“There’s only one word for that woman, no matter how sweet as pie she acts!” Cary exploded. “She was at the bar that night, too, sneaking around and watching her friend.”
“Cary…are you saying that Caroline Roth was at the bar the night Renee Otten was attacked?”
“She was lurking in the back, but yeah, I saw her. Just like I’ve seen her with that guy who’s fixing up Sarah’s house,” Cary said.
He was off his bar stool before she’d even finished speaking.
He called the museum as he ran, but the college kid who answered told him that the only docent there was Barry Travis.
He tried Sarah’s home phone and got the machine, then her cell, which only rang and rang before going to voice mail.
He forgot all about his car and ran all the way to her house. The door was open when he tried the knob, sending a chill coursing through him. “Sarah!”
There was no answer. He checked out the downstairs, and when he reached the kitchen, he saw her purse and phone lying in the counter. He ran down into the basement, but it was empty, then raced up the stairs and through the bedrooms.
He tried the attic.
He hurtled down the stairs again, then stopped short, staring, sure he was dreaming.
But he wasn’t.
A host of people were standing in the foyer as if they’d been waiting for him forever, their clothing elegant and their eyes sad.
One woman stepped forward. She was extremely beautiful, with translucent blue eyes, and she looked at him sympathetically as she reached for him. And even though he could see through her, he felt her gentle touch on his face as she directed his attention to the ladies’ parlor.
He walked closer and saw drag marks through the plaster dust.
And then…
He leaned down…and examined a series of smudges, realizing that they spelled out words.
rebel cemetery gun kill you
He stood and raced for his car, his phone already to his ear.
Sarah slowly came to. She was lying in a cemetery, and as soon as she looked around, she knew which one. It was a very old one and had served the outlying farms. Rebel soldiers were buried here, along with Spanish homesteaders and British immigrants. There was even a mound marking the final resting place of some of the Yankees who had died at the battle of Olustee.
She was lying on an old stone sarcophagus, and she was vaguely aware of voices droning in the background. She tested her muscles and realized that she could move—just a little bit, but at least she was no longer totally paralyzed.
She managed to turn her head toward the voices and blinked, sure she must be hallucinating, then realizing that this was all too real. She saw two figures in hooded capes, one holding a massive bowl, the other a huge curved knife with elaborate engraving along the blade.
The words…they were chanting were a mixture of English, French and something else she didn’t recognize. Maybe Spanish. Maybe Creole.
“For blood is life!” one of them cried as they lifted the bowl and knife toward the sky.
Where was Renee? she wondered. Had they already killed her?
Suddenly one of the figures moved closer and loomed over her. From the size, she realized it was Gary.
“Let’s do it,” Caroline said impatiently.
“No. Not yet. I want to play with her,” Gary said, tossing back his hood as he leaned down, staring at Sarah in fascination. He smiled cruelly. “Her eyes are open. She sees me. Or maybe a dragon. Or a monster. Maybe a giant wolf.”
“Gary, get away from her.”
Gary flashed Caroline an angry look. “I get to play with the girls first, because I am the god. That’s what it says in the book.”
“Not her,” Caroline insisted.
“Especially her,” Gary said. “I love her. I’ve always loved her. But she never loved me. Never.”
“Get away from her, Gary. We have to hurry. What’s the matter with you? She has to die, and we have to be ready when Caleb gets here—we have to kill him and then mess me up so it looks like he tried to kill me, too. Get smart, Gary, come on,” Caroline urged.
“Shut up! Give me a minute.”
He touched Sarah’s face, and she tried not to twitch. She couldn’t let him know that she was starting to be able to move, because she needed the element of surprise.
She might have only one chance of saving herself.
Caleb drew his car up in the shelter of the trees outside the cemetery wall and killed the motor. He got out and scaled the wall, dropping silently to the ground and moving carefully between the old headstones until he could see them.
Gary was bending down over a weathered sarcophagus, with a knife in his hand as he stared intently at Sarah.
Or Sarah’s body.
No.
Caroline was standing beneath a tree.
Where was Renee?
He looked around and he saw a burlap bag bulging with…
Renee’s body. Dead or alive.
He held still for a long moment, watching, judging his distance. Wondering how far behind him the police cars were.
Then, to his amazement, he saw…himself. No, not himself. Cato. Running toward Gary and Caroline.