On Pins and Needles: Sierra Fox, Book 3 (22 page)

I glanced around to find Gareth squirming in his seat. Turning back to look at Papan, I swallowed hard because he was the one distracting me from everything I’d intended to share.

Papan took a strand of my hair between his fingers and rubbed it slowly.

“If you two are done, I think we were in the middle of something,” Oren interrupted with a cough. “And before I forget, I looked into the local news and even other cities in Australia, and couldn’t find any discernible pattern for the string of teenage deaths we’re experiencing in Sydney.”

“Yeah, I’m not surprised,” I said, taking a few seconds to catch my breath. Papan’s eyes were still smiling at me and a shiver raced down my spine. I turned my head and my hair slid from his fingers, which miraculously helped me get my mind out of the gutter. “As alluring as this woman might be, she wasn’t counting on the tenacity of teenage friendships. We all know how important friends were when we were teenagers. To some, they’re more important than family. No matter what she did, Maya wasn’t going to separate Willow from her friends, so she resorted to killing them.”
 

My stomach sank at the realization. How could anyone be so evil?

“But Willow got away, and if her dead boyfriend is right, there’s no doubt this woman will do whatever it takes to find her,” Gareth said with a shake of his head. He still looked a little uncomfortable. “I can’t believe I just said that.”
 

“I’m going to check something. I’ll be right back,” Papan said, stepping back and clapping his hands together. “I should be able to track whatever history she has.”

“Okay.”
 

Papan kissed my cheek before opening and closing the same door Willow had taken only minutes before.

“In the meantime, we can find out more about the Lamia,” I said, looking at Oren. “And you can tell me if you know someone by the name of Jacinta Mills.”

“I’ve heard of her,” Gareth said. “She was a psychic who worked some pretty big police cases about forty years ago.”

“How do you know about her?”

“I read some files. She helped with a lot of cold cases no one else could solve.”

“What about you, Oren? Do you know much about her? Because according to Papan, she wasn’t a psychic at all. She was a necromancer. She’s Eli Moss’s grandmother.”

Oren’s face paled. “Jacinta is his grandmother?”

“Yeah, why? Is that a bad thing?”

Oren sat down, avoiding my eyes. “Yes, I know Jacinta. She was in fact a necromancer, one of the strongest I’ve ever known. Although she was very helpful to the police because her image meant everything to her, she also had a bad streak. She loved toying with the dead and learned a lot of secrets by raising their spirits. I have no doubt she performed some of these things in front of her impressionable grandson, which may answer why he’s so obsessed with necromancy.”

“Do you think he’s obsessed enough to let someone control his daughter?” Gareth asked.

Oren shrugged. “He could be. Though, he could also be under her spell. If this Maya is a Lamia—which seems the most likely scenario—she can cast spells that make her irresistible to males.”

“So necromancers are like spook catchers—it only passes on to females, right?”

“Yes, but it doesn’t skip a generation. The eldest female of each generation becomes a necromancer.”

“Okay, so what we have is a woman who is either a Lamia herself or has access to one, and is making this creature kill innocent girls while trying to find Willow.” I ticked everything off on my fingers. “As well as a powerless man who wants to do whatever it takes to gain some sort of power.”

“That pretty much sums it up,” Oren said with a nod. “But we need to find out what he wants, what she wants, and how they plan to use Willow.”

“Maybe I should visit his house again and ask a few more questions.”

“No, Gareth, I don’t want to get you into any sort of trouble.” If anyone paid that house a visit, it would be me.

“Looks like we’re all in some sort of trouble already,” he said with a shrug.

A sharp generic tune echoed around the kitchen and Gareth reached into his back pocket to pull out his phone. “It’s Gareth, what’s up?” His frown deepened. “Sure, I’ll get over there as soon as I can.”

“What’s wrong? Is it another body?” I couldn’t help but expect the worst.

He nodded, shoving the phone back into his pocket. “Another girl has been found. I’m off duty but I wouldn’t mind swinging by to see if this is the same killer or if we’re dealing with an isolated case. The MO seems to have changed. A new day hasn’t even dawned yet.”

“She might be getting desperate,” Oren said. “We’re not dealing with a serial killer trying to make the police see patterns and spread fear—this is someone who already knows what she wants and will pretty much do whatever it takes to get it.”

Gareth stood and put his leather jacket on. He looked at me for a moment, before he said, “Do you want to come with me?”

I looked towards the closed kitchen door before turning back to him. “I don’t know…”

“Sierra, go with him. I’ll tell Jason where you went and will make sure Willow’s okay.”

I hesitated.

“Jason’s a big boy. He doesn’t need you to hold his hand all the time. Besides, when you get back he’ll hopefully have an answer or two about Maya.”
 

Of course the old man was right. “Yeah, okay.”

“Let’s go.” Gareth smiled and headed out of the kitchen.

Before I could follow, Oren touched my arm and I turned to face him.

“Sierra, Jacinta was a good friend of Sally’s,” he said.

“Sally Grye?”

Oren nodded. “I just thought you might like to know.”

“Yeah, thanks.” I turned to catch up to Gareth and called over my shoulder. “Don’t forget to tell Papan where I went.”
 

I didn’t like the idea of not speaking to Papan before I left, but this was important.

The same policewoman we’d seen that morning was waiting for Gareth as soon as we arrived. This alley was situated behind a large movie theatre complex and was really a small opening wide enough to stash a Dumpster.

“What have we got this time?” Gareth asked, slipping on some rubber gloves.

“Same as the other two,” she said, motioning for us to follow. “You better hurry because the detectives are already on their way.”

It took only a few steps to reach the back of the alley, where I heard some sniffling coming from the other side of the Dumpster.

“Is that where the body is?” I asked, pointing.

The policewoman nodded and turned back to say something to Gareth. While they chatted quietly, I took another step.

“Be careful, Sierra,” Gareth called.

I didn’t slow my pace and crept closer until I found a young girl squished between the brick wall and the Dumpster. As soon as my breath misted in front of me and my lungs turned to ice, I knew what was happening.
 

Trying to ignore the sharp pain in my chest, I focused on her. “Hey,” I whispered.

The girl had her legs pressed up against her body, her face buried in her knees. She was crying and sitting close to her motionless shell.

“Hey,” I said, a little louder.

Her sniffling stopped long enough for her to raise her head.

I nearly recoiled at the sight. Just like Rima and Ronnie before her, she had a gaping wound matted with blood on the top of her head. But the right side of this girl’s face had been smashed in and only one brown eye peeked between the dirty strands of her hair. Blood dribbled from her nostrils and her skin looked greyish.
 

“Can you see me?” Her voice was soft, girlish.

“Yes, I can.” It broke my heart to witness the loss of another young life. Hearing about the murders never prepared me for the visceral reality. What the hell had she been doing in this alley? I wanted to get as many answers from her as I could.

“Are you a cop?”

“No, I’m a spook catcher.” I took another step. “Do you know what that is?”

She shook her head.

“I can see ghosts. That’s why I can see you. I can help you.”

“So I’m really dead?” She glared at her motionless body for a second, before looking away. “I thought there might still be a chance…”

“I’m so sorry.” There was no way she was still breathing. She might be staying close in the hopes of being revived but I could tell the girl was long gone.

“Are you here to help me move on?” Hope was shiny in her one eye.

It wasn’t what I did but I sure could point her in the right direction and make her feel as if she was going somewhere. “Do you see the light now?”

“Not yet,” she said. “That’s why I thought I might not be dead yet.”

I sighed. “What happened to you?”

“There was a guy…then, I don’t know what happened, and I woke up beside my body.” She looked at her corpse and started sobbing again. “What—what happened to me?”

“You don’t remember seeing a woman?”

She shook her head. “No woman, but there was someone else with the guy…I just can’t remember who.”

I wasn’t surprised. This poor spook was as traumatized as they got.
 

“It’s okay if you don’t remember. Just go toward the light.” I wanted answers, but now wasn’t the time for twenty questions. I doubted this poor soul would know much. She needed to go now, leave this world and her suffering behind. “Can you see it now?”

“Oh, I can feel it,” she whispered, looking up. “It’s behind me.”

“What’s your name?”

“Sam, my name is Sam.”

I nodded. “I’m so sorry about what happened to you, Sam. But you can go now, find peace.” Just as I said it, she stood up with a jerky action—as if someone was controlling her. It reminded me of what happened to Lavie inside the Hocking house.

“What’s happening to me?” Sam cried.

I took another step but so did she, and before I could stop her she went right through me.
 

“What’s going on?” She faded, only to reappear in the middle of the road with a petrified look in the eye she had left. “Help me!”

I didn’t know how I could, but stretched my arms out in front of me anyway. “Sam!”
 

Before I could do anything else, the cold vanished. I sucked in a huge breath and lost my balance, stumbling forward and off the sidewalk. I looked up in time to see headlights heading in my direction. I tried to move, but my limbs refused to cooperate.
 

“Shit.” Just as I was about to give in to the fact I was going to be run down, strong hands grabbed my arm and yanked me back hard enough to pull me onto the sidewalk. My ankle twisted awkwardly and my legs folded beneath me, but I didn’t fall because someone kept me steady.

My inhalations quickened and my heart was going crazy. No matter how many breaths I took, I just couldn’t suck enough in. Painful coughs wracked through my body.

Papan, you’re always there to save the day.

“It’s okay,” a familiar voice said while a hand rubbed circles along my back.

I relaxed into his arms until the coughing stopped and my breathing calmed enough for me to realize the smell was different. Papan didn’t smell like leather. I looked up into Gareth’s face. He was so close I could see the black whiskers on his chin and feel his warm breath on my face, and our chests were touching. His heart pounded almost as fast as mine and he looked concerned.

“Are you okay?”

I nodded. “Yeah, thanks.” I lowered my face trying to hide the disappointment of not finding Papan. I’d been saved by Papan so many times and he’d been there so much lately that I’d forgotten he wasn’t with me right now.

“What happened? You nearly threw yourself into oncoming traffic.”

“I was trying to follow Sam.” At least it had been ordinary traffic and not someone deliberately trying to run me over.

“The girl who died?” His arms tightened around me. “Did she tell you anything?”

“No, she was pretty messed up and didn’t remember much.” It was so comfortable in his embrace that I’d forgotten he was still holding me until he’d pulled me closer. I couldn’t take the proximity any longer. In spite of the level of comfort Gareth emanated.
 

I stepped back and his grip loosened enough for me to put some distance between us.

“Come on,” Gareth said. “We should go. There’s not much else to see.”

I nodded, absently scanning the road as traffic rolled by. Gooseflesh broke out along my skin when—in between the moving vehicles—I spotted a woman looking right at me. She stood a little ways down the other side of the street. A brown wraparound dress clung to her small waist and curvy hips. Her long black hair was straight and very smooth, concealing her face. The only thing I could clearly see was the gleam of her fangs.

“That’s her,” I said, making an attempt to take another step.

“Hey, watch where you’re going!” Gareth hooked an arm around my waist and dragged me back.