Every hidden thing, p.26
Every Hidden Thing, page 26
Parker wasn’t going to argue. There wasn’t time for that either. “Officer, please. I have to make sure he’s okay.” Surely his parents would be all right with him getting a ride from a cop, right? “I’ll send my parents a text and tell them exactly what’s going on the moment we get in your car.”
Greenwood gave a sideways nod of his head toward the police car. “Hop in.”
Ella and Grams stood by the door, hugging each other. Both of them held the cross.
“Mrs. Houston, why don’t you two go inside and lock up before I leave?” Greenwood said.
Parker yanked open the door of the police car and slid inside after Jelly. The instant Grams and El were in the house, Officer Greenwood swung into the driver’s seat. As they pulled away, Parker gave a last glance toward the house and saw that Ella stood in the window, shaking her head like she thought Parker was insane.
Maybe he was.
CHAPTER 64
Saturday, June 11, 10:55 p.m.
PARKER SPOTTED HARLEY barely a hundred yards from the quarry. He had a good pace going, and only stopped when Officer Greenwood lit the cruiser up. Greenwood stopped alongside Harley and rolled down his window. “Get in.”
Harley obeyed but didn’t look too happy about it. Thankfully Greenwood was willing to drive the rest of the way to Parker’s Pit to scope it out. The quarry looked like a giant, open grave—filled with a dark liquid. Thicker than water, yet less syrupy than oil. Honestly? It looked more like blood.
Greenwood did a slow drive-by. He swept the area with his searchlight. Crept along the gravel road separating the length of it from thick woods and smaller, unnamed quarries.
“I was there—on Humpback Rock.” Parker pointed to the outcropping of granite that jutted out a good twenty feet into the quarry. “That’s where I opened the package—that’s the spot where Shadow-man said he’d meet me.”
Greenwood locked his beam on the area. “Sit tight.” He swung out of the car. “And don’t touch anything.” He checked the area—clearly on high alert. He walked out onto the granite peninsula and even shined his light into the black water. Then slowly around the perimeter of the quarry. He squatted down and appeared to be listening for what seemed like a couple of minutes.
Harley’s leg was doing that bouncing thing. “I want to get out of this lousy cop car and do a little checking myself.”
Parker wasn’t sure what they would find, but he was itching to get out, too. “I can’t believe you actually came here on your own.”
Harley gave him a half-smile. “And I thought you weren’t coming. Guess you changed your mind.”
“Somebody had to make sure you didn’t get yourself killed.”
“Which is why he brought me,” Jelly said.
Harley snickered. “Yeah, you look real tough, Strawberry Jelly.”
“I had you on your knees, didn’t I?” She pantomimed holding the fireplace poker like a bat again.
Harley raised both hands. “I stand corrected.”
“Don’t forget it.”
He grinned at Parker. “Nice to know you’ve got Jelly when you’re in a jam, eh?”
Jelly groaned.
Officer Greenwood eased back into the squad car. Turned off all the lights. Rolled down the passenger window. “Are you good with sitting here another few minutes—real quiet?”
They sat silently, straining to see out in the dark. When Officer Greenwood started the car again, Parker was pretty sure Shadow-man was long gone—if he ever was there.
“Okay, gang. One more pass and then let’s get you home. I’d like to get that window boarded up for Mrs. Houston.” He slowly drove the length of the quarry. At the far west end, he pulled a three-point turn, then crept his way back.
Harley’s leg was bouncing again as they approached Humpback Rock. “Officer, would you drop me here? I’ve got to walk off this adrenaline or I’ll never sleep.”
The cop shot a skeptical look in the rearview.
“Don’t worry. I’ll go straight home.”
Greenwood stopped the car. “Not really liking that idea, son. It’s late. How about I get you home and you do some laps around your living room?”
“So, I’m under arrest or something?”
Greenwood laughed. “Nope. I can’t hold you. If you tell me you want out, I’ll—”
“Yeah, I want out.”
Greenwood turned around to face Harley, staring him down as if he could change his mind. He sighed, “You’re free to go.”
Parker couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Why not just ride down to Beach Street?”
Harley shook his head. “I need to clear my head.”
Jelly nudged Parker—and it wasn’t hard to guess what she was thinking. Actually, he was relieved. Devin had promised he was going home, too—and Parker wasn’t about to let what happened to Devin happen to Harley. “I think we’ll all get out and walk together.”
Officer Greenwood nodded like he knew he couldn’t talk them out of it. “Two is company. Three is safer.” He handed Parker a card. “Call if you see anything. I’ll look around some more and then find you to see if you’re ready for a ride.”
The three of them watched the squad car drive away. Officer Greenwood tapped his brakes a couple of times as if saying goodbye. Seconds later his taillights melted into the fog.
Parker instantly wished the cop was still with them. Without a good moon, the place was way too dark, and the edge of the quarry felt too close.
“The creep factor of this place is off the charts,” Jelly said. “We should go.”
Harley snickered. “And here Gatorade and I were just thinking of taking a swim.”
“Which is exactly what you’ll be doing if you two don’t turn around and walk me into town.” Jelly stood there, hands on hips.
Harley stared toward the black waters. “I was thinking we could hang out for a few minutes. Just in case.”
“We need to leave. Now!” Jelly hooked their elbows and walked between them—and not at a window-shopping pace. They hadn’t walked more than ten feet before a heavy splash came from the flooded pit—ending with a thumping impact.
Instantly the three of them whirled around.
Jelly grabbed Parker’s arm tighter. “What was that?”
Shadow-man was there. Standing on the granite peninsula. A giant glow stick held high over his head like he wanted to be sure they saw him.
“He’s got no face,” Jelly whispered. “We’ve got to get out of here.”
But they couldn’t. In fact, Parker found himself stepping forward. It was as if the green light was some kind of magnetic force. A tractor beam.
“Easy, Gatorade,” Harley said. But he was moving closer, too.
“What are you two doing?” Jelly gave them a tug, but she didn’t have a chance against the two of them. They half-dragged her to the quarry’s edge.
Humpback Rock reflected the glow of the light stick like it had somehow come to life. Not forty feet away the figure stood, making no move to run, or hide, or give chase.
“If he takes one step this way,” Parker said, “we bolt. Got it?”
“Roger that,” Harley said. “This is what Devin saw, right?”
And what got him killed. “Dear God in heaven, protect us.”
“Amen,” Harley mumbled.
Jelly tugged harder. “Let’s go. I mean it. I’m really, really scared, guys.”
The giant light stick made the water of the quarry look darker. Deeper. Tiny ripples quivered across the black surface. Green reflections speckled the quarry’s skin, like the pit itself was some awakening alien life form.
“Uh-uh.” Harley shook his head. “I don’t know what that is—but it wanted us to come here. I feel it.”
The only thing Parker felt was a sense of present evil—and the need to get away. Still, he stood frozen, like he couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
Shadow-man still faced them, but with no actual face showing. He pointed at them—like he’d pointed at the security camera at Ella’s. Like he’d pointed at Parker on Steadman’s back stairs.
“Back. Off.” The voice was deep. Growly. Not quite human-sounding. “Final warning.” And without another word, he stepped off the granite rock—into the oily blackness of the quarry.
“Whoa!” Harley jerked back a step. “What just happened?”
The glow stick cast a green circle of diffused light maybe ten feet across. Like a meteor from Krypton had fallen from space—and right into the quarry. But the giant glowing sphere grew smaller, and fainter, as Shadow-man dropped into the depths of the quarry, then disappeared completely.
Harley swore. And again. And again. “What on earth was that?”
“Whatever it was,” Jelly whispered, “I’m not so sure it came from Earth.”
Panicky ripples threw themselves against the granite edges of the quarry, like they wanted to get out. But still Parker didn’t leave the quarry’s edge. None of them did. It was as if his feet were vulcanized in place.
The ripples calmed. The surface evened out into one solid mass again. No sign of a green light. No bubbles. No sign of Shadow-man.
“He’s not dead,” Jelly said. “I feel it.”
“I’m not sure Shadow-man was ever alive, either.” Harley glanced at Parker. “I’ve never believed in zombies before . . . but that thing is making me wonder. He is coming back, isn’t he.”
Not a question. A statement of fact—and exactly what Parker was feeling. Like Shadow-man might burst to the surface in front of them. “Time to go. We’ve seen enough.”
“You’re wrong,” Jelly whispered. “We’ve seen way too much.”
CHAPTER 65
Sunday, June 12
PARKER DIDN’T NEED ANY KIND OF PARENTAL PUSH to get him to church Sunday morning. His parents weren’t even around to do any pushing, anyway. Mom had returned to Boston to bring Dad home from the hospital. Parker and Jelly left the house early for the walk to church and he actually chose a pew closer to the front than he usually did. He felt safe there, and after what happened at the quarry the night before, that was a really welcome feeling.
Was he actually any closer to God when he sat in a church pew than he was last night at the quarry? No. Maybe it was just that he felt no presence of evil in the old sanctuary. Like demons had been prayed out of this place for so many years that they didn’t dare return.
Jelly sat beside him, and just having her close brought another kind of comfort. It was like reinforcements had arrived—and Jelly was a great one to help sort out what was going on here.
Parker tried focusing on what the pastor was saying, but it wasn’t easy. His mind was still caught in the tractor beam, pulling him to the quarry. Finally Parker stopped fighting it and just let his mind go there.
Officer Greenwood had come back minutes after Parker called. Nobody refused his ride that time. Even as late as it was when Parker got home last night, Parker wanted to give his parents a full update. Sure, it was part of the whole integrity thing he’d been working on from when he lived in Florida. But it was more than that. Parker needed his parents’ input on this. And maybe their assurance that somehow this whole thing was going to work out for some good on this side of heaven. That God cared enough to bring justice to this world—not just the world to come.
Mom walked in soon after Parker and Jelly got home, and she sat across the kitchen table from them while he put Dad on speaker phone. It wasn’t an ideal family conference, but it worked. His parents listened to every detail about what had happened at Ella’s—and at the quarry. Usually the more worried Mom was, the quieter she got. And she was quiet. Even after Mom got Jelly settled in the guest room, and Parker went to bed, she kept talking with Dad. He couldn’t hear their conversation, but he guessed that Dad’s early release from the hospital wasn’t due to him being a model patient. He’d insisted on leaving. Like he knew that whatever was going on with Shadow-man wasn’t over yet.
Steadman’s night hadn’t been nearly as exciting as Parker’s, but he did get a chunk of granite through the window at Bayport. Unfortunately he was at Bayview at the time—but he saw the whole thing on his surveillance camera. Same MO with a couple love-taps of the rock to his chest before he threw it. Scorza had been busy last night, too.
When Steadman heard about the rest of what happened at Ella’s place, he sounded frustrated. “It’s like he knows where I’m at. I need him to step inside the house when I’m there. I won’t need a second chance.”
Shadow-man’s appearance at the quarry really got to Steadman. “You should have called me, Swabbie.”
Everything had happened so fast when Parker realized Harley had gone to the quarry that he hadn’t even thought of it. Mr. Steadman seemed to understand, but he was clearly disappointed.
Even though Rankin had told the Rockport Resistance to disband, Steadman called a meeting for that afternoon. Hopefully, Parker’s Dad would make it.
El was absolutely convinced that Parker, Jelly, and Harley had seen a for-real ghost at the quarry. She wasn’t even open to other possibilities—and couldn’t understand why Parker wouldn’t accept the obvious. It was hard to be sure over the phone, but she sounded an awful lot like she’d given up all hope of saving the house—or finding Shadow-man. “Let it go, Parker,” she said finally.
Harley’s reaction took Parker by surprise. He texted Parker maybe an hour after he’d gotten in last night . . . asking if Parker was having a hard time sleeping, too. And Harley started texting again early this morning.
I say we go down in the quarry---have a little look-see.
IN the quarry---as in with scuba gear?
How else?
I thought you don’t dive?
I said I don’t like it---not that I can’t do it.
You think we’ll find
Shadow-man at the bottom?
No idea. Not liking the numbers on the scoreboard. Ella’s going to lose the house. Just hate doing nothing.
And that was exactly it. That last text so totally resonated with Parker. And he felt something else he would have never predicted. It was like some kind of uneasy alliance had started with Harley at Ella’s—and then at the quarry for sure. But now it was clear that their bond was no fluke.
I’ll think about it.
It was the best Parker could do. Honestly, the idea of diving a quarry . . . that quarry, just about had his stomach crawling up his throat. But there was something about the idea that wouldn’t let him go, either. What if they found an answer? Something that would get the police involved? What if there was some kind of proof that Shadow-man was working for BIG? Would that bring in the FBI? Would it help the Houstons? What if by taking that single dive into the quarry, they were able to buy them some time? Wouldn’t that be worth the risk?
Then again, what if they found Shadow-man himself . . . waiting for them on the bottom?
CHAPTER 66
Sunday, June 12, 5:00 p.m.
THE ROCKPORT RESISTANCE MEETING was well under way. Angelica had the entire couch to herself, which made her feel more out of place than ever. Parker stood, leaning back against the wall separating the family room from the kitchen. Uncle Vaughn made it at the last minute—and Parker’s mom, too. Uncle Vaughn was on crutches and definitely moving slowly, and not very much. He was afraid he’d sink too deep into the couch, so Parker got him a kitchen chair instead. He winced when he sat. Angelica suspected he had skipped a dose of pain medication so he’d be clear-headed for the meeting. She feared he had checked out of the hospital way too soon.
Mr. Steadman paced. The guy was definitely a doer, not a sit-around-and-talk guy. Just watching him made Angelica antsy, like she ought to get up and do burpees or something.
Grams Houston sat in the rocker by the window. She had her chair positioned better for a view outside than in the room. Ella sat close to her, like she was her protector or something.
“I appreciate all you’re doing for me,” Grams said. “And all you’ve done. But I think we all know where this is headed.”
Ella reached for her Grams’s hand.
“Something evil is at work here,” Grams said. “Something that we can’t fight against. Every time we do, it seems somebody gets hurt.” She nodded toward Uncle Vaughn—and Parker. “Last night we got as clear a warning as a body has a right to. A person’s got to know when they’ve been licked. We’re done here. I’m going to sell before they foreclose and take it from us.”
There were many protests, of course, but in the end the room got really quiet. Like everyone knew this is where that train had been headed from the moment the meeting started.
“Tell me you’re not selling to them.” It was like Steadman couldn’t bring himself to say Boston Investors Group.
Grams stared out the window. “The realtor might have found another buyer if not for the ghost. But there won’t exactly be a bidding war now. There will be lots of questions. And we must have more than a signed offer to buy. The cash must be in our hands by Saturday to pay off the loan—or they take it and I get nothing. There just isn’t time to do anything but sell to them. I’ve waited too long already. That Boston group isn’t offering me nearly what the place is worth, but it’s a good might better than foreclosure. I have all the papers from them. They aren’t asking for a home inspection—no contingencies at all. I sign, and this is all over.”
“Oh Grams!” Ella threw her arms around Grams’s neck.
There was a gloom as thick as a Cape Ann fogbank. Nobody said a word. BIG had Grams right where they wanted her.
Steadman paced again—and then suddenly stopped. He turned to Grams. “Have you signed yet?”
Grams shook her head. “The hand is willing, but the heart is weak.”
“Okay. Okay. I’m going to toss out a crazy idea, but hear me out, okay?” He hesitated for a moment like maybe he was looking for the right words—or deciding if he should say anything at all. “What if I bought it? We don’t want the Boston Investors Group muscling in to Rockport, right? And I think we’d all like to throw Scorza, my ex-friend loan manager, a curveball. So I’ll have papers drawn up. We’ll make the deposit match the amount you need for the loan. You sign the agreement, and you’ll have the money to pay off the loan immediately.”
