Chapter Eighteen 

“The Rubin mansion?” 

James jumped at Abrams’s question. “Geez, sneaking up on me now?”

“You don’t need to look up anything. I’m old as dirt and I happen to know everything about Manorview.” Abrams walked over and sat in one of the chairs opposite James. “I remember a month wouldn’t go by before we were called out to the Rubin mansion mostly for noise disturbances, which—given the size of the place—is saying a lot. That guy liked to party.” Abrams scratched his temple. “If I’m not mistaken, he ended up in financial troubles and lost the place.”

James nodded. “That’s what I read in some old news articles.”

“What’s the catch?”

He knew he was going to sound crazy—not what he wanted to portray to his boss. “Lily thinks the body snatcher is holding rituals at the mansion.”

Abrams’s eyebrows shot up. “The same rituals you mentioned before?”

“Yep. Sacrificial, except the victims are already deceased.”

Abrams’s eyes darted back and forth. “Not much of a sacrifice. Seems like a flawed ritual. People will want their money back.”

“You’re hysterical,” James replied with a dry tone. “She also thinks the head guy is my buddy, Rick.”

Abrams leaned forward. “Did I hear that right? The body snatcher is a friend of yours?”

“That’s her theory, not mine. He’s supposed to be house sitting while we go on our honeymoon.”

Abrams leaned in closer. “The perp is living with you?”

James rubbed his chin. “It’s messy.”

“I would stay out of it. You have too many conflicts of interest.”

“How can I stay out of it? My wife believes a friend of mine is threatening her business. She won’t stop until the end.”

“And what will be the end? All the bodies will go missing? And after he’s used them all up will he go to the living for more supply?”

James threw his hands up in the air. “How is this helpful? Are you saying do nothing?”

Abrams sighed. “No, I’m hardwired to think of the worst-case scenario.”

James held his head. “I can’t believe Rick would do anything like that.” 

“If he did, I’ll tell you one thing. Your friend has got some issues.”

“Thanks, Captain Obvious.”

Abrams nodded. “You’re welcome but it must be the money. That’s the only rational motive I can think of unless you think he’s gone off the rails. I’ve seen it before. Right before you joined us, we had a guy empty his entire gun over there by the entrance.” Abrams gestured to the door. “Wounded three officers. No one saw it coming. It came out later he was having some trouble at home with the wife wanting a divorce. Apparently, he was mad about it.” 

“Is that why you hired me? To take his spot?” 

Abrams pointed his index finger in the air. “As a matter of fact, yes. You’re a little calmer. Although, you did punch me in the face outside of a bar, so who knows?”

“True, but I still can’t believe Rick has gone mad. I guess your money theory is possible. I’m thinking about going out there to the mansion with Lily to check it out.”

Abrams cocked his head. “Sounds like you don’t have a choice. Did you ever find out who slashed her tires? Could there be a connection?”

“Lily thinks so. I was not able to get any leads on that event. She thinks Rick did it as a warning to her to stay off his case.”

Abrams tapped the arm of the chair. “Not a bad theory. Who else would do that and why? Was anything stolen from the car? What would a random person’s motive be to slash someone’s tires?”

James sighed. “I know how it looks but I don’t have evidence in either direction.”

“And you don’t really want to believe it.”

“Correct.”

“Good luck with that. And I would think with surveillance you have going on outside the funeral home there must be more than one person in on it—someone whose job is to transport bodies. Wouldn’t you agree?”

“Yes, or they have their own accomplice helping them out with transport.” 

Abrams cocked his head to one side. “Wouldn’t someone notice that? Seems to me like you have more people involved than you may have previously thought.”

“If I go down there accusing more of her staff or family, Lily might have my head on a stick. I’m going to let that one pan out.”

“Sounds like it's getting a bit hairy. Let me know if you need any help interviewing people. I’m more impartial than you.”

“Are you though?”

“Well, I can certainly act more impartial. And what if Rick is your bad guy? Who’s going to house sit for you while you’re on your honeymoon?”

“You.” James pointed at Abrams. “Speaking of which, congratulations on your engagement. I thought this would never happen.”

Abrams returned a sheepish grin. “Thanks. I still don’t believe it either.”

“There’s still time to back out.” 

Abrams chuckled. “Sounds like something I’d say.”

“Ugh.” James slapped the table. “You know what that means? You’re rubbing off on me.”

“Consider it an honor. Do you need help searching the mansion?”

“No, we’ll waste our own time. Plus you have a wedding to plan.”

Abrams shook his head. “I don’t know the first thing about that.”

“I think as long as you show up, you’re good.”

“Even that is questionable.”

“Nah, I don’t buy it.” James pointed a finger at Abrams’s face. “There’s a twinkle in your eye.”

Abrams stood to leave. “That twinkle is from pure horror at how much company time you’re wasting on this ritual theory.”

“I still get everything else done on time and you said it yourself she’s got good instincts.”

“It’s possible I was wrong.”

James’s eyes went wide. “No. You?” 

“I said it was possible but very unlikely.” He turned to leave. “Let me know if you find your snatcher among the weeds. I like ghost stories.”

James chuckled. “Until you find out it’s all true.”

Abrams stopped in front of the door, then turned. “Then you better catch him.” 

****

James drove past a row of large homes on Sunshine Lane, each one grander than the previous. But none could compare to the Rubin mansion. Situated atop a hill, the sprawling gothic stone manor commanded attention despite its desolate existence. Now in different states of ruin, James wondered if anyone would bother saving it from crumbling away entirely. 

He parked his car next to Lily’s coupe. No doubt she wanted to get a head start without him. But her insistence on implicating Rick still weighed heavy on his mind and was creating quite the conflict within their marriage. He walked around the dried-up mermaid fountain in front of the house and made his way toward the back. He figured any sort of bad behavior would probably be going on in the rear of the house, not the front.

Once he turned the corner, the house had a different feel. The woods had stretched and overgrown into the backyard. An abundance of trees and plants blocked out the sun, making the air cool and damp. A disturbing breeze went down his shirt, making his back tremble. This did not feel like Sunshine Lane.

Lily stood, hands on her hips, a flame of hair blowing in wisps behind her. “About time.”

A familiar twinge assaulted his belly. He felt a smile creep onto his face. Every time. She got him every time. 

He walked up to her, planting a peck on her lips. “Have you found anything?”

“Not yet but that’s why I invited you to do the dirty work.” 

“This place gives me the creeps.” He said, looking around at the overgrown grounds.

“I heard there’s an underground wine cellar. Maybe I can go fetch you a bottle to ease your nerves.”

“That won’t be necessary, Mrs. Rivers. No one in his or her right mind should go inside that place. But this,” he pointed to the dilapidated garden area that led into the woods, “has enough going on to attract some attention.”

“It looks like the garden of hell. I want a closer look.”

Lily headed to the grounds where stone benches barely visible among the vines and weeds lined its perimeter as if to one day swallow it whole. She held her leather jacket closed in the blowing breeze as she knelt to look at something she spotted on the ground. “Look at this.” Her hands brushed away the weeds.

James approached her. He crouched down lower, blowing away some of the black dust with his breath. “Soot?” 

“Looks like it. And it seems to stretch down that way.” She pointed to her left as she exposed more of it from under the foliage. “There’s a line of soot about four feet long.”

“Maybe there was a long rectangular fire pit here that the Rubin’s used from time to time for s’mores.” 

Lily gave him the side-eye. “Or maybe it’s the remains of someone resembling Ms. Bernardo who happened to have been four feet tall.”

“So you think it all went down here?”

“I think it’s very likely. It’s secluded, quiet, and has lots of space.” Lily went back to analyzing the soot. “This happened recently. The weather hadn’t had a chance to disturb the soot.”

“I guess that makes sense. I would imagine one would need to dispose of the body rather quickly.” James walked a few feet closer to where the garden ended and the wooded area began. The lines between them had blurred by the overgrown branches and the numerous brown crunchy leaves that had fallen to the ground and never cleaned up. A fair amount of garbage had also collected among the weeds and vines. Plastic bottles, used food containers, and random articles of clothing. None of it seemed to add up to any pattern in particular—although they could take some of it in for testing—until he noticed a fragment of paper with writing on it entwined within branches. Freeing it from nature’s clutches, he turned it over in his hand. Barely discernible, he read the words out loud. “—join us on 10/5.” 

“What?” Lily asked, walking over to him. She snatched the paper fragment from his hand. 

“Hey!” James complained. 

“I don’t believe it.” She placed the fragment in her palm. 

“What?”

“Don’t you see? It’s the brochure.”

He frowned. “Oh, come on. You’re seeing things your mind wants you to see.”

“Look closer.” She brought the top edge to his face. “That faded ink says Zeus.”

James stared at the fragment. He could concede there might be something there, but he couldn’t tell what it said. “We’ll take it in for analysis. But that’s a stretch don’t you think?”

She glared at him.

“What? I call it like I see it. I’m not totally convinced. And what does 10/5 mean?” 

“It could be code for something? Or a date? It could be their next meeting date.” She jumped up with excitement.

James shrugged. “Maybe. That’s in two days.”

“We have evidence that someone brought the brochure to the Rubin mansion.” Her arms went out. “What more do you need?”

“Maybe George Rubin and his wife were members of this thing but that still doesn’t prove anything bad happened here or that Rick had anything to do with it.”

Her eyes lit up like silver daggers. Scary.

“I know how it looks. I agree with you but we’re going to need more.”

She walked back over to the line of soot, leaning over while walking up and down—which looked very uncomfortable. 

“What’s this?” She pointed to an area he hadn’t yet explored. Standing up straight, she put her hand over her mouth. Her eyes went wide. 

“Now what?” He made his way over to her. Had he been too skeptical? Had she found the true missing link?

“I think I know exactly what those are,” she said, pointing to the ground. 

He bent at the waist to get a closer look at the area she’d identified and then stood back up. He knew this was big, very big. Huge. 

“Is that what I think it is?” she asked.

He didn’t want to get her hopes up. “Possibly. We need to get them analyzed to know for sure.”

“Bone fragments.” The response came out on a bare whisper.

He nodded in agreement. “I’ll make the call. We’ll get this scene and the bones analyzed.” 

A smug look replaced the shock on her face.

“Really?” He couldn’t believe her ego had swooped in so fast—or then again, yes, he could. 

“Told you so.” 

The slight smile on her beautiful face was both infuriating and beautiful. He struggled to argue with her. “Must you do that?”

“Always and forever,” she replied, petting the back of his head.

He sighed but couldn’t keep his smile away. “I’m so lucky.”

“And don’t you forget it.”