Chapter Twelve
T.K. fell asleep that night quickly. Even as she closed her eyes, she slipped into the nightmare that plagued her life. She was back in the abandoned warehouse with India. When they had heard the bang of the door being pulled open, they sneaked closer to the rail on the second floor. From that point, they could see the whole lower floor. When the man first came in, he moved to the far wall. On the other side of the wall were a dock and a boat landing. He set up a folding table. He covered it with a white cloth and dug a hole in the ground with a small shovel. He left briefly and when he came back, he was carrying the body of a woman. He laid her on the table and carefully tied her down. Then he cut the clothes from her body.
When she was naked, he splashed water in her face. When she came to, they could hear her begging with him to let her go. He ignored her and began chanting in a language India didn’t recognize. Then he held up a long wicked looking dagger. The woman screamed even as it was plunged into her chest. With one smooth movement, he cut her from breastbone to pelvis.
Her screams finally faded into whimpers and then she was silent. She could see the glazed look in her eyes and she knew the woman was dead. She turned away from the sight below and covered her mouth with her hands. She closed her eyes and began to cry.
India leaned toward her and whispered, “Be quiet or he’ll hear us.”
T.K. shook her head but managed to quiet her sobs. She crawled over to the opposite corner and hugged her knees to her chest. She hung her head on her knees and cried.
India turned back to the scene below. She watched as the man slit her throat and began removing her organs and placing them into the four jars, he placed on the end of the table.
India watched the blood drain from her throat into the hole he dug. When the man was finished, she watched as he cut off the woman’s head. At that moment, T.K. sat up and screamed.
Her hands reached for her neck and she was thankful there was no blood on them. She took a deep breath and tried to calm her heart. Sweat poured down the side of her face as she swung her legs over the side of the bed. She needed to stop the insanity of the dream. She got up and opened her door. Walking down the hall, she poured herself a drink from the bottle still sitting on the table from earlier tonight. She lifted the glass to her lips and swallowed the liquor before she had time to think. When the liquor hit her stomach, she gasped for breath. When she finally caught it, she poured another drink and walking over to the sofa, she sat down.
Slowly sipping the drink, she ran through the dream again. She almost felt she was missing something that should have been important but she couldn’t think of what it could be. She was so intent on her own thoughts she missed seeing Quinn join her. It wasn’t until he stopped his chair next to her that she became aware of his appearance.
“Oh, my god…” T.K. whispered. “You scared the bejesus out of me.”
“Are you okay?” Quinn asked. “You don’t look so good.”
T.K. glanced at him before she looked at her drink. Taking a small sip she said, “I had the nightmare again.”
“I thought I heard something.”
“I’ve gotten so used to the nightmare I don’t scream myself awake at the end anymore. You know, right after he cuts off her head and puts it in the jar.” She couldn’t meet his eyes. “I used to wake up the whole house when I had the nightmares. My parents asked me what they were about but I could never tell anyone. I thought if I told them, they might end up dead instead of me.”
Quinn knew exactly what she was talking about. Before he could say anything she went on, “I keep thinking there is something I’m missing. I’m remembering each and every moment of that horrible night and I feel as if I’m overlooking some small piece of evidence.”
“How do you keep from going insane?” Quinn asked. “Doesn’t it bother you that you saw a woman being butchered?”
“Yes it bothers me, but not as much as knowing he’s still out there doing it to someone else,” T.K. admitted. “We need to stop him.”
They were interrupted when India came down the hall. She looked as if she’d been crying.
T.K. moved over and India sat down next to her. India leaned into her embrace. “You had the nightmare again too, huh?”
India nodded. “I didn’t want to wake up Briar.”
“I don’t think he’d mind,” Quinn said softly.
Before she could respond they were all startled to hear the phone on the table next to the sofa begin ringing. India reached over and picked it up before the sound disturbed the rest of the house. “Hello?”
“Hello yourself. Who am I speaking to?” a man’s voice asked.
“Who were you calling for?” India asked as she got a creepy feeling in her stomach. She looked over at Quinn and T.K.
“I’d like to speak to India or a woman named Theresa if I may.”
“What do you want with them?” India asked.
“I just wanted to tell them that I know they are out there and I will find them. And when I do, I’ll add their heads to my collection.”
India dropped the phone to her lap and the last thing she heard was his laughter until the line went dead. She felt a coldness deep down to her bones as she turned her head to T.K.
“Who was that?” T.K. asked, already knowing the answer.
“I think it was Cooper Hudson,” India whispered.
“How did he get this number?” T.K. was panicking looking between India and Quinn. “How did he know where we are?”
“I don’t know,” India replied. Thoughts of running away were going through her head. But then she pushed those thoughts out. She wasn’t going to run, not this time.
She got up and went down the hall. She opened the door to Briar’s room. India stared at the man sleeping in the bed. She hadn’t turned on the light but instead she went over and sat down next to him. “We have a problem.”
Briar startled awake then turned his head toward her. “What kind of problem?” The look of fear in her eyes made him sit up and reach for her.
India leaned into his embrace when she told him, “The phone rang, and when I answered it, the man on the other end asked for me or Theresa. When I asked why he was calling, he said he was coming to add our heads to his collection.”
“What the hell?” Briar hugged her closer. “Who do you think it was?”
“I think it was Cooper Hudson. How the hell did he know where we were? Or that we would be here at all?”
“I don’t know but I’m going to find out.” Briar pushed the covers off and India got off the bed. “I’ll be out in a moment.”
She left him to get dressed. When she rejoined T.K. and Quinn in the living room, they could plainly see how upset she was. She sat down next to them and pulled T.K. into her arms. They waited for Briar to join them.
Briar came out a few minutes later buttoning his shirt. His hair was mussed and he wasn’t wearing any shoes or socks. He walked out into the kitchen and began a pot of coffee. When he joined them, he pulled a hassock over and sat across from India. He threw a look of panic at his brother before he said, “Okay, now tell me everything he said.”
“When I answered the phone he asked to speak to either India or Theresa. When I asked why he wanted them, he said, To tell them he knows we’re out there and that he’s coming for us. Then he said something about adding our heads to his collection.”
T.K. sat up and asked, “How did he know where we are?”
“I don’t know but when everyone else gets up, I’ll ask Cade and see if he knows anything at all,” Briar told her.
“I think we should leave here now. We aren’t safe anymore,” T.K. said.
“I think we should wake him up for this.” Quinn turned and rolled down the hall to his brother’s room.
“No,” India told her. “I’m not running away from this guy anymore. It’s time to stand and fight.”
“I need a cigarette,” T.K. got up and went to her bedroom. When she returned she went to the courtyard door. Her hands were shaking as she stepped outside and lit up. India and Quinn joined her and she passed the pack to her friend. India led her to a table and sat down beside her. “I know you’re afraid but we have to see this thing through.”
“Why?” T.K. asked. “He’ll kill us if we stay here.”
“Because if we don’t, he’ll always be out there somewhere, waiting and watching for us to quit looking over our shoulders. I’m not going to live like a criminal. I haven’t done anything wrong, yet he’s got us living in mortal fear. I’m not going to do it anymore.”
“You always were tougher than I was.” T.K. glanced over at the silent Quinn but couldn’t look at him long. She didn’t want to know if he thought her a coward or not.
Briar joined them with a tray of coffee cups and a carafe of hot coffee. He poured each of them a cup and sat down. He looked toward the water’s edge and noted the predawn lightening of the eastern sky. “Cade’s up. He’ll join us when he’s dressed. He’ll want to know about the phone call.”
“How did he take it?” India asked.
“Oh, he’s pissed, no doubt about it,” Briar replied. When he saw his brother coming down the hall, he poured another cup of coffee.
When Cade joined them, he glanced at his brothers, then grabbed the coffee and swallowed half a cup then sat down and faced India. “What did the caller say exactly?”
“He asked for either India or Theresa and then he said to tell them he was coming after them. He knew about them and he wanted to add our heads to his collection.”
He turned and glared at Briar and Quinn. “How the hell did he get this number?”
Briar shrugged.
Quinn shook his head.
“The only other person who knew the girls were here was James Kingston of the Boston police,” Cade reasoned. “Yesterday when we left Boston he was taking Gretchen Hawks into custody as a person of interest in the Jenna Kramer murder.”
“Maybe he told her too much and she passed the information onto her son,” Briar suggested.
Cade shook his head. “Kingston’s too good a cop for that.” He sat there and thought for a moment. “Something must have gone very wrong. He wouldn’t have just told them about the witnesses.”
Cade glanced at his watch. “I’m going to try and call the Boston PD. Maybe they can tell me something.” He went back into the house.
“If Kingston told Gretchen about you and T.K. there had better be a good reason. Otherwise he’s going to kill the man,” Quinn remarked.
When Cade joined them a few minutes later he looked pale. He grabbed his coffee cup and took a swig, but before he could swallow the liquid he spit it back out. “Damn, its cold.” He growled.
Briar picked up the coffee pot and refilled his cup. “What did you find out?”
Cade sat down at the table. “James Kingston died yesterday on his way back to Boston from Gretchen Hawks’ place.”
“What?”
Cade nodded. “We watched him leave with her in the car. Moments later, we were on our way back here. Damn it, Flynn and Cooper must have been inside the whole time. They heard everything we said. According to Kingston’s deputy, they waylaid James on the way back to Boston. His car was found in a rest area just off the highway. Gretchen was gone and James fought hard but they killed him anyway. They took the files he had and that’s probably how they found out about the two of you.”
“So where does that leave us?” T.K. asked.
“We don’t have a choice anymore,” Cade said. “We have to get to Flynn and Cooper before they get to us.”
“Meaning?” Briar asked.
“The best defense is a surprise offence. Remember what your girl said? As soon as Elliot and the others get up, we’re going to Sunbury, PA. He won’t expect us to come to him.”
“Weren’t you in Sunbury just yesterday?” Briar asked.
“We stopped briefly but I think we need to go back and this time we aren’t going to be put off by the locals.” Cade said.
“What did you find out yesterday?” India asked.
“I spoke to Sheriff Jonathan Dillman. He told me Flynn Hudson had a place just outside of Sunbury. They don’t come into town very often but they are nice enough when they do. Flynn has lived in Sunbury all his life. He even brought Gretchen to live there for a while after they got together but she didn’t stick around too long.”
The phone began ringing inside the house and Cade got up to answer it. He came back out a few minutes later with a thoughtful expression on his face. “Well, well, well this is new wrinkle.”
“What is?” Briar asked.
“That was Special Agent Hank Parry, DEA. It seems we are stepping in on his investigation.”
“What investigation?” Briar frowned.
“The DEA has Flynn Hudson under investigation for manufacturing and distributing a designer drug called Egyptian Gold. He asked what our intention was and when I told him he asked us to wait until this afternoon to go there. That would give his men time to get into position. I told him we would go there and find out as much as we could but that we wouldn’t go near the Hudson place until he got there. Parry said that would be okay.”
“How much more are we going to uncover about this guy?” T.K. asked. “Is there nothing he isn’t into?”
“Parry said that for the twenty years, Flynn Hudson has had no taxable income yet the place he lives in is not exactly run down and he has the latest security in place,” Cade said.
Makes you wonder how he earns his living and why would a man with no job need top notch security, doesn’t it?” Briar asked.