The Night Is Forever

Malachi Gordon stood on the porch. He was with the very tall cowboy agent Dustin had met at the office, Sloan Trent, and two women. He quickly realized that the women were Jane Everett and Abby Anderson. He hadn’t had a chance to meet all his fellow Krewe unit members before he’d gone to Tennessee, but he’d studied some of the information on them. Jane Everett was an artist who had frequently worked with the Texas police before joining the Texas Krewe. Sloan Trent had joined after working with Jane on a situation in Lily, Arizona. Abby Anderson and Malachi were a couple; they’d met when Jackson Crow brought Malachi in on serial killings that had occurred in Savannah.

Olivia wasn’t bothering with formality at the moment. She ran over and was lifted into her cousin’s arms to be greeted, hugged and swung around. Introductions were made, Olivia telling the others that she’d heard good things about them. She dug in her pocket for her keys, but even as she twisted the lock, they heard something behind the door, which appeared to move as if someone was trying to open it from within.

Inside the house, Sammy began to bark excitedly.

“I’ve got it,” Dustin murmured, pushing her aside. The Krewe members instantly went into alert mode, drawing their weapons. Malachi pulled Olivia against the wall as Dustin drew his own weapon and threw open the door.

Sammy nearly knocked him over, jumping up with jubilation. Dustin holstered his weapon and stepped inside, greeting the dog and firmly ordering him down. But as he stepped into the entry, he heard excited words.

“I did it! I touched the door. I touched the door and it almost moved. I am getting some kind of...some kind of spiritual or ectoplasmic strength!”

Marcus Danby had finally decided to make himself known once again.

15

Olivia understood why Malachi had changed his life—why he’d stopped working for himself to become part of the Krewe.

She’d known plenty of people who would get excited and swear they’d seen General Rufus Cunningham seated atop his warhorse up on a hill.

She’d never believed that there were so many people who actually spoke with the dead and that she could sit in her own parlor serving tea to the living while the ghost of Marcus Danby was among them, repeating everything he’d told Olivia and then Dustin. It had been hard, he’d explained to her, to be somewhere. Long conversations wore him out. When he got too tired, he assumed he was in some kind of “ghost sleep” because he knew he faded, and he wasn’t sure where he was. It seemed that he needed to rest in order to gain the strength to manifest himself again. He was thrilled that he’d managed to make it look as if there was someone on the other side of the door; he was heartbroken and disturbed to discover that Aaron Bentley had now joined his ranks. He went from deep sorrow to brightness in a whirl of emotions, astounded that he was facing six people who could see and hear him.

Dustin told the other Krewe members and Marcus everything that happened during the camping trip and what had occurred so far that day. Malachi listened gravely, then asked, “The deputy sheriff in charge, Frank Vine, he’s really come around? He’s ready to have us here?”

Dustin nodded. “He wants to meet you all and he’s asked that we keep him in the loop. And the medical examiner is a great guy. He had the fragments of the dart I found analyzed, so they’re all aware that these deaths aren’t accidents at all. It’s been impossible, of course, to have someone on guard everywhere. The deputy should’ve gone in with Aaron this morning. But despite the information about the dart and the fact that Aaron nearly died, I don’t believe anyone thought the killer could possibly be in his house, ready to finish him off.”

Malachi looked at Olivia. “So, you’re in charge of the Horse Farm now. It’s fallen to you.”

Abby Anderson said, “It seems that you might be the next target, then. What happens if you’re...unable to run the Horse Farm?”

“The will is complicated,” Olivia said, glancing at Marcus. “Marcus had it go to Aaron and then me. If the Horse Farm fails—even as nonprofit—the land is to be sold off and we’re to see to it that every animal ends up in a good home. And then, we move on.”

“There’s no one after you to ‘inherit’ the leadership position?”

“Hey!” Marcus interrupted. “I never thought there was anyone who wanted to kill me, much less Aaron! I figured by the time Aaron and Liv were ready to retire, they’d know who should take over next.”

“We can’t be prepared for insanity or evil in those around us,” Sloan Trent said. “You probably did an excellent job thinking it all out, Marcus. No one could have expected this.”

Marcus seemed to sigh. “I didn’t. I certainly didn’t.”

“But you haven’t learned any more about what happened since we saw you?” Olivia asked.

“I’m dead, not omniscient,” Marcus snapped. “I...just lost all energy. Like I already told you, it’s not easy being dead.”

“Maybe that’s why the general doesn’t talk to anyone,” Olivia mused. The others, except for Dustin, gave her questioning looks. “As far as I know, he just watches,” she explained. “He’s always watching. I think he tries to warn people, tries to stop bad things from happening. Many people have seen him—or claim to have seen him— through the years. But no one’s ever mentioned having a conversation with him.”

Sloan cleared his throat and sat forward. “You have to remember that ghosts are the spirits of those who were alive. Some were shy, some were gregarious. Some were graceful or athletic—and some were clumsy as hell.”

“The speaking thing wasn’t difficult for me, at least when I was talking to Olivia,” Marcus said. “Others...I don’t know. I was aware of Olivia when she found me and passed out. Then everyone else came over and I tried...I tried to tell Vine and Callahan and the medical examiner what happened. I tried to talk to Aaron and Sydney and Drew. But no one heard me.”

There was silence for a minute.

“Well,” Dustin said, “we know for a fact that someone was using drug-poisoned darts. So we can go into the backgrounds again and see if we can find anything that suggests someone might know about darts. We also need to find out who’d know enough about drugs to mix the right cocktail, in the right quantities. And who would have access to that kind of pharmaceutical. Then, there’s the rendering of the general.”

“Artwork,” Jane Everett said. She smiled at Olivia. “My specialty. I’ll find out. Where’s the cheesecloth art, or whatever it is, now?”

“Frank Vine has it at the station,” Dustin told her. “You could head over there. Oh, I promised Sydney and Drew that we’d have someone at the Horse Farm. Any volunteers? I want to get to the autopsy and I don’t think Olivia should be alone.”

“I can watch over the Horse Farm while Jane goes to the police station,” Sloan said.

“Later, I’d like to ride back to the stream. I keep figuring there’s something we missed somehow. A sign...”

Olivia assumed he meant an otherworldly sign, a message from the general, perhaps? Not the kind of hard evidence the sheriff would be looking for.

“The campsite by the stream,” Malachi murmured. “I didn’t grow up here, but my family often came out, so I’ve been to the stream. And the little cemetery in the woods.”

Dustin nodded. “Then let’s plan a ride for later. But...” He hesitated and looked at Sloan. “I don’t want Sydney and Andrew left alone there,” he said.

Trent nodded. “Don’t worry. I won’t take my eyes off them. Among all of us, we’ll keep up a twenty-four- hour watch.”

“What about the others—the therapists?” Abby asked.

Olivia already knew, of course, that Abby and Malachi were a couple as well as team members. Malachi had been eager for her to meet Abby before any of this had come up. She’d been just as eager. Malachi had been married to a wonderful woman who’d died. He hadn’t been the same after that. Not until Abby.... She made him want to live again.