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“That’s strange. He’s breaking the pattern here. Big time. These crimes weren’t unsolved and he hasn’t chosen someone with a matching name. What the hell is going through his head?”
“I don’t know. I just want this asshole found.”
“Forensics already been and gone?” Ella asked.
“Yeah. We actually found this in the middle of the night.”
“Who called it in?”
The chief lit a cigarette and pointed to a row of houses at the edge of the field. “All of them. They complained about the noise.”
“Screams?” Ripley asked.
“Not quite. You see that barn over there? There was music playing in there when I got here. Loud music. The devil’s music.”
Ella looked across and saw a small white barn around 200 yards away, although it looked more like a hut from where she was standing.
“I’m going to check it out,” Ripley said.
“Jump in the car,” said Cromwell. “Some of this is marshland out here. One wrong step and you’re done for.”
The agents got in Cromwell’s vehicle and he took them back onto the road and around to the other side of the field. Ripley jumped out and ran into the barn in haste.
“She okay?” Cromwell whispered in the car. “She looks spooked.”
“Trauma. She’s seen all this before. Brings back bad memories.”
Ella got out the car and walked across the soggy grass into the barn. Inside it was old, dusty, deserted. There were two hay bales and a wooden bench.
And a CD player.
“One of these things doesn’t belong,” Cromwell said.
“How do I open this thing?” Ripley asked, almost frenzied. Ella assisted her, ejecting the disc drive. Inside was a plain CD.
“What was on this thing?” Ripley asked. “I need to hear it.”
“Rock music. Heavy metal. Deafening, horrible stuff.”
Ella pushed the disc drive back in and pressed play. She turned the volume down low.
First came the sound of thunder, then a synthesizer. Next came layers of guitars and a fast, 200-bpm drumbeat.
“Told you,” Cromwell said.
Ripley’s expression had gone from solemn to angry to confused in a matter of minutes. It was clear she didn’t understand this anymore than Ella did. It must have been a real kick to the gut since Ripley considered herself the expert on all things Tobias.
But Ella had something to offer because she recognized the song.
Then came the screeching, high-pitched vocals.
Howling winds keep screaming round.
And the rain comes pouring down.
Doors are locked and bolted now.
As the thing crawls into town.
