“Are you sure you’re okay?” Victoria asked again. She didn’t like the amount of blood that was soaking through Jason’s jeans below his knees. He’d climbed out of her SUV in slow motion, moving gingerly, trying not to bump his legs on the truck door. Seth came around the front of the vehicle, stopped next to Victoria, and squinted at Jason’s pants in the dim light.
“Wow. You’re really bleeding.”
Jason swallowed hard and looked at the front door of the little house. They’d stopped in front of an old A-frame cabin that looked straight out of a campground from the 1950s. Victoria could make out some smaller outbuildings scattered around the forested property, but this was the only one with lights on inside. The entire area was dark. The rain clouds and firs shadowed the area, creating an atmosphere of midnight when in reality, the sun had set only an hour ago. The cabin was built on a slightly elevated piece of ground, avoiding the possibility of flooding like the low area they’d crossed minutes before. The Coast Range sloped up behind the cabin, giving the impression that it grew out of the back of the residence.
Victoria followed Jason’s gaze to the cabin. “Are you sure someone’s home?”
“Yes, I talked to him earlier.”
“Maybe you should be the one to knock. Although I think he’s expecting me, too. Is your grandfather Cecil Adams?” Victoria asked.
Jason met her gaze, and she didn’t like the level of alarm in his eyes. “Yes, why are you seeing him?”
“Supposedly he’s got some old documentation of church records. Possibly some adoption references. I’m trying to verify my birth parents.” Victoria watched his face carefully. Why was the teen so alarmed? “Does that sound like something he’d have?”
“I don’t really know.” Jason looked away, picking at his jeans.
Why is he lying to me?
“Did your grandfather belong to a church that burned down a long time ago?” Seth asked, his brows nearly touching each other as he studied the young man. Seth sees it, too.
“Beats me.” Jason bent to examine the bloody denim around his knee.
Victoria turned toward the house as the squeak of hinges caught her attention. She turned in time to see a flash from a shotgun muzzle and was deafened by the immediate roar.
Seth tackled her from behind, crushing her into the mud.
Seth saw the old man step out the door with his double-barreled shotgun pointed in their direction. The boom sounded in his ears as he rushed at Victoria, hitting her in the shoulders and landing on top of her, covering her head with his hands. Trinity cried out, as Jason pushed her aside, knocking her down.
“Nonno! Stop it! It’s me!” the teen yelled at the old man.
“Jason?” the man asked.
“Damn it, Nonno! What are you doing? You knew I was coming.”
“Don’t swear at me, boy! I expected you and the girl. Who else is with you?”
Seth studied the white-bearded old man from his position on Victoria’s back. He was squinting in the dim light, and Seth suspected he’d shot over their heads, not directly at them. “Mr. Adams?” Seth asked.
The gun moved toward Seth. “Who wants to know?”
“My name is Seth. Victoria Peres is with me. I think you were going to show us some paperwork in your barn?” The old man was silent, and Seth wondered if he’d forgotten about their meeting already. Was he sane? At the worst he had one round left in the shotgun. Judging by his stiff movements, it’d take a few moments to reload. “Are you going to put away that gun?”
“Are you armed?” Mr. Adams asked.
“No,” said Seth, immediately wishing he’d kept his mouth shut. But the old man lowered the gun a little, pointing it behind them instead of directly at them. Seth exhaled and Victoria squirmed underneath him.
“Get off of me,” she hissed.
He moved. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay. But my wrist cracked when we went down.” Pain rang in her voice. She pushed up with her right hand, tucking her left close to her chest. Mud covered the front of her clothing and one side of her face.
He wiped at her face with his sleeve. “What do you mean, cracked?” Dread tightened his chest.
“I’m not sure. I heard it and I can feel it.” She looked at the old man by the front door and raised her voice. “Mr. Adams, you said you were okay with us coming out tonight, right?”
“Lady, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Victoria caught her breath. “I just talked to you on the phone. Less than an hour ago. You have some old church records we were going to look at.”
The old man stared at her, squinting in the poor light. “What’d he say your name was?”
“Victoria Peres.” The twin barrels returned to point directly at her.
“Peres? The lady doctor?” Adams asked.
“Yes. I have a doctorate in forensic anthropology. I’m not a medical doctor.”
A grin cracked the man’s face. She didn’t like it. It wasn’t a happy grin. It was an I’m-a-crazy-bastard grin.
“Why do you think he can help with some paperwork?” Jason asked, his voice low. “He’s an old man. He doesn’t know anything.”
Seth looked at the teen. Jason was helping Trinity wipe off the mud just like he’d done for Victoria. There was an urgency in the boy’s voice that made the hair stiffen on the back of his neck. “Why not?”
“You guys should just leave. He can’t help you. Get Trinity out of here, too.”
“Why did you bring her out here then?”
“I didn’t know he was going to be in one of his crazy moods,” Jason stated. “It’s best to leave him alone when he’s got the gun out.”
No kidding.
“Maybe we should come back another day,” Seth whispered to Victoria.
“No. We’re here. I want to see what he’s got.”
“Jason probably knows when it’s best to leave his grandfather alone. I think we should listen to him.”
Another gun roared and Victoria flung herself back to the ground with Seth a split second behind her. His ears rang, and he mentally checked his limbs for injuries.
“Jesus Christ, Dad. What the hell?” Jason yelled.
Dimly Seth noted that the second gunshot had come from behind them. Looking back, he saw a tall, thin figure with a similar shotgun who’d just blasted a hole in Victoria’s rear tire. Panic flared in his lungs.
“Don’t blaspheme,” the figure said.
Jason’s dad?
“Why did you do that?” the teen yelled at his father.
The man said nothing. Seth couldn’t make out his face in the dark, but he could plainly see the shotgun focused on him and Victoria. Two barrels again. Images of the crazy men in Deliverance spun in his brain.
“Oh my God,” Victoria whispered. “What is this?”
“I’ve no fucking idea,” Seth said under his breath. “How are we going to get out of here?”
“I don’t care if my tire’s shot out. I’ll drive on it if that’s the only way out,” she whispered.
“Be quiet,” the thin man ordered. “Get up.”
Seth stood, keeping the man in his view, and carefully helped Victoria to her feet. Jason helped Trinity up and moved between her and his father. “You need to let them go.”
“I don’t think so.” His head turned toward Victoria. “I’ve been waiting for her.”
Seth froze. What did he want with Tori?
Pain radiated up Victoria’s arm. Shit. The slightest movement or twist made her eyes roll back in her head. Definitely broken. She’d heard the snap when Seth landed on her. But at the moment, her arm was the least of her concerns. Two crazy men with shotguns took priority.
“What is going on?” she mumbled to Seth, who supported her with her other arm. Rain and mud soaked her jeans.
“I don’t think Jason’s grandfather is happy to see you.”
“I got that. But why?”
“Women shouldn’t do what you do,” came a voice behind her.
She glanced over her shoulder and saw the tall, thin man with his gun’s muzzle at Trinity’s back. He didn’t wear a hat or hood, and water streamed down his face. He gave no sign that he felt it.
“It’s not normal,” he added.
“What do I do?” she asked him.
“Look at bones. Those people are dead. You shouldn’t be handling them like they were pots and pans.” His voice rumbled in anger.
Fire ripped up her spine. “I give every death the respect it deserves! I don’t throw their remains around like pots. My job is to figure out why they died and who is to be held responsible.”
“Why is anyone responsible? Perhaps they deserved to die.”
A new chill started in Victoria’s stomach and filled her lungs.
Was he their killer of the circle of women from forty-five years ago? She dismissed the thought. He was too young to have committed that crime. She slowly turned her head to look at the grandfather. He was not.
The old man was still staring at her, his gun trained on her and Seth. He’d recognized her name. How? From the paper? “Are you Cecil Adams?” She directed her voice at the porch.
“That’s one of my names.”
“And the other?” she asked.
“At one time I was Cesare Abbadelli. Americans struggled with that name. No one blinked when I changed it to Adams.”
Memories poked at her brain. “You were the pastor. My parents went to your church. I remember that it had burned down and I remember you.” She could picture a kind old man, sort of like Santa Claus. But now he was Santa with a gun.
“As I remember you,” he stated.
“That’s enough talking!” Jason’s father snapped.
Victoria leaned on Seth as she turned to look at the angry man. “We need to leave.”
“Absolutely not.” He moved his gun closer to the back of Trinity’s head. Her blonde ponytail dripped rainwater onto her back.
Ice grew in Victoria’s gut. Facing her, Trinity couldn’t see behind her but Victoria’s expression must have alarmed her. Her eyes filled. Both women looked at Jason. The boy appeared stunned.
“Dad, what are you doing?”
“I want you to take them to the shed.”
“No, why—” began Jason.
“Don’t question me, boy!” he snarled.
“Jason,” Trinity started. “Why—”
“Quiet!” roared his father. “Move them, now!”
“No,” stated Trinity. Jason’s father slammed her in the head with his shotgun muzzle, and she cried out, making Victoria cringe. Seth started in Trinity’s direction, but Victoria grabbed his arm with her good hand, locking gazes with the younger gunman. Fear and anger shone from his eyes.
He’s crazy.
She held tight to Seth.
“Get back.” Leo separated Trinity and Jason. “Stand with the girl,” he ordered Victoria.
Every cell in Victoria’s body screamed not to leave Seth. She let go of his arm, holding his gaze. She felt like she was being ripped from her foundation. As long as she stayed by Seth she was safe. She turned her head so neither of the gunmen could see her lips move. “There’s a gun in the console,” she whispered. She usually kept the small handgun in her duffel for boating, ever since she’d been accosted by transients at the waterfront one morning. She’d moved it to her console when she emptied the duffel last week. Seth’s eyes widened the smallest bit and he gave a small nod.
“Leo!” shouted Abbadelli. “What are you doing?”
“What I should have done a long time ago. I’m taking control of this family. You served long enough. It’s time for new blood.”
Abbadelli’s jaw dropped. “Leo?”
“Do you think you’re the only one who can have power?” Leo stared at his father, a challenge in his eyes. “I’ve been watching you all my life. I’ve learned from the best.”
Victoria cringed. Leo’s hatred for his father shone on his face. What had the man done to his son?
She joined Trinity, whose tears streamed down her cheeks. Her hand was pressed to the side of her head where Leo had hit her. Blood oozed between her fingers, mixing with the rain that drenched them all. The blood was a dark stain against her light hair. She silently met Victoria’s gaze.
She was terrified.
What had they walked into?
“Lock them in the shed.” Leo dug in his pocket and held out a key to Jason. “Careful opening the door, the other one might try to get out. Bring me back the key.”
Other one?
Leo looked at the two dripping women. “I’ll come give you instructions in a minute.”
No one moved.
Leo moved behind Jason and punched him in the kidney with the butt of his weapon. The boy gasped and fell to his knees. He moaned and collapsed into the mud. Leo kicked him in the other kidney with his boot. “Next time do what you’re told!”
Seth took one step in Leo’s direction only to come face to face with the muzzle of his shotgun.
“Don’t move!”
Seth raised his hands. And froze.
“Now!” Leo bellowed at Jason. Jason lurched up from the ground, resting his hands on his thighs, and then took a few shaky steps, his back hunched in pain, to take the key from his father’s hand. His father pulled a pistol out of the inside of his coat and held it out toward the boy. “Use this.” Jason took it with weak hands.
Jason turned to the women, meeting Trinity’s gaze. I’m sorry, he mouthed at her. Trinity simply stared at him.
“Go that way,” Jason directed, pointing to the right of the house with the pistol. Victoria and Trinity looked at each other and back at Jason. Neither moved.
“Move or I’ll shoot her brains out,” Leo said calmly, pressing the muzzle of his shotgun into the back of Trinity’s head. She gasped.
Victoria grabbed her hand and tugged her in the direction Jason had indicated. Trinity followed. Victoria glanced over her shoulder at Leo. Disgust exuded from his gaze. She nearly tripped in alarm.
Why did he hate them?
Seth watched Victoria and Trinity walk away, fighting every instinct to grab the barrels of Leo’s shotgun and deck him with it. But Leo was watching him. Closely.
When Leo stuck his son, the shock hit Seth.
They were in trouble. Big trouble.
The old man on the porch. Abbadelli. He looked just as shocked by Leo’s actions. He now leaned against one of the porch rails, his focus with the shotgun not as precise as minutes before.
“Looks like you surprised your father,” said Seth to Leo.
The thin man jerked and glared at Seth. “Shut up.”
Seth raised a brow. And said nothing. Both sets of fathers and sons were at odds. That was clear.
“You’re the one who Victoria talked to on the phone, aren’t you?” Seth injected an amazed tone into his voice. Butter him up.
Leo sneered.
“You posed as your father to get her out here, why?” Seth pressed.
“It was time. He’s let her go on for too long and not done anything about it,” Leo answered. “Move to the porch.” He waved his shotgun in Seth’s direction.
Seth raised his hands and walked toward Abbadelli, where he waited on the porch. The old man was breathing hard, his face red below his white hair. “Your father doesn’t look too good, Leo. Your chest hurt?” he asked Abbadelli.
“Shut up,” Abbadelli snapped. “What is wrong with you?” he gasped at Leo.
“You’ve shoved her in my face for the last time,” Leo said from behind Seth.
Seth stopped at the bottom of the steps, looking up at the old man, worrying he was about to have a heart attack.
“Shoved who?” Abbadelli spit out between breaths.
“The woman! Peres. You’ve bragged for years about her success in my face.”
Seth blinked. Years?
The shotgun jammed into his back, and Seth stumbled onto the first step. “Get up there. In that chair.”
Seth slowly moved up the step. Abbadelli had recovered enough to keep his shotgun aimed at his progress. The rain stopped beating on his head as he moved under the roof, but drops landing on the ground grew louder, their noise echoing off the wood siding of the cabin.
He sat in the chair.
“Get me some rope,” Leo ordered his father. Abbadelli disappeared into the house, as Leo stood on the top step, his gun trained on Seth’s head. The two men stared at each other.
“What will happen to Victoria and Trinity?” Seth asked.
Leo’s eyes lit up, making the skin on Seth’s neck crawl. Jesus Christ. So that is what crazy looks like.
“They’ll be tied up for a while.” Leo laughed at his private joke.
Sweat dripped from Seth’s armpits. The air was cold, but he was about to overheat. Everything around him was soaking wet, but his mouth rivaled a desert. Keep your head.
Abbadelli stepped out of the cabin, a length of rope in his hands. “Tie him to the chair,” Leo ordered. “Tie it tight.”
Seth’s hands were pulled behind him and through the rungs of the back of the chair. He winced as the rope burned his wrist as Abbadelli strictly followed Leo’s orders. The chair was no flimsy discount chair. It was a heavy-duty solid wood construction that looked like it’d been on the Abbadelli porch since the Second World War. Seth wouldn’t be busting any boards trying to escape. Abbadelli tied a second loop tight around his waist.
“Where’s Jason?” Abbadelli asked as he yanked on the ropes to test.
“He’s not back yet.”
“You trust him with those women?” Abbadelli asked.
“He’ll do as he’s told.”
Abbadelli snorted. “I used to say that about you.”
Seth heard a tone of pride in the old man’s voice. So now he’s impressed that his son is a criminal?
“I let you believe what I wanted you to believe,” Leo said smugly.
Abbadelli straightened from his knot-tying job. “I believed Jason had killed those girls last week. You didn’t do anything to correct me.”
Leo’s face lit up in crazy mode again, setting off alarms in Seth’s head. “I knew you’d figure it out eventually. I wanted to show you I had more steel than you believed.”
Leo had been seeking Daddy’s approval? That was why those girls were killed?
“You needed to see what I was capable of. You always said I had none of you in me, only Mama in me. I wanted you to know you were wrong.”
“So you killed children?” Seth challenged. “What kind of man kills children to prove a point?”
Leo shifted his hold on his shotgun to a batter’s stance and swung the gun at Seth’s head. The tip caught Seth’s cheekbone before he could whip his face out of the way. The crunch sickened his stomach and pain burned along his cheek. Blood dripped onto his shirt.
He ground his eyes shut, the pain reverberating through his skull.
Don’t taunt the killer.
Leo got close to his face. “My father created a work of art with the bodies of those women decades ago. It was damned beautiful. Like a white flower. I never got it out of my head.” He reached out with a finger and jabbed at Seth’s cheekbone. Fire shot though his face and his tears mixed with his blood.
“How?” asked Seth. “How were you able to get those girls to trust and follow you?”
The man kept his face close to Seth’s, grinning as he studied his handiwork below Seth’s eye. “That was easy. Every girl wants to know she’s beautiful. I found some through Jason’s Facebook account, and that led to others. Teen girls post pictures of themselves everywhere. It was easy to find the look I wanted. I’d set up a professional page through Facebook months before, showcasing some of the work I’d done. It was so easy to get their attention; they all wanted the chance to look beautiful on film. Whores. Sluts, all of them.”
They were children. People’s daughters.
“Now. Drink this.” Leo slid a flask out of his back pocket and shook it before unscrewing the cap. Seth didn’t think he was sharing a companionable shot of whiskey.
“What’s that?”
“Something to make you sleep.”
Phenobarbital. What he’d found in the girls’ stomachs.
He turned his face away.
“Hold his head! Plug his nose!” Leo ordered.
Seth’s head was grabbed and braced against Abbadelli’s stomach. Leo snagged Seth’s chin with one hand and pushed the metal against his lips, cutting the soft flesh and scraping his teeth. He thrashed his head back and forth. Someone’s finger dug into his ripped flesh over his cheekbone and he screamed. Leo sloshed the liquid in his mouth. Seth spit and thrashed some more, but some liquid slid down his throat. He tried to gag, envisioning every nasty stench that’d ever crossed his table. He was unsuccessful.
“That’s enough,” Leo snapped. He stood back, panting, his eyes flashing in anger. Behind Seth, Abbadelli panted harder. “I’ll just have to convince him to have a nice long drink.” He set the flask on the railing. “Ready for a show that’ll make you beg me to let you drink?” Leo looked at his father. “Watch him,” he ordered. He turned and dashed down the porch steps into the dark night.
He’s getting Victoria.
Seth wondered if he should have drank.