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First victim. Had there been more? I hadn’t had a single dream since David gave me the dream catcher, so no spirits had been tormenting me in my sleep. And I sure hadn’t heard about another death.
Deputy Moran lowered his voice, and I struggled to hear. “I heard the two from last night were found in bizarre locations.”
Two? I grabbed the edge of the table.
“The locations themselves aren’t bizarre, it’s how they’re spaced. One was placed exactly a quarter of a mile north of Ellie’s apartment, and the other was a quarter mile to the west of it.”
“So somebody’s baiting her?” Deputy Moran asked.
“Not if she doesn’t know.”
I took an order back to the kitchen, sucking in big gulps of air. So, Ihadn’t sent Ukinim and Ilena back to hell. While I wasn’t surprised, it was disappointing. David still hadn’t found out what the conjurer had to do to destroy the badgers. I had no idea how to get rid of them for good.
But more importantly, the badgers were killing more people. We had to find a way to stop them.
On the way back to the dining room, I stopped in the hallway and grabbed my phone out of my pocket, texting David about what I’d heard.
He replied within seconds.Are you okay?
Yeah.
Call me when you get off.
“Who are you texting, Ellie?” Tom asked from several feet behind me.
I shoved my phone into my pocket and whirled around to face him. “Are you my boss now? Was I supposed to get permission first?”
“Ellie.” He sounded exhausted.
I couldn’t begrudge him for pestering me after hearing how strongly all the recent strange incidents were connected to me. Why hide it? “I was texting David.”
“You’re spending a lot of time with him.” Tom leaned his shoulder into the wall. “He came to town about the time the bodies started piling up, didn’t he?”
“Are you seriously accusing David of murder? I suspect he doesn’t even kill spiders.”
“The timing is pretty coincidental, Ellie.”
I narrowed my eyes, tilting my head. “Check that timeline again, Tom. David came to town after the dog was killed in my yard.”
Tom scowled.
“You must be desperate if you’re randomly accusing a renowned professor of grisly murders.”
His voice lowered. “You know I’m desperate. And you also know there have been more murders.”
My anger faded. “Two more?”
“Three.”
My eyes widened as my stomach churned. “But I heard you say—”
“That was just last night, Ellie. The third one was two nights ago.”
I leaned my back against the wall. “I heard you say the last two were a quarter mile north and west of my apartment. Where was the other body found?”
“At the lighthouse. We’ve done our damnedest to keep these under wraps.”
I closed my eyes. “Their hearts were eaten?”
