Page 42 of No Surrender
“Did you ever pick up any hint of anything spooky around Lisa?”
A secret smile spread across Leanne’s face. “Are you asking if I thought someone put a root on her?”
“More or less.”
“No. If I had thought that, I would have gotten Eppie involved.” Leanne shook her head. “This was a different kind of darkness—true evil. I caught the sense of it now and again late at night, around the time the shift ended. I didn’t know where it came from or how to fight it.” She looked down. “I was afraid. Perhaps if I had…”
Simon shook his head. “There was nothing you could have done. He might have taken you as well.”
“No. I wasn’t what he wanted. Those girls were so young…”
“I’m sorry to bring back bad memories.” Simon paused. “Did you ever pay attention to the shuttle driver? Or a young janitor who was a little too interested?”
Leanne frowned. “There were several drivers. I never paid attention to them. As for the janitors—they came and went. But I do remember one who made me uncomfortable. He wasn’t here long. I asked for him to be removed. He had bad energy. I didn’t want him in the building.”
“Do you remember his name?”
Leanne shook her head. “It was a long time ago, and he didn’t stay. I don’t know. I’m sorry.”
Simon didn’t doubt Judd was the creepy janitor or that it was Thompson’s dark obsession that set off Leanne’s senses. What she said was confirmation enough.
“Find them.” Leanne leaned forward and met his gaze with intense, dark eyes. “Let them come home.”
“We will,” Simon promised. He hoped he could keep his word.
* * *
Simon met Walt and his friend in Le Mizzenmast. Tracey had purchased a bankrupt pirate museum to turn it into a bakery and coffee shop but couldn’t afford to remodel. Instead, she kept the privateer theme and made it her brand.
“So this is a Dread Pirate Roberts?” Walt sipped the latte that was Tracey’s signature specialty.
“Yep. It’s my favorite,” Simon replied, savoring his cup.
“I can see why.” Ed Gallagher agreed. “I remember this place when it was a tourist attraction. It’s way better as a coffeehouse.”
The slightly built man with a gray goatee and thinning hair looked more like a musician than a former reporter. Then again, Simon thought, Ed’s uber-nebbishness made him unthreatening and easy to talk to.
“Pirates didn’t look like that. Bad teeth, scurvy, and they smelled really awful.”Simon’s ghostly ancestor Dante had come along for the ride, curious about the museum. He had also been willing to slip inside the second floor of the old Vampire Castle after their meeting.
“You’re going to ruin all my illusions,”Simon returned silently.
“Now that you’ve plied me with good coffee, what do you want to know?” Ed asked.
“Anything you remember about the young women who disappeared in the early eighties?” Simon asked.
Ed took a bite of a fresh-baked chocolate croissant and closed his eyes in bliss. “This is really good.” After he finished the pastry, Ed returned his attention to Simon and Walt.
“I remember that the victims were all far too young to die.” He sobered quickly. “I fed tips to Detective John Gordon, except for the ones he wouldn’t believe.”
“Try me,” Simon replied. “I’ve seen a lot of strange things.”
“I looked you up before I agreed to come. If you’re the real deal, then I bet you have.”
“He’s real,” Walt vouched for Simon.
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” Ed said with a shrug. “I retraced the last known steps of the missing women after the cops were done. We were never sure exactly where the victims were grabbed, but we knew where someone had seen them last. I realized that in each case, about six feet away, there was a strange symbol chalked nearby.”
He took another sip of coffee. “The symbols weren’t flashy. They weren’t meant to be noticed—someone made an effort for them to blend in. But once I noticed them, I started looking for more. When I took a sketch to a witchy friend of mine, she said it was a binding spell. Like a magical roofie. They didn’t seem to affect anyone after the kidnapping, so maybe they were one-time-use, or perhaps the person who marked them had to be present.”
