Carol Shenold - Tali Cates 02 - Bloody Murder

by Carol Shenold

  “Well, well. That made him a busy boy. Say, wasn’t he at the carnival with you, Cass? Damn, Tali, that puts her right in the line of fire to be a suspect—jealousy and all that, if she was dating him and knew about his two-timing her with the other women. I also remember Chase having a hothead reputation, the possessive type too, when it comes to women. Who told you about this and can you trust their information? I may need to talk to them.”

  My heart plummeted, knowing I had to admit to Cass’s involvement. “Cass told me.” Now Cass was really in trouble, just from dating a kid she didn’t know that well and because I’d opened my mouth.

  JT looked at her. “Cass, you’re not a disinterested party. Are you sure it’s true and not a figment of someone’s overactive jealous imagination?”

  Cass straightened up in her chair where she’d been slouching. “Chase told me himself and I don’t think he made it up.”

  I had enough rounds of dough for everyone to make their own choices. Before long, mouthwatering smells wafted from the oven. Aiden’s pizza was as plain as Sean’s but JT piled on everything. Cass wanted mushrooms on hers.

  We gathered at the dining room table, Aiden and JT opposite each other as if they feared turning their backs on one another.

  “This was a good idea,” JT said around a bite. “I was hungry for pizza.”

  “You are always hungry for pizza.”

  “Mom, you said we couldn’t talk with our mouths full.”

  Aiden bit into his. “Have you known each other long?” He looked between me and JT.

  “You might say that.” JT grimaced. “We dated in high school, if you could call it that, with all the fighting and breaking up and getting back together. Tali never could make up her mind.”

  “I beg your pardon. I remember you doing the breaking-up thing every time I objected to your drinking.”

  Now Aiden was confused. “I thought you were the sheriff?”

  “Not in high school. We dated twenty years ago. Hey, Tali, that makes you…”

  “Don’t go there, buddy. Remember, you are older.”

  “Yeah, but for guys it doesn’t really matter, not like it does for you women.”

  Aiden reached for the salt. “I’m older than you both.” He proceeded to liberally salt his cheese pizza.

  I had to control the urge to jerk the salt away. “Aiden, why are you putting salt on something that full of sodium? Gross. Between the salt and fat content, your heart will stop.”

  He laughed as if there was a joke, and he was the only one who got the punch line. “If you think this dish is so bad for you, why do you fix it?”

  I shrugged. “Because it’s easy and we like it.”

  “And you don’t worry about your heart stopping.”

  JT piped in. “Tali doesn’t worry about herself, only about everyone else around her. If she thinks she’s protecting her pride, she’s like a mama lion. Don’t expect her to use common sense when it comes to her own safety.”

  We all sat back, full and content. Sean and Cass went to watch their own shows on TV. I poured wine for the grownups.

  JT took a sip and leaned forward toward Aiden. I could see a third degree coming.

  “Where did you go to school?” JT fixed his gaze on the darker man.

  “SMU, graduated with a degree in history and psychology. I write textbooks. Since I work at home, having a quiet town like this to live in is perfect.”

  “How did you end up choosing Love? Most people have never heard of it and have a hard time finding it. Where were you raised?”

  Aiden tilted his head. “You have a lot of questions, Sheriff. Should I be worried?”

  I jumped in, recognizing Aiden’s irritation, trying to divert JT. “Hey. Have you heard anything about witchcraft or demon worship going on around here?”

  I told him about what we saw in the house—the diagram and circle on the floor, the candle. “It would be dangerous to have random people lighting candles in that old house, maybe going off and forgetting a lit one. The house would go up like tinder.”

  “I’ll have a patrol car go by and check. I’d seen a couple of reports of strange lights at odd times over there but nothing serious.” He peered at me, frowning. “Don’t you go investigating on your own. If some nutcase is trying to make magic of some kind, you don’t want to be in the line of fire. A lot of those people are on the thin edge anyway.”

  Mumsie raised an eyebrow. “Those people?”

  JT held out his hands. “Now don’t get all fired up, Miss Lucinda. I don’t mean you and yours, and you know it. I mean some of the idiots out there trying to pretend they know something no one else does. They think they have power and will try to use it, mostly for mischief.”

  He looked at his watch. “Ladies, I hate to eat and run but I have things to do, even on a nice Sunday evening. Coming, Courtland?”

  JT acted like a jealous suitor, afraid he’d miss something if he left Aiden behind.

  Aiden smiled. “I don’t have far to go so I really don’t need a police escort, but thanks.”

  “Okay. Tali, I’ll call you if I hear about anything out of the ordinary at that old house or about Cass’s boyfriend.”

  A crash reverberated through the house. It sounded as if the roof had fallen in or something had driven through a wall. A shriek cut through the air. The sound of glass falling chilled me.

  “The green room.”

  Aiden was gone, the rest of us ran toward the sounds.

  Sean met us at the door to the green room, his face pale, eyes big as an owl’s.

  “Something crashed through and grabbed Cass. She’s gone.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  “What do you mean, Cass is gone? Gone where?”

  Tears ran down Sean’s face. “I don’t know. It took her.”

  “Something took her? Someone took her? Who was it?”

  He grabbed me around the waist and buried his head in my midsection “It happened too fast. Whatever it was moved too fast. It was sooo big, Mom, and scary.”

  Aiden stood in front of the window, looking at the mound of shattered glass, shards sticking out of the sides of bent metal framing from the panes of the bay window. Then he disappeared.

  JT frowned. “Where does he think he’s going?”

  “Don’t read minds, don’t know. Sean, honey, you’re making it hard for me to breathe. Let go. Now, take deep breaths.”

  Mumsie put her arm around his shoulders. “Why don’t I take him to my room until you are ready for him and then he can tell his story.”

  JT pulled out his cell and dialed, walking away to speak in low tones. I was left in front of the window, shivering. How could this happen? Cass wasn’t little or docile, she’d have fought. There should have been blood on the glass. It was crazy, made no sense. What the hell was happening to my kid, and why were we targeted? Never-ending questions.

  One of the advantages of small town life, officers arrived within five minutes. A disadvantage, so did half the town. Luckily it was mostly close friends rather than lurkers, although they came also. Everyone wanted to do something to help.

  JT went outside to address the crowd in the driveway. “Folks, why don’t you spread out and see if you can spot Cass by herself or with someone. If you do see her, don’t approach, simply call here.”

  “Do you know what happened?”

  “Who broke the window?”

  “Is it vandals again?”

  JT scanned the crowd. “I don’t have any answers yet. We’re interviewing the family right now and as soon as we know anything helpful, we’ll share that information. The best thing you can do to help is what I told you. Go look, report what you see, and clear the yard here.”

  JT turned around to come inside and Aiden was there beside him.

  “I couldn’t track them or spot them, and I should have been able to under normal circumstances.”

  JT narrowed his eyes. “Are you a super-tracker or something? Why would you think you could
follow them?”

  Aiden remained calm. “Sometimes I’m pretty fast, and I have a good sense of… direction. I can anticipate actions.”

  “JT, don’t be rude. Can we find out what Sean saw and get out there looking? We’re wasting time and we don’t know what is happening, what some crazy person has on their mind or is doing to my child while we stand around and argue. It’s time to do something.”

  Officers took pictures of everything but I didn’t see much fingerprint dusting, but what was there to dust except pieces of glass? Maybe fingerprints weren’t as important after a smash and grab.

  “Take it easy, Tali. We have to apply some logic. Going off half-cocked gets you shot in the balls.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Obviously not an issue for me. Girl here. But, the longer we wait, the farther away they’ll get.”

  “Courtland, find plywood and cover the window from the inside.”

  “It’s handled.” Aiden was out the door again.

  I went to Mumsie’s room to check on Sean, find out what he’d really seen. Sean sat curled into a tight knot on one corner of the bed. He jumped up, scowling. “I bet you think I’m making it all up, about the dogs and wolves and what I saw, but I’m not. I’m not a crazy kid imagining things.”

  I sat on the bed and pulled him beside me. “Wolves? Dogs? Tell me.”

  “You see, the dogs began barking.”

  I interrupted. “What dogs? We don’t have any dogs.”

  “Let me finish.”

  “Sorry.”

  “Anyway, the neighborhood dogs, the ones all around here, began barking like crazy. Cass and I were both on the couch. We’d plugged in the PlayStation to set up Guitar Hero. I’m better than she is, by the way. When the dogs went crazy, we both turned around to look out the window. I heard this weird sound like a wolf howling. I didn’t think a coyote sounded like that and I never heard we had wolves. That’s when it crashed through the window. We threw ourselves on the floor in front of the couch to keep from getting cut. When I uncovered my face and looked, Cass was gone, like she’d never been there. How could that happen? I don’t get it.”

  “Did you get a look at the person?”

  “I had my face and eyes covered, and then she was just gone. I shouldn’t have hidden my face. I shouldn’t have been such a coward. I should have done something. Why do these things always happen to us?”

  He buried his face against me again. He was too young to have to deal with this. No kid should have to be afraid that someone or something could crash through a window and snatch them before anyone could react.

  This was Love, Texas. It shouldn’t be happening here. How many victims of violent crime have said the same words? That had become my litany lately. Problem was, more and more often the strange behaviors settled around my family.

  * * * *

  Aiden finished covering the window in record time. Mumsie and Sean stayed in the back bedroom. I paced the dining room and peered out the glass doors. JT waited for his techs to finish documenting the crime scene. There wasn’t much to find outside of some short hair and a little blood I prayed wasn’t Cass’s.

  “What now? I can’t just sit here while some crazy nut has God knows what in mind for Cass. You need to find out where Chase is. They had a fight today—I think it was today. So much damn stuff has happened I’m not sure any more. He could be involved.”

  “What did they fight about?”

  “Sounded like he was being jealous and possessive, and she told him where to go. Maybe he didn’t want to be dumped, which is what she essentially did.”

  JT shook his head. “Where is all this crap coming from? I don’t remember Chase or his brothers being troublemakers. A little wild maybe, but not gang leaders or anything.”

  “We have gangs?”

  “Yeah, this town is right in the middle of the unofficial drug corridor from Mexico through Dallas and on to Oklahoma City. Plus, there’s the prison outside Parnell. Sometimes population growth isn’t such a positive thing.”

  “Great. I thought I brought the kids to a safe place. Or at least I used to think that. But all that just makes me more anxious to get out there and look for Cass, not wait on the off chance some clue will miraculously appear to point the way. I can’t stand waiting around.”

  “The best thing is to wait until it’s light. Fumbling around in the dark and getting hurt yourself won’t get Cass back. Also, you don’t know this isn’t a ransom kidnapping, in which case you want to be around in case the kidnapper calls.”

  “Ransom? Surely no one around here thinks I have any money. If the one way to save Cass is cash then I’m… we’re in real trouble. I don’t have any.” I heard Mumsie in the kitchen and lowered my voice. “It would kill my mother if anything happened to Cass. We’ve got to do something, take an action.”

  Aiden came into the room. “Tali, do you want to come with me? I’m going to go out and look around some more. I didn’t look in the woods around the lake where the scouts camp. Better than sitting here.”

  I hugged him out of sheer gratitude.

  Leaving JT to oversee his staff and Mumsie attempting to distract Sean with a movie, Aiden and I drove toward Love Lake.

  We parked at the beach area and walked toward the tree line.

  “It’s sweet of you to try to give me something to do, but can we really accomplish anything in the dark? Much as I hate to admit it, JT might have been right about that.”

  “I have pretty good night vision. Let’s see what we can find out, if anything.”

  Aiden led the way, walking as sure as he might have in bright sunlight. I stumbled along next to him, not able to see nearly as well or walk so confidently. He finally grabbed my arm to lead me.

  The trees grew close together. The heavy, dark underbrush absorbed the moonlight, making the usually welcoming, calming, full-of-birdsong woods suddenly appear menacing. Thunder rumbled in the distance, dampness tickled my nose. Muffled sounds, rustles, and owl hoots broke the silence along with my stumbling gait. We picked our way through brush and around rocks for what seemed like forever but couldn’t have been more than twenty minutes before Aiden spoke.

  “Is there someone who might want to cause your family harm?”

  “I don’t know. None of us have tried to make anyone mad. Cass had an argument with the kid we saw her with at the fair. But I can’t imagine him barreling through the window and snatching her. I don’t see how anyone could do that and not leave a trail of blood.” I stopped. “None of this makes any sense. You know?”

  I burst into tears and Aiden stopped to wrap his arms around me. We stood that way for a long time.

  “You’re allowed to cry. No one can be strong all the time. We’ll make sense out of this eventually. You’ve had a terrible day. Why don’t I take you home and then come back on my own. I know they came this way but the trail comes and goes. You’re worn out and should maybe be at the house. If there is any news, Sean might want you close. You know he’s scared. One person has already disappeared on him tonight, right from under his nose. He thinks it’s his fault.”

  Even though I didn’t want to, I saw the logic behind what he said. My rushing out into the dark wasn’t helping anything and if I stumbled around in the dark and re-hurt my ankle, I’d scare everyone and end up with doctor bills on top of everything else.

  “You’re right and you can go faster without me. If you can find Cass, I’ll be in your debt forever.”

  “In the morning, with daylight, you and JT can start an organized search and do more good than we are doing right this second. There’s no guarantee that I can find anything on my own but we’ll see.”

  At that moment, something howled. It chilled my blood and my heart. Rustling noises increased, surrounding us. I thought I heard small growls or panting but maybe it was in my head.

  Aiden froze, listening with such intensity it made my head ache.

  “What?” I whispered. “What are you hearing? What’s going on?”
<
br />   “Shhh. I don’t know,” he said so low I had trouble hearing him. “We have some wolves really close.”

  “Some?” I squeaked. “We don’t have wolves. How could we have some?”

  “It is not the time to debate this. Hold on.”

  “To what?”

  “Me.”

  We flew.

  Chapter Nineteen

  I don’t know how, but we rose up and flew through the air like Superman and Lois. He flew. I clung to his neck with a death grip that should have strangled him. It wasn’t real. I had to be dreaming. People don’t fly. I don’t fly!

  I looked down. Mistake. Trees spun under me at a dizzying rate. My stomach lurched. Heights were never my best thing and now, with nothing around me but a pair of arms, fear flooded me. I shut my eyes tight and prayed I’d live. By the time I formed the thought we dropped down, next to the car.

  Aiden pried my arms from around his neck. “Get in, quickly.”

  I opened my mouth to ask Aiden what the hell just happened but he was in the car, starting the engine. I snapped it shut, got in, and barely had my belt fastened before he gunned his BMW forward.

  “Thanks for the whiplash. W-what was in the trees back there and how did we get here so quickly? And, oh, by the way, I don’t fly.”

  “You do now. Sorry, I never meant for that to happen, but in an emergency…”

  “Who are you? What are you? Were the boys right, are you a vampire? Oh my God, I’m in the car with someone who… who…” I couldn’t finish. I couldn’t breathe.

  “It’s okay, Tali. Let’s say I’m not fully human and I can fly. We could leave it at that.”

  “Okay. Forget the flying. What happened in the woods?”

  “I saw three extremely large wolves. They didn’t look friendly so I decided to get us out of there in a hurry.”

  I sighed. “This is North Texas, we can’t have wolves.”

  “The wolves don’t know that.”

  “What else aren’t you telling me? I mean, besides the fact that you’re an alien of some kind and have superpowers and see in the dark.”

  “Alien?”

  “You said you weren’t fully human. What are you? Should I let you be around the kids?”