The Hexed (Krewe of Hunters) (24 page)

“Just keeping our eyes and ears open, stopping in to see people just to read how they’re doing. And if you don’t mind, at some point I want to visit a cemetery,” he said. “I’d like to bring flowers to Melissa.”

“Of course.”

They walked along the street—busy by day—glancing into the shop and museum windows. When he laughed at the cheesiness of some of the gorier museums, she pointed out that they did a booming business with teenagers. And while some of the others might not have a lot of money behind them, they still did a great job at accurately presenting the area’s history.

When they walked into Beth’s shop, she was sitting in a chair behind the counter. Theo was nearby arranging dried herbs in a display case. Devin tried not to stare at him suspiciously—or to shout, “Dammit! Are you the killer?”

She managed to call a quick hello to Theo, then hurried over to give Beth a hug.

“Look at me,” Beth said. “I look good, right?”

“Fantastic,” Devin assured her.

“You’d never know a thing happened to her,” Theo said, coming over.

Beth smiled at Rocky. “You know, I never thanked you two. I could have lain there forever!”

“Actually, you would have come to eventually—though with a hell of a headache,” Rocky said. “Just don’t overdo it today, okay?”

Gayle emerged from the back, smiling. “She’s amazing, our Beth. A real trouper.”

“Since you’re here...” Rocky said, smiling as he leaned on the counter and looked over at Gayle. “When am I getting my pentagram necklace?”

“Rocky! You sound like a broken record,” Beth said. “I told you. As soon as—”

“I wasn’t asking you, Beth. I’m sorry—I was asking Gayle,” he said.

“What?” Gayle said.

“You
are
the artist, right?”

“No, no, I—” She broke off and stared at Rocky. “Okay, I’m the artist. How did you know?”

“The way you looked at Beth that day when I asked,” Rocky said pleasantly. “And you do know a lot about them. Make one for me, will you—please?”

Gayle flushed. “Yes, yes, of course. You know you can buy them all over Salem.”

“Not like yours.”

Rocky really was very good, Devin thought. If she hadn’t already known he was playing Gayle, she never would have noticed.

“That’s very sweet of you,” she said.

“Nope—just true,” he said. “You’re a terrific artist. You should stop hiding your identity. Let people know who you are. That would mean—”

“That I’d be swamped,” Gayle told him. “Please, keep it a secret.”

“All right, I promise,” Rocky said solemnly. He chatted with her for a few more minutes and then said, “Well, we’re off. We’re visiting a cemetery.”

“Historic?” Gayle asked.

“Anything from the past is historic, isn’t it?” Rocky asked lightly. “Melissa Wilson was a friend of mine. She was the first victim of the killer. We’re going to visit her.”

“I remember,” Beth said. “I was only thirteen or fourteen, but I remember.”

“I’m really sorry you lost a friend,” Theo said to Rocky.

“She was a good kid,” Rocky said. “But enough about sad things. What are you all up to now that Beth’s been sprung?”

“Hoping for a busy day here at the store, and tonight, after we close, some cleaning,” Beth said. “I promise I’m going to sit in my chair and supervise.”

“Cleaning? Really? That’s the best you can come up with for your first night out of the hospital?” Rocky asked.

“Why? Do you have something more exciting to offer for the evening?” Theo asked.

“No, not really. I think Devin wants to do some housecleaning, too.”

“What about your fellow agents?” Beth teased. “Don’t they want to party?”

“They’re pretty exhausted, to tell you the truth. Working this case has been stressful. I expect they’ll be heading back to the hotel to get some sleep,” Rocky said.

“I talked to your friend this morning—Jack Grail,” Beth said. “They still don’t have anything on what happened to me. I know the attack on me might not be related to the murders, but if it is...” She trailed off and shivered. “I was very lucky.”

“You definitely were,” Rocky agreed. “But now we really have to go. We’ll see you soon.”

Devin and Beth hugged goodbye, and then he put his hand on Devin’s shoulder and guided her out of the store.

“Cemetery?” she asked.

“In a little while,” he told her. “I just want to check in on one more person.”

“So we’re saying hi to Brent again?”

“Yep.”

Brent smiled when they walked in and chatted comfortably. He definitely didn’t seem to be expecting to be invited down to the station again.

They didn’t stay long, and their next stop was the florist a few doors down, where Rocky bought flowers.

They had lunch at a place just off the pedestrian mall, and then drove out to the cemetery. Melissa Wilson had been buried in Peabody, alongside various members of her family.

There were already flowers in a metal vase by Melissa’s headstone, though they were beginning to wilt. Rocky knelt down and replaced them with the fresh ones, then remained down on one knee for a minute.

When he stood, he looked at Devin. She realized he was waiting.

“Anything?” he asked her.

She shook her head and looked around the old cemetery. A huge oak dipped long branches toward the ground. The scene was both beautiful and forlorn. She knew he was hoping she could see Melissa—that perhaps, though he obviously couldn’t, she could somehow communicate with his long-gone friend.

But the cemetery was empty.

“I think you should be glad,” Devin said softly. “She’s gone on. Wherever she is, she’s at peace. Maybe she’s even praying for us here.”

He nodded. If he was disappointed, he didn’t show it.

After a moment he took her hand and they left the cemetery.

“One more stop,” he said when they were back in the car.

“Oh?”

“Vince,” he told her.

“But you cleared him.”

“I’m still checking on everyone,” Rocky said.

Devin looked forward and nodded. “I’m all yours.”

He turned to her with a grin. “I like the sound of that,” he said.

Then he looked toward the road again and she wondered just what he’d meant. She didn’t ask. Instead, she cleared her throat. “Rocky, if you end up running into a brick wall, how long will they let you stay?” she asked.

He glanced her way. “Stop worrying. I’m not leaving—not until this is solved.”

They stopped by Vince’s office. The receptionist announced them, and Vince came out to meet them and lead them back to his office. It certainly was plush, she thought. The chairs were deep and comfortable; his diplomas were displayed, and maritime art decorated the walls.

“Sit, sit,” Vince told them. “Nice surprise—or are you here to question me again, Rocky?”

“No. I just keep hoping that one of us—you, me or Jack—might think of something. A small detail. Something from years ago that could help.”

“That would be helpful,” Vince agreed dryly.

“You heard about the attack yesterday, right?” Rocky asked him.

“I did. How is your friend Devin? She seemed very sweet, and she certainly didn’t deserve what happened to her,” Vince said.

“She’s already back at work. Thank you for asking,” Devin said.

“I’m glad,” Vince said. “A mugger?” he asked Rocky.

“Nothing taken,” Rocky said.

“Scared off, probably. You don’t think it’s related, do you?” Vince asked.

“I don’t know,” Rocky said. “Anyway, I just stopped by to see if you’d thought of anything. If you do, no matter how small and seemingly inconsequential, let me know. We’re staying at Devin’s cottage, so call tonight if you remember something.”

After that they said their goodbyes and headed back to the house, stopping on the way to pick up pizza for dinner. He ordered a lot of pizza, and Devin asked, “Is the Krewe coming back?”

“Yeah, somewhere along the line. But before they show up, I want to call Jack.”

“You believe in Jack’s innocence, don’t you?”

“Yeah, his alibi is ironclad. For the one murder, at least, but so long as we’re only looking at one killer, that’s all it takes. Plus, I believe the attack on Beth is connected somehow, and Jack was with me when it happened.”

“Theo?” she asked.

“I admit I’m looking in that direction. He’s the only one of the group left, so if it’s not him, that means we’re way off base and pretty much have to start all over again. But he has access to anything he wants at the store. So far we haven’t come up with an alibi for him, though we haven’t asked him for one, either. The bartender—Judah Baker—saw him there with Gayle and Beth the night Barbara was killed. Theo says he’s not from here, but he is. He went away and came back, and that fits our killer’s timing. Whichever way you look at it, he fits.”

“Are you going to arrest him? Or take him down to the station like you did Brent?”

“Not yet. But tomorrow, I’m going to have you ask Beth if we can search the store. I don’t think I have enough for a warrant on his house, but I’m going to try to get him talking, see if maybe he lets something slip.”

* * *

Rocky called Jack as soon as they got back to the house and asked him to come over, and Jack showed up a little while later.

They sat down and passed out pizza, and Rocky slowly and thoroughly laid out everything they had, including their theory about a contemporary killer picking up where Margaret’s killer had left off.

“And your suspicions are turning toward Theo Hastings?” Jack asked when Rocky had finished.

“Yes.”

Jack groaned. “I start talking about something like that around here and everyone is going to think that I’m persecuting Wiccans.”

“Not Wiccans, Jack. Wiccans don’t run around killing anyone.”

“So what do you suggest we do next? We don’t have a single physical piece of evidence against Theo. He was in a bar the same night as one of the victims. Locals—especially people who work in the area—do go to bars. And what if it’s not Theo? Are we supposed to search every shop? Find something hidden in someone’s basement? It’s impossible.”

“Just be aware, more than anything else. Tell your men to look for anything odd, anything out of place. And remind them that a serial killer can and often does look just like the guy next door.”

Jack nodded. “Okay. So tell me, are you trying to lure the killer out?”

“How do you mean?” Rocky asked.

“Staying here instead of the hotel.”

Rocky hesitated and looked at Devin. She felt as if her blood had suddenly turned to ice.

“I’m staying here—and I’ve made sure word of that’s gotten out around town. I’m going to ask a couple of the others to sleep here tonight, too, though I
don’t
want word of that to get out. I just don’t like the fact that it was one of Devin’s ancestors who was the first to die—and that someone tried to break in and burned a pentacle into her lawn.”

He’d just spoken when his phone rang. He answered, then frowned intensely as he listened.

He said goodbye and stood up. “I’m going to run out and meet Sam and Jenna at the bar. Judah says someone there is acting strangely, and he’s seen the guy several times before. Angela and Jane should be here any minute. Jack?”

“I wouldn’t dream of leaving,” Jack told him. He patted his holster. “I’ll shoot anyone who goes after Devin, I promise.”

“I’ll be quick,” Rocky said. “And just in case Jack isn’t as good an aim as he thinks, you’ve got that pepper spray, right, Devin?”

“In my room.”

“Go get it. Keep it on you.”

“Hell, Rocky, thanks for the vote of confidence,” Jack said.

“Rocky, go,” Devin said. “Jack and I are fine.”

“All right, but I’ll be back as soon as I can. Who the hell knows? Maybe I’ve been wrong all along and Judah Baker has just found our killer.”

20

S
am and Jenna were at the bar when Rocky arrived. It was quiet—the time of day after most stores closed and before the history tours started.

He couldn’t miss the man sitting at a back table talking to himself. There were stains on his unwashed plaid shirt that looked as if they could be blood—not fresh blood, but blood that had been there for a while.

“Where’s Devin?” Sam asked.

“With Jack Grail—waiting on Angela and Jane.”

Judah walked up to him. “You see him, right? He was in here both nights— At least, I’m pretty sure he was. I’m not that good with dates, but I think he was here the night Carly Henderson was killed and again when Hermione Robicheaux was here.”

“Thanks, Judah,” Rocky said. “You haven’t approached him yet, have you?” he asked Sam and Jenna.

“No, we were waiting for you,” Jenna said. “We just kept our eyes on him—made sure he stayed around.”

“Thanks,” Rocky said. “Judah, can you give me a club soda with lime?”

Judah quickly filled a glass, and Rocky took his drink and joined the unkempt man at his table. “Hello,” Rocky said.

Up close, the guy looked even more like a down-and-outer. He was at least seventy and had a stained white beard and haggard features. He was skinny, and wearing worn jeans along with the stained shirt. He was holding on to the beer he was slowly sipping as if it were liquid gold.

“Yeah, uh, hello,” the man said without meeting Rocky’s eyes.

“You look like you’re having a rough time of things,” Rocky said. “What’s your name?”

“Chris—Chris. Yeah, I’m Chris.”

“Craig Rockwell. My friends call me Rocky.”

The man nodded. “Rocky. Hey, Rocky.”

“Do you want something to eat? Looks like you could use a meal.”

Chris looked at him. “You’d do that for me?”

“Sure.”

Chris nodded. “Yeah, I wouldn’t mind a meal.”

Rocky turned and flagged down Brenda, who was just passing by. “Hey, Brenda—can we get this gentleman something? A hamburger? How about a hamburger, Chris?”

Chris nodded fervently.

“Sure thing,” Brenda said.

“Chris, I gotta tell ya, that looks like blood on your shirt. Are you hurt?”

“Hurt?” Puzzled, he looked at his shirt. “No...no. It must be from the knives.”

“The knives?”

Chris nodded. “I didn’t steal them—I swear it. I don’t steal. I found the knives, and then I sold one. That’s how I paid for this beer.”

“Might be better to buy food than beer, Chris,” Rocky said. “But tell me about the knives. How many knives? Where did you find them?”

“I still got two of them. Found them. Buried. Buried deep.”

“Buried where?”

“In the woods.”

“Which woods, Chris?”

“By that cottage—the fairy-tale one down the road a bit.”

Rocky felt his stomach churn. “You mean out off Derby?”

“Yeah, out off Derby.”

Rocky got his phone out of his pocket and pulled up the internet. He brought up a picture of an athame. “Chris, do the knives look like this?”

Chris nodded. “Yeah, almost. A little different.”

“Who did you sell the one knife to? It’s really important, Chris.”

Chris shook his head. “Some guy. Some guy on the street.”

“Thank you, Chris. How did you find the knives?”

“Not all nights. I try a lot of nights. But not all nights.”

“But on those nights, how do you know when to look?”

Chris looked around. “I wait. When there’s a pretty girl here and I see the two women with a strange looking guy—kinda long hair, kind of...out of time, I know. A day later, I’ll find a knife. Buried deep. But I find it.”

Rocky stood. “Thank you, Chris. Your food is coming. My friend there—” he pointed at Sam and Sam waved “—is going to take care of you.”

“Thank you, man, thank you,” Chris said.

Rocky hurried back to the bar. “We finally have a real clue. I’m going back to Devin’s. He found knives—athames—buried in the woods by Devin’s house. I know Jack is there but...I’m not leaving her again until this is over. I’m pretty sure that it’s Theo. Make sure that this guy eats—and keep him in custody. I’ll get Jack to see how we can hang on to him, sober him up and get him to hand over the knives.”

“Gotcha,” Sam said. “Call when you get there.”

* * *

Devin liked Jack and it wasn’t a terrible thing to be stuck with him at the house.

He spent a good thirty minutes after Rocky left just showing her pictures of his little boy. He seemed to be an A1 father.

“When this is over, I’m taking him and Haley to Disneyland,” Jack said. “It’s been rough—I’ve hardly been home.”

“Haley seems like the type to understand,” Devin said.

“Haley’s great,” Jack said. “She always wanted marriage and children, and she’s bright and fun and has her own career. I’m a lucky man.” He grimaced. “Strange, because for years, it was Haley and Rocky. They were one of those perfect couples.”

“Aw, come on. You’re not exactly a dud,” Devin teased.

“Maybe not, but Rocky...he was a star. He was unstoppable on the football field, a great son, great student...he just had something else in mind than settling down in his hometown, and doing the wife-and-kids thing. Worked out for all of us in the end. There’s something pretty special about the two of you together.”

Devin flushed. “Thanks, but who knows what will happen, you know? What about Vince? He never married, huh?”

“Don’t worry about Vince. He does just fine. Great career and all the women he wants. Go figure. He was the one we worried about the most when we were kids. He had no ambition to do anything, but look at him now.”

Devin’s phone rang, and she nearly jumped out of her chair. When she answered it, she heard Rocky’s voice. “We may have a real lead,” he told her. “Let Jack know I’m on my way back. Sam is staying with the guy here at the bar. I’ll be there soon.”

“Sure.”

“Devin.”

“Yeah?”

“It’s looking more and more like Theo’s involved somehow. If this guy can give us something...we may get the physical evidence we need to close this case.”

Devin hung up and told Jack what Rocky had said.

“Rocky thinks he can lead us to the killer, huh?”

For a moment Devin felt a sense of fear.

Had Jack’s question been strange? Was he afraid that the evidence was going to lead to him?

The thought occurred to her just as a terrified shriek sounded from outside. Devin and Jack leaped to their feet simultaneously.

They stared at each other for a split second as if frozen.

“Angela? Jane?” Devin said, her heart seeming to leap into her throat.

The scream sounded again—and again.

Then they heard a desperate cry, “Help me!”

“Fuck!” Jack muttered.

“You’ve got to go out. I’m inside—locked in. Someone could be dying out there!” Devin said.

Jack was torn. He looked at her, expression uncertain.

“You’ve got to go out there, Jack. Dammit—you’ve got a gun. Get out there and use it!”

Jack pulled out his radio, identified himself and where he was, requested backup and walked to the door. He turned and looked at Devin.

“Jack, get out there. I have the pepper spray. I’ll be fine in here.”

“Lock the door behind me,” he told her.

“Immediately, I swear—you’ll hear the bolt slide,” she promised.

Jack drew his gun and left. Devin locked the door behind him, as promised, then stood there, her pepper spray in her hand, waiting.

Poe let out a squawk. She spoke gently to the bird. “It’s all right, buddy. Any second now we’ll be surrounded by cops. And Rocky will be here.”

She waited, barely daring to breathe. Jack was out there. Rocky was on his way. She just had to hold on.

But just as she leaned against the door and assured her thundering heart that she would be okay, she felt something slam forcefully against the wood.

“Help! Oh, my God, help me!”

Devin recognized the voice. It wasn’t Angela or Jane, it was Gayle Alden. The pounding on the door increased. Gayle was hysterical. Devin looked out the peephole and saw that Gayle was alone and clearly terrified. She kept looking back over her shoulder as if she thought the devil himself was behind her.

Devin threw open the door, dragging Gayle in. Then she slammed the door closed and quickly slid the bolt.

Poe screamed again, and Gayle jumped and screamed, then gasped and leaned against the door, looking at Devin with huge, panicked eyes.

“He’s out there,” she said.

“Who?” Devin asked.

“Theo said we had to come here...that we had to come and save you. He said he had a vision, and then he said you were in the woods. He pulled the car up on the side of the road, and got out and went tearing into the trees...and then I heard him scream. He didn’t come back. Beth went after him, and now she’s out there and, oh, Lord, I heard the leaves rustling and saw someone coming toward the car.... I saw the knife. He had a knife. I got out and I ran here as fast as I could. Devin—he’s out there! The killer is out there. He’s got Theo, I think. And Beth...Beth is going to die out there, I just know it. Why did Theo go into the woods? What was wrong with him?”

“Calm down, Gayle,” Devin said. “Start at the beginning.”

“Theo...we were closing, ready to leave. All of a sudden he got this weird look, like he was going to black out or something, and he said he’d had a vision. He said we had to get you and bring you into town with us. So we came out. But then he stopped the car and raced into the woods. And then he screamed and Beth went out and I saw a guy with a knife—an athame, it was an athame—and that’s when I ran.”

“Gayle, it’s all right. Jack Grail is out there. He’ll save them.”

Gayle’s eyes grew wider; she was obviously still afraid. “No, no! I have to get out there and stop him. He’ll think it’s Theo. He’ll kill him!”

“Gayle, no—”

“Listen!” Gayle said.

Devin went silent and listened. For a moment there was dead silence. And then she heard it.

Someone was at her back door.

“It’s locked, Gayle. No one can get in—it’s locked and bolted.”

Suddenly they heard the sound of shattering glass.

Before Devin could stop her, Gayle had thrown the front door open.

“Gayle, get back here!”

“No! He’s here—he’s in here now. I have to find them— Oh, my God. I have to find them!”

And then Gayle was gone, heading through the falling darkness toward the woods.

And one of her back windows had been shattered.

The killer was coming in, and Gayle had run into the woods alone.

“Gayle, wait! I’m coming! There will be two of us—and I have pepper spray!”

Gayle disappeared into the darkness and the trees. Devin paused, ready to turn back. Then something dark flapped past her. Poe. Cawing loudly enough to wake the dead, he soared outside, heading toward the forest in Gayle’s wake.

The killer was in her house!

As she ran outside, slamming the door behind her, she heard Gayle calling Beth’s name.

“Dammit,” Devin muttered. “Gayle, Beth, come out here! Now!” she shouted.

No one appeared. And then she heard Gayle screaming again. “Help me! Help!”

“Jack!” Devin shouted. There was no answer.

She looked back and saw the front door open, revealing someone standing there in the doorway.

Someone in a long black hooded robe—with an athame held high.

And that person could see her,
she thought as she stood there on the lawn.

She turned and fled into the woods, clutching the pepper spray, and almost immediately she tripped over something.

She reached out to catch hold of a tree limb but missed and fell right onto the thing she had tripped over.

Thing?

It was a body. Trying desperately not to cry out and reveal where she was, she scrambled away, trying to see through the darkness....

To see who it was.

When she did, she pressed her arm to her mouth to choke back her scream.

* * *

Rocky was already headed to Devin’s when he heard the voice in his head.

Help me, Rocky, help me!

For a moment he thought he was hearing Melissa calling out to him the same way she had thirteen years ago. But this time it wasn’t Melissa.

It was Devin.

Just as he heard her voice, his phone began to ring. He saw the number and answered quickly, his heart beating double-time.

“I’m in the woods—something’s going on. We heard screaming, and I went out. Devin was locked in. But I just heard a window break, and...” Jack took an audible breath. “Please tell me you’re close.”

“I’m on the way.”

“Get here—quickly,” Jack said, then, “Son of a bitch!”

“Jack—what is it?”

The phone went dead in Rocky’s hand.

He dropped it onto the seat and pushed the gas pedal flat to the floor.

* * *

Devin made it to her feet, then nearly screamed again when she felt the lightest of touches on her arm. She jerked around, ready to fight.

But there was no one to fight—not really.

It was Margaret Nottingham, her eyes huge. But she still didn’t speak, only shook her head.

“Someone is in trouble,” Devin said. “I have to help. I need
your
help.”

The woman only shook her head and brought her finger to her lips. Then she started to move, beckoning Devin to follow.

Though the night was nearly pitch-dark now, with only the glow from the half-moon filtering through the branches to light her way, Devin could see that she was moving toward a particularly large oak with gnarled branches.

The perfect hiding place.

Lying in front of it was another copse. As Devin walked toward it, she felt as if something in the night had changed.

The wind whipped around her as if a storm had formed right there in the woods and only in the woods. Leaves rustled in the branches above her head.

Devin spun in circles, trying to figure out where the killer was.

The killer came up from behind his victims and sliced his knife across their throats.