Chapter 16 #2
Shelly stood behind her and watched. As she did so, she noted that Skye was a decent artist. Also, the woman depicted was about sixty, maybe even sixty-plus, but she had managed to change her appearance with her hair, more blond than white and transformed into a style that was almost straight but still curved slightly around her face.
She’d added makeup, another subtle change, enough so that someone wouldn’t glance at her and suspect that she was Natalie Greenway.
“We good?” Skye asked.
“Damned good,” Shelly assured her.
“Easy transformation but a good one,” Grant noted. “I still don’t believe—”
“We both fell for it,” Shelly reminded him.
“That we did,” Grant said. “Well, I guess we could get on it.”
“No one around the cabin,” Zach said, studying the screens. “So …”
“Wait—night-blooming jasmine. See if you can find an area with night-blooming jasmine!” Shelly said.
“Well, it’s not exactly night yet, but yeah, we will look for night-blooming jasmine,” Zach said.
“Two to the north, two to the south, hugging the trees all the way,” Shelly murmured.
“We could stay together; safety in numbers,” Zach said.
“The second anyone sees anything—” Shelly began.
“We’re all in contact, buzzing. We don’t want to let anyone know we’re on to them—or that we have backup if we do get into any trouble,” Grant said. “So, you’re right, all appears clear. Let’s do it!”
“Wait, don’t forget—”
“Night-blooming jasmine!” Skye said.
“We’ll be on the lookout,” Zach promised.
They slid hurriedly out of the cabin. The good thing was that the forest was dense; there were trails, of course, but they were staying off the trails. Better to crawl over shrubs and roots than to be evident to anyone else out there, who might or might not be trying to avoid others as well.
Grant led; Shelly knew that she couldn’t stop him from being the first target if a shooter was out there. And she couldn’t really fight it; the one curse tablet had very specifically been addressed to her.
They circled around one of the camping areas, one with five cabins. And as they had seen before, there were people out at the picnic tables, moms and dads, friends, and several little kids.
It didn’t appear that anything nefarious was going on. Just people barbecuing, chatting, playing with the kids.
They moved on. And as they did so, Grant suddenly lifted a hand. Shelly went still, then silently slipped up right behind him.
It was then that she smelled it. The late afternoon was coming on them; it wasn’t dark yet. But she could smell it.
Night-blooming jasmine.
There was someone else using the cover of the trees. At first, all she could hear was a bit of a rustling sound.
Then she heard the muttering.
“Damn, damn, damn. Where the hell are they? I play the blithering idiot for them, keep it all on the up and up where we are … I’m finally out of the insane asylum, and the bastards can’t even show up when they’re supposed to?”
The imposter!
Grant looked at Shelly, and she nodded. They both knew that they had recognized the voice behind the trees. But …
Was she alone?
No. The answer to that question came quickly when a male voice, low and soft and barely emanating from the trees, spoke in response to her words.
“Stop bitching! They’ll be here; he’ll be here. And you’re getting your curse tablet against your husband, ex-husband, with our leader seeing to it that the curse will be followed to the letter!”
“I earned it!” the woman snapped. “And then … then they had to meet here! Right where we buried the old broad!”
Grant glanced at Shelly.
They knew what had happened to the real Natalie Greenway.
“That’s bothering you?” the male voice asked. “Hey, you managed to knock the antique broad with a rock to the head! Now, what, you think her ghost is going to come and get you?”
“Screw you!” was her answer.
Grant gave her a nod, and Shelly knew exactly what he was saying with that slight movement of his head. She drew out her phone and quickly texted Zach and Skye, letting them know what was going on, that their imposter and someone else were waiting for the arrival of a kingpin.
And that the real Natalie Greenway was buried in the woods.
They could take the two down now, Shelly knew. But they were pawns in the game, and it seemed that whoever was leading it all was on the way. With whom else they didn’t know, nor did they know how many others would arrive.
But at least they were nowhere near the area where families were playing with small children. Whatever happened here …
“Screw me. You’d like that, right? You may not be Natalie Greenway, but you’re old and used up.”
“What? You think you’re young or attractive in any way?” she asked.
“Hell, yes! I’m rich.”
He’d spoken fairly loudly that time, and Shelly looked at Grant, who was looking at her.
They knew the voice.
They knew the man.
And they’d been right. Apparently, Dr. Grigsby was in on whatever was going on, perhaps using his imposter for the dead woman to bring in funds, or a greater cover for all that she’d been doing online.
And it had even made sense for her to play such a great role regarding her beliefs when they’d been there.
She’d tried to erase her real correspondence, forgetting that the internet was forever.
But after their arrival, she’d also been done. Just done.
Ready to accept the reward she’d been promised.
“He’s armed.”
The whisper took Shelly and Grant by surprise.
Turning, she saw an older man, weathered, tall and lean, with a graying brown beard and a headful of graying brown hair.
She quickly realized he was a dead man, a spirit walking.
“You can see me, right?” he asked softly.
She and Grant both looked at the man and nodded.
“They killed me,” he said simply. “I admit … I was down and out and living on the streets. Same car went by a few times. There was a younger man in it, offered to help me, brought me to get something to eat … and they slit my throat instead. But once … once upon a time, I was a United States Marine. And well, you’re heard it before.
Once a Marine, always a Marine. So, I stayed.
And when they were done at George Maynard’s place, I hitched a ride with them.
I’ve been watching them ever since, hoping that a seer would arrive sometime. Name is Henry. Henry Beacon.”
“Thank you, Henry, and we’re so sorry!” Shelly breathed in a whisper.
Grant nodded his thanks as well, asking, “The man in there is armed?”
“Has a Colt in a holster at his side, beneath the beige jacket he’s wearing,” the spirit told them. “I didn’t mean to startle you. I didn’t want you walking out to get shot in the chest.”
Shelly noted Grant’s smile. He would have never just approached the pair from the front, but it was still good to have a spirit looking out for them.
“We have help coming,” Shelly told him.
“And so do I. The bastard who offered me food and then told me that no one on this earth would miss me, and it was time to join whatever gods I wanted,” Henry said.
“And he’s probably got his bitch with him.
Now that we’ve spoken, I’ll sidle on over there, give you a wave or a shout if I see others slipping in. ”
And he was gone.
But he had barely disappeared through the trees when they heard the arrival of the spirit’s “bastard” and “bitch.”
“You idiots!” someone roared. “You didn’t realize those damned nosy feds are in the park somewhere? No meeting. No reconciliation for services—you knew to watch out, to change plans if necessary.”
She knew the voice.
They both knew the voice. The last person they had suspected!
And it made sense, of course, given what happened in the last few minutes. The “bastard” had gotten the man something to eat.
At his own restaurant.
The man roaring in fury was none other than Brendan Cosby, beloved owner of the restaurant where George had gone so often, where they had gone, seeking to discover what they could …
And missing the main component.
And the “bitch?”
Belinda Jenkins?
So much for trusted friends.
Their newly found spirit, Henry Beacon, was waving his arms madly, and Shelly knew that he feared Brendan Cosby was about to fire at those he felt had betrayed him.
Grant gave her a one-second glance, and she knew she should proceed through the denseness of the trees while he shifted around to accost the group from a different angle.
The noise their movement made startled the fighting foursome; they were disoriented long enough for Shelly to burst through and see that Brendan was aiming his weapon at the Natalie Greenway imposter, while Dr. Grigsby was ready to shoot Brendan.
“Drop the weapons, both of you!” she ordered.
Both men turned to her instantly.
A shot rang out. Grigsby screamed as Grant’s shot caught him straight through the arm, causing his gun to fly up into the air and land in a fragrant field of night-blooming jasmine.
Shelly swirled to aim at Brendan Cosby.
But he was gone. The main man didn’t give a thought for the others, just raced off as Grigsby screamed in pain, falling to his knees. Belinda Jenkins and the Natalie imposter started to run in two different directions.
“Stop or I will shoot!” Shelly warned.
They didn’t stop. But that wasn’t going to help them for long. As the two tore off through different sets of trees, Zach and Skye arrived at the scene. Skye was already racing to kneel by the injured Grigsby.
“Go!” she shouted to the others.
The way they were positioned, there was only one direction that made sense for Shelly, and she took it.
She was in a full-fledged run to catch up with Brendan Cosby, the man who had seemed to be the friendliest, nicest guy in the world, so concerned about George, friends with Belinda …
And a cyberkiller, a murderer continually preying on the weak, using his creation of gods and goddesses and eternal rewards to push his agenda onto the demented.
It didn’t matter that she thrashed through the woods; there was enough noise all around her. And she was fast. Faster than a middle-aged man with greater weight.