Chapter 14

CAMPING WAS amazing, and the weather was great until they went to pack up. By late Sunday morning, clouds had rolled in, and thunder sounded in the distance. Gregory and Fillian took down the tent and got the gear into the truck with the cover over the bed just before the skies opened up. With everyone inside the truck, Gregory drove back toward town in the rain, being extra careful at the top of the mountain, when the truck was encased in clouds.

“Is it going to be okay?” Weston asked.

“It’s fine.” Gregory slowed down, reached the summit, and started down the other side. Rain pounded the windshield, and he took the curves slowly as visibility was limited.

On the way down, the fog around the truck slowly lessened, and suddenly the rest of the valley could be seen. Suddenly he slammed on the brakes, stopping just in time to avoid a panel truck on its side, crossing most of the lanes of traffic.

“Pull over.” Fillian got out of the truck, then raced to the cab. “Call 911. Get ambulances and the fire department,” he called. “And turn the truck around and get farther away. Now.” He kicked in the shattered windshield of the truck as Gregory made a three-point-turn and pulled away before calling for help.

“There’s an accident on thirty-four on the south side of the summit to the north of town. There are people inside, and we need fire and ambulance. Trooper Fillian O’Connell is already on the scene. We found the accident on our way home. He is trying to get the people out.” Gregory wanted to help, but the kids were freaking out, and he needed to stay with them.

As the rain picked up, he saw Fillian pull someone through the hole where the windshield had been. He hefted them over his shoulder and hurried toward Gregory’s truck. “Get farther away,” he directed, and Gregory pulled farther uphill.

“Kids, climb up here in the front seat. Fillian, get him in back. Help is on the way.” He helped the kids into the front and pulled out the car seats, then stowed them under the back cover.

Fillian set the man inside as gently as he could once the kids were sharing the passenger seat. “He’s breathing,” Fillian said, climbing in after him. “Are you still on?”

Gregory handed him the phone, and Fillian spoke to the operator. “Have the ambulance come from the north side of the mountain. They aren’t going to make it from the south. The road is blocked.”

Gregory turned back as the cab of the truck burst into flames.

“The truck is on fire. The driver is out, and there were no other passengers.” Fillian kept relaying information as Gregory got back in the truck and pulled away from the flames, which soon engulfed the rear of the panel truck as well.

“Keep going. I don’t know what’s back there.”

Gregory pulled back into the clouds and drove to the top of the mountain, where there was a small pull-off. He parked out of potential traffic.

“What do we do? Is that man dead?” Marnie asked, looking over the seat.

“No. He’s alive, but he hit his head hard. That’s why I’m holding it.” Fillian kept his voice level. “Ask them how far out the ambulance is,” he said, handing Gregory the phone.

Gregory repeated the message.

“We’ve related the message to the ambulance, but I’m not sure,” the dispatcher told him. “They should be there soon.”

Fillian held out his hand, and Gregory handed the phone to him. He identified himself and started issuing orders. “Tell them that we need a medevac chopper. We can get him to the north side of the ridge, and they can land on the road at the base of the mountain. This man needs attention now.” His voice held a commanding edge that Gregory had only heard a few times. The kids settled in their seat, sitting close, holding each other.

“Is Fillian mad?” Weston whispered, and Marnie nodded.

“No,” Gregory answered softly.

“Gregory, take us over and down the north side. I know this is tough, but we need to get to help as fast as we can, and that may mean meeting them.”

Gregory put the truck in gear, kept all his lights on, made sure the kids were secured in their seats, and carefully drove down the other side of the mountain until they emerged from the cloud. He continued with his lights on until he reached the bottom of the mountain, where lights approached from in front of them.

“We’re right in front of the ambulance,” Fillian told the operator. “Flash your lights, and don’t stop until they begin to slow.”

Gregory did, pulling off, and finally the ambulance pulled to a stop next to them. Gregory lowered the windows.

“We’re the people you’re looking for,” Fillian said as more vehicles approached.

They let the EMTs get to work. Fillian directed the fire vehicles up the mountain as he finished the call and handed the phone back. “I’m afraid this is going to take a while. They are going to need to get the fire out and what’s left of the truck off the road before we can go anywhere.”

“Then it’s a good thing we have the cooler and stuff.” Gregory turned to the kids. “We get to have a truck adventure. Weston and Marnie, it’s your job to look out for the fire truck.” He got out and managed to get the cooler out of the back without lifting the cover. He slipped it in the center of the back seat before reinstalling the booster seats.

Fillian was still with the EMTs and on his own phone talking, getting wetter by the second.

“Get inside before you’re soaked,” Gregory told him, and Fillian got in the passenger seat. “What’s going on?”

“They have the truck fire out, and they’re working to get one of the lanes open. Once they do, we should be able to get home.”

“What about the man they took away in the ambulance?”

Fillian sighed. “No word yet. They were taking him to a school a few miles away, and they’ll airlift him from there.”

Gregory got some snacks out of the cooler for the kids and made sure they were settled. After another twenty minutes, they got word that part of the road was open, and Gregory carefully drove them all home.

“THAT WAS so cool,” Weston said as Gregory pulled into town. “The way the truck caught on fire.” Gregory figured that Weston was going to have plenty to tell his friends in day camp.

“It was scary,” Marnie scolded him. “The man could have died right in the back seat.” She huffed and rode the rest of the way in silence.

Gregory had been torn about whether he and the kids should just go back to the apartment. Things had been quiet, and there were cameras in the staircase. He pulled up and parked out front. “Do you want to take your gear up or…?” Fillian asked.

“What I want is for the kids to be able to stay in their own rooms.” It was what was best for them. But the past week had been pretty special. He liked what it felt like to sleep next to Fillian and wake up with someone he could trust.

“How about we get the things we need to upstairs and put away. Then you and I can talk. Okay?” Fillian asked, and Gregory knew that was probably the smart thing to do.

The rain had let up, so Gregory got out and unloaded the kids’ gear, then hauled it inside and upstairs. When he reached the top, he stopped at the door, chairs and sleeping bags falling to the floor.

“Fillian,” he called down. “You better come up here.” He waited as Fillian approached from behind him.

“Okay. Don’t touch it.” He set down what he was carrying. “What the hell?”

A straw doll hung in a noose from above the door with pins sticking in the belly. “Is this really a voodoo doll?” Gregory asked. “And what kind of sick person would do this? How did they evade the cameras?”

“I got an alert yesterday, and there was no one here when I checked. But damn, they must have been in and out before I could look.” Fillian took the keys from Gregory and unlocked the apartment. He checked inside before he allowed them to come in. Fillian got gloves and took pictures of the doll before taking it down and placing it in a plastic bag.

The kids barreled up and inside and went down to their rooms. “Are we staying here?”

“No. I think you can stay at my house and camp out one more night. Okay?” Fillian asked.

The kids seemed okay with it. Gregory was unsettled as hell, but he didn’t want to show it.

“Let’s get your things brought in, and then we can go to my house.”

Gregory helped Weston and Marnie put away their things. He also got the laundry together and checked the refrigerator for anything that would go bad. The entire time, he kept looking over his shoulder as if someone might be looking at him. And once they were done, thankfully, they left, and the jittery feeling, like something was about to go completely wrong, slipped away and finally abated once they reached Fillian’s house.

“I DIDN’T want to ask in front of the kids, but what did you find out? And what are we going to do?” Once Gregory had put the exhausted kids to bed, he and Fillian sat on the sofa in the living room. Thankfully Weston and Marnie were out like lights after a weekend in the fresh air and all the excitement on the way home.

“Well, Carter is checking the footage, and he said he’d send it over once he had something. He got the alerts too, checked, and saw nothing. But he’s going through everything. As for what we’re going to do….” Fillian slid closer. “You can stay here as long as you need to. Hell, I need you here and to know that you’re all safe. Carter is going to stop by to pick up the doll, but it appears to be just something bought at one of the country stores. What worries us is what was done to it and how it was treated, and the threat behind it.”

“I get that. But I keep wondering… someone put it there, so how come they aren’t showing on the camera?”

“We have to go through the video files, and while that sounds like an easy task, it isn’t. The camera creates a file that gets sent periodically to clear its memory. Carter is getting those files and will go through them. We have an idea of the time this was placed because of the alerts we received. At least that’s what we’re assuming.”

“Can’t you just go to those times?” Gregory asked.

Fillian sighed. “He did—or he thought he did—but he saw nothing. But it could be a timing difference, so we’re looking through everything to see what we can find.” He seemed as frustrated as Gregory felt. Gregory had really hoped that the camera would get images of who was behind all this and bring it to an end. “It’s going to take a little time. It doesn’t appear that the camera was tampered with or moved, so we just need to wait.”

“And it is Sunday….”

Fillian nodded. “I know it’s difficult and you just want some answers. I do too.”

Gregory rested his head against Fillian’s shoulder. “I want this to be over. I want to know that the kids are okay.” He turned to Fillian. “I saw that damned doll, and my first reaction was… it’s another one. Not that I was scared or worried, but okay, here’s one more thing. That is frightening to me. I’m just becoming desensitized.”

Fillian lightly touched his chin. “That’s what happens. It’s a way for us to cope with things like this. When something first happens, it’s new, but after a while, we learn to process things. That’s why this one was easier. And you also know that you have backup. You aren’t in this alone.”

“I know that. But I want the kids to be able to sleep in their own beds. They like it here because they like you and you make this fun for them. But that can’t last forever. They need stability and—”

“They have it because they have you,” Fillian told him, those amazing eyes looking deep into Gregory’s. “You are what they need. It isn’t a house or an apartment that they need, it’s you. The rest is just real estate.” He hugged him, and Gregory returned it, holding Fillian tightly. “And we will find who is doing this and why.”

“How do you know?” Gregory asked.

“Because it’s personal. Because I’m not going to allow the people I love to be hurt this way. If Carter can’t help us, then I will bring in more resources. I’m not going to rest until all this is gone.”

“Do you know what the worst thing is? I keep going over everyone I know—my friends, the guys on the team, everyone —trying to figure out who could do this to me. I keep coming up empty, but I hate that I keep thinking about it. These guys are my friends, and yet I keep wondering who could hate me. It’s unsettling. Not knowing if you can trust people, even your friends—the ones you want to trust.” Gregory swallowed hard and tried to stop the rising worry.

“I know it is, and you have to stop. Carter and I will get to the bottom of this.” He sounded less confident than he had a few days ago, and Gregory figured he was worried too. Notes, a fire, and now a veiled death threat would affect anyone, even a seasoned police officer.

Fillian’s phone chimed, and he pulled it out of his pocket. “It’s Carter. He says he found something, but he isn’t sure how helpful it’s going to be. He’s working to isolate the images from the camera and he can be here in half an hour.”

“Please tell him to come.” Any news was helpful at this point.

Fillian relayed the message and put his phone away. “You’re safe here.” Fillian hugged him tightly.

“I know. Sometimes I think I’m over it. This has been going on long enough… and it’s one more thing. At least whoever is doing this didn’t try to set the building on fire this time. They just sent me a message that they want me dead.”

Fillian shook his head. “Nope. What they want is to scare you. I’m not sure why, and I don’t know what they think this is going to get them, but I get the feeling that we’ll find out soon. The notes, the fire, the doll, all of it seems designed to keep you off balance.”

He shifted on the sofa, deep eyes meeting his. There was so much strength in Fillian’s gaze that it felt like a warm blanket wrapping around him. Gregory breathed deeply, a sense that he could do this filling him.

“They’re doing a really good job of it. Just when I think this is over, something else happens.” He closed his eyes and let his attention travel to Fillian’s touch, gentle and yet strong enough to take away some of the fear. “I keep wondering, what if they do something to the kids?”

“But this isn’t directed at them,” Fillian said. “It’s directed right at you. It could be some sort of retaliation for something. I’d like to say that the simplest explanation is best.”

“But who have I hurt?” Gregory asked.

“Okay, let’s look at this. Lawrence stalked you after he got out… well, because you turned him down and didn’t accept his advances. He wasn’t balanced before, and that whole incident fixated him on you. Thankfully he’s now back in jail and can’t do anything more.” Fillian leaned closer. “But there could be things we thought he was doing that this second person was behind. That muddies the water a little. But as of now, he’s out of the picture.” Fillian’s gaze grew harder.

“It feels like we keep doing this and just spinning our wheels.”

A soft knock cut him off. Gregory got up and checked to see who was out front before opening the door and letting Carter inside.

“I’m sorry about all this. How was the camping trip?” Carter asked.

“It was really good,” Gregory told him as he led Carter into the living room. Fillian stood, and they shook hands.

“Let’s go to the dining room,” Fillian offered, and Carter went right through, opening the laptop he’d brought in with him.

“I suppose we should get right to it. Like I said on the phone, I’m not quite sure what we have, but I’m hoping the three of us can figure it out.” He sat down and brought up the video. Gregory and Fillian brought chairs around so they could see.

“The time in the camera is off by an hour for whatever reason. It doesn’t matter, except it took longer to find what I wanted. I cut out the section of footage that we wanted, and we’re about two minutes from any action.” He started the video, and it showed an empty hallway. “We got a lot of footage just like this. There were a number of instances of your neighbor coming and going, but other than that nothing—up until right here. And this is what I think caused the first alarm we received.”

The door opened, the edge of it just hitting the picture frame. Someone in a big dark blobby sweatshirt with the hood on went up the stairs, stopped at the top, and then returned after maybe a minute, head down so their face wasn’t visible.

“Who the hell is that?” Gregory asked, tilting his head to the side. “You said there were two alarms. Did they set off both, coming and going?”

“No. The system would send this as one alert. This is the first one,” Carter reported. He skipped ahead, the empty hallway footage slipping forward quickly. “This is ten minutes later.” He stopped, and the door opened once more. A figure entered the picture, but then the image went wonky, like an old-time TV screen when the signal wasn’t strong enough. “There’s some interference. I noticed it in other parts of the footage as well. I think it’s something in the building. It goes away just as they turn the corner toward your door, and everything is fine until they make an appearance again, then it goes wonky again. You can see movement coming closer, and then, just as they are about to leave, the image clears again. At first I wondered if they were trying to interfere with the camera, but the same type of pattern repeats other times when no one is there. So I think it’s a sucky coincidence.”

“Great,” Gregory groused.

“Okay. So we have little to work with. But let’s start with the first guy,” Fillian said. “That’s the easier one.” Carter returned to that spot and ran it through. “First thing, they weren’t carrying anything, so unless the doll is in a pocket…,” Fillian mused.

“How long were they out of sight?” Gregory asked. “Back up the video and time it,” he suggested. Carter did, looking up when he finished.

“Eighteen seconds…. What are you thinking?” Fillian asked.

“That if they had the doll in a pocket, they would need to fish it out, get it prepared, and then tack it up before leaving, all in that short a time. And look at the way they climb the stairs. They aren’t in a hurry, and there’s no indication that they know they are being filmed. It’s a slow gait. I don’t think this is our doll planter.”

“Can you zero in on the face area on the way down?” Fillian asked, sliding an arm around Gregory’s shoulder. “We’ll figure this out,” he added softly. Gregory had hoped that the cameras would be a slam dunk and easily highlight the person responsible.

“It’s too dark, and the angle of the head makes it impossible.”

“What’s that?” Gregory asked, pointing to a lighter blotch on the sweatshirt. “It looks like a logo of some kind.”

Carter zoomed in a little. “Good catch. I thought that was a bit of pixelation, but you’re right.”

Fillian leaned closer and smiled. “That’s the logo for Grant Communications. That’s where Stevie works. Shit, yeah. I recognize him now. But what is he doing here?”

Gregory felt a chill run down his spine. “I hate the thought that one of the guys on the team….”

“Don’t jump to conclusions. Like you said, he didn’t stay long, and he didn’t look like he was in a hurry. So maybe it wasn’t him. Fillian and I will pay him an official visit and see what he has to say.” Carter turned to Gregory. “I’m more interested in this second visitor. They stayed out of sight longer, so they had more opportunity.” He returned to that part of the video and ran through it again.

“It definitely isn’t much,” Fillian said.

“Is there a way to clear away the static?”

“I tried but didn’t get much, because this is the way the video was stored. So these images are distorted.” Carter sounded as frustrated as Gregory felt.

“Maybe try clipping out the good parts. Let’s get rid of the static and piece together the images of what we have. Then we can go frame by frame,” Fillian suggested. “Maybe there will be something then.”

Carter turned away from the computer and looked at each of them before shrugging. “I can try, but I don’t know if we’ll get anything from it.” He turned back to the computer as Gregory found himself nodding. He agreed with Carter and was discouraged as hell, but they had to try, even if it was a futile effort.