Krewe of Hunters The Unholy (29 page)

“She must have had many friends and been adored.”

“She did and she was, but no one knew her like I did. And as she was failing, she didn’t want to be around others. It was pride, I guess. She didn’t want a lot of people to see her as she was—thin as a rail, balding, drawn. And pretense in front of people who aren’t really close can be exhausting. I thought about Melissa and our situation endlessly after she died. Maybe we were never meant to be. And maybe we both believed that we’d get ambition out of the way and then we’d be together when we were ready. It didn’t matter. When I knew how sick she was, I had to go to her, and she accepted me. I talked to her doctor…. He was a good guy. He never let her completely lose hope—but didn’t give her false hope, either. He told me they’d try everything they could while she had breath in her body, but the prognosis wasn’t positive. Melissa was an intelligent woman, and she could see the cr. at she wasn’t getting any better. There were good days when I first got back. Really good days. But what I learned was that ambition didn’t mean a thing.

“When she died, I was already gaining a reputation for special effects, especially computer-generated effects, in Texas. I got established in San Antonio, and there was a lot of work going on there. I stayed, thinking I might go back to Hollywood one day, but my heart wasn’t in it. I worked with the Texas Rangers and the state and local police on a few cases, and it seemed that I’d found my niche.”

He paused, and Madison nudged him to continue.

“A while back,” he resumed, “a man named Adam Harrison—who’d been called in by both private citizens and the government in strange and
unusual
cases for years—was approached by the FBI to put together a special unit. He formed the first Krewe of Hunters. Then he found out there was so much going on, some of it genuinely unusual, and some of it people playing at the unusual, that they figured they needed to create another team. No one really knows how Adam Harrison gets his information about people, but he has a knack for putting teams together. Five of us are from Texas and were working there. My cousin Kelsey grew up in Florida, but she’d visited Texas a lot. No one has to join the team, of course. We’re all allowed to make our own choices. It’s been good for me. It let me really step back, see where I’ve been and where I want to be.”

“You were approached because someone knew you could talk to the dead?” Madison asked him.

“Yes.”

“Were…were you able to talk to Melissa after she died?”

He nodded. “Once. At her grave site. She touched my face, kissed my lips—and told me to live my life. But at that point…well, I couldn’t. She told me she was going on, that it was only right. We had known how to say goodbye in life. Now we needed to do it after her death.” He remembered his emotions during that awful time when the cancer had become so unbearable he prayed Melissa would die, so the pain would end.

“She was a wonderful human being,” Madison whispered.

He nodded, and hugged her tighter. He didn’t have to say anything else. He didn’t have to tell her she was wonderful, too.

He felt her gentle touch, and then the way she curled against him. He cradled her chin. “And you?” he asked, meeting her eyes.

“I used to feel like a truly odd loner for a really long time—and yet, I was never really unhappy, just scared and convinced I was crazy, and that I needed to keep my secret. When I was young…”

“Yes?”

“There was Josh.”

“The love of your life?”

“My young life. He died before we graduated. A ridiculous accident,” she said, and told him what had happened to the young man so full of promise. “Even at his funeral, all he wanted me to do was make sure everyone found a way to accept his death. And then after he died…I’ve dated casually. But Bogie followed me home when I was still in college, so my casual dating hasn’t been going that great. Maybe I’ve been afraid of getting close to people. My first experience with ghosts was Billy. I was so young that when I tried to tell people he was going to a better place, my mother was appalled. She doesn’t understand.”

“Poor baby!” he said, and he smiled. “There are those of us who do understand. You know that now, don’t you?”

“I know,” she murmured.

They curled together in a comfortable silence.

And then they were both able to sleep.

* * *

Vengeance was waiting. Vengeance didn’t like to wait. But the night was dark, and a low fog was hanging over the ground, eerie and mysterious. Rather nice, Vengeance thought.

She
arrived, angry, as she tiptoed through the grass. “This is totally going to ruin my shoes. And getting here was a nightmare!”

“You’re late.”

“You’re damned lucky I’m here!”

“You’re damned lucky I just don’t tell them you did it.”

“
What?
I’d accuse you.
You’re
the one who did it.”

“You made it possible!” Vengeance reminded her.

She looked away. “I’m not going into the tunnels. I already went into those damned tunnels for you, and I’m not doing it again.”

“You don’t have to go into the tunnels. Not now.”

“Well, "-1ve you said I have to help clean up. What the hell did you want me to do, then?” she asked irritably.

“Die!” Vengeance said quietly. “Just die.”

Her eyes widened.

When she opened her mouth to scream, it was too late.

14

W
hen Madison woke up the next morning, Sean was no longer beside her. She found a note on the pillow telling her that he’d had an idea and she should join Logan Raintree and the others in the suite.

A glance at the bedside clock showed her that he must have risen extremely early, since it was just past six. But then, she was learning particulars about his personality. If he had an idea, he wasn’t going to fall back asleep; he was going to explore it.

In the suite, she discovered that coffee was made and there were bagels, fruit and pitchers of juice and water on the table.

“Help yourself,” Logan told her, “and then you and I will head over to the studio with Tyler and Kelsey. I’ll meet up with Sean there, and he and I will go to the police station. We’ve decided that we’ll bring in Helena LaRoux at ten. Kat and Jane have already gone back to the station.”

“Thank you,” Madison said. “Do you know where Sean is now?”

“He’s at the studio, following a hunch.” Logan was standing at the board, writing, drawing lines. Madison studied it. On one side, the name Pete Krakowski was written, and on the other, Eddie Archer. Names were listed beneath, along with the connections between any of those names. Separately, to the far right, he’d listed theories, thoughts, hunches, questions.

Possibly more than one killer.

Benita has a family tie to Krakowski.

Oliver has a family tie to Claymore Illusions.

Madison fixed a plate of food and sat down, watching Logan as he continued to write.

Two killers. Both with knowledge of the studio, one with greater access.

Killing not random.

Motives: Oliver Marshall—related to original studio owner, Claymore.

Helena LaRoux, current wife—stands to gain if Alistair convicted? How? There was a prenup, and she is taken care of in the will. So is Benita.

Alistair—to inherit studios.

Mike Greenwood—knows the studio better than most.

Andy Simons—Eddie’s partner.

Colin Bailey—on duty at the time of the murder.

Winston Nash—knows the studio, knows how to work the security footage.

“You really think it’s down to one of these people?” Madison asked.

Logan sat down across from her. “Can you suggest anyone else? Anyone we should interview again? We’ll bring in Oliver Marshall, discreetly, of course. But other than Oliver?”

She hesitated, surprised by what she was going to say. “I don’t know if this is important or not. My assistant, Alfie, has been acting a bit strange. He always acts a bit strange, but I mean more than usual. He’s a wonderful assistant and very talented. But he was the first to call me about the murder, and he’s almost eager to see what’s going on.”

Logan rose and added the name of Madison’s assistant to the list. Tyler entered the suite, pouring himself a coffee and greeting the two of them.

“Where are our resident ghosts?” he asked.

“Bogie has taken it upon himself to shelter Jenny. He’s trying to teach her what ghosts can and can’t do. I think he’s gone off to show her more of ‘old Hollywood,’” Logan said. “We should get going. I’ll collect Kelsey. She’s been on the computer looking for any more connections to the studio or the movie.” He studied Madison, and she sensed that he was perplexed, suspecting that she knew—somewhere inside—a piece of information that might help them.

“Honestly,” she said. “I can’t think of anything else.”

“You will,” he told her. “I’m not sure what it is or when we’ll get to it, but I have a gut hunch that you do know something.” He smiled. “Now let’s get out there.”

 

* * *

 

There simply weren’t enough hours in the day, Sean thought ruefully, staring across the expanse of Peace Cemetery. It was aptly named; it seemed to stretch on forever, and beautiful oaks had grown up over the years to shade the winding trails, benches, gravestones and monuments. The funerary art ranged from the contemporary back to the flowery detail of the late-Victorian era. Fences separated the cemetery from the studio and the Black Box Cinema, but Sean wasn’t concerned with the fences; he was still certain there had to be an entry to the underground catacombs. He just had to figure out where that entry might be.

It was a daunting task.

Benny Knox, impressed by the hours the Krewe seemed to keep, had done his part, bringing the original plan for the cemetery and the roster that noted the burials.

“It’s like any other old cemetery, or so says the current manager—who was not pleased to be called at 7:00 a.m.,” Knox had said. “Graves have shifted over the years, and before there was greater security, vandals broke stones. Some are almost pulverized by tree roots. Things happen—and the dead are forgotten.” Knox sighed. “I was informed that the original Claymore owned the land but donated some of it to the church. At first this place was a graveyard before it became a public cemetery. Yeah, apparently graveyards are attached to churches, and
cemeteries
don’t have to be. In the flux of that turnover, a lot of records went missing. But there are vaults all over—as you can see—and lots of people were buried in pine boxes…sometimes on top of one another. There was a rumor that the poor could be buried here when they didn’t have money for fancy coffins or grave sites.”

“So…Claymore worked with the church, to help the poor?” Sean had asked.
That would explain the catacombs attached to the studio and the Black Box.

“There are over fifty thousand known burials and entombments in the cemetery. Just going through the records is like working your way through a giant maze,” Knox had told him.

Now Sean studied the paperwork and tried to get his bearings. So, it seemed Claymore, father of Lucas,
had
been involved, apparently for the most generous of reasons. But Sean had gone to the vault, expecting he’d have to wait for one of the cemetery workers before he could enter the small family mausoleum. That hadn’t been true; the vault was open, like a larger, multifamily mausoleum might be. Beautiful iron gates led to a little sanctuary with a bench. There was an altar, and a memorial plaque stated that the earthly remains of Lucas Claymore rested beneath the altar in the middle of various other Claymores, including, of course, his father, who’d been such a benefactor to the church.

Sean was looking over the cemetery when his cell phone rang. He answered it to hear Eddie Archer, sounding frantic.

At first Sean couldn’t understand a word he was saying.

“She’s not here. She’s not here,” Eddie finally managed. “The police called. They wanted Helena to come in and talk to them, to help establish timelines, talk about my friends—enemies. Actually, they said you and Logan wanted to talk to her.”

“That’s true, Eddie.”

“But she’s not here! I sent Pierce to get her after I spoke to that Knox fellow. She wasn’t in her room.”

“Eddie, it’s morning. She might have gone out somewhere,” Sean said. But he felt uncomfortable. Maybe it was the panic in Eddie’s voice. Maybe it was just that dreaded gut feeling, the premonition you felt when something really was wrong.

“Did you tell Knox you couldn’t find Helena?” Sean asked.

“No, no, not yet. I just said I’d get her up. We need to file a missing-person report,” Eddie said.

“It’s too soon. We don’t know that she’s really missing?”

“But Pierce—”

“Let me speak to him, Eddie.”

A moment later, Pierce was on the phone. “I’ve been trying to tell Eddie not to panic—that just because she isn’t here this minute doesn’t mean she’s
missing.
”

“Pierce, when did you last see her?”

“She retired about an hour before Eddie yesterday evening,” he said.

“Was her bed made this morning—had she slept in it?”

Pierce was silent; Sean could imagine Eddie staring at him, stricken.

“No.”

“Is her car there?”

“Wait a minute.”

He set the phone down and came back. “No, it’s not in the drive, and it’s not in the garage. You think she just went somewhere?”

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“Maybe. I take it Eddie tried to call her?”

“Her cell phone goes straight to voice mail.”

“All right, we don’t want to make Eddie worse,” Sean said. “
Yes
and
no
answers will do. Does she ever make her own bed? Couldn’t she have straightened up before she left this morning?”

“No,” Pierce said.

“Thanks. Tell Eddie that I’ll take care of calling Knox, and that we’ll get an APB out on her and her car.”

“Eddie is extremely agitated, Sean.”

“Try to get him to calm down—”

Sean didn’t finish his sentence because Eddie had grabbed the phone. “Don’t tell me to calm down! I have to do
something.
Helena is not here!”

“Eddie, you saw her last night. And she obviously drove from your house, since her car is gone. She might have gone out for doughnuts.”

“She never eats doughnuts.”

“Then she might have gone out to buy a new kind of diet granola—I don’t know. But calm down, please, or you’ll end up having a heart attack.”

“You can’t tell me everything’s going to be all right!”

“No, I won’t tell you that,” Sean said. “I’m just telling you not to panic, and that even if something
is
wrong, the FBI and the police are working on the case. Other than trying to think of anywhere she might have gone, there’s nothing you can do. Working yourself into a frenzy isn’t going to help anyone.”

“All right, all right—I’m calm,” Eddie said. He obviously wasn’t, but at least he was listening. “Sean, first Alistair—and now Helena. I’m just ill. I don’t understand this. Why is someone hurting everyone around me?”

“Eddie, we’ll find out,” Sean promised him. “We’re getting close.”

“Helena’s dead, isn’t she, Sean?”

“You don’t know that, Eddie. You don’t know that.” Sean’s voice sounded hollow, even to himself.

He felt a twist in his stomach; Eddie might well be right.

He might be wrong.

No.

Why did he feel that Eddie was right, and Helena was dead? They’d only just discovered that she wasn’t in the house.

“I will work with every resource I can summon, Eddie, I promise you. I won’t stop until we find her,” Sean said.

“Thank you, Sean. Thank you. What do I do now?” Eddie asked hoarsely.

“Go and see Alistair. Be with your son, Eddie. You can support each other.”

He hung up, then called Knox and explained. After that, he called Logan, put him on the alert regarding Helena. He’d phone back when he was finished at the cemetery to see if Eddie had gone to see Alistair and if the two were doing all right. With an APB on Helena’s car, there wasn’t much reason for him to drive blindly around L.A. trying to find her himself.

He returned to his task.