I glanced at the phone to see that it was four a.m., but I woke up at that time a lot. That was the time it had happened, and my mind refused to let me leave that warehouse at that time. It was my eternal punishment, reliving it over and over. The weight would sit on me and hurt me again and again. I deserved it.
I flicked on a small lamp, not wanting to go back to sleep and risk it happening again, and I moved my pillows to sit up in bed, because dwelling on it would not bring him back. There were other things going on, and there were other people I couldn’t let down. Not this time. I grabbed my laptop and opened it. I was a fucking detective. I might not have jurisdiction in Brooks Glen, but I had skills, and I had people.
I started off with a search of his name: Brandon Bates. News articles popped up first, recent ones about his death. I got my first look at the guy who’d obviously been Elijah’s asshole boyfriend at some point. He was a big guy, muscular, looked like a dick but wasn’t unattractive, unfortunately. Judging by just the photo, I’d guess he had at least six or seven inches and probably about a hundred pounds on Elijah, even though Elijah was no longer lanky. Remembering Chris had heavily implied that Brandon abused Elijah had me seeing red.
The articles told me he’d been found in his cabin, and there was a photo of the outside of it, police tape across the porch. He’d been stabbed like Chris said, thirty-seven times, so whoever had done it wanted to do more than just kill him, they wanted to send a message. Several suspects had been questioned, according to the local newspaper, and I assumed that Elijah, Jaron, and Tanner were among them. The police had made no arrests.
I knew it was late, but I also knew my friend Miller would be awake. I sent him a text, since he had more access to information than I did right now, at least without me getting in trouble. I was sure it wouldn’t come to that, but for the moment I wanted to keep my nose clean so I could keep snooping around.Hey,man, can you find me some dirt on Brandon Bates from Brooks Glen, Indiana? I know he was murdered recently, but I want arrest info, family, etc. And all the gritty details you can find.
I got a reply only a moment later.Mason, what the hell are you doing? You’re supposed to be resting and healing, not working. We need you back, so you need to clear your head. It sounds like you’re already into some shit.
Listen, Miller, it’s personal to me. Just get me what you can, yeah?
Alright, fine. Give me a little time. I’ll see what I can dig up.
I grinned as I texted back,You’re the best.
I went back to my own research, trying to figure out where exactly his cabin was. It was clearly in the woods, but I had no idea of its proximity to Elijah’s house. I had a plan that I was pretty sure was brilliant, but I had no idea if Elijah would go along with it. I’d message him as soon as I got done taking the little demon in the living room to the doctor in the morning for my mom.
I finally put the laptop away and rolled over, clinging to the hope that the dream was over again for the time being. I managed to get back to sleep, and slept until daylight with no dreams.
Chapter 10
Elijah
Imanaged to refrain from rolling my eyes as I leaned back on the counter in the exam room. No one ever listened to me, but I wasted my breath anyway. “I know you want her to have kittens, Mrs. Bright, but like the doctor mentioned last time, if you let her go into heat before you have her spayed, it will greatly increase her risk of mammary cancer. Plus, you’ll have to find homes for all the kittens except the one you want to keep. Why don’t you look at the animal shelter? They have plenty of kittens right now that need homes.”
She argued back but I just sighed and finished up her paperwork. With my best customer service smile, I headed out of the room, letting her know she was all set, and walked up front to let Rory know she was ready to check out. At least I could say I tried. Rory gave me a knowing look since she’d been in there for the last argument with the doctor. But then she said, “Hey, I know your day’s already weird, but we’ve got a feisty cat coming in next, and I know Doc Wilton will want you in there. There’s no way Jeanie can handle this one. And just so you know, it’s—” The bell over the door jingled before she could finish her sentence.
You’ve got to be kidding me.I wasn’t sure what I’d expected her to say, but it wasn’t that Mason was getting ready to walk through the door. It made my morning when he walked in, even if I didn’t want to see him yet, because I almost laughed out loud. He had a little black cat carrier in one hand that zipped on top, and he looked like he’d been through an epic battle. He was sweating, there was a tear in the front of his shirt, blood stained around it. He had a huge scratch down his left arm, and he was holding a battered towel that I’d bet hadn’t been battered that morning. He stopped short when he saw me. We hadn’t discussed my career, and he looked as surprised as I felt.
I couldn’t resist. I looked him up and down and said, “I can’t tell which of you won, to be honest.”
He still had that wide-eyed, deer-in-headlights look on his face, but he regained his composure pretty quickly. “Ha, ha.Iwon, obviously. She’s in the damn carrier, isn’t she?” He walked over and sat the carrier on the desk in front of Rory. “Sweetie Pieis here for her fucking shots.”
Rory tried to hide her smile and stood to take him to an empty exam room. She brought Mrs. Bright out when she came back, giving me a knowing smile that I wanted to flip her off for. Instead, I walked back to wash my hands and prepare for this supposed demon cat. She had a bunch of warnings on her chart, and I knew why Rory thought the doctor would want me. I had a way with those “difficult” animals, just like I did with the wild ones, and sometimes the only person at the clinic the feisty pets were nice to was me.
We grabbed gloves and a towel just in case, but I started soothing her through the carrier while the doctor talked to Mason. I refused to let them distract me, even though Mason’s answers to the questions were comical. He had no clue about anything he was being asked, including what kind of food his mom was feeding her. “Uh... the kind in the bag?” He was trying his best and I only just managed not to laugh.
When I knew the doctor was almost ready, I unzipped the carrier, and behind me Mason said, “Good luck. Be careful.”
I didn’t bother with the gloves. She looked at me, and I looked back, but not directly in her eyes. “It’s okay,” I told her, but not out loud. “I’m not going to hurt you, I promise. I’d kind of like to hurt him a little bit, though.”
She allowed me to pick her up, and the doctor raised his eyebrows. I hadn’t been here long enough to have dealt with her before, but he obviously remembered her well. She glanced once at Mason to give him a hiss—I could feel his eyes on me the whole time, but I didn’t look back at him—and let the doctor get through the exam with my hands on her, placating her. When the vaccines were done and she was back in the carrier, my boss looked at me, impressed. “That’s the first time we didn’t need gloves for Sweetie Pie Hale. Good job, Elijah.” I beamed.
The doctor shook Mason’s hand and told him it was good to see him again. I assumed he’d come in with his mom when he was younger. I turned to the computer to finish the paperwork. “Rory will get you the rabies certificate up front,” I said, not looking up from the screen. “And she’ll get you all checked out. Call us if you see any vomiting or rapid breathing. We don’t expect any reactions, though she might sleep more than normal today from the stress of coming in. I’ll let Rory know you’re re—”
“I think we should go out to the cabin.” He completely blindsided me with the interruption.
I looked up sharply. “What are you on about?”
He glanced around as though someone might be hiding in the small exam room, and lowered his voice. “You touched me. That’s when you saw it. That’s what happened when you knew my aunt died too. And you were touching the graves in the old section right before you saw the lady in the cemetery. I was thinking about that last night. We need to go to the cabin. You need to touch something there, where it happened. Maybe you’ll see something.”
I finished on the computer quickly, grabbing the chart the doctor had left. “I’m working, Mason. Take your cat home. Rory will check you out up front. You might want to get that scratch looked at too.” I rushed from the room and practically threw thepaperwork at Rory. “I’m taking lunch early,” I said, passing by Mason in the hallway on my way to the breakroom. I refused to look at him.
“Elijah?” I didn’t bother turning around. He didn’t understand. They wanted to use me to get answers, but I couldn’t make it work like that. I didn’t want to go to the cabin. I didn’twantto see anything. I’d never liked my visions in the first place, and the thought of seeing Brandon was about the worst one I could imagine.
I shoved my way into the breakroom and let the door swing shut behind me. I hoped he’d leave me alone. Rory surely wouldn’t let him follow. I wasn’t even sure I was ready to talk to him on a regular basis, let alone go with him to the place where my ex was murdered.What was he thinking?
