Dae's Christmas Past (18 page)

“As soon as he saw it out in the open, he freaked out,” Duran continued. “He couldn’t even look at it. He kept saying it was evil.”

Chief Palo nodded as she glanced around the property. Small groups of people were working everywhere with brown tents covering the spots where they were digging. We stood there as I wondered what to ask or look for that could make some difference.

It seemed even more possible that Jake was feeling the emanations from the horses that I’d felt and they had overwhelmed him. He might not be psychic, but he could be sensitive.

“I’d like to take a peek at the rest of the site,” Mary Catherine said. “I might not be out this way again, and it’s not every day that one visits a place that could predate most of the historical spots in our country.”

“I’d like that too,” Chief Palo said. “I’m new to the area. I thought the horses came from the Spanish treasure ships.”

“Good God!” Dr. Sheffield eyes widened as Baylor stretched around Mary Catherine’s shoulders. “What is that?”

She patted her cat’s neck. “This is Baylor. He often travels with me. You don’t have to worry. He won’t get down and bother a thing. Shall we go?”

Immediately on seeing her delicate shoes, Dr. Sheffield had a few of his workers create a walkway with wood slats to the individual worksites.
So that was why she didn’t have to worry about wearing boots.
She was very good at getting her own way.

We went to see the big horse first. It was definitely Sheffield’s pride and joy. I could feel the terrible evil coming from it long before I was looking up at it. It was even worse in person than it had been in the vision. But at least here I could get away from it.

Osisko was there too, pointing toward Jake’s house.

“I’m sorry. I’m not feeling very well. I think I’ll go back and sit in the truck for a few minutes. If you have to move on, that’s okay.” I didn’t have to feign illness. Staring at the statue had made me queasy.

“I’ll come with you,” Kevin offered.

“That’s okay.” I squeezed his hand. “I’ll be fine. Probably just some bug going around. You know how it is at this time of year.”

Dr. Sheffield was gracious about me leaving the tour. “I hope you feel better, Dae. You’re always welcome here.”

“I could make you some mint tea,” Duran offered.

“I think I’ll just close my eyes for a few minutes.” I started walking back toward the truck, hoping none of them would feel so bad that they needed to follow me.

Osisko moved with me toward the house after I’d left the group. He used his bone to point to the front window.

I knew I was going to have to go inside and look around. It was a crime scene, and Gramps would have killed me if he’d known I’d crossed the yellow tape. But I thought someone might have missed something small that could clear Jake’s name from the case the police were building against him.

I waited until the side of the barn was between the tour and Kevin’s pickup before I made a sharp right to get into Jake’s house. There was crime scene tape across the kitchen door, but not the front door that faced the highway. I started thinking that I could say I needed to use the bathroom if anyone found me. It seemed a rational excuse.

There were always gloves in my bag. I needed them when I went to auctions and visited antique dealers. I slipped on a pair as soon as I walked into the house. Kevin had taught me that. I only needed to touch what was necessary—not everything. I didn’t want to risk passing out.

There had been a scuffle in Jake’s house. He didn’t have a lot of clutter, more the type to only have what he needed. But now everything that had been on the sofa, the mantel, and the table, was on the floor. Papers had been ripped to shreds and thrown everywhere. I noticed the outline of what I assumed was Tom’s body on the hardwood floor. There was still a blood stain where his head had been. I moved closer, and squatted down beside it.

“I knew I’d find you here,” Kevin said.

I jumped and almost fell into the blood stain. “What?”

He laughed. “What are you looking for?”

“Something that proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that Jake didn’t kill Tom. You asked.”

“That seems unlikely. The best thing would be a good alibi. You could always say you were with him when Tom died.”

“Gramps would kill me if I lied for you, much less Jake. Short of that, there must be something else.”

Kevin crouched down on the other side of the outline. “Look at the hoof print.”

I noticed the bloody mark that was clearly a hoof print. “Were the horses in here too?”

“Doubtful. And there’s just the one print. A horse couldn’t come in here, gallop over Tom, and leave no hoof prints but this one before it took Tom to Duck Road.”

“So Jake couldn’t have done it. He wouldn’t have done anything that might be bad for the horses.”

“I didn’t say that, and the police won’t take that as proof that Jake didn’t kill Tom,” Kevin corrected. “Someone tried to make it look like a horse did it, but that could have been Jake.”

“Or Dr. Sheffield killed Tom to pin it on Jake so he could take his land.”

He shrugged. “It’s possible. It’s not the weirdest thing I’ve ever heard.” He bent down close to the wood floor.

“What are you looking at?”

“See if you can find some tweezers,” he said. “There’s something wedged between the floorboards. I don’t think I can get it out with my fingers.”

I got the tweezers I’d seen on Jake’s desk near the fireplace. Kevin maneuvered them between the cracks in the old wood. He came up with a thin slice of white plastic.

“That could be anything.” I wasn’t very impressed.

“It could be something important.” He studied it as he held it between the tweezers. “It looks like the edge of a name badge.”

“Everyone out here has one.” I sulked. “How is that going to help anyway, even if it is a name badge?”

“I know someone who can touch things and see who they belong to,” he reminded me. “Want to give it a try?”

“I’m scared to do it after yesterday. What if I pass out again?”

He didn’t hesitate. “I’ll take you to the pickup, and they’ll know you were really sick.”

“That’s not a great plan.”

“Got a better one? It’s not old. I don’t think it could harbor much evil in a slice this small.”

“No. Let me have it.” I took off my gloves and grabbed the piece of plastic from him.

Jake was arguing with Tom Watts. It was about the excavation. Tom was convinced they would get more donations for the wild horses with the horse cult tie-in. Jake was equally adamant that nothing good could come from it.

“You’re just worried about losing your land,” Tom accused.

“Yes, I am. I don’t want those freaks digging everywhere until there’s no room for the horses. Why can’t you see that?”

“It’s not that. You don’t care about the horses.” Tom pushed his pudgy finger into Jake’s chest. “It’s all about you.”

“Get out of here,” Jake yelled as he pushed Tom away from him. Tom had been wearing a plastic name tag that broke as he fell. A splinter of it lodged between the floorboards and had been ignored by the crime scene team.

The experience was just like being there in the room with the two men arguing, but it wasn’t so involved that I couldn’t shrug it off.

Kevin was staring closely at me. I jumped when I opened my eyes.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“I was until I saw you standing there.” I sat down in a chair and tried to catch my breath. “It’s just as well for Jake that the crime scene people didn’t find this. It was just him and Tom arguing. Nothing useful to us at all, but could look bad for him.”

“I know you don’t want to hear it but—”

“I don’t.” I put my hands over my face. “I don’t believe Jake killed Tom. If it had been during this big argument, maybe. They were both really hot. But I didn’t sense anything like that from the plastic.”

Kevin shrugged.

“Besides, maybe there’s something to what you said about the single hoof print. How
can
there be one hoof print?”

“I don’t know, but I agree that it doesn’t make sense.”

“Why are you helping me try to prove Jake is innocent?” I eyed him suspiciously, putting my hand on his chest as I moved in close. “You hate Jake.”

He put his arms around me. “It’s true that I don’t like Jake Burleson, but I can see that we’re not going to be able to talk about anything but him until we figure this out.”

“You mean because you want to talk about the wedding?”

“No.” He kissed me. “Because I want to talk about Christmas, and new things you find for Missing Pieces, and everything else, except Jake. I’m really fine with not planning the wedding yet. I wasn’t kidding.”

“Thanks, Kevin. Mary Catherine was right—you are a great catch.”

Duran walked in, looking for us. “Why are you in here?”

“Mayor O’Donnell wasn’t feeling well. We stopped in here so she could use the restroom.”

Duran glanced around. “This is a crime scene. The police don’t want anyone here.”

“We were just leaving.” I wished I’d thought to take pictures of the room. “When did you and Dr. Sheffield leave Duck after the party?”

“What are you insinuating, Mayor O’Donnell?”

“Nothing. I know the police are looking for other people who may have been on the road that night. You had to come right by that spot to come home. Maybe you saw something important and didn’t realize it.”

“We’ve already spoken to the police,” he said. “And we didn’t see anything. I think you should leave now.” He held the door open.

His familiarity with Jake’s house was irritating. He didn’t knock to come in, and something about the way he held the door seemed possessive to me. He and Dr. Sheffield were already counting on Jake losing the house, and what was left of the land being excavated.

Kevin and I walked outside. Mary Catherine and Chief Palo were returning from their tour of the site. I apologized to Dr. Sheffield.

“That’s quite all right,” he said with an engaging smile. “I’d be happy to take you on a personal tour anytime, Dae. It will have to be soon, though. We’re planning on sending the big horse to Raleigh for further study.”

Kevin’s eyes narrowed when Dr. Sheffield used the word
personal
.

I ignored it. “Thank you. Maybe I’ll take you up on that when things settle down. What’s next for the site?”

“We’ve done some satellite imagery. We know there are pieces buried under the barn and the house. It’s unfortunate about what happened to Jake and Tom, but our research may be the recipient of their quarrel. I’ve applied for a grant to purchase this entire tract of land.”

“Don’t you think you should wait until a jury finds Jake guilty before you take his property?” Kevin asked in an unpleasant voice.

Dr. Sheffield’s gaze lighted on him. “Not really. We were headed in that direction anyway. The common good, and all that. This is an important find, Mr. Brickman. I’m sure Jake can buy another piece of land with the money we’ll pay him for this one—if he’s not in prison.”

“How very practical of you,” Mary Catherine said.

Dr. Sheffield loved it. “Thank you. Now if you’ll excuse me, we have a lot of work to do preserving the big horse and getting it ready for transport. I’ll be accompanying it, but I’ll be back.”

“What do you think the ancient people did out here with all the horse statues?” Chief Palo asked. “How does it relate to the horses on the island?”

“That’s exactly what we’re trying to find out,” Dr. Sheffield answered. “It was nice meeting all of you. Please feel free to visit again.”

I noticed that Osisko was close by listening to our conversation. I didn’t know if he could understand us the way I could understand him, but there was something to learn from body language. His presence made me question my grandmother’s words about not being able to move forward beyond our times. Osisko had a physical presence—he’d touched me. How was he able to come forward to our time?

It seemed unlikely that I would be able to have a conversation with him that would answer those questions. He might not even know. But I was curious.

We started back to the truck and the police car. Chief Palo glanced back at the retreating figures of Dr. Sheffield and his assistant. “You know, there’s something about Sheffield that I don’t like. I think I’m going to do some digging of my own, and find out what there is to know about him. I’ll catch you later.”

I glanced back as Kevin drove the truck out of Jake’s drive. There was no sign now of Osisko. I wondered what it was like for him to see the big horse unearthed again after so many years. Did he still feel responsible? It had to be frustrating for him after he’d given up his life to keep the demon horses from returning.

“That place gave me the willies.” Mary Catherine shuddered. “I’m glad to be out of there. One way or another, I agree with the horses. We have to find a way to bury the site again, and end this excavation. That man has no idea what he’s digging up.”

“I’m hoping we can prove he’s actually the one who killed Tom,” Kevin said. “I like him even less than I like the cowboy.”