Freaky Reapers (A Mystic Caravan Mystery Book 8)

by Amanda M. Lee

  Kade tilted his head to the side, considering. “Maybe that’s what Griffin was really collecting evidence for,” he said. “Maybe the girls aren’t missing. Maybe they’re banshees.”

  Two months ago he would’ve jumped to a “normal” conclusion. Now he went straight for the paranormal. That was interesting. “Maybe.” I’d considered that myself, although the article was woefully short on details. “I don’t know. There’s not enough information here.”

  “Maybe the girls aren’t missing,” Luke suggested. He’d plowed through the better part of his food. Kade still hadn’t touched his. “Maybe, like you, they left. They’re calling them ‘street girls’ in the headline. That could refer to homeless teenagers or prostitutes.”

  His tone grated. “Not all street kids turn tricks. I never did.”

  “I know.” Luke’s eyebrows hopped. “I was just saying ... the cops might not really be looking for them. They’re throwaways. One of the journalists clearly stumbled over the story and gave it some good play. How long will that last? If you don’t have tearful parents standing in front of news crews pleading for the return of innocent children, the news cycle will chew you up and spit you out. That’s what’s going to happen here.”

  He had a point. Still ... . “Eat your lunch,” I instructed Kade, cutting into my first coney with determination. “If you don’t like it, order something else. Just know that I’ll lose all respect for you if you don’t like it.”

  He glared. “This looks as if it’s already been eaten.”

  “You’ll live.”

  “ABSOLUTELY NOT.”

  I instructed Kade and Luke to drop me downtown and carry on grocery shopping without me. The story about the missing girls bothered me, and I wanted to drop by my old stomping grounds for a visit. I wanted to make the trip on my own.

  Kade, however, was dead set against it.

  “I’ll be fine,” I reassured him, refusing to back down. “Nothing can touch me there now.” I wiggled my fingers. “I’m powerful.”

  “I know,” Kade shot back. “But it’s still not a safe area.”

  “Poet, I don’t want to agree with him — you know that gives me scurvy — but I think he has a point,” Luke said. “You really shouldn’t go down there alone.”

  “It will be fine. I know the area.”

  “Just ... let me go with you,” Kade pleaded. “I’ll feel better if you’re not alone.”

  I understood what he was saying. He would worry about me the entire time I was gone. He wouldn’t be able to help himself. But I couldn’t bring him with me. The street kids would scatter if someone like him showed his face. He gave off a militaristic air.

  “The kids won’t talk to you,” I said. “You look like a cop.”

  “What about me?” Luke challenged.

  “Yeah, what about Luke?” Kade brightened at the suggestion. “He’s better than nothing.”

  “Oh, I think I’m going to get a T-shirt made up with that saying,” Luke sneered.

  I ignored their squabble. “Luke would fit in better, but he tends to make things about himself,” I replied. “I need to talk to these kids, see if I can get a handle on what’s happening. They’ll only talk to me because I used to be one of them. I know what I’m doing. You don’t have to worry.”

  “Fat chance,” Luke grumbled.

  Kade almost looked bitter. “Poet, please don’t do this.”

  I was resolved. “I have to at least try. I won’t be gone long. I’m sorry for leaving you guys to do the shopping, but you have the list. I’ll probably be back at the fairgrounds before you return.”

  Kade glanced around the area. He didn’t look happy. “Honey ... ,” he trailed off. He realized there was nothing more to say.

  “I’ll be fine,” I insisted. “I’ll text regularly to let you know I’m okay. That’s the best I can do. You can’t change my mind, so we’re just wasting time here.”

  He nodded and pressed his hand to his forehead. “Text every few minutes or I’ll have an aneurysm or something. I mean it.”

  “It will be fine.” I was sure of that, and I put as much of my belief as possible into the kiss I graced him with before hopping out of the truck. “I’ll catch an Uber back to the fairgrounds. This is my turf. Don’t worry.”

  “There’s no stopping us from doing that,” Luke lamented. “Just ... watch your back. I’m sure things aren’t exactly like you remember.”

  “The street never changes.”

  IT TOOK ANOTHER FIVE minutes of cajoling to get Kade and Luke to leave. I wasn’t sure they would, but once I was alone I was all business.

  I remembered the neighborhood. Some of the buildings had undergone a facelift, but I remembered everything.

  I remembered the shortcut through the tiny abandoned lot, which was still there and piled high with garbage. I remembered the alley behind the pizza place. The name of the business was different, but the smell was the same.

  I remembered the park off the Corridor. The playground equipment had been switched out, the old, rusted stuff that was there a decade before replaced with sleek plastic playsets. There were no kids playing on it, though. Instead, dealers, pimps and bangers took up various positions around the park to show off their superiority.

  That was the same, too.

  I paid them little heed as I strolled through the open expanse. I’d dressed in simple capris and a T-shirt this morning, grabbing a hoodie before heading out. I didn’t look wealthy or as if I was trolling for a hit. That didn’t stop people from calling out to me.

  “Hey, honey,” a man in red pants and a black leather coat barked. “If you’re looking for a job, I think I can put you to work right away.”

  I slowed my pace and glared at him over my shoulder. “I don’t think you’re man enough to handle me,” I called back.

  One of the druggies from across the way hooted at my response as he slapped his knee and then broke into a terrifying coughing fit. I was so focused on him I didn’t notice the big man standing in my path until I almost ran into him. I knew better than to show surprise on the street, so I retained my position and slowly tracked my eyes to him.

  “Groove,” I muttered, looking away from him.

  The big man looked the same. He was more than six feet of muscle and attitude. He seemed surprised to see me.

  “Whatchoo doin’ round here, girl?” he challenged. “You don’t live here no more.”

  I folded my arms across my chest and narrowed my eyes. “I’m back for a visit. I thought it might be fun to look around all the old places.” And ask a few questions, I added silently. “In fact, I was having breakfast this morning and happened to read a news article about girls going missing in the Corridor. You don’t happen to know anything about that, do you?”

  Groove looked legitimately puzzled as he scratched the side of his head and sneered. In the years since I’d last seen him, he’d had his teeth replaced with what looked like a gold grill. It was disturbing on a variety of different levels. “I have to wonder why you care,” he said, still not making eye contact. “You left this place without saying goodbye to your friends. That other girl, the one that looked like a shiny toy, she looked for you for days.”

  Creek. I felt sick to my stomach. I didn’t want to hear that. “I’ve already seen her,” I shot back. “I left her a letter back then, but she apparently never got it.”

  “Ain’t that sweet?” Groove spat. “You left her a letter. You always were an uppity thing. You thought you were better than us, didn’t you?”

  “Than you? Yes. Than the others? No. You were special,” I said. He didn’t scare me. I knew he had a gun in his waistband, but he would never get the chance to use it. He had a weak mind and I could easily overpower him if it came to it. “I just want to know about the missing girls,” I pressed. “What are you hearing?”

  “Why you care?” he challenged. There was something in his eyes I couldn’t immediately identify. It almost seemed to be hope.

&n
bsp; “Because I remember what it was like to be out here when a predator was on the loose,” I answered. “I remember the fear ... and the way we all had to sleep in groups ... and I want to help.”

  He tapped his chin and remained silent for what felt like forever. Then he asked me an odd question. “Did you really see your old buddy?”

  “Yes. I didn’t seek her out. I wouldn’t have known how to find her even if I tried. She just happened to be in the same restaurant.”

  “Uh-huh. What about you? You really join the circus?”

  His curiosity had me reconsidering my earlier opinion on him. It was possible he was simply putting on a show to make sure nobody jumped him. That was a standard way to keep potential rivals off your back in the dealing world. Groove had managed to survive this long. He had some tricks.

  “I did,” I confirmed.

  “You hang out with clowns and stuff?”

  “Nobody likes the clowns.”

  He cracked a legitimate smile for the first time since I’d arrived and shook his head. “I don’t know that I have anything to tell you. The girls are here one second, gone the next. There’s no rhyme or reason. People are on the lookout for whoever is doing this, but we don’t have no ideas.”

  I was afraid he was going to say something like that. “That sucks.”

  “Yup.” He nodded, his eyebrows drawing together as something over my shoulder drew his attention. “Well, will you look at that?” he drawled. “Looks like everybody coming home this week.”

  I slowly turned and found myself staring at another face from my past. This one I was certain I would never have the fortune of seeing again. Apparently I was wrong.

  “Shadow,” I said on an exhale, my heart skipping a beat at the sight of him. “What are you doing here?”

  “I was just about to ask you the same thing,” he snarled, extreme displeasure sparking in his eyes. “Why did you come back here? You can’t stay. Get out.”

  “That’s quite the welcome.”

  He held up his hands. “I don’t want to hurt your feelings or anything, but ... get out. You don’t belong here. You never did. You need to get out right now.”

  7

  Seven

  He looked pretty much the same. Twelve years had been good to him. Of course, he’d been young back then. If he topped twenty-five, I would’ve been surprised. Still, his reaction to seeing me was a jolt.

  “And a happy hello to you,” I drawled.

  His lips quirked, as if he was holding back a smile. “You shouldn’t be here.” He was firm. “Why are you back?”

  “She be asking the same questions as you, pig boy,” Groove offered. “She wants to know about the missing girls.”

  “Why?” The question was directed at me, not Groove.

  “I’m curious,” I replied on a shrug. “I didn’t realize that was against the law.”

  Groove narrowed his eyes at me. “You know.”

  “Know what?”

  “That he’s a cop. How could you know that? The truth didn’t come out ’til he took down the Vipers. That was at least a year after you left.”

  The news didn’t surprise me. I could read minds, after all. I saw a hint of it in his head back in the day. Not all of it, of course. I wasn’t trained back then. I didn’t know how to peel back the layers like I do now. The visions I saw then made sense with additional information, and the truth made me smile.

  “I always had a feeling,” I said. “I knew that he was more than he pretended to be.”

  “I think that could be said for all of us.” Shadow held up a finger. “You wait right there. I want to talk to you. I have some business to discuss with Groove first.”

  I smirked. “I have no intention of running. I’m an adult now, and I’m not afraid of the police.”

  “As long as you don’t do anything illegal, there’s nothing to fear.”

  “That ain’t true,” Groove protested. “I’m a fine, upstanding citizen and this mook is down here giving me a hard time at least twice a week. Do you want to know why? It’s because I’m a black man. The cops is always trying to keep the black man down.”

  I shot Groove a derisive look. “Yeah. You’re pure as the driven snow.”

  “I am.” He adopted an innocent expression. “I can’t believe you’d doubt me, girl. I took care of you back then. I’m the only reason you weren’t taken and forced to be someone’s plaything. Rodney wanted you something fierce back then.”

  A chill went down my spine. I’d forgotten about Rodney, he of the leather jacket and ugly scar on his face, until Groove mentioned him. I’d probably pushed him out of my mind on purpose.

  “You didn’t save her from Rodney,” Shadow countered. “That was me. He had a hard-on for her and Creek. I warned him something bad would happen if he went after either of them.”

  “He was afraid of you?” Groove arched a dubious eyebrow. “Word on the street is the girls saved your life and you was a weakling who hung around with bikers because you wanted to look tough.”

  “Do you want me to tell you the word on the street about you?” Shadow shot back.

  I sensed the conversation getting out of control and, while it was none of my business, I wasn’t in the mood to watch them urinate verbally over one another for dominance. “Didn’t you say you had something to talk to him about?” I reminded Shadow. “You should probably get to it so he can return to his business.”

  “Yeah, well ... .” Shadow didn’t look happy about being reminded he had a task. “I want to know what you know about the missing girls, Groove.”

  “Aw, man.” Groove shook his head and looked up the street. “I told you before I don’t know nothing about that. You’ve asked me twice. If I knew something, I’d handle it.”

  “There have to be whispers,” I pressed, ignoring the dark look Shadow sent in my direction. “The street is always thick with gossip. You must have heard something.”

  “What would you know ‘bout the street?” Groove snapped. “You haven’t been on the street in years. You look all soft now. If it wasn’t for those blue eyes and that hair, I wouldn’t even have recognized you. You don’t fit in here.”

  I was thankful for that in some ways. An odd shiver of guilt rolled through me, though, because so many others hadn’t been as lucky. “You’d be surprised where I can fit in,” I replied. “I’ve been all over the country. I fit in wherever I go.”

  Groove snorted, the sound full of phlegm. “Please. You didn’t fit in here and I doubt you fit in there. You a nothing, and you always will be.”

  Once, long ago, that statement would’ve upset me. Now it didn’t bother me in the slightest. I’d come across men like Groove numerous times. No matter their race, creed or nationality, there was only one way to deal with the type.

  “Do you need me to get a ruler so you can make sure yours is bigger than his?” I inclined my head toward Shadow. “This show you’re putting on is for his benefit. He’s not impressed.”

  “I’m not,” Shadow agreed. “But I’m used to it. This is a serious situation, Groove. It affects you as much as anybody. If these girls keep going missing it’s going to be bad for business because we’re going to have to station cops down here twenty-four hours a day. They’ll have nothing better to do but hassle you. Is that what you want?”

  Groove’s gaze only darkened. “Why you gotta be that way? Are you showing off for her?” He jerked his thumb at me. “I always had a feeling you were hot for her. She’s a big girl now. Maybe you want to see if there’s something there after all. At the very least, you want a peek under those ugly pants.”

  Shadow’s eyes filled with fury and I was legitimately worried he would attack Groove. It was completely unnecessary.

  “Don’t let him get to you.” I raised a hand and pinned Groove with a pointed look. “You’ve already got your ear to the ground on this.”

  “You don’t know nothing about me.”

  “Don’t be so sure ... Edwin.” I dropped
his real name with a smirk. I was stronger than I used to be and had easily picked it out of his head.

  “How ... you ... ?” He was flabbergasted.

  “Does your mom still call you Eddie Spaghetti?”

  “You shut your mouth!” The finger he pointed at me promised mayhem. “You don’t know the trouble you’re messing with.”

  I moved until I was standing directly in front of him, chest to chest, and held his gaze. There was no fear in me. I wasn’t the same child he remembered. I let him see that. “You don’t want to mess with me,” I countered, my voice low. “You’ve been looking into this. There’s no shame in it. I’m sure it’s because you want to protect your business, but you have been looking.”

  I dug deeper in his head and found a whole lot of conflicting information. “Some people think it’s a trafficking ring,” I offered. “There’s a story going around about men in black sedans picking up girls, tossing them in trunks and then driving them over the bridge into Canada. From there, supposedly they’re sold to men in different countries.”

  Shadow’s expression was incredulous. “How can you possibly know that?”

  “I’m with the circus,” I replied simply. “It’s part of my job.”

  “Aren’t you an acrobat or something?”

  The question caused me to choke on a chuckle. “I tell fortunes.”

  “I see.” His tone told me he didn’t, but he allowed me to continue messing with Groove.

  “Other people are whispering that you have a community cleaner on the loose and he’s looking for girls who embrace the trade,” I said. “You don’t believe that because you knew some of the girls. Not all of them were turning tricks.”

  “Get out of my head, girl,” Groove growled.

  “There’s not much here, so I’m almost done.” I offered him a serene smile. “You’re legitimately confused about what’s going on because there’s no pattern. The girls were alone when they disappeared, but they weren’t far from groups. If they’d called out, someone would’ve heard them. That means whoever is doing this is stealthy ... and can move around the area unnoticed.”