Chapter 9 #2
“He did. We went to the lakes almost every weekend.” I stare at the picture, remembering those early mornings on the water, the peace I found there when I was too young to even appreciate it.
“He had an old bamboo rod, and he used to tell me it’d be mine someday.
He said it was the best because it always bent instead of breaking and that there was a lesson in that. ”
Silver looks over at me. “Do you still have it?”
“No, Dad cleaned out his place right after he died. Sold everything for gambling money.” Why am I telling her this? “Like I said, piece of shit.”
She scoots closer to me without saying anything.
I’m not much of a TV watcher, but a preview of a new horror movie comes on the screen, showing a murderous Santa Claus, complete with superpowers. “Killer Santa?” I suggest. It looks absurd and darkly humorous. A good movie to turn your brain off and just enjoy.
“I’m in.”
I hit play, and we watch an unappreciated Santa take revenge on mankind. It’s as ridiculous as it looks and thoroughly entertaining.
“Poor Santa. If I had to listen to Christmas music all the time, I’d want to pull out some spines too,” Silver jokes.
About halfway through, she leans her head on my shoulder.
Goblin curls up against my thigh, purring like a motor.
Rogue sleeps tucked between us, half on both our laps while Silver absently strokes her fur.
We spend the rest of the movie just like that. A feeling inches over me that I can’t quite put my finger on. It’s almost like contentment.
Another text from the private number rattles my phone while I’m fixing some loose boards in the deck of one of the cabins. This time, there’s no message, only a link. Before I can even consider it, another text comes from Landon.
Landon
Don’t fucking click that! Give me a minute.
Me
Call me as soon as you know where it leads.
I guess whoever it is decided to try again. I’m not sure what’s going on, but I know not to click shady links. Maybe it’s a phishing scam, someone targeting families of crime victims, trying to get money somehow.
Landon rings my phone an hour later. “It’s a link to an address. I looked at the place on satellite view. It’s an abandoned church, a little west of Paducah. No information or anything. Only the address.”
“Give me the address.”
There’s some mumbled discussion in the background, then Justus gets on the phone. “It’s in the middle of nowhere. You can’t just go check it out. Especially not alone.”
The hell I can’t. Maybe it isn’t the smartest choice, but if they can’t trace anything, then I’m facing this head on. “Okay. Address,” I repeat.
After another mumbled conversation takes place, Justus returns. “Uh, no. I know you. You’ll be in your truck before I hang up the phone. Landon and I are going to go with you. We’ll be on our way within the hour.”
I’m not going to argue with some help. The wait for them is interminable while I try to imagine what we’re going to find. The best case scenario would be some kind of prank, but I don’t believe that.
I know where she is.
What if they’re telling the truth?
It’s well after dark when Justus and Landon show up. We leave Justus’s truck at my house and take mine. The drive only takes an hour or so, but Justus is right. Middle of nowhere is a good description.
The road winds and narrows the deeper we go.
There are areas where standing water rises right up to the shoulder.
The adrenaline pumping through me makes it difficult to take it slow, but the last thing I need is to drive into a washout.
My stomach’s been in a knot since we opened that link.
I have no idea what we’ll find out here, but nothing leads me to think it’ll be good.
Justus squints out at the shadows. “Are you sure this is right?”
Landon looks up from the navigator app on his phone. “Yes, we’re almost there.”
I know what happened to your wife. I know where she is.
The words batter at my head. I want to tell myself it’s a scam, someone messing with me, but if anyone knows something, I have to find out. There’s no other option.
After some discussion, it was agreed that I still shouldn’t reply to the texts. Whoever sent them doesn’t want a conversation, they want control. And they have it because here we are, following directions into an empty corner of the county.
Landon glances over at Justus. “This feels like a setup.”
“Probably is,” Justus mutters, rolling the window down a little and letting in the cool night air.
I don’t answer them. I can’t. My pulse has been a hammer in my throat all day. I need to see what waits for us out here.
Justus places a hand against the dash as we bounce through a deep rut. “Maybe it’s bigfoot because who the hell else would be out here? You guys better save me before he can take my virtue.”
Landon snorts. “Because if we stumble across a Sasquatch, of course it’ll want to fuck you.”
“Everyone does. It’s a curse.”
He’s trying to cut the tension, but it isn’t working. Not for me, anyway. I try to ignore the tightening in my chest, the way I can’t get a full breath.
The trees thin, and an old building appears, looking sinister in the pale moonlight. My headlights strike a fading sign that reads St. Mary’s est 1904.
There’s a parking lot that was probably paved at some point but now it’s rubble strewn grass. It does give me enough space to turn around and point my truck in the correct direction in case we have to make a fast getaway.
We’re all quiet as we emerge from the truck. Guns in hand, we start toward the sagging church. It looks like it could collapse at any minute, with its buckled steeple and half boarded-up, half missing windows.
The silence is too big, too still.
Justus adjusts his grip on his flashlight. “Alright. I’ll take left. Landon can go right. We’ll fall back a little and watch our surroundings, but we’ve got your back.”
I nod, taking the center position as we approach the forgotten church. The steps bow under my weight, and the front door is so rotted that crumbling pieces rain down from it as it swings open.
The smell hits me immediately. Damp wood, mold, and rot. Field mice scurry in all directions, and something a little larger crashes away, but it’s too fast for me to get my beam of light on it.
I shine the light around, trying to make sure I’m alone. The building is small and mostly empty. No pews. People probably scavenged those long ago. A corner of the roof is gone, and the whole place is covered in grime.
“Clear?” Justus’s hushed voice comes from outside the door.
“Far as I can tell.”
Landon remains as a lookout outside while Justus joins me. We’ll be lucky if the floor can hold us both. As soon as the beam from his flashlight joins mine, I see it.
In the middle of the dark sanctuary, a single cord reaches down from a beam. At the end of it hangs a white envelope, swinging slightly in the stirred up air.
Justus exhales and his eyes look big in the dimness. “Jesus. That’s…not ominous at all.”
I can’t speak. My stomach drops while I stare at it. The envelope is white and clean, untouched by the dirt swallowing the rest of this place. My boots echo on the warped floorboards. I move toward the envelope like it’s pulling me, only vaguely aware of Justus following close behind.
The envelope twists to face me, and I reach up to carefully take it down. It’s heavier than I expect, not much, but enough to know something small is inside.
My heartbeat stutters, and Justus stands at my shoulder. “Are you going to open it?” I nod, and he advises, “Hold it out away from your face. In case there’s powder in it or something.”
It’s a fair warning. If this is someone from my past like I’m starting to suspect, there’s no shortage of people who would be happy to take me out with a dose of anthrax. The seal tears with a soft rip. Inside is a folded piece of paper, several photographs, and—
My heart falls at my feet and my body turns cold. Justus watches as I put my fingers into the envelope and retrieve a ring. It’s white gold. Thin, with a delicate curve carved into the band like a wave. I know that pattern like I know my own name.
Isla’s wedding ring. My throat closes and my knees nearly buckle.
“Lee?” Justus says, his tone cautious as if he’s dealing with a bomb. And I feel like one right now. I can’t manage to answer him. I can only stare at the ring and the scratches on the inside. The tiny dent near the stone. She was so upset about that, and I promised her we’d get it fixed.
“Is that your wife’s ring?” Justus asks quietly. I nod once and close my hand over it, the metal digging into my skin. He swears under his breath.
A sudden crash from outside breaks me out of my shock. My hand goes to my gun, as does Justus’s as we run toward the door. Right before we get to the doorway, Landon looks through it. “Everything’s fine. I fell through the damn step and then the railing collapsed.”
“Let’s go,” Justus says. “I’ll drive.”
He won’t get any argument from me. All I want to do is see what else the envelope holds. He quickly catches Landon up on the situation and what we’ve found so far. Once I hand Justus my keys, we climb back into the truck. There’s still no sign of anyone out here.
Landon watches me open the envelope and unfold the sheet of paper.
I know where your wife is. This man is Joshua Haney. Kill him. Dispose of his remains. Then I will be in touch.
Below that is an address located in a town about an hour’s drive away from mine. That’s it. There’s no signature, no explanation. Just a demand.
Landon reads the note aloud to Justus while I look through the photographs.
They show a man in his thirties. He’s lean, with dark hair and sleeves of tattoos.
Some shots show him exiting a tattoo shop, another shows him in his truck, and the last catches him as he’s unlocking the door of a small house. All have been taken from a distance.
The only sound is the crunch of our tires as the road goes from dirt to gravel. Justus finally breaks the silence. “Hell no. Absolutely not. This is a setup.”
“Yeah,” Landon says. “Someone’s trying to get you to murder a stranger so they can what, blackmail you? Frame you? Get rid of this guy using you as the weapon?”
I don’t respond. Something cold spreads through my chest. Not fear or shock, but a realization. This isn’t a stranger. Someone knows exactly where to strike me, exactly how to hurt me.
Justus’s firm voice disrupts my roiling thoughts. “Lee. Look at me.” He slows the truck so he can take his eyes off the road, and I look over at him.
“This doesn’t mean what you think it means. Someone got that ring somehow. That doesn’t mean they know anything.”
“They know where she is,” I say quietly.
“They’re lying,” he fires back. “Because they want something from you.”
Landon gestures at the photos. “Whoever this Joshua guy is, he’s a target. You’re not supposed to ask why. You’re just supposed to pull the trigger and wait for whoever sent this to come forward.”
A muscle jumps in my jaw, and I look down at the ring again. It sits in my palm, catching the moonlight through the window. It shouldn’t be here. Not after everything. Not after all these years. “We need to find out who he is. And who might want him dead. They didn’t choose me at random.”
“No, they must know you from before,” Landon agrees.
“Is there anyone specific who might have a grudge against you?” Justus asks, as we finally reach a two lane paved road.
A bitter bark of a laugh escapes me. “It’s a long list.”
Landon takes the pictures from me and goes through them again.
“Maybe it isn’t about that, just that they need the job done and know he’s capable of it.
They don’t have to pay a hitman if they can trick you into doing it.
” It’s hard to think. I can’t stop turning the ring over in my hand.
The streetlights flash on Landon’s face as we drive under them.
“We’ll help you figure out who’s behind this. ”
“As long as you aren’t going to go after a guy because a damn letter told you to,” Justus adds.
“I’m not going to rush into anything stupid.” But the ring weighs too much in my palm to lie to myself. This isn’t over.