“Describe them,” I said, and he let out a shaky breath.
“It was dark. And they were all wearing black from head to toe. They had these caps covering their hair and they didn’t look around. They didn’t talk at all. They kind of… marched toward the house.”
“Did you see any of their faces?”
“I was behind that huge tree on the other side of the road.” Greg flushed. “I was trying to talk myself into walking across the road and knocking on the door. If I had, maybe they’d still be alive,” he said miserably.
“If you had, you’d be dead,” Kyla said around her next bite. “What about their skin color? Height? Anything you noticed.”
“One of them was mixed. I think the other two were white. They were all taller than me. They had wide shoulders like they worked out.”
“Any weapons?” I asked.
He shook his head. “Two of them carried bags. Like duffels.”
“Okay. So you’re standing behind the tree, and they walk toward the house. Then what happens?”
“Two of them continued up the path, and the other one split off. He went around the back of the house. I thought they were friends of the witches. They have guys around sometimes. Especially when the older witches are away.”
His gaze met mine. “I thought they were friends. That they were maybe planning to surprise them or something.”
“There was no way you could’ve known.”
He just shook his head. “So I was standing there, feeling like an asshole with the flowers in my hand. I couldn’t go in, unless I wanted a group of guys to laugh me out of there. I waited around for a while, hoping that the guys would leave, and then I ditched the flowers. That’s when I saw it.”
“What did you see?”
“Flames. In one of the upstairs bedrooms. And then in the living room. I called the fire department and the police, but I had to hang up, because the guys were coming out.”
Greg swallowed and put his burrito down. His face was turning green. “They didn’t say anything. Just marched back to the car.”
“Which doors did they use to get into the car?”
“Huh?”
“Did any of them get into the driver’s side, or was there a driver waiting?”
“Ah, one of them got in the driver’s side. The others got in on the side away from the road.”
“Take me through it again.”
I took notes, and by the time we were done, Greg was pale but holding steady.
“I should’ve done something.”
“Did you hear anything? Screams, yelling?”
“No.”
“So there was no way to know, until you saw the flames. You did everything right.”
“I should’ve gone in there, should’ve–”
Kyla angled her head. “Greg. If they’d seen you, they would’ve killed you. They wouldn’t have thought twice.”
Greg leaned down and put his head between his knees. I glanced at Kyla. She simply shrugged and took another bite of her burrito.
“Tell me about the car, Greg. Did it drive past you?”
