Chapter Sixteen
Paul picked up the phone and hated the fact that his hand was shaking. “Will, tell me you’ve got something.”
“She show up again?”
One thing he’d always admired about Will was his uncanny ability to feel out the big picture. The day he retired, the SPD lost one of its best, although given his private work, the community still benefitted. Right now, he wanted and needed that expertise. He wanted someone to help him make it all go away.
Though he often helped people in exactly the same position he found himself in now, until it happened to him, he didn’t really understand how awful it was. Now he did, and the reality was more frightening than he ever imagined. Experts could teach this stuff in seminars and throw psychobabble at them all day long, yet it still didn’t give anyone the true perception of how invasive it felt to have someone do this.
Making a wrong turn in a relationship shouldn’t be a life sentence, yet that’s exactly what was happening. She was not going to stop. He’d seen it in others when he’d arrested them, had glimpsed the intensity that shone in their eyes like beacons in a lighthouse. It was in her eyes too, and regardless of how desperately he wanted to believe it would all go away, he knew better.
She would never go away.
“She was sitting on the porch when I drove up. Jesus Christ, Will, I just told her to stay away, yet tonight it was like we’d never talked. She’s certifiable, I swear to God.”
“If you recall, I’ve already confirmed that particular tidbit, my boy. You should see the info Maddie pulled up on her. You’ll want to be sitting down when you read that report.”
Paul ran a hand through his hair. A headache was starting to build, a steady thump, thump, thump behind one eye. “I don’t think I even want to see that. I’m freaked out enough as it is.” With his fingertips he massaged his right temple, hoping to ease the growing pain.
“Okay, my man, you take a look at it later. Here’s what we’re going to do starting tonight. I want you to go about your normal business except vary things a bit. Take a different way to work, don’t go to the same places for coffee, lunch. Don’t shop at your normal grocery store. You feel me?”
No problem. Like he was hungry. Just the thought of Brenda banished his appetite in a flash. He wouldn’t need to go to a restaurant or pick up groceries. Food was the last thing on his mind. Too bad he couldn’t package that; he’d make a million on the diet market.
“I feel you.”
“Good. Tell me you installed an alarm in your house.”
Ever since Will had taken on private security, he’d been like a dog with a bone. He’d been after Paul for at least a year to get a security system installed. Of course he’d ignored him. He was a cop; why did he need a security system when he was licensed to carry a gun? Not to mention he still had that you’re-not-the-boss-of-me thing going on with Will. Someday he’d probably grow out of it. Possibly.
“Not yet.”
“Boy, I could come over there right now and kick your ass.”
“But you won’t.”
“No, I won’t, but get it done before she goes all Fatal Attraction on your ass.”
“Huh?”
“Movie. Michael Douglas. Glenn Close. Do you ever do anything besides read books?”
“Not much into movies.”
“Forget it, just get the damned system installed.”
“What are you going to do?”
“Time for me and Maddie to do a little divide-and-conquer. We’ll figure out what your sick princess is up to and come up with a plan to diffuse the situation before it goes nuclear.”
“Will…”
“Yeah?”
“Do it soon.”
“Copy that.”
He closed his phone and shoved it back into his pocket. He liked living here and enjoyed his home. Until now. Tonight every shadow jumped out at him. Every moan or squeak sounded like a cannon shot that raced up his spine. It wasn’t fair. One mistake shouldn’t destroy his life.
From the refrigerator he pulled out an icy ginger ale. Most guys would probably go for a beer. He liked cold, tangy, and full of fizz. In short, ginger ale, a comfort food of sorts. Not very manly but it worked. He filled a glass with ice and poured the ginger ale over it.
The overhead light was on and he flicked the switch to turn it off, plunging the room into darkness. He took the tall, iced glass and stood next to the window that looked out over his big backyard. Leaning his head against the glass, he stared out. The shadows of the red maples he’d planted when he first bought the house shifted and quivered as a light wind moved through the night. The shadows made it look as though small creatures were scurrying through the yard. His mind turned to a creature not quite so small.
For all he knew she could still be out there somewhere staring in and hoping to see him as he went about his life. In the dark room she would be able to see very little, and that made him feel somewhat safe. Somewhat. That was the kicker. Big strong cop, cuffs and a gun at the ready, and he was nervous as a cat in his own home. That was fucked up on all sorts of levels.
His phone buzzed in his pocket and he pulled it out. A text message. He couldn’t help the smile when he glanced at the phone. Lisa. The text was short, “Sweet dreams,” followed by a set of red lips. Her timing was perfect. Just what he needed.
His heart felt lighter and he stood up taller. Holding the glass of ginger ale out toward the window he said, “If you’re out there, fuck off.” He tapped the pane with the lip of the glass and then turned to walk away.
He spun back to the window when he caught movement out of the corner of his eye. The glass in his hand dropped to the floor and shattered.
*
Diana got up and slipped on her pants and shirt. It was easier to think dressed. “You want to run that by me again?”
“Dead people. I see them. You know, like in the movie with the little boy.”
She sat in the chair opposite the bed and stretched out her legs. After the initial shock had passed and as hard as it was to believe, she was actually giving what Circe had told her serious consideration. Any other time she’d run like hell because someone saying something like this would make the reading on her nutty meter go sky high. With Circe, the needle was barely moving. She’d seen her work, been around her, and observed her. She wasn’t a flake.
“Dead people?”
“Yes.”
“As in ghosts?”
Circe moved her head from side to side. “Not like ghosts exactly. I just see them like I can see you. They’re solid and usually can talk to me.”
Diana was rolling that statement through her mind when one word hit: usually. “They talk to you?”
“Yes. Some do. Some don’t. I’ve never really figured out what compels some to speak to me while others don’t. I just listen and do my best.”
“That’s what happened tonight? They talked to you?”
Circe’s gaze dropped and she put her head in her hands, massaging her scalp. “Tonight something happened that never has before. They came to me here. In my own home.”
“I don’t understand.”
“As long as I can remember, it’s happened one way. I find them. They don’t come to me. They don’t appear in my home. They sure as hell don’t show up unannounced in my bedroom.” The way her voice trembled told Diana how much this troubled her.
Diana leaned forward and put her elbows on her knees. So many things were racing through her mind that she didn’t know where to start. “The first three women, you found them, not your dog, right?”
With a shrug, Circe said, “Sort of. Zelda really is a trained and certified human-remains detection dog. It’s true I saw the women before Zelda alerted, but she did her work too. She would have found them even if I hadn’t been there. That’s what I trained her to do.”
Diana was watching her closely, and with a flash she understood. Sitting back in her chair, she said quietly, “It’s why you became a K9 hand
ler.”
Relief seemed to wash over Circe as if a load was taken off her shoulders. “Yes.”
“Wow.”
“You don’t think I’m crazy?” The hope in Circe’s voice made her heart hurt. To even consider how life would be if you were trying to hide something like this and pretend to be like everyone else boggled her mind. Diana wasn’t sure she was strong enough to have carried a secret so powerful for a lifetime.
Diana got up and moved back to the bed. Taking Circe’s hand in hers, she stared into her eyes. “No, I don’t think you’re crazy. I think you’re freaking incredible.”
*
God, that was fun. In fact, it made him feel like God. He couldn’t pinpoint exactly when this thing had shifted from mission to entertainment, but damned if that wasn’t exactly what had happened. He should have started much sooner. The fun he’d missed by waiting so long. No worries. Now that he understood what he could do and how much he enjoyed it, no one could stop him.
Not that anyone had a clue. They were all running around looking for some horrible person, and that’s exactly why they wouldn’t catch him. He wasn’t some big bad bastard; he was just a regular guy—the next-door neighbor who was quiet and polite, and who kept to himself. He didn’t cause any problems and didn’t do anything that brought attention his way. Nobody looked twice at guys like him and it worked beautifully. He did what he wanted, took who he wanted, and no one was the wiser.
Now, however, he needed to figure out what to do with the leftovers. He’d had his fun, and though he hated this part, he was nonetheless going to have to take out the trash. But where?
He’d thought he was so smart when he tucked the last one away on the perimeter of the cemetery. It was a perfect hiding place because it was right in plain sight. A great plan too, except it didn’t work out so well, thanks to that stupid dog showing up. The mutt all but dug her up. Considering that the odds of not having the body discovered were on his side, that one ticked him off in a big way. That piece of trash should have been safe from discovery for, well, forever.
So now he had to come up with a place a bit more private. No running trails and no place that pain-in-the-ass dog might show up. One more time screwing with him and the dog was going to make the top of his hit list. It might actually be kind of fun to do away with the dog—a little twist on the norm. He smiled, thinking about how he could pull it off. So many tantalizing possibilities.
He drove along Aubrey White Parkway and had an idea. At one of the several pullouts along the scenic road he pulled in and parked, turning off his lights. From here the terrain sloped sharply down to the river. It was hard to make out the faint, lightly traveled paths even in the daylight. The abundance of so many other areas easier to traverse and far more heavily used made the area he studied now a definite possibility.
Traffic on the Parkway was almost nonexistent this time of night, so he didn’t worry about anyone discovering him. A tarp and his favorite paracord wrapped up the body in the trunk nice and tidy. Lugging the dead weight out of his trunk, he dropped it on the edge of the embankment. His preferred packaging method made it easy to roll it down the steep embankment toward the river below with a simple shove. In the quiet night air, the sound of snapping twigs and tumbling rocks sounded like a symphony to his ears.
It came to rest against several small pine trees. He followed it down, shovel in hand, his feet sliding on loose dirt and rocks. A couple of times he almost lost his footing. Near where the bundle stopped, he started to dig. The rocky soil cooperated, and soon he had a large hole just the perfect size for his package. Less than thirty minutes was all he needed to accomplish his task. Throwing the shovel into the trunk, he dusted himself off and climbed back into his car. Not a single car passed him by.
Why he’d never thought of coming here before, he didn’t know. This was a great place and perfect for his needs. The whole night had turned out to be quite entertaining. When a coyote came racing across the road and he had to stomp on the brakes, rather than curse the wild canine, he laughed. Nothing was going to ruin his good mood.
He could hardly wait for tomorrow.
Chapter Seventeen
It was stupid. Really, really stupid, yet he did it anyway. He still didn’t know if it was Brenda in the backyard or if his imagination was running wild. Either way, he was too jumpy to even try to sleep. He cleaned up the ginger ale and broken glass before going upstairs to change into jeans and boots, then slipped on his leather jacket as he went downstairs.
In the garage, he put on his helmet and straddled his Harley. Riding always made him feel better. When he left the house he didn’t have a particular destination in mind. His impromptu plan was to simply ride and enjoy the wind in his face and speed. Twenty or thirty miles and he’d be feeling more like himself.
He managed to get a fair amount of wind in his face as he rode along Highway 291. Bugs too, because the highway followed the Little Spokane River until it merged with Long Lake, and this time of night the bugs were in control. Before he realized it, he was in front of Circe’s house. He could say he was here to check on Circe, but it would be a big fat lie.
He was here because Lisa lived here too.
Hopefully the loud, obnoxious pipes of the Harley didn’t disturb anyone, though that was precisely the reason he had them on the bike. It was important for people to hear him coming. Too many motorcycle accidents happened because drivers had no idea a motorcycle was on the road. In his case, the only ones who wouldn’t know he was around were deaf. It was a good thing most of the time. In the middle of the night when most people were trying to sleep, maybe not so much.
As he killed the engine and rolled the bike into the shadows, he couldn’t help but smile when he noticed Diana’s car still sitting in the driveway. Whatever was brewing between Diana and the cute dog handler, it was apparently taking off in a big way.
Actually he was glad for his partner. Her career was important to her and he got that. It didn’t have to be her whole existence, though, and he’d always hoped she’d find someone to share her life with. Despite his own bad choices, he appreciated what the deep connection with another person could bring.
In fact, that sense of connection had brought him here now. Lisa’s spirit seemed to reach out and draw him close. It wasn’t necessary to be in the house with her. Just being nearby made him feel calmer and more relaxed. For a little while he would sit on his bike and breathe in the air, let it calm him. The shadows that dogged him at his own house weren’t present here. The air was cool and crisp, the sky dark and full of stars. Who wouldn’t find peace in a setting like this?
It should have surprised him when he saw a woman come out the front door and walk across the grass in his direction, but it didn’t. It made him smile. The night couldn’t hide the familiar shape and walk. No, he hadn’t known her long, yet he recognized the little nuances that made her unique. He would be able to pick her out in any crowd.
Lisa stopped at the front of his bike and put both hands on the handlebars. “So what’s your story, lawman? Bored? Scared? Can’t sleep? Had to take your big bad bike out for a spin in the middle of the night?”
“That would be number three.”
“Ah, the dreaded can’t sleep. Been there, done that.”
“Speaking of which, why aren’t you asleep?”
She smiled and shook her head. “This isn’t about me. If you notice,” she waved her hand back toward the house, “I’m actually at home. You, on the other hand, are sitting outside a woman’s home on a big, noisy motorcycle in the middle of the night. In the shadows no less, as though you think you’re all stealthy.”
“Cop stuff,” he said gruffly.
“Of course it is. Well, what do you say we take this cop stuff inside?”
Her offer sounded great and wrong at the same time. Just the fact he’d ridden here was wrong. He should have gone for a short ride and then returned home. That’s what he liked to do when he couldn’t sleep. Coming out here w
as, well, hard to explain, and if he couldn’t rationalize it to himself, how was he going to justify it to her?
“Come on,” Lisa said again. “You know you want to.”
He laughed. He couldn’t help it. He did want to go inside. “Maybe.”
“Maybe, my ass.” Her face grew serious. “Paul, I really would like for you to come in. What happened today has left me feeling uneasy. The truth is I’m glad you came back out. Your being here helps.”
He stared into her eyes, looking for a hint that she was just trying to be nice. Nothing like that stared back at him. Instead what he saw made his heart ache. Fear. “It helps me too,” he admitted. “Let me pull the bike into the driveway.”
A small smile lit up her face. “I’ll open the garage. It has enough room for you to park this bad boy inside.”
She was right and he was able to park next to Lisa’s car, a Mini Cooper. One look at the tiny car and he shook his head. “I don’t think I could even get in that thing.”
She put a hand to her heart. “You hurt my feelings. I love this car, and do you have any idea of the gas mileage I get in this baby? It’s incredible.”
“If you say so, but I heard it kinda sucks for a car this size.”
“Well, maybe.” She smiled. “But I like it so it really doesn’t matter.” She took his hand. “Let’s go inside.”
He figured they’d make some coffee, sit around and just talk. Boy, was he wrong. The minute they were in her lower-level apartment with the door shut, she reached for him, pulled him close, and locked lips.
*
Circe couldn’t help it, she burst into tears.
“Oh my God,” Diana exclaimed and pulled Circe into her arms. “I’m sorry. What did I say?”
Her sobs began to morph into laughter. “Do you know how long I’ve waited for someone to tell me that?”
“Tell you what?”
Necromantia Page 16
