"So the spirits of these women are stuck in a kind of limbo?"
"Something like that."
"Why?"
"They died violently and never found justice or rest."
"Lake Justice," said Jamie.
"Can they hurt us?" Felicia asked.
"They could. But they won't. They don't want to hurt us. They want our help." I looked at the figures. A wave of sadness washed over me.
I took a deep breath and began a low incantation. I let the cadence rise and fall. The melody moved, but I stayed grounded and focused, singing in a low, calm voice. The apparitions swayed slightly, then stepped back from the shield with a sigh. They twirled, as though dancing to the tune, and flitted back to the lake. They stepped into the lake; instead of lying down, they simply walked into it until they disappeared, the water closing over their heads.
"So how do we help them?" Felicia asked.
"I don't know," I admitted.
"They feel like they're in pain."
"Part of the whole violent death thing, I bet," said Jamie.
"I'll have to do some research when we get back to town," I said. "Figure out their stories and then figure out what they need."
"Maybe Mr. Everett would know," Jamie suggested.
"I'd rather look it up myself."
"You don't think he had anything to do with them, do you?"
"I don't want to jump to any conclusions, one way or the other."
"I want to come up with you when you do whatever it is," said Felicia.
I thought it over and nodded. "Yeah, I think you've earned it."
"We so cannot tell my mom about this," said Felicia. "She'd make us pack up and leave right now."
"I don't often agree with keeping secrets from parents, but in this case, I do," I said. "I'll put a circle of protection around the campsite before we all go to sleep."
"Better make sure you include the latrine," Jamie said. "'Cause everyone drank a lot of water today."
Felicia returned to the campsite without argument. We slid back in to the ghost tales and the round robin tales around the campfire. After everyone turned in, I walked a circle around the site, including the latrine, casting a net of protection over us, so nothing could enter that wished us harm.
"You look like you're on patrol."
"You scared me!" I scolded Kyle.
"Sorry. I was just making a final check before turning in."
"Me, too."
"Thanks for doing this."
"You're welcome."
He hesitated, as though about to say something else. "Good night."
"Good night."
* * * *
"Ms. Rowan, Mrs. Williams, wake up!" Tessa shook me.
"What is it?"
"I think something's happened to Felicia."
"What?" Fay and I both sat up. Fay turned on the electric lantern.
Tessa and Amy stared at us, frightened. "We heard something outside the tent. We figured it was the boys, playing a practical joke. Felicia snuck out the back flap of the tent. We heard her scream and then--she's gone." Tessa's eyes filled with tears.
I was in my clothes and boots in a flash and raced out of the tent. Kyle was pulling his shirt on as he ran out of his tent.
"Where's Mark?" Fay asked.
"He heard Felicia scream and went into the woods after her," said Amy.
For some reason, Kyle and I stared at each other. "I need you to stay here, Fay," Kyle said.
"She's my daughter," Fay said.
"And I can track her," I said. "We're running out of adults here. I'll track, Fay, if you can stay with the kids. Philip, George, you look pretty strong. Get some large tree limbs, everyone stay in one tent, and if someone you don't know tries to get into the tent, whack him one."
"You think it's the caretaker?" Fay asked.
"It's not the caretaker," Kyle said.
"How do you know?" Fay demanded. "Damn it, Kyle, how do you know? Mark made some pretty direct accusations earlier."
"Yeah, I know. He's trying to throw suspicion off himself."
"What?" Fay stared at him.
"You can really track Felicia?" Kyle asked me.
"Absolutely. We can telepath."
"What?" Now Fay glared at me.
"Fay, do you know how to shoot a gun?" Kyle asked.
"Yes, but--"
"I'll give you my extra."
"Why are you carrying a gun?" I asked.
Kyle disappeared into his tent. A moment later, he came out, loading a clip into a gun. My warning bells rang big time. A teacher carrying a Glock 23? Something was way off here. I'd ask some serious questions when we got Felicia back safely. He handed it to Fay. "Can you use this, or do I need to show you?"
"I can use it," said Fay.
"Here are two extra clips." He handed them to her.
"Is it the caretaker?" Fay asked. "The one who was eyeing us all when we came in?"
"It's not the caretaker."
"How can you be sure?"
"Because he's on my team," said Kyle.
"Did you pick him for the skeevy factor so no one would suspect he's a good guy?" I snapped.
Kyle gave me a dark look. "He's an outstanding agent."
"Your team?" Fay glared at him. "What the hell are you talking about?"
"I work for the FBI." Kyle pulled another gun from his waistband. "Ellen Nagle didn't plan her absence; we asked her to take it so I could go undercover at the school. I've been tracking a serial killer for the past five years. I inherited the case from an agent who committed suicide because he couldn't stop the murders."
"And the killer's here?"
"It's Mark Andrews, isn't it?" I asked.
"The weekend was supposed to flush him out. We've got a team in place here at the campground. The caretaker's one of them. Aileen--the hitchhiker we picked up--is another. Mark was supposed to pick her up, but sped on past. However, we lost contact with Aileen earlier in the day."
"The blood Tessa and I found in the woods."
"Likely. And somehow Andrews made me tonight. He was pretty blatant about it."
"How many's he killed?"
"We suspect a dozen just in this area in the past seven years," Kyle responded. "That doesn't include Mary Ann Davidovich in 1994."
"How'd he get hired by the school?"
"He was never charged with anything. Never enough evidence. We think he left the area for a while and concentrated on a few killings in Montana, then came back. With a new identity. DNA confirms he used to be known as Mark Sanders."
"He came back to Lake Justice." I looked at Jamie, who was pale enough to faint.
"And he's got my daughter." Fay put a hand to her trembling lips. "Oh, my God."
"I need you to be very calm and very focused," Kyle said. "I need you to stay here and protect the kids."
Fay nodded.
"I'm coming with you, Aunt Bronwyn," said Jamie.
"Bad idea," said Kyle.
"Normally I'd agree, but this time, I don't," I said. "Jamie, go into my duffle and get out the extra knives. Bring me the small blue backpack. It's got my first aid stuff in it." Jamie dashed off.
"I'm good in the woods," said Tobias. "Quiet, and I don't scare easy."
"The kids need to stay here," said Kyle. "Where they can be protected."
"You used them as bait," I said. "It's a little late for that."
Jamie came back with three knives. I gave one to Tobias, put one in a wrist sheath that I strapped on and nodded to Jamie to keep the third. I slipped the small pack on. "Flashlights will give us away, and I don't need one," I said. "Let's go." I turned back to Fay. "If it turns out Everett's lying and it's really Andrews who's the FBI agent and Everett who's the serial killer, don't worry. I'll kill Everett."
"You really would, wouldn't you?" Kyle stared at me.
"In a heartbeat," I replied.
We took a few steps into the woods, leaving the others to gather in Fay's tent. I took a deep breath and c
entered. ::Felicia? Can you hear me through the fear?::
Her fear was so palpable I could almost smell it. ::Ms. Rowan?::
::Tell me where you are.::
::We walked for about a mile and a quarter from the back of the girls' tent into the woods. We're in a clearing. I'm against a rock, so no one can sneak up behind us. The hitchhiker's here. She's hurt pretty badly. If she doesn't die soon on her own, Mr. Andrews will kill her.::
::Hang on. We're coming. Just don't give us away.::
"Come on," I said grimly. "It's just over a mile."
We covered the ground with remarkable quiet, considering it was still dark and we weren't using flashlights. I could feel the heaviness of bloodshed as we approached and raised my hand. "Tobias, Jamie, see if you can quietly circle around. Disappear into the brush. Let him think it's only Kyle and me."
They melted into the trees like shadows.
I reached out for the lake, which, according to my calculations, should be about a hundred yards to my right. I felt the water's energy. I used my own to ruffle it. ::Wake up.::
I turned to Kyle. "You have a plan?"
"Sneak up on him. He must've gotten to Rogers, the caretaker. And he smashed my radio before he left."
"He's expecting us. That's why he's set it up. He wants to kill them in front of you."
"So he's not expecting you. We can use that."
"Let's just confront him. Let him think he's getting what he wants."
"Not procedure, but then, nothing is about this case."
"Was it procedure to use innocent kids as bait?"
"As soon as he took on a new identity to get hired by the school, he put everyone at risk."
"You could've let the school board know. Forced them to reject him."
Kyle shook his head. "It was our best shot to catch him. We bent procedure, but it's our best shot."
I decided not to tell him how much less procedural it was about to get.
Mark Andrews had set up two strong battery lanterns. Felicia's hands and feet were tied, and her back was against the rock. She was scared, but it looked as though Andrews hadn't hurt her. Yet. Aileen lay on the ground, naked, a series of crosshatched slashes all over her body.
"You better hope there aren't any vampires in these woods or they'll be all over you," I said, stepping out into the clearing. A vampire appearance would improve our odds.
"Where's Everett?"
"Right here." Kyle stepped into place beside me.
"You really thought I wouldn't make you the first day of school?"
"You played your hand well."
"Damn right. I considered killing one of the girls and leaving her in your car, but this is far more fun."
"It's over, Mark. There's no place left to run."
"I've made my plans. Start over somewhere new." He licked his lips. "Fresh meat. I'll disappear again."
"Oh, I think that's very possible," I said. I felt the wind pick up. I heard the rustle, and this time, it wasn't the trees. I caught a movement out of my peripheral vision. I was afraid the boys had given themselves away. I realized it was a woman, young, dark-haired, dark-eyed, wearing jeans and a sweater. She had bloody crosshatch marks criss-crossing her face. And she was transparent.
"Amazing. You just can't stand it when the conversation's not all about you." Mark took a deliberate step in my direction.
I jerked my focus back to the man who wanted to kill us. I wished he'd get close enough to me so I could snap his neck. I'd done it to vampires. I could do it to a mere human.
"You can't kill us all." Kyle tried to pull Mark's attention away from me.
"Your partner's already almost dead. All I have to do is let her bleed out. The girl--she's going to drown, and I'll leave her floating in the lake. Everyone knows she and her mother fought, and she's rather disturbed. Suicide. The two of you--I've made arrangements." He raised a half-clenched hand and flicked it toward me, then at Kyle.
There was a whoosh, and I saw Kyle's hand go up to his neck, as I felt a pinch in my own neck. A look of horror crossed Kyle's face, and I felt a similar expression try to cross my own as my entire body went numb. Kyle dropped his gun and toppled to the ground, and I fell beside him.
"Paralytic poison." Mark loomed over us. "There's an antidote, of course, but it'll be too late by the time anyone finds you. You get to watch me kill the girls and then I'm going to walk away and let you die."
Kyle tried to speak, but all he had left was a gurgle.
My body may have been paralyzed, but not my mind. I reached out. I touched the veil, so thin at this time of year. I poured energy through it, as I felt the specters moving forward out of the lake and through the trees.
"What the hell?" Mark looked up.
A dozen female ghosts entered the clearing. Instead of the frail wraiths of last night, they fed on my energy and took stronger, more corporeal forms. Features formed fully, differentiating them as individuals. Eyes, noses, ears, throats. Hands with fingers clenched at their sides or reaching toward him. How they must have looked before Mark Andrews tortured and killed them.
"I recognize you," Mark said. "I recognize all of you. But it...it can't be. I've killed you all."
I pulled back any shard of protective energy left around us. The phantoms howled and leapt forward onto Mark Andrews. He screamed and fell to the ground, trying to beat them off. I fed whatever was left of my energy into the shades, giving them as much form and substance as possible.
Tobias and Jamie raced out of the bushes. Jamie headed straight for Felicia and Tobias for Aileen, shrugging out of his jacket to give her cover.
::Mary Ann Davidovich. They need you. We need you. Finish this.:: I hoped she would hear me. I hoped she'd respond. It could bring her peace.
She lifted her head and stared at me, her shape filling in, growing solid. She stared at the spooks attacking the man who had murdered them. She threw back her head and howled, a cry of fierce rage and pain that shook the forest, and leapt forward, joining her slaughtered colleagues.
The boys protected the girls with their bodies as chunks of flesh flew through the air. Kyle and I were both spattered with blood as the last vestiges of the murdered girls feasted on their killer.
When there was nothing left of him but what looked like bones and a few internal organs, the apparitions shimmered, and, one by one, faded. Mary Ann turned, lifted a hand in farewell, and winked out. I was starting to feel my own energy flickering out, and a coldness crept up my body from my feet.
Tobias looked up. "Well, that was unbelievably disgusting."
Jamie cut Felicia's bonds. "He's poisoned them. How do we get help?" He ran over to me and fell to his knees beside me. "Aunt Bronwyn!" His eyes filled with tears. "I don't know how to help you." He looked at Felicia. "She's dying."
::Tell me where the antidote is.:: Felicia's words came clearly into my brain.
The cold spread up through my torso. ::Bag. Backpack. Tools.:: I couldn't even think in complete sentences anymore. My eyes fluttered shut. I felt someone wrestle the pack still strapped to me, felt a few drops of liquid touch my lips and trickle into my mouth and down my throat. I started to feel beautifully warm and fell into blackness.
* * * *
"How are you?" Kyle Everett perched on the coffee table beside the couch in Jamie's living room.
"I still feel like I'm recovering from the worst hangover in the world," I admitted.
"Yeah." Kyle nodded. "That antidote of yours is a humdinger. What was in it?"
"You don't want to know. The ingredient list will make you puke."
"You always carry stuff like that around?"
"Usually there's not time to research and brew something when you're poisoned. I like to be prepared, so I developed a solid all-purpose one. How's Aileen?"
"She's going to be okay. She'll have some rounds of plastic surgery, but...she's alive. So is Carter, the guy who pretended to be the caretaker. His hands and legs were crushed; he'll be in physical th
erapy for months. But they're both alive. And that's a step."
"We all came a little too close to the other option for my taste."
"Yeah, mine, too." Kyle was silent for a minute. "I owe you an apology. You were absolutely right. I should've never put the kids in such danger. If it'd turned out any other way, bad press and all, my superiors would've cut me loose and let me take the fall. I should've thought through the consequences more thoroughly and refused. There had to be a better way. We didn't take the time to find it."
"Thanks for admitting it. I'm willing to drop it and move on if you are."
"Deal." He smiled at me.
"I don't even want to imagine what the paperwork must be like wrapping this up."
"It's pretty...odd." Kyle shook his head. "I don't really know how to explain that the ghosts of the previous victims Mark Sanders/Mark Andrews killed out at Lake Justice came back and ate him."
"Well, I guess you could've just said he was attacked by a bear."
Kyle shook his head. "That would've been even more far-fetched. Do you think their spirits are at rest now?"
"Yeah. I do. At least, they haven't told me any differently."
"I'm still having trouble getting my head around some of this. At some point, when I figure out what to ask, I'll have questions. Not for the report. For me. But I want to thank you. You get the credit for this, not me."
"I was just in the wrong place at the right time."
"Do you believe in coincidence? I sure don't."
"No," I said. "Actually, I don't believe in coincidence."
"Good," said Kyle. "I'd like to think meeting was part of a bigger plan. And I want to see you again."
"I must be still hallucinating, because I think you just asked me out on a date."
"I did."
I thought about it for a minute. "Okay. But I'm going to want to drink a nice bottle of wine if we go out, so it'll have to wait at least until I don't feel so hung over."
"That's fine."
"You'll still be around?"
"If I'm not, I'll come back from wherever I am to take you out." He winked at me. "I have a feeling you've had a lot of interesting adventures, that you're full of fascinating facets. I want to peel away the layers and learn about it all."
I had no idea what to say to that; fortunately, Felicia and Jamie entered, bickering about their latest work session. "If you'd just concentrate, " Felicia said.
Lake Justice Page 3
