riddled bodies; Norman Brockwell and his wife, brutally murdered; Sarah’s battered face; Lilly on the ground, fighting for her life; Boyer’s body on the holding cell floor; Fraley’s death stare; and Caroline lying alone, dying from a blood infection. Again I heard the old man’s warning: “If the curse is real, there’s only one way to break it. One of you has to die… One of you has to die… One of you has to die…”
Fraley’s car keys were on the bedside table. I knew a shotgun would be in either the cab or the trunk. I grabbed the keys and hurried out the door, intending to find the shotgun and take off in my truck. The sirens were louder, almost there. The place would soon be filled with uniformed officers and paramedics. If I stuck around I’d be held there for the rest of the night.
Instead of opening the trunk, I jumped in and started Fraley’s car.
Wednesday, November 12
The heavy winds were ushering in a thunderstorm, and as I drove the cruiser across town a blinding bolt of lightning tore through the blackened sky, followed by a clap of thunder that reminded me of an artillery burst. I was conscious on some level that what I was doing was wrong, but after seeing Fraley’s body and the horrific way in which he died, I wasn’t thinking rationally. About halfway to Natasha’s house, I punched Leon Bates’s number into my cell.
“Natasha killed Fraley,” I said when Bates answered in a sleepy voice. “I’m going after her.”
“What? Killed Fraley? When?”
“A few minutes ago. I just left his house. She stabbed him to death.”
“What do you mean, you’re going after her?” Bates asked.
“It’s time somebody put a stop to this.”
“Now, you wait just one damned tick there, ol’ buddy. You can’t go tearing after a suspect with murder in your heart.”
“She’s responsible for at least nine deaths,” I said. “She’s terrorized me and my family. She’s threatened me; she even left a threatening message in my house. I’m going, Leon. You can’t stop me.”
“And what are those beautiful children of yours going to do if she kills you? Especially if Caroline doesn’t make it?”
I hung up on him as soon as he mentioned Caroline’s name. It was the thought of saving her life that was driving me. If I could kill Natasha, maybe it would break the curse, and maybe Caroline would be all right. I tried not to think about what he’d said about my children. I willed myself to think only about what Natasha had done to Caroline and Lilly and Fraley and the Becks and the Brockwells. By the time I got to Natasha’s neighborhood, I was in a blind rage.
I parked Fraley’s car a couple of blocks from Natasha’s and rifled through the trunk. It turned out to be a bonanza-a twelve-gauge pump shotgun, fully loaded with seven shells, and a flashlight. I stuck Fraley’s pistol in my pants pocket and walked quickly up the road in a driving rain. I jogged towards an old Chevy that was parked in the driveway and felt the hood. It was warm.
I crouched beside the car for a few moments, watching the house and listening. Nothing was moving; the house and yard were dark except for occasional flashes of lightning. I became aware of my clothing. I was still wearing the same clothes I’d worn to work the preceding morning. I’d left my coat at the hospital, and my shirt was soaked and sticking to me. A cold chill ran through me, and I decided to move.
I walked slowly up on the front porch and turned the doorknob. It was unlocked, but it squeaked slightly as I opened it. I crouched again and moved just inside the door. Another flash of lightning exploded above me, briefly illuminating an image of Marie Davis sitting in her recliner. I pushed the switch on the flashlight and panned the kitchen and den. Marie, wearing her flowered robe, was staring straight at me, her face as pale as white paper behind the tinted glasses. I moved towards her slowly, still in a crouch.
“Where is she?” I whispered.
She looked away for a brief second and I heard air rushing through her nostrils. When she turned back, she raised her right hand, her index finger pointing towards the back of the house. She mouthed the word outside.
I moved back out through the front door, went down the steps, and put my back against the front of the house. From there, I started sliding along the wall until I got to the corner. I peeked around the side, looking for any sign of Natasha or a dog, seeing nothing. I slid along the side wall until I got to the corner. I raised the flashlight and scanned the backyard. Still nothing. Just as I started to move, I thought I sensed movement behind me. I was conscious of another lightning strike and searing pain, and then I slipped into darkness.
I don’t know how long I was unconscious, but when I woke up I was flat on my back with rain pelting down on me, stinging my face. I opened my eyes and first tried to lift my head, but the pain in my temples was so intense when I moved that I nearly threw up. I closed my eyes and lay still, thoroughly confused until I suddenly remembered where I was. Hunting for Natasha. Trying to save my wife. But something had happened. Either I’d been struck by lightning, or someone had hit me.
I tried to sit up, but realized that my arms and legs were restrained. I turned my head from side to side and could see that my wrists were tied to something that had been driven into the ground. Tent stakes? I pulled against them with what little strength I had, but neither of them moved. I lifted my head and could see that my legs were both bound in the same fashion. As I laid my head back down on the cold, soaked earth, I could feel something warm running down the back of my neck, and I knew it must be blood.
The kitten. Natasha and her kitten.
I began to tug at the stakes again, ignoring the pain that was surging down my spine and radiating through my entire body.
C’mon, goddammit! C’mon!
I tried desperately to push the stakes back and pull them towards me. I thought if I could loosen them enough in the ground, I’d be able to pull them up.
As I strained against the ropes, I heard a snarl a few feet away. I turned my head just as a bolt of lightning flashed and could make out a figure standing beneath a small tree, wearing a hood. In its hand was a thick leash, and attached to the leash was a Doberman. A sickening chill overtook me. It was Natasha. My heart began to pound even harder in my chest. She wrapped the leash around the trunk of the tree a couple of times, tied it, took a few steps, and stood directly above me. I knew if I didn’t find a way to free myself soon, I’d be dead.
“I like you in this position,” she said in a calm voice. “If I had more time, I’d build a cross and do it right.”
She knelt down, her knees almost straddling my head. I watched as she reached with her right hand to the ground to retrieve something. She picked up a hammer, the one she must have used to drive the stakes into the ground. Slowly, she reached into a coat pocket and pulled out an ice pick. She began waving the pick back and forth in front of my eyes.
“Have you come to arrest me?” she said. “Or have you come to kill me? I think you’re here to kill me. And what does that say about you, Mr. Dillard? It says you’re no different than me. You came to punish me for violating your Christian laws, just like I punish those who deserve it. Or did you come to sacrifice yourself so others might live? Do you have a Jesus complex, Mr. Dillard? Do you?”
She bent close to the ground and put her lips next to my ear.
“I wish I could crucify you,” she whispered, “but since I can’t nail you to the ground, I’ll have to settle for this.”
She moved quickly to her right, still on her knees. I saw her hold the ice pick against my right forearm, felt the stab of the steel point. She raised the hammer and brought it down hard. I moaned as the pick drove through my flesh. Oh, my God, how’s it going to feel when she drives it into my throat, my chest, my eye? The pain was unspeakable, but I refused to scream or beg for mercy. The rage I’d felt before I was knocked out had returned. I hated her. I hated her and everything she represented. I put an image of blowing a hole through her with the shotgun in my mind, and kept straining against the ropes.
She pulled the ice pick out, sending another shock of pain through me, then straddled me and began whispering in my ear again.
“The smell of your blood will drive Zeus wild,” she said. “As soon as I finish, I’m going to let him taste you. He hates you anyway. Do you know why? Because I told him you killed his sister. How’s your daughter, anyway?”
She scooted to the left and drove the pick through my other forearm. A wave of nausea came over me, and I
