Officer on Duty (Lock and Key Book 4) (23 page)

“Can I get you two some iced tea?”

They accepted, and ended up all sitting at the table together.

“So, you never did tell me,” Lucia said to Paige, “did you see any ghosts on the tour at Wisteria?”

Paige shook her head. “Well, Shannon said she felt a cold spot in one of the bedrooms, but nobody else did. Sometimes she’s a little … dramatic.”

“Hey, give her some credit – maybe she was standing in front of a cooling vent.”

Paige giggled. “It was still kind of spooky though. The tour guide told us all about Elizabeth Jewell. I mean, we all knew the story already, but it was different hearing it out on the lawn where she died.”

“What’s the story?” Lucia speared a bite of potato salad with her fork. “I’ve never heard it.”

“Seriously?”

“Well, I know the Jewells were the family who originally built the plantation, right?”

Paige nodded and set down her glass. “Elizabeth was the daughter. A guy named John Hastings murdered her – he was a former pirate, and he’d been sneaking around at night stealing valuable stuff from people’s houses. When he targeted Wisteria, he ran into Elizabeth on the lawn and killed her. Nobody knew who’d done it at first, but he was caught stealing in Wilmington a little while after that, and he confessed before he was hung.”

“Wow.” Lucia had to admit, Paige’s friend had thrown one hell of an unusual birthday party. “Talk about crappy luck. What was she doing out on the lawn in the middle of the night?”

Back in those days, surely a respectable Southern belle wouldn’t have made a habit of roaming around outdoors in the dead of night.

“Nobody really knows, but people think she was going to meet a secret lover.” Paige shrugged. “Anyway… Shannon was all excited about seeing her on the lawn, but we didn’t.”

“Who, Elizabeth?”

“Yeah, you know, the Lady in White?”

“Not really.”

It sounded vaguely familiar, but for all Lucia knew, it could’ve been a moniker she’d overheard from one of those ghost-hunting TV shows. Sure, she’d grown up in the Wilmington area, but her mom had always been a little superstitious – she’d never gone on any ghost tours, and certainly wouldn’t have been allowed to include one in her birthday celebrations.

“That’s what they call Elizabeth’s ghost, because she’s always wearing a white dress when people see her. Usually she stands out on the lawn, to the right side of the house, where she was killed.”

A funny feeling hit Lucia – not quite déjà vu, but something like it. She’d seen a woman in a white dress on that section of the lawn when she’d dropped Paige off.

A prickling feeling arose on the back of her neck, and disappeared just as quickly.

She
wasn’t superstitious, and she wasn’t even sure if she believed in ghosts.

“I’m glad we didn’t see her,” Paige added. “I think Shannon was the only one who really wanted to.”

“Sounds like it would’ve been a creepy experience.”

“Well, Elizabeth is a good ghost, but she only appears to people when they’re in danger. You know, as a warning. She’s trying to help, but personally, I’d be creeped out.”

Lucia nodded, realizing that her sighting – if that was even what it had been – had come a few days before some unhinged woman had cracked her head open in what had likely been a murder attempt.

And then, of course, she’d taken Olivia.

The revelation made her heart race, growing heavier with every beat. It was her fault that Olivia was missing. And apparently, even a ghost had seen it coming.

How had she been so blind?

* * * * *

Beverly’s newfound work was simple, but tedious. When she wasn’t dealing with the girl in Sarah’s bedroom, she devoted all her time to it.

The internet articles had cautioned her against working too hastily, and since she had no desire to cause a premature detonation, she heeded their warnings.

Whenever she thought of it, black hopelessness clawed at her heart. To die or be stopped without making things right, without fulfilling her purpose – it didn’t bear thinking about. Thoughts of the justice she’d soon exact had gripped her like a fever.

So she worked carefully. Whenever she tired, she retreated to the kitchen for tea or took a long bath, soaking in anticipation as she soaked in the tub.

Of course, she also made sure to deliver three meals a day to the girl she’d taken charge of. She’d finally begun eating what Beverly delivered – a good sign.

Beverly also had to empty the bucket she’d provided as an improvised toilet for the girl, which was unpleasant, but necessary – she couldn’t risk letting her out to use the bathroom and possibly losing her. She stayed locked safely in the bedroom 24/7, while Beverly worked in the kitchen.

She was making good progress, and she’d already memorized the Riley County Women’s Health Center’s operating hours. No more following the cold-hearted murderers who swept in and out of its doors as if it were a beauty salon or a favorite restaurant. No more dragging anyone home. No more being forced to skulk in the dark and physically fight to enforce the justice everyone else was too weak-willed to serve.

She’d walk into the women’s center with her head held high, and she’d make sure its doors never opened again. She wouldn’t just be giving the evil their due, she’d be stopping others from ever stumbling down the dark path that had tempted Sarah away from her.

Justice would be served, and countless lives would be saved.

Every day, Jeremy’s nerves were strung more and more tightly as he awaited news of information pointing toward Lucia’s attacker or the missing girl. It’d been weeks since the first two women had been killed, and after the rapid succession of two murders and then the assault on Lucia and Olivia, the pause felt ominous.

Lucia was deflating before his eyes, becoming less hopeful and more withdrawn.

He tried to keep things positive, but it wasn’t easy – they needed to catch some kind of a break, soon.

The trail couldn’t go cold now. Not in such a small town, with a visual on the suspect. They’d find her, even if she’d fled the area, which seemed more and more likely by the day.

It felt good to return to work after the handful of extra days he’d requested off. Out on patrol, there was at least some sliver of a chance that he might encounter something to do with the case, might be able to help make things right.

When he reported to the sheriff’s department fifteen minutes before the start of his shift, he went straight to the break room, where he found Blevins emptying the coffee carafe.

“Those Cypress detectives find anymore footage of the suspect?”

Blevins shook his head before turning around with a mug in hand. “No, but they’ve got a lead.”

The tension in Jeremy’s veins ratcheted up. “What’ve they got?”

“Cashier at Hudson’s Grocery saw the woman’s picture on the news and says she thinks she recognizes her.”

“They’ve got an ID?”

“The cashier didn’t know her by name, but if she’s right, the woman shopped there weekly. Of course, the image quality was shitty, and she was wearing a hood, so she might be wrong.”

“A local, then.” As he’d suspected.

Blevins nodded. “They’re going through store security footage trying to find more footage of her. They don’t have surveillance on the parking lot, though.”

It wasn’t much. Jeremy’s excitement ebbed, although the tension plaguing him didn’t.

Maybe someone else would come forward. A neighbor or coworker. Meanwhile, no woman with any sense of self-preservation would go out after dark unless she absolutely had to.

For a place that drew in tourists with its small-town Southern charm, it was a sad state of affairs.

It was almost as if Jeremy’s entire world had been turned upside down – everything had changed. He’d been a sheriff’s deputy in a coastal postcard town, and now he wasn’t even surprised by the emergence of a probable serial murderer, just saddened.

And that wasn’t the only change he’d experienced lately. For years, he’d counted on spending the rest of his life alone, and now he had Lucia.

To top it all off, his little girl was growing up.

Life was strange – better than he’d ever imagined at times, and downright terrifying at others.

* * * * *

Lucia thumbed through the image gallery on her phone, seeking out group snapshots of her and the girls in her teen class. Olivia was in four of them.

Seeing Olivia’s smiling face made Lucia feel like her throat was full of knives, but she couldn’t look away. Tears pricked her eyes when she thought of her hiding out in the locker room by herself, afraid to share her secret.

Lucia had been eager to help at the time, but she’d done the opposite. If only she hadn’t gone in looking for Olivia. She’d give anything to un-do the choices she’d made that day.

Instead, she sat in her living room, trying not to think about how many days it had been since Olivia had disappeared, or what had happened to the other girls their attacker had gotten her hands on.

She let herself cry, knowing Jeremy would stop by to see her later that day. He was trying so hard to be there for her – she didn’t want him to realize that his kindness made her feel guilty.

How could she let herself be happy when she’d taken away Olivia’s chances at happiness?

* * * * *

By the time Beverly finished assembling the tools she’d need to carry out her plan, everything was coming together. Next week would mark the two year anniversary of Sarah’s abandonment. For the third time, she would wake up on August tenth and realize that her daughter was gone.

The thought filled her with anguish, as always, but this time there was a new emotion threaded into her pain: hope. This year, she’d atone for her daughter’s horrible, selfish mistakes.

True, she still wished things had been different. They surely would’ve been if she’d had the opportunity to raise Sarah at the Eternal Family Foundation retreat, as her mother had her. There, Sarah would’ve been protected from the rest of the world and its awful lies.

But she hadn’t been granted that opportunity. Alone in the outside world, she’d done her best to shape the little bit of family she’d been left with after her lifelong family had fallen apart.

And for two years now, she’d lived with the bitter knowledge that she’d failed. She couldn’t undo what Sarah had done, but everything happened for a reason. Her faith in that truth was restored now.

She hadn’t saved Sarah’s child, but she’d saved the baby growing in the belly of the girl living in her daughter’s old bedroom, and she would save the children of untold other women. August tenth was only a few days away, and she was ready.

* * * * *

When a knock came at Lucia’s door on Sunday afternoon, she crossed the kitchen and peered through a window before greeting her guest.

Make that guests. Meredith and Paige stood on her front porch.

“Hey you two.” She unbolted the door and opened it wide, summoning one of the fake smiles she’d been using so often lately. “Come on in.”

She closed the door after they entered, shutting out the sweet summer air. “What’s up?”

“I hope you don’t mind the intrusion,” Meredith said, “but we wanted to talk to you about something.”

“What is it?”

“Jeremy’s birthday is in two weeks. We were wondering if we could talk you into joining our top-secret party planning committee – if you feel up to it, that is.”

She hesitated, but never seriously considered saying no to Meredith. “Of course I’ll help out. What can I do?”

Paige grinned, the gleam in her eye matching her grandmother’s.

“Well, we won’t ask too much of you, but we need you as a distraction. On the day of the party, it’d be perfect if you two could go out on a date that afternoon, and then you could lead him to the party location without arousing suspicion.”

Going out on the town was one of the last things Lucia felt like doing, but if Meredith and Paige needed her, she’d do it anyway.

Besides, the occasion was two weeks away – maybe, just maybe, Olivia would be home by then, safe and sound.

Her heart ached as she nodded.

“Sure. Where’s the party going to be held?”

“The restaurant on the grounds of the Wisteria Plantation. We’re inviting too many people to have it at home, and there’s plenty of room there. We already made a party reservation and spoke to the chef. She’s a friend of Jeremy’s, of course, so that helped.”

“Sasha, right?”

Meredith nodded.

“I’m sure I can handle Jeremy on the day of the party. Is there anything else you need me to help with?”

“Well, there’s no food preparation to speak of, since the restaurant will be handling that. And instead of sending out formal invitations, I called Jeremy’s cousin Liam and one of the deputies at the sheriff’s department to get the lowdown on everyone’s work schedule and then sent out e-mail invitations. So really, there’s not much to delegate.”

“I’ll make it my mission to keep him completely oblivious on the big day, then.”

Meredith beamed. “You’re an angel. Thank you.”

“It’s no problem. I’m glad you mentioned his birthday to me. I had no idea it was coming up.”

Meredith waved a hand. “He never would’ve said a thing, believe me. And he’d certainly never plan anything fun for himself. That’s why we’re keeping the party a surprise.”

Lucia had to admit, she couldn’t imagine Jeremy coordinating even a modest get-together for his own birthday. He was too practical, and not the least bit self-indulgent.

“How many guests are you expecting?”

“A little under twenty. All officers from the sheriff’s department or prison, most of them with their significant others. I think the restaurant will be just the right size for our party.”

“I think you’re right – it should be perfect.”

Meredith and Paige stayed a while longer, making small talk. The ongoing nightmare with Olivia was a dark elephant in the room, and when Meredith and Paige finally left, Lucia couldn’t help but be relieved.

* * * * *

Beverly hadn’t driven her car since her trip to the Piedmont area of the state. She still had a third of a tank of gas – more than enough to fuel her trip into town and back. Still, she pulled out of her driveway so slowly that she might as well have been running on fumes.

A large purse sat on the passenger seat, its canvas sides sheltering precious cargo she didn’t dare treat too roughly. As sweat beaded on her brow, she made the pre-planned journey, a model driver.

Her car’s aging air conditioning system admitted more scents from outside than it did cool air – the scents of pine needles and sun-warmed sap, at first.

When she reached Cypress, the air lost a little of its wilderness scent, but none of its heat. Her shirt stuck to her back, damp with sweat, and an overbearing metallic taste filled her mouth, as if her tongue had been cast in copper.

She wasn’t physically comfortable, but her heart was light as a feather.

As her anticipation mounted, she thought of all she’d lost: her mother, her family at the retreat, the husband she’d kept so briefly, and – the cruelest blow of all – her own daughter and grandchild.

She let the sorrow bathe her heart, a sanctifying bath of suffering that was finally enough. Hallowed by her losses, she looked forward with purpose. Yes, she’d lost a lot. But how much more had the world lost to the schemes of places like the deceptively named Riley County Women’s Health Center?

A den of seething evil, it operated on Main Street as if it were just another business, going unnoticed and unremarked upon by everyone. Everyone except for those who swept through the doors demanding its services.

But Beverly had noticed. And she alone stood strong enough in her conviction – her hatred of evil – to do something about it.

Revulsion rose up inside her at the sight of the place, sending acid creeping into her mouth.

She swallowed it, just as she’d long ago swallowed her fear. Stepping out of the car, she rounded it, opened the passenger side door and shouldered her purse with great care.

Entering the building would’ve felt wrong, if she’d been there for any other purpose. As it was, a rush of wild emotion seized her as she drew her first breath of cool clinic air.