R.S. Guthrie - Detective Bobby Mac 02 - L O S T (10 page)

I pointed to the rest of the house. We needed to make sure the first level was clear. Jax nodded and we made a quick sweep of the upstairs.

As we descended the stairs to the underground, I could now tell the sounds were coming from the dog. The unfinished basement was a mess. The things we’d seen had obviously been living down here. A Golden Retriever was lying in the corner, bleeding. It looked like the beasts had been playing with it, as the cat might play with the outmatched rodent rather than delivering a quick death.

“Sorry, girl,” I said, scratching her ears. It didn’t do any good. She was nonresponsive. The poor dog was well beyond anything being done to save her and was clearly in a massive amount of anguish. I knew what had to be done, but I could not bring myself to do it. Images of Tina and Sketch occupied my head. I knew I owed it to them, and to the animal at my feet, to relieve her suffering; it was my limitation, not hers. They do not ask much of us for their unequaled love and loyalty, but this one thing. And I was failing this poor dog.

Jax could see the indecision playing out on my face. He pointed to the mess strewn across the basement and told me to check the room for any signs of the victims having been here. When I turned to begin the search, he fired.

~ ~ ~

There were no signs of the girls, the Porters, or any other humans. I say humans; Jax was still not convinced we’d seen anything but several large brutes running for freedom.

“Squatters?” he said.

“Not a chance. Did you see the dog?”

“Sadistic squatters, then.”

“And the Porters?”

“No answer for that one, I’m afraid,” Jax said.

“I have one.”

“See, I was afraid you were going to say that.”

“You never really told me how much you heard about what went down in Denver.”

“That’s because I lied about how I heard about it.”

“Do tell,” I said.

“I dreamed it.”

“Excuse me?”

“I’m not sure exactly whether it was before, after, or during what happened to you down there. But I dreamed it. Like the way twins talk about living events of the other, from a thousand miles away? That was me. Ask me anything.”

“You sound pretty sure of yourself,” I said.

“Can’t explain that, either. But I know. Ask me.”

“Calypso?”

“I saw him warn you away on that rooftop. Threatening to throw Cole off the building.”

“Jesus.”

“And Greer…”

“Shit.”

“I know you had no choice. I know how much it killed you.”

“Then what is all this crap about squatters?”

“Wishful thinking?”

The second smile in the same day.

“Those things,” he said to me. “The Porters and the Jennings?”

“That’s what I’m afraid of.”

“This makes no sense,” he said.

“I promise you, there is some reason for it.”

“I’m all ears.”

“Did the stories about the girls’ abductions play funny for you?”

“Thoroughness of the disappearing act?”

“Exactly.”

“So you’re thinking the parents were in on it?”

“I’m thinking the parents weren’t the parents. Not for a long time, even.”

“So Annir got to them?”

“He got to Spence Grant…”

“We need to talk to him again.”

~ ~ ~

Amanda remembered more about Agent Tanner Noon than she let on. In fact, she remembered each of his terribly sleazy advances at Quantico, and she’d also followed his unimpressive career within the Bureau. Noon could not be trusted. The last thing she wanted to do, however, was worry Mac. He was hip deep with his brother, and then there was the baby.

Amanda was a woman—nay, an
agent
—who could handle herself. So she played it up a little with Noon. Mac had a good head on his shoulders; he knew she was up to something, and a bit of jealousy could be a healthy thing.

“I’m glad you decided to come work with the pros,” Noon said as they walked from Command One to the chow hut.

“I can only take local law enforcement for so long,” she said. “I mean, Jax is a decent cop…it’s just that there is only so much a local cop can get accomplished.”

“Let it go, is what I always tell them.”

“Yep. Gotta know when to fold the hand, sir.”

“Tanner.”

“Sure. Tanner. So what are the choppers seeing…anything?”

“Not so far. It’s early, though. They need to familiarize with the terrain, the best hiding places. What’s the story with you and Macaulay?”

“Bobby, you mean.”

“Yeah, him. Tough guy, right?”

“He’s a guy that can hold his own.”

“How much of yours is he holding?”

God, the man made her skin go clammy and her stomach feel like a swarm of eels were swimming around inside her.

“See, Tanner. There you go with that charm that got you so far at the Academy.”

“So you
do
remember me.”

“I remember you hitting on me. I would have thought your tact improved with age.”

“I’m still commanding officer here, you know.”

“Can’t have it both ways, slugger. It’s Tanner or it’s sir. I’m not going to play games. You respect me, I respect you. But if you’re going to get off poking holes in a good guy like Mac, you can take ‘Tanner’ and shove it up your ass.”

Nice. Well played, she thought sardonically.

“Whoa there, lady. Mea culpa, mea culpa. Didn’t intend to ruffle feathers. Tanner will do.”

What a spineless douche,
Byrne thought. But it worked.

“Fine. Mac and I have worked together. And we see each other sometimes. Nothing exclusive.”

“See,” Noon said. “We can play nice.”

“Fair enough,” Byrne said.

Keep your fucking enemies close
, is what she thought.

JAX CONDUCTED the second interview with Spence Grant. We both agreed that my presence would be a bad idea. Plus, if the County Attorney were to hear about me being allowed in the same room with the suspect again—well, that would be too much like building a fire next to a keg of black powder.

I stayed behind the one-way glass.

“We just got back from the Porter house,” Jax said to Spence Grant.

“How are they? The Porters, I mean.”

“Why would you think I meant anyone else?”

“No reason.”

“I’d say the Porters have seen better times.”

“Losing a daughter will do that to you.”

“It goes beyond losing a daughter, what we saw.”

“Have you heard the line ‘each of us, a monster within’?” Spence said.

“I haven’t.”

“I think it was Dostoevsky. Or Merv Griffin.”

“You have any ideas about what was happening over at the Porter house, Spence?”

“I have a few.”

“I’d like to hear them.”

“Bring your brother in here and I’ll tell you.”

“Not a great idea,” Jax said. “You of all people should see that.”

“I talk to the two of you or no one at all.”

Jax came out and stood in front of me. I’d been listening to the whole exchange. He had an expression that said this is a really, really bad idea.

“I can be cool,” I said.

“You need to be better than
cool
. Like ice water. Even cooler.”

“Get under my skin twice, shame on me.”

“Let’s figure out what this turd knows.”

“Detective Macaulay,” Spence Grant said happily when we walked in, as if he’d known me all his life and had missed me terribly.

“Mr. Grant,” I said.

“Come on, Mac…
Spence
. We can’t talk if we aren’t friends, am I right?”

“Spence, then.”

“You all had quite an experience at the Porter house.”

“What do you know about it,” Jax asked.

“I know some. More than I want, as much as I need.”

“We’d like to know about the Porters,” I said. “When they were lost.”

“One person’s loss is another’s gain,” Spence said. He seemed fairly impressed with himself, and I realized the initial familiarity I had felt when we first met was gone. This guy was a horse’s ass.

“When did Rule get to the Porters?” I said.

“It wasn’t anyone named ‘Rule’. It was Annir. Annir got to them. And to the Jennings.”

“When?”

“Over a year ago.”

“What?” Jax said.

“The parents of those girls have been gone for over a year,” Spence said.

“Impossible,” Jax said.

“Oh, it’s possible. You’d be surprised at the makeup of your quiet little town here…not nearly as quiet as it used to be. Or more quiet. Depending on your perspective.”

“This is crazy,” Jax said.

“What’s going on?” I said. “What’s the end game?”

“End game…I like that,” Spence said, his eyes twinkling. “Did you read
Ender’s Game
, by Orson Scott Card, Mac?”

“No. Can’t say I did.”

“One of the all-time great Sci-Fi epics,” he said. “Not unlike now, mankind is facing extinction at the hands of superior beings.”

“Is that what’s happening?” I said. “Do you believe we’re facing extinction?”

“You’re missing the point. These humans put their faith in the children.”

“Children?”

“They’re our future. They’ve always been our future. For better, for worse. Good or evil. You can’t
have
a future without them. Without them, the future is LOST.”

~ ~ ~

Spence Grant had little else to say. He was only giving up as much as required. Unfortunately, his allegiance was still clearly drawn.

Jax went home to be with his family and I went back to the hotel to attempt sleep. I desperately needed some rest. I immediately fell into a coma-like sleep, expelling all the stress of the past few days in one glorious release. It was in this deep sleep that Greer appeared to me, in all her splendor.

“Why are you up here, Bobby Mac?”

“You know why. Because I can’t just let these things slide anymore. Not since…”

“Not since me?”

“That’s part of it. I miss you, Greer.”

“Problem is you didn’t miss me enough when I was
alive
.”

“I know.”

“I miss you, too, Bobby.”

“I wish you wouldn’t say that.”

“Because it hurts you too much.”

“Yes.”

“I did, you know.”

“Did what?”

“I really did love you.”

“I’m afraid that’s my subconscious, telling me what I want to hear.”

“Doesn’t make it any less true.”

“I’d give anything to believe that.”

“You can believe it.”

“Why come to me now? It’s been over a year…”

“This place isn’t safe.”

“So you’re here to warn me off?”

“Something like that.”

“I can’t do it, Greer. There’s too much at stake.”

“What about your nieces?”

“What about them?”

“What you need to be doing is saving them.”

“How?”

“He wants them all.”

“The children?”

“The girls.”

And then I awoke. The phone was ringing.

It was Meyer.

~ ~ ~

I called Jax at his house.

“Are Gracie and Celia all right?”

“Yeah, I mean I think so,” Jax said through the cobwebs. “Gracie is at her friend’s place.”

“Are you shitting me? With everything going on, Jax?”

“We have to live our lives. Gracie’s fine.”

“Get your daughter. I’m coming over.”

By the time I arrived, Jax was on his second mug of coffee and Trish had gone to pick up Gracie at the friend’s house.

“Hope this is good,” Jax said.

“Meyer is on his way.”

“Meyer.”

“Yes.”

“What’s this about?”

“He found something,” I said. “In the history books. Something about the children.”

“The
children
?”

“Young girls. Are you familiar with
Three Sisters Peaks
?”

“Yeah, I think so. In the range overlooking Lake Pend Oreille.”

Meyer burst into the room, sweaty and out of breath. He looked like he was about to drop. When Scots like Meyer become taxed, their fair skin turns tomato red and veins begin popping out where they were hidden before.

“Ease up, Meyer,” I said.

“We need to gather all the people in town with kids,” he said in-between breaths. “Especially young daughters.”

“Jesus,” said Jax. He snatched his cell from the table and dialed Trish.

“No answer,” he said. “DAMN it.”

“What did you find? Tell us,” I said.

“It’s in our own book. Can you believe it?”

“Calm down. What…did…you…find?”

“Sacrifice,” he said. “I think they are trying to sacrifice three young girls.”

“Mac said something about
sisters
,” Jax said, almost pleading. “
Three Sisters Peaks
.”

“I think so,” Meyer said. “The grouping of peaks was named from a ritual that occurred there a hundred and fifty years ago. A splinter of the Coeur d’Alene tribe. Witch doctors and warriors who believed the gods were angry with the white man—the French. They kidnapped three daughters of a French Captain…took one to each peak. And when the three fires were lit—when the signal was given between the three spires—the witch doctors threw the girls to their deaths.”

“What does this have to do with us?”

“There was a similar action in the fifteenth century. In Scotland. Two warring clans. One clan captured three daughters of the opposing leader. Burned them at the stake to show their resolve.”

“Their resolve to what?” I said.

“To end the lineage of their enemies.”

“And you think Rule is somehow reenacting this ritual.”

“I think Annir appeared as a god to the splintered tribe of Coeur d’Alene. Convinced them of the need for the sacrifices.”

“You talked about this before, right?”

“Yes. He had a different name then:
Hamaltmsh
.”

“The fly god.”

~ ~ ~

Trish arrived with Gracie and Celia a few minutes later. Jax grabbed the girls, checking them over as if they might have been damaged on the Jeep ride over. He next called his lead deputy.

“Severs. Use the reverse 911 procedures. All citizens are to congregate in orderly fashion in the school sports complex—use the indoor football field; it’s the largest. Put them in the gymnasium, too, if you have to. Round up everyone—County Sheriffs, too. Tell them it’s on my authority. And Bill…
arm yourself
.”

“We should call the FBI. Call Noon,” I said.

“Agreed. From the school. Securing the town, that’s first.”

I nodded and looked to Meyer, who had dropped on a couch and looked better.

“What else do you know?”

“As I said, there is a reference to a similar act in the Book of Ossian. Three daughters. Sisters. It was meant to end the family line.”