Page 2 of Their Haunted Hearts
Nodding, although she could hardly see him inside the dark cab, she turned to him. “Yeah.” She yawned as exhaustion gripped her with ferocity and she fought to keep her eyes open. Her lids closed and she became too tired to open them. When her head banged against the window, she didn’t have the strength to lift it away. Her limbs grew heavy and the Glock slid from her fingers. She forced her eyes open a slit. Beside her, the man moved in and out of focus. Something was terribly wrong. He’d drugged her coffee. Fear gripped her and she forced her mouth to form words. “What’s happening to me?”
“This is the easy way, Darlene.” He flashed her a grin, his white teeth showing in the moonlight. “You should thank me. In the morning you’ll be free.”
Her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth and her head lolled back and forth. “Free? What do you mean?”
“They all say that. I know you came a long way to find me.” The man chuckled as the truck bumped along the uneven road. “The thing is, Darlene, I know exactly what you are. I see you’re surprised. Don’t be. I’ve been hunting down your kind for a very long time. This time, the game is going to be played my way, and before the sun sets tomorrow, you’re going to die.”
One
Monday
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The sound of glass shattering, feet running, and people’s terrified screams greeted Sheriff Jenna Alton as she followed her deputy and husband, Dave Kane, from the sheriff’s department. She tightened the straps on her liquid Kevlar vest, reached for her weapon, and hurried after him. Chaos greeted her and she reached for her phone to call Chief Deputy Zac Rio. “Rio, shots fired on Main. We’re going in. Number of shooters unknown at this time. Where are you?”
“We’re approximately seven minutes from town.” The engine of Rio’s department SUV roared as he accelerated. Sirens blared. “We’re coming in hot.”
Jenna searched the sidewalk ahead as Kane vanished into the shadows between an array of Halloween displays. As an ex-Special Forces sniper, he could move around practically unseen, which for a six-five, one-hundred-and-seventy-pound fighting machine was remarkable. “I want you both geared up. We need you both here, yesterday.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Rio disconnected.
On Main, gunshots ricocheted from buildings, shattering the windows of vehicles angle-parked nose-in alongside the storefronts, setting off a cacophony of car alarms. Macabre motion-activated Halloween automatons lining the sidewalk cackled and moaned, adding to the noise. Vehicles frantically reversed or drove into side streets in an effort to get away from the madness. Jenna glimpsed a man dressed all in black waving a Glock 22 and wondered why one of the usually armed townsfolk hadn’t put a bullet in him already. The man, his long greasy hair flowing past his shoulders, wore a long coat hanging open to display two shoulder holsters. He meandered along the center of the blacktop, weaving slightly and taking potshots at random. He held his weapon in one hand and dangled a bottle loosely in the other. His disjointed ramblings and hysterical laughter set Jenna’s nerves on edge. She pressed her com. “Dave, can you see him?”
“Oh, yeah.” Kane’s voice came over the noise of a car alarm close by. “Take cover. I can handle him.”
Knowing what Kane was capable of doing to someone firing down on him, she sucked in a breath. “He’s drunk by the look of things. He might be having a midlife crisis or something.”
“Why don’t you just tell me not to kill him, Jenna?” Kane chuckled. “I take orders real well. He’s raving on about ghouls and vampires. Maybe Halloween triggered a PTSD episode or maybe he’s just batshit crazy. Either way, we’re gonna find out. Take cover. I don’t want to turn around and find my wife bleeding out.”
An uneasy feeling made Jenna’s breakfast form into a solid lump. Watching Kane risk his life was never easy, and if he died here today, she would have never told him she’d discovered his real and very secret name. The implications of knowing it held a great risk and one she understood would mean her beloved husband would be whisked away never to be seen again. She’d wanted to know his name for years, and overhearing a conversation Kane had with her baby son had thrown her into a quandary. Should she tell him or take the secret to her grave? At the time, she’d chosen to keep the secret and now, fifteen months later, the temptation still lingered. The problem was that Kane would never risk her and the children’s lives to an assassin who would use them to get to him and collect the massive bounty on his head. He’d tell Wolfe, who was his handler and also Black Rock Falls’ medical examiner. When that happened, the government would swallow them up and relocate them. She’d not only lose Kane, she’d lose Wolfe and his entire family. Even Wolfe didn’t know Kane’s real name but would go with him to wherever in the world they’d be safe. She’d be left behind, relocated, and need to start again, alone with two young boys. She shook her head. Concentrate. Don’t even think about it. Stay focused.
The breeze brushed her face, bringing with it the smell of gunpowder mingled with the fresh aroma of coffee and baking from Aunt Betty’s Café. Jenna slid into an alleyway and peered around the solid redbrick wall just as Kane stepped out into the middle of the road. Her heart raced as she watched him, moving easily, hands relaxed at his sides as if he confronted a drunken gunman every day. He had no fear of dying and that scared the life out of her. She held her M18 pistol in two hands and aimed. All she could do was have his back.
Sheer terror rushed over her when the shooter finished the dregs in the bottle and then dropped it to the blacktop to draw a second gun. Without a care in the world, he fired haphazardly in all directions and then noticed Kane walking toward him along the centerline. Wearing a Kevlar vest with sheriff emblazoned across the front in iridescent yellow, Kane was hard to miss, but the man kept shooting and bullets slammed into parked vehicles and pinged off buildings.
“You’re lucky I’m in a good mood.” Kane kept walking toward him. “Sheriff’s department. Why don’t you put your weapons down and I’ll go easy on you?”
“You need to keep them away from town.” The man waved his guns toward the Halloween displays. “All that attracts them and makes it easy for them to hide in plain sight. No one can see them until it’s too late.”
“Who are you talking about?” Kane stopped walking and stared at the man. “Who is hiding in plain sight?”
“It’s Halloween, man. You all believe it’s just a joke but it’s not. The gates of hell open and ghosts come back for revenge.” He wiped one arm across his mouth and then aimed his guns at Kane. “You must be one of them. They look like you and me in the daylight but at night they change and will try and kill us. I’ve seen them.”
“Put down your weapons. Now!” Kane’s eyes narrowed. “Trust me. If you lived here in town, you’d know not to mess with me. Do as I say or I’ll hurt you.”
The man squeezed the triggers. Bullets whizzed past Kane, and Jenna held her breath. In a split second, Kane had drawn his pistol. Two shots rang out and the man howled like a wounded dog, dropped his weapons, and fell to his knees. Jenna ran along the sidewalk, reaching Kane as he kicked away the pistols, rolled the man on his face, and secured his wrists with zip ties. She stared down at the holes in the man’s coat just below the shoulder on each arm. Blood oozed over the material but it wasn’t gushing. “That was close.”
“Nah.” Kane smiled at her. “He might have fluked it and hit my vest, but the chances of a headshot were minimal. He’s just an idiot swimming in cheap bourbon. He’s not hurt bad; I just nicked him, is all.” He dragged the man to his feet. “What’s your name?”
“Ow, that hurts. You shot me!” The man pulled a sad face. “Ask anyone. I was protecting you all from the night creatures.”
“It’s just a scratch and a Band-Aid will fix it.” Kane glared at him. “Name?”
“The Prince of Darkness.” The man gave him a yellow-stained grin and the smell of alcohol filled the air. “Take me to your leader.”
“She’s right here.” Kane spun him around to face her. “Meet Sheriff Alton. She doesn’t like people shooting up her town.”
“I’m pressing charges.” The man turned bleary red eyes toward her. “This Neanderthal shot me.”
