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“What about me?”
“Don’t you have a hot date with what’s his face?”
“If I’m lucky.” She sighs. “I guess I could let you take it with Baxter.”
A strip club with Fallon.
I frown out the window at the thought.
Something tells me she’ll ensure it’s not as enjoyable for me as I was hoping it’d be.
16
Evil
The air is crisp as nightfall descends over Ironwood Springs, but the coolness of the breeze does little to quell the knot in my stomach as I approach the compound.
It’s a good mile and a half hike from where I park my truck to the shanty mansion they call Nightshade. I wear the same black clothes, same black ski mask each time I come out, save for the sacred ceremonies where I don a red hood. There might be a cast of hundreds here on the grounds, but not one of them knows who I am, with the exception of Malcolm. He eventually admitted that he outed me to his wife, but as an odd courtesy, she never acknowledged the fact. I allowed them to live so long as I was their new master. And I am in every way.
Nightshade is dimly lit on the inside and I make my way through the kitchen and to the basement, my ski mask still securely in place.
“In here,” a voice calls out and I turn toward the grand room we’ve come to hold our meetings in. No windows, one door, it all but assures us the privacy we need.
Malcolm and Patty are seated at the sturdy oak table that I’m pretty sure he inherited with this place. I take a seat across from them and nod.
“What’s happening?” I received a call a couple of hours ago and Malcolm sounded panicked, saying we needed to talk.
Malcolm looks pallid and sweaty, his skin the color of clay. Patty seems much more reserved and calmer as if whatever they have to discuss doesn’t concern her.
“A couple came by today.” Malcolm nods as if I should be picking up on where he’s headed next.
“A lady and a man.” Patty lays it out for me as if I were an idiot and I must be to deal with them.
“What did they want?” My mind flits right to the razor wire. It’s an eyesore. I told them to take it down months ago and it’s still there. A blotch of horror over the pristine landscape. Someone obviously agrees with me.
Malcolm leans forward on his elbows as far as the table will allow. “They were cops. They had a picture of Emily.” He shakes his head my way. “Looked like it was taken a few years back. They said they were looking into a homicide.”
“Someone killed her,” Patty says hesitantly as if this were news to any of us. “They said they found her body in the creek and her head in Cheyenne.” She gives an indecisive nod as if wanting me to admit to it.
“I didn’t do it,” I say. “At least I didn’t dismember her. Maybe some kids found her. There’s a biker gang that makes its home on the other side of Ironwood. Maybe one of their drunks got her and took her head for a ride.” It wouldn’t surprise me. After all the dark things that I’ve seen and done, nothing surprises me anymore.
“Told you,” Malcolm growls at his wife. “We’ve got witches in the hills, real deal Satanists. It could have been anyone.”
“The list of probabilities is a mile long,” I say, trying my best to soothe them. “What did these cops look like? Was it the sheriff?”
Malcolm slices me a glance. “I don’t think so. The man was tall, fit, and wore a fancy suit. He had dark hair and looked like he was mapping the place with his eyes. The woman was a pretty redhead.”
Patty clears her throat and Malcolm inches back like an abused husband that’s been beaten one too many times.
A smile curves briefly on my lips. “It didn’t take long for them to come sniffing around, did it? Finding a body is enough to invoke the sheriff’s office, but you take the head across state lines and you may as well pen an invite to the feds. Now where’s Grady?”
Malcolm and Patty exchange another look.
“Come now,” I say. “Grady and Emily were inseparable. This was a cry for help. If you can’t see it, then you’re dumber than you look.”
“Emily was trying to leave,” Patty hisses. “She had to be dealt with. And there are others, too. Her friends were plotting an escape as well. But don’t worry. We caught them just in time.”
Malcolm nods. “We had an informant come forward.”
