Page 9 of Thunder Road

Vic nodded encouragingly, and Simon recounted the séance in detail, both the comments by Edwards and the information from the ghosts.

“I can email you the research that Pete and I did so you can follow our sources, but what we found matches what Edwards told us,” Simon concluded. “I sensed the entity. It acknowledged the contact but didn’t promise anything. Given the accident, it seems like Edwards got what he wanted.”

“When you say entity, what sort of creature is powerful enough to make the kind of bargain you’re talking about?” Vic asked. He and Simon had gone up against many different paranormal beings in their cases, so he had a few ideas of what might be involved.

“Unlikely to be a ghost,” Simon replied. “A powerful witch might be able to lay a curse like that, but the legends that have sprung up around the deaths didn’t sound like they were dealing with human magic. The most likely creatures would be a djinn,fay, or demon, but there are many variations of those beings from cultures all around the world.

“By all accounts, the creature kept their side of the bargain. There hasn’t been a gang war in Myrtle Beach since the deal was made,” Simon went on. “So the bargain didn’t just affect the club leader who struck the agreement—it worked a spell that affected the behavior of hundreds of riders over more than half a century. It’s very old blood magic.”

“Do you think that next year, another club rider will disappear to keep the deal?” Vic asked.

“Yes. Edwards didn’t change the deal. He just offered himself as a substitute this year because he was going to die anyhow. The terms didn’t require the victim to be young or healthy and left the picking to the entity. So next year, and all the upcoming years, unless someone breaks the curse, someone will die to keep the peace,” Simon summarized.

Vic motioned for him to remain silent and turned off the recording.

“Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. That’s one hell of a story,” Ross said.

“It’s not much weirder than the stuff we’ve already run into,” Vic mused. “Just a bigger scale.”

“I’m going to ask for help researching this further,” Simon told them now that the recorder was off. “We’ve got friends who are good at figuring out the supernatural side of things. I’d like to know what we’re dealing with.”

“There’s also an interesting dilemma here.” Vic leaned back in his chair. “If the club members are told about the risk of joining and the history of deaths and join anyway, embracing the possibility that they could be the next sacrifice, then they are consenting to the danger,” Vic said. “People agree to accept the dangers of all kinds of activities, like horseback riding and surfboarding. Sometimes people die doing those things. I’m notsure what authority we have to end the situation—even if we could.”

“I thought about that,” Simon replied. “And there’s also the issue of the truce. Trouble between the motorcycle clubs—especially the less savory ones—happened every year before the deal was made. Club members died—and so did tourists who were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Break the deal, break the truce.”

“So the motorcycle club members join knowing they could be sacrificed,” Ross said. “The people who would be killed if the clubs start fighting again haven’t agreed to the deal.”

“Shit.” Vic ran his hands through his short, dark hair. “Why does anyone need to die?”

“Because I’m guessing this entity feeds off the death energy. From its perspective, it’s gone on a diet by taking one sure meal instead of going feast-or-famine with pure chance,” Simon replied. “So the only way to stop the deaths and not start a war?—”

“Is to destroy the entity,” Vic finished. “Is that even possible?”

Simon shrugged. “Theoretically? Yes. Even gods can die. Look at the Greek myths. But right now, we don’t know what this being is, what other powers it has, where its vulnerabilities are—nada. All we know is that one-on-one, with human protections, it’s got us way outgunned.”

Vic sent Simon home to relax while he and Ross finished the paperwork. Familiar sounds from the squad room provided a dull hum of ringing phones, humming printers, and the low buzz of conversation. Ross was more quiet than usual, and Vic could sense there was something on his partner’s mind.

“Okay, spill. You’ve got something in your head that’s spiraling,” Vic said after an hour of seeing Ross fidget.

“That obvious?”

“We’ve worked together how long? You’re not nearly as stealthy as you think,” Vic replied.

Ross leaned back and sighed. “Normally we get all kinds of weird stuff around Halloween, but until I started working with you and Simon, I thought it was all just strange people doing bizarre stuff. I always thought Halloween was fun because of that, and I never really understood why some church folks are so set against it.”

“And?” Vic suspected he knew where Ross was heading.

“Knowing the kinds of things that you and Simon have dealt with, what’s really out there, it’s a whole ’nother dimension to the holiday,” Ross mused. “Not that I think Trick-or-Treat is of the devil or something. But I wonder if some of the watered-down arguments are rooted in much older, darker legends involving the kinds of creatures that modern people don’t think exist.”

“Probably.” Vic rose to fill his coffee cup again. “People learn to do things the way those who came before them did. But they don’t always learn the reason, so over time, the action loses its point.”

“I heard a story about a lady who always cut a piece of brisket in half before cooking it because that’s how her mother did it. She thought it was something to do with the meat. Turns out her mother had a small pan, and that’s the only way the brisket would fit,” Ross said with a chuckle.

“Exactly—only in our case, with monsters.” Vic deleted another email on his laptop, glad he was nearing the end of his inbox.

“Yeah—still getting used to that,” Ross admitted. “The world is a scary place just withhumans.”

“Ain’t that the truth,” Vic muttered.

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