AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I’ve heard tales. It burned to the ground in the late twenties. Most of those inside died.”
“Did you know that Athelinda was kept there?”
She could see the shock in his eyes. “No.”
“So, if her son is half-human, maybe that’s where she got pregnant.”
Tucker nodded, trying to take this information in. “Maybe. Damn.”
Barbara let out an irritated sigh. “Problem is, everything I’m finding out just gives the Colony and Athelinda more reason to want to hurt Deadhart.”
“If Athelinda wanted to hurt Deadhart, she’d have done it before now,” Tucker said.
“You think Nathan knew he was meeting a vampyr?”
“No, I don’t think so.”
“You think Athelinda knew her son was hooking up with a human?”
“Nothing happens in the Colony without her knowing about it. If Michael was meeting up with Nathan, you can bet there was a reason.”
“Maybe gathering information?” Barbara mused. “Or maybe she has a specific interest in Nathan?”
“That I don’t know.”
Barbara considered. There was something else that Beau had said:
“Kids used to go missing from Deadhart all the while back then.”
“Is it true that kids have gone missing from Deadhart before?”
“Not on my watch.”
“I’m talking a long time ago, maybe thirties, forties, or even earlier?”
He shifted in his seat. “I heard stories. Mostly loose tongues in the Grill, talking about the good old days when they could hunt the Colony.”
“Beau mentioned Rita’s aunt—said she disappeared when she was a little girl.”
“Look, it sounds harsh, but kids were often neglected in small towns like these back then. Left to run wild. Got killed by bears or lost in the woods. If a kid fell in the river or down a ravine—their body might never be found. Rita would tell you the same.”
Barbara nodded. “But what if it was a vampyr? Maybe our killer has been killing for a lot longer than we realized?”
His face creased. “I don’t know. There’ve never been any murders like Todd or Marcus before.”
“That you know about.”
“True, but what about the long gap?”
Barbara considered. “The reason most serial killers don’t get caught earlier is because they move around. They count on someone not joining the dots. But often they have a favorite place. A killing spot they return to. That’s usually what gets them.”
“Well, we know Nathan recently returned to Deadhart, and he was here when Todd was killed.”
He was right. But somehow Nathan didn’t strike Barbara as a serial killer. Usually they were smart, organized, good at covering their tracks. Unless the aggressive-drunk act was a double-bluff. She thought about Mowlam again. The good looks. The easy charm. The feeling that his persona was all snake oil. Something else lurking just beneath the slick surface.
“Kurt Mowlam is another recent arrival,” she said.
“But he’d only have been a kid back when Todd was killed. Barely in double figures.”
