Hearths of Fire (31 page)

“Wait,” Charlotte said, shaking her head as if she were trying to deny what he was
saying. “Merging blood? What were they going to do with Mandy? Are we talking a pinprick
on the finger or something worse?”

This was why Neal hadn’t wanted to reveal the specifics, but he also knew Charlotte
wouldn’t have appreciated being kept in the dark. They’d always had an honest relationship,
even to the point when she came to him before their wedding to cancel their plans…he
wouldn’t change that now. He didn’t have time to go through each piece of intelligence
they’d gathered but he could give her the bullet points.

“The men weren’t clear on the particulars of the ritual, only that there would be
an exchange of blood.” Neal pressed her hands to his chest, ensuring that he had her
attention. He didn’t have time to repeat himself and he needed to be sure that Charlotte
was safe while he and the team went in to extract Becky. “We were already aware that
the Ashes believe Garreth is the messiah. They believe they were chosen to raise him
and guide him into his new role. They’ve been searching for years for a young woman
that meets their criteria to lead beside him.”

“What are the criteria?” From the tentative way Charlotte formed that question she
already knew the conditions, but he reiterated them so that she wouldn’t be left with
doubt. “Mandy’s birthday?”

“That’s one. The second is her role in life…in this case Mandy would be considered
a healer because of her pursuit of nursing. Third, she needed to be innocent, passive,
fair-skinned, and the most vital part…the time in which she was born.”

“The one thing that comes to mind is that Mandy is not passive. She’s stubborn, hardheaded,
and downright determined when she wants something.”

“Exactly.” Neal could see that Charlotte wasn’t following along with him. “All Garreth
had to do was make Mandy think she wanted one thing—him. Her willfulness would take
care of the rest. As you said cults take extreme measures to get what they want and
they are damn good at persuading those to see things their way.”

Charlotte leaned her head down on top of their joined hands and he could feel her
distress at how this situation could have turned out. Neal would ensure that things
didn’t get any more out of hand than they already were, but he figured he would tell
her the rest of what they’d uncovered.

“Mandy wasn’t their first target.” Neal rested his chin on Charlotte’s head, holding
her close. “Patricia Ashe was arrested two years ago for trying to abduct a young
woman who looked very similar in appearance to Mandy. Somehow the Ashes got the case
thrown out on insubstantial evidence. They must have access to certain databases that
gives them lists of names of babies born on Halloween, along with the times.”

“Mandy was born at eleven-fifty nine on October thirty-first.”

“Which is the exact time the ritual is to take place.” Neal shifted until Charlotte
was looking up at him. “There won’t be one, so don’t worry. We’ll extract Becky tonight
and once we prove that the Ashes took her against her will, the authorities will take
into custody those responsible and those members that are left will probably vacate
the premises soon after.”

“Would Trigger leave Diesel behind with me?” Charlotte asked, but Neal was shaking
his head before the last word left her mouth. She didn’t understand the vulnerability
she would be placing herself in by going home…even with Diesel. “Why not?”

“Because for all we know, when the two men that were taken into custody don’t return
they’ll send someone else for Mandy while me and the team are otherwise engaged trying
to extricate Becky from the compound. It’s a needless risk that I’m not willing to
take.”

“Fine.” Neal could see Charlotte’s mind spinning at the different alternatives available
to her. He admired her feistiness, but at this moment he really needed her to listen
to what he was saying. She threw out another suggestion. “What if I ask Pam to stay
with me to do inventory? I won’t be at home, per your request. We’ll stay inside the
store and I’ll even set the alarm. If I so much as think someone is trying to break
in I’ll call Nancy to have her send over the deputy on duty.”

“The store is the second place that—”

“No, it’s not,” Charlotte argued before Neal could even make his point. “Mandy never
comes to the store…ever. She has no interest in it and Garreth knows that. If the
Ashes send someone to look for Mandy and they try breaking into the house again, they’ll
see she isn’t there and think she’s with a friend. Pam’s vehicle is parked out front,
right behind mine. No one would be reckless enough to try something on Main Street,
practically directly across from the sheriff’s station.”

Neal went over in his mind the different scenarios that could take place and he didn’t
like any of them. He’d like to sit her ass over at Plinkton’s so that the deputies
could babysit her but that wasn’t feasible. The less that people were aware of what
was going to take place tonight, the better. If the sheriff or his deputies were to
suddenly take an interest in Charlotte, it would tip their hand to the Ashes that
something was about to go down.

“Fine.” Neal pulled Charlotte into his arms and held her tight, closing his eyes at
the fact that he’d gotten too close to her. It was going to be hell leaving Hearth
to go back to San Diego…but it was in both their best interests. He had his life and
she had hers. “Do not leave this shop until you see me standing at that front door.
One sound, one sight, or one feeling that appears wrong—you call Nancy and get one
of those deputies over here. They’ll at least be close by since god knows they don’t
leave the office during the night unless there’s a problem.”

“Will you contact me if you find Becky?”

“You mean
when
we find Becky.” Neal finally released Charlotte, feeling as if he needed to stay
with her. Leaving her was becoming harder and harder…something he would have to deal
with soon. Right now he had a job to do and he had better get his ass moving. He swiftly
claimed her lips before stepping back. “Be good.”

‡

C
harlotte and Pam
spent the evening doing inventory, just as she’d promised Neal. The hours had passed
by quickly and she glanced at the clock above the counter, seeing that it read ten
o’clock at night. Neal hadn’t said exactly what time he and the team would enter the
compound, but she figured it had to be soon or else he would have said something.
Typically the bookstore’s inventory took an entire Sunday, so it wasn’t out of the
realm of possibility that she and Pam would be here until one o’clock. Unfortunately
Pam was starting to look a little tired.

“Too many hours?” Charlotte asked, keeping her voice light. She made her way over
to the children’s section where Pam was currently rearranging the display for the
newer books that would arrive tomorrow. She’d taken a momentary pause to cover the
yawn that had come over her. “I truly appreciate that you were willing to cover for
me this week. Between Mandy breaking things off with Garreth and Neal still in town,
my personal life has been a little hectic.”

“I told you that I’d been wanting more hours,” Pam replied, repositioning her stool
as she shifted some of the items on the shelf. “I love it here, Charlotte. You know
that. Don’t you remember when we used to come in here during our high school years
and beg your mom to let us work the cash register? She’d sign off on our volunteer
hours and then pay us under the table.”

Charlotte laughed at the memory, thinking of their friend Gina who’d join them on
those days. Neither Pam nor Charlotte had heard from Gina in years. She’d left Hearth
to go to college out of state and never returned home. When her parents had up and
moved to Arizona the last string had been severed. Charlotte had thought Neal wouldn’t
return home after his parents had retired to Florida, but they’d signed their house
over to him. She never did ask why they would do that if he’d had no intention of
returning. He was currently living in San Diego and renting out his parents’ old place.

“You ended up doing most of the work.” Charlotte felt like taking a break and this
reminiscing was bringing back all sorts of memories. This was ten times better than
thinking about what was happening out off of Ryder’s Road. She sat down on the floor,
using the shelves as back support and setting the clipboard on her lap. “Gina and
I used to sneak off into the romance section and recite the love scenes we found in
those period novels.”

“Your mother used to get so mad at you guys for ruining the bindings on those paperbacks.”
Pam stopped what she was doing and leaned against the other side of the shelving in
the aisle. “You know, I can still be your maid of honor. Age doesn’t have a thing
to do with it, although I haven’t seen Jimmy Hubber in years—so he’s out as best man.
That is unless Neal kept in contact with him.”

Charlotte laughed softly at how Pam had neatly interjected Neal into the conversation.
Her friend had tried to talk her out of calling him for help in the first place. Now
here Pam was moving a relationship that was going nowhere, according to Neal, back
to the altar.

“You seem to forget that you thought it was a bad idea to call Neal.”

“I might have misjudged him,” Pam said with a shrug. “You know that I’ve always liked
Neal, but you’re my friend. I think dredging up the past is a mistake, but his presence
seems to have given you what you wanted. Mandy broke things off with Garreth and now
you don’t have to worry she’ll be transformed into some type of zealot that thinks
us old maids are witches.”

Charlotte laughed, feeling better about how this evening would turn out. Neal and
his team would rescue Becky, the cult would be disbanded, and the only thing left
to focus on was what Charlotte was going to do with her feelings for Neal. Pam had
no idea how she’d just put things into perspective.

“Hey, has there been any word on Becky?” Pam asked, compassion filling her brown eyes.
“I can’t imagine what her parents are going through.”

“I’m sure you would have heard from Thelma if there was,” Charlotte replied, deflecting
the answer. “That woman knows everything in this town. Mandy’s been worried sick though,
as are all of Becky’s friends.”

“Thelma did say that it was Neal who got the sheriff to search the Ashes’ compound
for any sign of Becky. Is that really true?”

“Neal coming back to Hearth has made things better, Pam, especially with Mandy,” Charlotte
confessed, wishing she could share more information with Pam. It wasn’t that she wasn’t
trustworthy, but she’d promised Neal she’d keep things to herself for the sake of
Pam’s safety. Charlotte would tell her everything after tonight. “I’m not quite sure
what Neal said that would warrant the sheriff to institute that kind of search. You
should come over to the house this weekend though. We can have a wine night and watch
some old time spooky horror flicks as we hand out candy to the kids.”

“Speaking of candy, I’m starving.” Pam looked down at her watch and scrunched her
nose. “The diner is closed. Do you think Mauve stayed open late?”

Mauve ran the hardware store with her husband, but with his health declining in recent
months it was Mauve who had taken over the opening and closing of the small town family
business that had been in her family for generations. Charlotte shook her head, knowing
for a fact that Mauve had been shutting the doors to the shop well before the stated
closing time on the sign. Fortunately the reminder about candy sparked Charlotte’s
memory.

“Hey, I bought some candy bars for trick or treating last week. After Neal arrived
and then the weekend happened, I totally forgot to take them out of the back seat.”
Charlotte shifted, using her hands to push herself into a standing position. She captured
the clipboard as it almost slipped to the ground. “I’ll go grab them.”

Charlotte walked across the store, taking time to put the clipboard on the counter
and then grab her keys out of her purse, which had been tucked away below the register.
As she walked to the door, she hesitated in her steps. She’d promised Neal that she
wouldn’t leave the shop for any reason. Staring out the glass doors, Main Street was
deserted with the exception of some deputies’ vehicles parked across the road. She
reached over and pushed in the code that would deactivate the alarm. It would only
take two seconds to grab the candy from the back of her car. Shoving open the shop’s
door, the chilly air immediately caused her eyes to water. Damn, it was cold out here.

Using the key fob to unlock her vehicle, Charlotte looked around once more as she
opened the back door. The stillness of the night gave way to some goose bumps, but
the threatening feel in the air made her stop. Looking towards the intersection, she
could make out the four way stop from the streetlights. To the right of her, that
was the direction in which the road led out of town and the two yellow lines faded
into the darkness.