Page 23

CHAPTER 23

I got bored tossing and turning that night, watching the clock until it was time for the atrium to open for breakfast. I nudged Maddie awake, and we plodded downstairs for coffee, juice, and a hearty meal. I knew it would be a busy day, and I wasn’t sure when we’d have time to eat again.

The first thing I did when we stepped back into the room was to call Henry.

When he answered, I said, “Henry, how are you?”

My old New Oreleans buddy and I took a handful of seconds for greetings before I asked him about the status of his girlfriend’s case.

“It’s the craziest thing, Sloane, I tell ya. They would still be focusing on a robbery gone wrong, except for … uh, hang on.”

And then he put me on hold.

I tried not to dwell on the knife to the throat Kim had received, a horrible personal assault, similar to what had happened with Grady, only he’d been repeatedly stabbed in the chest.

But then we had Harmony, alive and well, other than suffering a heavy blow to the head—nothing to sneeze at, to be sure. She’d experienced a concussion from the attack, along with some minor cuts and bruises … and no doubt some mental battles to work through as well.

While I waited for Henry to come back on the line, I signaled to Maddie, who was rummaging through her suitcase.

“What’s up?” she asked.

I covered my phone with my hand. “Hey, we should give Almond a call to check on her and Harmony. I want to make sure they haven’t had any other problems or found out anything new about Harmony’s attack. If they ask about any new developments on our end, I say we don’t mention anything. For now.”

Maddie gave me a thumbs-up. “I gotcha covered.”

She swooped her phone off the bed, where it lay next to her purse, and walked toward the other side of the room.

Henry came back on the line. “Cripes, sorry. That was funeral home. Seems there’s another delay of some sort. I’ll have to go over there. Sloane, I sure do wish you were here.”

“I do too, my friend. I do too. Won’t be long, but we’re in Savannah right now.”

“Savannah? Weren’t you going to the mountains?”

“And we did, yes. But—” I debated about how much I wanted to say. “There’s been a bit of a family emergency, and we were waylaid.”

“Hmm-hm. Everything going to be okay?”

He was testing me.

Good ol’ Henry.

Fighting a smile, I called him out on it. “You’re pushing me to come clean, aren’t you?”

“I know you well enough to know when you’re working a case, Sloane. Is it related to Kim? Something else? I remember you had an old case over there in Savannah …”

“I’d rather not get into it right now,” I said, “not with all you’re going through at the moment.”

He cleared his throat, then said, “Just be careful, and hurry on back to New Orleans. I need you.”

Guilt consumed me; I wished I could be in two places at once. I should have gone to him before coming to Savannah, but I couldn’t ignore what was happening or the fact I was starting to feel like a mouse being led around by a piece of cheese.

Which was the truth.

That bastard was leading, and I was following. I needed to take a more proactive approach, and that started with my next question.

“I’ll be there as soon as I can,” I said. “But, hey, before you go, I do have a question about the investigation down there. They haven’t happened to find any, say, messages or notes, have they?”

There was a long pause.

“How did you know?” he asked.

I swung around to find Maddie, who was just coming out of the bathroom. I waved her over, putting the call on speaker.

“Henry, it’s Maddie. You’re on speaker now. What’s going on?”

“You referring to the note they found on Kim’s body? How did y’all know about that? They swore me to secrecy.”

“Who’s they ?” I asked.

“The law, who else? I’d planned to tell you anyway, once you got back from vacation, but then you called just now. I was about to tell you about the note they’d found, but I got interrupted by a call from the funeral home. So, yeah, there was a note. A creepy one too.”

“Do you have a copy?” Maddie asked.

“Can’t say as I do. But I have it ingrained in my brain. I’ll never forget it.”

He told us what the note said.

When he was done, one thought circled through my mind: And three makes a serial killer. Almost.

Grabbing a notepad from the desk, I asked Henry to repeat the words, but to include punctuation, capitalization, and where new lines began. I wrote as he spoke, asking questions to clarify, and in the end, I had this:

Number two, who are you?

A friend to Danger

- once was a stranger.

Don’t choke up!

And ending with the crossroads symbol.

“That’s a lot more complicated than the other—” Maddie stopped when she caught herself.

But Henry had already clued in. “Hold on now, are you saying there was another note?”

“It’s complicated, Henry,” I said. “I can’t go into it right now, but later, I will. I promise. I called to check in and see how you were doing, that’s all. Find out what was going on with the case. Knowing I’m not there for you, I just … I feel awful about it.”

“Don’t worry,” he said. “I know when you get back here, we’ll have plenty to catch up on. Everyone’s always talking about getting justice and all, but it won’t bring Kim back, and I just want it all done.”

“She will have justice, Henry,” I said. “It’s what she deserves.”

“Guess you’re right.”

“Okay, we gotta run, but listen, until Kim’s killer is caught, be careful, okay? Keep yourself safe.”

“I’ll do my best. Take care of things in Savannah, and I’ll see you soon.”

Maddie and I said our goodbyes, and I ended the call.

“You ready to analyze this case?” Maddie asked.

“More than ever,” I said. “Let’s talk about this note. Like you were about to say, it’s got a bit more juice to it than the other ones.”

“Dr. Beetle again, though?”

She looked doubtful, and I understood her point. The likelihood the elderly root doctor had made the rounds through the Southeast was … well, it was almost zero. And even if she had, to what end? She had no beef with me. Or Maddie. If anything, she’d helped us during our Savannah case.

“My conclusion? Even if it is Dr. Beetle’s symbol, it doesn’t mean she’s behind these notes,” I said. “I think someone else is writing them, and for whatever reason, they’re doing it in her style, her tone.”

“Yup. But—” She collected her hair into a high ponytail and secured it with the hairband on her wrist. “I think we still should go see Dr. Beetle. You never know what kind of input she’d have for us, maybe something useful. She knows Grady and Andi too, which all ties in with what’s happening right now.”

I screwed up my face. “Are you serious? I mean, I like her, but she’s intense. Don’t you think? All that hoodoo voodoo.”

She wagged her finger. “I know you believe in it just a little bit.”

I shrugged.

“I still think she put some sort of nasty juju on Hugh Barnes,” she continued. “She was there for us in her own root-doctor way. She also knows all the key players, like Andi, her dad, and sweet Grady. And she knows this town, all the inner workings. We’re going.”

“The same could apply to the police around here,” I said. “They did a great job, including keeping in touch after the case was solved. But there’s not much for us to take to them at this point. Andi will call them about her note, just to be sure, but I doubt they can do anything with that. We’re the only ones who know all the troubling chain of events. Well, besides the psycho who’s messing with me, of course. He seems to know everything.”

“And so will we, soon enough,” Maddie said as she threw her arms around me. “I just hope this doesn’t progress into some awful showdown.”

I flexed my arm muscle and winked. “Whatever we need to do to take this guy out for good.”

She turned her attention to the note. “Let’s look at the first line. I think ‘Number two, who are you?’ serves a dual purpose. It’s a clue that reveals Kim was the second person to get a note—and the second to die by the blade. Grady was the first.”

“Morbid but true.”

“I’m just giving it to you straight,” Maddie said. “The next part seems to answer the who are you part. Like, you are a friend to Danger. You think Kim was into something sinister maybe?”

“Danger is me, Maddie.”

Maddie’s face was a mix of emotions, indicating a hint of doubt.

“It makes sense,” I said. “She’s friends with me, and going to the third line … It’s an explanation about me, Danger. Because we weren’t always friends. We’d just gotten to know each other, so ‘once was a stranger,’ would make that doubly accurate.”

“Huh, I wasn’t moving in that direction,” Maddie said, “but I can kinda see where you’re going with it. But what’s with that ending line? It doesn’t even rhyme. It’s different than the other notes.”

“From what I’ve seen, even the rhymes all have varying tempos and number of words. They’re all over the place.”

“So this is just a warning.”

I gave her a flat look. “Maddie, think. It’s more than a warning.”

Using the pen, I pointed at the line— Don’t get choked up!

“He doesn’t want us crying over it?” she guessed. “Oh, wait … He doesn’t want Kim crying that she’s dead. Or Henry?”

“He slit her throat, Maddie.”

“Ohhh. He’s throwing it in our face, making a joke about the way she was murdered.”

I snapped my fingers. “Yep, and that line was directed at me, it helps me form an opinion about his personality. Maybe it will help me discover his identity. I mean, he’s gotta be someone from my past, right?”

“Has to be.”

Maddie put a hand to her heart and closed her eyes.

I continued, “And when I say he/him/his , I do realize this could be a woman from my past. I’ve had run-ins with both men and women alike. Still …”

“I’m starting to think he’s a man too,” Maddie said. “Feels like you’re rubbing off on me.”

“Yeah … well, I’m still trying to keep an open mind.”

“You were starting to say something else. Still…” she prompted me.

I nodded. “I saw a man at the inn, while we were shopping. Sounds crazy, I know, but everything about him … the way he moved, his height. I had the distinct feeling I knew him somehow. I’m certain he’d dropped that postcard for us to find. It’s just too random. Too coincidental.” I held up the pad of paper and shook it. “And the ending to this note. Talk about flippant!”

“He’s trying to get at you, in your head, tear you apart.”

I used my fingers to enumerate other traits I was picking up. “I think this guy is someone with a dark sense of humor. He’s narcissistic, believes he’s untouchable. Yet, he wants me to remember him. He’s provoking me so I’ll use all my skills to figure out the puzzle. Letting me know that, if I don’t, more people I care about will be hurt, or even worse, they could die.”

“He knows you go hammer and tongs after a case,” Maddie said.

I raised a brow. “Interesting way to put it, but yeah, hammer and tongs—I give everything I have in me to all my cases. My job is a huge part of who I am.”

Maddie was pacing now. “Right. Let’s assume the two of you have met. Maybe you haven’t interacted with him in a direct way, but an indirect way.”

“Hadn’t thought of that. It widens the circle. I’m going to start making a list.”

Maddie stopped. “It sounds to me like this dude’s playing a game.”

“A game for him.”

“It isn’t a game if he means to hurt you.”

Oh, yes it is a game , I thought. The killing game.

And I had no intention of letting him win.