The Haret (The Haret Series) (20 page)

             
“Do you think he’s dead?”

             
Grant shook his head.

             
“No not Raine. He is a fighter, and is determined to save his people. He will find a way to come to you again but in the meantime, you must keep yourself and his child safe. That is what he wants more than anything.”

 
              Sharon squeezed Felicitas hand then stiffened her posture the way she always did when she demanded her way. She eyed Grant her eyes flashing. “Okay you may take Felicitas into hiding on one condition. I want to know exactly where you are and I want to be able to see my daughter anytime I wish.”

             
Grant spit more blood into the dried leaves. “You’ll be putting yourself in danger with that knowledge. You’ll have to play dumb.”

             
Sharon nodded. “You underestimate me; I can put on a great front. Believe me I’ve had years of practice.”

             
Grant gave a slight grin and suggested they keep moving.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

             
Twenty minutes into the ride and Esther wished she hadn’t joined Ian. He had talked nonstop about how much he still loved Felicitas even though she had hurt him more than anyone in his life. When Esther tried to convince him to believe Felicitas’s story he laughed, shook his head and told her they were both silly naïve girls and needed to work at not being so innocent. He then launched into internet stories where men had preyed on young girls hiding in their attics and placing tiny cameras in their room so they could spy on them. After reciting several gruesome accounts he said he was certain Grant was a dangerous predator who he believed drugged Felicitas when he crept into her room every night.

             
Esther didn’t argue with his philosophy she figured if it made him feel better about himself she would just let him believe it. She was too tired to argue, her head hurt and more than anything she wanted to concentrate on finding Felicitas.

             
Ian took the highway toward Rosie’s house saying the road was a rural one not traveled much and if they had been in an accident he doubted anyone would have seen it. He added that it was hard to get cell reception in that part of the countryside so they wouldn’t have been able to call for help.  Then he said the place gave him the creeps and he distrusted everyone in the Podunk town starting with Sheriff Edwards. He accused them all of being in a secret coven protecting each other and forbidding any outsiders coming in and finding all the skeletons in their closets. He figured that’s why David was attacked. He went on to tell Esther about the text David had sent the night he was shot proving his theory about Grant and the fact David said he felt he was being followed.  David had sent her an almost identical text also accusing Grant and Rosie. Esther knew she couldn’t come up with a logical explanation for that one.

             
They had only traveled less than five miles on the secondary road when they came upon a police cruiser and an unmarked car parked on the side. Esther pointed to two people toping the ravine and immediately noticed it was Sheriff Edwards and Rosie. She told Ian to pull over and stop to which he made a snide remark about wanting to run Barney Fife and his sidekick down.

             
Esther jumped from the car and made her way over to them asking if they had heard from Felicitas and Sharon but before they could give an answer she noticed the overturned truck at the bottom of the ravine. Her heart crawled into throat.

             
“Oh my God are they…”

Ian walked up and joined her just as Sheriff Edwards nodded his head towards the woods.

              “There’s no one in the truck, looks like they made it out alive. I think they headed for the woods and are more than likely making their way back to the house from there.”

             
Esther looked at the woods; they were massive and covered miles and miles of undeveloped land.

             
“Why would they do that instead of hiking back on the main road?”

             
Sheriff Edwards pointed over to his left at three motorcycles parked in the high grass. Because they were being followed and I am sure Grant didn’t want to be out in the open for it to happen again.

             
“Followed?” The words frightened Esther as much as seeing the overturned truck. “Who was following them? Drakes?

             
Ian who had been standing beside Esther silently listening in on the conversation gave a sarcastic snort and shook his head.

             
“More like dealers, Esther not drakes. I think that’s the code word for their drug dealers around here and I bet Grant is way in over his head. I heard some of these Podunk towns hidden way out in the boonies are full of meth labs hidden in old run down barns. It’s the perfect place because no one would ever suspect a bunch of country bumpkins being drug lords. Look at those bikes. Those are some pricy rides. Don’t be fooled by their stories Esther I bet we’ll find out drugs were involved.”

             
Sheriff Edwards eyed Ian like he wanted to give him a good beating.

             
“You’re pretty informed on the subject. Maybe you’d like to hike on down the ravine and identify the bodies.”

             
“Bodies?” Esther and Ian both asked surprised.

             
“Yep.” Sheriff Edwards said keeping his eyes locked on Ian. “We got three corpses down there, all three shot in the chest and yes there were drugs in the truck but I believe they were planted there. Someone’s trying awful hard to frame Grant.”

             
Esther felt her spirit crumbling. Dead bodies, drugs, everything Ian had just said made perfect sense. She too had often wondered if Felicitas had been given a hallucinating drug while she slept. She had suggested it the night they were in the hospital and she refuted it.

             
Esther sighed feeling hopeless and remembered the desperate search in the forest the night Felicitas disappeared.

             
“So what do we do? We can’t go in there after them the woods are so massive we’d get lost ourselves.”

             
Rosie spoke for the first time since they arrived. Her voice was somber and she held onto her bandaged shoulder as if she was in extreme pain and Esther figured she had probably overexerted herself not resting much since yesterday.

             
“The way I see it we got two choices. We can wait at the house cause that’s probably where they’re headed or we can enter the woods bordering my property and try to meet them as they make their way back. I think that might be the best bet 'cause we don’t know how serious their wounds are. We did see a blood trail going into the forest so I figure they’re injured. On top of that there are probably more drakes on their heels. They might be able to use some back up.”

             
“Whatever we do,” Sheriff Edwards said. “We best decide in a hurry cause the FBI has been called in on this one and I am more than likely gonna be shelved. The area should begin buzzing within the hour. I heard Russell’s on his way here now.

             
“Well what are we waiting for?” Ian sounded exasperated. “Let’s go in the woods and try and help them. I can’t just stand here knowing drakes…I mean drug dealers are stalking them. Let‘s get in there before it‘s too late.”

             
“I agree.” Esther said turning back to the car. “Let’s move.”

             
Sheriff Edwards sized up Esther and said he thought it best of she waited at the house with Rosie and that he and Ian would go traipsing through the woods but the look on her face and Rosie’s declaration that Esther could probably best the two of 'em changed his mind.

             
Within minutes they were back at the house and against her better judgment and the wary eye of Sheriff Edwards Rosie handed Ian a shotgun.”

             
“You know how to shoot one of these?”

             
Ian sized up his weapon. “Sure do, used to go hunting with my dad all the time.

             
Sheriff Edwards grabbed the gun from Ian and pointed it directly in his face surprising everyone.

             
“Boy you go crazy and shoot this like you did yesterday when you accidentally shot Rosie and I’ll kill you myself! Now I’m gonna let you carry it but you do not shoot unless I give the command you understand?”

             
Ian swallowed hard and nodded.

             
Sheriff Edwards handed the gun back and then looked at Esther.

             
“I figure you never held a gun in your life. Am I right?”

             
“You figured right and I’d rather not if that’s okay. I don’t really like guns and I’m afraid I’d panic like Ian and do something dreadful.”

             
In a flash Rosie put together a backpack full of water bottles, bandages, sandwiches, a thermos of hot coffee and two flashlights. She handed it to Esther saying she could carry it since she was the only one not handling a gun.

             
“Alrighty then.” The Sheriff said. “Rosie you stay here on the walkie, let us know if they come back or if there are any new developments.”

             
Esther checked the time on her cell as they headed outdoors. It was nearly three she guessed they had only a couple hours of sunlight left. She glanced at her two companions, Ian and the Sheriff and wished Reed was with her. An uneasy wave of concern flooded over her as she stepped into the forest. She hadn’t told her parents or anyone where she was and there was no way for her to contact them. Her mind went to the men lying near the wreckage and she wondered who had shot them? Could it be the same person who shot David? If that was the case then the only possible culprit was Grant and that meant he had Felicitas and Sharon with him in the woods. She thought back to the night she and Reed discovered the cabin and the unshaven man and realized he and Grant were one in the same. Her stomach churned and her heart beat intensified with every thought that haunted her mind that Felicitas was mistaken about her dreams.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

             
Dusk had come and just as Felicitas feared they were still in the woods. She figured they were traveling somewhere around two miles an hour. Grant said they were twenty miles away and since they weren’t going in a straight path but were climbing over tree trunks, branches, gulley’s and forging streams she figured it would take them at least ten hours to make it back to the house. They had left their cell phones in the truck with all their other belongings so there was no way to track the hours but since the sun had set a while ago she figured it was somewhere around dinnertime and the rumbling of her stomach confirmed her suspicions. She could only imagine how worried her family must be. Her mom had told her dad they would be home around nine thirty or ten and when they didn’t show she suspected he made some calls and then went on a search himself and more than likely found the overturned truck and the bodies and the thought of it all caused her stomach to ache more than it already was.

             
She could sense her mom pitied her trudging through the forest tired hungry and pregnant. Sharon softened since the attack and Grant’s revelation of his true identity. She told Felicitas she was proud of her and wished she felt closer to her than she did. Her mother had spent a lot of time away from home the past four years traveling with her dad and speaking at women’s conferences. She justified her guilty conscience or rather her dad had justified it for her saying she had always been at home when the girls were little but now that they were older and in high school there were others who needed her guidance. Sharon told her that walking with her and seeing what a beautiful young woman she had become made her regret being away so much.

             
“So, what’s he like?” She spoke quietly for only Felicitas to hear.

             
“Who?”

             
“I think you said his name was Raine.”

             
Felicitas coral lips curled into a smile wrinkling the corners of her eyes.

             
“Momma,” she grinned. “You remembered his name.”

             
Sharon loved it when she called her momma instead of mother and Felicitas knew it. Momma was more endearing and the name she called her when she felt close to her; she hadn’t used the word much lately.

             
“As far as I can remember he is beautiful and kind and thoughtful and you know, everything a girl would want.”

             
“You mean he’s a dream? No pun intended.”

             
Felicitas laughed. “Unfortunately that is all he is. It’s hard to be carrying the child of someone who’s only a figment of your imagination.”

             
Her words struck a chord with her mother. In all the controversy surrounding her pregnancy and disappearance Felicitas doubted anyone ever gave a thought to how she might be feeling about her condition.

             
“Grant says Raine’s been captured by the drakes and I know I should be worried but I’m not and I don’t know if I should feel guilty about that. To be honest I am more concerned over Ian right now and what he must be thinking and how hurt he must be by all of this.”

             
Sharon gave a half smile and noticed Grant listening although he pretended not to be.

             
“Do you love Ian?”

             
Her mother had never asked her much about their relationship. Most of her questions concerned meeting his parents or the courses he was taking in college and if he planned on making his band his career. Felicitas often wondered if her mother liked Ian at all. She was always polite to him as she was with almost everyone but it never went beyond that.

             
“Yes, of course I do. I mean, I really do care about him.”

             
“Do you see a future with him?”

             
“Not sure now.” Felicitas said patting her flat tummy. “This kind of complicates everything don’t you think?”

              The darker the forest grew and the more treacherous the path became. The conversation had long diminished and was replaced by concerned thoughts crowding into everyone’s mind. The half-moon hung low in the sky casting its eerie glow through the balding branches. Everything about the woods seemed dangerous and uninviting.               The nearby howl of a wolf prompted Felicitas to grab her mother’s hand as they inched their way through the darkness and when Felicitas questioned Grant about the wild animals much to her alarm he confirmed the fact that there were many wolves and coyotes that prowled the area traveling in packs and was not to be trifled with. He went on to say that wolves were the least of his concern and that he thought he smelt the putrid scent of sulfur which was the stench the shadows brought with them when they came up from the ground.  This was the second time Felicitas heard Grant mention shadows and at this point she decided to ask what they were but wished she hadn’t when Grant said the shadows were a type of spy stealthily gathering information  on you and then notifying the drakes to your whereabouts. They veil themselves in the trees and among the ground making it almost impossible for you to see them. By the time you do see one it is too late and the despair they shroud you with is the worst misery anyone can imagine. Their modus operandi is to leave you in a state of hopelessness and agony so you can do nothing to save yourself, weakening you so the drakes can move in and destroy.

             
Felicitas gave a shiver and wished she were anywhere but where she was. The gathering clouds obscured the moon taking what little light there was. Every now and then a white glow would escape its entrapment lighting their path just long enough to gain some ground. A million thoughts raced through her mind and right now she couldn’t think of any place she’d rather be than her own beautiful bedroom back home. Just the thought of her room made her feel safe. According to today’s date it had been over a week since she slept in her own comfortable bed but to her it had only been three nights and as hard as she tried she could not remember hiding with Grant in the gateway as he called it. She had only experienced a few visual flashes mostly of Grant. It was an unnerving feeling to have a missing week and to know you had been somewhere but could not remember anything that happened. Then her mind went to Raine and actually seeing him that night. She tried to picture how he looked but even that vision was fading too.

             
It was the soft recurring hoot of an owl that stirred up a memory of that night causing her great fear. Something terrified her but whatever it was had been blocked from her memory. She tried to concentrate. Just being where she was, trudging through the woods did a lot to jog her memory. She tried reliving the experience by putting everything she did remember in chronological order. First, she saw Raine, and then she jumped from the trailer and ran into the forest searching everywhere, scanning as far as she could see in the darkness. Then she sensed a presence. Yes, that was it! She had forgotten about that but she had sensed a strong presence near her…that’s when she heard something to her left. The events of the night were becoming clearer like a blurry picture coming into focus! Her heart pulsed in excitement as she strained to recall what transpired next and  finally uncover the secrets that kept last week shrouded in mystery.

             
Lost in her thoughts she failed to pay close attention to where she was walking.  She lost her footing and stumbled falling against a tree rattling its dead branches and sending a cloud of bats into the night sky chattering noisily as they made their way to another location. The sudden disruption interrupted her causing the memory to blur once again.

             
“You need to rest?” Grant asked after helping her back up to a standing position.

             
She wiped the mud off her hands onto her jeans.

             
“No I’m good, just wasn’t paying attention.”

             
Grant eyed her curiously and asked again just to make certain.

             
“You sure? We can stop. I figure we’re at least another two hours out.”

             
Felicitas thought she might cry when she heard another two hours, her body ached, her ankle was killing her and she had never been hungrier in her life. What she would give right now for a stack of the sugary waffles that made her so sick earlier this morning. Still, she didn’t want to stop. Stopping would only delay them and right now the only thing she wanted more than anything was to be home.

             
She insisted she was good to go and continued walking staying closer to Grant so she could interrogate him some. She decided to use the interruption to ask him a few questions about the night she disappeared.

             
“So you were in the woods on the Reddick estate the night I disappeared?”

             
Grant broke a thick branch blocking their way and tossed it aside.

             
“Uh huh.”

             
“Why were you there?”

             
“The messenger told me Raine was coming to you and an attack was inevitable. I was there to help.”

             
Felicitas took Grants hand as he helped her over another fallen trunk.

             
“What messenger?”

             
Grant offered his hand to Sharon, helping her across too.

             
“A faithful friend of mine visits me in my dreams with vital information.”

             
“What’s his name?”

             
“Caleb.”

             
“Is he the one who told you Raine was captured?”

             
“No I saw that for myself.”

             
She was intrigued and thought it might be crucial to ask what else Grant saw that night. It might evoke another memory.

             
“Will you tell me what happened?”

             
He stopped cold and wiped the sweat from his forehead. He eyed her and then looked over at Sharon who seemed interested, wanting answers just as much as Felicitas.

             
“Alright then.” He said as he continued on.

             
“Caleb had come over too that night; he and I were trailing Raine several yards behind keeping watch. Raine signaled us saying he’d made eye contact with you on the trailer and that you had run into the woods.”

             
Grant picked up a large rock and hurled it at the glowing eyes of a coyote peering at them a few feet away. The coyote whimpered in pain then turned and disappeared into the darkness.

             
“Once you ran into the woods the shadows surrounded you.”

             
Felicitas remembered what Grant had said about the shadows and figured that was what brought on the incredible fear she experienced. The thought sent another chill through her.

             
Both you and Raine saw someone but Caleb and I could only see a figure, the silhouette of someone standing in the midst of the shadows, that is when Raine pulled his sword and yelled for you to run.”

             
Grant stopped there and Felicitas waited for him to continue but he didn’t.

             
“And…” she said.

             
He stopped walking. His expression was grave and the pale light illuminating his face gave him a ghostly appearance. She swallowed hard dreading his next words.

             
“Instead of running you walked toward the figure.”

             
She pulled her eyes away from Grants and stared hard at the ground straining to bring the night back to her mind. The memory was there hovering at the door, so close, so familiar, her head began to throb.

             
“Why did I walk towards it? Why would I do that?”

             
Grants voice was quiet but his words exploded in her ears.

             
“Because you recognized whoever it was.”

             
Her legs weakened beneath her and her body began to shake. She wrapped her arms around herself hoping to control the trembling.              

             
“But if I recognized whoever it was then why can’t I remember?”

             
Grant expelled a long slow breath and rubbed the back of his neck the way he did when he was trying to figure out the best way to say something.

             
“Because they weren’t who you thought they were. In other words, someone aint who they appear to be, and the shock of it was a little too much for you to take in.”

             
Felicitas thought a moment of who the figure could have been. There were so many familiar people there that night. So many of her friends on the hayride, it could have been anyone even Esther, Reed, or Danny. She’d been warned in a dream to be aware of the deceiver.