A Glimpse of the Dark Side: Adult Paranormal Erotic Romance Collection (6 page)

"You seemed a little nervous at breakfast," Ash
finally said in the car on the way to the Morgans' house. She
looked at him to see if he was teasing her, but he seemed
genuine.

"Well, engaging in tawdry scenes on rooftops is
not something I do every night. Forgive me if I don't know exactly
what to make of it." She glanced at him. "You sure don't seem to be
having any problem with it."

He turned to her with the same pleasant
expression as always. "This is my nervous face," he said. "Also my
excited, angry, delighted, and hungry face."

She blinked, then burst into laughter.

His phone rang. "Sterling," he said. He listened
for a few seconds. "Yeah, go ahead." There was a long silence.
"Where's that...? I don't know, could be something. Send it to my
phone. Thanks." He hung up.

When they rang the doorbell at the Morgans'
house, Mrs. Morgan let them in. "We've just finished our breakfast,
but may I offer you some coffee?" she said.

"No, thank you," Ash said. "We had coffee at the
hotel. I think. If you don't mind, we would like to try to contact
Lianna again to see if we can get anything else."

"Of course," she said. "You're welcome to go
back up to her room. Have you gotten a chance to look into any of
the leads from yesterday?"

"Agent Talbot is following up on them now. I
also just got another one." Ash said. "Mr. Morgan, January was
admiring your ship collection yesterday and she gave me an idea. I
had our staff at the field office check the naval and private
registries for any vessel named 'Eglantine'."

"And?"

"Well, they didn't find a ship, but they did
find a naval aircraft..." he checked his phone, "a B-17 Flying
Fortress nicknamed Eglantine. Decommissioned in 1948 and used as a
show plane, stationed at the Atlantic Naval Air Station in
Elizabeth City, North Carolina."

"Oh sure, the old naval air base," Mr. Morgan
said. "But it's not there anymore. They tore it down and built a
mall and some condos."

January felt something pulling her away from the
conversation. Their voices became soft, distant, and
echo-ey
, as if the conversation was taking place in a long
tunnel and someone had plugged her ears with cotton balls. There
was a searing pain in her head and the room swam in front of
her.

Circles of light popped in her eyes like
flashbulbs in an old-fashioned camera. Images began to flash
through her vision, crowding out everything else-a long strip of
light, a silhouette of a man leaning down, a blazing light, a long
silver surface, a bright pink flower, and then... darkness.

She swayed on her feet and covered her eyes. The
images faded, leaving a hollow ringing in her ears.

"January," Ash was saying. "Are you
alright?"

She looked at him and tried to speak, but no
words came out.

Mrs. Morgan put her hand on her arm. "What's the
matter, dear? You're pale as a ghost." She led her over to the sofa
and sat her down.

January found her voice. "I don't know what just
happened, but I think it had something to do with Lianna. She was
trying to tell me something." She looked at Ash. "Whatever you just
said, some part of it is important. I don't know how I know this, I
just do. It's like she's still in my head from yesterday... and she
heard something she recognized."

Ash turned to Mr. Morgan. "The air base. How far
away is it?"

"Well, it's only about fifteen minutes away, but
there's really no place to keep a plane anymore. All the hangars
are gone."

"Is there anything left at all?"

"Yes, the control tower. You can go inside-it's
a little aviation museum."

Ash looked at January. "Are you sure about
this?"

"I'm sure," she said. "I don't know what it
means, but I know it's important."

"I'm going there," Ash said. "January, you stay
here and see if you can keep in touch with Lianna. I'll leave you
my cell phone number. If you get anything else, call me."

"No," she told him. "I'm going with you."

Ash already had the door open, and stopped. "You
are not going with me. If Lianna is there, then so is whoever is
keeping her." The Morgans exchanged frightened looks. "You don't
have any business in a situation like that."

"Don't you get it?" January said, "The closer we
get to her, the better our connection is going to be. I can help
you find her." She was already putting her jacket back on.

Ash shook his head. "I knew you were going to
argue with me. Alright, let's go. Sorry to disturb you again, Mr.
and Mrs. Morgan. We'll be in touch."

Ash was already on the phone on the way to the
car.

"Talbot," he said. "I need you to meet us. We
may have found Lianna."

IT WAS SUNDAY, and the aviation museum was
closed. Ash made a series of phone calls in the car, the last one
to an irate property manager.

It was raining a little as they got close to
where they were going. The blank highway landscape turned into
pastel-colored shopping strips and condominium complexes with
exciting maritime names.

They passed a gleaming shopping mall complex and
turned off onto a bumpy side road. The control tower was an older
yellow brick building in an empty cul-de-sac with a small parking
lot. It wasn't as tall as January figured it would be-only a few
stories.

They got out of the car and walked toward the
tower. January searched with her mind for a trace of Lianna. She
felt nothing. Doubt blossomed in her mind, but she ignored it.

The property manager, a barrel-chested man
sweating through his suit, was already waiting for them. "Hank
Armitage," he said, offering his hand to Ash and January. "Now,
what in God's name is so important that I had to leave my family in
church to high-tail it over here?"

"Thank you for accommodating us on such short
notice, Mr. Armitage. We suspect there may be something in the
museum that might lead to a kidnapping victim," Ash said.

Armitage looked at Ash suspiciously. "Hm. Well,
if you're right, I guess the good Lord will give me a freebie for
today." He took out a large key ring with a confusing array of keys
on it, and let them into the building.

Inside was a dingy entryway with a hallway and a
staircase painted an institutional green. The walls were covered
with photographs of the naval station in its operational years.

"Does anyone else have access to the museum
during off-hours?" Ash asked.

"Just Brian, the groundskeeper, but he's not
working today."

"Can you call him please?"

Armitage made a call and waited. "Brian, it's
Hank. I need you to call me as soon as you get this." He hung up
and shrugged his shoulders.

They went up the stairs into the museum's main
chamber. It was a small, square room with dusty floor-to-ceiling
windows-the observation room of the control tower. January had the
impression of standing in midair. Outside, she could see the mall
grounds, the pink and yellow beachfront condos, and beyond that,
the rolling gray of the Pasquotank River.

"Take a good look around," Armitage said.
"Normally it'd cost you $5.50 to be up here, so enjoy it."

January wandered around the room, past
photographs of airplanes and pilots-tall, square-jawed, unsmiling
men in flight jackets and wide pants. Some of them looked barely
old enough to shave. Bronze plaques explained the stories behind
the people and the planes. There were models under glass, airplane
engines, a few paintings, and even some historical clothing. It was
the kind of place Mr. Morgan would have loved.

Her eye fell on a huge, wall-size photograph. It
was taken in color, although the airplane in it was very old-a
beautiful bomber, gleaming silver in the sunlight. A pilot in
vintage clothing stood next to it, with a group of smiling children
posed around him. They were holding a banner, reading "15TH ANNUNAL
NORTH CAROLINA AIR SHOW."

January looked at the plane more closely.
Painted on its nose was a buxom pinup blonde from a long-departed
era of beauty. She was smiling coyly over her shoulder. The
imaginary breeze ruffling her green dress revealed a stunning
derriere in lacy white underpants. Her glossy hair was pinned back
by a pink bloom.

Next to her, in a beautiful cursive script,
coiled the word
'Eglantine.'

"Ash," January whispered. He was across the
room, but appeared at her side immediately. "She's here," January
said. "She saw this picture."

Ash looked around quickly. On the wall opposite
the photograph was an electrical closet. Ash called Mr. Armitage
over to unlock it. Inside was a mass of unidentifiable machinery,
piles of equipment and a large storage box with lift-up lid and an
old-fashioned lock.

Ash looked at the floor. "Has anyone been in
here recently?"

Armitage shrugged. "Well, yeah. Brian needs to
get in here all the time."

"Can we get into this storage box?"

Armitage fumbled with his cartoonish ring of
keys. He tried one, then another.

"Hm..." he said. "I don't think I have a key for
this. I'm not even sure I've seen it here before. Brian might have
brought it in."

Ash looked around. He picked up a heavy steel
bar and began to smash at the lock. January winced at the sound. If
Lianna was in there, she would be terrified.

After the third clang, there was a low moan from
inside the box.

"Lianna," Ash called. "Is that you?"

There was another moan. "Help me..."

"We're going to get you out. Hang on," Ash
said.

Three more clangs and the lock smashed into
pieces. Ash and Armitage pried the top of the box open.

And then Ash reached inside and lifted out a
small teenage girl in a ripped dress. January recognized the mop of
blonde hair from the photographs in Lianna's room but nothing else
because the girl's face was pitifully covered with dirt and
bruises. She was barely conscious.

When she saw Ash, she started to weep.

January looked inside the storage box,
horrified. There was barely any room to move... and Lianna had been
in there for over a week! It was a wonder she was even still
alive.

She felt her face get red and flushed. She knelt
down next to the girl.

"You're safe, Lianna" she said to her. "We're
going to get you home."

Lianna looked up and through her haze, she
seemed to recognize January. "It's you," she said. "I know you,
don't I?"

January smiled "Yes. We've met. Just... not
here."

Lianna's eyes rolled back and she lost
consciousness.

Ash was on the phone calling for an ambulance.
January walked over to the window. A green Ford with a rusty door
was pulling into the small parking lot.

"I think Brian's here," she said to the
others.

A man of about thirty got out of the Ford. There
was something familiar about his face, but she didn't have time to
think about it, because as she watched, the man looked at the other
cars parked around him, then backed slowly toward his car and got
back inside.

"Oh," she said. "Ash, I think he's..." January
started to say, but Ash was already gone. She watched him appear in
the parking lot just as Brian's green Ford was screeching away,
pulling out onto the main road.

Ash stopped, pulled out his gun and leveled it
at the car.

Just then another car, its engines suddenly
roaring to life, shot out of nowhere, barreling head-on toward the
Ford. The Ford swerved wildly into the oncoming lane, lurched
across the road and smashed into a telephone pole.

Agent Talbot leapt out of the other car and ran
toward the pole. She and Ash converged on the Ford, guns drawn.
January saw Ash shout at the car, something short and harsh.

Brian appeared, his hands in the air.

A soon as January got a good look at his face,
she felt her stomach clench.

"That's... that's Brian Dayne," she said.

"Yeah, that's his name," Armitage said, "Do you
know him?"

January nodded, feeling very faint as she
involuntarily touched one very cold cheek. "I went to high school
with him."

"HE CONFESSED TO everything," Agent Talbot said.
"He saw her at the mall a few weeks ago, and liked the way she
looked. Got her info somehow, followed her home, spied on her for a
few weeks, and put together a way to get her out of the house."

She was recapping the early events of Lianna's
kidnapping for January's benefit. They were sitting in the
visitors' area of the hospital where Lianna had been recovering for
the past day. Lianna was well enough to talk now, and the agents
had had a chance to take her initial statement.

Apparently, Brian had hacked Lianna's email and
forged a fake note from a boy she liked, asking her to meet him.
"Not only that," Agent Talbot continued, "but we were able to
connect him to at least three murders over the past fifteen
years..." she paused. "Including, of course, Lori Daniels."

January nodded, dazed. She had already put two
and two together when she saw Brian's face. She remembered him well
from high school-a shy boy, not sociable, but friendly enough. Very
interested in mathematics and computers. He didn't have many
friends, and she vaguely remembered talk of some kind of tragedy in
his family-a car accident, or maybe even a suicide. He had had a
crush on Lori, had asked her out several times, in fact, but she
had turned him down as nicely as she could.

"I just can't believe that he murdered her,"
January said. "Lori, I mean."

"I don't think he meant to," Agent Talbot said
quietly, "He had written her a letter to come meet him that night.
He wasn't trying to trick her. But it sounds like she thought the
letter was written by someone else- a boy she liked better. When
she saw Brian, she was disappointed and that made him angry. Lori's
murder was an accident, but it changed him." She opened a file
folder and showed January pictures of Brian's other victims. They
all looked like Lori. "The other ones were not accidents."