One Last Scream

Chapter Thirteen

The other cars on Newcastle-Coal Creek Road had their headlights on. Karen reluctantly switched her lights on, too. It was like admitting defeat. She’d hoped to reach the hiking trail in Cougar Mountain Park before nightfall. But traffic on I-90 had been miserable, and the thirty-mile trip had taken nearly two hours.

Now it grew darker by the minute. Driving along the snaky, wooded road, she’d passed three parking areas for hikers and other visitors entering the wildlife area. Only a few cars occupied those lots, a bad sign, not many hikers left. As much as she didn’t need an audience for this gruesome expedition, Karen loathed the thought of being completely alone in those woods. It would have been nice to know someone was at least within screaming distance.

Karen slowed down as she drove past the fourth parking area: only one car, and no signs posted by the trail. Amelia had said they’d pulled into the fourth or fifth bay.

Biting her lip, Karen watched for the next parking area. She almost missed it, and had to slam on the brakes to turn in to the small, unlit alcove. There were only six spaces, and no other cars. She couldn’t even see the beginning of a trail. But then it was awfully dark.

She reached into the glove compartment for the flashlight, and then climbed out of the car. She glanced over at the trees and bushes bordering the alcove, and finally noticed a gap in the foliage. She saw a sign with a cartoon of Dennis the Menace, carrying a backpack. From the distance, Karen couldn’t read it in the dark. She shined the flashlight on it: “Don’t Be a Litterbug!” Someone had crossed out the Don’t. It was just as Amelia had said.

Karen couldn’t help wondering if everything else Amelia had told her would turn out to be true.

She kept the flashlight on, took a deep breath, and started down the trail. She could hear some people talking not very far away, and that made her feel a bit safer, but only for a few minutes. Soon, she saw them heading toward her, a middle-aged couple wearing hiking gear. They gave her a puzzled look, and Karen realized how odd she must have appeared, on a hiking trail, dressed in her black blazer and slacks, and a blue tuxedo blouse. “You aren’t just getting started, are you?” the man asked with concern.

“I’m only going for a mile or so,” Karen said. “There are still other hikers around, aren’t there?”

“I think you have the place to yourself,” the man replied. “We’re finishing up.”

“Be careful,” the woman said ominously. “There are bears in these woods at night, and cougars. It’s not called Cougar Mountain Park for nothing.”

“Thanks,” Karen said with a pale smile. “Good night.”

They continued on, and Karen could hear the woman clicking her tongue against her teeth. “Stupid girl…at this hour…Just wait, we’ll hear it on the news tomorrow that she’s missing or dead.”

Karen trudged on through the gloomy woods. She kept the flashlight directed on the path in front of her. She guessed it would be at least another five minutes before she should start looking for the trail markers Amelia had told her about.

She didn’t hear anyone else in the forest, just leaves and bushes rustling in the night wind. Karen felt dread in the pit of her stomach. She tried to brace herself for what she might find. Having volunteered at the rest home for the last few months, she’d seen her share of dead bodies, and had cleaned up blood after several messy accidents. She told herself that she could get through this. She simply had to be dispassionate about it. And, if she found Koehler’s corpse, she would turn around, go back to her car, and call George. The two of them would figure out what to do from there.

She started shining the light on the bushes and trees that hovered over both sides of the crude, snakelike path. She didn’t see any trail markers, just a few squirrels and raccoons. Their eyes looked iridescent in the flashlight’s glow as they gazed at her, and then scurried away. Karen checked her wristwatch. Only 6:20, but it felt like midnight. If she didn’t find one of Amelia’s markers by 6:35, she’d quit and turn back.

She almost tripped on a tangle of tree roots across her path. And then she heard something that made her stop. Twigs snapped underfoot. “Is anyone there?” Karen called. The noise was unmistakably someone-or something-prowling through the bushes. They didn’t stop, and they didn’t answer her, either. “Hello?” Karen called nervously.

She directed the flashlight in the general area where the noise was coming from. But she didn’t see anyone. The sound was fading. The trees and bushes seemed to move as the beam of light swept across them. Then Karen saw it-only a few feet away. A piece of white fabric with a blue stripe was tied to the low-hanging branch of a small, bare brittle-looking tree. She made her way through the brush to get a closer look. She remembered the fabric pattern from yesterday. Koehler had said it was his lucky shirt.

Standing very still, she listened for a moment. Whatever she’d heard earlier, it was gone now. Karen shined the light in the trees, searching for the second piece of Koehler’s lucky shirt. She found it through the thick overgrowth, about thirty feet away. She seemed headed in the right direction, but there was no real path. It was nearly impossible to navigate her way in the dark. At one point, she walked right into a branch, and just missed scratching her eye. Touching her cheek, she glanced at her fingertip and saw blood. “Good one, Karen,” she muttered, pressing on.

Part of her wanted to turn back. Amelia had been right about everything so far. Karen knew she was close to finding Koehler’s corpse. Did she really need to see it? Once she set eyes on it, she’d have to call the police. And then how would she be any help to Amelia?

Still, she forged ahead, following one trail marker after another. She’d counted seventeen of them, and guessed by now she was about a quarter of a mile off the trail she’d started on. Karen found another rough trail, and then came upon a clearing, a little bald spot in the woods, no more than ten or twelve square feet. With her flashlight, she scanned the tree branches for the next marking, but there wasn’t one. She had no idea which direction to go from there.

Something darted across the ground in front of her. Karen gasped and tried to catch a look at it with her flashlight. But the thing scampered by so quickly all she saw was a shadow before it was gone. “Relax,” she said to herself. “Probably just a rabbit.”

She still had the flashlight directed on the forest floor when she noticed something else amid the leaves, twigs, and dirt. One part of the ground was darker, as if stained. The leaves were a different color. Karen took a step closer. Something smelled horrible-like death. She knew that putrid odor from the nursing home. It filled the room when a patient had died.

With the light shining on that dark patch, she could see some of the leaves were the burgundy color of dried blood. Part of the ground was covered with a slimy substance that had attracted bugs. Was this where Amelia had left Koehler’s corpse? No doubt, some person or thing had been there for a while. It had started to decay before being moved. Karen wondered if a bear, or maybe even a cougar, had dragged off the carcass.

The fetid smell was too much for her, and she backed away. Shaking, she felt sick to her stomach.

Karen took a few deep breaths, then scanned the forest floor with the flashlight’s beam. She was looking for a mound of dirt that might indicate a grave, or maybe even a piece of clothing. But there was nothing.

Still, she knew Amelia must have killed Koehler on this spot. It was where the lucky-shirt markers ended.

She heard something-a rustling sound, and twigs snapping again. She made a wide arc around the slimy patch of ground and directed the flashlight into the woods on the other side. The sound seemed to be coming from that direction. Karen could see only the first row of illuminated bushes and trees. Beyond that, it was just blackness. She thought she saw a bush move. Or was it just the shadows playing a trick on her. “Who’s there?” she called.

The rustling noise abruptly stopped. Karen realized no forest creature would freeze up like that. This was a person.

She was paralyzed for a moment, waiting for the next sound.

All at once, there was a shuffling noise, footsteps.

Karen turned and ran, but suddenly the ground seemed to slip out from under her. She fell backward into that oily patch of leaves and dirt. She let out a sharp cry. The flashlight had rolled out of her hands, and she desperately scurried along the ground to retrieve it. Then she struggled to her feet. Leaves stuck to her clothes. As she frantically brushed them away, she felt that slimy, jelly-like substance that had come from Russ Koehler’s decaying corpse.

Karen could hear the footsteps coming closer. She spotted the last marker, tied to the bough of a bush by the crude pathway. She ran toward it, and anxiously searched for the next marker. All the while, she could hear that rustling behind her, pursuing her. The trail suddenly disappeared, and so did the markers. Panic stricken, Karen waved the flashlight around, hoping to find a piece of Koehler’s shirt on a nearby tree or shrub. Without them, she couldn’t hope to find her way back to the main trail.

Had she taken a wrong turn? She noticed a short path amid the foliage, and hurried along until her flashlight illuminated something on the ground in front of her. Karen froze. “Oh, God, no,” she murmured. For a moment she couldn’t breathe.

At least a dozen strips of Koehler’s shirt littered the pathway.

All this time, someone had been behind her, removing Amelia’s markers. That someone didn’t want her finding her way back to the main trail.

She heard the footsteps again, coming closer. Karen blindly ran through the brush, zigzagging around trees and shrubs, staggering over rocks on the ground. She didn’t know where she was headed. She could have been totally turned around and forging even deeper into the woods. Branches lashed at her face, arms, and legs. At every turn, she expected a hand to grab out at her. She prayed for some sign ahead, a light through the trees, some signal that she was near the edge of the forest. She didn’t want to die in these woods, as Koehler so obviously had.

All the while, she heard the footsteps thumping behind her, the bushes rustling.

But she could hear something else, too. It sounded like a car approaching. Up ahead in the distance, she saw the beam from a pair of headlights sweep across the bushes and trees. After a few moments, another car sailed by. Karen raced toward the road, and civilization. Her lungs burning, she pressed on. She could actually see the edge of the forest now, and cars whooshing past. By the time she emerged from the woods and felt the pavement beneath her, Karen was almost delirious. She didn’t know if she had stumbled back onto Newcastle-Coal Creek Road, or if it was another street. She didn’t have any idea how to get to her car from this spot.

She tried to wave down an SUV, but it passed her by, its horn blaring. Karen swiveled around and shined her flashlight into the woods.

She saw him for only a second-a tall figure ducking behind a tree. He had a small shovel in his hand. He couldn’t have been more than a hundred feet away.

Karen swiveled around. “Help! Help me, please!” she screamed, waving at another approaching car, a beat-up Taurus.

The car pulled over to the side of the road.

Karen caught her breath. “Thank you, God,” she whispered.

“This teenager in the Taurus was so sweet. The poor kid, I had him driving one way and then the other before we finally found where I’d left my car.”

The cell phone to her ear, Karen stood outside a RiteAid in a Bellevue strip mall. Under the glaring halogen lights, she could see her reflection in the storefront window. With her brown hair a mess, dirt on her clothes, and scratch marks on her face, she looked as if she’d been beaten up.

“Are you sure you’re all right?” George asked for the second time.

“Somewhat traumatized, but okay,” Karen replied with a shaky laugh.

“And you don’t want to call the police?”

“Well, at this point, we don’t have a body,” she said. “And I’m sure all of those trail markings will be gone by the time anyone goes back into those woods, searching for one. I don’t think calling the police would do any good right now. Besides, I’d like to get Amelia some help before the cops and the press start going to town on her. And you’ll think I’m crazy, but there’s still a part of me that believes she’s innocent.”

“I feel the same way, Karen,” he said. “Still, she could be dangerous, you said so yourself. There’s every indication that she killed Koehler.”

“I know,” Karen sighed. “But that man chasing me through the woods tonight, I think he’s the same one who was in the basement at my father’s rest home yesterday. I’m more worried about him than I am about Amelia. Shane spotted her being very intimate with some strange man in a car a few months ago. It could be this same guy. Maybe he has some kind of weird power over Amelia. Maybe he’s hypnotizing her or something, I don’t know.”

“I was planning to go to Salem tomorrow,” George said. “Jessie’s supposed to look after the kids. It was just a day trip, but maybe now, I ought to stay put. You shouldn’t have to take care of Amelia all by yourself. She’s my responsibility-”

“You’re going to Salem?”

“Yeah, I want to find out who paid for Duane Lee Savitt’s cemetery plot. They wouldn’t tell me over the phone and suggested I come down there.”

“You should go,” Karen urged him. “If we can find out more about her early childhood, it could end up helping Amelia quite a lot. Go. I’ll watch over Amelia. We’ll be fine. I don’t think the police will be looking for her at my place tonight. They’ve already been by today. In the morning, I’ll get her to a specialist. I have some names.”

“Well, your faith in Amelia’s innocence is a lot stronger than mine,” he said. “She’s my niece, and I love her. But I wouldn’t trust her around my kids right now. And I don’t think I’d sleep very well under the same roof as her.”

Karen peered through the RiteAid window. She noticed an aisle marker that said Sleep Aids. “I know what you mean,” she said. “I probably won’t sleep too well, myself. But I’ll make sure Amelia does. Will you call me from Salem tomorrow as soon as you find out anything?”

“Of course, Karen,” he replied. “And phone me tonight if anything happens. Even if it’s just that you’re scared and can’t sleep. I want you to call me, okay?”

She smiled. “Okay, George. Thank you.”

Karen stirred the ingredients from four sleeping capsules into the chocolate sauce as she heated it over the stove. The diazepam she’d given Amelia last week had calmed her a bit, but hadn’t made her sleep. And Karen needed to make sure Amelia was conked out tonight.

Rufus sat at her feet, watching her every move. He always did that while she was cooking in case she accidentally dropped a piece of food.

Amelia was upstairs, changing into her pajamas. She and Shane had watched The 400 Blows and then eaten dinner at My Brother’s Pizza. Before calling them, Karen had left a message with Dr. Danielle Richards, the most qualified psychologist on her contact list. Dr. Richards had called back, and agreed to meet with Amelia in the morning.

Shane had dropped Amelia off at 9:20. By then, Karen had already showered, changed the sheets in the guest room, and taken Rufus for a quick walk. After what had happened in Cougar Mountain Park, she’d decided to tuck her father’s gun in her coat pocket for the short trip down the block and back. She wished she’d had it with her during that hike in the forest.

Amelia let out a gasp when she saw the scratch marks on Karen’s face and hands. Karen reassured her that she was all right. She told her what had happened in the woods, focusing on the fact that there was no actual corpse, and no reason to go to the police just yet.

At the same time, she wondered out loud about the man who had chased her through the forest. Did Amelia know someone who could have done that? It couldn’t have been Shane. Did she have any other male friends, maybe someone Shane didn’t know about?

Amelia couldn’t think of anyone. She became more upset the more Karen pressed the issue, and finally Karen just dropped it. She suggested Amelia change into her pajamas, and they could watch a movie on TV.

That had been about fifteen minutes ago.

She could hear Amelia coming down the stairs now. The crystals from the sleeping pill capsules still showed up in the chocolate sauce. Karen turned up the burner, and rapidly stirred the concoction. Then she went to the refrigerator freezer for the ice cream.

Amelia stepped into the kitchen. Her hair was pinned up; and she wore an oversized pink T-shirt, flannel pajama bottoms, and thick gray socks. She sat down at the kitchen table. Rufus strolled over to her and put his head in her lap.

“I’m making sundaes,” Karen announced.

Scratching Rufus behind the ears, Amelia sighed. “Oh, I think I’ll pass. I’ve had a nervous stomach ever since this afternoon. Thanks, anyway.”

Standing by the stove, Karen turned to gaze at her. “But I heated up the chocolate sauce just for you,” she said. She tested the sauce with a little dab from her spoon. It didn’t have any detectable foreign taste. “Hmm, it’s good stuff too. And I know you like chocolate. C’mon, one scoop won’t kill you.” She prepared Amelia’s dish, dousing the ice cream with chocolate sauce. Then she set it on the table in front of Amelia.

Perking up, Rufus showed more interest in the dessert than Amelia did. Karen dished out a scoop of ice cream for herself, and brought it over to the table. She sat down. “Go ahead, dig in,” she urged her.

Amelia gazed at Karen’s bowl and frowned. “Why aren’t you having any chocolate on yours?”

“Because chocolate goes right from my lips to my hips. It’s bad enough I’m having this ice cream.” With her spoon, she pointed to the bowl in front of Amelia. “C’mon, don’t let me be the only one pigging out here. Have some.”

Amelia sighed. “I’m sorry, Karen. I don’t want it.”

“Well, can I-can I fix you something else?” She put down her spoon. “I have the sauce right there. How about some hot chocolate?”

“No, thanks.” Amelia stared down at Rufus, and patted his head. “God, I’m so screwed up. You know, for a while, you had me convinced I couldn’t have hurt my parents and Ina. And for the last few months, I actually thought I didn’t have anything to do with Collin’s death. But now, with this Koehler business, it brings everything back again. And the weirdest part about it is, I still don’t really remember him. It’s more like I dreamt about him or something. And I still feel like I was in Port Angeles yesterday. Talk about fouled up.”

“Remember our first session?” Karen asked. “You told me about your blackouts and that time Shane saw you in a car with some other man. Shane confronted you pretty much the same way I asked you about Koehler. I started to describe him, and then you remembered.”

Amelia nodded.

“Do you recall who Shane saw you with? Can you describe him to me now?”

She grimaced. “God, I’ve been trying to forget him. I don’t like thinking about that time.”

“Please, it’s important,” Karen said.

“His name’s Blade,” Amelia muttered, absently gazing down at the glass tabletop. “At least that’s what he calls himself. He’s twenty-five. His hair’s cut short with little bangs and he’s dyed it jet-black. He wears sunglasses a lot, even at night, sometimes.”

“Then you still know him?” Karen asked.

Amelia looked up at her. “Still know who?”

“Blade.” Karen let out an exasperated little laugh. “The man Shane saw you with in the car that time. You were talking like you still know him.”

“Well, I don’t-”

“Is he a friend of a friend’s?”

Biting her lip, Amelia nodded. “I think so. He must be. I guess that’s how I know about him.”

Karen reached over and patted her arm. “Amelia, do you remember running down a gray stairwell to a basement? This happened recently. There’s a boiler, and it’s making all sorts of racket. Down the hall is a large storage room full of boxes and old hospital equipment. Blade is waiting there for you. The lights on the ceiling are broken, and the place is dark. You’re down there with Blade…”

Amelia yanked her arm away. “Karen, please…”

Startled, Karen recoiled a bit. Even Rufus backed away from her.

“I’m sorry,” Amelia murmured, her voice cracking. “Could you just-chill for a few minutes? I’m so worn out and frazzled and tired. I really don’t want to talk about this now. I’m sorry. Please don’t be mad.”

“No, it’s-it’s fine,” Karen said. She nodded at the bowl in front of Amelia. Most of the ice cream had melted. “You sure you don’t want any of that?”

Amelia just shook her head.

Getting to her feet, Karen collected both bowls and took them to the sink. She rinsed them out, and watched the chocolate sauce swirl down the drain.

“I just want to go to sleep and not think about anything for a while,” Amelia said. “This is one of those nights when I used to drink until I’d passed out so I didn’t have to worry or think about anything. Karen, you don’t have any sleeping pills, do you?”

Karen switched off the water. She turned, and gave Amelia a patient, understanding smile. “You know, I think I might.”

Ina McMillan was the name on the address label on the old Vanity Fair he’d fished out of the recycling bin in front of the house. That was the aunt, the one she’d shot in the chest. Aunt Ina.

He’d been to the house in Bellingham twice, and to their weekend retreat on Lake Wenatchee several times. But Blade hadn’t been to this place in West Seattle until tonight. It was a Craftsman-style house at the end of a cul-de-sac. He’d parked the Cadillac a little further up the block. Through the open curtains in the living room, he could see all the way back to the kitchen. Now that he knew whose place it was, he could attach a name to the tall guy he’d seen going in and out of the kitchen. That was Uncle George. And the two brats were her cousins.

She hadn’t told him whose place it was. She’d just given him the address, and told him to go check it out. He was supposed to give the place the once-over, because he had to do a job for her there tomorrow. Blade figured it would be a robbery, but he never knew with her.

She hadn’t told him exactly what kind of job yet. She would call him on his cell at eleven o’clock, and then let him know. She was kind of a tease that way. She made a game of everything. He liked that about her, but it could also drive him nuts at times. Sex with her was always a game, and it was fantastic. Blade always felt the crazier a woman was, the better the sex. And this one was crazy.

He’d checked the windows around the McMillan house. They were about seven feet above ground level, but he could use one of the trash cans or recycling bins to boost himself up and break in. Besides the front door, there was another door off the kitchen in back. In the bushes by the front stoop, there was a little sign for some home security service-no surprise. But he knew how to dismantle those stupid security alarms.

He glanced at his wristwatch: 10:50. Even though the cul-de-sac wasn’t well lit, Blade put his sunglasses back on. She said they made him look cool. She also liked the shiny black suit he wore practically everywhere. He sometimes enjoyed posing in front of the mirror wearing his sunglasses and his trademark black suit, brandishing his guns. She took a bunch of pictures of him posing like that.

Tucking the Vanity Fair under his arm, Blade strolled back to his car. He sat in the front seat. He could still see the McMillan house from here, but his eyes grew tired and he closed them for a spell.

Funny about that corpse in the woods. He was supposed to have buried the guy last night. She’d even left trail markers for him. But after driving to the park, he just didn’t fucking feel like doing all that work. Plus those woods were full of wild animals.

So this morning, she was all over his ass for slacking off. And so he drove back to the park late this afternoon. He’d brought along a small shovel she’d gotten at some army-navy surplus store. He hadn’t exactly been looking forward to burying a decayed stiff. But the notion of possibly encountering-and shooting-some forest creatures suddenly intrigued him.

Well, he didn’t find any forest creatures, but the stiff sure did. What was left of the guy was covered with crows when he’d found him. Blade puked twice as he dragged the stinking, picked-over corpse to a ditch off the marked trail. He didn’t have to dig much to make the shallow oblong hole. With the shovel, he quickly covered him with a layer of dirt, then scattered some leaves and branches over that.

He was headed back to the car when he’s spotted Amelia’s shrink making her way along the trail. There was no mistaking it. She was looking for the dead guy.

It had been kind of fun, chasing her, and scaring the crap out of her. Of course, killing her would have been even more fun, and so easy. He’d had his heart set on killing something in that forest.

But he’d had his instructions not to touch her. She wasn’t supposed to die in those woods. No, that was happening later.

His cell phone rang, startling him. Blade reached inside his suit-jacket pocket, pulled out the cell and switched it on. “Yeah?”

“It’s me,” she whispered. “Are you at the address I gave you?”

“Yeah, and I’m sitting in the car, parked down the street. But I can see the place from here. I even figured out who lives there. Uncle George, right?”

“Very good, baby.”

“What kind of job do you want me to pull here tomorrow? Can you at least give me a hint?”

“Not over the phone. But I’ve written it down for you somewhere.”

“You and your fucking games,” he muttered.

“You love it,” she whispered. “I’m at Karen’s house. Why don’t you come over?”

“Now?”

“Yeah. I’ll be watching for you. You said you’re in the car?”

“Uh-huh.” He put the keys in the ignition. “I’ll be right over.”

“First, reach under the driver’s seat.”

Blade bent forward and felt around until his fingers brushed against something.

“I left a note for you,” she said. “Take another long look at the house, then read my note. Okay? I’ll see you soon.”

She clicked off.

Grinning, Blade switched off his phone. He pulled an envelope from under the car seat. Following her advice, he took off his sunglasses and stared at the McMillan house for a few moments. Then he tore open the envelope and read her note:

“Tomorrow, after 4 P.M.: Kill everyone in the house, and take whatever you want.”