Shadow Silence (32 page)

Her expression fell into a frown. “I am so disappointed in him. He's been a member for years, and now I wonder how long he has been feeding them information. How long has he belonged to the Hounds? And how did they recruit him?”

Just then, Frank entered the room. “There's been a horrible accident. Clinton Brady is dead.”

And that ended all speculation for the time being.

*   *   *

O
ne of the Ankou.” Oriel looked around the cell. Clinton Brady was sprawled out on his bunk. No one else had been in the cell, although Frank said there was security film footage available. Bruises around Clinton's neck showed that he had been strangled—asphyxiated. I flashed back to the other night with the Ankou in the back of my car. The Shadow People could kill, that much we knew.

Locking the door behind us to prevent anyone tampering with the murder scene, we moved to the control booth where the digital cameras had recorded everything that went on. Frank rewound to the time he put Clinton in the cell and locked the door. Then he fast-forwarded through until he suddenly hit pause.

A dark shadow had entered the holding cell, and Clinton jumped up, his hands in front of him. We couldn't hear anything, the sound was off, but Clinton looked terrified as the shadow crossed his path and reached for his neck. Clinton tried to fight back but he seemed to be grappling with air, and the Ankou wrapped its meaty hands around his neck, the dark shadows closing in tighter and tighter as
Clinton fought for breath. Another moment and it was over. Clinton lay dead on his bunk.

“So nobody saw this?” Sophia asked, turning to Frank.

Frank shook his head. “There was an alarm in another cell and there are only three of us on duty here at the station. Two of the men are out in the main office. I was guarding the cells. I ran to the other cell, only to find Stacy Johnson drunk off his ass, but in no danger. When I returned, I checked in on Clinton. I found him dead. It was just a few minutes ago.”

“The Ankou can work fast.” I stared at the dagger in my hand. “I wish I'd been here.” But even as I said it, I wasn't sure I really meant it. Clinton was one of the Hounds and he knew our secrets. If he was prosecuted for attempted murder, there would be a good chance he would get off with a light sentence like so many criminals. The last thing I needed was to be looking over my shoulder, always wondering if he was going to come back and try again.

“So what do we do now? We know that the Hounds killed Joseph and Eugenie, and the other men aboard the ship, but whoever did it was dead long ago. Clinton attempted to kill you, but there's no way we can link him to anybody else, especially now that he's dead. As it is, I'm going to have one hell of a time explaining how he died in police custody, when nobody laid a finger on him except a shadow. I'm going to have to call on Gareth for this one.” Sophia frowned. “What do we know about Gareth, for that matter? And the rest of the Crescent Moon Society? Who can we trust and how can we find out who to trust? I can't join the society, but I need to know that the entire organization is behind Whisper Hollow and not against it.”

Oriel licked her lips. “Leave it to us. We'll muddle through and figure out what we can. Did Clinton have any relatives in town?”

Sophia cocked her head for a moment, thinking. “I don't think so. I think he's the last of the line. In fact, we should go
through the pub before his lawyer gets a handle on it. We don't want anything to escape that might give us information on the Hounds. And because he is a suspect—make that perpetrator—in a crime, I have the right to go into his apartment if I can get a warrant. Frank.” She turned to the officer.

“Already on it. I'll have the warrant in twenty minutes once I talk to Judge Aimee.” And he was off.

They worked together like a well-oiled machine, each understanding their part in the relationship. Frank respected Sophia, and Sophia gave Frank enough leeway so that he could actually be useful to her.

As we returned to Sophia's office, I let out a sigh. I was tired, and the dagger felt like such a solid weight in my hand that it almost made me want to set it down and walk away. It made things real in a way that nothing else had managed.

“Once Frank gets the warrant, we'll go through the pub and through Clinton's apartment—although I think he lives in a room above the pub, actually. I can't let you guys come along; it wouldn't be proper procedure. Why don't you go over and visit Peggin and Dr. Divine in the hospital? I'll call you when Frank and I have finished our search.” She paused as we headed to the door, then added, “Don't tell anybody anything yet. I want to see what we find before we go spilling the news. The media's going to have a field day with this, but maybe Gareth can take care of them, too. Oriel, can you check in on Gareth tonight so that I know I can trust him?”

Oriel nodded, turning to Aidan. “You want to help me?”

Aidan grinned at her. “It would be my pleasure.”

I wanted to ask what that was all about, except part of me really didn't want to know. I decided to concentrate on Deev and Peggin and leave the strong-arming to my grandpa this time. As we headed out of Sophia's office, I realized how incredibly tired I was. And we still had to free Peggin from the Lady's mark.

Peggin was sitting by Deev. He had been confined to a wheelchair, his leg extended in front of him. He was still
wearing his top hat, though they had made him exchange his duster for a hospital gown, and he was wearing regular glasses for a change, which blew my mind because I could actually see his eyes. They were extremely blue, to the point of being startling. He was complaining loudly to Corbin, who was standing next to him.

Corbin's dark eyes danced merrily, as he just stood there, arms folded over his chest, patiently listening. A tall man, Corbin had glistening skin the color of dark peat. A handsome man, his eyes were dark brown ringed with topaz, and he had been a football player in high school, and still looked the part.

I wasn't sure what his wife did, but I knew his daughter was active in the community theater. In fact, if I remembered right, she had played the lead in
Romeo and Juliet
a month ago. Peggin had told me that it was a good production, but that Kimberly, Corbin's daughter, had balked at kissing the lead who played Romeo. Apparently he had made some nasty comments about her best friend at school.

“All right, I think you have complained enough.” Corbin leaned down, putting his hand on the arm of the wheelchair. “If you don't want me to keep you here, and let Nurse Reagan give you sponge baths every time she wants to, you're going to have to follow my directions. Which means you stay in this contraption until that leg heals up in a few days. Then you can move to crutches if I think it's all right. But if I hear one word about you attempting to hobble around without the chair, I'm going to slap you right back in a hospital bed, truss that leg up in the air, and let Nurse Reagan go after you. Do you understand me, Dr. Divine?”

Deev looked entirely put out, but he shrugged. “Yes, I hear you. I promise, I'll only get out of this chair when I have to go to the bathroom. I am not using the bedpan. Is that an acceptable compromise?”

Corbin cleared his throat, then gave him a short nod. “I think we can allow that, as long as you wheel up to the bathroom door and don't hobble more than a few steps. That
bullet went deep, and while I got it out and I don't think there's any major structural damage, we don't want any more scar tissue forming than we have to have. I don't want a knot inside your calf.”

I decided now was as good a time as any. “How are you feeling? Both of you?”

Peggin jumped up from where she had slumped down on a chair next to the arguing duo. “Kerris! I'm so glad to see you. How are you? Is Bryan okay? I'm so embarrassed about what happened.”

“Don't be. It wasn't your fault. The Lady had you in her grasp, and we all know that.”

Corbin's expression darkened. “Has Oriel talked to you about the ritual yet?”

Peggin and I both shook our heads.

“I didn't know you were going to be involved,” Peggin said.

“There is a reason I'll be there. I don't like what it entails, I'm going to tell you that right now. But Peggin, it's the only way to get rid of that mark. I hope you trust me.” Corbin gazed at her darkly, and a veiled hint of danger filled his voice.

“You're making me nervous,” Peggin said.

“You're making
me
nervous, too,” I said. “What are you talking about? Can you tell us about this?”

Corbin shook his head. “It's better you don't know in advance. I'll be there tomorrow night, though. We'll bring you through this. Meanwhile, how's our shooter?”

Sophia hadn't wanted us to say anything, so I shifted my eyes and stared at the clock instead. There was no way that they wouldn't be able to guess; I wasn't that good of a liar. But I could do my best. “It's getting late. We should get home. Can I take these two with me?”

Corbin tapped me on the shoulder and I turned to stare at him. It was like staring up at a tree trunk, he was so sturdy and tall.

“Clinton Brady is dead, isn't he?”

I managed to avoid blinking, and I kept my expression neutral. “You should call Sophia and talk to her if you want to know. That would probably be for the best.”

“I see. She's asked you to keep quiet for now. Very well, I'll give her a call in a while. Yes, you can take these two home. Don't let either one of them out of your sight for the next twenty-four hours at least. Peggin was in shock, and Deev is hurt. Bullets are no laughing matter. I'll talk to you tomorrow night. The nurse will have their medications—I'm giving Peggin a sedative to take at night so she doesn't get up and wander away. You can give it to her if she needs it during the day, too, since we only have to get through the next twenty-four hours. Call me if you need me. My number's on the prescription.”

Bryan showed up at that moment. I wasn't sure where he had been but he took over wheeling Deev toward the door as I escorted Peggin. The nurse brought us the prescriptions, and I promptly took hold of Peggin's sedatives. I didn't want the Lady encouraging her to throw them away. As we headed out to the car, I wondered how Gareth was going to spin Clinton's death. And how much had the Hounds found out about the CMS from our backstabbing friend?

*   *   *

I
insisted that Deev stay at my house, too. “You can sleep on the living room sofa or I can make up a bed in the office for you. One way or another, I'm not letting you go home to that old barn you call a house.”

I had never been inside Deev's home before, but it was huge and drafty, and from what Peggin told me there were stairs everywhere because whoever had first built it had just kept adding onto it as if it were the Winchester house.

Deev looked over at Peggin. “Is she usually this bossy?”

Peggin snorted. “She and I are par for the course. In other words: You're toast. I suggest you just acquiesce and deal with it.”

Deev let out a snort. “But I'm going to need clothes, I'm not about to live in this hospital gown the entire time.”

“Do you have any bell-bottoms by any chance? If they flare from the knee, then you should be okay. Otherwise we're going to have to create slits so that your calf isn't confined.” I looked over at Bryan. “Maybe you can run over to his house and pick him up a few pieces of clothing?”

“I think we should just open a business. This is the second time in how many days we've gone on a clothing reconnaissance mission.”

“Don't even joke, dude,” Deev said. “I have no desire to see my house burned down with all my art.”

“No problem. And yes I'll run over there in a little while. What time is it? It must be close to midnight.” Bryan checked his watch. “Strike that. It's past two. You can wait for clothes until tomorrow morning. I think we all need some sleep.”

By the time we got home, the cats were sprawled out on the sofa and looked at us like we had just caused them a major insult when I ejected them from their bed. Agent H meandered off, letting out a little grumble as he headed toward the bedroom. Daphne decided it was time for a nosh and started meowing at her food dish. And Gabby walked over to the rocking chair and hopped in that, giving me a stare like
you'd better not try it again, human
.

While Peggin fed them, Bryan got some sheets and blankets from the linen closet and made up a comfortable bed for Deev. I turned on the Christmas lights, and the soft glow wooed us all to stop what we were doing. We settled into our seats, and sat there for a few minutes in silence, as the stress from the day began to wash out.

I leaned back, thinking about the dagger that was in my handbag. I wasn't sure my grandmother had ever heard of it, but I needed to do more research. I had to learn how to use it, and I had to learn how to protect it. It was an extremely powerful piece of weaponry, and when I thought of how the Hounds had hidden it away behind the beams to keep my
great-grandmother and my grandmother from finding, it made me incredibly sad and wistful.

The Crow Man was right. Great-Grandma Mae and Grandma Lila could have been so powerful with a weapon against the Ankou. The Unliving were an ever-present threat and danger. The dagger could make things so much easier.

After a few minutes, I began to yawn, the weariness setting in. I took out Peggin's sedative. It was a liquid, and I was grateful for that. It would be easier to ensure she actually took it. I poured her out the recommended dosage and handed it to her.

“I hate to act like your mother, but I need to see you drink this.”

She gave me a soft smile. “I'm grateful that you are willing to oversee this. I don't trust the Lady not to influence me.” She upended the medicine cup, swallowing it in one gulp. Then she opened her mouth and showed me her tongue, which was a bright cherry red.