“How’d you know I was missing in the first place?”
“Cop’s intuition.” Ryan looked around at the cluster of trees penning in the igloo. “It must have walked away, Caden. I got the impression it was, um…ticked off, that Lyle might have hurt you. There is some really weird protective thing going on there.”
“I don’t want to think about it now.” Caden’s head was pounding.
Evening stepped from the igloo, leading a docile-looking Lyle by the arm. He stationed Mason to the left of the doorway, then quietly instructed him to remain there until summoned. Lyle’s eyes were glazed, his face slack and expressionless.
“What’d you do to him?” Ryan asked as Evening approached. “Put him in some kind of trance?”
“That’s exactly what I did, Sergeant Flynn. It’s necessary until I can return him to Austin. At that point, I’ll repair his mind and wipe everything that has happened from his memory since he returned to Point Pleasant.”
Caden frowned. “How are you going to explain that to the people he interacted with here? Lyle might forget, but they’ll remember.”
Evening tilted his head to the side, his expression complacent. “I’ll tell your sheriff I was mistaken about the identity of the man who escaped, and place a post-suggestion in his mind that he accepts my account as factual.”
Ryan looked appalled. “You can do that?”
“And more. Sheriff Weston will relay the information to the rest of the men under his jurisdiction. The only people Mr. Mason interacted with are his cousin, Darrell, who I already saw and addressed earlier today, and Ms. Lynch.”
Ryan stepped in front of him. “You will not mess with her head.”
“You want her to retain her memory, as the two of you?”
“Absolutely.”
Evening seemed to consider.
“Lach,” Caden said quietly. “You owe us that much.”
“Perhaps I do. Very well. You and your brother”—his gaze shifted to Ryan—“as well as Ms. Lynch, are the only ones who will retain any memory of the events. In time, word will spread through the town that Mr. Mason was never here, and that the reports were merely rumors in error.”
“Eve retains her memories too.” Caden had no intention of relenting on that point.
Evening frowned his displeasure. “More loose ends.”
“Eve is my fiancée and knows your true identity. We’re in this together.”
“You told her?”
“I did.”
A flicker of displeasure passed through Evening’s eyes, but after a pause, he consented. “Very well.”
Caden nodded his appreciation. As tired as he was, something else struck him. “Hey. It’s got to be after eleven.”
“Eleven fifty-six to be precise.” Evening did not glance at a watch or explain how he knew.
Regardless, Caden believed him. “That means we missed Indrid Cold’s passage into this world.” Exhaling in defeat, he rubbed the back of his neck. “I wonder if Jerome sat outside waiting for your father to show up.” He looked meaningfully at Evening.
“He would have been wasting his time.”
“Why?” Ryan asked.
“Because it was not the correct location.”
“You knew that?” A twinge of irritation rippled through Caden. “Why didn’t you tell us where he’d be if you knew?”
“I didn’t know.”
“You’re not making sense,” Ryan snapped.
Evening drew a breath to explain, but there was nothing self-centered in the pause, as Caden would have determined when they first met. “There was never a location in the code, because the site was not up to my father. He planned to appear wherever the Mothman was at that precise moment.”
Caden exchanged a glance with his brother. “But that would have placed him somewhere with—”
“Us.” Ryan finished the thought. He looked at Evening. “My best guess puts the time close to when you and I were in the clearing.”
Evening nodded. “I summoned the Mothman, and by answering that call, he placed himself out of my father’s reach for those few seconds. I do not know when, or if ever, my father will physically be able to materialize on Earth again. As I explained before, he does not have my abilities, and thus must rely on transitioning layers between dimensions. Right now those layers are interlocked, which is why there is an unusual amount of UFO activity. “
“All of which has been steadily increasing,” Caden noted. Not only had the frequency of the sightings been escalating, but the craft had also started to appear during daylight hours, no longer limited strictly to nighttime.
“Precisely.” Evening’s black eyes appeared without pupil in the darkness. “Tonight signaled the peak of activity. Dimension travel will dwindle and cease in the next few days as filaments break apart.”
And there went Caden’s chance of finding Parker. “When that happens, do you have any means of communicating with your father?”
“No more than you.”
“Look, Lach. I need to find out what happened to Parker Kline.”
“Then go back to the igloo. Ask again. You’ve proven yourself worthy of the answer.”
“What makes now any different than before?” Ryan chimed in.
“Because the Mothman chose your brother over my father.”
The gravity of the situation was not lost on Caden, but it was too much to absorb with his head pounding and his arm bathed in fire. Grimacing, he rubbed his jaw. “It’s not that I’m not grateful, but I don’t understand what the thing wants from me.” It had shrieked and hissed, attempting to communicate vocally for the first time.
“Only the Mothman can answer that.” Evening turned and walked back to Lyle. “In the meantime, Sergeant, I suggest you allow your brother to drive you to the hospital. I’ll escort Mr. Mason to his car and take care of him from there.”
Caden glanced to the sky. “And the creature?”
“As I told you before.” Gripping Lyle beneath the arm, Evening led the docile man from the igloo toward the intertwined mesh of trees. “His demise will come in a desolate hour. Be vigilant, for that time is not far.”