Good Bones, page 26
“Hold your position,” cried Ethan. “I’ll be there soon.”
“Can’t wait.” Jake cut the connection and ran. He pushed through the brush searching for any sign of Katherine, but her trail vanished. “Where the hell are you?” he muttered. Everywhere he moved thick foliage surrounded him. He could be walking in circles. “Think, damn it. She can’t be far.”
Jake leaned against a longleaf pine and peered at the sky. “Bethany,” he whispered, throat tight, “if you’re watching, I need a little help.”
The wind shrieked through the branches. The spindly tree bent toward the east. Without a second thought, Jake raced away. Another breeze gusted. Another sapling swayed. He ran; eyes on the treetops. This way. Then that way.
Jake pushed through the brush into a grove of old pecan trees. In the distance was a ramshackle farmhouse surrounded by more trees and overgrown hawthorn bushes. He pulled his gun and crept forward.
A gunshot blast ripped the air.
Katherine!
Heart pounding against his ribs, Jake broke into a run.
Chapter 29
Katherine skidded to a halt. Whiskers had vanished. “Which way, which way…” she muttered in dismay. The wind gusted, swirling eddies of dead leaves. As the storm inched closer, even branches heavily laden with new leafy growth bent in the stiff breeze.
White fur darted through the underbrush. “Whiskers?” Katherine eased through a clump of bushes and halted. Up ahead was a dilapidated farmhouse with a sagging porch surrounded by old pecan trees and hawthorn. The front door hung open on a broken hinge. The wind shoved her forward as if to hurry her along. In a crouch, she darted ahead and placed a tentative foot on the porch. A rotten floorboard squeaked under her weight.
Katherine froze, mouth dry, listening hard for any response from inside. No footsteps headed her way, but nearby was faint rhythmic scratching. Hugging the wall, she followed the sound to the rear, and peeked around the corner of the house. Tina wasn’t in sight, but Jeremy and Diana stood near an SUV. Jeremy wore a gun. The shotgun was propped against the car within arm’s reach of Diana. They each used a shovel to dig a rectangular outline in the soil roughly measuring six feet by three feet.
Jeremy leaned against the handle and swiped a hand across his sweaty brow. “Isn’t this deep enough? She’ll wake any minute.”
“A few more inches will do it. A forever home needs to be perfect. You don’t want her to end up like your first one—the grave washed away in heavy rains, the body exposed.”
Jeremy shuddered. “No. I wish I had you with me then. You’d have made it right.”
The bliss on Diana’s face made Katherine’s stomach heave. She crept from the corner and returned to the front porch. Since her vison had shown the SUV in plain sight through a window, Diana and Jeremy must be digging outside the room where Tina was captive. She glanced around searching desperately for any sign of Jake, but to no avail.
You can’t wait for him.
Skirting rotting floorboards, Katherine edged across the porch and into the house. She tiptoed by a central stairway and down a hall past several rooms until entering a kitchen in the rear. Immediately, she dropped low. Jeremy and Diana were only a few feet away from a large window over the sink. The panes were cracked and broken. Too much noise from her would bring them to investigate.
At the other end of the kitchen was a closed door. Any window inside that room surely had a view of the yard to match the vision. Katherine inched across the floor. The surface was covered with a mixture of moldy leaf debris and an assortment of rodent droppings. Each step wafted an acrid smell into the air. She clapped a hand on her mouth to stifle a gag.
Katherine reached the door and paused to listen. The digging continued uninterrupted, with no sign either Diana or Jeremy suspected an intruder in the house. Her hand grasped the knob. It turned freely and she gave the door a push.
Creeeak. Rusty hinges shrieked a protest.
The digging stopped. “What’s that?” said Jeremy.
Katherine froze. Blood roared through her eardrums.
“I didn’t hear anything,” said Diana. “Don’t stop now. It’ll be dark soon. We’re almost finished and need to be on our way.” The digging began once again.
Staying under the window, Katherine snatched a piece of glass off the floor and crawled to the bed. She sawed at the bindings on Tina’s hands. Tina squirmed on the mattress and moaned.
“Shhh.” Katherine clapped a hand over Tina’s mouth. “It’s Katherine. I’m going to get you out of here.”
Tina’s eyes fluttered open. She gazed at Katherine with dawning recognition.
“Keep quiet,” whispered Katherine. “Jeremy and Diana are both outside. Understand?”
Tina nodded. Eyes wide, her gaze darted back and forth across the room. She licked her lips. “Where am I?”
Katherine removed her hand. She slashed through the last of the rope on Tina’s wrists and cast it aside. “Farmhouse in the woods. You were attacked.”
“I-I remember. Andy and I got out of the car. A woman approached.” She struggled to sit up, panicked etched in her features. “Andy—”
“He’s fine. He was tased. You, too. The woman’s name is Diana, Jeremy’s accomplice. The police are on the way, but we have to get out of here now.”
“How did you find me?”
“No time to explain.” Katherine freed Tina ankles. “Can you walk?”
“I-I’ll try.”
Katherine helped Tina to a sitting position and then motioned to the window. “Stay low. Don’t make a sound.”
The digging stopped. An object thunked to the ground as if a shovel had been tossed carelessly aside. “Perfect,” said Jeremy. “We’re finished here.”
Katherine paled. “We’re out of time.” She yanked Tina off the cot. “We have to run.”
Tina swayed on her feet. Katherine grabbed her arm, pushing her out the door. As they ran past the kitchen window, Jeremy and Diana turned their way. In an instant, the emotion on Jeremy’s face went from stunned disbelief to rage. He pulled the gun and fired.
Katherine and Tina ran to the porch. Diana stepped around the corner of the house, shotgun to her shoulder, a crazed light in her eyes. “Where do you think you’re going?”
Shots fired from across the field hit the siding and splintered the wood. Diana stumbled back.
Jake stepped into the open. “Kathy, run! I’ll cover you.”
Katherine bolted toward the trees. Tina lumbered alongside; each inhaled breath came in a ragged pant. Automatic gunfire filled the air.
They passed a pecan tree, a spray of bullets blasted slivers of bark from the trunk. Katherine dragged Tina deeper into the woods. Her gaze darted back and forth in panic. Jake? Where is Jake? Where did we leave the car?
Leaves rustled. Katherine shoved Tina behind a bush and signaled for quiet. She dropped to her knees and peeked through the foliage. Diana entered the clearing toting the shotgun. “I know you’re near,” she purred in a sing-song voice. “My stepfather took me hunting all the time. Kill the game quickly, he always said to me or else you’ll get a beating. Don’t let them suffer.”
Stock to the shoulder, Diana’s gaze swept the clearing. “I’m an excellent tracker. I even found my stepfather once when he tried to hide. He didn’t suffer, either.” A smile twitched her lips. “He was never a happy man, but peace came to him at last after it was over. I knew then I found God’s true calling. I’ll help you find peace too, Katherine, safe from the ugliness of the world, but Tina must go to Jeremy first. It’s for the best. She’ll be a good girl forever.”
Diana moved out of sight. Katherine swallowed hard to ease the tightness in her bone-dry mouth. “Tina,” she whispered, “we have to go—”
Tina was motionless, her eyes closed.
Katherine reached a shaking hand to Tina’s neck to check for a pulse. She bit her lip to prevent a cry of relief at the steady beat. Still alive, but not able to walk any farther for now.
A branch snapped a dozen feet away. “Katherine,” called Diana, “there’s no point in running. Show yourself.”
A few more steps and Diana would stand in front of them. Katherine scoured the earth for anything to use as a weapon, but found nothing at hand except twigs and dirt.
“I say your trail stops here.” Diana’s amusement tinged her voice. “Shall we see if I’m correct?”
Katherine started as a shotgun blast rang out. Pellets ripped a gaping hole through the foliage ten feet to the left.
“Not quite,” said Diana lightly, “but I’m close, aren’t I?”
Adrenaline flooded Katherine’s veins. Think! Find a way! She’s toying with you. Jake must have heard the blast. What do you see in her?
Katherine pressed her lips together in a thin tight line. The shaking stopped. Overconfidence. Diana chooses victims who can’t fight back. She expects a quick chase and an easy victory. Gonna give it to her?
Katherine scooped up a handful of pebbles. Hell no.
“Come out, come out, wherever you are,” Diana crooned. “The fight is over, Katherine. Detective Sumner is dead. Jeremy isn’t much of a marksman, but I showed him how to use an automatic weapon. All one has to do is point and shoot.”
Jake dead? White hot rage surged through Katherine.
Diana stepped in front of the bushes. “You can’t keep me from God’s work any longer.”
Katherine sprung to her feet, and flung the pebbles at Diana’s face. She fell back with a cry. Katherine tackled her, and the shotgun discharged.
****
Jake fired, sending Diana scurrying for cover. “Kathy, run!” he shouted. “I’ll cover you.”
The discharge from an automatic weapon raked the woods. Jake threw himself to the ground and rolled as bullets kicked up the dirt around him. He crawled behind a tree. “Give it up, Ingalls,” he yelled. “You’re not getting out of here.”
“Sorry, Detective, but Diana and I must finish what we started. After that, we’ll rest easy together. Just like Bethany.”
Jake’s grip tightened on his gun. “You’re a murdering bastard, Ingalls. Not a saint.”
“I saved her. I saved all of them. I don’t expect you to understand. No one does except Diana. She understood the urges. She showed me the way.”
Bullets spit through the air as Jeremy and Diana made a break for the woods. With a curse, Jake scampered to his feet and followed. He lost sight of them in the thick undergrowth until a round from Diana’s shotgun broke the silence. Jake veered off in the direction of the blast. Another round fired, even closer than before.
Katherine. Jake’s heart sank as he raced ahead. Which way?
Leaves rustled. The shape of a white cat flitted through the bushes and without hesitation Jake followed.
****
The shower of stones peppered Diana’s face. She cried out in shock and took a stumbling step backward. Katherine barreled into her, wrestling for the weapon. The shotgun’s explosive discharge reduced a sapling to splintery bits.
Seething hate fueled Katherine’s savage kick. Her shoe smashed into Diana’s knee with a satisfying thud. As Diana dropped to the ground, Katherine yanked the shotgun from her hands.
Diana scrambled to her knees with a sly smile. “You can’t kill me. You’re not one of God’s chosen servants. The stain of my death will be on your soul forever.”
“No argument from me,” Katherine panted, gulping a breath. “I’m no murderer.” In one swift move, she swung the barrel, clocking Diana on the side of the head. She dropped to her rear end with a grunt. Katherine loomed over Diana and jabbed her in the ribs with the toe of a shoe. “But I’ll beat you unconscious without a shred of remorse, so don’t move.”
A cold cylindrical object pressed against Katherine’s spine. “I can’t let you do that, Katherine.” Jeremy reached around, tore the shotgun from her grip, and tossed it aside.
Blood pounded in Katherine’s ears. “Jeremy, you don’t want to hurt me.”
“No, I don’t.” His voice held a hint of indecision.
Diana staggered upright, swaying on her feet. “Jeremy, Katherine is in our way—in God’s way. You see that, don’t you?”
“I’m sorry, Katherine. Diana is right. Diana is always right. I’d never have gotten this far without her.” He grabbed Katherine’s arm and shoved her around the bushes next to Tina.
“Jeremy,” Katherine said, “It’s over. The police are wise to you—”
A faint thrumming came from overhead.
Katherine stifled a cheer. “That’s a police helicopter. They’ll discover the car any minute now. Your escape route is gone.”
Jeremy anxiously scanned the overcast sky. “What do we do, Diana?”
Diana picked up the shotgun and placed the barrel against Tina’s head. She cocked the trigger. “We end them now. They’ll find the four of us here.” Her eyes held a dreamy gaze. “God’s servants will be called to paradise together.”
Jeremy grabbed Katherine and held her tight. She flinched as cold steel pressed against her skin. “Jeremy, don’t.”
“One move and you’re dead, Ingalls.”
Jake ran into the clearing, his gun pointed at Jeremy’s head. “Drop it.”
Whiskers padded into view. He sat at Jake’s feet, eyes half-lidded, head tilted to the side as if listening to a private message.
“An interesting dilemma, Detective,” said Ingalls. “My gun has a hair trigger. One twitch and Katherine is gone, and if by any chance you kill me, Diana will finish off Tina before you take a second shot.”
An enraptured smile transformed Diana’s face. “Jeremy, I see the truth of God’s plan now. Detective Sumner can’t kill us both in time to save Katherine and Tina. He has to choose.”
“It doesn’t have to end this way,” cried Jake, his voice tight. “We can all walk out of here.”
“Our work is done,” said Diana. Her finger tightened on the trigger. “The honor is yours, Detective Sumner. God wants you to decide which one comes home to him.”
Jake held Katherine’s gaze, anguish in his eyes.
“Only one,” whispered Jeremy.
The muscles in Jeremy’s gun hand twitched. The muzzle trembled against Katherine’s head.
“Don’t do it,” yelled Jake.
“My good girl forever,” Jeremy murmured.
Murderers. Murderers. Murderers.
Katherine’s eyes widened as the unearthly whisper echoed through the trees. From the shock on Jake’s face, he clearly heard it, too.
Jeremy’s grip on Katherine eased. The gun barrel shifted a fraction of an inch. “Diana?” His voice was tight and strained. “Did you say that?” She shook her head, face pale.
The wind gusted, spinning a pile of dead leaves. The swirling eddy rooted in place sucking in more vegetation. The column grew in height, rotating faster and faster.
A blast of air rocked Jeremy on his feet and he let go of Katherine. Treetops swayed and bent.
Crack-crack-crack.
A roaring gale ripped through the forest, splitting trees in half with explosive retorts that reverberated through the woods. Jeremy and Diana gawked in horror as spidery branches on a cluster of old pecans snaked together, weaving and twisting into rope-like projections.
From the center of the vortex of spiraling leaves came a woman’s shout.
“Murderers!”
A ferocious gust knocked Katherine across the forest floor. Jake rammed his gun in the holster. He snagged her with one hand, with his other scooped up Whiskers. They huddled over Tina.
Thunder rumbled from the sky and the trees reached to the ground.
Diana screamed, firing the shotgun mindlessly overhead. The barrels emptied, but the branches kept coming. Knotted limbs lashed out, snaring Diana and pinning her arms to the side. She struggled helplessly in their grip. “Jeremy,” she shrieked, “save me!”
Jeremy staggered back, mouth open, face gray. He dropped the gun and ran. A jumble of twigs snagged his legs. More branches wrapped around until only his head was visible. Cocooned in place, he was jerked upright next to Diana, inches from the swirling vortex.
The spinning slowed to a stop. Suspended in air, the leaves melded into the shape of a young woman.
“Bethany,” whispered Jake.
Jeremy and Diana screamed in terror, as the branches lifted them high overhead.
Bethany’s face twisted in rage. “I’m not your good girl any longer!”
With a deafening boom! a bolt of lightning struck the tree. The screaming stopped. The knotted wooden fingers relaxed their grip. Two lifeless bodies fell from the sky and thudded to the ground.
Trees snapped back into shape. The wind disappeared. Katherine and Jake staggered to their feet as soft rain began to fall. The image of Bethany turned to face them.
Jake’s voice broke. “Forgive me. I didn’t save you.”
“There is nothing to forgive,” said Bethany. “My death wasn’t your fault. No one could save me. I led a selfish life and brought pain to many others.”
A jumbled flurry of sensations flew from Bethany to Katherine; contrition, absolution, resolve, gratitude, and, finally, peace. Their intensity rocked her to the core.
Bethany nodded with a smile. “Katherine sees now. She understands the truth.”
A hopeful look came to Jake’s eyes. “What truth?”
Katherine blinked back tears. “The haunting wasn’t your penance. It was Bethany’s. She caused your guilt and it chained her here.”
“All these years, Jake,” said Bethany, “I watched you suffer. I shouted to let go, but my voice alone wasn’t strong enough for you to hear. Then Whiskers came and you brought Katherine to me and I knew what to do. I needed the three of you to help me stop them from killing again. Only then could we both be free of the past.”
As if a spark had been lit, the leaves glowed from within. Bethany’s visage transformed with joy. “It’s done.” The light became brighter. Leaves drifted from Bethany’s shape and fluttered to the ground. “Take care of them. Be happy…”
Jake swallowed hard, his voice barely above a whisper. “I will.”
Whiskers let out a plaintive mew. Bethany bent her head toward him with a smile. “You, too.”
“Can’t wait.” Jake cut the connection and ran. He pushed through the brush searching for any sign of Katherine, but her trail vanished. “Where the hell are you?” he muttered. Everywhere he moved thick foliage surrounded him. He could be walking in circles. “Think, damn it. She can’t be far.”
Jake leaned against a longleaf pine and peered at the sky. “Bethany,” he whispered, throat tight, “if you’re watching, I need a little help.”
The wind shrieked through the branches. The spindly tree bent toward the east. Without a second thought, Jake raced away. Another breeze gusted. Another sapling swayed. He ran; eyes on the treetops. This way. Then that way.
Jake pushed through the brush into a grove of old pecan trees. In the distance was a ramshackle farmhouse surrounded by more trees and overgrown hawthorn bushes. He pulled his gun and crept forward.
A gunshot blast ripped the air.
Katherine!
Heart pounding against his ribs, Jake broke into a run.
Chapter 29
Katherine skidded to a halt. Whiskers had vanished. “Which way, which way…” she muttered in dismay. The wind gusted, swirling eddies of dead leaves. As the storm inched closer, even branches heavily laden with new leafy growth bent in the stiff breeze.
White fur darted through the underbrush. “Whiskers?” Katherine eased through a clump of bushes and halted. Up ahead was a dilapidated farmhouse with a sagging porch surrounded by old pecan trees and hawthorn. The front door hung open on a broken hinge. The wind shoved her forward as if to hurry her along. In a crouch, she darted ahead and placed a tentative foot on the porch. A rotten floorboard squeaked under her weight.
Katherine froze, mouth dry, listening hard for any response from inside. No footsteps headed her way, but nearby was faint rhythmic scratching. Hugging the wall, she followed the sound to the rear, and peeked around the corner of the house. Tina wasn’t in sight, but Jeremy and Diana stood near an SUV. Jeremy wore a gun. The shotgun was propped against the car within arm’s reach of Diana. They each used a shovel to dig a rectangular outline in the soil roughly measuring six feet by three feet.
Jeremy leaned against the handle and swiped a hand across his sweaty brow. “Isn’t this deep enough? She’ll wake any minute.”
“A few more inches will do it. A forever home needs to be perfect. You don’t want her to end up like your first one—the grave washed away in heavy rains, the body exposed.”
Jeremy shuddered. “No. I wish I had you with me then. You’d have made it right.”
The bliss on Diana’s face made Katherine’s stomach heave. She crept from the corner and returned to the front porch. Since her vison had shown the SUV in plain sight through a window, Diana and Jeremy must be digging outside the room where Tina was captive. She glanced around searching desperately for any sign of Jake, but to no avail.
You can’t wait for him.
Skirting rotting floorboards, Katherine edged across the porch and into the house. She tiptoed by a central stairway and down a hall past several rooms until entering a kitchen in the rear. Immediately, she dropped low. Jeremy and Diana were only a few feet away from a large window over the sink. The panes were cracked and broken. Too much noise from her would bring them to investigate.
At the other end of the kitchen was a closed door. Any window inside that room surely had a view of the yard to match the vision. Katherine inched across the floor. The surface was covered with a mixture of moldy leaf debris and an assortment of rodent droppings. Each step wafted an acrid smell into the air. She clapped a hand on her mouth to stifle a gag.
Katherine reached the door and paused to listen. The digging continued uninterrupted, with no sign either Diana or Jeremy suspected an intruder in the house. Her hand grasped the knob. It turned freely and she gave the door a push.
Creeeak. Rusty hinges shrieked a protest.
The digging stopped. “What’s that?” said Jeremy.
Katherine froze. Blood roared through her eardrums.
“I didn’t hear anything,” said Diana. “Don’t stop now. It’ll be dark soon. We’re almost finished and need to be on our way.” The digging began once again.
Staying under the window, Katherine snatched a piece of glass off the floor and crawled to the bed. She sawed at the bindings on Tina’s hands. Tina squirmed on the mattress and moaned.
“Shhh.” Katherine clapped a hand over Tina’s mouth. “It’s Katherine. I’m going to get you out of here.”
Tina’s eyes fluttered open. She gazed at Katherine with dawning recognition.
“Keep quiet,” whispered Katherine. “Jeremy and Diana are both outside. Understand?”
Tina nodded. Eyes wide, her gaze darted back and forth across the room. She licked her lips. “Where am I?”
Katherine removed her hand. She slashed through the last of the rope on Tina’s wrists and cast it aside. “Farmhouse in the woods. You were attacked.”
“I-I remember. Andy and I got out of the car. A woman approached.” She struggled to sit up, panicked etched in her features. “Andy—”
“He’s fine. He was tased. You, too. The woman’s name is Diana, Jeremy’s accomplice. The police are on the way, but we have to get out of here now.”
“How did you find me?”
“No time to explain.” Katherine freed Tina ankles. “Can you walk?”
“I-I’ll try.”
Katherine helped Tina to a sitting position and then motioned to the window. “Stay low. Don’t make a sound.”
The digging stopped. An object thunked to the ground as if a shovel had been tossed carelessly aside. “Perfect,” said Jeremy. “We’re finished here.”
Katherine paled. “We’re out of time.” She yanked Tina off the cot. “We have to run.”
Tina swayed on her feet. Katherine grabbed her arm, pushing her out the door. As they ran past the kitchen window, Jeremy and Diana turned their way. In an instant, the emotion on Jeremy’s face went from stunned disbelief to rage. He pulled the gun and fired.
Katherine and Tina ran to the porch. Diana stepped around the corner of the house, shotgun to her shoulder, a crazed light in her eyes. “Where do you think you’re going?”
Shots fired from across the field hit the siding and splintered the wood. Diana stumbled back.
Jake stepped into the open. “Kathy, run! I’ll cover you.”
Katherine bolted toward the trees. Tina lumbered alongside; each inhaled breath came in a ragged pant. Automatic gunfire filled the air.
They passed a pecan tree, a spray of bullets blasted slivers of bark from the trunk. Katherine dragged Tina deeper into the woods. Her gaze darted back and forth in panic. Jake? Where is Jake? Where did we leave the car?
Leaves rustled. Katherine shoved Tina behind a bush and signaled for quiet. She dropped to her knees and peeked through the foliage. Diana entered the clearing toting the shotgun. “I know you’re near,” she purred in a sing-song voice. “My stepfather took me hunting all the time. Kill the game quickly, he always said to me or else you’ll get a beating. Don’t let them suffer.”
Stock to the shoulder, Diana’s gaze swept the clearing. “I’m an excellent tracker. I even found my stepfather once when he tried to hide. He didn’t suffer, either.” A smile twitched her lips. “He was never a happy man, but peace came to him at last after it was over. I knew then I found God’s true calling. I’ll help you find peace too, Katherine, safe from the ugliness of the world, but Tina must go to Jeremy first. It’s for the best. She’ll be a good girl forever.”
Diana moved out of sight. Katherine swallowed hard to ease the tightness in her bone-dry mouth. “Tina,” she whispered, “we have to go—”
Tina was motionless, her eyes closed.
Katherine reached a shaking hand to Tina’s neck to check for a pulse. She bit her lip to prevent a cry of relief at the steady beat. Still alive, but not able to walk any farther for now.
A branch snapped a dozen feet away. “Katherine,” called Diana, “there’s no point in running. Show yourself.”
A few more steps and Diana would stand in front of them. Katherine scoured the earth for anything to use as a weapon, but found nothing at hand except twigs and dirt.
“I say your trail stops here.” Diana’s amusement tinged her voice. “Shall we see if I’m correct?”
Katherine started as a shotgun blast rang out. Pellets ripped a gaping hole through the foliage ten feet to the left.
“Not quite,” said Diana lightly, “but I’m close, aren’t I?”
Adrenaline flooded Katherine’s veins. Think! Find a way! She’s toying with you. Jake must have heard the blast. What do you see in her?
Katherine pressed her lips together in a thin tight line. The shaking stopped. Overconfidence. Diana chooses victims who can’t fight back. She expects a quick chase and an easy victory. Gonna give it to her?
Katherine scooped up a handful of pebbles. Hell no.
“Come out, come out, wherever you are,” Diana crooned. “The fight is over, Katherine. Detective Sumner is dead. Jeremy isn’t much of a marksman, but I showed him how to use an automatic weapon. All one has to do is point and shoot.”
Jake dead? White hot rage surged through Katherine.
Diana stepped in front of the bushes. “You can’t keep me from God’s work any longer.”
Katherine sprung to her feet, and flung the pebbles at Diana’s face. She fell back with a cry. Katherine tackled her, and the shotgun discharged.
****
Jake fired, sending Diana scurrying for cover. “Kathy, run!” he shouted. “I’ll cover you.”
The discharge from an automatic weapon raked the woods. Jake threw himself to the ground and rolled as bullets kicked up the dirt around him. He crawled behind a tree. “Give it up, Ingalls,” he yelled. “You’re not getting out of here.”
“Sorry, Detective, but Diana and I must finish what we started. After that, we’ll rest easy together. Just like Bethany.”
Jake’s grip tightened on his gun. “You’re a murdering bastard, Ingalls. Not a saint.”
“I saved her. I saved all of them. I don’t expect you to understand. No one does except Diana. She understood the urges. She showed me the way.”
Bullets spit through the air as Jeremy and Diana made a break for the woods. With a curse, Jake scampered to his feet and followed. He lost sight of them in the thick undergrowth until a round from Diana’s shotgun broke the silence. Jake veered off in the direction of the blast. Another round fired, even closer than before.
Katherine. Jake’s heart sank as he raced ahead. Which way?
Leaves rustled. The shape of a white cat flitted through the bushes and without hesitation Jake followed.
****
The shower of stones peppered Diana’s face. She cried out in shock and took a stumbling step backward. Katherine barreled into her, wrestling for the weapon. The shotgun’s explosive discharge reduced a sapling to splintery bits.
Seething hate fueled Katherine’s savage kick. Her shoe smashed into Diana’s knee with a satisfying thud. As Diana dropped to the ground, Katherine yanked the shotgun from her hands.
Diana scrambled to her knees with a sly smile. “You can’t kill me. You’re not one of God’s chosen servants. The stain of my death will be on your soul forever.”
“No argument from me,” Katherine panted, gulping a breath. “I’m no murderer.” In one swift move, she swung the barrel, clocking Diana on the side of the head. She dropped to her rear end with a grunt. Katherine loomed over Diana and jabbed her in the ribs with the toe of a shoe. “But I’ll beat you unconscious without a shred of remorse, so don’t move.”
A cold cylindrical object pressed against Katherine’s spine. “I can’t let you do that, Katherine.” Jeremy reached around, tore the shotgun from her grip, and tossed it aside.
Blood pounded in Katherine’s ears. “Jeremy, you don’t want to hurt me.”
“No, I don’t.” His voice held a hint of indecision.
Diana staggered upright, swaying on her feet. “Jeremy, Katherine is in our way—in God’s way. You see that, don’t you?”
“I’m sorry, Katherine. Diana is right. Diana is always right. I’d never have gotten this far without her.” He grabbed Katherine’s arm and shoved her around the bushes next to Tina.
“Jeremy,” Katherine said, “It’s over. The police are wise to you—”
A faint thrumming came from overhead.
Katherine stifled a cheer. “That’s a police helicopter. They’ll discover the car any minute now. Your escape route is gone.”
Jeremy anxiously scanned the overcast sky. “What do we do, Diana?”
Diana picked up the shotgun and placed the barrel against Tina’s head. She cocked the trigger. “We end them now. They’ll find the four of us here.” Her eyes held a dreamy gaze. “God’s servants will be called to paradise together.”
Jeremy grabbed Katherine and held her tight. She flinched as cold steel pressed against her skin. “Jeremy, don’t.”
“One move and you’re dead, Ingalls.”
Jake ran into the clearing, his gun pointed at Jeremy’s head. “Drop it.”
Whiskers padded into view. He sat at Jake’s feet, eyes half-lidded, head tilted to the side as if listening to a private message.
“An interesting dilemma, Detective,” said Ingalls. “My gun has a hair trigger. One twitch and Katherine is gone, and if by any chance you kill me, Diana will finish off Tina before you take a second shot.”
An enraptured smile transformed Diana’s face. “Jeremy, I see the truth of God’s plan now. Detective Sumner can’t kill us both in time to save Katherine and Tina. He has to choose.”
“It doesn’t have to end this way,” cried Jake, his voice tight. “We can all walk out of here.”
“Our work is done,” said Diana. Her finger tightened on the trigger. “The honor is yours, Detective Sumner. God wants you to decide which one comes home to him.”
Jake held Katherine’s gaze, anguish in his eyes.
“Only one,” whispered Jeremy.
The muscles in Jeremy’s gun hand twitched. The muzzle trembled against Katherine’s head.
“Don’t do it,” yelled Jake.
“My good girl forever,” Jeremy murmured.
Murderers. Murderers. Murderers.
Katherine’s eyes widened as the unearthly whisper echoed through the trees. From the shock on Jake’s face, he clearly heard it, too.
Jeremy’s grip on Katherine eased. The gun barrel shifted a fraction of an inch. “Diana?” His voice was tight and strained. “Did you say that?” She shook her head, face pale.
The wind gusted, spinning a pile of dead leaves. The swirling eddy rooted in place sucking in more vegetation. The column grew in height, rotating faster and faster.
A blast of air rocked Jeremy on his feet and he let go of Katherine. Treetops swayed and bent.
Crack-crack-crack.
A roaring gale ripped through the forest, splitting trees in half with explosive retorts that reverberated through the woods. Jeremy and Diana gawked in horror as spidery branches on a cluster of old pecans snaked together, weaving and twisting into rope-like projections.
From the center of the vortex of spiraling leaves came a woman’s shout.
“Murderers!”
A ferocious gust knocked Katherine across the forest floor. Jake rammed his gun in the holster. He snagged her with one hand, with his other scooped up Whiskers. They huddled over Tina.
Thunder rumbled from the sky and the trees reached to the ground.
Diana screamed, firing the shotgun mindlessly overhead. The barrels emptied, but the branches kept coming. Knotted limbs lashed out, snaring Diana and pinning her arms to the side. She struggled helplessly in their grip. “Jeremy,” she shrieked, “save me!”
Jeremy staggered back, mouth open, face gray. He dropped the gun and ran. A jumble of twigs snagged his legs. More branches wrapped around until only his head was visible. Cocooned in place, he was jerked upright next to Diana, inches from the swirling vortex.
The spinning slowed to a stop. Suspended in air, the leaves melded into the shape of a young woman.
“Bethany,” whispered Jake.
Jeremy and Diana screamed in terror, as the branches lifted them high overhead.
Bethany’s face twisted in rage. “I’m not your good girl any longer!”
With a deafening boom! a bolt of lightning struck the tree. The screaming stopped. The knotted wooden fingers relaxed their grip. Two lifeless bodies fell from the sky and thudded to the ground.
Trees snapped back into shape. The wind disappeared. Katherine and Jake staggered to their feet as soft rain began to fall. The image of Bethany turned to face them.
Jake’s voice broke. “Forgive me. I didn’t save you.”
“There is nothing to forgive,” said Bethany. “My death wasn’t your fault. No one could save me. I led a selfish life and brought pain to many others.”
A jumbled flurry of sensations flew from Bethany to Katherine; contrition, absolution, resolve, gratitude, and, finally, peace. Their intensity rocked her to the core.
Bethany nodded with a smile. “Katherine sees now. She understands the truth.”
A hopeful look came to Jake’s eyes. “What truth?”
Katherine blinked back tears. “The haunting wasn’t your penance. It was Bethany’s. She caused your guilt and it chained her here.”
“All these years, Jake,” said Bethany, “I watched you suffer. I shouted to let go, but my voice alone wasn’t strong enough for you to hear. Then Whiskers came and you brought Katherine to me and I knew what to do. I needed the three of you to help me stop them from killing again. Only then could we both be free of the past.”
As if a spark had been lit, the leaves glowed from within. Bethany’s visage transformed with joy. “It’s done.” The light became brighter. Leaves drifted from Bethany’s shape and fluttered to the ground. “Take care of them. Be happy…”
Jake swallowed hard, his voice barely above a whisper. “I will.”
Whiskers let out a plaintive mew. Bethany bent her head toward him with a smile. “You, too.”
