by Jenna Ryan
Her cousin snorted. “News bulletin, sunshine. The überhot Lieutenant Blume only has eyes for you. He also only didn’t insist on going with you to Ben’s farm because he needs his truck back, and I’d already agreed to ride shotgun. He might have liked it better if Molly had done the honors, but her being totally anal and all, that wasn’t going to happen. The pharmacy must be unlocked precisely at eight a.m. She has OCD, you know. Undiagnosed, but even you can’t deny she’s peculiar, and getting worse every day.”
Amusement rose as Sadie spied the farm. “I can deny a lot of things, actually. It’s the curse—or the gift, your choice—of a vivid imagination.”
“Do not use the word ‘curse’ in any conversation that involves Molly. If it pertains to the Cove or the Hollow, it’s under an evil spell as far as she’s concerned. Now, using that as our segue, talk to me about the messages you’ve received.”
Sadie pulled into the driveway and, with the park brake set, regarded the sky. Angry black clouds threatened another deluge, but so far so dry. “I know you love ghoulish details, Orley, but I’ve given you all there are, so bury your curiosity and back off. I have pictures to take of what I’m told is a truly spooky corn maze.”
Her cousin made a dubious face at the high field of corn that spread out forever from the side of a secondary barn. “The maze is an okay deal, but the rest of Leamer’s farm creeps me out. Animals die, you cremate or bury them. You do not set up a side business to stuff them for people who are as icky-minded as you are.”
“I’m not here to watch Ben preserve someone’s dead pet. Getting lost in a cornfield has snowballed into a popular October event. Kids love it.”
“Kids are easy marks.”
Sadie grinned. “You weren’t.”
“Neither were you. Face it, kid, we’re Bellams. Nobody expects us to be normal.”
“Then why do you have a problem with Molly?”
Hopping out, Orley zipped her coat. “Partly because she and I are both a few years shy of forty, and while I can see her not being married, I haven’t figured out why it’s never happened for me. I’m not an anal fusspot that people avoid because they’re afraid they’ll wake up with a face full of warts.” She blew at her long red bangs. “That sounds small-minded and mean, doesn’t it?”
“A little.”
“Do you understand why?”
“Because Molly was a straight-A student, and you weren’t?”
“Well, hold the phone, cousin—neither were you.”
Sadie regarded her over the Land Rover’s roof. “How did this get to be about me?”
“It didn’t. It isn’t. I just can’t figure Molly, and I hate it when people compare me to her. She’s a freak, even by Bellam standards.”
“She’s an introvert, Orley, but before we bite each other’s heads off over this, let’s change the subject. Otherwise, you’ll challenge me to a kickboxing match where I’m sure to wind up on my butt, in what I hope, but seriously doubt, is mud.”
“Awkward sentence, excellent call.”
After tugging a short red jacket over her T-shirt and jeans, Sadie crawled into the backseat to hunt through her camera bag. When her cousin didn’t speak, she rolled her eyes. “I can feel your curiosity from here.” Crawling back out, she looked around. “Come on, Ben, I haven’t got all day.... And no, Orley, we didn’t have sex.”
Her cousin strolled closer, smirking. “Does that mean he’s a lousy kisser?”
Sadie sent her a guileless smile. “If you mean Ben Leamer, I wouldn’t know. If you mean Eli, it’s none of your business.”
“Why not? You’re a public figure, he’s a public figure.”
“Eli defends the public, he’s not a figure of it.”
“Public’s public. Also please note, I said kiss, not sex.”
“You’re working up to sex. And what makes you think I’ve kissed him—as if I can’t guess?”
“You have a big kitchen window. No blinds, easy pickup.”
“Yeah, for anyone creeping around the manor.” Sadie made a shooing motion with her fingers. “Creep over to the maze entrance, will you? I need a point of reference.”
Orley’s shoulders hunched. “I don’t like having my picture taken. And I wasn’t creeping. I didn’t get an answer at the front door, so I went around to the back, and there you both were, getting hot and bothered in the kitchen. Being a considerate sort, I opted to retrace my steps to the front. You saw how it went from there. FYI, your sexy lieutenant’s very strong.”
“Know it.” Sadie crouched for a better angle. “Move left.”
“I’m freezing. Where did the stupid heat go?”
“South. Stop fidgeting.”
Her cousin snarled out a breath. “Any chance we’ll be done by noon? Brady and I are supposed to do a dental on a Doberman—assuming the road to the Cove gets cleared and he makes it to the clinic with the anesthetic we have almost none of. While we’re on the topic, have you thought about...?”
“Adding a veterinary procedure of the month column to the Chronicle? You’ve asked me that twenty times already.”
“Animals are cute, Sadie.”
“Animals are adorable. Procedures aren’t. Will you please stand still?”
“I’m cold. I’m also trying to normal things up around here. People are talking, and not just about Rooney Blume’s birthday.”
A chill that had nothing to do with the dipping temperature skated along Sadie’s spine. “I don’t want to talk about Laura.”
“Neither do I. I was referring to the Hezekiah Blume, Nola Bellam story.”
“Legend.” Sadie snapped three quick shots. “Based on historical fact.”
“Fictionalized fact.”
“Only certain aspects. A record of the marriage between Hezekiah Blume and Nola Bellam exists. We also know, via the family Bible, that the union pissed off Hezekiah’s brother, Ezekiel, to the point that Ezekiel got drunk and raped Nola while Hezekiah was out of town.”
“What a sweetheart,” Orley muttered.
“Yeah, really sweet. To cover his butt, little brother branded Nola a witch—not a difficult thing to do given the strange nature of her family and the grim state of the Hollow in those days—whereupon, he and several fearful residents of Raven’s Cove proceeded to hunt her down in the woods. He thought he killed her, but, oops, he missed.” Sadie adjusted her camera lens. “When he returned to the Cove, Hezekiah, also believing Nola was dead, went on a rampage and murdered not only Ezekiel but every one of the townspeople who’d been involved in the hunt.”
“After which—enter fiction.” Orley wiggled her fingers. “Hezekiah recanted the evil spirit he’d taken into himself, and was ultimately transformed into a raven. The whole witch thing might have faded into folklore if Nola hadn’t popped up again or, as the locals saw it, returned from the dead.”
“That was just her outsmarting Ezekiel and his nasty compatriots.”
“Ezekiel loved Nola, Sadie. He was willing to take her daughter as his own. And don’t forget he met her before she and Hezekiah ever laid eyes on each other.”
“Meaning what? First come, first served? Nola was in love with Hezekiah and vice versa. The order of meeting is irrelevant.”
“Little bro was head over heels. From his perspective, big bro screwed him around. Guy went a little crazy is all.”
“Right, because witch-hunts are only a little crazy.” Sadie’s gaze touched on a pair of rusted-out tractors and a wooden plow from the early twentieth century. “Doesn’t look like Ben’s going to show, does it?”
“Nope, ergo he must have had one whopping big emergency, because he was strutting around the Hollow yesterday, pleased as punch, telling anyone who’d listen that his corn maze would be getting a full page spread in next Sunday’s edition.” Blowing on her balled hands, Orley mo
ved away from the entrance. “You know, Sadie, with all this talk about Hezekiah, Ezekiel and Nola, it occurs to me that you and Eli and Ty have a kind of parallel story happening here. Except you don’t have a daughter, and Nola did.”
“And Ezekiel was insane, and Ty isn’t. Not to mention that Eli wouldn’t turn to the dark side and wind up damned no matter what the inducement. Otherwise, though, absolutely, parallel story.”
“It was an idle observation, cous. Tell me we’re ditching this spook farm, and I’ll zip it.”
“We’ll leave.” Sadie grinned at her. “Right after I try out the maze.”
“Damn, I knew you were going to say that.”
“You can play with my iPad in the Rover. It shouldn’t take me more than twenty minutes to work my way through.”
“Okay, but word of caution. Ben’s got jumping things in there. Scarecrows and ravens, and pitchforks and supersized spiders that drop from webs.”
“Consider me warned.”
She’d have done this in any case, Sadie thought, but with Orley determined to explore in detail a legend that had haunted her sleeping mind for more than a week, the idea of getting lost in a cornfield took on added appeal.
They hadn’t been close as children. Orley, Molly and Laura had all been a full decade older than her. And with her parents’ marriage being about as crappy as it got, family gatherings had been few and far between.
The child she’d been hadn’t thought much about the lack of contact with her relatives—until her aunt Cordelia had married Eli’s father. Then she’d paid attention. Because little girls developed big crushes. And she’d tumbled hard for dark-haired, green-eyed Eli Blume.
Had it ever worn off? she wondered, as she pushed through the rustling stalks. Difficult to say, but her dreams had certainly taken on a different flavor with Eli at the manor last night. The tension inside her had been less bloodcurdling and more sensual. Which might mean that her heart was in as much danger as her life.
As Nola’s had been when she’d chosen Hezekiah over Ezekiel?
Don’t go there, Sadie, a voice in her head ordered. Far less terrifying to think about Eli’s kisses than the dead bird on her doorstep. And better not to do either thing since navigating the maze required more than a little concentration.
She dead-ended twice and had to backtrack to forks that arrowed off in multiple directions. Ravens circling overhead emitted rough, taunting caws. The wind whistled eerily through the stalks. And, as Orley had predicted, all manner of things jumped out at her.
She made it past the swinging brooms easily enough, but gritted her teeth when a spider the size of a dinner plate dropped down five inches from her face. Half a step later, its eight-legged mate shot down to join it.
Okay, arachnids were definitely worth a pause.
With the tarantulas on steroids still bobbing in the breeze, Sadie glanced back down the path. It wasn’t fair to blame Ben Leamer for the raw state of her nerves, but even setting that aside, she thought this portion of the maze might be a little too realistic for kids under ten. Not being under ten herself, however, she told the spiders to smile and snapped a close-up shot.
Did she only imagine the tarantulas were leering at her through the lens?
“Get a grip, Sadie,” she muttered, and pushed past the pair of them.
She chose her next path at random. A scarecrow holding a wooden ax leaped out as she rounded a corner. She handled that one, but when a much nastier version burst out ten steps later, a laughing scream escaped.
Score one for Ben, she decided, and proceeded with greater care. So what if fat drops of rain were beginning to plop on the stalks? Unless it flooded the maze, a little water wouldn’t hurt her.
Neither would a human-sized raven wearing a black cloak, but having one swoop into sight while she was glancing skyward sent her heart into her throat and stopped her in her tracks.
“Okay.” She said it slowly, then took a moment to gather her wits. “Hezekiah Blume, I presume.” Red eyes shone from the folds of a bulky hood. “Did not see you coming at all.” Releasing a cautious breath, she lowered her gaze.
And spied an envelope fastened to the front of his cloak.
Everything inside her turned to liquid. But that was an automatic first response. Her second was to spin in a stationary circle. “You are not going to frighten me.” She kept her voice even and her senses alert. “I won’t let you.” Then a twig snapped directly behind her and her muscles went rigid. She whirled, blew out a breath. “Jesus— Orley.”
“Yes, Orley. Who did you think?” Clearly out of sorts, her cousin brushed at her coat and short hair. “I felt like a coward sitting in your Jeep, plus Ben’s hired hand showed up, and I did not want to hear about his six and a half kids, so I sucked it up and followed you. All was well until a damn bat attacked me in one of the...” When her eyes locked on the envelope, her voice trailed off. “What’s that? No, sorry, obvious answer. But—” she ticked a finger “—don’t think I’m liking the white thing with your name on it.”
“Tell me about it.”
Although she would have preferred to burn the envelope, Sadie yanked it free and ran her thumbnail along the sealed flap.
Inside she discovered a card with a jagged red heart just beginning to crack. “Hell,” she whispered. And bracing for the worst, opened it.
While I love, the monster sleeps.
Orley offered a breathy “Holy crap” while Sadie reread the fractured scrawl.
When several wet drops of rain landed on her head, she shot a dangerous look at the clouds. “Stop raining!”
Orley stabbed a finger. “That is a gonna-get-you threat, Sadie.”
“I know what it is.”
She also knew—though she wasn’t sure how she heard it over the roar of blood in her head—that her phone was ringing.
With the card and envelope in one hand, she slid the fingers of her other into her jeans pocket.
Orley read the screen over her shoulder. “Bob’s Cleaning Service?”
Eyes still fixed on the effigy, Sadie hit Speaker. “What is it, Bobby?”
“So sorry, my love, but I borrowed your janitor’s phone.”
The computer voice hit her like a physical blow—until she pictured the gray-haired cleaning man who’d given her gumdrops as a child. “Where’s Bobby?” she demanded, ignoring Orley’s attempts to mime a message. “What have you done to him?”
“I don’t hurt old men, Sadie. I simply borrowed—well, stole—his phone.” A long pause preceded a raspy “I know you got my message.”
Sadie executed a warier circle this time. “Which one?”
“The card with the heart.”
He was here, she realized. He was watching.
A sudden horrible thought occurred. “Where’s Ben Leamer?”
“Sleeping. Soundly.”
“You knew I’d go into the maze when he didn’t show.”
“Hoped,” the caller replied. “Saw. Used the opportunity.”
“How long have you been following me?”
“Long enough to know you’re not...alone.”
Orley’s fingernails bit into her arm. “We need to get out of here.”
Still searching the stalks, Sadie managed a steady “What do you want me to do?”
Even disguised, the unexpected pain came through. “I want you not to break my heart. I want you to care. I want you to please, please not wake the monster!”
Chapter Nine
By Eli’s estimation, less than a quarter of his attention was focused on the task at hand. Not the ideal scenario for someone using a chain saw to cut up a fallen tree.
His cousin Brady, who operated the Raven’s Hollow Veterinary Clinic, had come and gone three times in the past two hours. Each time he reappea
red, he had a more powerful saw in the back of his battered Ford truck.
“This could be the best cutter in the county.” Hopping up into the box, he shifted the tool so Eli could view the massive blade. “Problem is, Paul Bunyan’s not here to operate it, and I’ve never used anything this big before.”
The tow truck driver, a beefy man with nervous eyes, slapped his gloves on his thigh. “Might be two could lift the thing. Eli?”
“Pass. I’m not eager to hack off a foot. Midsized version works for me.”
Brady hunkered down. “What we need is a plow horse.”
“What we need is an ox.” With all four of his wheels intact, Eli tossed a chain around a freshly cut section of pine and fastened it to his winch. “All we have to do until the road crew arrives is make an opening wide enough for an emergency vehicle to get through.”
The driver from Cove Towing made an anxious sweep of the woods. “Not sure I wanna picture emergency vehicles when I’m standing in the middle of the hollow. Lots of folks hereabouts swear this is a haunted place, and near the bog most of all.”
Eli tugged on the chain to secure it. “You’re letting Rooney’s wild stories get to you, Brick.”
“Nothing wild about your stepsister’s death. A believer would say there’s possession involved. The guy she dumped two weeks before had Blume blood.”
Brady glanced at Eli. “The guy she dumped also had an alibi for the time of the murder.”
“Yeah, but who gave him that alibi? His own ma, that’s who.”
Rain began to spit from a nasty-looking sky. Eli figured they’d be soaked in a minute whether he pursued this or not. “Her ex’s name was Cal Kilgore, Brick.” He turned to his cousin. “Is Cal still in the Cove?”
“More out than in,” Brady told him. “He built a cabin in the north woods and got himself a forge. Last I heard, he was making specialized metal products and selling them to a wholesale outfit in Bangor.”
“How often do you see him?”
“Three times in the last fifteen years. And not much more than that before he left town. He was older than Laura by about five years, so that’d put him around forty-two these days.”
