Jake’s side. But instead of climbing back into the car, Loki stood close to Jake, his attention fixed on the mansion’s front door, growling low in his throat.
Jake had only seen him act this way on one other occasion, and that had been when a burglar had tried to break into his home. Something was wrong, that was clear.
Jake squatted down next to the dog. 'What is it, boy? What’s in there?'
The Akita looked at him, and then turned back to the door, growling once again. He took a step or two forward, looked back at Jake, and growled a third time.
'Something’s wrong, Katelynn. He never acts like this. I think we should go.'
'Go?' Katelynn asked. She hadn’t taken her eyes off the dog since he’d leapt from the car. A heavy, suffocating weight was slowly settling on her shoulders as she realized that her suspicions had been correct. Something was terribly wrong here, and Katelynn had a hunch she knew just what it was.
'We have to go inside,' she heard herself say. It sounded to her like her voice was coming from a distance, and she wondered if she’d even said it aloud.
Apparently she had. 'Inside? What the hell for?' Jake replied.
'Someone might be hurt, Jake. We can’t just leave.'
'The hell we can’t. If it’s got Loki this upset, I’m not going inside.' He turned toward the Jeep, intending on doing just what he’d suggested, when Loki made his own opinion known. The dog dashed back up the steps and jumped up, putting his front paws against the door.
Much to everyone’s surprise, the door opened beneath him and dumped the dog into the foyer. With a cacophony of barking, the Akita disappeared inside.
'Oh, shit!' Jake exclaimed as he chased after him.
Katelynn followed.
Loki must have gone straight upstairs because Jake could hear barking from somewhere above once he was inside. He raced up the steps to the second floor. Loki’s barking became deeper, more strident, and Jake knew that the dog had found whatever it was he had been looking for.
Back in the foyer, Katelynn glanced around.
Instinctively she knew the house was empty. She knew it with a certainty that surprised her, and this only served to heighten her discomfort. She was frightened for both Blake and his servant, beginning to think that what she had seen in her dreams had been a premonition of harm for them both.
Somewhere up above, the dog’s barking became more urgent.
Katelynn glanced into the closest rooms. If anyone had been in the house, they would have heard the commotion and come to investigate, but every room she checked was empty. Satisfied that her observation had been correct, Katelynn returned to the entryway and started up the steps to the second floor.
As Jake reached the second floor landing, he glanced down the hall to find the dog standing in the entrance to the very last room. Loki stopped barking and stared at him, obviously waiting for permission before entering.
Jake was not going to give it.
'Come boy,' he said firmly.
The dog stood his ground.
'I said, Come.'
Loki paced back and forth, whining in his throat. It was clear he was not going to obey the command.
'You’re going to regret this,' Jake said through clenched teeth, his anger rising. The last thing he needed was to be caught here in his employer’s house with his dog. He would be out of a job quicker than he could blink. Shaking his head in frustration, he started down the hall.
As soon as Loki saw that Jake was coming toward him, he turned back to face the room, but did not enter it.
When Jake reached the door, he saw why.
Katelynn came up the stairs, calling their names. She reached the second floor landing and saw Jake and Loki down at the end of the hall. 'What’s going on?' she called.
Jake jumped, and then turned to face her. 'Stay there, Katelynn. You don’t want to see this.'
'Don’t want to see what?' she asked, ignoring him.
She started down the hallway, her fear growing with each step.
Jake came forward and tried to stop her, but she slipped by his grasp, needing to know, needing to see.
The room was just as she’d seen it; the bookcases, the symbols drawn on the floor, the sword standing upright in the center of the room, except now the room seemed to have been splashed with blood. It was everywhere, and the stench of it must have been what had drawn the dog. Across the room, Katelynn could see the body of a small animal in the far corner. Through the open patio doors the lower portions of a man’s legs could be seen lying on the balcony.
Loki growled softly.
'Is he..?' She couldn’t bring herself to finish the question.
'I don’t know.'
'We’ve got to find out. What if he needs help?' It was the right thing to do, but in her heart Katelynn knew the man was already beyond help.
Jake nodded and started forward.
Katelynn watched as he made his way across the room and out onto the balcony. He disappeared from view behind the partially opened door and then emerged a few moments later. He saw her looking at him and shook his head, letting her know there was no help to be given.
'It’s Blake’s butler,' he said, when he rejoined her. 'We’d better find a phone and call the police.'
Taking hold of Loki’s collar, Jake led the way back down the stairs and into Blake’s study where he knew he would find a phone. He gave the details to the 911 operator and was told to wait outside until the Sheriff arrived.
Back in the Jeep, Jake thought about what he’d seen upstairs. He hadn’t really needed to go into that room, hadn’t really needed to discover if the man they’d seen on the balcony had been dead or alive.
He’d already known.
Once you’ve seen death up close, he thought, you can recognize it anywhere.
Despite the sun shining high overhead, the day was no longer as bright and beautiful as it had been when they’d left Katelynn’s.
It had gotten considerably darker.
In the back seat, Loki looked up into the sky and growled low in his throat.
Chapter Seventeen: Riverwatch
Damon spent his first twenty minutes on the scene interviewing Jake and Katelynn. After telling them he’d be in contact shortly to follow up, he let them go home and turned his attention to the scene itself. He had a lurking suspicion for the last several days that they’d missed something at the first two crime scenes, something special, something that would provide that one important clue he so desperately needed. This time he intended to take no chances.
If it’s here, he thought with grim determination, we’ll find it.
He ordered the officers to take up watch at the gates to the estate with the command that they admit no one but the coroner and the state police forensic squad. Officers searched the house thoroughly looking for any sign of the owner, to no avail. Hudson Blake was quickly put at the top of the Sheriff’s suspect list and an APB was put out on him with a 'wanted for questioning' alert.
It wasn’t long before Strickland arrived, alerted personally as he’d been by Damon via radio just after the call came in. Ed came up the drive in a hurried walk, his black doctor’s bag in one hand and his crime scene kit in the
