All Souls: A Gatehouse Thriller

by Karin Kaufman

  We filled him in on all that had happened, anything Nathan hadn’t told him—including what we knew about Elizabeth Hall, Steven Lake, and Manifest Manifest, and my being on Brent Vogel’s kill list—while he made tea for me and coffee for Kath, then we told him about Connor. He set the teapot on his kitchen table and dropped into his seat as though his muscles had lost hold of his bones. “They shot him in the middle of nowhere? Why? You weren’t on a return, they didn’t have to protect themselves.”

  “It’s like Nathan said,” I replied. “Something’s happening. The ditches are nibbling and the nibblers are going rampant.”

  His shoulders hunched, he stared down at his hands.

  “Zack?”

  “Bastards.”

  “I know.”

  He sniffed loudly and flopped back in his chair. “Did you guys get them?”

  “I think Nathan did. We didn’t stop to check.”

  Zack nodded. He ran a hand down his face, over the dark stubble on his chin. At thirty-five he looked no older than thirty, which would serve him well in years to come. He wouldn’t look tattered and worn when he retired, not like some other hunters I’d seen.

  “What are we supposed to do now?” he asked, looking from me to Kath.

  “Wait for Nathan,” Kath said, petulance working its way back into her voice.

  “So what is Gatehouse doing?” Zack asked. “Hunters and porters slaughtered like this—what are they doing about it?”

  “Not a damn thing,” Kath said. She looked my way, expecting an argument from me, but I remembered another map in Nathan’s office—one I didn’t tell Kath and Zack about, the one sprinkled with red and green circles—and I kept quiet. I was as puzzled as they were about Gatehouse’s plan of action, and when they would employ it.

  “Connor gets killed and that’s it?”

  “Brent and Chester, too,” Kath added.

  “If I knew for sure where some Sacks lived, I’d—”

  “We need to keep watch,” I said. I wanted to turn Zack around before he started down that road. Kath would join in, and before long they’d be out the door, prowling the streets of Laramie for Sacks. In the face of fear and sorrow, action for the sake of action was tempting, and Zack was eager to be tempted. “You have a surveillance system, don’t you?”

  He took me on a tour of his system, which, although it wasn’t as impressive as Nathan’s, was adequate for his much smaller house. It included one camera for all four sides of the house but no motion-detection alarms, meaning one of us would have to sit in front of the monitor in his combination office and spare bedroom at all times. The weakness in his system was his land, more than four tree-filled acres, none of it covered by cameras.

  He sat on a metal folding chair at the desk that held his monitor and began to manipulate the joystick that operated the cameras. “What do you think is going on?” he asked.

  I took a seat at the edge of the bed, studying the screen as the camera at the north end of his house made a 180-degree sweep. “Sacks are killing even more randomly than before. They’re traveling the major highways, killing innocents, then getting back on the highways. And they’re moving to the mountain states in big numbers.”

  Zack looked at me in alarm. “Why here?”

  I searched for the right words, a way to say something I’d felt more than thought when I’d looked to the mountains and ranches of southern Wyoming. “It’s open country. It’s a good place to kill, to hide. To start something. Or maybe they want a foothold.”

  He let go of the joystick. “Foothold. I don’t like how that sounds.”

  Neither did I, but the word had worked its way from the back of my mind to my mouth as I struggled to explain my thoughts to Zack. I hadn’t considered that Sacks might be gathering and digging in for some future campaign. Lower-level Sacks were notoriously impatient, seemingly incapable of long-term planning. They cared chiefly for the high of the kill right in front of them. But Elations and Embodiments thought ahead. If Desires on up to Festals were cooperating now, listening to the upper levels and carrying out their strategy, we were all knee deep in crap.

  “How does your being on Brent Vogel’s return list figure into this?”

  “Sacks want to kill hunters.”

  Zack’s dark eyes narrowed. “Then they would have killed you the same way they did Connor. Think about it. Do you know if Connor was on anyone’s list?”

  “If he was, it would have been under some made-up Sack name.”

  “Who decides what name—”

  Zack broke off in mid-sentence when he heard the phone in his kitchen ring. Kath called out that she’d take the call, and he turned back to his monitor. “None of my friends would call me before noon,” he said.

  I listened for Kath’s voice. I heard a gentle “No, he’s not here” followed by a firmer “I have no idea.”

  Zack turned his head toward the bedroom door, listening.

  “Well someone better figure it out because now we’re all alone here,” Kath said.

  I looked at Zack and we both headed for the kitchen.

  “That’s not enough.” Kath’s voice was urgent. “We need help now.”

  I heard the bang of the handset in the base and turned the corner to see Kath rooted in place, her hand still gripping the phone as she looked our way.

  “Who was it?” Zack asked.

  Kath dropped her hand. “He wouldn’t give me his name.”

  Zack leaned in for a look at the caller ID. “Blocked.”

  “It had to be Gatehouse,” Kath said. “They asked for Nathan. I told him we have no idea where he is.”

  A brief flutter of panic, like a tiny electrical pulse, shot through me. “Why was he asking?”

  “Because he was supposed to meet Nathan and Nathan never showed up.” She slapped the counter with the palm of her hand. “In Fort Collins, Jane. He must have been all of five minutes away from his appointment. That’s why we were up before dawn.” She glared at me, as though I’d known where Nathan was going and had refused to tell her.

  “Is he very late?”

  “Two hours.”

  “How did he even make the appointment?” I asked. “None of us had a cell phone.”

  “Not that you know of,” Kath said, anxiously twirling a strand of hair in her fingers.

  I thought back to the car rental office. Nathan never left our side. It was impossible for him to have made a call from there.

  “What if some Sack got him?” Zack asked.

  “God.” Kath pulled a chair from the kitchen table and sat.

  I shook my head. Nathan was too good for some traveling Sacks, some cackling Alarms or Resolutes twitching to kill a porter, to get the better of him. There had to be another reason he had missed the meeting. Taking a seat at the table opposite Kath, I opened my mouth to reassure her, but no words came.

  Zack sat down, propped his elbows on the table, and leaned toward me. “Something might have happened to him. We have to consider that and come up with a plan.”

  “We need to move,” Kath added. “If they found him, they could find us. What if they toyed with him until he told them Zack’s address?”

  “Knock it off.” I’d found my voice. “We’re supposed to wait here. He was clear about that.”

  “How long do we wait?” Zack asked. “What if he’s dead?”

  “We’re jumping to conclusions. He misses a meeting and suddenly he’s dead? And who was this man on the phone? We don’t know he was with Gatehouse. He could be some dung-mouth trying to get us to tell him where Nathan is.”

  Zack turned to Kath. “She’s got a point.”

  Kath at last let go of her hair. “If he was only a dung-mouth Sack, how did he know Nathan was anywhere near Fort Collins and how did he know Zack’s number?”

  Two better points. I had no answer.

  Zack leaned back in his chair, hooked his thumbs in his jeans pockets, and looked up toward the ceiling.

  “I don’t feel safe ha
nging around,” Kath said, a fretful pleading in her tone.

  Zack looked at me. Kath waited. I was witnessing the beginnings of a hunter mutiny, and I didn’t appreciate the role of temporary captain. If they took off I’d have to go with them, wherever they decided to go, because I sure wasn’t going to stay alone in Zack’s house. I didn’t believe Nathan was dead, but it was possible he was in hiding or hurt and needed help. There was only one place to go, but the thought of going there terrified me, and I knew Kath would never agree to it. More than that, she was grief-stricken over Connor’s death and couldn’t be trusted near the newest member of Gatehouse. Nathan hadn’t heard her threats to kill Hall.

  A second, more frightening possibility occurred to me. What if Nathan had driven south on 287 just to throw any Sacks following him off the track then circled back to visit Hall? He was so close to her house—wouldn’t he want to talk to her? To check on her well-being in the midst of this upheaval? And what if his trust had been repaid with her treachery?

  Kath looked on the verge of lunging for Zack’s front door, not caring where she was going, and Zack looked two steps behind her. I no longer had a choice—or time.

  “I know where he might be,” I said. I stood, trying my hunter best to look confident, as though I’d come up with a sterling tactical move and would effortlessly carry it out.

  “Where?” Zack said.

  “I can’t tell you yet.”

  Kath glowered at me. “Are you kidding?”

  “You guys have to trust me, please. You’ll be safe here together, and I won’t be gone long.”

  Kath looked at me like I’d lost all sense and it was her sad duty to remind me of that. “That’s what Nathan said.”

  I turned to face Zack. If I could convince him to stay, Kath would have to stay with him. “If I don’t call you in four hours, then leave, go anywhere you want. But give me four hours.” I prayed it wouldn’t take more than an hour and a half to find Hall’s house, and that if Nathan wasn’t there, she’d help me find him, not turn on me. My skills weren’t sufficient to beat an Elation, former or not. Even for Nathan’s sake.

  Zack relented. His shoulders relaxed as he looked to Kath. “I think we have to wait. We’ll be all right here. It’s still morning, there’s plenty of daylight left.”

  “This feels wrong.”

  “No Sack is going to risk attacking us in the daylight. Have you seen my neighbors down the road?” He smiled reassuringly. “They’re putting up Halloween decorations.”

  “They’re a block away,” she said.

  Zack looked back at me, the smile fading from his lips. “But if we don’t hear from you in four hours, we’ll need to move.”

  “I understand.”

  “Are you sure we shouldn’t come with you?”

  “If I need you, I’ll find a phone and call you.”

  “What about my burner?”

  Nathan had told us to toss our burners, but I didn’t think he’d object to me picking up a new one. “Good idea.”

  “It’s still in its original package.” Zack rose and exited the kitchen.

  I sat down again and directed my gaze at Kath until she broke the ice. “Why can’t you tell us where you’re going?” she asked.

  “It’s a promise I made.”

  “To Nathan, I suppose.”

  “If Brent Vogel told you something in confidence, you’d keep quiet too.”

  Zack returned with the burner, setting it on the table in front of me, still in its clamshell plastic case. His way of letting me know it hadn’t been tampered with.

  “Have you got a chainsaw?” I said, holding up the case.

  “Massive pair of scissors,” he said, sliding open a kitchen drawer. He took the case from my hand, cut an opening at the top, and pried the sides apart. “Check it to make sure it’s working.”

  It was. There was nothing left for me to do but grab some food, water, and my backpack and hop into the rental car. Slinging my pack over my shoulder and trying but failing to plant a smile on my face, I headed out the door.

  Chapter 11

  An hour after leaving Zack’s house, I found the black horse on the wooden arch, just as Nathan had described it. Other gates I’d passed in this hilly country four miles south of the Wyoming border were marked in some fashion with names and addresses, but not this one. And there was no mailbox out front. Maybe Hall had a post office box in Livermore, the nearest town, but that was still a hell of a drive for mail.

  It had snowed recently, an inch or so, but since taking the first right off 45E, I’d seen no tire tracks. No one, and that included Nathan, had driven in or out of this backcountry road this morning. I pulled just inside Hall’s gate and came to a stop, trying to get a feel for the land and looking for entrances and exits. Everything about this place was off somehow. It looked lived in but forsaken, guarded by its anonymity but not by fences or any cameras I could see, though the ponderosa and lodgepole pines near the gate probably held at least one camera. Nathan hid some of the cameras on his property in trees.

  My sense of unease was heightened because I couldn’t see Hall’s house from where I sat. Just a long dirt driveway leading me north. If Hall did have cameras near the gate, she’d seen me by now. There was no point in lingering, wondering what lay ahead. It was time to find out.

  A minute later, rising on the crest of a hill, I finally caught sight of the two-story timber-framed house. Built in a shallow basin of land, it was shielded from view until the driveway also dropped in elevation. The perfect hideaway. I stopped the car again and searched for vehicles near the house. Nothing. Only the very back of the house and the far west side of it, which was hidden by a grove of trees, were difficult to see from the road, but they didn’t seem likely places to park a car.

  Hall, if she was home, had spotted me by now, so I drove slowly the rest of the way—a sort of car body language, letting her know that I intended for her to see me, that I was alone and had no secret objective. Thirty feet from the house, leading to the right, was a turnaround, all but concealed by more trees. I shuddered as I drove past, knowing I had seen it too late. Anyone waiting there would have found me easy pickings.

  I nosed the SUV up to the closed garage door and shut off the engine. Hall’s front door remained closed. I’d half expected her to fly out of it, weapon in hand, before I’d come to a full stop. But she was going to make me come to her, all the way.

  Taking a cue from Nathan’s approach to Connor’s house, I swiftly mounted the four steps to her deck, strode to her front door, and rang the bell. No lingering, no lurking at her windows. I heard muffled sounds from behind the door, and for one mad moment I thought to run. Maybe Kath had been right to wonder if I’d lost my mind.

  The peephole darkened. Several seconds passed before a woman opened the door. Her face clouded with suspicion, she examined me briefly, saying nothing, asking nothing.

  “My name’s Jane,” I managed. I could feel my heart pounding rapidly in my chest.

  “I’m Elizabeth Hall. I believe I know you.” She backed away, keeping hold on the doorknob, and motioned for me to enter.

  I swung to face her as she shut the door behind me, and the shadow of a smile crossed her face. Did she enjoy the fear others felt in her presence? If so, she was still a Sack. An Elation two feet from my face. I folded my arms to keep them from shaking.

  “This way,” Hall said, heading left into her great room.

  I followed a distance behind, fearful that she might turn and strike if the mood seized her. She, on the other hand, had no such concern about me. She must have known I had a weapon—she claimed to know who I was—but she strolled toward the great room without once turning my way. Once there, she took a seat on a brown leather couch and gestured for me to sit on the couch opposite hers. Unwilling to let down my guard, I perched on the edge of the cushion, ready to spring if need be. That too seemed to amuse her.

  Hall’s age—mid-fifties, I guessed—didn’t offer me consolati
on. Only her salt-and-pepper hair and the liver spots on her hands hinted at any age-driven weakness. She looked fit and strong, and being an Elation, former or not, meant she had talents far above mine. I’d heard of Elations in their seventies going rampant and killing half a dozen innocents in one night.

  “You’re Jane Piper, Nathan Tennant’s hunter,” she said, crossing her legs. She couldn’t have been any more at ease in my presence, and she seemed to be taking delight in telegraphing that. “He told me you might come here.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes, of course.”

  Irrationally or not, I felt a pinch of betrayal. Nathan had given my name to an Elation. Hunters and porters didn’t do that. “When the hell did he tell you?”

  “This morning.” Her expression briefly became one of concern. She uncrossed her legs and leaned forward. “He called me. I’m aware of what’s been happening.”

  “Are you?”

  “And I know Nathan told you to come here if you were in trouble. So let’s cut to the chase. What’s going on?”

  Good. I preferred to be blunt. “I think something may have happened to Nathan.”

  She scowled in disbelief. “What makes you think so?”

  “What time did you hear from him?”

  “Early. Maybe eight o’clock.”

  Strange. If the caller at Zack’s house was right, that was past the time Nathan was to meet with the Gatehouse member. So why was he calling Hall then? I was loath to volunteer more information, but I knew Hall couldn’t help if she was kept in the dark. “I think Nathan was supposed to meet a Gatehouse member before then. About half past seven. Only he didn’t show up.”

  “How do you know that?”

  “They called and asked for him.”

  Eyeing me as though I’d transformed with those few words into a creature of low intelligence, if not an outright Sack spy, she said, “Let me get this straight. Gatehouse phoned you?”