“Who’s here?”
Circe’s words were so quiet it was hard to hear them. “The women. All the women.”
“What?” She glanced around again to see who the women might be, and then the lightbulb hit a hundred watts. The women.
Circe nodded slowly and turned her gaze to Diana. Her eyes were full of sorrow and something deeper: fear. “All the women he’s killed are here.”
She was no expert on the paranormal, but that didn’t sound good. After their recent conversation on the nature of Circe’s gift, it sounded particularly bad. The dead didn’t come to her like this. First they’d showed up in Circe’s home, and now they’d showed up here. They seemed to be following her, and from everything Circe had explained to her, that wasn’t a good omen.
“Do you know why?”
Again she nodded slowly. “They’re trying to tell me something, the same thing they said before: “Help her.” After Zelda and I came across this woman, I thought maybe that’s what they meant when they came to me in my bedroom. I saw this young woman sitting on the rock and figured she was the one they wanted me to find. But now she’s here telling me the same thing. Find her. Find her. Diana, I don’t know who her is and I’m getting scared.” Her voice broke.
To hell with protocol and appearances. Diana pulled her close and held Circe in her arms. “We’ll figure it out.”
Circe’s voice was still shaking as she said, “I know we will, but will we figure it out before it’s too late?”
*
On many levels Paul hated leaving the crime scene and almost didn’t. Lead detectives did not walk away. On another level, he was totally okay with bailing on the scene to go pick up Lisa. Seeing her face and having her beside him would go a long way toward giving him a feeling of comfort. Everything about what had been happening made him twitchy, Circe and Zelda finding another body right there at the top of the list.
Combine that with Brenda and her fixation on him, and he was uncomfortable at a very deep level. He wanted to get back to a place of control or, at the very least, the illusion of control. He wasn’t dumb; he got that control was pretty much out of everyone’s hands. That’s not what he was talking about. He wanted to go to work, to go home, to meet his friends and know nothing weird would happen. No crazy ex-girlfriends showing up. No burning cars or broken windows. No dead bodies dropping like fall leaves all over the place. He wasn’t really asking for much.
Right now, all he needed to get him one step closer to normalcy was to take Lisa’s hand and help her into his car. To see her and know she was fine, and that tomorrow held hope for both of them, was huge. He pressed the accelerator a little harder, his lights flashing as he sped through the streets toward the university.
Parking at the university was challenging on the best of days, and just as he’d come here with lights flashing, he opted to use his official capacity to bypass the process of finding a parking spot. He parked right in front of the huge Foley Center Library and jogged up the steps to the entrance. He wasn’t exactly sure how he’d find her in the place once he got inside. But no matter what it took, he’d locate her and then keep her by his side until all the madness stopped.
He checked the obvious places first, the tables on the first and second floors. Nothing. She wasn’t there. As much as he hated to do it inside the library, which demanded that everyone be quiet, he pulled out his phone and called her. Still nothing. She didn’t pick up, and the call went to voice mail after a few rings. He dialed again and walked through the seating areas on the second floor several times, but the telltale ring of a phone never happened. She wasn’t here.
He returned to the first floor and started again. This time the faint melodic ring of a phone made him jog toward the sound. It took him to a table near the windows at the front of the library, which was empty except for a bag. His heart sank. He recognized the bag because Lisa had had it with her when he’d dropped her off this morning. Something was very wrong.
Or maybe he was jumping to conclusions. She could have simply gone to the ladies’ room. That sounded reasonable, except as a cop and a former university student, he knew better. People did not get up and leave valuable items unattended at a table in a library. Even at the best schools theft happened, and she wouldn’t have left her bag, and especially not her phone, at a table in the middle of the library with no one to watch them.
“Where are you?” he whispered. “Where the hell are you?”
At the nearby information counter he leaned in and said, “Excuse me.”
The tall, thin guy manning the station turned and looked at him. “Can I help you?”
He held up his badge for the man to see. “Did you see the woman sitting at that table?” He pointed to the table where Lisa’s bag hung on the back of the chair.
He smiled. “Yeah. Figured she’d be back by now.”
“When did she leave?” He didn’t return the smile.
The guy shrugged and the smile faded. “I don’t know. Maybe an hour ago?”
His anger flared, fueled by rising panic. “And you didn’t think to call anyone?”
With a raised eyebrow, the guy said, “Seriously? You know how many people come and go from here during a shift? People do weird things all the time. They leave stuff at tables. No biggie. They always come back looking for their crap.”
He had a point. Whether Paul liked it or not, what he said was reasonable. Under normal circumstances, he’d let it go. “Who did she leave with?”
Again he shrugged. “Wasn’t paying that much attention. Some dude, I guess.”
Stay calm, he said silently. Do not reach across the desk and grab him around the neck. “What did some dude look like?”
“Geez. I said I wasn’t paying much attention.”
“Noted. What did you see?”
He scrunched up his face as if thinking was really hard. Finally his face cleared and he said, “Little guy.”
Well, that narrowed it down not at all. “Little how? Short, skinny, athletic? What?”
He pursed his lips, and Paul could tell he was trying to remember. “I guess now that I think about it he was probably medium height, but real skinny, long hair in a ponytail. Not a real muscular guy, if you get me. Kinda femmy, actually. Might have been the ponytail though. Not a ton of guys with hair that long these days.”
“But she left with a man, right?”
“I didn’t look real close, but from what I saw, yeah, he was a dude all right.”
From the sound of it, he wouldn’t get much more out of this guy, so he thanked him and walked away. At the table he picked up Lisa’s bag and phone. As he was walking out to his car with Lisa’s stuff, his cell phone rang. Juggling the bag, he managed to get it out of his pocket without dropping anything. “Yeah,” he said.
Will bypassed all pleasantries. “Okay, man, you got more problems than just a psycho ex-girlfriend who’s living with another sucker.”
The tone in Will’s voice put him more on edge than he already was. “I don’t think that’s possible.”
“Well, then you need to think again, partner. I took a look around your girlfriend’s house—”
“You did a B&E? Are you fucking nuts, Will? You could lose your license. I don’t want you doing shit like that.”
“Relax. I’m not gonna lose my license. Not on account of your sorry ass, that is. The way I’d tell it, if by some far-out chance a nosy neighbor stopped me, the door was open, and when no one answered my call, I became concerned about Brenda’s welfare. I didn’t have a choice but to go in and make sure she was okay. I had to look around the entire house before I could make a call about her safety.”
It would work. Will had that genuine way about him that made people believe. That and the fact he really was one of the good guys. “Yeah, okay, they’d buy your lame-ass story. So why am I in trouble? I mean beyond the obvious stalking thing.”
“I can’t even begin to describe this shit over the phone. You have got to see it to beli
eve it. Hell, I saw it and I’m not sure I believe it. Anyway, I’m sending you pictures and then we’ll talk.”
Will was good to his word. Less than a minute later, Paul was scrolling through a series of photos taken inside Brenda’s house. As he looked at picture after picture, a glacial chill raced through his body.
Chapter Twenty-two
Circe was getting nervous because Paul hadn’t called yet to let them know he’d picked up Lisa. She should never have left her at the university for so long. It was stupid, and if anything went wrong, she had only herself to blame. She should have skipped the damn run and gone directly to the college instead. So what if she’d had to wait for an hour. Big damn deal.
Her cell rang and she jumped. Relief raced through her as she put her hand in her pocket to grab the phone, but it turned to dismay when the display didn’t show Paul’s number. Rather than the detective, it was her neighbor Rick.
“What’s up, Rick?” She hoped she didn’t sound as disappointed as she felt.
His words were fast, his voice almost panicked. “Your house, Circe, it’s on fire.”
Well, she certainly had to have heard that wrong. She was only half paying attention. Putting the palm of her hand over her free ear, she pressed the phone harder against her other ear. Now she was listening. “Come again.”
“Fire! Circe, your house is on fire.”
“That can’t be.” It couldn’t. Houses burning down happened to other people, not her. She’d purchased that house all by herself ten years ago, and she loved it. The neighborhood was fantastic, her lot had over an acre of grass for Zelda to run on, and she had privacy most people only dreamed of. No way could her slice of Eden be going up in flames. After everything else that had happened over the last few days, it wasn’t fair.
“I’m sorry but it’s true. The fire department is here now, but it doesn’t look good.”
“I’m on my way.” She ended the call and grabbed Diana by the sleeve. “I’ve got to go. My house is on fire.”
Diana didn’t miss a beat. “I’ll go with you.”
Circe didn’t argue. She just opened the car door for Zelda and then got behind the wheel. She didn’t pay a great deal of attention to the speed limit as she raced toward home. From above the hills she could see the rise of black smoke and choked back a sob. Long before she got to her turnoff, she could smell the smoke. The air was full of the acrid scent of burning wood. In these parts that meant a wildfire more often than not. Today it didn’t.
Her driveway was full of emergency vehicles, and she had to park out on the street. Tears filled her eyes, partially from the smoke and partially from the crystal-clear evidence smoldering in front of her. She dropped to the grass and no longer tried to hold back her tears. A total loss. Her home was a total loss.
Diana was beside her in moments. She put an arm around her shoulders and hugged her close. “I’m sorry,” she said and placed a kiss on the side of her head. “I’m sorry.”
In her mind she knew it was just stuff that the flames of the wicked fire destroyed. Everything that mattered, Zelda and Lisa, were safe and sound. It hurt nonetheless to see something she’d loved so much destroyed so callously. Given everything that had happened in the last few days, this was no accident. It wasn’t right and it wasn’t fair.
They were standing together watching the fire professionals do their work when Diana’s cell phone rang. While keeping one arm around Circe, she put it to her ear. Circe could feel the tension in Diana’s body as she spoke. Absently she wondered who the bearer of bad news on the other end of the call was. Watching flames shoot skyward made it hard to concentrate on anything beyond the tragedy of her world crumbling in front of her.
Diana shoved the phone back into her pocket and then turned Circe to face her. “I think we have a bigger problem than your house fire.”
If it was something bigger than her house burning to the ground, she couldn’t imagine what it could be. This was huge, no matter how she looked at it. “Tell me. I don’t think anything can shock me at this point.”
She was wrong.
*
Paul made it back to PSB in record time. Hopefully, Diana wouldn’t be too far behind him. He wasn’t sure how they were going to do this legally, but somehow they had to get into Brenda’s house.
Then again, if she was as obsessed with him as it appeared, maybe he didn’t need to convince a judge to grant a search warrant. There was no law against friends visiting each other in their homes. He was less concerned about legalities at this point and more concerned about finding the crazy bitch.
He’d like for Diana to go with him, to be his backup. But she was on the other side of town with Circe, and she needed to be. After her call to let him know about the fire at Circe’s house, the last thing he expected her to do was leave Circe to come back him up. In fact, the more he thought about it, the more he believed the mess in Diana’s garage had Brenda’s hand in it. The way she’d shot venom in Diana’s direction earlier in his office left no doubt in his mind about how Brenda felt about her. A rival.
No way could he pull off a friendly visit if Diana was standing right behind him. If Brenda was home, she would go ballistic if he showed up with her partner. Will would be his best choice for cover. Brenda knew about his old partner, though she also knew he was Diana’s uncle. Hopefully she’d forget that part. The fact that his luck lately sucked didn’t matter. It was worth a shot and, the way he saw it, his best shot at getting in her house ASAP.
He sent two texts, one to Will and the second to Diana. It was just as well she stayed with Circe.
Brenda knew something about Lisa, he felt it in his bones, and she was going to tell him or…
No, he wasn’t going there. It was going to work out. Brenda had issues, that was a given. Obviously so did the guy she was living with. He and Will just needed to reason with her and this would all be okay. In the back of his mind, though, a bit of ice remained. Despite all the years of training and all the experience of working in his chosen field, one thing remained constant: you can’t reason with an unreasonable person. At this point, he was ready to do whatever he needed to get Lisa back safely.
His relief when Will picked up on the first ring was huge. Until he heard his voice, Paul didn’t realize how frightened he was that he would have to go this alone. When did he become afraid to face her? Probably at the same time he finally grasped how unbalanced she was.
He and Will decided to park their cars a block away from Brenda’s house. She would invite him in, he didn’t have any doubt about that, especially since he was coming to her. She would be enthralled to believe he was seeking her out. Even so, it was wiser to go in quietly and unexpectedly. He didn’t want to give her time to think about anything or put the guy she was living with on alert. Surprise was a good tactic, given who he was dealing with.
“Boy, I hope you’re ready for this,” Will said as he stood beside his car patting down the straps of a bullet-proof vest. He was obviously taking no chances. Not only was he wearing the vest, a new one, but he had a gun and a canister of pepper spray in holsters at his waist. Handcuffs glinted at his back. The last time he’d seen Will this geared up, he was still on the job.
Paul would have followed suit and put on his own vest, but he didn’t have it with him. He’d driven his personal vehicle and didn’t keep a vest in the trunk. After this experience, one of the first things he planned to do was buy one and keep it in his car. He did have his gun, a set of handcuffs, and some zip ties. They would have to be enough. “I’m ready. You think her boyfriend’s involved with Lisa’s disappearance?”
Will nodded, his face solemn. “From everything I saw in there, I’d say the odds are better than average that the guy is on board for whatever freaky shit your girlfriend is into. This chick is more than obsessed with you, and if she perceived Lisa as a threat, I don’t think there’s any question she’d do whatever she decided was necessary to get rid of her and away from you. Look what she did to Di
ana, and we all know there’s nothing with any romantic overtones between the two of you.” He smacked Paul on the shoulder. “Wait until you see what’s inside. Then you’ll understand where I’m coming from. The pictures didn’t do this place justice. She’s wacked, man, and I wouldn’t be surprised if her boy toy is too.”
He’d taken everything Will had explained after his covert B&E to heart and looked at the pictures he sent over and over. He’d heard Will’s description and he’d seen the images, and it still threw him. None of it tracked with the woman he’d lived with for a few months. Even during the short time they’d been together, he’d seen her quirky side, but during those brief months of cohabitation, he didn’t notice anything that red-flagged her as an unstable personality. Self-centered and vain, absolutely. Even outrageous and bizarre on occasion. Yet everything Will told him leaned heavily in the direction of clinically insane. Brenda’s stalking was creepy and invasive. He hated it, and he’d never deny he’d been calling her crazy since this whole thing began. Still, the behavior he’d witnessed didn’t reach the level of true insanity suggested by the pictures, so this he needed to see for himself.
He slapped Will on the back this time. “All right, let’s try this nice and friendly. See where it gets us.”
“You think you can pull off friendly with this bitch?”
Valid question and he had to think honestly about his answer. “It’ll be an effort.”
They were walking down the block side by side when his cell phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket and stared at the display. Diana. “Yeah.”
As he listened, he stopped walking and glanced over at Will, who mouthed the word, “What?”
He shook his head slightly and continued to listen. Finally, he asked, “You’re kidding, right?”
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