The Witching Hours, page 25
“That’s what sleep is for,” he assured her.
“But we’re both starving.”
“Get out your phone—find us something open all night in the area,” he told her.
She did so, then smiled. “I didn’t find an all-night restaurant that’s close to us—there is one in Peabody. But there is a sandwich shop, with tables and chairs, right on our way, that’s opened until two in the morning, so—”
“Put the coordinates into the car,” he told her. “Please.”
“Uh, not necessary. Just ahead, at the end of the block!”
There were a few diners in the sandwich shop, but not many. They were able to order quickly, and their food came fast. Besides sandwiches, it offered several platters as well; they both opted for seafood, with salads, rice, and corn on the cob.
Zach was hungry, but it was fun to see that Skye might have been even hungrier. Of course, she might tend to be more of a “grazer,” and they hadn’t had much of a chance to graze that day.
They didn’t talk much; they were too busy eating.
Then they finished up, leaving the restaurant with two large cups of iced tea. And in another few minutes, they were at their quarters.
Skye looked at him as she tossed her bag on the sofa.
“Maybe we also need to feed our sanity!” she said softly.
She had a hell of an effect on him. He smiled.
“Who would I be to refuse to fuel our sanity?” he asked. “But …”
Long day. Playing in forests again, being at the hospital …
“My shower or yours?” she asked.
And it was good, because she made him laugh while sending little lightning bolts to sweep through him.
Later, holding her, he smiled to himself.
The days were brutal and long.
But the nights were amazing—a time when they could find a sweet sanity; and in the ugly world they were struggling against, moments of sheer beauty.
CHAPTER 17
Skye was half awake when the alarm rang.
She didn’t want to rise. Of course, that was the problem with such an involvement. She liked being just where she was, feeling the warmth of his flesh beneath her cheek and knowing the beat of his heart and the soft movement of his breath.
She leapt out of bed.
They’d chosen his shower the night before, and so she hurried into her own room and showered and dressed quickly—that was one thing about her chosen line of work. She could truly shower and dress for the day within a matter of minutes. But a morning shower was always a necessity to her.
And then breakfast, because it seemed to be the only meal of the day they could count on to have anything that resembled a normal time.
She was surprised to discover Zach had moved faster than she had. He grinned at her from where he was standing by the stove.
“My turn,” he told her. “Veggie omelets, maybe not as good, but …”
“I’m sure they’re lovely.”
“And there was raisin bread in the bread box, so it’s in the toaster ready to be popped. I hope you like raisin bread?” he asked.
“Raisin bread is just great, and thank you. I’m sure you’re an excellent cook—”
“Not excellent, but passable,” he assured her.
“But it’s morning, and … oh!” She felt her phone buzz. It wasn’t even six-thirty yet, but she saw she was receiving a message from Angela: So far, looking and looking, no bioweapons are being moved through the area. Nothing. Call me with any ideas.
“They have something?” Zach asked her.
She shook her head, frowning. “I wonder …”
“What?”
“Well, we’re moving in a brave new age of technology,” she said. “I’m calling her; I’ll put the speaker on.”
Angela answered immediately. “I know you’re busy,” Skye said quickly, “but I did have an idea. And I’m sorry. Just how early do you start working?”
Angela laughed softly. “We have kids. Up with the sun or before it, depending on the season. I need to head out, but I kept thinking we weren’t looking at everything someone could look at, but …”
“Things that connect to things!” Skye said.
“Like?”
“Maybe … tech of some kind? I don’t know. Are there AI enhancements of a control somewhere that has to do with weapons, power, controlling the government, hacking into specialized systems?” Skye suggested.
“I’ll do some digging myself,” Angela promised. “And you—”
“Ah, we’re going to start by doing some looking around in the forest,” Skye said simply.
“Keep in touch.”
“You know it.”
She ended the call and looked at Zach. “So I want to head—”
“To the forest across the street from the café,” he finished for her. “We can eat and head right out. We talked to Connie last night; and if the cook and the waitress are able to talk, we’re just going to learn they were attacked by a witch. Eggs are ready—hey, you were supposed to push the button on the toast!”
She laughed. “Whoops, sorry. Doing it now.”
She pushed the button and poured coffee as she waited. In minutes, they were set up to eat and were seated in front of one another.
“Two meals in ten hours, and we had sleep in there, and energetic physical activity, too,” Zach said, grinning at her. Only his smile faded quickly. “This whole thing is so crazy that it should never have gone forward a single step. But now … there is something coming, and we both know it. And we know that if we don’t find those people—”
“The star in the woods, the place where a copse of trees forms a star around a central clearing. We can find it, Zach. I know we can. And if the master witch was waiting there—”
“He was probably dressed as a witch.”
“But he might have gotten frustrated waiting. This guy really wanted to get his hands on Connie. You don’t fake that kind of terror. He wants her dead,” Skye said.
“And Vince Cason remains missing.”
Skye’s phone buzzed and she looked at it.
“Angela!” she said, answering the call right away. “We’re both here; you’re on speaker!”
“Great,” Angela said over the airwaves. “We found out about a small company there, Ballantine and Almeria. It was founded by two friends who graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology a decade ago. Smart as whips—and they’re working on special key cards that someone must possess, along with eye readings, facial recognition, a fingerprint … I’m not sure what else. But they’re due a visit from the CEO and another think tank genius at the end of the week—from the bit I’ve managed to get off protected sites, Ballantine and Almeria will be giving a display of the tech, among other things. So your suggestion got me to thinking that it may be nothing, but what they’re planning is something to present to the military. It could be something that could be used for great damage in the hands of the wrong people—for instance, it might be the way to open up and engage a weapon. I’m trying to figure out how someone could breach a meeting like that; but seriously, other than that, I haven’t been able to find a big shipment of cash!”
“Thanks! But this will happen at the end of the week? That gives us a few days,” Skye said. “It gives us something. And”—she paused, glancing at Zach—“we have a few ideas of where we’re going and what we’re looking for today.”
“Thank you,” Angela said. “We’ll get back up with you as soon as possible.”
“That’s great,” Zach said.
“Agreed,” Skye added.
Angela laughed softly. “Sounds like you two have moved well without us. If we get anything else, we’ll be back in touch with you immediately. I’m out in the field today, but Michelle knows everything to follow up. Naturally, keep the reports coming.”
“Will do,” Skye said, ending the call. She looked at Zach.
“Could this person be after tech? Am I crazy?” she asked.
“No. Drones and other weapons, even nuclear weapons, are controlled by tech. If these guys have some brilliant kind of key …”
“Then that may just be what we are looking for. After we find out what we can in the forest—”
“What you can find in the forest,” he reminded her with a touch of amusement. “This one is you.”
“Okay, well, when we find out what we can, let’s head to the building where the company is, get a good look at it, and try and see if we can figure out how you would use a drugged-out group of kids and kidnappees to get what you wanted—and get away,” Skye said. She hesitated. “I don’t think we need to head into the station. Okay, let’s face it, even Detective Berkley thinks Gavin might be involved. And Detective Cason may be dead!”
“I can’t explain it, but …”
“I know. I don’t want to believe it, either,” Skye assured him. “But we must be open to anything.”
He nodded. “Ready?”
“I’ll wash; you toss?” she suggested.
He smiled and nodded. They quickly cleaned up and headed out.
“Hey, we moved this morning. It’s only about seven-thirty. We managed to get right in all the morning traffic. Thankfully, nothing is all that far.”
He was right. There was traffic, but they weren’t in the center of town, and it didn’t take him that long to reach the embankment across from the café.
“Did you want to pick up a couple of cups of coffee?” he asked her.
“From the café? No, I do not think so!” Skye countered. “Let’s head to the area where I found David Harrison as a witch trying to drag Connie to his master.”
“I know the way,” he told her.
“Follow the broken branches,” she said.
But she let Zach lead. They made their way through the thick growth of trees and brush, and Zach easily proved that he did know the way.
In a matter of minutes, they reached the same place they had been, the little clearing where Skye had finally come upon the pair.
“From here, he intended to take her to the star shape of trees around a clearing,” she murmured.
“This way,” Zach replied. “No, wait. There’s almost a trail there; it moves a little closer to the road and runs almost parallel with it, maybe …”
He started walking. She followed.
They were closer to the road. She could hear the running sound of a car distant and faint going by every few minutes, but close enough that she knew the road wasn’t all that far.
She almost jumped when Zach’s phone rang, loud and clear.
“There has to be a tower somewhere near us,” Zach said, veering as the narrow trail made a turn into the deeper woods.
“Yes, thanks, we’re near—we’ll be right there!” Zach said.
But as he spoke, Skye saw it ahead—the clearing. And the position of the trees did make it appear as if they were in a star shape beautifully created by nature.
“Zack, what? This is it!”
“That was Ben, Officer Benjamin Chambers. He’s at a small house about a mile from here. The owner called the cops because a kid wandered in, scared and terrified and wanting his mother; and he’s saying the man they called the master hit his mommy. The kid doesn’t know where his mommy is, but if I can get to him—”
“Go, but, Zach, let me stay here, right here. This is it! Go and talk to the kid, sit him on your lap or touch his shirt, and … maybe that will give us something.”
“No, do your thing—”
“I can’t under pressure! God. Our phones work here. Zach, we know our time is limited!”
He looked downward for just a second. “All right, all right, I’m going. But you are armed—”
“And I know how to use my Glock.”
“And you’ve got me on speed dial—”
“I do. Go!”
He nodded and started back along the trail, moving quickly.
When he was gone, Skye stood still, feeling the sunrays that filtered through. She was listening for the sounds of nature: chirping insects and birds, flying from branches to branches, letting out their calls. The breeze touched her face as it touched the leaves …
She closed her eyes, and looked again.
Dusk had fallen. And the witch was there with his arms crossed over his shoulders as he impatiently paced the clearing area from one point in the general shape of the star to the other. Cursing softly.
Growing impatient. Pacing, pacing, pausing, shaking his head.
He pulled off the hat. His nose fell off. And he stood in the center of the clearing, and even as dusk fell more fully, the rise of the moon in the heavens cast down a glow upon the earth in the clearing.
And Skye saw exactly why Detective Vince Cason had been among the missing.
Vince was standing there, irate and impatient, holding the hat, the wild mop of orange hair, and the prosthetic nose he’d dislodged when he’d wrenched at the hat.
Vince, not Gavin.
Their instincts had been right, thank God. Because she knew she and Zach wanted to be good at law enforcement, at catching the bad guys; they did not want to be just strangely talented magicians. Their abilities needed to enhance their work, not be the sole basis for it.
She pulled out her phone, hitting Zach’s number on her speed dial.
She had lost service out here, and she swore softly. She smiled to herself as a common sentiment pertinent to the twenty-first century popped into her mind.
Technology! Incredible … when it worked!
She started moving again, thinking she needed to get back closer to the road where their phones had worked just fine earlier.
As she headed out of the deep woods, she suddenly heard a muffled sobbing, then a soft voice, as if one person was trying to reassure another.
She drew her weapon, listening, trying to find her way through the twists and turns in the almost-trails that wound around closer to the road.
She stopped and stared in disbelief and confusion.
Gavin’s cousin, Officer Ben Chambers, was seated on the forest floor, bound to the base of a huge old oak.
He wasn’t alone. Next to him, tightly tied as well, was a boy, a young boy, with tears streaming down his face. And the voice she heard was Ben’s as he tried to tell the little boy that someone would come, and they’d be all right.
“Ben!” Skye slammed her gun into her holster and reached to her ankle for her knife, anxious to release the two.
“See, Jeremy! See! Special Agent McMahon has come to help us. I knew that they would find the truth.”
As she raced to the pair, confusion swept her mind. How had Ben called Zach from a house down the road if he was here, tied to a tree? Had he been here all the while, and …
She paused, ready to pull her weapon again. There was only one answer.
One answer with two twists!
Vince Cason had forced Ben to make a call, threatening to kill the boy if he didn’t do so.
Or worse …
Ben was involved in murder, kidnapping, and perhaps attempted terrorism.
The boy—she was going to untie the boy.
Running to the tree and falling to her knees, she slipped her knife from the little sheath strapped around her ankle and went to work quickly on the heavy ropes that bound him.
Next to Jeremy, Ben seemed to release something like a sob.
“Thank God, thank God, thank God! My cousin told me that you and Zach were amazing, that …”
He broke off, staring past her.
She had managed to slit the last strands of the heavy rope holding Jeremy. She looked at the child, aware that they were in trouble. She didn’t need to turn around to see that Vince Cason had been waiting in the woods, just waiting …
She looked Jeremy in the eyes. The little boy stared back at her. He was just five years old! Would he understand? Could he understand?
“Run! Run and hide! Near the road, a police car will come eventually!” As she whispered, she slipped her knife back into the little sheath. It would have been clearly evident if she’d gone for her gun at the holster around her waist.
She didn’t try to draw her gun; she couldn’t risk the child’s life.
And thankfully, the terrified little boy was a smart one. He seemed to understand the situation and what she wanted him to do.
Either that, or anywhere was better than being where he was.
She used her body to shield the child as he made a swift disappearance into the trees and brush behind them.
Then she turned and faced Cason. And, of course, he was back in costume, a wig with long, yarnlike red hair on his head, along with the pointed hat, skin painted green, prosthetic nose, and encompassing black cape.
“Well, well, the devil really is in the woods,” she said.
“The devil you know!” he told her. “But then you don’t, do you?”
She smiled sweetly. “Oh, please! Seriously? Detective Vince Cason. Of course, I know.” She shrugged. “So does everyone!”
“You’re so wrong! They are scared to death for me!” Cason told her. “And when it’s all over, they’ll find me, injured, desperate, on the side of the road. They’ll never know who is pulling the strings that control just about everything!”
She was still next to Ben. If only she could be sure of the truth about the man!
“Oh, Vince!” she said. “You did tell us to call you by your given name,” she reminded him pleasantly. “It’s just not going to be that easy—”
“It is that easy. All you need to do is steal someone’s eyeball and their finger, but you guys don’t understand tech that far, so—”
“Facial recognition. You need a face for that,” Skye reminded him.
He laughed. “And you think I can’t take a face? Have you forgotten, my lovely Fed, that I’m a master of disguise?”
“And I think you’ve forgotten the power of those who may have needed a little time, but eventually always stop the devil in the woods!” she declared.
The man grimaced at her. “Ah, but you don’t understand! I have a number of people completely convinced that you and your kind are the devils in the woods. And I’m great at segueing when necessary. I didn’t think it a good idea to get the both of you at once, but you’re a nice start. Of course, Mr. Oh-So-Special-Agent Zach Erickson will come flying to the rescue! And then, I will have you both!” he announced. “For now, toss your Glock over here. Right now!”
