Spirit [New Crescent 2] (BookStrand Publishing Romance) (11 page)

He took one all-encompassing look at her and slapped the heel of his hand on his forehead like he should have had a V8. “Flannel! So
that’s
Victoria’s secret.”

She shared his laughter.

He nodded at the pillows. “These will make eating on the floor nice and comfy. Here…” After helping her to get settled, he turned the lights off and joined her in front of the fire.

Reggie bit into a drumstick, chewed with relish, and said, “I get it. This is the third act, seduction scene.” She looked at her slippers. “Damn, wardrobe got it all wrong, again.”

He laughed. “Don’t be so sure. I think you look adorable. Overkill though, the jammies could actually fit me.”

She looked at him with exaggerated innocence. “And have you enjoyed wearing women’s clothing since puberty?”

His laughter rang out, genuine and heartfelt. “Relax, Reggie, neither the wardrobe nor the humor was needed. I get the message. You’re dead on your feet. Trust me, when I take you to bed, you’ll need every ounce of strength you have. Tonight, you’re just not up to it.”

She didn’t look at him. Instead, she stuffed her mouth with pasta salad. Damn, but the man knew comfort food. She closed her eyes with ecstasy.

“Knock it off, Reggie. When you look like that, I want to change my mind and jump you after all.”

She swallowed and still said nothing. Silence filled the air. They could hear the house settling in for the night. Reggie loved the little sounds. This house deserved to be lived in. It cried out for it.

“Talk.” Chase’s voice interrupted her thoughts.

She shrugged. “I think that’s the first time you’ve ever said that to me.”

He ignored her quip and pressed her. “What happened today that drained you so completely?”

Reggie revisited her experience with Pru. As she spoke, Chase’s frown deepened.

He closed his eyes. “I’m not even going to bother berating you for going in that room alone. Let’s not, but say we did. Shall we?” He stoked Pru’s back. “I’d have done the same thing. Are you both okay?”

She nodded and filled him in on her conversation with Constance. “I think we have no choice but to follow her advice for the time being. We have to catch the thief.”

Chase looked around. “I feel like I’m being punk’d, but go on, Nancy Drew.”

“It’s raining pretty hard outside. I doubt the thief will venture out tonight. But tomorrow night, I want to set a trap for him. He takes the bait, we take him.”

“And this is Constance’s idea?” Chase was calm..

“Yes. Well, no, not exactly. The idea is hers, but the plan is mine. Will you help me?”

“Of course,” he said with resignation. “If I don’t, you’ll do it by yourself.”

“Good man. What’s for dessert?”

The next night, the weather cooperated up to a point. It didn’t rain, but what little sun they’d had all day hadn’t even come close to drying the sodden earth. Reggie loved the variety a New England change of season offered, but standing an inch deep in mud, behind a smallish pine tree, in autumn, was pushing it, even for her.

She couldn’t see Chase from her hiding place, but she knew he was there. They waited. Earlier, Chase left some tools out in hopes of tempting the thief. He’d rolled his eyes about the whole thing, but told Reggie he’d chosen the kind of easily carried materials that their thief seemed to find irresistible.

At first, when she’d crouched down behind the pine tree, she’d been startled by every shadow, every noise. After a couple of hours spent waiting on tenterhooks, her legs started to cramp. She was cursing silently and massaging her thigh in abject misery when she heard the noise.

Maybe she hadn’t wasted their time after all. The dark figure moved with surprisingly little stealth. He was short too, a fact Reggie noted with a smug smile. She could take him. In the darkness, it was difficult to see exactly what he’d picked up and slipped inside his jacket, but she could see Chase moving into perfect position to trap him. Earlier, Chase had tried to tell Reggie to stay hidden until he’d caught the guy, but that suggestion was not well met. In the end, they’d agreed. He’d come up from behind while Reggie approached from the front, cutting off the thief’s exit.

Waiting for Chase to make his move Reggie grew impatient. What’s wrong with him? Why isn’t he moving? Instead of following the plan, Chase spoke to the intruder. Furious at him, Reggie didn’t bother to listen to his words. She stood and ran toward them. She was less than eight feet away when the thief turned to flee. Without hesitation, Reggie checked him with her hip, and he went flying into the mud. He grunted loudly. Chase hauled him to his feet, and it was then that Reggie got her first good look at their criminal mastermind.

She wanted to laugh. He looked barely older than twelve, and she was being generous. She should have known. The thefts had been more of a nuisance than a threat. They were simply childish pranks. What the hell was Constance up to? She’d intimated that the thief was significant in some way. Feeling foolish, Reggie exchanged a look with Chase.

Her amusement died, and her blood ran cold when she saw the look on the kid’s face and the knife in his small but steady hand.

Burning with fever, the kid looked right through her. These were not the eyes of a child. Chase didn’t hesitate. He grabbed the boy’s wrist and forced the knife from his hand. Reggie watched with concern when an emotion flickered in the thief’s eyes. He blinked at her as if seeing her for the first time and dropped to the ground in a dead faint.

Reggie crouched beside Chase as he checked the kid’s pulse.

“Bring your car around. We need to get him to a hospital. He’s burning up.”

She didn’t waste time with words. Running into the house for her keys, she spared a reassuring word for Pru. Somehow, understanding the weight of the situation, the little dog made not a peep. Chase carried the boy as if he weighed no more than a doll. He was so young he probably didn’t weigh much more.

Reggie drove while Chase watched over him in the back seat. Familiar with the roads, she got them to the hospital in excellent time. Chase carried him in, calling out for help as he moved.

The emergency room was busy, but the unconscious boy got immediate attention. Chase and Reggie waited impatiently for news from the doctor. In sync, their heads turned when the doctor came out.

“He’s conscious, and he’s going to be all right.” He smiled when they sighed. “He has a fever. Flu season seems to have started early this year. It’s making its way through the school. It’s intense, but remarkably short lived. He’ll feel better in a matter of hours.” His gaze shifted to other beds in the unit.

“What about his parents?” Reggie asked.

“I’ve called them. They didn’t even know his was out tonight…thought he was tucked safely in his bed. They’re going to want to talk to you, so if you don’t mind, please stick around.”

Chase said, “Can we see him?”

“I’d rather you wait until his parents get here.”

“We’ll wait. Thanks, Doctor.” Chase nodded.

“The nurse will let you know when they’re here.” He moved away. There were other patients to tend to.

“I’m glad he’s okay. The look on his face when he confronted me with the knife…” She shook her head. “I wish I could describe it. He had the deadest eyes I’ve ever seen. No question, he looked perfectly capable of stabbing me in that split second… but then he changed. It was like an alternate personality took over. In that moment, he transformed from potential, cold-blooded killer into scared, sick kid.”

“We need to talk with his parents. I don’t think we should bother the sheriff’s office with this just yet.”

She nodded her agreement.

It wasn’t long before a frantic man and woman rushed in asking about Todd, an eleven-year-old boy brought in earlier. The parents had arrived. A very busy nurse took a moment and showed them to their son’s bed.

About fifteen minutes later, the boy’s father came out and introduced himself to Chase and Reggie.

“I understand we have you two to thank for getting him here.” He put out his hand. “I’m John Marks.”

Chase took his hand and introduced Reggie. She didn’t waste time and immediately asked if she could see Todd. The man nodded and showed them to his son’s hospital bed.

His skin looked gray against the white sheets. Brown hair stuck up in every direction as his mother repeatedly ran a shaking hand over his head. He looked at Reggie and Chase without recognition. They exchanged a look.

John Marks made introductions. His wife, Tammy, smiled down at her son. “Todd, these are the people who brought you to the hospital tonight.”

The kid looked confused for a second, and then he looked away. A stain of red stood out on his cheeks as he blushed. Reggie could see that he’d remembered.

Quietly, Chase talked to his parents, explaining what their son had been up to. Reggie stood by Todd’s bed and said, “Tell me what you remember.”

He looked frightened for a moment and Reggie reassured him. “It’s okay, Todd. I’m not mad. I just want to know what you were doing up at Bennett House tonight.”

His father spoke, “Tell her son.”

In a tiny voice that underlined his tender age, Todd said. “It was Aidan and the guys.. They told me I had to go to the scary house and take something so I could hang with the gang.”

“What guys?” Reggie asked

“All the really cool guys in school hang out together. If you’re with them, you’re okay. Aidan said I could hang too if I passed the initiation.”

With a knowing look, Chase said, “And stealing something from Bennett House in the middle of the night was the initiation.”

“Yeah, a bunch of the guys have already done it. They told me I had to prove I had guts, prove I was a man.” He started to cry. “I don’t have guts, Mom. I’m just a kid. I was scared and gonna turn around, and I got sorta sick. I remember seeing you.”

He looked at Reggie. Her heart broke for the boy and she took hold of his hand. “Well, don’t worry about it, Todd. No harm done. You just get better. When you’re up to it, we’ll have a talk.”

“He’s never done anything like this before. He’s a good kid,” John Marks said as he walked out with them.

Chase shook his hand. “Don’t worry about it. We’re just glad he’s okay. I insist, however, that you get the names of all the boys involved from Todd and contact their parents. Bennett House is no place for kids at the moment.”

“I intend to do exactly that. Everything that was stolen will be returned to you. Thank you both for being so understanding.”

* * * *

Back at Bennett House, Reggie went straight to the kitchen. She opened the fridge and asked, “Do you want a sandwich?”

Chase laughed. “Sure, since you’re making one.”

“I should have got a candy bar from the vending machine, but I didn’t want to miss anything.” She pulled out some cold cuts, grabbed the bread and very efficiently started to build two hearty sandwiches. She hesitated for a second and looked across the kitchen island at Chase, “I’m not making you a peanut butter and jelly sandwich by the way. Speak now or forever hold your peace.”

He laughed. “Whatever you make will be fine with me. Just no pickles.”

They ate at the table. Chase poured them both large glasses of ice-cold milk.

“I’ll call Travis in the morning.” When Reggie started to object, he continued. “Not as Sheriff. Just as an FYI thing so he knows we don’t expect anymore petty thefts around the place. That should keep the cops away from here like Constance hoped.”

“I don’t have to tell you what this means, do I?”

“No, but you’re going to anyway, aren’t you?”

“Kids, Chase, that thing has been feeding off innocent kids. That’s what was wrong with Todd tonight. He doesn’t have the flu, and neither do any of the other kids in school. I’m willing to bet every kid who’s come down with this virus has a souvenir from Bennett House.”

“It’s possible.”

“So I guess there was a method to Constance’s madness after all. We had to stop the thefts in order to cut off the supply. That’s why the evil’s been getting so much stronger, even though we’ve kept everyone away from that room.”

Chase nodded. “Yeah. From my hiding place, I could see Todd hesitate outside the Library window. At the time I thought he was just being cautious.”

Reggie said, “No, that thing in the library did something to him. You talk to Travis. I’ll connect with Gillian and Aunt Ernestine. They can at least confirm what we already suspect. I’m sure they can do that much at least.”

She started to get up, but Chase put a hand over hers. “Tomorrow, Reggie. Do you have any idea what time it is?” She looked at him crossly. “It’s after 2. Go to bed. Get some sleep. We can do all of that in the morning.”

The late, or rather early, hour took Reggie by surprise. It felt like she’d spent days hunched behind that damn pine tree. However, she’d been oblivious to the passage of time during the events following Todd’s appearance. She wasn’t tired, but the more practical side of her character told her that once she got between the covers, the exhaustion would hit her. Hard.