Whisper of Memory (Whispering Woods Book 2) (5 page)

A
fter loading
the man’s body into the Jeep, Austin turned to me and frowned. “Using my vehicle to haul bodies is getting to be a habit. These dudes really need to get a car.” He looked from the two motorcycles sitting in my driveway to me and shook his head in disgust. “Is he out for much longer?”

“No, I saw him moving. What’s the plan?” I wondered if there was one.

“We take him to the woods for questioning,” Regulus answered without enthusiasm.

“Why not question him here?” I didn’t know if I should ask or not. Regulus had a reason or he wouldn’t go to the trouble.

As if reading my mind, Regulus said, “If this man is from another world, then we must take him to the Vault for interrogation. If this man is from this world, then we must decide if he goes to the Vault or to your jails.”

“Ah.” I pretended to understand, but I still didn’t know why we were going to the woods.

Austin grinned at me, evidently not fooled. “Yeah. I’m just along for the ride while the
Mission Impossible
guys do their thing. At least that’s what I keep telling myself.”

I returned Austin’s smile until I saw the murderous look on Regulus’s face. When Austin saw the expression, he winked at me. I frowned to discourage him. Touching Regulus’s arm, I smiled, and he appeared to relax.

“Let’s do this thing.” I added some enthusiasm, hoping he’d stop scowling, and went to Regulus’s motorcycle to wait for him.

Austin drove the Jeep with Arizona and we followed, my arms wound tightly around Regulus’s waist. The wind chilled me, and I jealously thought of the heater inside the Jeep. I could see Arizona sitting shotgun in the Jeep, periodically turning his head to make sure we were still behind them. I snuggled in close to Regulus and burrowed my head in the hollow between his shoulders. His warm body shielded me from most of the wind.

The Jeep left the dirt road, and we continued to follow through the woods until we stopped at a clearing. I looked around to see if anything looked familiar. How did Regulus and Arizona find these obscure places in the acres surrounding my home? Miffed, I realized they knew these woods better than I did, and I’d lived here all my life.

Arizona hopped out of the vehicle. Regulus and I dismounted to watch as Arizona pulled the man’s body from the Jeep. To my surprise, the man stumbled to his feet. His hands had been bound with rope, and Arizona steadied him by holding his elbow. Austin did nothing to help.

“Let me do the talking. OK?” Regulus stood with his back to the Jeep. I noticed the furrow in his brow that meant he was serious. He took both my hands in his. “No arguments. It is important for me to lead this questioning.”

With my hands warm in his, I didn’t want to argue. “Sure. I’ll try to keep my mouth shut.”

“This man is dangerous. Do you understand? He broke into your home and would have sliced you open from belly to sternum. We must find out who sent him.”

I got a visual reminiscent of dissecting the pig fetus in biology class and nodded hesitantly.

Regulus released my hands. He turned and grabbed the man by his upper arm. Striding through the brush, Regulus forced his silent captive to stumble behind.

Arizona kept up with Regulus while Austin and I hung back a good distance. Austin shoved his hands into his jeans pockets and whispered to me, “They’re not going to kill the dude, are they? That’s murder, Mia. It doesn’t matter that he broke into your house.”

“Of course not. Regulus wants to question him. That’s all.” I hoped that was all.

Austin stared at me.

“Do you think they’re going to torture him and then do him execution-style?” I laughed nervously. “You watch too many movies.”

Shrugging, he appeared to relax. “Things are weird now, and I really don’t know what to expect.” He raked his hand though his heavy bangs that always covered one eye. “Be careful, OK? These guys are in this on an entirely different level from you.”

“No, they’re not. I’m in this up to my eyeballs. Strangers are breaking into my house. I don’t think I can get much deeper.”

“If they hurt this dude, you’re as responsible. I can’t be part of some crazy torture interrogation. They need to go to the police with this guy.”

“Are you nuts? And we tell the police that some guy broke in my room, and we suspect it has something to do with IIA? Maybe he’s in cahoots with the folks from another dimension?”

Regulus and Arizona had stopped walking and were tying the man to a tree. I sat on the ground and waited for them to finish.

The man stared at me for several minutes before speaking. “Girl, you have messed up.” His heavy Southern drawl surprised me. “They would have let you look for that brother of yours, but they won’t let you break rules. You and the boyfriend—”

Regulus pointed at the man. “Do you think I care about whether I follow the rules with you? I could make you disappear.” He paced back and forth with his hands steepled together as if contemplating that very action. “That would make it easier for me.”

“He knows about us.” I whispered the words but Regulus heard. An involuntary shaking started at my knees and quivered up my body. I pushed my hands to the ground to steady them. I wanted to hear what he knew. Why he cared.

The man’s black eyes pierced my confidence. I looked away. Regulus and Arizona had bound him in a seated position against the tree in such a way that he couldn’t escape or even struggle. Nevertheless, his eyes didn’t show fear.

Regulus squatted on his haunches in front of the man so he was at eye level. His voice held a menacing tone I had never heard before today. “You are nothing to us. And nothing to the people who sent you. When you disappear, no one will miss you.”

Austin moved forward. “Reg—”

“You sit down.”

Regulus and Austin glared at each other. The air thickened with tension. An orange cloud of frustration glowed around both of them.

I had to intervene. “Austin, please sit by me. Let’s stay out of it.”

“Come with me, Mia. You’ve got to see how crazy these guys are.” Austin leaned over to grab for my hand.

“I can’t, Austin. You know I can’t.”

He rose slowly, and his fingers brushed my shoulder. “And I can’t be a part of this. The dude was wrong, yeah. I don’t do well in confinement, and this is heavy.” Austin shifted from one foot to the other nervously. “I have to leave.”

I was startled when Regulus sat on the ground next to me. “Arizona and I will be back. Can you stay here and guard this man with Austin?”

“Where are you going?” I asked.

“Hey man, I said I was leaving. You can’t leave Mia by herself with this dude.”

“No, that’s why you’ll stay. I need to find out if this man is in our jurisdiction.” Regulus stood.

“Damn,” Austin muttered so only I could hear.

A
pair
of owls hooted back and forth. Other than nature’s background noise, no other sounds interrupted the night’s quiet. Austin sat in silence staring at our prisoner. I knelt next to him on the ground, periodically checking my watch. I clicked the flashlight off. The batteries would probably last, but I didn’t want to risk not having it if we needed it.

“What’s been going on with you?” I studied Austin’s face and hoped to read it in the moonlight. He didn’t answer.

“I haven’t really talked to you in weeks.” I hoped the statement didn’t sound accusing. My schedule had been filled with school and Regulus, both activities not involving Austin.

He still didn’t respond. His eyebrows lifted in unison with his shrug. “You haven’t been…available,” he muttered under his breath. He shook the strand of hair from his eyes and continued to stare at the man tied to the tree.

“You’re right. Sorry.” I picked at the torn fabric on the knee of my jeans. “It’s my senior year. I have a lot going on.”

“That’s not what I’m talking about.”

“And Regulus and Arizona have been training me. I have to be able to protect myself.”

“That’s working out, huh?”

I stayed quiet.

“They’re going to get you killed. You’re in over your head, Mia. You’re just a kid.”

“And what are you?”

“Barely more than a kid.” Then he laughed. The sound was dark and full of remorse. “I understood why you were involved in the beginning. We all want to find your brother.” He stopped and took a deep breath.

“Go on,” I said.

“This isn’t about your brother now. The IIA is using you and you have to admit to yourself that Regulus is too.”

“That’s not your business.”

“I’m your best friend.” He paused. “Or at least I used to be.”

“You still are.”

“Then listen to me. You should get out of this while you can.”

“He’s right.” Our prisoner’s gravelly voice startled me.

“I wasn’t talking to you. Shut up,” I said to the man. I turned my attention back to Austin. “And thanks for the advice, but I can take care of myself.”

“I don’t think you can.”

I straightened my back and counted silently to ten before answering. “I think the real problem is that you don’t like Regulus.”

“Yeah. You’re right. I could candy coat it and lie to you. He doesn’t care about anything but himself. It’s all about the IIA, Mia. It’s not about you.”

“You’re acting like a jealous boyfriend. We’re friends. That’s all.” I looked away, not meeting his eyes.

He didn’t respond. Instead, he rose and approached to the man tied to the tree. Squatting down to eye level with him, Austin said, “Why did you break into Mia’s house? We might let you go if you tell us the truth.”

“Hey, you can’t tell him that,” I said.

“Sure I can.”

The man nodded his head like a fishing bobber trembling above the water’s surface.

Clearly encouraged, Austin continued, “You know about Mia, and I think you can’t be bad if you’re warning her to get out of this mess she’s in. Why did you break into her room?”

The man stared at Austin in silence.

“OK, the clock is ticking on this one. Tick. Tock. Tick. Too bad. I’m in a really bad mood so—”

“I was supposed to get her,” the man said and looked at me.

“Get her? Kill her?” Rising, Austin shook his head from side to side. “Man, you shouldn’t have said that.”

“No,” the man sputtered. “Not kill her. Take her to the transport. I’d be done, and she’d be someone else’s problem.”

“Transport? Where to?” I wiped my hands nervously on my jeans.

“How would I know?” our prisoner said.

The man seemed a little too happy to say that he was ignorant of the details. I noticed that Austin had taken his pocketknife from his front pocket.

“You’re going to let him go because he told you that?” My exasperation was clear.

“No. I’m going to tell you about a class I’m taking this semester.” Austin grinned in a lopsided fashion.

“Now?” I couldn’t understand Austin’s sense of humor sometimes and this was one of those times.

“My class, The Struggle of the American Indian, had a very interesting discussion on the method for scalping a person.” Austin took his pocketknife and waved in front of the man’s eyes.

My stomach twisted as I held my breath. I could smell the sour fear that exploded from our prisoner, like rank trash that I sometimes forgot to take outside at home.

Austin turned to me again. He lifted the small knife and held it poised above the man’s head. “See? The scalping doesn’t require a large knife. Just a sharp one to cut in a circle around the perimeter of this dude’s head. Then I get a good grip on the scalp and yank. Voilà! Scalped.”

I could see the whites of the man’s eyes in the moonlit night. His heavy breathing filled the air.

I found my voice. “Gross, Austin. Stop it.”

Staring into the man’s eyes, Austin placed the tip of the pocketknife on the man’s forehead. “Regulus and Arizona will probably kill him when they get back anyway.”

I had watched Austin field dress a deer once after shooting it and knew that he wasn’t squeamish. He’d cut the man to scare him if nothing else.

“I said,
stop
.” My voice sounded high-pitched. “You don’t have to do this.”

The man had taken his eyes off Austin and watched me. I’m sure my anxiety came through loud and clear.

“Somewhere in Goliath,” the man whispered. “That’s all I know. I swear.”

“Goliath?” Austin and I said in unison.

“Goliath. Down in south Arkansas. You know, the place where the Goliath Lights are.”

Austin pulled the knife away from the man’s head and snapped the blade into the handle.

“You going to let me to go now?” the man asked.

“Nah. You still broke into Mia’s house. But thanks for the info.” Austin smiled. Then he turned his head toward me and swept his heavy bang out of his eyes. “We need to find out what’s in Goliath. Sounds like a road trip to me.”

T
he cell phone
is my pocket vibrated, startling me out of the trancelike state I had adopted while waiting for Regulus and Arizona to return. I rubbed my eyes tiredly and wished for a large cappuccino. I removed the phone from my jacket pocket to see the caller ID on the display.

“Hi, Em. How did you know something was going on?”

The voice on the other end sounded tired and a little grumpy. “Austin sent me a text. My phone is set to sound on those, so it woke me.”

“Sorry.” I scanned the woods to see Austin pacing around the tree. “What did he text?” I asked.

“He wants me to research the town of Goliath. Does he know what time it is?” She hesitated for a moment and then said, “What’s he doing with you in the middle of the night?”

Em could ask that kind of question. She knew how I felt about Regulus.

“A guy broke into my house through my bedroom window.”

“No! You at the police station or something?”

“I’m in the woods with Austin guarding the guy.” I was sorry the minute I told her that part. Not because we didn’t tell each other almost everything, but this would be a hard situation to explain. I tried to summarize and failed miserably when every detail lead to more explanation.

“Give me the phone, please.” Austin held out his hand. He had most likely gotten tired of listening to me retell the events of the night.