Dark Hollow (25 page)

Like gunslingers, the five of us walked side by side—Merle on the left, then Dale, then Cliff, and then me and the dog, armed with our weapons and our totems: Cliff’s cigarettes, Merle’s duct tape, Dale’s wedding ring, and my dog. Big Steve seemed to draw courage from our resolve. Not even the sputtering chain saw disturbed him. He walked tall and proud, his back rigid, his white teeth bared, flashing in the darkness.

We crossed the alley. The woods loomed just beyond the parking lot and playground. In the distance, on the other side of the forest, the horizon glowed orange fromthe forest fire. Even though we were dozens of miles away, we could smell the smoke carried on the breeze.

“Look.” Merle sniffed the air. “We did that.”

Dale grunted. “It’s a good start.”

We continued on across the parking lot, heading toward the playground. The spot where they’d discovered Michael Gitleson’s wrecked vehicle after his and Leslie’s fateful date, along with an adjoining section of the playground, was roped off with fluttering yellow police tape.

Big Steve looked at the forest and barked once, echoing into the night.

We’re coming for you, goat boy—me and my master and our friends. Coming to bite your hairy ass.

His enthusiasm was infectious. I gave the bat an experimental swing, jabbing at the darkness. Merle and Dale jacked their shotguns, chambering shells. Cliff raised the chain saw and thumbed the throttle. Its roar filled the air.

“I’m a lumberjack, baby,” he sang, “and I’m gonna cut you down to size.”

He thrust and parried with the chain saw as if it were a sword, then let the motor idle down again.

We laughed.

And that was when Detective Ramirez stopped us.

SEVENTEEN

The black-and-white sat in the shadows beneath a telephone pole, out of reach of the soft glow of the parking lot’s sodium lights. We didn’t see it until we heard the car door slam. All five of us jumped at the sound. The chain saw sputtered, then died, and the night seemed suddenly quiet.

“Good evening, gentlemen.” Detective Ramirez stepped toward us. “You guys are up late.”

A uniformed officer with brown hair slid out of the passenger’s side, and another with red hair walked around to the front of the patrol car. Both stood stiffly, hands resting on their holsters.

“D-Detective Ramirez,” I stammered. “What are you doing here?”

He smiled thinly. “I could ask you the same thing, Mr. Senft. We’re on stakeout. Watching the neighborhood, seeing if the perp returns to the scene of the crime. I’ll spare you the details. Surveillance is always boring.”

He eyed our weapons, and continued. “But something tells me that you guys are having much more excitement tonight.”

Merle tried to grin but succeeded only in looking ill. “You know how it is, Detective. Quiet night in a small town and all that.”

Cliff attempted a laugh that immediately died on the wind.

Ramirez’s smile vanished. “Indeed. Maybe you should lower your weapons.”

Slowly, Merle and Dale laid the shotguns on the ground and stepped away from them. I did the same with the bat. The sharpened silver dollar glinted in the moonlight.

The redheaded officer inched closer, nodding at Cliff. “Want to put that thing down?”

Cliff set the chain saw down and backed away.

“So,” Detective Ramirez said, his smile returning, “which one of you wants to go first?”

I stepped forward, and the dark-haired cop pulled his gun.

“Keep away from the bat,” he shouted. “Down on the ground!”

I froze, my testicles crawling up inside me. Suddenly I felt very cold. Next to me Big Steve cringed. Glass crunched under my feet, and I wondered if it was from Michael Gitelson’s shattered windshield.

Ramirez held up his hand. “Easy, Sam. This is Adam Senft, the famous mystery writer. He wasn’t going for the bat. Were you, Mr. Senft?”

I shook my head, too afraid to speak. Big Steve relaxed.

“Officers Sam Young and Al Uylik,” Ramirez continued, “meet Merle Laughman, Dale Haubner, and Cliff Swanson. And the furry guy is Big Steve. His bark is much worse than his bite.”

Big Steve’s tail wagged at the mention of his name.

Ramirez’s smile faded again. “So which was it?”

I inched farther away from the bat. “Sorry, Detective?”

“Which was it? Were you guys going squirrel hunting or cutting firewood? It must be one of those explanations, right?”

“You wouldn’t believe us if we told you.”

“Well, you’d better tell me something. The four of you are running around out here in the middle of the night, armed with shotguns, a chain saw, and a modified baseball bat. We call that suspicious behavior.”

“Neighborhood watch,” Dale lied. “With all that’s happened, we’ve got a right to protect our homes.”

“Not like this you don’t. The law frowns on vigilante justice, Mr. Haubner. And besides, if you were watching for prowlers, you gentlemen wouldn’t have been laughing and singing and revving that chain saw as loud as it would go.”

“Our wives are missing.…”

I hadn’t meant to say it. I’d opened my mouth to verify Dale’s explanation, and instead the truth had tumbled out.

“We got home about twenty minutes ago,” I continued.“Dale’s wife and my wife are gone. It looks like somebody broke into my home. And our friend is dead.”

Ramirez’s face was expressionless. “Murdered?”

“Yes.”

“Did you call nine-one-one?”

“No.”

“Why not? Your wives have been abducted and your friend was murdered. Wouldn’t you call for help?”

“I…I guess we were too freaked out. We were looking for Tara and Claudine.”

“And I take it this deceased friend would be Cory Peters?”

I nodded, swallowing hard.

“Where’s the body?”

“In my living room.”

“Did any of you touch anything inside the home, or disturb his body?”

We shook our heads in unison.

Ramirez turned to Officer Young. “Call it in.”

“Can we leave?” Dale asked.

“No.” Ramirez shook his head. “You guys just hangtight till our backup arrives. Then we’ll go have a look, and I’ll have some questions for you.”

My stomach sank. Dale made a small whimpering noise in the back of his throat. Our bad luck seemed to have returned—in spades. We glanced at one another. Merle was sweating bullets, and Cliff’s cigarette was down to the butt. The filter was burning, but he didn’t seem to notice.

I stepped forward. Ramirez and Uylik both eyed me warily. Inside the patrol car Officer Young was talking into the radio.

“Detective Ramirez,” I said, holding out my palms. “Please just listen to me for a second.”

“Mr. Senft, I would advise you to not say anything else for the moment. I’ll be taking statements from each of you as soon as Officer Young is finished.”

“But our wives are out there right now.” Dale’s voice trembled with emotion. “We’ve got to find them.”

“That’s right,” I said. “We have reason to believe that Antonietta Wallace, Shannon, Leslie, and Shelly Carpenter are still alive, and our wives are with them.”

“Where are they? Do you know who took them?” Dale started to respond, but then looked at me. “You tell him.”

My mouth had suddenly gone dry. I licked my lips.

“Look.” Annoyance crept into the detective’s voice. “One of you had better start explaining now, or I’m going to read you your rights and you can explain it in detail at the Loganville barracks.”

I took a deep breath. “Do you know the name Nelson LeHorn?”

Ramirez shook his head. “No. Should I?”

“He was a local farmer and a powwow magician. He disappeared in the eighties, after his wife was murdered.”

“I remember that,” Uylik said. “Happened when I was in college. Never caught the guy.”

“I moved here from Baltimore,” Ramirez said. “Probably why I haven’t heard of him. Do you suspect he’s involved in these disappearances?”

I shrugged. “In a way, yes. But it’s more complicated than that, and we don’t have time to go into it right now. My point is, we know who’s behind this, and we think he’s in the woods right now, with our wives and possibly the other missing women.”

“So who is he?” Ramirez pulled out his notepad and a pen.

“His name is Hylinus.”

Ramirez wrote it down. “Last name?”

“We don’t know. Look, if you can just come with us, we can lead you to him. Please? Our wives—”

“I understand,” he interrupted, “but you need to understand my position as well. You just informed me that your friend has been murdered—inside your home. And I see the four of you walking through the neighborhood heavily armed. And you’re being vague with your answers. What am I supposed to think?”

Dale spoke up. “It’s not that easy to explain, Detective. Hylinus is not your average suspect.”

“I’m listening.”

“Remember when you interviewed me the other day?” I asked. “We were talking about the O’Brien robbery in Hanover, and some of the weird, paranormal stuff involved with it?”

Ramirez nodded.

“Well, this is sort of like that. There’s not enough time to explain it all to you, but there’s some supernatural stuff occurring. If you come with us we can show you.”

Ramirez chuckled. “I’m not Fox Mulder, Mr. Senft. I think we’ll stay right here until the others arrive.”

Officer Young got back out of the car and walked around to us. “Units are on their way.”

“ETA?” Ramirez asked him.

Young shrugged. “Ten minutes. Maybe fifteen. Traffic’s a mess because of the forest fire.”

“Fifteen minutes?” Dale exploded. “Goddamn it, we’ve been more than patient. We did nothing wrong. Our wives are out there right now, in jeopardy. You’ve got to listen to us!”

Ramirez held up his hands. “Calm down, Mr. Haubner.”

“I will
not
calm down! You’re treating us like suspects, and we’ve done nothing wrong.”

Big Steve shrank against me, frightened by Dale’s outburst. I reached down to reassure him, and Officer Young’s eyes darted tomy hands. I held them back up again.

The wind shifted, and the smell of wood smoke grew stronger. There was something else on the wind, too.

The sound of a shepherd’s pipe.

Immediately my penis stiffened. Judging by the way Merle, Dale, and Cliff fidgeted, theirs were doing the same. The three police officers looked uncomfortable. Young readjusted his holster and belt, and Ramirez held his notepad in front of his crotch. Uylik shuffled his feet.

“Oh, shit.” Cliff’s cigarette butt dropped from hismouth.

“What the hell is that?” Officer Young asked, glancing around. “Sounds like a flute.”

“It’s Hylinus,” Merle said. “We tried to tell you.”

Ramirez’s face turned red. He was clearly embarrassed by his body’s reaction.

“This suspect plays the flute?” he asked.

I changed tactics. “You’ve got erections right now, don’t you guys?”

“Fuck off,” Officer Young snapped. “I don’t—”

“You’ve got one because of the music. We all do. That’s part of it. That’s how he lures them. It’s like he hypnotizes them or something.”

Ramirez didn’t respond.

“Look,” I tried again. “Remember when we were talking about the bank robbery in Hanover? You said that you found O’Brien’s story hard to believe. You said that you wanted to believe him, but that you just hadn’t been presented with the truth. Right?”

Ramirez toyed with his mustache. “What’s your point, Mr. Senft?”

“If you want the truth, then let us show you. Right now. You can’t seriously believe we’re involved with this.”

He glanced down at the bulge in his pants.

Dale tried another angle. “Have you discovered hoof-prints at the crime scenes?”

Ramirez was visibly startled. “This Hylinus…would he have some way of leaving hoof imprints in steel?”

We stared at him, too shocked to reply.

“Gitleson’s vehicle was damaged in such a way. One of our technicians said it was like somebody had clubbed it with a goat’s foot. Can you gentlemen explain that?”

“No,” I said. “But we can show you.”

“Can you also show me what would have left behind traces of animal fur that, so far, our lab technicians haven’t been able to identify?”

“Yes, we can.”

“Please?” Dale begged. “Before it’s too late.”

Ramirez seemed to consider our request. Then he said, “Give me your keys, Mr. Senft.”

“What?”

“Your house keys. Give them to me.”

I grew nervous again, but did as he asked.

Sighing, Ramirez handed them to Young. “Secure the crime scene. It’s that house over there, with the white vinyl siding.”

Young refused. “Sir, that’s totally—”

“I know it is,” Ramirez interrupted. “And I don’t give a damn. Last time I went by the book, a lot of innocent people got killed. These men’s wives are missing. I’ll be damned if I’m going to let that happen again.”

“But, sir, you can’t possibly—”

“I can and I do. Come on, Sam. You can see as well as I can that these men aren’t killers. It’s called playing a hunch. Go ahead and make fun. Tell me I sound like a television cop. You know as well as I do that there’s all kinds of weirdness associated with this case. Has been since day one. If they can explain it, I want to know about it. Now go secure the scene and wait for backup. When they get here, send some of them along after us.”

“What about me, sir?” Uylik asked.

“You’re coming along,” Ramirez said.

Dale flashed me a thumbs-up.

Ramirez turned to us. “Where are we going, exactly?”

I pointed toward the forest. “There.”

Uylik scowled. “You realize there’s a forest fire several miles away. The way this wind is picking up, it could spread.”

“That’s where my wife is,” I said. “So that’s where I’m going. And I’m going now. If you’re going to arrest me, then arrest me. If not, then get the fuck out of my way.”

Taking a chance, I stooped down and seized the baseball bat. Nobody stopped me. I walked toward the park, and Big Steve trotted along at my side, nose to the ground. I prayed that he was tracking his mother and not a rabbit or squirrel. When we reached the grass I turned around. The others were watching us.

“Well, Detective? You coming?”

Cursing softly, Ramirez followed. Dale, Merle, and Cliff hesitantly retrieved their weapons.

“No,” Uylik said. “Leave the chain saw here.”

“We’ll need it,” Cliff replied.

“For what? The detective’s got a Glock forty and I have a nine-millimeter, and your friends are armed with shotguns.”

“It’s not for Hylinus,” Cliff said. “It’s for the trees.”

Ramirez and Uylik stared at him in disbelief.

“Let me make something very clear,” Ramirez said. “See that patrol car? It’s got a dashboard-mounted recording device. The entire time we’ve been standing here, it’s captured your images and our conversation. Now, perhaps you were thinking, ‘Oh, we’ve fooled the cops. Now we can get away with something.’ Maybe you think I one hundred percent believe your story—what little bit of it you’ve shared with me. I don’t, but I also don’t believe that you’re involved in any foul play. Other than that, I don’t know what to believe at this point.”

“We can help you with your belief,” I said. “All we’ve got to do is show you.”

“Well, that may or may not be. Just don’t get any ideas inside those woods.”

“Don’t worry,” Dale said. “It’s Hylinus we want.”

We walked through the playground, weaving our way around the swings and monkey bars. Big Steve stopped long enough to lift his leg and pee on the slide. Then he returned to tracking.

“I still don’t think this is a good idea,” Officer Young called out.

Big Steve led the way, with Dale and me right behind him. Merle and Cliff walked behind us, Ramirez and Uylik brought up the rear, probably so they could get the jump on us if we proved to be the killers after all.