Haunting Refrain (31 page)

John stayed close beside her.

Two men in khaki with park badges on their pockets appeared and spoke to him. The prophet ignored them, focused solely on Kate. The rangers quickly gave up talking and took his arm.

“Thus will He end thy lewdness and dreams of evil, and all women shall take warning.” He continued to shout, staring at Kate over his shoulder as the rangers dragged him away.

The crowd closed behind them. After a brief buzz of interest, they returned to the exhibits.

“John, stay close to Kate.”
Venice
, looking slightly disturbed, rubbed her arms. “I see darkness.”

“It’s over now,
Venice
. The rangers will make him leave,” Martin said. “He’s a real prophet of doom.”

Kate turned to a well-dressed man who lifted one of her pictures to study it.

“I think this is the house on the farm where I grew up,” he said. “Do you know where it is?”

“Yes, I took it down near
Gray Court
.”

“That’s it!” He took out his wallet. “My wife will remember it, too. She’s around here—”

A sharp report shocked the park into silence, followed immediately by another. People froze in their tracks.

A hiss of air stirred Kate’s hair, and a tree trunk splintered behind her. She grabbed
Venice
and dived for the rocks.

John pulled Martin to the ground and crouched low, scanning the woods.

“Get down! Get down!” someone yelled.

A third shot rang out. The man crouched near Kate cried out, clutching his arm. The farmhouse fell to the ground.

Kate yanked
Venice
’s scarf from under the remaining pictures and crawled toward him.

“Thanks,” he said.

More shots sounded. The crowd began running, screaming. Parents threw themselves on top of their children. Others crawled toward the safety of the rocks.

“It came from over there,” a man cried, pointing toward the west from his position behind a tree.

One of the rangers ducked into the trees, following the sound. Another urged people to stay low and seek shelter.

A young man crawled over from the other side of the rocks. “I’m a doctor. Let me do it,” he said, taking the gold silk from Kate.

“I can’t see a damn thing. The sun’s blinding me.” John wriggled over the rough ground to Kate and
Venice
. Martin was right behind him. No more shots sounded.

“God, Kate.” He hugged her tightly,
then
pushed her away to check. “Are you all right?
Venice
?”

Nodding, Kate checked John just as carefully. “He’s a lunatic, a madman!”

“He’s gone now. If he’s smart, he’ll ditch the robes, and they won’t catch him. He’ll probably blend in with all the other people running away,” John said. “That sounded like a hand gun. If he stays cool, he can hide it and carry it right past everyone.”

After a few minutes, John crept cautiously out from the sheltering rocks. He stood and looked around. Others were beginning to surface, too. “I think it’s safe now. He may be crazy, but he’s not stupid. He won’t hang around.”

Kate stood beside him, glaring into the setting sun. By this time, anger had replaced shock.
“To think of shooting with all these people around, all those children!
I hope he steps on a rattler, the bastard.”

The man who’d been hit leaned against a tree while the doctor tied the scarf around his arm, saying, “It just skimmed your outer arm, but you need to have it cleaned. God, there’s no place safe nowadays!”

“At least no one was seriously hurt. We should be thankful he’s not a marksman,”
Venice
said. Recovered from her fright, she began gathering Kate’s pictures. Martin followed, holding a box for her to put them in.

Other exhibitors were returning to pack, anxious to leave the wooded park. A ranger wandered among them, asking questions, and a few minutes later, a couple of sheriff’s deputies strode into the area. Several people pointed toward Kate’s exhibit, and the three officials began making their way back. One of the deputies turned to the man who’d been hit.

“They’ll get to us in a minute. You start, Kate, while I load the car.” John hefted a box onto his shoulder and picked up the table with the other hand. “I’ll be right back.”

Kate and
Venice
hastily gathered their things until the deputies reached them. Kate introduced herself and described the shots, suggesting they call Detective Waite in
Greenville
. “I don’t know, but I suspect it has something to do with the murder of Kelly Landrum,” she said, hating to go through the whole story. She was trying to think of some plausible explanation for her involvement when John returned.

“This is John Gerrard, the reporter who’s been covering it. Maybe he has some idea why.” She hoped he would catch on from her weak statement.

Venice
, for once, remained silent.

“I think maybe my research turned up some unpleasant facts, and whoever killed Kelly Landrum would like for me to go away,” John said, taking Kate’s lead.

After a few minutes’ discussion, the ranger and one of the deputies left to examine the splintered tree. The doctor and the wounded man left, and the remaining deputy took names and addresses. “Waite, you say?” He wrote down Lynne Waite’s name and left them to join the others at the tree.

“Let’s go. We could be here for hours if they get too curious,” John said. They gathered the remaining items and trudged back to the car.

Only
Venice
seemed ready to put it behind her. “Where are you taking us for dinner, Kate? You made over four hundred dollars.”

“Did I really?” Kate brightened. “Well, if everyone still feels like it, let’s go.
Any ideas?”

“I’m in the mood for pizza,” John said.
“How about Mama Rosa’s?
Then, as long as it’s Italian, you can have what you want.”
 

Venice
and Martin quickly agreed.

“Yes, it sounds good.” Kate knew they didn’t need to report to Waite. She had no doubt the detective would track them down when she wanted them. Meanwhile, she considered the prophet. It couldn’t be coincidence that he’d been at her house decorating her door and then at Caesar’s Head today. And how did he know where she’d be? Her house was easy enough to find, but she couldn’t picture him scanning ads for art shows to see if she were an exhibitor. But he had known.

After a less-than-festive dinner, during which
Venice
repeatedly yawned behind her hand, Martin dropped them at Kate’s. They quickly unloaded the Cadillac and said goodbye. Kate and John stored the table and chairs, and then she followed John in her car to the newspaper office.

“Kate, come on in. You can’t stay out here in the car. I’ll only be a few minutes.” He hustled her into the building, nodded to the security guard, and sat her at Mike’s desk. “I have to get your film developed. I’ll be right back.”

“I’m fine.” A yawn distorted her words.

He returned a few minutes later to find her asleep on the desk. He filed a couple of paragraphs and wrote a caption for Kate’s picture of the prophet for tomorrow’s paper. He left instructions for
Walker
to crop and place the picture for him. The layout man was good. John wanted the guy’s venom to show, and he trusted Kate’s ability to get the shot. Ezekiel could have a little of the publicity he’d been after.

He woke Kate. “Let’s go home. It’s been a long day.”

While they were unloading her photographs at his house, he said, “Maybe it wasn’t the prophet. Helmut was there today. Martin saw him. He spotted
Venice
and disappeared.”

“Helmut! He probably didn’t want to see me because he’s still angry.”

“Angry enough to shoot you?”

“I just don’t believe
it’s
Helmut. It doesn’t feel right. How would he know we would be there?”

“Whoever broke into your house saw papers and all kinds of information on this show. He surely figured you’d be here, and it would be easy to get off a few shots from the woods. Helmut knows the area. He told us he likes to climb there on Sundays.” He opened the trunk and took out a box of photographs. They had left the table and chairs at Kate’s, but hadn’t wanted to take a chance with the pictures. John lifted the camera bag from her shoulder and slung it over his own. “I’ll carry it.”

“Thanks. I may be liberated, but I’m not stupid.” Ezekiel’s words came back to her. “That crazy prophet could have known the same way. Maybe he’s the one who broke in. He keeps talking about fire. You don’t think he’d burn my house down, do you?”

“I doubt it, but I wouldn’t want to take any chances. I’m glad you’re with me.” He kissed her forehead. “I can’t see him as the murderer. But I don’t know why he was up there today.”

“No, it’s odd.” She said, dragging a box out of the car. She dropped it in the hall as soon as she got inside the door. She was tired to the bone.

“Let’s have a glass of wine before we go up.” John hoped it would help her relax. She’d been tense and
overbright
all evening. That haunted look had returned to her eyes.

She spotted the list from
Lake
Jocassee
as soon as she entered the kitchen. She pounced on it, snatching up the papers. “I had forgotten this. Maybe there’s something here.”

“Do it tomorrow. You’re worn out, Kate.” He poured two glasses of Merlot and handed her one.

“No, I want to do it now,” she insisted. She traced down the names with her forefinger, gnawing on her lip as she read.
Jarmyn
, Dunn, Singh,
Lacher
, Border,
Gunterson
, . . .
 
The list went on. She read it twice more before handing it back to John, who was leaning against the counter behind her. “I don’t recognize any of them.”

Something nagged at her, something she ought to know, but she was too tired to think about it. She gave up and followed John up the stairs.

* * *

Kate was hell-bent on going to the studio. “I have to finish Charlene’s pictures—Rita wants them back today. And I have a lot of other stuff I have to get done.”

He would have to make a fast trip to the office for his tape recorder and notes. Maybe he could get Mike’s laptop and catch her at the studio.

“Promise me you’ll call if you go anywhere else.”

“I will. I’ll keep the door locked and be extra careful, but I can’t hide in a closet until he’s caught, John.”

“I’ll be there soon.” He kissed her, holding her tight for a minute, and then left.

* * *

Kate stopped at the door to the warehouse and called out to James Earl. His office door stood open and he came out immediately, saying, “Good morning,
Miz
McGuire. What can I do for you?”

“Nothing, thanks. I just wanted to know if anyone’s been here this morning, if you’ve seen anyone hanging around.”

“No, ma’am.
I haven’t seen anything at all, and I’ve been keeping my door open.
Seems like there’s been some trouble lately.
The police have been here asking about the elevator, and I saw in the paper about
Miz
Ashburton being hurt.”