Weeping Walls

by Gerri Hill

She glanced at Paige. “Let me take a quick look around.”

  “If you insist,” Paige said with a quick smile, her gaze traveling into the dark underground room.

  CJ tested the first step. It appeared to be intact. She went down the stairs, aware that her heart was beating a little faster than normal. She flashed her light into every corner. It was dark, damp and humid, the air still. The space was barely big enough for her to stand upright. It appeared to have indeed been a root cellar at one time. The wood used to reinforce the walls was mostly rotted, but some shelves remained and a wooden bin of some sort was built against the wall. Not far past the bin she saw the black gaping hole of a tunnel entrance.

  She looked back to the top of the stairs, illuminated by both Paige’s and the tech’s flashlights.

  “Got a tunnel,” she said. “It’s kinda crude. Nothing like Hoganville.”

  “Hoganville? Oh, that’s right,” the tech said. “You two were a part of that mass suicide thing.”

  CJ ignored him. “Paige, go out by the ruins. We can use our phones to find the entrance.”

  “Okay. Heading out now.”

  “I guess you want me to leave this door open?” the tech asked with a bit of a chuckle.

  “If you don’t mind,” CJ said. “Smart-ass,” she muttered under her breath.

  * * *

  Paige was glad to get outside into the daylight. She’d had enough of dark, secret rooms. She felt like they were digging into the very bowels of the Wicker house. She took her phone out, waiting for CJ to call. Ice hurried over when he saw her.

  “Howley called. Got a warrant for Edith Krause’s trailer,” he said.

  “That’s great. Are you going to handle it?”

  “I thought I’d take Billy with me.”

  Paige shook her head. “Found a body on the third floor. He’s dealing with that,” she said.

  “A body? Herbert?”

  “Don’t know yet,” she said.

  “Where’s CJ?”

  “In what we think is a root cellar,” she said.

  “Damn. So there really is one?”

  She nodded. “There’s a tunnel too.”

  “You want me to hang around? Help you find the entrance?”

  “No, I got it. You should head over to Edith’s.”

  “Yeah. Okay. I’m going to see if I can get one of the techs to go too.”

  “You should get Brady to take you,” she suggested.

  “Yeah. And maybe I’ll find out why he’s giving us the runaround about Thompson,” he said. “I’ll let you know if we find anything.” He paused, then smiled. “Have fun in the tunnel.”

  “Right,” she said dryly. “I just hope there’s no cave attached to this one.”

  “You better hope there’s no big scary monster at the end of it.”

  “Thanks for reminding me.”

  He gave a quick laugh, then headed inside the house. She walked over to the ruins, looking for anything that seemed out of place, but the area was so overgrown, nothing appeared to be foreign. She was about to call CJ when her phone rang.

  “Hey. I’m out here now,” she said. “How far are you?”

  “Far enough that I wished we’d switched lights,” CJ said. “Mine is fading fast.”

  “How is it down there?”

  “Spiderwebs are at a minimum,” she said.

  “Well, that’s a plus. By the way, Ice heard from Howley. He got the go-ahead to search Edith’s house. He’s getting a tech to go with him and getting Brady to drive him.”

  “Okay. And I guess I’m at the end now. That tunnel was so narrow in places, two people couldn’t have fit.”

  “But nothing, you know, jumped out at you?”

  “Well, there was that ax,” CJ said. “It was on a shelf.”

  “Maybe it’s the murder weapon,” she said as she stepped over a limb, hoping there were no snakes about. “I don’t see anything that looks like a door.”

  “Okay. We can do the GPS thing again, if you want.”

  “Wait. This is odd,” she said, staring at a mess of tangled vines.

  “What?”

  “There are vines that look like they’ve been cut.” She moved closer, then nearly tripped as her foot caught a limb. She looked around, still not seeing anything odd, then noticed the pile of leaves. They looked like they’d been raked. With her foot, she moved the leaves, revealing what appeared to be a plank of wood.

  “Sounds like you’re standing on the door,” CJ said. “I’m not sure how secure it is. You might want to step off.”

  “Sorry. I assume it opens outward?”

  “Yeah. I’ve got an old leather strap in here. Used to pull it shut, I guess.”

  “Okay, let me get the debris off and we can try to open it.”

  Now that she knew where the door was, she could tell how staged the limbs and dead tree branches were. She moved them to the side and brushed at the leaves the best she could.

  “Ready?” CJ asked.

  “There’s like an old brass ring on my side,” Paige said. “The door looks fairly small.”

  “Paige, sweetheart, kinda getting claustrophobic in here,” CJ said. “My light has barely a flicker left.”

  Paige smiled. “Okay. Sorry. Let’s open it.”

  It opened with little effort, evidence that it had been used recently. CJ stepped back as leaves and dirt fell inside. Paige pointed her flashlight in. “Hi.”

  “Hi, yourself.” CJ held her hand up, silently asking for help out. Paige took it and CJ tentatively climbed the stairs.

  “These steps have seen better days,” CJ said as she clicked her light off. “I wasn’t sure they would hold me.”

  “So how was it?”

  “Uneventful.”

  “So it’s small? Short?”

  “Compared to Hoganville’s tunnels, yes,” CJ said.

  “That seems like so long ago, doesn’t it?”

  “Yeah. I think about that damn monster and it was almost like a dream.” CJ turned to her and smiled. “Of course, there were some really good parts of that assignment.”

  Paige reached out and quickly squeezed her arm, letting her fingers linger only a second. “Yes, there were. Remember the night we went dancing?”

  “The second time?”

  “Yes. We kissed as we danced. And then you took me outside,” she said, remembering how aroused she’d been after the dance. Outside, hidden in the shadows, she didn’t care that others were about. She met CJ’s eyes now, holding them, wondering if CJ remembered how she’d begged her not to stop.

  CJ nodded. “Yes. It was the first time I got a glimpse of your naughty side.”

  Paige laughed quietly. “We should do that again.”

  “Dance?”

  “That too.”

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Ice sat in the front seat of Brady’s patrol car while the forensics’ tech sat in the back. It was a short drive to Shady Pines, but Ice thought it was as good a time as any to bring up Thompson.

  “So you haven’t had any luck getting with Shane Thompson, huh?”

  Brady shook his head. “He won’t return my calls.”

  “Is that right? You couldn’t go out there?”

  “Yeah, I did. He wasn’t around.”

  Ice shook his head. “Come on, man. I talked to Thompson myself. He said he’s heard nothing from you.”

  Brady looked only slightly uncomfortable. “I talked to a woman. I believe it’s his daughter. She was supposed to give him a message to call me.” He shrugged. “Never heard from him. And I haven’t been able to get back to it, since you guys have us at your beck and call over at the Wicker house.”

  “Well, maybe you can get back to it. Looks like we’re about to wrap this one up,” he said as they pulled into Edith Krause’s driveway.

  “Man, what a dump.”

  Ice glanced at the tech. “Yeah. Makes you wonder what the inside looks like.”

  He got his wish a short time later wh
en their knock went unanswered. He was about to kick the door in when the tech stopped him.

  “I can open it,” he said as he pulled a small leather pouch from his pocket

  Ice stepped aside. “Be my guest.”

  It took him all of twenty seconds to pick the lock and push the door open. They all covered their noses when they went inside. It was cluttered and dirty, but not overly so. The kitchen was an absolute mess, though.

  “Smells like something died in here too,” Brady said.

  “It’s not human decomp,” the tech said. He went to the garbage and lifted the lid, turning his head quickly. “It’s a chicken. And it hasn’t been cooked.”

  Ice went over to take a look. “Feet are missing.”

  “Yeah. And it’s been gutted.”

  Ice looked over at Brady. “Take a look around.”

  “What am I looking for?”

  He shrugged. “I guess we’ll know when we find it.”

  “You want me to take some prints, right?” the tech asked.

  “Yeah. Hopefully they’ll match the ones we found at the Wicker house.”

  While Brady pulled open drawers in the living room, Ice went down the short hallway to the bedrooms. The first room was immaculate. It was also a child’s room. While the rest of the house could stand a good cleaning, this room appeared to be spotless. He went inside, seeing pictures of a young boy—Eddie. Ice could see why he’d be an easy target for bullying. He was small and thin and wore glasses. In one smiling picture, he had a pronounced overbite. Ice shook his head. The poor kid hadn’t had a chance.

  But it was in the second bedroom where he knew they’d found what they were looking for.

  “Brady,” he called. “In here.”

  It was obviously Edith’s bedroom, but there was only a small double bed and one tiny dresser and mirror. The other half of the room was turned into a workplace. A long table was shoved against the wall and hanging above it was a large old-fashioned bulletin board—a cork board. And pinned to it were dozens and dozens of pictures and newspaper clippings of the four missing boys. Right in the center of the board was a small, brief article about Eddie’s death.

  “Damn,” Brady murmured. “I guess she did do it.”

  Ice took a closer look at the table, then stepped back. “Oh, man.”

  “What?”

  He pointed. “It’s one of those…those witchcraft books. A spell book,” he said.

  “Was she into that?”

  “You know they found that room in the Wicker house, right? The voodoo room.”

  “Yeah. I took a peek in there. It was creepy.”

  Ice turned to go get the tech but found him standing in the doorway, camera ready. They got out of his way, letting him process the room.

  “Let me call my team,” Ice said, moving back through the living room and outside. The stench from the kitchen was too much to stand. CJ answered immediately.

  “What’d you find, baldy?”

  He couldn’t help but smile. At first he’d hated the nickname she started using when he’d shaved his head. Now, it had kinda grown on him.

  “Found what I guess we’d call a serial killer’s trophy room,” he said. “She’s got a wall full of school pictures of the four boys along with what looks like every newspaper story she could find on the disappearances.”

  “Good job. The tech got prints, right?”

  “Yeah. But there was something else. First, we found a mutilated chicken. Feet were cut off and it was gutted.”

  “Gross.”

  “Yeah. The smell was horrendous,” he said. “And in the room where the newspaper clippings were, there was a book. A damn spell book. Like the one in the voodoo room,” he said.

  “Old like that one?”

  “Yeah. It wasn’t a new purchase, in other words.”

  “So maybe there were two books at the Wicker house and she took one. We know she knew all the secret rooms,” CJ said.

  “This kind of shit creeps me out, man.”

  “I know, buddy. But it’s almost over with.”

  “So the body? Is it Herbert?”

  “Positive ID hasn’t been made, but Herbert Krause’s wallet was in his pocket, so we can assume. Had forty-five bucks in there, driver’s license and a family photo.”

  “So where the hell is Edith? You don’t think she’d head back to Midland, do you?”

  “I wouldn’t think so. Her old neighbors have already alerted her that we were up there,” CJ said.

  “Okay. You already call Howley?”

  “Yeah. He actually said he was proud of us,” CJ said with a laugh.

  Ice absently rubbed his hand across his slick head. “If we could find out what happened to Juan, then maybe we’d get off his shit list for good.”

  “Anything from Brady?” she asked.

  “Excuses,” he said. “Listen, do you think I should have Brady put up crime scene tape?”

  “No. That’ll just draw attention from the neighbors. Let’s keep it as low-key as possible. You and Brady can secure it, right?”

  “Yeah. But we need to get this evidence out. Can you spare any guys for over here?”

  “Yeah, they’re about done here. They’re doing the third floor where they found Herbert. The ME has already taken the bodies. I’ll see if a couple of guys can head your way.”

  “Okay. Thanks. I’ll see you later.”

  He turned, feeling eyes on him. He only caught a glimpse as an old, white-haired woman went back inside her trailer. That would be Lizzie, he thought.

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  CJ shook hands with Mike Dupree, the lead of the forensics team. “Your guys did a great job,” she said.

  “Thanks. I must say it’s one of the most unusual scenes we’ve done.”

  “Yeah. Tell me about it,” she said.

  “I’ll let you know as soon as we get the results back. I’ll have the fingerprints analysis from here and the suspect’s residence first thing. I’ll let you know,” he said as he opened the car door.

  “Thanks.”

  As soon as they drove off, CJ glanced over her shoulder at the house, the sun having slipped behind the trees, leaving long shadows in its wake. Paige came out of the house and walked over to her.

  “Do we need to secure it again tonight?”

  “Not for evidence, no. But we still haven’t located Edith,” she said.

  “You think she’s going to show up here?”

  “I don’t know. To me, this is kinda like her lair, isn’t it? She’s got secret passageways, secret rooms to hide her victims.”

  “BOLO’s been out two days,” Paige reminded her. “No sightings.”

  “Yeah. Maybe she did leave the area. But my gut tells me she didn’t. Her husband’s here. I think since she’s been back from Midland, she comes here often to visit him.”

  Paige arched an eyebrow. “You feel this or…someone suggested it?”

  CJ grinned. “I haven’t had any little voices in my ear lately, no. In fact, nothing since last night.”

  “Okay. But I’m not sure how much good we’re going to do here. We’re all exhausted.”

  “I know we are. Ice got Brady to agree to post a couple of deputies here tonight. We’ll lock up the house.”

  “And the tunnel?”

  “Not sure what we can do about that. If they’re parked in the driveway, hopefully they’ll see her if she tries to enter it.” She shrugged. “We’ll just have to chance it. Like you said, we’re all exhausted.”

  Billy came out of the house then and closed the door behind him.

  “Lock it up?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Man, I’m almost too tired to eat,” he said as he came over. “But what’s the plan for dinner?”

  “I just want to crash,” CJ said. “I’ll pick up something and take it to the room. You guys go out if you want.”

  Paige shook her head. “No. Relaxing in the room sounds better than going out.”

&nbs
p; Billy smiled. “Yeah, you two head back to the hotel. I’m just glad we don’t have adjoining rooms.”

  CJ scowled. “Bite me.”

  “You wish.”

  “What are you two bickering about?” Ice asked as he joined them.

  “Nothing,” Billy said. “You want to go out for dinner? The girls are going to pick something up and eat in their room.”

  Ice looked at CJ. “That’s the plan, huh?”

  “I’m tired, man. I would not be good company,” she said.

  “That’s cool.” He turned to Billy. “Steak? I’m starved.”

  “Yeah. Good with me.”

  Ice winked at her. “See you in the morning then, girls. Don’t party too hard tonight.”

  CJ shook her head as they got in Billy’s truck. “If I only had the energy.”

  Paige smiled at her. “Too tired for even that, tiger?”

  “Afraid so.”

  “I’ll have to agree with you. Chinese okay?”

  “Sure. I’ll try to stay awake long enough to eat.”

  * * *

  Paige rolled over to her side, snuggling closer to CJ. CJ’s even breathing never wavered. After they’d showered, they had eaten, but neither of them had come close to finishing their meal. They had literally fallen into bed and were asleep before words could even be spoken.

  She reached out now, snaking an arm around CJ’s waist, needing the closeness. While CJ had put on a brave front the last two days, Paige knew a lot of her bravado was forced. This whole situation with…with the house, with everything in the house, had taken its toll. They were all stressed, sure, but CJ was the only one who was…hearing things.

  Paige closed her eyes and sighed. She believed her; how could she not? If they weren’t as close, if they weren’t lovers, she might have had her doubts at the beginning. But not after the other night. Not after finding Herbert Krause’s body on the third floor, not after finding the tunnel and the root cellar. Those things, CJ couldn’t have known unless someone had told her. Nonetheless, it was unsettling. She could only imagine how disturbing it must be for CJ.

  She opened her eyes again when she felt CJ stir. Soon, a warm hand covered hers, fingers rubbing lightly across her skin. Such a simple, innocent touch, yet her pulse sprang to life. Would CJ’s touch always do this to her? Those fingers moved higher up her arm, still softly touching. When CJ turned her head, Paige’s mouth found hers. It was a slow, languid kiss, lips moving unhurried, just lightly caressing.