Page 72 of Fable Killer

“He killed her, he told us he did,” Elijah said, soul shattering grief in his voice.

“Then where is she?” Matthew asked frantically, spinning in a slow circle as though she were going to materialize out of thin air.

“If Jason killed himself here then Grace is somewhere on the property,” Allina said, making attempts to talk this through like they would any other case even though this wasn’t just any case to any one of them.

“We checked the house and she’s not in here,” he reminded her. “The yard?” Of all the ways Jason could have killed himself he’d chosen something outside, did that mean that Grace was out there as well?

He hurried to the window and scanned the backyard. There was a pool, and his first thought was that Jason had drowned her before going up on the roof, but then his gaze fell on an angel water feature surrounded by what looked like freshly planted rose bushes.

“He called her an angel,” he said, already spinning around and flying through the house.

The others followed him out into the backyard and over to the area between two large trees along the back fence. The dirt beneath the rose bushes and angel water feature looked like it had been freshly worked over, was it possible that Jason had buried her there?

“She’s here,” he said with a certainty he felt down to his bones. There was a shovel leaning against one of the tree trunks and he grabbed it and started digging up the rose bushes.

“If he buried her, then she’s already gone, Matthew,” Elijah said, his voice heavy with grief.

“Maybe not,” he said, tossing one rose bush aside and moving on to the second. There were three bushes planted on either side of the water feature, like Jason had made Grace’s final resting place a memorial.

“Why else would he bury her?” Allina asked.

“He’s had her for hours.” The second rose bush came free, and he threw it aside. “If he killed her when he first took her then he would already have been dead by the time we got here.” The third bush joined the others and he moved to the other side of the stone angel. “He chose this moment to end his own life. There’s only one reason I can think of that he’d do that.” Picking up the fourth rose bush, he barely noticed the thorns pricking his skin as he threw it away.

“You think he buried her alive? Then waited until he thought she’d be gone before killing himself?” Elijah asked.

“I think he wasn’t ready to go until he and Grace could go together,” he said as he dug up the fifth bush and moved on to the final one. “He wanted Grace to have a beautiful resting place, in his mind she was his angel.” He gestured to the water feature as the last bush came free and he threw it to join the others. “Help me move this,” he said grabbing hold of the water feature. “Burying someone alive isn’t an exact science. He has no way of knowing exactly what moment she takes her final breath. You can live approximately five hours in a coffin after being buried alive. If he was preparing to jump when we got here, then it’s been about five hours since he put her down here. There’s still a chance she’s alive.”

Matthew prayed with everything he had that she was.

How unfair could the Universe be to have Grace take her last breath while they were driving down the street ready to rescue her?

Together he, Elijah, and Allina lifted the stone angel and moved it away. The second it was gone he started digging.

No way was he giving up on Grace.

No way.

There was a chance she was alive and that was what he was going to cling to.

The others joined him, he had no idea where they found shovels, nor did he care, his whole focus was on getting to Grace.

Please be alive, sweetheart.

They were down about four feet when the shovel hit something other than dirt.

“I think we got her,” he announced.

Everyone picked up the speed, shoveling dirt out of the hole as fast as they could, with a desperation that you could feel in the air.

She had to be alive, she had to be. Her death would destroy not just him but her entire family. Grace’s mix of strength and fragility was beautiful, and the bright light she shone into the world was something that would be noticeably missed. The world would be a worse place without her in it.

The coffin lid became exposed, Matthew lifted it, and saw Grace’s still form lying inside. Her bruised and bloody hands rested between her bare breasts. What a horrific ordeal it would have been, trapped inside, knowing you were going to die, but having no way to stop it.

He didn't pause to check for a pulse, just scooped her up and took hold of the hand Elijah held out, no doubt to take his sister, but there was no way Matthew was letting go of the woman he loved.

Once he was out of the hole, he laid her down, pressing his fingers against her slender neck, while he held his cheek just above her mouth.

At first, he didn't feel anything.

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