“Disappearances? Somebody else is missing?” Rachel cried.
The chief nodded. Detective Shepard said, “Somebody went missing yesterday. We have footage from right before she disappeared. She was filming a video in the Punkhorns, so we think it’s connected.”
“Oh my God. This is so terrible.” Rachel felt tears well up in her eyes but fought them back. She lowered her gaze. She felt her hands go clammy and again worried that she was going to be sick.
“It is. It’s terrible. But that’s exactly why we called you in here, Rachel,” Detective Shepard said. “The young woman that went missing. She was a birdwatcher.”
Rachel had felt her stomach flip upside down on roller coasters and in haunted houses, but nothing came with as much of a visceral reaction as hearing this news. She sobbed, unable to speak until the panic subsided. BJ Baxter, you son of a bitch.
“Miss Spokes, do you have any idea where your boss was earlier this morning?” The chief asked.
“He was supposed to be at the work site, but he was late. He arrived around 10AM I think. I can see if anybody was with him before but I was off-site. I just got a slew of phone calls because he wasn’t there to start work at 8,” Rachel barely comprehended the implications that her words now had.
“Thank you. One more question, please,” Detective Shepard added. “Do you think BJ Baxter could do this? Have you ever seen him lose his temper or become violent?”
Rachel cackled through the tears. “He’s better known for his temper than for his business acumen. Ask anybody on the crew.”
“Thank you, Rachel, we will. Can we reach out to you if we have any additional questions? I assume you’ll be in town?”
Rachel nodded and stood from her chair. She turned back to the others from the doorway.
“Please keep me up to date if anything changes. And let me know if I can help at all. I unfortunately know that creep like the back of my hand,” Rachel added and then waved goodbye.
As she walked to her car, she tried to imagine BJ kidnapping somebody from the woods, but couldn’t picture it. Sitting in her car, it struck her that all signs pointed to BJ Baxter, but it still didn’t compute. Nothing in her life had made sense these past few weeks, and this only further drove that point home. Rachel was a fish out of water, struggling to breathe.
She steered back towards the hotel, determined to leave all of this in the rear view. She finished packing and checked out of the hotel without once looking back or texting Baxter or the police about her plan. She was finally, entirely, completely free. To hell with this company and that ghoul, BJ Baxter. He dug his own grave and now he can lie in it.
TWENTY-SEVEN
Thursday, August 9th
“Let’s arrest him,” Casper urged the chief and Delaney.
Slimmer looked at him warily. “We need to pursue this discreetly. This isn’t PI work, you know. We can’t just barge in and arrest BJ Baxter with no evidence. I know you’re not a police officer but we have certain rules and thresholds to meet before we can even float the idea of an arrest.”
“No evidence? He threatened something, and it came true. That’s enough for me,” Casper retorted. The chief watched him with hardened eyes.
“Shep, what’s your take? Any avenues you want to explore?” Slimmer asked. Delaney sat in a chair with her legs crossed and her arms folded tightly over her chest. She stared at the wall, lost in thought.
“Um, I admit it’s pretty weird. But Casper, I expected you to eat this up. You’re saying that you don’t think this is something supernatural? Like you said, Baxter threatened something arbitrary and boom it happened the next day. Seems right down your alley,” Delaney continued to look at the wall as she spoke.
“That’s not how curses work. I mean, if you believe in curses to begin with. Curses and legends like this, they’re abstract. The threat isn’t so specific, so obvious. So no, I’m not putting any stock in a curse. I’m calling it like I see it,” Casper said. “Do you disagree?”
“I do. It feels weird to be the less skeptical one here, but I don’t see any other reasonable explanation. Baxter couldn’t have killed all those people. He can’t be more than one place at a time, and three people went missing at the same time. Now, if we’re just talking about April Patel, I am less certain that the Punkhorns are responsible,” Delaney added. “But I’m with the chief. We don’t have any evidence besides an abstract threat made to an employee who has questionable credibility in my eyes.”
“You don’t trust Rachel Spokes?” Casper asked.
“I don’t trust anybody. But I just think it’s all a bit… convenient for her,” Delaney said.
“How so?” the chief interrupted.
“She hates her boss. That much is obvious. He’s an ass, and he made an outlandish threat. Pretty easy to connect the dots on how she could set this up to make it look like he’s our guy.”
Casper said, “She didn’t seem like the type to me.”
“They never seem like the type, Casper. Criminals aren’t a type. They’re everywhere and everyone if the stakes are high enough. Sure seemed like Rachel needed a way out,” Delaney finished as the office door swung open. Mayor Peter Peck stood in the doorway.
“I hope I’m not interrupting anything,” the mayor said with a grin.
“No, come in, Peter, please,” the chief insisted. Delaney stood from her chair to let their new visitor sit.
“Any updates on any of these cases? Four victims are four too many. How can we avoid having a fifth?” the mayor asked frankly. He crossed his legs and unbuttoned his cobalt suit jacket.
“We’re working through some new information, as you know,” the chief responded. “We were just sharing our theories over what could be going on here.”
“Well, let’s hear them. Mr. Kelly, I’d love for you to start,” the mayor began.
Casper looked surprised at being put on the spot first. “Personally, I don’t put a lot of stock in this being supernatural. I think somehow a human is responsible for this,” Casper asserted.
Peter’s eyebrows rose. “You, the independently hired paranormal private investigator, think nothing supernatural is going on here? Remind me to never hire you as a salesman, Mr. Kelly. Tell me why you see it that way.”
Casper let his arms fall to his sides as he tried to formulate a more coherent argument than just a gut feeling. He knew the professionals couldn’t accept instinct as evidence in court, let alone in their arrest warrants. “To me, Baxter seems like our guy. He’s known for having a bad temper, and his alibi is shaky for nearly every disappearance, especially April Patel.”
“And he’s what? Killing them? What would his motive be?” Delaney interrupted.
“Detective, let’s hear the man out,” the mayor pushed. Delaney let out a huff. She felt a sudden animosity towards Casper as she watched him bask in the mayor’s attention.
Casper was relieved to have somebody on his side, even if it was temporary. “Most of the people missing are protesters. He’s got issues with women especially. Seems like he just went off. Tried to make it look like an accident.”
The others frowned in their own distinct way. Delaney’s was pure disappointment. The mayor looked like a frustrated father watching his son strikeout in a baseball game. The chief seemed almost amused. Casper pushed on.
“In most of my cases, there’s an explainable reason behind menacing events. People don’t just disappear. There are bodies. There are footprints. Something. I guess what I’m saying is, we just haven’t found that yet,” Casper concluded.
The mayor smiled. “Thank you, Mr. Kelly. Despite your best attempts to get yourself off this case, I’m going to keep you here for a few more days. Even if you’ve ruled out the possibility of the paranormal, I don’t think there’s much harm in having you close by.” The mayor turned his attention to the chief. “Frank? What’s your gut saying?”
Casper nearly chuckled. Just moments ago, they were chastising him for leaning on instinct,
and now the mayor wasn’t even asking for evidence. He listened closely as the chief’s gravelly voice struggled to find the right words.
Chief Slimmer let out a big sigh. “I wish I had a clue, Peter. Truly. I think there are too many options on the table to narrow it down. I was hoping it was just old Morris Hanifin up to no good, but he’s continually checked out clean. For once in his life, he’s not involved in the trouble around him. I guess it could be something spooky or it could be some rotten egg trying to get revenge on the big bad world around them. But I need more evidence. Anything.”
The mayor nodded at the chief and then turned to Delaney. “Detective Shepard, I hope I’ve saved the best for last. Let’s hear it.”
Delaney’s eyes darted from Casper and back to the mayor. “I see three possibilities. First, the Punkhorns are haunted and these poor people are victims of our mistaken decision to develop the land. Second, BJ Baxter is behind this, or at least April Patel’s disappearance. Rachel Spokes’ story is eerie and damning. I’m just not sure who it’s damning for,” she said.
The mayor stroked his chin. “Okay, two valid options. What’s the third?”
“Rachel Spokes kidnapped April Patel to frame Baxter. She simply had enough of his bullshit and saw the through line that could put him in our spotlight with the story and the temper. It’s actually a brilliant move if she did it,” Delaney said.
“And if I asked you to put a likelihood on each of those. What would you say, Detective?”
Delaney paused to think a moment. Casper watched as her eyelids lowered and he could tell she was really mulling over the consequences of each option. He felt an admiration for how serious she was taking the decision and felt bad for pressing her so hard initially. He worried that he had pushed her too far away.
Delaney raised her eyes back up to Casper. “At this point, I’d say it’s even across the board, but I’d like to keep an eye on both Rachel Spokes and BJ Baxter.”
The mayor looked back to the chief, who nodded in agreement. “Better safe than sorry,” the man said from behind his large oak desk. The mayor stood and opened the door.
“I’m very grateful for all of you and your efforts here. Honest to God, I am hopeful we can wrap this all up without much alarm or further injury. So, I trust you all to make that happen. Please, be careful and keep me updated,” the mayor said. “And Mr. Kelly, please stick around until the weekend. Beyond that, we’ll have to discuss your fee.”
Casper nodded and his quick mental math told him he’d be able to pay rent for the rest of the year if the case continued. He wondered why he was so quick to betray his desire for financial security and dismiss any paranormal possibilities, but he felt grateful for the mayor’s insistence that he stick around.
The door closed behind the mayor and Casper turned back to Delaney and Chief Slimmer. “So, what’s the call?”
Delaney spoke up first. “Let’s split up. Casper, you can go check out Rachel Spokes and her place. I’ll go look after BJ Baxter. This way, we won’t have any bias creeping in.”
The chief nodded. “I’ll continue to update and console the families. April Patel’s parents are on their way in, so that will take up most of my afternoon. Call me if anything comes up.”
TWENTY-EIGHT
Thursday, August 9th
Jared watched as shadows danced around him in the dark, moonlit forest. It amazed him how in the darkness every movement was magnified, as though somebody was making hand-puppets before a flashlight. He could faintly distinguish the outline of Hector’s figure before him, bobbing up and down as he walked through down the trail. Jared felt a pang of guilt for letting Hector lead their expedition through the Punkhorns, but pushed it away. He was thankful that Hector was brave enough to lead, even if it was Jared’s idea to come here in the first place.
Jared’s undying love was for one thing and one thing only. Horror movies. Sure, there were young women on dating apps who expressed some desire to meet, but their fling collapsed when he’d ditch them for the premier of the next big film he’d been dying to see. None of that bothered him much. He had a handful of good friends, both from college and summer jobs on the Cape, and they were always up for something. Often, that ‘something’ was just Jared dragging them along to see the re-airing of a Hitchcock movie in a local theater. But sometimes Jared pushed the boundaries a bit further.
Hector was the sole friend who had agreed to join Jared as he abandoned the movie screens and headed into the real world to hunt down monsters on his own. They’d met at Jared’s parents’ house near the harbor in Chatham, and then made the short drive over to Brewster together. The sun set behind clouds and fell below the horizon. Once full darkness hit, they got out of their poorly parked car, and walked into the ghostly trees that had engulfed four souls to date. “Four people that we know of,” Jared had whispered as leaves crinkled under their boots.
The light from Hector’s cell phone lit their way as they wound down narrow paths and unmarked trails. Jared had concerns about going in too far without knowing a way out, but all of his reservations were bypassed by the eerie surroundings of the Punkhorns.
“It’s a great place for a horror movie. Just think of the names!” Jared whispered. “Panic in the Punkhorns. The Forbidden Forest. The Hallows.” Hector chuckled, but the wind absorbed the sound.
Hector stopped and turned his light back to Jared. “I think we’re lost, man. I haven’t seen a trail marker in a while. Should we retrace our steps out?”
Jared surveyed their surroundings. Pine branches extended from tall trees and shook in the breeze like outstretched fingers. A critter scampered in the brush behind him and he laughed at himself for letting it startle him as much as it did. Horror movies didn’t quite prepare you for the real deal.
“Let’s pull up Google Maps,” Jared said, pulling his phone out of his pocket. The illumination of two lit screens on pale faces made for a chilling sight in the gloomy twilight that the forest let through its canopies. When he opened the app, he saw he had no service in the thick, mysterious jungle. “No dice. Retracing our steps, it is!” Jared said with a smile. He waited for Hector’s pearly white teeth to light up the space between them, but it never came.
They pushed on, Hector leading the charge down the winding trail that seemed thinner and less established than their way in. Jared searched for a familiar tree or stump from their initial stretch, but it was so completely dark. He trusted Hector’s judgment and carried on without a word. He could sense that Hector’s excitement for their misadventure was dwindling.
Hector suddenly stopped and turned to Jared. “Did you hear that?”
Jared hadn’t heard anything besides the sounds of their footsteps on the dirt below them. He shook his head and then realizing Hector may not be able to see that in the abyss between them, he said,” No, what?”
“Sounded like wings flapping, I think, off to our right.”
They stood completely still and waited for the sound again. Jared was torn whether he wanted to hear what Hector did or whether he just wanted to get back to the car without a nightmare story to tell his other friends. Jared started to speak up but then he heard it.
The thwap thwap thwap thwap filled the dry, balmy air around them entirely. It sounded like a massive bird was flapping in the wind, hovering right above them. Hector flashed his light up into the trees and they didn’t see anything.
“It was more to the right, off the trail a ways,” Jared said.
“Do you want to go check it out?” Hector replied. Jared was startled to hear him speak aloud instead of whisper.
“Yeah, let’s go see what we find. We can always come back to the trail from there,” Jared did his best to sound confident in their navigational skills.
Jared pushed into the brush. Low-growing shrubs and weeds clung to his every step like quicksand, slowing him down. He kicked them off with each step, momentarily thankful they didn’t have thorns. He heard the crackling leaves under Hector’s foots
teps behind him. After fifty paces into the wilderness that stood beside the trail, Jared stopped and pulled out his phone. He glanced up and had the flashlight follow his gaze into the upper-branches of the pines and oaks that towered above them. Two red eyes stared back at him like leftover embers from a late-night campfire.
He shot the flashlight towards the eyes and illuminated a hideous creature in the tree. It had leathery wings wrapped around its body and over a reddish head that barely protruded from the cocoon. It slowly raised its vicious-looking head, and Jared saw a slender beak with a stretched piece of skin below it. Jared had never seen such an ugly creature.
“Woah, it’s a wild turkey,” Hector whispered next to Jared.
“Think they’re the ones eating the missing people?”
“I doubt it. Maybe if they’re working as a team, they could take down some sort of animal, but I think they just eat leaves and berries and crap,” Hector said. “Just creepy as hell that they sleep in trees like that.”
“So, what we heard was this guy going up to bed? Shit, that was unsettling,” Jared tried to snap a photo of the turkey but even with a flash it was too dark. A metallic clank interrupted his focus.
“You hear that?” Hector said with much less confidence than before.
“Yeah. Another turkey?”
“I don’t know, man. That sounded like metal.”
“Want to check it out? No harm in seeing some more creepy animals, right?” Jared asked.
“Alright, but then we’re out of here. Okay? I can say with full certainty that I do not like the Punkhorns, especially at night time.” Hector followed the sound, which had come from further to their right and away from the trail.
After a few minutes of cautious steps, they hadn’t seen anything metal. Jared pushed on and Hector followed. Their lights hung low and were most helpful as a beacon to show their feet where to step and what to avoid. They heard the clank once again. Hector’s hand grabbed Jared’s shoulder, and they both froze. Hector’s grip grew tighter, and he pointed out in front of them.
Welcome to the Punkhorns (Shepard & Kelly Book 1) Page 14
