Ask Me (26 page)

My stomach felt okay. Maybe the thyme was making a difference. I held it to my nose again and inhaled deeply. Or maybe I just wanted it to, more than I’d wanted almost anything.

The anchor said a few words about Shelley without mentioning her name and the ongoing investigation. They didn’t mention Alex, but then, they probably couldn’t legally since he was underage. I opened my eyes as they went to an interview with a police officer that must have been taped earlier today. He was standing in front of the school.

“Any ideas on the motivation behind the murders?” asked whoever was holding the microphone.

The policeman rubbed a hand across his face. He looked tired. I missed his answer as my own came: “Need,” I said. “Hunger and wanting, getting stronger each day.”

My stomach clenched a little that time, like I was infected with the urgency of the killer. Maybe the thyme wasn’t doing anything after all. I took a sniff of the rosemary, the astringent smell filling my nose.

“Will the killer strike again?”

I tried to control it, but the words poured out of me like water, burning my throat as they came. “Like a snake in the night, tonight he hunts at the lake with crocodile tears. O, unsuspecting fools, trust not his promises for he intends to steal your life from you.”

I slumped forward, the jar of rosemary falling out of my hand as I did, spilling the brittle needles around me.

I came to with the tang of rosemary filling my head. I sat up and shook myself, scattering needles as I did. They were caught in my hair and spread all over the floor. A commercial was playing now, something about chocolate. I glanced at the clock. It was close to eleven now. I turned the TV off, the sudden silence leaving me lonelier than I’d felt in a very long time.

What should I do? Should I call the police? Wake Gran and Granddad? No. I knew what Gran would say. She’d tell me to go to the police and let them take care of it. Granddad would want to stay uninvolved or anonymous somehow. We’d be up half the night arguing about it, and meanwhile someone else would die. Just like Shelley. And worse, I didn’t even have a name for this victim. Not yet.

Maybe I should call Delilah’s cell. Maybe she could call the police first? Or Will? But I didn’t want to upset
him. He might even insist on coming over, at which point Granddad might reach for the shotgun again.

I grabbed the phone and dialed Delilah’s cell. Hopefully she wasn’t asleep already. It rang and rang and then went to voice mail. I tried not to read too much into it. Just because I was up didn’t mean she would be. But it was way too late to try her landline. Still, I was anxious enough about not being able to reach Delilah to forget about upsetting Will.

“Aria,” he said, picking up on the first ring. He sounded out of breath, like he’d run for the phone. I pictured him in his room, in his pajamas, grabbing the phone before it woke up his parents. “Is something wrong?”

“Not yet,” I said. An unhelpful answer but one that made me feel even worse, a feeling of despair settling into my stomach like it was there to stay. “Will, Alex is going after someone again tonight.”

“Are you sure?” he asked.

“Only of the water … Water is like life.”

“The lake,” Will said.

It wasn’t a question. I wasn’t sure what it was. I shook my head, fighting back the oracle. “I don’t know, but I have to do something,” I gasped. “After what happened with Shelley—”

“Aria,” he interrupted me. “Just stop. Would you do something for me?”

“I would do almost anything for you.” I let out a little gasp. I couldn’t believe I’d said that. No, I
could
believe I’d said it. I just couldn’t stand that I’d actually said it
to
him.

“Good,” he said. “Stay home. Stay safe. You’ve told me
everything I need to know. I’ll take care of it. I’ll talk to you in the morning like we planned.” His voice sounded far away, and there was a sudden bang, like he’d slammed a door. I winced. He hung up, leaving me holding the phone to my ear listening to the
beep beep beep
of the disconnected line. I hung up and redialed immediately, but he didn’t answer this time.

No. He couldn’t do this to me. He was the next most likely target. I would never forgive myself if something happened to him. Never. And now it sounded like he was going to take matters into his own hands. I hesitated for just the briefest of moments. I had to call the police. Didn’t I? I dialed the emergency number, my hand shaking.

“Nine-one-one. What is your emergency?”

“Nothing yet, but give it time. The plan is already set in motion.” I bit my tongue. “Sorry, I’m sorry,” I said quickly before the operator could hang up on me. “You know the murders?” Of course she did. I was being stupid. “The murderer is going to try and kill someone else tonight. At the lake. You have to send someone to the lake. Right now before it’s too late.”

“Miss, what is your name?”

“Aria Morse.”

“Can you spell that?”

“Yes, of course. I mean, yes, it’s A-R-I-A. M-O-R-S-E. You guys need to get there right away.”

“Let’s start over here. Where are you located?”

“The living room.” I whacked myself in the forehead. If she’d stop asking questions, this would go a lot faster. “Look, I’m at home.”

“You’re saying that you’re at home. And there’s a crime taking place at the lake tonight, correct?”

I took a deep breath, trying to control the words, make them sound reasonable and sane, something she would believe. “I have spoken the truth as it is. But … 
not yet.”
I wrenched the last two words from my belly, my voice deep and almost guttural. “Please, just listen! I’m trying to tell you that the killer—Alex—the one that’s been killing the girls at the high school—he’s going to try and kill someone else tonight. Maybe at the lake. Probably at the lake. Maybe Will Raffles, probably Will … and it’s my fault, I told him it was going to happen, and I think he’s going to go out there and try to stop him.” I was almost sobbing now and breathless. My throat burned. I wasn’t making much sense. The operator probably thought I was crazy.

“Miss, calm down. Can you tell me why—”

“Wait!” I jumped in before she could finish whatever it was she was going to ask. “Look, I know this sounds crazy. That I sound crazy, but I just
know
, okay? You need to get to the lake before someone gets killed.”

There was a small pause. “Exactly who is it that’s going to be killed, and who is it you say has been killing the girls over at the high school?” Was that a hint of derision in her voice?

I doubled over with a sudden piercing pain in my stomach. “Will—” I managed as all the air in my lungs seemed to disappear as his name crossed my lips. I dropped the phone and it fell, landing on the base and hanging up.
Click
. I couldn’t catch my breath. Breathe.
Breathe. I had to hold on. I couldn’t afford to pass out. Not now. I slammed my hand down on the floor, just missing the phone. The bottle of thyme went spinning off under the couch, but the pain in my hand gave me something to focus on. I wrapped my arms around my stomach and held on tight. Get it together. Get it together.

Beeeeep, beeeep, beeeeep
went the phone. I reached out a hand that refused to be steady and hung it up, then crawled to my knees. I had to get to the lake.

The Colt was halfway down the driveway when I realized I didn’t even have shoes on. I’d grabbed my keys and run. No time to go back and get them. I floored it, the unfamiliar feeling of the metal pedal strange beneath my bare foot. I could feel the vibration of the car as it leaped forward, the back tires spinning a little in the sand before taking hold.

The rain had dropped to a miserable drizzle. I scraped off the sand stuck to my feet on the car mat and swore as I stubbed the big toe of my left foot against something hard and cold. I reached down and fumbled around under the seat until I found what it was.

Granddad’s knife, the one with the bone handle. I set it in my lap, the weight of it somehow reassuring. I had no plan, no ideas, but at least I had something. I couldn’t count on the police coming, not after that call. They probably thought I was insane.

The car skidded a little as it hit the main road, but I didn’t slow down. I had no time. Why did we have to live out in the middle of nowhere? I drove. The moon was out, peeking behind a curtain of clouds hung so low they felt like they were hovering just over the road, waiting to swoop down and suffocate the earth.

All I could think about was that it was my fault. Again. I’d set the series of events in motion. If I hadn’t called Will, he wouldn’t be in danger. He wouldn’t be out there right now trying to stop Alex. Why had I called him? Why hadn’t I called the police first? Why couldn’t I have managed to say something coherent to the police when I did call them?

It didn’t matter now. I wasn’t going to dwell on it. I held onto something I’d read earlier. One of my ancestors had said the future, no matter how prophesied, is not set in stone. Even the very act of prophecy can change the course.

Not always, but sometimes.

Please let it be so tonight
.

I came to the crossroads and hesitated for a second before turning to go directly to the lake. I didn’t want to waste precious time checking Will’s house first, even though I didn’t like that bang I’d overheard. Was Alex trying to break in? Had he already? But then why had the lake popped up as the place to go to, something Will had responded to, something even now I could feel with certainty?

I drove as close as I dared to Three Oaks and parked a little way down an abandoned dirt road that led to
nowhere. I took Granddad’s knife and my flashlight with me. Then I cut through the trees and across dog trails and came out near the entrance to the parking lot. The gate was open, but I slipped in under the fence away from the solitary streetlight that shone there.

There was a single vehicle parked at the far side of the lot. It was huge. Alex’s? Yes, it was his rusted old Chevy Suburban, nearly in the same spot where he’d parked that night I’d found him drunk. He was here already. Oh, God.

But Will’s car wasn’t.

My heart froze. Maybe Alex had already killed him in his home. Maybe he’d dragged Will’s dead body here …

Granddad’s knife felt solid in my right hand as I crept through the brush along the edge of the lot on the border between the gravel and the trees. When I got closer, I could hear that Alex’s Chevy was running. There were no other sounds, just the low rumble of the engine, drowning out the insects and the owls and the breeze. The drizzle had almost stopped. Was that Alex in the driver’s seat or just a dark shadow? Nothing moved, and I didn’t dare turn on my flashlight yet.

I walked slowly over to Alex’s truck, my shoulders hunched. My heart was pounding so loudly in my chest I felt like he must be able to hear me coming. I stayed focused on the windows to see if there was any movement, but I saw only nothing and more nothing. I gripped the handle of Granddad’s knife tight to stop the trembling in my fingers. I had to get myself together.

I was nearly there when I tripped over a sharp rock in the dark. I leaned into the side of the Chevy to steady
myself, my hands full with the flashlight and the knife, neither of which I wanted to lose. I was at the passenger’s side door. I righted myself and took a deep breath. Nothing had stirred inside the vehicle. It was now or never. I flicked on the flashlight and shone it in, directly on Delilah’s slack face pressed against the window.

“Delilah!” I yelled, not caring if anyone heard or not now.

I dropped the knife and yanked on the handle, but it was locked. I climbed up on the sideboard and banged on the window, but she didn’t move. I shone the flashlight down her body, trying to see if she had any wounds, if there was any blood, but there wasn’t anything I could see within the small flickering beam of my flashlight.

Please, please, let her be knocked out and not dead
.

I tried the back door behind hers, but it was locked too. I ran around the back of the Chevy and tripped over something again, this time falling on my knees and dropping the flashlight. It spun in a circle for a second and then stopped as it rolled into something. I picked it up and pointed it at whatever had tripped me. A plastic tube? It was attached to the exhaust and snaked around to the driver’s side. I got to my feet and followed it around. The tube was duct taped into one of the windows.