Chapter 14 #2
“What about Gavin’s cousin Ben?” Skye asked.
He didn’t really have an answer for that, except …
“Gavin would know,” he said quietly.
Skye sat back in the car, closing her eyes. “Traffic cams.”
“Yes.” He glanced at her and quoted stolidly, “‘ET phone home.’”
Skye nodded and pulled out her phone. She set it on speaker. Both Jackson and Angela were out of the office, but they were quickly connected with a woman named Michelle Bainbridge, one of the main techs at the office.
“We’ve been studying the footage, and we wound up with the good and the bad. Using our best manipulation abilities, we found a black SUV being driven by, yes, a wicked witch. The plates were, of course, obscured. Still, state and federal troops were put on it and they found the SUV.”
“They found it!” Skye exclaimed.
“Abandoned right across the state line in New Hampshire,” Michelle told them. “We still have forensic teams on it, but …”
“The witch or witches wore gloves and didn’t leave a thing behind,” Zach said wearily.
“Not that we’ve found so far,” Michelle told them. “But our teams are still working, we promise you.”
“Of course, thank you. And you know—” Zach began.
“Angela and Jackson are in the field, as I believe you know. But I have your numbers, and I was about to call you when you called in,” Michelle told them. “Please trust me. I will give you information as soon as I have any.”
They both thanked her, and they ended the call.
“Gavin must have a press conference,” Skye said. “People need to know, especially now that we know a witch is running around with an assault weapon.”
“I hope that’s not it,” Zach murmured.
“What do you mean by ‘it’?” she asked.
“I hope they’re not planning on using this community …
shooting wildly to get away somehow, knowing that responders are going to need to worry about the fallen and the wounded.
I’m worried the people coerced into this little tribe, having been drugged and brainwashed, are intended as disposable targets when the plan comes to fruition. ”
“We need to know the plan!” Skye said. She phoned the main office once more, asking for Michelle.
“Michelle, sorry, it’s Skye and Zach again. Have you found anything in Salem, coming to Salem, or going through Salem, that could be the object of a heist? Not just gold, money, or diamonds, but anything?”
“I’ve been working with the major tech companies in the country, trying to find out if they’re transporting any new technology, anything earth-shattering,” Michelle said.
“So far, there’s nothing unusual. Banks are working as always, but nothing we know about would be seen as a major haul.
I’ve spoken with a few heads of companies who have informed me their transportation of materials is classified—and I’ve got the director working on that, acquiring the federal warrants we need. ”
“Thank you again! We strongly feel that many lives are in danger,” Skye told her.
“Of course. I promise you that we’re working as hard and fast as we can here.”
Once again, they thanked her. They were almost at the station.
Zach glanced at Skye. “Green witches with assault rifles. Oh, my God, Zach! What if they also have …”
“Bombs,” he said.
“There must be a way …”
“We’re here. At the station,” he said. He turned to her before they could exit the car. “There’s always a way. And we will find it. Let’s get in and then determine our next moves.”
They headed in, just in time to hear Gavin speaking to everyone in the office at that time.
“One of our own is missing. We’re good here.
We’ve learned to deal with Halloween, with tourists, with expeditions, you name it.
One of our own, people. And we’re going to get out there and find Detective Constance Berkley!
” Gavin saw that they had arrived. “I’m going to let Special Agents McMahon and Erickson tell you more about what they know; and from there on, it’s all hands on deck until we stop whatever the hell is going on here! ”
Zach glanced at Skye; she knew he wanted her to speak.
She was the one who had seen the witch.
And the assault rifle.
She headed to the front of the group to stand with Gavin.
“We were able to find a witness who saw a car tearing down the street—and someone dressed up as a wicked witch in front of the shop. We believe Detective Berkley knew she was up against a person wielding an assault weapon, a person eager to use it on her. The witness, of course, turned and ran, terrified, and said we’d need to arrest them to ask them to come in and make a statement.
They are, naturally, terrified of reprisals.
What’s most important is that we all realize what appeared to be a murder and a kidnapping has escalated into many kidnappings.
Our fear is that people are being taken and drugged and brainwashed.
We have one man in captivity who is so convinced of what he’s been told that he’d rather die than give us information.
He has, in fact, suggested that we hang him.
He seems to be like any suicide bomber who is convinced of great rewards in another life for his loyalty in the here and now.
But we are aware that these witches are heavily armed, and we believe they’re planning something major.
What that is, we’re still trying to determine.
If you encounter anyone suspicious, please remember how heavily armed they may be.
Call for backup and take extreme care. And, of course, we believe Detective Berkley is alive—but probably in deep hiding. ”
She stopped speaking and looked at Gavin. He gave her a nod.
“All right, people, get out there. Lives are at stake, including our own, but we are the bastion between the criminals and the killers and the innocents, who put their trust in us. State troopers are on this; the federal government is on this. But Salem is our city, and we are the ones who know and love our city. Get out there!” he urged.
The meeting broke.
Zach joined Gavin and Skye, telling Gavin, “You must hold a press conference and warn the people that witches are out there carrying heavy armament.”
Gavin nodded. “I’ve called it for thirty minutes from now.”
“What about Detective Cason?” Zach asked.
“He’s still not responding. The captain has left him messages. I’m getting worried both might have been taken and held, or might be”—Gavin paused, then shook his head—“or dumped in a ditch or a forest somewhere.”
Zach indicated they should head into Gavin’s office.
Gavin nodded and the three of them walked in; Gavin then closed the door.
“What’s your feeling?” Zach asked him. “You know both detectives better than we do. And we know that Connie was at the costume shop waiting for Vince, and she didn’t go home.
We need to talk to him, to find out if he arrived after she was gone, or if he decided not to go, after all, thinking that she wasn’t coming and that he really wasn’t going to get anything else.
And you need to talk to him, look him in the eye and talk to him, and find out if the man is telling the truth or not. ”
Gavin let out a sign, sliding into the seat behind his desk.
“I don’t really know them. They’ve been partnered together for a few years.
The partner I was working with before my promotion transferred down to Orlando—he was tired of the New England winters.
I’d see them now and then in here, and they both have impeccable records.
The captain was the one who decided they should be lead on what we thought at first was a one-shot kidnapping at the Bolton house, which has turned into a murder and kidnapping, and then …
You know the rest. The point is, we weren’t even on the same shifts. So I don’t know either of them well.”
“Is Captain Claybourne in?” Skye asked.
Gavin nodded. “He’s preparing for the news conference.” He stood. “I’ll take you to his office.”
He tapped on the door to Claybourne’s office. The captain bid them to enter.
The man was tense, staring at his keyboard, but he looked up at Zach and Skye as they entered.
“You have something new?” he asked anxiously. “You’ve found something or someone?”
“Sir, I’m afraid not. We do know, though, that Detective Berkley was at the costume shop and—” Zach began.
“And that a witch came after her!” Claybourne finished, aggravated and rising.
“With an assault rifle. This is a total disaster, you realize. Despite history, Salem isn’t that big a place!
We’re usually a law-abiding town, absurdly tolerant these days, when you think of the past. Guns must be licensed and registered in Massachusetts, but assault rifles are against the law.
God knows, someone could have driven in from somewhere else with such a weapon, but—”
“Captain,” Skye interrupted softly, “this is truly painful to say—”
“I know!” he snapped back at her. “Bruns has told me you believe that someone within this department may be guilty!”
“Sir, it doesn’t make the department bad—” Zach tried.
“No, just me and my judgment!” Claybourne told them.
He was in no mood, Zach realized, to speak calmly about his officers. But they needed to try to understand the dynamics within the department.
“Sir, Detective Berkley disappeared in terror. Detective Cason is now refusing to respond to you and to Lieutenant Bruns. Tell us about the two of them, please. We understand they have impeccable records. But is either having money trouble? Have they been through a divorce or a domestic dispute? Anything that might not be in official records?” Zach pressed.
Claybourne walked over to him. “I know you’re a Fed.
And you were asked in to help by Lieutenant Bruns because he was given so much help once by your Special Agent in Charge Jackson Crow.
But you’re not Crow, and you weren’t given the lead in this case.
You want to help? Get out there and find the real culprit and get off my detectives! ”