Epilogue #2
He doesn’t reach out for me, though I know he wishes he could. He doesn’t grab my hand and keep me by his side, though I know he wants that, too. He merely stares, tipping his chin just a fraction of an inch to let me know he’s watching.
Then he swallows, the shift of his Adam’s apple the last I see as I turn to Aubree and carefully walk the area she’s flagged as suspicious.
“I’ve uncovered what appears to be human remains, Chief.” Gulping, she inches to the side and makes room for me to crouch and study her findings. “Approximately two feet beneath surface level. At a guess, I’d say she’s been here for a couple of years.”
“What?” Soph takes a step forward, only to skid to a stop and snarl at Fletch’s steely grip on her arm. “I’m calling bullshit.”
“You shouldn’t.” I carefully brush soil aside and expose just a little more.
“You’re gonna have a hell of a time explaining this to the local police, Doctor Emeri.
I found her on vibes is sure to raise eyebrows.
” I straighten my spine and peer back at Archer.
“Could you bring that a little closer? And maybe get us a light, too.” Then I look at Fletch.
“Call local P.D. This is their case.” I bring my clean hand up and tap the end of my nose. “Not it. I’m going home.”
Frustrated, Soph tosses Fletch’s hand away and stomps closer. She doesn’t screw with our scene. But she makes damn sure to get a peek into the hole. “It could be tree roots.”
“It’s a bone,” Aubree counters. “Female.”
“It could be an animal!”
“It’s human.” With a tired grunt, she sets a hand on the ground and pushes to her feet, then she brings me up with her.
“It’s a female, human, pelvis. I could get a little wild and take a guess as to how old she was at death or how she ended up here.
But—” She shrugs and brushes the dirt off her legs. “Not our case. This one was bad.”
“Traumatic?” I speak quietly, if only to give my best friend the privacy she deserves. “You can tell if it was traumatic or violent?”
“I can tell he chased her through these trees, exactly how Soph was chasing me. But she wasn’t laughing.”
“You’re serious?” Finally, finally , Soph’s mocking jeer disappears. “Holy shit, you’re serious. The ground wasn’t even touched, and you knew she was in there?”
My stomach flips, and my heart stutters, my need to protect Aubree like lava in my veins.
Soph’s team watches her differently. They study her, the way we study bones on an autopsy table.
They eye her like they desire to understand her better.
They gawk, like they want to wrap her up and take her home with them, but only so they can poke and prod and ferret out her secrets.
Jay takes a step forward, but I’m quicker. I’m intent. I place myself between him and her, and shoot my hand forward when he tries to inch to the left and go around.
“No. You don’t get to come to her.”
“Call the local police,” Soph waves him off. “Get them out here or whatever. But while we wait, I’m begging you to explain it. Please.” She turns back to Aubree and presses her hands together. “Please help me understand.”
“It’s not science,” Aubree moans. “It’s not logic.
It’s not mind-reading, either,” she adds in a drawl.
“It’s just… everything that exists and lives and grows, feels .
I can look at you and know when you’re mad or sad or happy.
And I can look at Jay and know he’s protective of you.
I can look at Kane and know he’s stressed, simply by existing at this moment.
And Archer,” smiling, she gestures his way, “I can know that, not so long ago, this would have stressed him out, too. But now he’s accepting.
Of this. Of me. Of my relationship to Minka.
Of Minka’s relationship to the dead.” She glances toward Tim.
Then Fletch. “I don’t want to explain it right now.
I don’t even know if I could. But I felt her here.
I felt her fear. I felt her pain when he got her.
” She glances back into the hole. “I can touch her remains and see some of what he did to her. Not his face. Not his name. But I can feel his hatred for her in those last moments. I feel her terror, too.”
“She was this man’s victim?” Soph’s jaw hardens that way I’ve seen so few times. “She was trying to escape, and he hurt her?”
“I feel…” She frowns, her brows pinching together. “She was a victim of her own behavior, too. There was an addiction here. Him to her. Her to him.”
“And then he killed her,” Kane growls. “They were fucked up, together. And maybe they could have been less fucked up apart, but he took that choice out of her hands and buried her just two feet under, barely ten feet into the tree line not so far from a lake where folks probably come swimming every single summer.”
“I’m not volunteering for this case.” Exhaling heavily, Aubree shakes her head and takes a step back. “We can report it, and we can show them what we’ve found. But I’m not digging anymore, and I’m not touching her again. I don’t want it.”
“Then we don’t take it.” Tim comes closer, careful not to interfere with what the cops will soon cordon off. “We’re going back to Copeland and leaving her behind.”
“She’s poison, too.” Aubree swipes her brow and stumbles toward him, taking his hands and crashing against his chest. “She lived a hard life. But she died harder.”
“This… is…” Soph exhales, jittery and excited. “Holy shit balls, Aubree! This is amazing.”
“Soph—”
“Wait.” Aubree turns steely straight, snapping her eyes closed and swaying, forcing Tim to hold on or let her tumble. She tips her face to the sky and fists her hands.
It’s like she’s possessed.
Like something else controls her.
Someone else.
“Aubree.” My heart gallops painfully fast. My stomach rolls. This is different. This is completely outside of every experience I’ve ever had with her. “Aubree, what’s wrong?”
“Death is coming for you, too.” Her eyes remain closed. Her body, trembling all over. “October. I see Halloween decorations. I see all these people.” She gestures toward our group. Past me to those who watch on in horror. “It’ll come from someone you trust. Something you trust.”
“Me?” Soph’s eyes flare wide. “I’m the one who’ll die?”
“It’ll be cold out.” Aubree shivers, curling in on herself. “It’ll be a gift. Poison. Something you normally enjoy.” She rubs her arms and shakes her head. “It’s goodbye, Soph. It’s…” She shakes her head. “It’s too late.”
“The fuck it is!” Jay stomps around the clearing and grabs his wife. He shoves her behind his back and points straight in Aubree’s face.
Though her eyes remain closed.
“Fix it, Emeri! You fucking fix it.”
“Poison?” Soph wonders. “Through something I normally enjoy?”
“Candy,” Jen whispers. “Halloween candy!”
Drawing a fast, hissing breath, Aubree startles and whips her head down again, slinging her eyes open. It’s like she was asleep, and now she’s… not. “Woah.” Blinking, blinking, blinking, she meets Tim’s eyes. Then Jay’s. Then Soph’s. “W-what are you doing?”
“What are you doing?” Soph tears candy out of her pockets, tossing gummy worms and sour patch babies into the trees. “Someone’s going to kill me?”
Confused, Aubree blinks owlishly. “What?”
“You said someone was gonna kill me?”
“No, I didn’t.”
“Woman!” Veins bulge in Jay’s forehead. “You just said… You…” He flaps his arms, freaking out. “You don’t remember?”
“I… What?” She looks around, past me, and over at Fletch. “Did someone call the local P.D.? We need them out here for this girl.”
“We’re leaving!” Jay spins and wrestles Soph back, forcing her to overbalance, but grabbing her again so she doesn’t fall. “We’re going into hibernation until November. Nobody call us!”
“What the hell was that?” I watch as the Checkmate crew peel away. Spence and Jen and Corey. Kane and Jess. Troy and Ellie. They stumble through the trees and discuss their enemies, leaving just us behind. Then I spin back to Aubree and snag her arm. “You saw Soph’s death?”
She snorts, lowering into a crouch and giggling so quietly, the sound is just a flutter on the breeze.
“No. But she’s been annoying us for way too long.
She deserved that.” She peeks across to Fletch.
“We seriously need to call the cops, though. I’m not processing this chick.
She feels…” She shivers, real this time. “Icky. I wanna go home.”