Latham's Landing (15 page)

The conversation halted.

“
Whatever they are,” Barb said finally.
“They’ve come over from the mainland.”

“
How do you know?”

“
I saw their tracks leading across the
ice very early this morning, towards Latham’s Landing.”

“
Footprints?”

“
No,” she said, visibly nervous. “More
like dragging scrape marks, and what resembles partial
footprints.”

“
Partial? Like they were
blurry?”

“
Like only part of a foot was there,”
Barb admitted. “I’ve been tracking these things for a month now.
The prints and partials aren’t regular, even when the things walk
across deep mud. How much was there varied. Once in a while, there
were full feet for a couple of steps, before partial prints
reappeared.”

“
Which means?”

“
I think how much is substantial about
these creatures varies,” Barb said with excitement. “Sometimes they
are just shadows and leave no trail. Other times, they are real
enough to leave lasting marks of their passing.”

“
Real enough to kill, you mean,” Helter
added.

“
I’m after evidence,” Barb said
defensively. “I want to prove these things exist.”

“
Why is it so important to risk your
life, coming here?” Caroline said.

“
Why would they hurt me?” Barb asked,
shocked. “I’m here to bring attention to them, which is what
Latham’s Landing seems to want.”

“
How is that responsible, to do that?”
Helter commented sarcastically. “You’re leading people to their
doom by their curiosity. This island doesn’t want visitors, it
wants victims—”

“
I never made anyone do anything,” Barb
countered defensively.

“
You play up the scare factor, while
making it seem perfectly safe to go to places that are anything
but,” Helter said judgmentally. “That’s what you paranormal
investigators do. That isn’t any better than my commander sending
me into a hot spot with no warning back in the war—”

“
Enough!” Caroline yelled. She turned
to Barb. “What I want to know is why you’re here.”

“
Because the things, these Hustermen,
they hurt people,” Barb admitted. “One of them was my brother. He
was hunting one day pre-dawn and strayed into some land these
things were on, and these Hustermen got him. But no one believes me
that it wasn’t an accident.”

“
Weren’t there claw marks or something
on the body?” Helter said sarcastically.

“
There was no body,” Barb whispered.
“Just some blood, and a gun. The gun stock was cracked, like
something heavy hit it.”

Because her brother was now a Husterman,
too…Stop it, Caro, you’re falling for this wacky chick’s line of
BS.
“And nobody investigated his disappearance, even with blood
being found?” Caroline said skeptically.

“
There was no body,” Barb repeated
angrily. “My brother wasn’t the best person, okay. I know that. He
had a lot of debt, and was going to have to declare bankruptcy. The
police think he faked his death to leave for a new start somewhere
else. But I know he wouldn’t do that and not tell me.”

“
Fine,” Helter said curtly. “You want
to see if these things are here, so you must be staying the night.
Good luck with that. But she’s leaving—”

There was a sharp bark. Cooper was staring
toward the back of the house. He took off at a dead run, straight
into thick underbrush, and was quickly lost from sight.

“
Cooper!” Barb shouted. She ran after
him. “Cooper!” She also disappeared from sight.

Caroline looked at Helter. He looked straight
back. “I hope you’re not going to suggest we go after her,” he
said.

“
I’m thinking we should take her boat,”
Caroline said, then laughed. “Well, I would suggest that, but if
the cops are coming, it probably wouldn’t be a good idea. Do you
think she actually called them?”

“
Bowman,” Lease said, stopping in the
hall as he went past the office door. “There’s a call for
you.”

Please let it not be an emergency, not on
a Friday afternoon,
Bowman thought.
Please let it be a
reminder from the dentist, or some other bullshit.
He picked up
the phone and hit the blinking light on his telephone. “Yes?”

“
This is the Schuyler County Police
Department,” a male voice said. “I understand you’re working a
homicide case involving a triple murder of Mr. and Mrs.
Stone?”

“
Yes,” Bowman said. “But it’s pretty
much closed. We have the murderers, and they both already
confessed.”

“
Well, I have a vehicle registered to a
Mr. Steven Stone that was found abandoned on the shore near a local
island, Latham’s Landing. When I called in to check the VIN,
dispatch said to talk to you, as you’re investigating a
murder.”

Latham’s Landing. Why does that name sound
familiar?
“You’re a little quick,” Bowman said slowly,
wondering if this was some kind of prank call. “A vehicle is only
abandoned after forty-eight hours…and only then is it removed and
checked to see if it was stolen.”

“
We don’t waste time screwing around
here,” the voice said coldly. “People who go missing up here tend
to stay missing…or get found dead.”

“
Who is this?” Bowman growled. “Is this
some kind of trick?”

“
This is Police Chief Bob Stahl,” the
voice growled back. “And this isn’t a trick. You should know that.
We had another of your locals found dead here last spring, some
soon-to- be college kid who was fishing with his friends on Spring
Break. I think his name was Robert something—”

A cold feeling hit Bowman’s gut.
Rob,
Caroline Stone’s boyfriend. That’s where he’d heard the name of
the island. Rob had drowned near Latham’s Landing last spring, in
some kind of boating accident. After the additional shock of losing
her parents this past summer, had Caroline gotten depressed and
gone there to end her life?
“Did you find any sign of foul
play—?”

“
If you want to inspect the vehicle,
get here in the next 24hours.” Click.

“
Hardass son of a bitch,” Bowman said
in surprise as he put the phone down.

Picking it back up, he called his partner,
Drake.

The man answered after a dozen rings. “What
the hell is it?” Drake asked grumpily. “You know it’s my day
off—”

“
I know, I’m sorry,” Bowman
interrupted. “Feel like a road trip?”

“
Cooper!” Barb called breathlessly,
pushing through the long tall weeds. “Cooper!”

A series of barks sounded from somewhere
ahead of her. But the grass was long, almost to her waist, and very
thick. It was constantly moving in the steady brisk wind, making it
impossible to see where her dog was, or find his trail.

Barb pushed on, muttering to herself. Then
she stopped suddenly, turning to look back. She could see nothing
but trees now.
What if Caroline and that man took her boat?
They could tell the police she’d left.
Silly, your car is right
there with her SUV, parked on the shore. She can’t tell them that
you left with it right there in plain sight. And you have the keys
in your pocket. Yeah, they were acting weird, but they probably
just had a bad night out here. The guy is clearly someone she
knows, they were fighting like lovers. Stop being paranoid.

She turned around and headed back after
Cooper.

“
You can’t plant the charges with Barb
here,” Caroline said for the seventh straight time. “You know that,
Helter. So what’s the plan?”

“
Don’t pretend you know me,” he said
gruffly, as he got out his supplies, and began making a sandwich.
“Don’t think I won’t blow that lady up with the rest of the ghouls
here. If she’s jerk enough to bring a dog here, she’s probably
going to be dead before I’m done eating this sandwich.”

“
You don’t have a good opinion of
women,” Caroline quipped.

“
I don’t have a good opinion of fools,”
Helter amended. “Now if you want some lunch, come dig in. I didn’t
bring a cooler, so this meat will probably spoil by tonight if we
don’t eat it.”

“
It’s got to be seventy out here,”
Caroline said, wiping her brow with her hand and stripping off her
jacket. “How long can this last?”

“
Long enough to fuck us up,” Helter
swore, stuffing his face with a sandwich. “You’re right, in that
I’m probably going to have to abort. The bitch of it is, I don’t
dare take the explosives with me off the island in case the police
are there waiting for us and I don’t dare leave them here for
someone to find.” He finished his sandwich, then began making
another.

“
Why not blow up the sunken part of the
main house?” Caroline said, as she finished creating her own
sandwich and took a bite. “That part at least you could do safely.
And no one would be the wiser.”

Helter looked over at her curiously.

“
What?” she asked, taking another
bite.

“
What part of the house is sunken?”
Helter asked.

“
There’s some part on the side, I
think,” Caroline said, craning her neck to look at the house. “I
think it must be on the opposite side. There’s also a long bridge
of stone to a glass house they call the Sea Room.” She took another
bite. “Supposedly that’s off the back of the house, so we can’t see
it from here.”

Helter stared at her, saying nothing.

“
You’re freaking me out,” Caroline said
finally. “What?”

“
What is this house supposed to look
like?” he asked.

“
A main house with three floors, one
side sunken, grand staircase leading to a room with a large carved
fireplace,” Caroline said, thinking back to her research. “One girl
who’d been here said there was an odd balcony on the third floor
that was on either side of the house and at the back, so you could
see a view from every direction. But getting to each was confusing,
because all three looked the same…and doors sometimes led to
another balcony instead of leading out.”

“
Go on.”

“
Let’s see…there was a boathouse. Or
maybe it was a garage? I think a boat was stored there, and also
gas. This was supposed to be right near that stone bridge I told
you about, so the car could be used to drive on it to get to the
Sea Room. Apparently the stone bridge is a few miles long.”
Caroline took another bite, chewing, then swallowed. “And there was
a short staircase that led to the back of the house, and also a
walkway of stone that led up from the shore, with a landing in
between, made of red granite. Most of the house is made of the
stuff, supposedly.” Caroline shaded her eyes, taking another look
at the house. “Though to me the house and the stairs look white,
not pink or red. So maybe that part isn’t true.” She took another
bite, then looked over at Helter. “Why did you want to
know?”

A sudden scream sounded from below, making
them look down to the shore.

“
Cooper!” Barb yelled. She pushed her
way out of the trees into a small weedy lot, then tiredly made her
way to a rough stone bench, sinking down on the seat.
God, why
had she brought the stupid dog? He was supposed to be staying close
to protect her, not running off on his own chasing rabbits. So much
for women’s best friend.

The light suddenly darkened. Barb looked up
at the sun, which was obscured by a cloud. Then she checked her
watch. It was close to two already.
Damn it, she had to get that
dog and get back to the boat. Amateur ghost hunter or not, she did
not want to be here on this island overnight.

There was a rustling noise, of something in
the tall grass behind her. She turned, but there was only the
rustling tall grass, waving back and forth in the wind.

There was a sudden bark from behind her. Barb
turned to see Cooper above her near an elaborate stone fountain. He
was looking in her direction, and growling.

“
It’s okay,” Barb said soothingly,
coming closer. “Come on, Cooper. It’s okay. It’s just
me.”

Cooper bared his teeth at her, snarling. His
hackles were all the way up. She’d never seen him so ferocious. He
feinted, as if to lunge at her, then barked again, ending in a low
growl of warning.

What if he bit her?
Barb pushed the
thought away, moving slowly and carefully closer, until she was
within ten feet of Cooper. He was still snarling and growling. It
was only when Barb moved off to the side, fumbling in her pocket
for a biscuit, that she realized he wasn’t trying to menace her.
Cooper’s eyes were locked ahead of him, his defensive stance still
facing the brush.

Barb whirled with a gasp. There was a small
shape just above the weeds
. A humanoid head with two gleaming
yellow eyes was looking out at her.
As she stared frozen in
fear, the head slowly sank down, until it was lost again from
view.

The dog barked a final time, then turned to
his owner with a plaintive whine. Barb grabbed Cooper’s collar,
dragging him up a long cracked walkway of paving stones.

No way I’m going back
through that
long grass,
Barb thought. “We’ll have to go the long route
around, Cooper.”

She headed up the path, her dog trotting
jauntily at her side.