The Better to Bite (12 page)

The past and the present blurred.

“I told Mr. Knoxley that I wanted to question you and some of the other kids who were at the party—to see if you might remember Sissy leaving Brent’s house.”

But he’d lied. Dad was a good liar.

He handed me the picture and said the magic words that he knew would unlock the key in my mind. “This is Sissy Hamilton, and she’s lost.”

It’s different for me every time. The things I see…they can scare me. No, terrify me. When I saw the pictures of those hikers, I’d immediately glimpsed their bones. With Caitlin, I’d seen the building she was being held inside, and the face of the man before her, the man with the bloody knife.

But with Sissy, I just saw tree tops. Big, green tree tops.

“Take me to the woods,” I told my dad. “And I’ll take you to her.” Because once I was out there, I’d be pulled to her like a magnet.

“Is she alive?” He asked me bluntly.

I wanted to give him hope. I couldn’t. “I don’t know.”

He nodded, then he took my hand and pulled me to my feet. He opened the door, and Mr. Knoxley hovered near the entrance. “Did you find—”

“My daughter thinks she remembers seeing some old paths in the woods when she hiked to Brent’s house. We’re gonna take a drive and explore that area.”

“But surely the rangers can—”

“I
want
to help,” I broke in, aware that I had to be careful. Dad wouldn’t have asked me to do this if he didn’t need me. I was his last resort, and I knew it. “I know what it’s like to be in those woods, and I just—I want to help.” Mostly truth.

And what was Mr. Knoxley going to do? Refuse a teen girl who had tears in her eyes? Cause I even did the tear bit. Plus my dad, with his badge, stood right beside me.

Mr. Knoxley was smart. He simply stepped back.

I saw the other kids in his office then. Jenny. Troy. A couple of girls I didn’t know. They must’ve all been waiting for their turn to talk to the principal—and to tell what they knew about Sissy’s last moments at the party. A watchful deputy waited by them.

My dad nodded to the guy and led me outside. The sunlight hit me, hot and bright, but he didn’t speak until we were in his car.

Same scene…different place.

“Are you sure you’re up for this?”

“I can find her.” Faster than any rangers or dogs or…anything.

“Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me yet." This time, it couldn’t end the same way.

It
couldn’t.

The last time I’d found a lost girl for my dad…I’d screamed and screamed until my voice broke—and my dad had killed the man who stood over Caitlin Crenshaw’s broken body.

***

My dad had created a base camp at the Hamilton house. He’d been busy. There were already volunteers around, and I could see the dogs—trackers. I also caught sight of a woman, crying, as she clutched a photo in her hands.

Had to be Sissy’s mom.

“Stay with me,” my dad ordered softly. “It will be over soon.”

I climbed out of the car. I tried not to make eye contact with anyone. I wanted them to forget me as soon as they could.

“Anna?”

Apparently, I wasn’t gonna be that forgettable.

I looked up and found Rafe jogging toward me. “What are you doing here?” He asked, frowning.

My dad stepped in front of me. “Anna’s here to help with the search, same as you, son.”

Rafe was helping?

Then I saw another man walking behind Rafe, an older man, but with Rafe’s same bright, glittering eyes.

“Rafe’s father, Charles Channing, is one of the rangers who patrols this section of the mountain,” my dad said. “And Rafe—”

“He knows the woods like the back of his hand,” the ranger said, giving a firm nod. “I wanted him on the search team.” But the guy frowned at me. “No disrespect, miss…”

Uh, oh. Usually when folks said that, disrespect was coming.

“But you’re not from around these parts,” his drawl was thick. “I don’t really see what help you’ll be providin’.”

“You might be surprised,” I murmured.

One of his dark brows rose. “Maybe.” He motioned behind the house. “We’ve kept the focus primarily between the Peters’ house and the Hamilton land. Once we’ve cleared that track, we’re going to start branching out.”

They could do that. They could search all they wanted between the two properties, but that search would be a total waste of time. Sissy wasn’t there. The pull I felt was leading me in the dead opposite direction. Not between Sissy’s and Brent’s, but toward the thick line of trees on the other side of Sissy’s house.

“Good work, Charles,” my dad said, and I knew that was his cue for Charles to get back to that good work.

Charles nodded and stepped back. “Rafe, come help with the teams.”

Rafe pulled back, but his eyes were on me.

I waited until they were far enough away that I didn’t think they could hear me, then I leaned in close to my dad and said, “They’ll never find her over there.” I pointed to the woods next to the Hamilton driveway. “She’s on the other side.”

“What?” My dad’s voice was whisper quiet, but his head snapped around.

And because I was watching him from the corner of my eye, I saw Rafe’s head whip around, too. His gaze immediately zeroed in on me.

He’d heard me.

I was over twenty feet away from him. I’d barely breathed the words, and yet I
knew
he’d heard me.

Just like I knew Rafe was too strong and too fast.

Just like I knew I wasn’t the only
different
one anymore.

Not here in Haven. I was starting to wonder if different was the norm in this town.

My dad gave a firm nod. No questioning. No doubt. “Let’s go.”

The gravel crunched beneath my feet. We walked slowly and easily until we were covered by the woods, then once the eyes were off us, my dad said, “Don’t go in all the way, Anna, okay?  Last time…”

Last time I’d been so locked on the girl that I’d raced right into the building, never seeing the danger. My dad had ordered me to stay in the car. He’d called for backup. But…

Caitlin had been calling to me.
Lost, lost…

I licked my lips and remembered the taste of blood. “I won’t, Dad. I’ll pull back.” I hoped.

I advanced cautiously at first. I felt like I had a string around my waist, and someone was pulling me deeper into those woods. The more I walked, the faster my steps became. Faster. I jumped over fallen logs, twisted around trees.

Sissy had strayed far from the safety of her house when she’d gone into the woods. Far, far from her home.

She’d grown up here. She should’ve know better but—

But Sissy was lost.

Lost.

I ran now and my side burned and cold breaths heaved from my lungs. Closer, closer…the faster I ran, the more the pull jerked inside of me. Sissy wasn’t far now, she wasn’t—

“
Pull back!”
My dad’s yell as he grabbed my arm.

I stumbled to a stop. I’d done it again. Gone in too far, gotten hooked on the one who was lost.

His hold tightened, and he lightly shook me. “Baby, don’t you smell it?”

It?

Then the smell hit me. Heavy, thick, rotting. I covered my mouth even as my eyes widened in horrified understanding. I knew this smell.

I’d smelled death twice before.

I wrapped my arms around my body as my dad slipped forward. I didn’t want to see this. There were some images that just wouldn’t get out of your mind, and I realized this would be one of them.

“
Sonofabitch.”
My dad’s snarl, and I knew we’d found Sissy.

He stormed back toward me even as he yanked out his small radio. “Jon, dammit, yeah, I found her.”

I heard the crackle of static and the excited yell that came from Deputy Jon Parker.

But my dad cut him off. “Don’t tell the parents yet.” He exhaled and rubbed a hand over his face. “And get the ME out here.”

No more excited yell. Stark silence.

“Pull back the search teams,” my dad directed. “I’ll meet you all at base camp.”

“Yes, sir.” Deputy Jon’s muted answer.

I hugged myself tighter. I hadn’t found Sissy soon enough.  Again. Another body on me. Another death on my conscience.

My dad lowered the radio and closed the distance between us. “You okay?”

I nodded.

“Liar.” But he said the word like it was an endearment.

He was right. I was a liar. “If I’d found her yesterday, she would have been—”

He shook his head. “From the looks of things, she’s been dead for a while. At least two days.” My dad knew dead bodies. He’d worked real close with the ME in Chicago on so many cases.

All that time. Sissy had been alone in the woods.

Don’t think about it. Don’t go there.

I cleared my throat. “So…F-Friday night?”

It was his turn to nod. “The ME will tell us for sure, but based on the lividity of the body, it looks that way.”

I didn’t want to know about lividity. I didn’t want Sissy to be dead. “What happened to her?”

He caught my arm and started leading me away from the scene. “Baby, you don’t want to know.”

I stopped walking. “I’m not a baby anymore.” I lifted my chin. “I was attacked by a wolf on Friday night. Sissy died on Friday night. I want to know—”

“Her throat was ripped out.” Flat, but his eyes burned with fury. “The size of those slashes, hell, yeah, I’m looking for an animal. One damn vicious beast.”

I swallowed. “She ran from the party, and she ran right into the wolf.”

The big, bad wolf that waited in the woods.

“No.” He pushed me forward again. “Not right from the party. Sissy was wearing a night gown.”

I blinked.

His gaze swept the woods and tension kept his jaw tight.

“A night gown?” I repeated slowly. But if she’d been wearing her gown, she’d gotten home safely. She'd made it back after the party.

Then she'd gone back into the dark woods.

“I want to know why the hell that girl was out in those woods.” We were walking faster now. My dad was nearly running, and I was tripping as I tried to keep up with him. “I want to know if she was alone.”

Because reason number one a pretty girl went into the woods when her parents were out of town…
to meet a boy.

“If someone was with her, I damn well want to know who left her alone to die.”

A twig snapped. My head whipped up. Rafe stood there, staring at me and my dad with a furrow between his brows. “You found her.” No question.

Rafe started to push by us. My dad caught his shoulders. “Son, you don’t want to see that.”

No, no one wanted to see what was left of Sissy.  Unfortunately, her parents would have to see their baby again. They’d be the ones to identify her, and the ones that would never forget the last image of their little girl.

As we headed into the clearing, I saw Sissy’s folks. Hope still lit their faces. I knew my dad wanted to be the one to tell them about the sad discovery. And he’d have to tell them soon, before the ME pulled up.

My dad eased away from me. I hunched my shoulders and watched him go. Rafe stayed beside me, silent.

My dad straightened his spine. He took off his hat. Held it between his hands. I couldn’t hear his words to the Hamilton’s, but I saw when the mother broke. Her knees gave way, and she would have fallen right to the ground if my dad hadn’t lunged forward and caught her.

Sissy’s dad just stood there, shaking his head, as tears streamed down his face.

Then I heard his words, because they were rising, louder and louder. “
She’s just lost…she’s just lost!”

But Sissy wasn’t lost anymore. I’d found her. Too late.

“How did you know?” Rafe’s gruff question.

My dad took the mother inside the house. Sissy’s dad stared at the woods, with his hands clenched into fists.

“How’d you know where to find her?” Rafe demanded, and anger rumbled in his voice.

Anger? I glanced over at him. “We got lucky. We were out scouting in the woods, and…we just got lucky.”

Doubt stared back at me from his gaze. “The way you got lucky when you found Brent’s house on Friday night?”

“Yes.” I said the lie when I looked him right in the eye.

Then he called it.

“Bullshit, Anna Lambert.”

“
Rafe!”
His father’s voice.

But Rafe didn’t move. “You’ve got secrets, don’t you, Anna?”

I was starting to think everyone in this town had them.  Some of those secrets were even scarier than mine.

His bright stare searched mine. “How do you do it? How does it work?”

My lips pressed together. For once, I’d actually like to tell someone. He’d seen what I could do, so he’d have to believe me. But then what would happen? Could I really take the chance? What if he shared my story all over school and everyone talked about what a freak I was?

No, thank you.

I turned away. I walked slowly and surely back to my dad’s car. Then I slid inside and slammed the door shut.

When I looked down, I realized my nails had dug into my palms, leaving little half-moon gouges.

A few minutes later, the ME arrived and the deputies headed with him into the woods.

Sissy Hamilton wasn’t lost any longer.

***

The next two days passed in a blur. Everyone at school was talking about Sissy. Freshmen were crying, walking down the hallways with red-rimmed eyes and runny noses.

Upperclassmen were shocked. They talked in excited whispers and spent more time with the freshmen—time that didn’t include pranks and teasing.

Valerie came back. She must have known Sissy because she was one of the girls with the red-rimmed eyes.

I didn’t cry. I know I should have, but when I thought of Sissy, I just felt kind of hollow.

And guilty.

I’d felt guilty before, when I arrived too late to help Caitlin. What was the point of me having this gift (AKA curse) if I couldn’t actually help anyone? Finding dead bodies wasn’t my idea of helping anyone.

Sissy Hamilton hadn’t even made it to her sixteenth birthday. She’d deserved to live.

Just as Caitlin had.

With Sissy…I just couldn’t shake the feeling that her death was
my
fault. That wolf had gone running from me…to her.