Mercy (The Guardians Series 1)

by Wendy Saunders

  ‘Just connected the dots didn’t you!’ Louisa laughed draining the rest of her glass, ‘Guess our jobs don’t seem so crazy now.’

  ‘Yeah you could say our professions chose us rather than the other way around,’ Jake replied. ‘We didn’t explore our gifts after you were gone. After all we thought you were dead and it just made us too sad but we still have our special talents.’

  ‘I guess,’ Olivia mused

  ‘Besides, our parents are still staunch Christians,’ Louisa lifted her fingers to draw imaginary speech marks in the air, ‘whilst they still enjoy our town’s colourful ‘history.’

  ‘They don’t really believe in witchcraft and I think they’d pitch a fit if they found out their children were pagans, so we never really took that final step. We’re just kind of happy as we are, we believe in God we just also happen to have unusual abilities.’

  ‘Fair enough,’ Olivia shrugged smiling, ‘I won’t hold it against you.’

  ‘It’s funny when you think about it,’ Jake smirked, ‘even though the town embraces the legend of it being founded by witches most folks around here don’t actually believe in magic. They have no idea that an honest to God witch lives in their midst.’

  ‘Very funny,’ Olivia rolled her eyes,

  ‘Hey,’ Louisa suddenly sat up, ‘Do you remember when we used to sneak off to the woods to our secret den and pretend to practice witchcraft.’

  ‘To be fair Lou, we were kinda practicing witchcraft, even if we didn’t actually know it,’ Jake replied.

  ‘Whatever,’ she shrugged

  ‘Is our den still there?’ Olivia asked her eyes bright with curiosity.

  ‘I have no idea,’ Louisa grinned back.

  ‘Let's go see,’ Olivia climbed to her feet.

  ‘Are you mad?’ Jake glanced up at her as she stood over him. ‘It’s late, it’s wet and it’s been twenty years, it’s probably not even still there.’

  ‘Quit whining and get your ass up,’ Louisa grabbed his arm and tried to pull him up.

  ‘I’m not going,’ Jake shook his head.

  ‘Fine you stay here chicken shit, Olivia and I will go.’ She hooked her arm companionably through Olivia’s as they turned and headed out of the room.

  ‘I know I’m going to regret this,’ Jake murmured as he hauled himself off the floor and followed them.

  Olivia pulled on her coat and a pair of her Aunt’s green rubber boots that were in the mud room and grabbed a couple of torches. At least she had gotten round to changing the batteries she thought smugly

  They trotted down the steps from the back door and headed into the woods but as they hit the cold air the alcohol caught up with them and before long Olivia and Louisa were giggling like a pair of twelve year olds.

  ‘I have a bad feeling about this,’ Jake frowned, seemingly the only sober one of the three of them.

  ‘Stop your bitchin’’ Louisa hiccupped, ‘You’re the one with the gun.’

  Suddenly Louisa tripped and grabbed onto Olivia, causing her to lose her balance. She slipped on the wet leaves and they both went down on the muddy ground in a tangle of limbs and uncontrollable hysterics.

  Jake cradled his face in his hand, shaking his head in exasperation and with a long suffering sigh he reached down and scooped the pair of them up.

  ‘I really think we should head back to the house,’

  ‘Whatever, dad,’ Louisa giggled.

  ‘God, what is that smell?’ Olivia coughed as a rancid scent filled her nostrils and mouth.

  ‘Nice Jake,’ Louisa hissed in disgust.

  ‘Hey it wasn’t me,’ Jake replied, ‘smells like a dead animal.’

  ‘Watch where you’re stepping,’ he warned.

  ‘Yeah yeah,’ Louisa mumbled.

  ‘Come on,’ Olivia replied, ‘It can’t be much further.’

  ‘Fine,’ he conceded.

  ‘Besides, it’s not like we’re gonna get lost,’ Olivia laughed as she walked backwards her flashlight on Jake’s face, ‘we know these woods like the back of our ha….’

  The rest of her sentence was cut off by a small yelp and the whoosh of air as she tripped backwards and landed in something wet and unpleasantly slimy.

  ‘What the hell?’ She gagged as the smell from earlier hit her full force.

  She fumbled with her flashlight to see what she’d fallen in, and a scream caught in her throat as the beam of light fell across the mangled remains of a human body.

  Chapter 4.

  Olivia huddled tighter in the blanket she had been given, as the pale ghostly rays of sunrise dawned through the trees illuminating the busy crime scene. Sighing she cast her eyes to the grey skies and blew out a discontented breath. Today was Samhain, she’d imagined herself rising with the dawn and lighting the balefires not standing wrapped in a police issue blanket surveying a murder scene.

  Crime scene tape already cordoned off the immediate area surrounding the body. A white tent had been erected over the remains to protect what little physical evidence was left from the elements, but after the rain there probably wouldn’t be much to go on.

  Olivia tried to keep her eyes averted from the tent, knowing what lay inside, but even though it was hidden from view she knew she would never be able to erase that image from her mind. She had never seen anything like it. It was like a puddle of biological matter, if it hadn’t been for the tatters of clothes and the fingers and hair, she wouldn’t have even known it was human.

  Forcing the bile back in her throat she shifted, attempting to stay upwind of the foul rotting stench.

  ‘Hey’ Louisa moved to stand next to her, ‘Hell of a way to sober up.’

  ‘You’re telling me,’ Olivia murmured. ‘Do they know who it is yet?’

  ‘Not for sure,’ Louisa replied, ‘and they’re being pretty tight lipped but from what I’ve been able to overhear they think it may be Adam.’

  ‘Adam?’ Olivia breathed. ‘Shit’

  ‘Shit indeed,’ Louisa murmured. ‘Once they’ve finished documenting the crime scene, his remains will be taken for autopsy and the formal identification can be made from there.’

  ‘Will you be doing the Autopsy?’

  Louisa shook her head.

  ‘Doctor Hughes will be doing it, he’s the most senior doctor on staff and he doubles up as the coroner when needed.’

  ‘I can’t believe this happened a hundred yards from my house,’ Olivia frowned. ‘Who the hell would do such a thing and how? I mean the guy looked like road kill.’

  ‘I don’t know,’ Louisa lowered her voice as she noticed the Chief of Police making his way towards them with a stern expression, ‘but I’ll see what I can find out after the autopsy.’

  ‘Ladies.’ He stopped in front of them both.

  ‘Chief Walcott,’ Louisa replied evenly.

  The Chief was an austere looking man, standing over six feet tall and broad shouldered. His dark hair was peppered with grey at the sides. His face bore some lines and his dark eyes were cold and calculating as they latched onto Olivia.

  ‘Ms West?’ He turned his attention completely on her, ignoring Louisa.

  ‘Miss,’ Olivia corrected.

  ‘I believe you discovered the body.’

  ‘I wouldn’t say discovered so much, as tripped over it in the dark.’ Olivia replied.

  ‘Miss West what were you doing out in this part of the woods last night?’

  ‘I had a few friends over and we were reminiscing on our childhood and we impulsively decided to go out into the woods to see if the den we made when we were kids was still there,’

  She didn’t like the way he was looking at her.

  ‘But it was your idea to go out into the woods,’ he clarified.

  ‘It was all our idea,’ Louisa interjected.

  The Chief once again more or less ignored Louisa as if she hadn’t spoken at all.

  ‘Miss West you returned to Mercy three d
ays ago after inheriting a house from your great aunt is that correct?’

  ‘Yes,’ Olivia replied.

  ‘Did you know Adam Miller?’ he asked suddenly.

  ‘I met him once, the day before yesterday at the pub. I went in for something to eat.’

  ‘So you saw him the night he disappeared?’

  ‘I guess,’ her answer was guarded.

  ‘What time did you leave the pub?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ Olivia shrugged, ‘maybe around nine? I didn’t exactly look at the clock.’

  ‘What did you do after you left the pub?’

  ‘I drove home,’ She didn’t like where this line of questioning was going.

  ‘Alone?’

  ‘Yes alone’

  ‘Is there anyone who can vouch for your whereabouts that night?’

  ‘You’re asking if I have an alibi for the night Adam was killed.’ Olivia’s eyes narrowed.

  ‘Well do you have an alibi?’

  ‘Do I need one?’ Her jaw clenched in anger.

  ‘You tell me,’ he replied calmly. ‘You were one of the last people to see Adam the night he disappeared.’

  ‘Yeah, me and the thirty other people in the pub,’ she replied sarcastically.

  ‘The remains were found not a stone’s throw from your property.’

  ‘Circumstantial,’ Olivia replied tightly. If I was going to kill someone I certainly wouldn’t do it right on my own doorstep. Let’s just cut to the chase here, this isn’t about some circumstantial evidence or opportunity or the fact I have absolutely no motive for wanting Adam dead. He seemed to be a nice guy and I liked him. This is about my father and what he did.’

  ‘Pardon?’

  ‘You want to know if the apple fell far from the tree.’

  ‘Well did it?’ Chief Walcott’s response was blunt.

  ‘You’ve got some nerve, Chief,’ Olivia’s lip curled in disgust, ‘If you’re quite finished I’m going home.’

  She turned and stalked away, getting no more than a couple of steps when his cool disdainful voice stopped her in her tracks.

  ‘Unfortunately that is not all, we’ll need your clothes.’

  ‘Are you fucking kidding me,’ Olivia snapped, her eyes flashing angrily.

  ‘I suggest you watch your mouth Miss West,’ His tone was now quietly dangerous. ‘As you yourself pointed out, you fell into my crime scene therefore you could have evidence that was transferred to your clothes.’

  ‘You and I both know that after two days of rain, there is hardly likely to be any evidence that hasn’t been contaminated or washed away.’

  ‘Be that as it may,’ he persisted, ‘it is procedure.’

  ‘Fine,’ she hissed, ‘I’ll bag them up and give them to Jake.’

  ‘Not good enough.’

  He beckoned another deputy forward and a tall woman stepped up. She looked like a Valkyrie. She was nearly as tall as him with long white blonde hair which was wound so tightly at the nape of her neck it almost gave her a full face lift. ‘This is Deputy Helga Hanson; she will accompany you and bag up your clothes for evidence.’

  Helga, she might have known, Olivia rolled her eyes.

  ‘Fine,’ she snapped and turning she stalked back towards her house with Louisa at her side and the blonde warrior maiden behind her.

  ‘Sorry,’ Louisa murmured as she tried to keep up with her friend’s angry stride.

  ‘It’s not your fault,’ Olivia sighed slowing her pace, ‘I guess I expected to be stared at and gossiped about I just never expected to be accused of murder the minute I get back into town. I’m not my father.’

  Louisa stopped, grabbing Olivia’s arm to halt her movements.

  ‘I know you’re not,” Louisa blue eyes shone in sympathy, ‘and most other decent people around here won’t believe it either. The cops will figure this out and then they’ll owe you the biggest fattest apology there is.’

  ‘I hope so,’ she replied softly.

  ‘Look I’m sorry I can’t stick around longer but I need to get home and catch a couple of hours sleep before my next shift starts.’

  ‘Okay,’ Olivia nodded.

  ‘There is one more thing,’ Louisa smiled pulling something from her pocket and handing it to Olivia.

  ‘Happy Birthday by the way.’

  ‘I can’t believe you remembered,’ she spoke quietly.

  ‘Well it’s an easy one to remember,’ Louisa laughed lightly, ‘you’re the only person I’ve ever met who was born on Halloween.’

  Olivia looked down at the small pink package in her hand. It was flat and square and wrapped in tatty wrapping paper.

  ‘Sorry about the state of it, I’ve had it a long time,’

  Olivia looked up and stared at her friend, waiting for her to elaborate.

  ‘I made that for you just before your mom was killed,’ she shrugged. ‘I just never got the chance to give it to you and I couldn’t bring myself to get rid of it so I think it’s about time you have it.’

  ‘Thank you,’ Olivia swallowed to shift the knot of sentiment lodged in her throat.

  ‘I’ll call you later,’ she threw her arms around Olivia and hugged her hard. ‘Just remember no matter what happens you’ve still got me and Jake, so call us if you need anything at all.’

  ‘I will,’ Olivia managed as she let go and watched her friend walk away.

  The sound of a disapproving throat clearing behind her had Olivia turning her gaze back on the tall deputy who raised her brows in impatience.

  ‘All right,’ Olivia sighed rolling her eyes, ‘let's go before you add a strip search just for the hell of it.’

  Olivia returned to her house and endured the humiliation of having to strip in front of the Olympic size deputy Helga whilst she bagged up her clothes, leaving her with the added inconvenience of no longer having a coat as the frighteningly efficient woman took that as well. Cursing the Mercy police department she locked the door behind her unwelcome guest and headed straight for the shower.

  She turned the water temperature up as high as she could stand it and scrubbed for what felt like hours. Emerging pink and wrinkled and still feeling as if she were covered in something gruesome, she threw on some comfy clothes and climbed into bed. Ignoring the daylight filtering through the window she pulled the comforter up over her.

  Leaning over to her nightstand she picked up the small package Louisa had given her and turned it over in her hands. The tape which held half the paper together was yellowed and peeling with age, giving testament to how long Louisa had kept it for.

  Smiling to herself Olivia traced her name, scrawled across the front in childish handwriting. Unable to hold back the curiosity any longer she carefully peeled the package open and a small bracelet fell out. It was quite obviously handmade, in pink and white beads, and carefully spaced between each bead was a plastic letter making up the words ‘Best Friends’ Forever.

  Tears gathered in her eyes, it was one of the sweetest birthday presents she had received in years and for the first time in days she felt as if she had truly come home. She slipped it onto her wrist and snuggled under the covers closing her eyes but sleep would not come. She tossed and turned, unable to keep the image of Adam’s mangled body out of her mind, nor the Chief’s cool accusations. When her cell phone buzzed on her night stand she almost sighed in relief.

  She glanced at the screen and hit answer.

  ‘Hey Mags,’

  ‘Olivia,’ the voice came from the other end, ‘you’re not still in bed are you?’

  ‘Not exactly,’ she murmured sighing and sitting up.

  Mags had been a friend for years. She was much older than Olivia and filled that place somewhere between a mother and grandmother. Thanks to her job as a literary agent they had met when she appeared as a guest speaker at Olivia’s college and after that they became good friends, sharing a love of history and witchcraft. She’d filled that maternal need in
Olivia’s life, in fact Mags had been the one to encourage her to write and found her a publisher for her books. Now she had several well respected Historical reference books to her credit and a nice income which allowed her to work from home. After all Olivia was quite a solitary person and preferred to work by herself.

  ‘Is everything okay?’

  ‘Yeah,’ Olivia replied quietly,

  She didn’t really want to go back over everything that had happened in the past several hours.

  ‘Well Happy Birthday baby girl,’ she congratulated in a sing song voice.

  ‘Thanks Mags,’ Olivia’s smile was genuine.

  ‘I’ve over-nighted a parcel to you, so it should arrive sometime today I hope you like it, I think you’re going to need it. Also I’ll be out to visit you in a few weeks once I’ve tied up a couple of things I’m working on, have you settled in okay?’

  ‘Yeah, sort of,’ Olivia hedged carefully.

  ‘What’s that supposed to mean?’ Mags asked suspiciously.

  ‘Nothing,’ Olivia replied quickly, ‘It’s just there’s a lot of my aunt’s stuff to sort through, more than I thought.’

  ‘Oh, well,’ Mags replied, ‘I can always give you a hand when I come to visit.’

  ‘You don’t have to do that, I’m sure I’ll get around to it eventually.’

  ‘Okay, if you’re sure, just let me know if you change your mind. I have an extra pair of hands if you need them,’ she laughed merrily. ‘So how’s the new book going?’

  ‘I’ve hit a bit of a wall actually, I need to do some more research.’ Olivia frowned thoughtfully.

  ‘No problem, just make sure you don’t miss your deadline, I know you’ve got a lot going on right now.’

  ‘I won’t,’ Olivia assured her.

  After promising to call the following week Olivia finally hung up and with a sigh climbed out of bed. If she wasn’t able to sleep then she reasoned to herself she should probably get some work done. Padding down the stairs in her thick socks she was startled by a knock at the door.