Chapter 11 #2
“I thought the right thing was to let my cousin know what was going on,” Ben explained to her.
“Yes, definitely!” Skye said.
“Was Cathy going to wind up missing, too?” he asked.
“I mean, it’s getting so strange. Kidnappings and …
and a guy running off with a girl from a tour?
Not good. I know they’re contacting the owners of the company, but I’m willing to bet, jail time or no, the two of them won’t have jobs anymore.
But where did he think that he was taking her? ”
“Officer Chambers—”
“Ben, please. Obviously, my cousin thinks the world of you and your partner.”
“Ben,” she said, nodding. “That’s the one thing I truly wish I knew. I even wonder if it was a mistake, stopping him when I did. He might have led us somewhere.”
A doctor appeared; Skye watched with Ben as he spoke to Gavin and Cathy’s parents.
Cathy’s mother collapsed against her father.
For a minute, Skye feared the worst.
But as the husband assured his wife, Gavin excused himself and came over to her and Ben.
“She’s stabilized. Thank God. He said that if she hadn’t received Narcan when she did, she might not have made it.
They’re going to need to analyze just what’s in those bath salts—more than the usual.
But she has been stabilized; they’re hydrating her …
and she’s going to make it; and if he had gotten her wherever he was going, well … ”
Gavin’s voice trailed.
Skye nodded, lowering her head.
They had saved the girl.
But what about the others being held?
She didn’t get a chance to worry long; apparently, someone told Cathy’s parents that she had been the one to make sure Cathy was helped immediately.
She was drowned in a sea of tears and hugs and words of thanks.
Skye accepted them as graciously as she could, assuring the couple that the EMTs, the police, and the doctors deserved the thanks.
Eventually, Gavin and Ben were able to get her away; Cathy’s parents were going to stay with her then.
But before they could leave, Skye pulled back, staring at Gavin.
“We need more than her parents,” she said.
“What?” Gavin asked her.
“Gavin, we caught a minion tonight, just someone following someone else’s orders, bringing her to them to become part of whatever is going on.
What if they believe she might know something?
Sure, she was just on the tour, but whoever is behind this might believe Nick said something to her and … Gavin, she might not be safe.”
He sighed deeply. “The department is being run ragged and thinned out!” he said.
“Call the state; or I’ll call Jackson—”
“Right now, we need something fast. I’ll—”
“Gavin, I can stay on. Get me spelled sometime by the morning by someone so I can get enough sleep to be cognizant before going back on duty, but I’m up for this. I was on the scene; I came straight here. The parents have seen me—and I’ve seen the staff and know how to check them out,” Ben said.
Gavin smiled and nodded. “Good. Thank you. Skye?”
“Thank you, Ben,” she said. “I could be wrong, but I come from the school of being safe rather than sorry.”
“Of course, agreed,” he said.
Skye looked at Gavin. “We can’t talk to her yet, right?” she asked.
He shook his head. “She’s completely out of it right now, and the doctors want her that way.
Maybe her would-be kidnapper thought she’d take just one pill, but she took a few or something.
But we can’t talk to her for hours yet, so …
come on. You and I are going to get over to the station and see what we can see, what we can discover. ”
“Right, time to get to the station and find out if we’ve learned anything from the driver or Nick Sandoval,” Skye said.
When they were out of the hospital and on their way to the station, Skye looked over at Gavin and asked, “Does your cousin have something of your talent?”
“I don’t really know yet. The kid went through the police academy like a true pro. Maybe, and maybe he’s one of those people who just naturally has a sense about other people.”
“He seems great.”
“He is.”
“Okay, so, on to the problem at hand. What about the owners of the tour company?”
“They’ve been summoned to the station,” Gavin assured her.
“And from what I understand, they’re horrified.
Oh, by the way, whoever the driver is—we’re working on his identity—he wasn’t supposed to be the driver tonight.
Ned Bailey of Peabody was supposed to be working the night tour.
We haven’t been able to reach him. The man isn’t married, but his live-in girlfriend thought he was at work.
She didn’t like his work arrangements, either, and said that he worked with a ‘kook’; and from what’s gone on, I’m going to assume that the ‘kook’ is Nick Sandoval, though that doesn’t explain what happened to Ned. ”
“His girlfriend said he left for work as usual?” Skye asked.
“She did.”
“I wonder if Zach has had any luck with anything that he’s discovered,” Skye said. She glanced over at Gavin.
“We’ll know soon enough,” Gavin said, nodding ahead.
They’d reached the station.
When they entered, the officer on desk duty nodded to them and indicated they go on through. Entering the hallway and passing by the offices, they were soon stopped by an officer who said the captain was in the observation room, and Special Agent Zachary Erikson was speaking with Nick Sandoval.
“What about the driver?” Gavin asked.
“Interrogation room 2, cooling his heels, I guess. He’s being left to stew in his own juices for a while, so I’ve been told,” the officer said.
“We’ll see what’s going on,” Gavin said, looking at Skye for agreement.
“We’ll join the captain in the observation room,” she said.
He nodded and the two of them headed in to observe Zach’s interrogation of Nick.
“Special Agent McMahon, pleasure to meet you and grateful for the help we can get!” the captain told her as she and Gavin entered the room. “Captain Claybourne,” he added, offering his hand.
“Thank you, sir!” she said quietly, taking his hand for a solid shake.
Claybourne was fifty-one, a serious man with clipped white hair, about six feet tall, with a sturdy frame.
He had worked his way up through the ranks Skye knew, because it was her nature, when she could, to research everyone involved in a case or a place.
He gave her a mirthless smile and indicated the interrogation room, where Zach was questioning Nick, and they were all silent as they observed them.
“No!” Nick was saying passionately. “You don’t understand. I was trying to save that girl!”
“She almost died. If we hadn’t gotten her to the hospital when we did, she’d be dead now. No good to you for whatever you planned for her. What was in those pills?”
“Just a little happy juice. It’s not my fault she took too many!”
“Where did you get the pills?” Zach asked.
Nick just sighed and looked at his hands. “Listen, I’m not going to answer anything. You’re damned. You will reside in hell forever. That’s what happens when you join with an evil conspiracy—when you dance with the devil in the woods!”
“I haven’t done any dancing with the devil—in the woods or otherwise,” Zach said without emotion. “I think you’ve been dancing in the woods with the devil. Only the devil would nearly kill a girl.”
“We’re trying to save her soul!” Nick announced indignantly.
“Well, let’s see. You failed. So, who are you working for?”
Nick sat back, shaking his head. “The master will know all, see all. And if you hang me by the neck until dead right now, it will not matter because I will rise above all this. I will live in eternal bliss as one of the master’s chosen few!”
Zach groaned. “No one is hanging you by the neck—or otherwise. Just locking you up for attempted kidnapping; and you’ll get a trial date—and you can get an attorney.
Those are the things that the people who formed this country knew to be important, not falling prey to the wacko preaching of any would-be messiah! ”
Skye watched as Nick stared at Zach; for a moment, he had to wonder if Zach was telling him the truth.
But then Nick gave his head a serious shake.
“No! I will not fall to the lies of the devil!” he proclaimed.
“Others may die,” Zach said quietly. “And if you’re listening to a false messiah, their deaths will be on you. So, how about this—who killed Mike Bolton?”
“He was sent to his demise, lest he ruin the future grace of those who might see the true way,” Nick told him. Then he suddenly said, “Oh, yeah, right! Lawyer!”
Zach stood immediately. “Your choice. You sure? I could maybe help you.”
“No. You dance with the devil.”
Zach nodded, clenching his jaw. The words seemed to be something of a motto for those in a mind warp around here.
He walked out into the hall, where Skye, Gavin, and Captain Claybourne met him.
“Brainwashed and beyond,” Zach said. He looked at Gavin.
“I didn’t know you and Skye had gotten here.
It might have been good if you’d gotten into him before he’d said the ‘lawyer’ word.
What’s scary, though, is that it seems he believes everything that he’s saying; and that, at least, gives us a better idea of what’s going on here. ”
“I admit, I’m still baffled!” Claybourne said. “‘The master’? What the hell?”
“From what I’ve seen and heard, sir,” Zach told him, “someone is planning something big in which they need a little army to help them. They’re taking children, teens, and those they think they can force to be pliable.”
“You think it’s a cult—” Claybourne began.
“No, sir,” Zach said. “I think they’re planning on a heist or an attack, one in which they need obedient servants who believe that they’re helping a great messiah.
And everything about Salem that was suspected in the past was true—people were witches, they made pacts with the devil, and they must be the ones to fight against all the witches out here. ”