Aura of night a novel, p.17
Aura of Night--A Novel, page 17
“A girl you raised,” Ragnar said, shaking his head.
“But not mine, not my blood!”
Ragnar shook his head and shrugged. “I’ve had friends through the years who have been adopted. They loved their parents, and their parents loved them. There can be love in knowing you’re the parent, biological or not.”
“I didn’t hate the kid. She was all right. But I didn’t bury her. I’m an innocent man. And you just wait, even my wet-behind-the-ears public defender has some smarts. And when we get to trial, things will be all right. I have a defense that is going to blow you away.”
“Time will tell. But there may be more damning evidence against you,” Ragnar said.
There was something already in what Ayers was saying that bothered Megan. He had just told them something. Not intentionally, but still.
“Evidence? Against me?” Ayers said.
Ragnar grinned and leaned forward at the table, folding his hands as he did so.
“Fliers and notices,” Ragnar said. “And a man under arrest caught in the act of burying a woman. It’s interesting how a man betrayed might decide to betray others.”
“You’re crazy,” Ayers said.
Megan watched the way Ayers sat back. He was staring at Ragnar as if he hoped he’d suddenly acquire mind radar. He was quiet then, obviously calculating his words.
“Notices?” Ayers said at last. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
And then Megan knew what she had heard.
Ayers was planning on having his wife killed. The divorce hadn’t gone through yet.
Their money would come to him, and then he could hire “the best” defense out there.
She jumped up, ready to tap on the glass, but caught herself, not knowing if that was the right move. Instead, she stepped out into the hall where Anson Morris stood diligently on duty.
“I need Special Agent Johansen,” she said.
“Can I do anything?” Morris asked.
“Yes, please. Get Special Agent Johansen for me,” she said.
Morris seemed to be clean as falling snow. But she remembered that she couldn’t be sure about anything that was “right in front of her.”
“All right. Are you ending the interview? Should I bring Ayers back? And I was just told I was to bring Jim Carver in—”
“Please. Just get Special Agent Johansen for me.”
Morris nodded and entered the room, telling Ragnar he was needed. Ragnar stood and came out, looking puzzled.
“We need to go,” she said.
He nodded; he wasn’t going to ask her questions here. Ragnar was far more intuitive than he realized. “Time to go,” he told Hugo.
The dog had followed Megan and was standing by her.
At the desk, Kent was surprised when Ragnar asked for his weapon back and said they’d have to postpone their interviews.
“Something up?” Kent asked.
“Who knows? Powers that be,” Ragnar said vaguely. “But I’m sure we’ll be back.”
They exited the building and headed for the car. They were far out of earshot before he asked her, “Okay, what’s going on? What did he say?”
“He’s going to kill his wife,” Megan said.
They’d reached the car. He got in and she saw he had his phone out even as he started the car. His call was to Jackson. At the office, Jackson could take it from there. They spoke briefly.
Megan knew they were driving out to the Ayerses’ house.
“Has anyone been guarding the house in the time Amelia Ayers has been home?” Megan asked anxiously.
“At first, yes. Now, a patrol car checks on them once a night. Deirdre and her mother have been fine. Well, as fine as people can be when they find out a daughter’s fiancé was ready to kill her and was shot and killed himself, and the husband and stepfather was a serial killer,” Ragnar said. “Jackson has the local police on the way—they’ll beat us there. And Deirdre isn’t at the house. She needed to get away and so she went with close friends on a trip to Seattle—including the ex-boyfriend who I think is the current boyfriend again, a musician, but a man determined to keep her safe after what happened. Anyway, Amelia Ayers is at the house with a housekeeper. Unless...” He paused and shook his head and added, “He’s had this plan in action, and we didn’t see it. I should have heard that in his words, too. I hope we’re in time.”
The Ayerses’ home was impressive—a beautiful mansion. Megan could see it through the trees as they neared the estate.
But as they arrived, she saw the police cars in the front yard and officers milling about, one who immediately approached Ragnar as he stepped out of the car.
“Special Agent Johansen? I’m Deputy Frank Kenworth. We came as soon as we received the call.” He took a deep breath. “Too late, I’m afraid. The house is empty. After Crow’s call, we broke in. I’m afraid Amelia Ayers isn’t here.”
“Any sign of forced entry?” Ragnar asked.
“No. Mrs. Ayers is either out, or she let an abductor in.”
“Does she have a cell phone? Has anyone tried calling her?” Megan asked.
“Her cell phone was on the kitchen table,” Kenworth said flatly.
“If you don’t mind, I’ll take a look around,” Ragnar said.
“Look anywhere you like; I’m letting my officers return to their patrols.”
Ragnar nodded, then he and Megan—with Hugo behind them—walked to the house.
Ragnar stopped and turned back, calling to Deputy Kenworth.
“No sign of the housekeeper, either?”
“The house is empty—completely empty.”
“Amelia Ayers has a live-in housekeeper,” Ragnar said. “Curious they would both be out. Hold on to your officers for a few minutes. And alert area paramedics; they’ll be needed.”
Ragnar stood at the door, looking at the entry area. He nodded toward the wood paneling at the side of the entry.
“Scratches,” he said quietly.
Hugo began to whine. He ran ahead into the house, and Megan hurried after him.
The dog stood in the kitchen area growling.
“Something happened in here,” Ragnar said. He looked at Megan. “Mariana Largo—the housekeeper. She’s middle-aged, slim, a little haggard, maybe five-five. She and Amelia were close, and she is adored by Deirdre. That much I know from the last case. Amelia Ayers is about fifty with short platinum hair, and thin. But neither is much in the muscle arena. They were taken in here,” he determined.
Kenworth was standing behind him then.
“Get your officers out there, sir. Two women were abducted; we’ll get their pictures to you. We’ll need roadblocks. Whoever did this is still in the area. Don’t forget the paramedics!”
“What? You want us to stop every van, every car, every vehicle?” Kenworth asked.
“Yes,” Ragnar said flatly. “We’ll be getting other agents out here as quickly as possible. But we need to find these women now.”
Kenworth stared at Ragnar and nodded. “On it,” he said, turning to do as directed.
“Let’s go upstairs, find clothing or something with a good scent for Hugo, and get out there.”
“Ragnar, we may be expecting too much out of Hugo. He isn’t Red—”
“He found Grace.”
Megan nodded. “I’ll find their rooms and pieces of clothing,” she said.
She thought Ragnar would follow her, but he was still staring around the kitchen. She started out and realized Hugo wasn’t following her either.
He was sniffing around the kitchen.
Time was important, she knew; and she should also just be glad her dog was proving to be an proficient tracker. Maybe Hugo would find something.
She hurried out to the living room and up the stairs. The house was beautiful, well-appointed and well-kept. She tried three doors before deciding she had found the room that belonged to Amelia Ayers. It was the largest bedroom with a balcony overlooking the manicured expanse of the back lawn.
The bed was made; no clothes littered the floor. The closet door was opened to a large walk-in expanse of hanging clothes and small shelves filled with shoes.
Megan noted there was no men’s clothing in the closet, and it appeared one side had been cleaned out.
Amelia Ayers had rid herself of everything to do with her husband.
Megan hurried into the bathroom, and as she had hoped, she found a laundry hamper. She pulled out a blouse and went back to the hall.
Maybe the housekeeper’s room was up in the attic.
But why? The house was huge. When Deirdre was home, there were just three women living in it now.
She went back through a few of the rooms where all she had done so far was open a door to glance in. One, she quickly realized, was Deirdre’s because there were posters on the walls and the room also had a charming balcony overlooking the backyard. She started out of the room and then hesitated, drawn to the balcony. She walked onto it and stared out over the back lawn. Nothing.
But it still bothered her.
Giving herself a mental shake, she moved on. When she opened the next door, she believed she had found the housekeeper’s room. There were pictures of children in different places on a dresser and a vase with fresh flowers.
Once again she hurried to the bathroom. There she was grateful Mariana seemed to be a woman with an organized way of doing things. There was a hamper in that bathroom, too.
She found a pink uniform in the basket and decided, whether the women were close or not, the housekeeper also dressed for her role.
With both objects in hand, Megan returned to the hall. But she found herself drawn back to Deirdre’s room and the balcony.
She would give it one more quick look and hurry down.
Staring out at the lawn, she saw there was a large oak tree to the far-right side of the back lawn. Beyond it there were trees and bushes. The estates here were several acres each, and she assumed the back brush eventually led to a neighboring property.
But the tree...
The lawn was beautifully manicured. Flowering shrubs were artfully arranged, paths led to little benches.
But by the tree...
The earth was disturbed.
Megan turned from the balcony and went tearing down the stairs and back to the kitchen.
Ragnar and Hugo were heading for the back door.
“What?” Ragnar asked.
“Out back!” she cried.
Ragnar opened the door, and Hugo bounded out before them, running toward the tree.
Ragnar followed him, with Megan close behind.
They reached the tree. This close, it was easy to see the earth had been dug up recently. Ragnar looked around and grabbed a large branch near the tree trunk, digging with it while Hugo woofed and dug with his paws.
“Should I get the cops?” Megan asked quickly.
“Just run to the side of the house and scream for them. She or they will be shallow; we just need to hurry.”
Megan ran to the side of the house, shouting for the police. Then she ran back to the hole Ragnar and Hugo were creating.
She fell to her knees, scooping and moving earth the best she could.
There was no wood this time.
Fingers appeared first. Hugo leaped back, as if he was alarmed, and Ragnar stepped in, moving the dirt from the arms of the woman, then grabbing her and drawing her from the loosely packed earth.
She wasn’t breathing.
Ragnar started to perform CPR on her, giving Megan instructions on how to help.
Officers had come running, along with, thankfully, the paramedics Ragnar had asked Kenworth to call in.
Politely and quickly they took over.
“Ragnar,” Megan said. “Is that...Amelia Ayers or Mariana Largo? Is there another—”
“That’s Mariana. He buried the one woman, and he took the other,” Ragnar said.
The paramedics were still working. One of the men looked up at them and shook his head.
“She might not have been deep,” he said sadly, “but she isn’t—”
He broke off.
His partner had tried one more time.
“I got a pulse!” he cried exuberantly. “Faint—but a pulse. Let’s get her to the hospital. Oxygen, we need oxygen now!”
“Can she tell us—” Megan began.
“She’s barely breathing and unconscious,” the paramedic said. “I’m sorry. Hopefully, it will be a few hours. I know... I know there’s another woman missing. But she is incapable of helping right now; it’s going to be iffy if she survives.”
“I’m sorry,” Megan said.
“We have to move, now!” the paramedic said.
The yard came to life, officers hurrying to help the paramedics.
“He’s taken Amelia. She has a chance if we can find her, but we’re talking about minutes not hours,” Ragnar said.
Kenworth was there and Ragnar turned to stare at him.
The deputy spoke up quickly. “The roadblocks are up. We have men patrolling the roads.”
“Look for a parked vehicle and a trail someone might have taken in from areas where the woods are dense,” Ragnar said. He caught Megan’s arm.
“The clothes?”
She had dropped them in the yard, she realized. She raced back for them. Ragnar took them from her before she could speak or act.
“Hugo, come on, boy. You are proving to be the best, the very best!”
Hugo sniffed the clothing and started to bark.
Ragnar stood and looked at Deputy Kenworth.
“We’ll be out there, too. Keep communication open. If anyone finds anything, get the word out fast!”
He looked at Megan. She nodded and turned, walking back to the car as quickly as she could go.
Ragnar and Hugo followed, but she paused. Ragnar had stopped in front, talking to Hugo.
The dog ran in circles, then headed for the road and started barking.
Ragnar headed for the car then, followed by the dog.
Megan looked at him with a question in her eyes.
“I had to find out which way to go,” he told her, shrugging and opening the back for Hugo. “Hugo was born for this. He was going crazy in the kitchen, and made me go to the back door, and, well, I was trying to figure out what that meant when you came running.”
“I saw the tree and the disturbed ground from a balcony,” Megan explained.
“We have Hugo, and we know what the plan will be. We will find Amelia,” Ragnar said.
“Will we, though? Mariana was just buried. No box, no—”
“I don’t think the killer expected her. I think Mariana was in the way, and he just had to get rid of her quickly. I’m betting the doctors will find she was hit first with an object that knocked her out. Maybe even the killer-abductor thought she was dead. But she was collateral damage. He’s out for Amelia, and I’ll bet he’s going to make sure Amelia is taken care of using the ‘Embracer’ method.”
“But he’d need a coffin. Shouldn’t we be saying they should look for a van or—”
“He could have the coffin ready in the woods. He could be in any kind of a vehicle.”
“Ah.”
Ragnar looked at her as they drove from the house.
“We will find her,” he said. “I just hope that—”
“That we can find her alive,” Megan finished quietly.
He was driving down the road that led away from town, deeper into the forest. They came upon a trail that curved off the main, paved road. It was nothing but dirt and gravel, but large enough for cars to maneuver.
And it held tire tracks in the mud that looked fresh.
Ragnar swerved the car, and they drove carefully along the trail.
Until a rusty gray SUV blocked them from going any farther.
Eleven
Ragnar didn’t like it.
Every time he had Megan with him, he feared he was putting her life in danger.
Yes, he was there. Yes, Hugo would die for her. But they could both die for her, and she could still fall prey to a killer.
But if they didn’t stop this, she might be in danger her whole life. If they didn’t get to the bottom of it all, she could be thinking about space monsters as she walked down the street in New York and someone could take her by surprise.
“Ragnar?”
He’d parked; Hugo was barking crazily.
“Right, right, let’s go. Let’s see where he leads us.”
They exited the car, and Hugo raced to the SUV barking nonstop. Ragnar hurried over and wrenched open the door, searching the vehicle quickly.
The back seat had been laid flat. The back could have easily accommodated a woman’s prone body.
He stood still, staring.
“Ragnar?”
“Blood,” he said softly. “Just a smear right there. I believe he used an instrument of some kind and knocked both women out. Then he disposed of Mariana quickly in the backyard and loaded up Amelia to get her out here. Hugo, go on, boy!”
Hugo let out a snort and sniffed around the vehicle, then took off at a run.
“Stay with me!” he told Megan. “Right at my back.”
“I’m here!” she assured him.
Hugo was running at a swift rate, drawing them along a trail between the trees. Ragnar didn’t know the area. But there had to be something here—a place where someone could have left a crude wooden coffin built especially for Amelia Ayers.
Hugo found exactly what Ragnar expected. The bare bones of a lean-to, something probably used by deer hunters to stash gear out of the rain. It had a back side and a slanted, wooden roof—all built from materials available within feet of it.
Half a box of nails remained on the ground along with a hammer.
He might have carried the hammer with him, ready to have it on hand when he went to the Ayerses’ house.
