37. Chapter 37
Chapter thirty-seven
Cason
When we roll down the lane back at the farm, my heart sinks to find the house completely dark with no one to greet us and our return.
Parking the truck so that the lights blaze into the front windows of the once welcoming home, I turn to Nora sitting beside me and say, “We go in nice and easy. She may be old but she’s clearly dangerous.”
When Nora doesn’t respond, I eye the tic in her jaw and say, “Hey, they’re fine. She couldn’t possibly get away with hurting that many people by herself.”
“She was uneasy, and I brushed it off,” Nora whispers.
“Who?”
“Shelby. Something about Lottie sleepwalking. I barely listened and blew her off.”
Turning my gaze back to the house, I consider Nora’s words before saying, “Don’t matter now. We’re here. We’ll subdue Lottie and question Harry.”
Since we took these people at face value when we came here, we now can’t say for sure if the man Lottie’s been pushing around is actually Harry or someone else.
What we do know is that the couple who lived here were named Judy and Harry. Judy was a tall, healthy woman with strong features and pale green eyes, the exact opposite of Lottie.
It stands to reason that the man who’s locked in the room for hours at a time during the day is Harry, but we can’t assume anything, not anymore.
Did Lottie kill Judy? Where’s the man who was supposedly with her when they appealed to Judy and Harry’s neighbor for help and ended up stealing their shit?
It’s possible Judy died by one of them but in that case, why lie? Something doesn’t add up and it’s time to find the answers.
When Jason and Larry appear at my door, I push it open and repeat the same cautionary tale to them. We’re better off pretending we don’t know shit until we can confirm our people are safe.
After that, we do what we must, to protect ourselves and possibly a defenseless old man bound to a wheelchair and stuck in his own nightmare.
“We’ll check upstairs, get the girls and Nate and Lance,” Larry says.
“Nora, you go with,” I say, and when she whips around, I raise my hands. “Shelby’s one person. It will be easier to get her up to speed.”
That and I need to see her, like now and ensure that she’s okay. I’m hoping everyone went to bed and that’s why it’s so quiet.
Lottie has no reason to suspect we’re on to her but she’s also not dumb. Bob and Norma can and did easily inform us of the threat, even if they didn’t understand the particulars.
What if Lottie felt she had no choice but to send us to Bob’s? Would she harm the girls while we’re away?
All we know is that they stole shit from their previous victims. This doesn’t point to a proclivity for violence, but people do strange things when backed into a corner.
The wood floor creaks under my boots as I enter the darkened interior while the preternatural quiet sends a shiver down my spine and I pause, looking back at the others.
Where is everyone? Shit, the dogs didn’t even come out to greet us.
“This is weird,” Jason mutters and I silently concur before stepping through the living room.
The dining room appears empty per the light of the moon shining through the windows. Beyond is the kitchen but it’s darker.
After the trio make their way up the stairs as quietly as possible, I move back to the hallway.
Nora and Shelby’s room is the first one on the right with the primary at the end. Both doors are closed though and without line of sight, I ease my back against the wall before coming to a stop beside Shelby’s room.
It’s quiet, too fucking quiet until I hear the low murmurs above my head. Please let her be okay.
Unfortunately visions of Rosanne’s lifeless body wrapped around her lover bounce around my head as I grab the knob and slowly push the door open.
The moon doesn’t shine quite so brightly here but dread floods my veins when I approach Shelby’s bed because she’s not in it. The covers are pulled tight, the same as Nora’s.
Spinning around, I take in the empty room with an ache in my stomach. Although I’m so fucking relieved that Shelby’s not dead, that doesn’t mean she’s safe. Could she be upstairs with Amanda and Zoey?
Sending up a silent prayer, I step back into the hall and stare at the primary suite. It’s equally dark and quiet inside. Is Lottie in there?
When a shiver wracks my body, I back away until I’m at the staircase. My brain screams at me to run but I’m still hoping everything is okay, that is, until Nora pokes her head around the banister, and whispers, “Shelby?”
Fuck. If she’s not upstairs, then where could she be?
Shaking my head, I say, “Maybe she’s outside?”
It’s a stupid notion that Nora confirms when her brows furrow and she says, “Doesn’t sound like something she would do. What about Lottie?”
I guess it’s time to confront the old woman and leaving Nora to deal with the group upstairs, I move back down the hall and stop at the second closed door.
Nora’s right, Shelby wouldn’t go wandering off in the dark, not here, not now. Hell, maybe never.
I have two options. I can knock and pretend I’m surprised that the house is a fucking tomb or bust it down and demand answers. Before I opt for the second idea, I test the knob, confirming it’s locked and pull the gun from my holster.
This is when Jason says behind me, “Let me.”
Eyeing his hulking frame, I tip my head and step out of the way. When he slams his shoulder against the wood, it shudders beneath his weight.
The sound carries down the hall and I glance over my shoulder, ignoring the sweat slicking my spine.
It takes Jason three tries but finally the door splinters, just as a sliver of ice slides down my back. Although, I grab for his arm already halfway through the opening to unlatch the lock, I’m too late and the flash of a gun lightens the darkened room followed by a boom that I will never forget.
While Jason drops to the floor, I turn to the threat and fire off three rounds before pausing. When nothing but silence greets me, I swing toward the hole in the door.
The wait is interminable, but I can’t risk stepping into the room until I know that the threat has been neutralized.
Sensing no movement, I look up and meet Larry’s wide eyes from where he’s standing by the stairs.
“Flashlight,” I bark, and he backs away. My knees slide in Jason’s blood as I kneel before him and press my hand to his chest.
She hit him center mass. He’s bleeding out. Fuck!
Bowing my head, I say a silent prayer until Larry returns with a flashlight which he spins around the room before stopping on me.
“Corner,” I rasp, and he moves it back to the corner where Lottie lays on the floor, her wide eyes staring into nothing.
I’ve never felt anything but despair when I’ve had to discharge my weapon in the past. This time, as Larry flicks the light toward the bed, revealing Harry, his frail form trembling, nothing but satisfaction paints my vision as he gasps, “Judy?”
This man lost his entire family and now he lives in his head where he will never comprehend that they’re gone. However much longer he lives, he’ll continue to wonder when his beloved wife is coming back.
That’s fucking tragic.
When Jason twitches below me, I push to my feet. I need to find Shelby. Now.
There’s nothing more I can do for our fallen friend, but I say as I turn to the back door, “Nora, see to Jason.”
If Shelby isn’t inside the house, then she must be out there and I pray to God, despite my misgivings that she’s not wandering around some-fucking-where as one of those things.
Shelby
I’m dozing, images passing over my eyes in rapid succession when I hear a sound that pushes me from oblivion. At first, I can’t place it, and I lay there, staring into nothing until I hear the sound again and push to my knees.
I have no idea where the door is now, but I cock my head when a faint whistle can be heard beyond it before pushing to my feet. As soon as I do, blood rushes to my head and I sway before reaching out to steady myself but once again, I can’t fucking see.
Forcing the hysteria pressing at my lungs back, I croak, “Here. I’m here.”
It’s a feeble attempt to be heard though and I lick my dry lips before swallowing to drum up some spit. “Here!”
The sounds outside die away and my pulse thumps as I step toward where I thought I heard it and promptly trip over something hidden on the floor.
“Oomph,” I mumble, landing back on the undead fucking thing I’ve been keeping company with and tears spring to my eyes.
When does it end? The death, the violence, the sheer fucking ugliness of humanity?
Dropping my head, I cry, my choked sobs turning to keening wails that rebound off the walls until suddenly, I’m not sitting in the darkness anymore and I look up.
“Shelby?” Cason says.
“Cason.” I’ve never been so happy to see someone in my life but when he turns around, I push up and cry, “Don’t leave me. Don’t leave me!”
The harsh beam of a flashlight erupts around the room, and I flinch away when it leaves me blinded.
“Fuck me,” someone mutters, and I look down, confirming it’s a body I’m currently straddling.
It is or was an older man with long stringy hair, now vacant blue eyes and a tattoo of roses and barbed wire crawling up his neck.
More disturbingly though, I discover the source of the squishy sensation and move away from his body to raise my hands before my face.
As I suspected, I was touching this man’s intestines . . . his fucking intestines and spying the blood marring my fingers, my arms, my shirt . . . fuck, my jeans, I lean over and heave.
The acidic bile crawls up my throat in painful waves while I convulse.
Absently, I note that Cason drops beside me and when I finally subside, he picks me up in his arms and strides to the door. The cool air feels divine once we exit and I suck in lungs full of the purity hoping to cleanse the smell burned into my nose.
“Let’s get the fuck out of here," Cason says and I silently concur. Although I’m so fucking glad to see Cason, a part of me is still back their drifting in that garage and my lids droop as someone says, “What about the farm?”
Jarred from my daze when I feel Cason’s muscles tighten, I burrow into his chest as he says, “We’ll tell Bob what we found on the way out.”
“So, we’re not staying?” This I think comes from Amanda, but I can’t be sure and when Cason nods, she mumbles, “Thank god.”
“What about Harry?” Larry asks.
“We’ll bring him,” Cason says and after that time passes while I exist in my void.
Despite being jostled around, I’m not willing to let go of Cason and he realizes this fact when we reach the truck, and I grab onto his neck for dear life. When he forces my hands away, I open my mouth to protest until he says, “We have to climb into the truck, sweetheart. Give me a minute.”
This seems reasonable, I decide but I watch him closely as he jumps into the bed of the truck before motioning to me and I scramble into the comfort of his lap.
It’s only when the truck revs and we move down the road that I realize we’re leaving, and I look back at the farm with nothing but relief because I’ve never hated a place more.