6. Six #2
“I do have information,” Steve replied. He looked around cautiously. “Do you want to wait until after breakfast? I don’t want to ruin anybody’s appetite.”
We always talked about whatever we were working on over meals. Nobody in the family was squeamish. “Um…”
“You can talk about it now,” Landon assured his boss as Steve and Spencer sat at the far end of the table.
Steve picked up his phone. “So, we’ve identified our victims. Hal Weaver, Ben Mason, and Matt Pope. They’re all in their late twenties and from the Detroit suburbs.”
I took a sip of my juice before responding. “Why were they here?” I asked.
“It seems they rented a cabin on something called Beaver Hollow Road.” Steve made a face. “I’ve never heard of that road.”
“It’s a dirt road,” I replied. “About three miles past the inn that way.” I made a vague gesture.
“The truck was facing in the opposite direction, so they were going from the cabin to town for some reason. Or likely to town. I guess it’s possible they were going to a different town, but they would’ve had to drive through Hemlock Cove to get anywhere. ”
“Okay.” Steve pressed his lips together and nodded. “I have an agent in Detroit trying to track down friends and family. Notification will be made then. It will probably take all day to get any information about what they were doing, or when they last talked to any family member.”
“I’m not sure that matters,” I replied without thinking.
“We have to know if they had enemies,” Steve argued.
“Yeah, but they weren’t followed up here and killed by an annoyed girlfriend.” Now that I was on this path it was best to finish it. “Whatever killed them was paranormal in origin.”
“It certainly looks that way,” Steve agreed. “We still have to rule out human suspects. We can’t move forward without due diligence.” He looked to Landon for confirmation. “Right?”
Landon leaned back in his chair, allowing his arm to fall on the back of my chair in the process. He was telling me he was on my side, while also searching for the best way to move forward with the conversation. “If Bay believes we’re dealing with something supernatural, I tend to agree with her.”
“Yes, but we don’t have proof of that yet,” Steve persisted.
“How did a human manage to string three men up in trees?” I challenged. “One person couldn’t have done that. At least not if they were really human.”
“It could be a group of humans,” Steve argued. “One could’ve held the three victims at gunpoint while the other lifted the bodies.”
I couldn’t see that. Not even a little. Arguing with Steve was going to get me nowhere, however. “Well, let us know when you question the families.” I turned as the swinging door opened to allow a sulking Aunt Tillie entrance. “What are you doing today?” I asked her.
“I’m not telling you,” Aunt Tillie sniffed. “In case you’ve forgotten, you’re on my list.”
“ Bacon ,” Landon coughed into his hand.
“You’re on my list too,” Aunt Tillie fired back.
“What did I do?” Landon protested. “I was just minding my own business.”
“Exactly.” Aunt Tillie bobbed her head. “You could have taken my side. You know as well as anybody that I was being railroaded. You’re ‘The Man.’” She cast a disdainful look to Spencer and Steve. “You can’t be a complete idiot and have your job.”
“You say the sweetest things,” Landon cooed at her. “I’ll take your side when Winnie comes out here if you make Bay smell like bacon.”
“Hey,” I protested.
Landon ignored me. “It’s a good deal,” he insisted.
“Too late,” Aunt Tillie countered.
“It’s never too late. I’ll be very convincing.”
“Am I missing something?” Steve asked, confusion wrinkling his forehead. “What does bacon have to do with anything?”
“It’s not important,” Landon assured him. “It’s a family thing between Aunt Tillie and me.”
Aunt Tillie snorted. “He likes when I hex Bay to smell like bacon as punishment. He’s a greasy little pervert, and he spends the entire week with a?—”
Landon slapped a slice of toast in Aunt Tillie’s mouth before she could finish. The smile he shot at his boss was sheepish. “Ignore her.”
Aunt Tillie kept talking around the toast, but nobody could make out her words.
“What do you plan to do today?” Steve asked me when the silence stretched too long. “You don’t answer to me, but I would like us to share information. This is a whole … thing that we’re going to have to wrap our heads around and kind of figure out as we go along. I … um…”
That’s when I realized that he was trying to keep me from shutting him out. He wanted to use me as part of the team. Landon had likely warned him about pushing me too far and too fast. Steve’s discomfort made me feel a little better.
“After breakfast, the cabin should be first,” I replied, glancing at Landon for support.
He nodded.
“We need to see what they were doing out there,” I continued. “You haven’t let anybody in the cabin, have you?”
Steve shook his head. “We haven’t been out there yet. No one has.”
“Okay, well, we’ll do that after breakfast. We can all go together.” I was including Chief Terry in that, even if he wanted to cede the investigation to the Feds at this point. I needed him. “You’re okay with that?” I asked him.
Chief Terry nodded. “That’s the smart move.
” He hesitated, then continued. “We might need to see if the state police can bring dogs in to search the woods, too.” He didn’t look keen on the idea, but if Steve wanted a balanced approach, even if he wanted to look at humans to start, we were going to have to play the game.
“Tell them to be careful,” I replied. “They can’t stay out there too close to dark, and it’s best they don’t go too far into the woods.”
“What do you think it is?” Steve asked. “You obviously have an idea.”
“Actually, I don’t. I only know that there’s something dark and dangerous stalking the woods.”