Watch Me Burn: The December People, Book Two (8 page)

“Of course. That’s why I’m investigating. The Prescotts are friends of the family, and the police aren’t getting anywhere, so I wanted to look into it myself.”

The man paused, but David’s story must have convinced him enough, because he continued, “Well, I’m not sure what you were looking for. If the Prescotts have any skeletons in their closet, they hide them well. In fact, they seem to be some of the most good and honest people I’ve ever investigated.”

David made an unconscious growling sound that he covered with a fit of coughing.

“John Prescott, is a pediatric oncologist—you know, helping kids with cancer,” the PI continued. “He’s on the board of multiple charitable foundations. His wife, Thea Prescott, is a kindergarten teacher. They’ve been together since high school, and have been married for twenty years, and as far as I can tell, happily so.”

“That’s ridiculous.”

“What is?”

“I don’t know. Continue.”

“They have five children. All who get good grades, are involved in lots of extracurricular activities, and have no significant recorded behavior problems. Their oldest, Caroline Prescott, is enrolled at the University of Texas. She had phenomenal test scores and went to an accelerated private school for her Junior and Senior year. Nathan Prescott graduated from Sugar Land High School in May and plans to attend Texas A&M in the fall, pre-med. Lucas Prescott will be starting his Sophomore year in the Fall. He takes flight lessons and wants to join the Air Force. Lucas has gotten a couple of speeding tickets and got in a fender bender. His parents took away his car. So, I guess that’s a little bit of dirt for you, eh?”

“That’s not exactly what I had in mind.”

“They’re a good family, sure. But I appreciated the challenge. I’m usually investigating cheating spouses who aren’t good at hiding their affairs. The Prescotts took work. But I told you I could find dirt on anyone, and I did.”

“You mean other than the speeding tickets?”

“Oh, yes. Let me finish.”

“I did some extra digging into Nathan and Julie, since Nathan was the last one to see her before she disappeared. I included all of it in the report I e-mailed you. Nothing too interesting. They’re both popular, and well-liked, even by the unpopular kids. Julie has a few ex-boyfriends that might be worth checking out, but they all seem like cream puffs, and my gut says they’re not involved.

“And I already told you about the parents. Model citizens. No criminal record, no scandalous rumors, not so much as a parking ticket. However, I did find something that seemed odd to me. Their oldest and youngest daughters…I can’t find them.”

“What do you mean?”

“Leona never attended middle school. After fifth grade, they withdrew her from public school so they could homeschool her. They cited she had special needs. However, there are no reports of her having any kind of special needs throughout elementary school. Like her brothers and sisters, she excelled and had no behavior problems. So, I don’t know why they chose to homeschool her and not their other children. I was curious, so I looked into her as deeply as I could. As far as I can tell, she hasn’t been seen in a year. They’ve given all sorts of reasons for her not being around. Not comfortable in crowds. Sick. At camp. Staying with relatives. No one ever questions them.”

“So she never leaves the house?”

“I don’t think she’s in the house.”

“And the oldest daughter, Caroline?”

“Similar story. Like I said, apparently she wasn’t challenged enough in public school, because she’s the only one of the children who went to private school. I found records of her enrollment at the Sabine Christian Academy outside of Dallas and then later at the University of Texas, but I can’t find anything else. She has nothing on her credit report. I haven’t found a photo of her more recent than four years ago. And even though the family is in crisis, neither Caroline nor Leona has shown up at the house. Seems odd to me.”

“So, you’re saying that both of their other daughters are also missing…but they’ve been keeping it quiet?”

“Could be.”

“Why didn’t you lead with that?”

“I did all that other research. I wanted credit for it. Besides, you wanted a comprehensive report.”

David scoffed. “Alright, that was…useful. Thank you.”

he night after Emmy found the bracelet, she woke up before the sunrise. Well, she didn’t wake up…really, she gave up on trying to sleep. She had carried the bracelet with her for 24 hours, and the shock had worn off. She wanted answers. And she wanted them now.

She pulled out her phone and read news stories about Julie. She had gone missing on July 22. She searched her memory for what had happened that day, frustrated she couldn’t remember the details of such a recent date. But that was summer—every day the same, blending into each other with no meaning.

She looked at her texts and e-mails from that day. Damn. No wonder she didn’t remember what anyone had done that day. According to her texts, she had spent all of day at Lexi’s house. She remembered now—they had lain out by the pool and made daiquiris with stolen rum while her parents were at work. Emmy had spent the night and didn’t come home until the next morning. Just great. She had no idea what anyone else did on that day or who drove the truck.

She knew she should throw the bracelet into the Houston Ship Channel. No cops had come by, so no one suspected them of anything. No good could come from figuring out how the bracelet got in the truck, but not knowing would torture her. She doubted she’d sleep until she found an answer.

So, she cast a mild silencing spell on the house, crept out of bed, and grabbed the truck keys.

Emmy underestimated how long the drive would take. She was so screwed. When she arrived at her destination, the sky had already turned the light purple of pre-dawn. When Mom and Dad woke up and saw she had left…they would be beyond mad. They would also worry. She didn’t
like
making them worry, but she didn’t have a choice.

She pulled into the Gas N’ Go where Julie Prescott had disappeared. Although she knew the police had searched it, they must not have found anything useful, because the gas station was still operating as usual. People went in and out for their morning coffee and cigarettes and such, and cars lined the gas pumps.

People had searched the thick piney woods around the Gas N’ Go with a fine-toothed comb. Not only the police, but legions of volunteers. Helicopters. Dogs. And probably other CSI-style gizmos like heat-seeking goggles. Did she think she would find something the others didn’t?

Yeah, sure, why not? Most of the people searching had been Mundanes, so what did they know about anything? Certainly some wizards had searched, at least Julie’s family. But what did summer wizards know about dark things?

Emmy could feel Julie’s noxious presence nagging at her all the way across the length of three gyms at volleyball camp. She knew she could recognize that feeling again. Emmy believed she might see, or at least
sense
something no one else had. At least she hoped so, or she would be grounded forever, and all for nothing.

The gas station itself held no answers. She didn’t want to draw suspicion to herself or her family, so she kept a low profile. She pumped gas, and went inside to buy a Diet Coke and gum, and use the restroom. She worried someone would notice that a fourteen year old was driving a car, but no one paid attention to her. She thought she could pass for sixteen. She wanted to do as many things as possible at the gas station to give her time to look around. She even pretended to air up her tires so she could stare into the forest.

As soon as she looked into the forest, she knew she could stop looking in the gas station. The gas station was nothing more than a gas station. But when she peered into the trees, a hard, cold feeling in her chest made it hard to breathe. It felt like fear. She didn’t fear the forest, or the dark, or even the monsters lurking in it. The fear was different. It didn’t come from her. The fear radiated from the pine needles themselves. The fear breathed in the dark between the trees.

Something magical lurked in the forest, and something very evil. And that meant a lot coming from a dark witch.

She wanted to explore the forest, but a truck left alone at the station might look suspicious. She needed to find a secluded place to park with no security cameras.

She got in the truck and slowed when she saw muddy tire tracks about a quarter a mile away from the gas station. Someone else had also found a hidden parking spot. She turned in the direction of the tire tracks and found herself parked behind another truck—a Ford F-150 exactly like the one she drove now, except dark blue instead of black. The truck even had a football decal in the exact same spot where Jude had put his. Okay, so two guys in Texas drove the same popular model of truck and played the same popular sport. No big deal. But still…creepy.

The football decal was for the Sugar Land Bulldogs. And she saw a small silver decal hanging from the rearview window—the same sun symbol that appeared on the bracelet. The truck had to belong to one of Julie’s brothers.

She got out and scanned the forest. The sun peeked over the horizon, and warm morning light illuminated the road, but the forest stayed dark. However, this darkness didn’t feel cool. In the Texas summer,
cool
didn’t exist. This darkness felt hot and sticky, like tar.

If a summer wizard lurked nearby, Emmy expected she’d find them easily. She knew which way to walk—toward the jarring, burning sensation. She found him faster than she expected. The hot yucky feeling felt less intense than Julie’s, so Emmy thought it came from a distance. But here he was. Not far away at all. As soon as she saw him, she retreated into the thickest thicket she could find, covering her legs with pink scratches. A boy about Jude’s age walked in odd patterns around the edge of the forest. He must be Julie’s oldest brother, Nathan.

He glanced in her direction when she dove into the thicket, but looked away quickly. Emmy guessed the ambient evil in the forest disguised her own dark energy—like a black cat on a moonless night. Nathan, on the other hand, might as well have worn Christmas lights and jingle bells the way he stuck out.