Officer out of Uniform (Lock and Key Book 2) (16 page)

Alicia’s brow furrowed. “Really? Faye didn’t mention that. Have either of
you
ever been down there?”

“Once, when I first started working here,” Sasha replied. “Phil dared me.”

Phil was one of Wisteria’s two groundskeepers. Sasha could still remember the way he’d cackled as she’d approached the basement doors, then backed away quickly as she’d stepped inside.

“Well, was it haunted?”

Alicia’s question was a valid one, but not one Sasha could easily answer. “I don’t know, but it really creeped me out. It just felt … wrong down there. Like someone was watching me. I only stayed down there for a few seconds, just to shut Phil up.”

“What about you, Kerry?”

Kerry shook her head. “I’ve never had a reason to go down there.”

“Well…” Alicia looked conflicted. “I need to find the trellis, so it’s settled. I’m going. As long as there are no spiders or rats, I’ll be fine.”

Sasha bit back a sigh. “We’ll go with you. Won’t we, Kerry?”

Kerry looked taken aback at first, but she nodded. “Sure. We’d better get moving now, if we’re going to do it.”

The three of them marched outside together, into the July sunshine. As always, Sasha was impressed by the beauty of the stately mansion grounds. Beyond the house’s white columns and perfectly-manicured front lawn, a wide path / driveway was lined with trees draped with wisteria vines. They weren’t currently in bloom, but the trees were gorgeous enough on their own and Sasha loved the rich, earthy smell of Spanish moss, which drifted from behind the house.

The entrance to the basement was outside, around the left side of the house. The doors were ancient, but well-maintained, recently painted and fitted with a padlock. The three women gathered outside them, and soon attracted notice.

“Everything okay?” It was Ernesto, who wore gardening gloves and held a pair of shears. Phil was close behind him, and the two groundskeepers looked wary.

“Everything’s fine,” Alicia explained. “We just need to look for a trellis that’s supposed to be stored in the basement. When I find it, I may need your and Phil’s help carrying it out. I think we’re going to need your help getting in too. Do either of you have a key?”

Ernesto and Phil exchanged a wide-eyed glance, and something unsaid seemed to pass between them.

“I don’t think you should go down there,” Ernesto said. “There are rats. We have an exterminator coming next week to get rid of them.”

“Rats?” Alicia frowned. “Faye didn’t mention that.”

“We just made the appointment this morning,” Ernesto replied. “She probably didn’t know when she told you the trellis was down there.”

“When’s the wedding you need the trellis for?” Kerry asked.

“Next spring,” Alicia replied.

“It can wait until next week then, can’t it?”

“I guess it can. Thanks for the warning, Ernesto.”

He and Phil just nodded, looking even more relieved than Alicia did.

Sasha barely suppressed a snort. Everyone at Wisteria was so superstitious. Of course, she’d been creeped out by the basement too, and she didn’t pretend to know exactly what went on in the next world. She had no doubt there
was
a next world though – Wisteria had convinced her of that.

If you spent enough time in the house, you were bound to hear voices coming from empty rooms, or at least walk through a cold spot every once in a while. And then there were the hundreds of guests, tourists and employees who’d claimed to have actually seen things.

Still, she’d mustered up the courage to go down into the basement once and could do it again, if it meant helping a friend.

“Have you seen the video?” This time, it was Phil who spoke up, his voice barely more than a mumble.

“What video?” Alicia diverted all her attention to Phil.

Sasha barely suppressed a groan. She knew exactly what video Phil was talking about – he’d shown it to her right before he’d dared her to venture into the basement alone.

Sure enough, he was pulling his phone out of his pocket now, his expression half gleeful and half reverent. Obviously, he was keen to fill Alicia in on what all of Wisteria’s other employees had already seen, though he was clearly scared out of his wits by it and the basement.

Moments later, Phil’s finger was hovering over the screen, and everyone had gathered around him. Alicia watched particularly intently as he hit play.

Sasha had seen it before, more than once. Still, she watched as the familiar minute and a half of footage played out. It looked eerie from second one, thanks to the fact that it’d been shot in the dark, with infrared. Three people – two men and a woman – navigated through the dark basement, calling out and challenging any resident spirits like investigators on TV shows were always doing.

At first, nothing happened. They kept at it though, and eventually, there was a lull in their chatter. That was when
it
happened: a can of paint toppled off the end of a shelf the woman was standing by and burst open, spreading in a white puddle all over the floor.

The amateur investigators screamed and swore, then charged out of the basement like a herd of frightened wildebeest.

Admittedly, a can of paint falling off a shelf didn’t sound all that creepy. But when you saw it… Well, it was pretty freaky. Especially since the shelf had remained stable, while the can had seemed to just sort of edge off the side, like it’d been given a push. Almost full, it had obviously been heavy.

“That was filmed in Wisteria’s basement?” Alicia asked.

Phil nodded. “That was about five years ago. The people in the video were guests. They weren’t supposed to be in the basement, but they snuck down there at night. The lock was added after that, to keep wanna-be ghost hunters out.”

“That was pretty creepy,” Alicia said. “It’s a good thing no one got hurt.”

“There could’ve been a lawsuit if the can had fallen on anyone,” Ernesto said. “Benjamin was really upset.”

Benjamin was Wisteria’s owner. He was an older guy who stopped by regularly but mostly trusted Faye to keep things running smoothly.

“I bet.” Alicia eyed the phone warily, though the footage was over.

“It got a lot of views on the internet and some ghost hunting shows tried to get permission to investigate here,” Phil said. “Benjamin said no.”

“Maybe I should wear a hardhat when I go down there to look for that trellis,” Alicia joked, and Sasha marveled at her ability to laugh. After all, just a couple months ago, Alicia had had some spooky incidents of her own.

Maybe her near-brush with death had diminished any fear of those who’d already experienced it.

A little shiver raced down Sasha’s spine. God willing, she’d never have to experience anything like what Alicia had at the hands of Troy Levinson. She’d rather be afraid of spirits than of people who were very much alive, more of a threat than any lost soul.

* * * * *

“Well I’ll be damned if we aren’t all outta things to eat. You mind running to the store?” Randy looked over his shoulder, one hand braced on the open fridge door. The last of the stuff Reynolds had had in his fridge was gone, down to the last slice of bologna.

Sean looked up from the daytime TV he’d been riveted to all day. “What? Oh, yeah, I would but… I’m a little short on cash right now, you know?”

He turned his gaze back to the screen.

Randy ground his teeth and drew in a deep breath of the stale refrigerator air. It smelled moldy and wasn’t quite cool enough.

He’d known from the get-go that the food he’d found in the trailer wouldn’t last him long, and had figured he’d have to risk an outing to steal or hunt down more. Now that Sean was here though, the pain in the ass might as well make himself useful. Randy wasn’t about to walk into Piggly Wiggly for bread and milk.

Sean picked up the remote and began flipping through the channels. He paused on the local news station. They were giving the weather report – calling for rain, thanks to a hurricane currently swirling over the Atlantic – but God knew the station could hardly go five minutes without rehashing the report on the warden’s death.

Until Sean’s arrival, Randy had enjoyed the news reports explaining what he’d done, spreading fear. But now…

Randy didn’t know whether Sean had already heard about the incident. Even if he had, Randy didn’t want him thinking on it too hard.

“Don’t worry about money,” Randy said, straightening and pulling out a billfold he’d pickpocketed out of a drunk American tourist’s jeans in Mexico. “I’ve got cash. Here.”

He pulled out a neat little stack of bills Sean wouldn’t be able to resist. Hell, he could afford to be generous. He had a few hundred bucks and only needed enough to scrape by until he was finished with his mission in Riley. Realistically, he knew that probably wouldn’t be too long.

Sean leapt out of the recliner, eyeing the cash. “All right.”

“Pick up some beer, would ya?”

Sean grinned. “Sure. Hey, maybe we could get a case or two and invite a few people over. I know some girls—”

Randy all but felt the tendons in his neck snap as he turned on Sean. “The hell did you just say?”

“I was just saying we could—”

“This ain’t no damn frat house! Every person that walks through that door is a person that’s up in our business for no fucking reason. You wanna get escorted outta here in cuffs by some of Riley County’s finest?”

Sean stood with his mouth hanging open. “No, man. I didn’t think of it that way. I just…”

“No parties,” Randy said, giving Sean the hardest look he had. He’d stopped more than one fight before it’d started with that look, in prison. “No people. You fucking got it?”

Sean nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, man. Shit. I didn’t mean nothing by it. Just thought we could have some fun.”

“You make some money here in a few days and you can go out and have all the fun you want,” Randy said.

That seemed to cheer Sean up. He nodded like a bobble head doll, then rushed out the door and leapt into the shitty car he’d arrived in.

Watching him drive away, Randy breathed a long sigh. He needed to get rid of Sean Reynolds. The kid had already cost him nearly 24 hours, and he didn’t have any more time to lose. He needed to get on with things, and couldn’t figure out a way to do that without risking Sean doing something idiotic while he was gone, or figuring out what was happening.

Heading outside, he grabbed a shovel from where he’d hidden it beneath the trailer’s skirting and walked into the woods.

Henry noticed every little detail as he stepped out of his truck and walked toward Wisteria, still in uniform. Everything from the eight other vehicles parked in front of the mansion – one of them Sasha’s – to the way the leaves on the trees lining the drive were slightly turned out. That combined with the extra dose of humidity in the air told him it was going to rain.

He lost himself in these little details, studying the tourist couple who emerged from the house and walked hand-in-hand toward the restaurant where Sasha worked. He’d timed things so he’d arrived a few minutes before the end of her shift.

After his monumental fuck-up the night before, arriving at her place of work with the intentions of getting her to spend more time with him felt shameful. But he still had that itch between his shoulder blades, and he didn’t dare stay away from her just because he was ashamed of what he’d done.

He wanted – needed – to be there for her, to protect her. Sasha wasn’t the kind of woman who’d settle for being babysat though, so he’d come up with a plan. It was still romantic as long as it was a date, wasn’t it?

Besides, he longed to make up for what he’d done the night before – as much as he could, anyway.

Biting back a sigh, he strolled around the back of the restaurant, where there was a bench. He’d sit and wait for her to walk out. Hopefully the element of surprise would help him sweep her off her feet, or whatever the saying was.

He hadn’t even taken a seat when he saw something that made his gut churn – an open door. It led into the kitchen, and from outside, he could see the gleam of polished surfaces, the shine of fluorescent lighting reflecting off a hanging skillet.

What the hell? There was a murderer on the loose and she’d just left the backdoor open? Anyone – absolutely anyone – could’ve crept right in and hurt or killed her before she’d even realized they’d entered the building. And whatever happened in the kitchen could possibly go unnoticed by the rest of the restaurant staff and guests for a few minutes.

At the thought, his blood started to boil. It was a fucking travesty that Riley’s PERT squad hadn’t been deployed to search for Randy Levinson. If they had, maybe they’d already have caught him and people in Riley County wouldn’t have to worry about things like leaving curtains and doors open and—

“Oh sweet Jesus!” A short, dark-haired woman in a chef coat walked out the open back door and nearly collided with Henry. With one hand clasped against her chest, she looked up at him with wide eyes. “You scared the hell outta me!”

Henry frowned. “You should keep that door shut. Anyone could’ve walked in.”

“The AC’s on the fritz,” she said, looking him up and down, her gaze settling on his badge. “It’s either leave the door open or roast to death – I’ll take my chances with the open door. Is something wrong?”

“I was trying to surprise Sasha.”

“Well, you certainly surprised
me
. Let me guess … you’re Henry.”

He nodded. Sasha had been talking about him? He couldn’t say he was surprised, exactly, though an uneasy feeling struck him as he wondered what exactly she’d said.

“She’ll be out in a minute. Want me to tell her you’re here?”

“Who’s here?” Sasha popped her head through the open doorway, her golden hair tied up in a bun. She only wore it that way when she was cooking, and though her hair looked gorgeous down, the sight of her bare neck was also beautiful. “Henry!”

She stepped outside, wearing a chef coat just like the other woman’s. There was a red sauce stain over one of her breasts, and a little flour on her pants. The sight of her black eye horrified him all over again, though she’d made it look less dramatic with makeup. “I had no idea you were coming here. I didn’t think you’d ever see me like this.”

“I don’t mind seeing you a little dirty,” he said, tempted to smile despite his guilt. She looked amazing, even in clothes that showed how hard she’d been working, and she was actually grinning at him.

“Thanks, but when I said ‘like this’, I meant in my Crocs.” She looked down at her feet, which were clad in bright red rubber shoes. “You wouldn’t believe how comfortable they are.”

A drop of dampness hit his cheek, then another, as it finally began to rain. “Are you done with your work day?”

She nodded, then tipped her head toward the other woman. “Like I said this morning, I head home early today. My sous-chef Francesca will handle things for the rest of the evening.”

“I was thinking we could do something together.”

She arched a brow. “Like what?”

Thank God, it was raining, so he didn’t have to worry about her wanting to do something outdoors, like hit the beach. He didn’t want to parade around a public place right now – all he wanted was to get her inside, with him, where it was safe. Maybe then the awful feeling crawling beneath the surface of his skin would go away.

“I was thinking I could try to redeem myself for last night’s dinner. Thought you might like a break from cooking.”

Of course, she had no reason to believe he could whip up an edible meal, but he sure as hell would try if she’d give him another chance.

He didn’t want to risk public exposure at a restaurant, given the current circumstances. He needed to get her to a controlled environment – a safe one. No one knew where Randy Levinson was or what stunt he was planning next.

The way he’d strung up the warden proved that he was out to make scenes and statements. Any one of the relatively few businesses in Riley County could be the stage for his next crime.

“Should we stop by Piggly Wiggly for some more ranch dressing on the way?”

He winced. “I was going to stop to pick up a few things for dinner. No ranch though. I promise.”

Suddenly, he could feel the sous-chef’s gaze boring into his back. After this, who knew what she and Sasha would talk about next time they saw each other and he wasn’t there.

“Well, I never turn down a meal I don’t have to cook, especially when the chef has the physique of an underwear model.” She grinned. “I’ll go home and change, then head to your place?”

Henry pretended not to hear Francesca snort.

“Don’t feel like you have to make an unnecessary trip home. The dress code is anything but formal.”

Sasha’s eyes glittered, and he knew she knew he didn’t want to let her out of his sight.

“Henry,” she said, “I don’t like to live my life boxed in by a bunch of rules. But I do have a few, and one of them is that I don’t try to seduce men in these shoes.”

Well, it’d been worth a try.

“I’m about to head home – swinging by Piggly Wiggly will only take me a few minutes. See you at my place in a little while?”

She agreed and after she said goodbye to Francesca, they left the restaurant together, walking side by side in the light rain.

“I know exactly what you’re up to,” she said when they were out of Francesca’s earshot. “You’re trying to keep me close so you can rescue me if something crazy happens.”

Since she was right, there was no need for him to say anything.

“You’re lucky you look so good in that uniform – it makes it awfully hard to say no to you. In case you haven’t noticed though, we’ve been fine these past few days. Better than fine, if you ask me.”

“Yeah. I just … have a feeling.”

Surprisingly, she was quiet for a few seconds. “What kind of feeling?” she eventually asked.

“Like something bad is going to happen.” More like that at any second, something huge and unseen might drop out of the sky and swallow up the sun, leaving him in fathomless darkness.

A darkness he’d gotten lost in before, and never wanted to experience again.

Sasha stopped walking, looked up and met his eyes. She was no longer smiling. “To you?”

The wariness he saw in her eyes caught him off guard. “Maybe. I don’t know. I can take care of myself though – it’s you I’m worried about.”

He had an innate ability to survive, even when he didn’t deserve to. As long as he took reasonable precautions, he’d be okay. Sasha was the important thing, the one he had to look out for. Because if he faced death again and had to walk away without someone he cared about, that would be it – all he could bear to take.

A part of him had wished for the desert floor to open up and swallow him the first time, to split along a crack and pull him down into dust and darkness.

He didn’t know what the next life had to offer, if it was even a life at all, but he was damned sure it had to be better than what he’d have to live with if a shitbag like Randy Levinson got his hands on Sasha. Watching men who’d signed up to sacrifice everything if necessary die had been bitter enough – seeing someone like Sasha torn from this world by needless violence would be even worse.

“Well if it makes you feel any better,” she eventually said, “I’ve got my Shun on me.”

He eyed her sideways, scanning her silhouette for any signs of a knife as they started walking again.

“Right now?” She had enough curves to distract the eye from an entire arsenal – it was no use trying to locate the single weapon by sight alone.

“Yep.”

Henry groaned. “I still need to take you to the shooting range. Maybe that’s what we should do today.”

“You promised me dinner.”

He wanted to say he’d take her after they ate, but knew the range would be closed by then. “I can’t believe you think you need to carry a weapon and all you’ve got is a kitchen knife.”

She sighed. “I hope you never have to see what I could do to a man with this thing, because it wouldn’t be pretty.”

She sounded like she meant it, which didn’t bode well for him talking her into learning how to use a gun. He didn’t bother telling her that she’d likely end up dead if an assailant like Randy Levinson got close enough for her to actually cut. He’d said it all before, and she was headstrong, to say the least.

When they parted in the parking lot, he reluctantly watched her climb into her car and then got into his own truck. She pulled out into the drive first, and he followed, giving the plantation house a last look in the rearview mirror.

There was only one person outside – a woman in a white dress, standing on the lawn. It was raining more heavily now, but he could see that she was dark haired and not using an umbrella or wearing a hat.

A little weird, but she did appear to be moving toward the house. Probably a guest who’d gotten caught in the rain. Henry returned his attention to Sasha, who’d slowed to pass the gate and its little speed bump. When he glanced in his mirror again, the woman was already gone.