted her to lay down her life, like you laid down your life for Mitch?” Mary asked Viv.
Viv clenched her jaw again and shook her head. “No, what I did was valiant,” he said. “All Viv did was take what she wanted. She was selfish.”
“In a way,” Mary said. “But in a way some could say that you were selfish when you chose to risk your life and leave your sister all alone.”
Viv swerved the SUV to the curb and turned in the seat. “Do you want to die right now?” she screamed. “Do you want me to kill you right now?”
She grabbed the knife and held it at Mary’s throat. “I can do it,” she threatened. “I’ve done it before.”
Mary leaned back as far as she could, her heart hammering against her chest. “No,” she stammered. “I’m sorry.”
Viv turned back in her seat and pulled back onto the road. “I did what every soldier should do,” she said. “I sacrificed for my country.”
“And Viv did what every survivor has to do,” Mary replied. “She tried to move on with her life. But it looks like you didn’t let her move on.”
Viv shook her head. “No, it’s not like that,” she said, shaking her head. “You’re confusing things.” Her voice got frantic. “Just shut up and let me drive.”
“I’m sorry,” Vic said. “I’ve tried to reach her. Tried to reach her when she went after that poor young man. I’ve tried to reach her since the accident with Kristen, but, she can’t or won’t hear me.”
Mary nodded, still trying to calm down. How long had she been gone from the house? Fifteen minutes? She knew that they’d eventually figure out she was missing, but would it be soon enough? Suddenly, she felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. She turned and saw Mike sitting next to her. Tears of relief filled her eyes and slid down her cheeks.
“Hey, sweetheart,” he said gently. “How are you doing?”
When he saw her hands were tied, he gently wiped away her tears. “Don’t worry; the cavalry is on its way. And I’ll be here for moral support.”
Viv turned left on Lamm Road, and Mary realized they’d be at Oakdale in a few short minutes. She had to buy herself some time.
“I have a question before we get to the jungle,” Mary said. “What turned you from a hero into a killer?”
The SUV screeched to a halt, sliding up against the edge of the road. Viv turned around again, her face twisted. “I am not a killer!” she screamed. “I’m a hero! I protect people. I help people. I’m not a killer.”
“So, Kristen Banks,” Mary said, trying to keep her voice calm. “Did you kill her?”
“No!” Viv screamed. “I loved her. I loved her, but she wouldn’t even acknowledge me. So, I went to her and tried to get her to see reason. But then…”
Viv shook her head. “I don’t know. It all happened so fast,” she said. “I was holding her, and then she was falling. I didn’t push her. I didn’t mean to push her. I loved her.”
“Why did you go to the school?” Mary asked.
“I had to see her,” Viv answered. “I knew Danny was coming home, and I had to get her to change her mind.”
“How did you know about Danny?”
“His mother came by the diner,” Viv said. “She told me.”
“Did she tell Viv?” Mary asked.
“No, no I was at the diner,” Viv said. “It was me, not Viv.”
“But I thought Viv bought the diner with blood money,” Mary pushed. “How could you be there? Weren’t you dead?”
“I’m not dead!” Viv screamed, pounding her fist on the steering wheel. “I’m here!”
“Okay, I was just a little confused,” Mary replied softly. “So you found out that Danny was coming home, and you wanted to see Kristen and get her to change her mind.”
“I was much better for her than Danny would ever be,” Viv said. “I was a better man all around.”
“I read the letters you sent her,” Mary said, “when you were overseas. I could tell you cared for her, but it seemed to me the letters were written more to a friend than a lover.”
“What?” Viv asked, looking at Mary through the rearview mirror.
“The letters didn’t change u
ntil after you died,” Mary said. “And then, suddenly, they were filled with expressions of love and passion. It was strange. Why would you change like that?”
“I loved Kristen,” Viv said. “I know I did.”
The SUV pulled back onto the road, and they continued in silence for a few minutes. Finally, Viv turned down Baileyville Road towards Oakdale. Mary knew she only had a short amount of time before they were hidden in the woods.
“I’ve been thinking about those letters,” she said. “And the more I think about it, the more I realize the letters were from a friend to a friend,” Mary said. “As a matter of fact, the letters were more about Mitch than anything else. It was like the two of you had a mutual admiration society…”
Mary stopped and realized what she was saying. “Mitch,” she said slowly with dawning realization. “Vic didn’t love Kristen, he loved Mitch.”
Vic turned in his seat and nodded at Mary. “Yes, you’re right,” he said. “And now you figured out my greatest secret.”
Chapter Fifty-three
“Okay, I’m in, now what’s going on?” Ian asked as they moved through the residential streets toward Highway 26.
“Mary’s been taken,” Bradley said. “We were working on a case, and we thought it was safe.”
“She’s been taken?” Ian repeated. “How long?”
“Fifteen to twenty minutes ago,” Bradley said. “But the guy’s already murdered twice.”
“Are the two ghosts in the back of your car the victims?” Ian asked, looking over his shoulder to see Kristen and Andrew behind him.
“Does everyone you know see ghosts?” Kristen asked Bradley.
“Ah, well darling, he can’t hear you without Mary around,” Ian said. “But if you could fill me in on any details, that would be helpful.”
“He said the jungle,” Andrew inserted, “but it looks like he’s taking her to Oakdale.”
“But it’s not he. It’s she,” Kristen said. “It’s not Vic, it’s Viv.”
Ian turned to Bradley. “I don’t know if this is going to make sense,” he said. “But he is not a he, he’s a she. It’s Viv not Vic. And she’s taking Mary to Oakdale.”
