With the curtains completely closed, Sasha missed all the nasty looks which were flashed towards her house. People still distrusted her. Had she seen them, she might have still been worried. Who knew if one of these fanatics would come for her in the middle of the night to kill her. She hoped Harrison was being serious. Being locked in a cell all night sounded better than being beaten to death by the entire town.
Harrison remained outside to make sure there were no stragglers. When they were finally gone, he headed back inside.
Sasha threw her arms around him and held back tears. Nothing in her life had been as terrifying as this. She would elect to face her abusive husband a thousand times before being ambushed by an angry mob any day. With Brent, she knew what to expect. With these people, she had no clue.
"I think I better make good on my promise," he said. "For your sake and the towns."
Sasha nodded, happy he had been serious. When she pulled away from him, she saw a black candle in his hand. There was something carved into the wax but she couldn't quite make it out. Before she could ask Harrison about it, he held it up in front of her.
"Sasha, I have to ask. Do you have any clue about this?"
She could see the words clearly now. Her name, clear as day, had been etched into the side of a solid black candle. In fact, it was the solid black candle which had been stolen from her home. Ice raced through her veins and she thought she might faint. Nothing in her life had ever come close to the fear she was feeling now.
"What do you mean? You think I have something to do with this?"
"No, but I need to cover my bases here."
"What exactly are you asking me?"
"Do you have any reason to believe someone may have followed you into town and did all of this?"
"Of course not! Don't you think I would have told you if I thought I knew who it was?"
"I do. But maybe you don't know the person directly."
"Meaning?"
"Well, maybe your ex-husband had some bad gambling debts he never made good on. Or he had some enemies that might be looking for him."
An image of the freshly dug hole in the middle of the woods flashed into her mind.
"No, nothing like that at all. If he had enemies, I didn't know about them."
"This just seems too surreal. Why would someone here go to great lengths to scare you off? They're that afraid of an outsider they resort to this?"
"Why's that so hard to believe?"
"It's too well thought out."
"Thought out? A handful of random murders seems thought out to you?"
"These aren't random murders."
"What?"
"Come on, get your things together. I'll explain at the station."
Disappointed, Sasha ushered Tara to her room and told her to get her things together. She packed herself a bag as well. It was killing her, not knowing what Harrison meant by his last statement. These had to be random killings. Harrison had to be wrong. She could see nothing that linked them. Doing her best not to dwell, she packed her things and followed Harrison to his truck.
He had to wipe the shards of glass off her seat before letting her inside. The rioters had smashed the passenger window in order to get in. They're lucky Harrison hadn't shot any of them. She supposed it was the difference between a small town and big city cop. Back home, an officer would have shot a suspect for breaking into his car. But here, he knew everyone. He knew they weren't bad people, merely misguided.
Sasha envied him. He had the advantage of seeing these people as friends and family. He could remember the cookouts and barbecues. He could remember town hall meetings and holidays. When he saw these people, he saw a flock of scared people only wanting answers. Sasha could only see monsters.
The ride to the station seemed to drone on longer than it should have. The awkward silence between Harrison and Sasha seemed to be creating a tension that might snap like a spring at any moment. Sasha couldn’t help but shake with anticipation. Finally, they pulled up to the police station and Harrison killed the engine. He sat still for a moment as if he were preparing to speak but then said nothing. Instead, he climbed out of his truck and helped his passengers inside.
"Of course, you won't be locked up like criminals. I'll have you sleep in a cell but more as a precaution and because there really isn't anywhere else to sleep" he explained. “Let me show you around before you sleep.”
It wasn't an impressive building. It was mostly a wide-open space with a few smaller rooms built in. Clearly, it was not designed to hold a vast amount of people. Half a dozen people could fit in the cells, maybe. Even fewer officers would be able to work at once. Only a few brown desks sat in the center of the main room.
"I'll sleep here," Harrison said. "The holding cells are beyond this room which means no one gets to you without going through me."
"Do you really think someone will try?"
Harrison shook his head.
"It's the mob mentality. Everyone is scared and they're acting out at once. But no one person will try anything. Trust me, I know these people."
"How well? I mean, one of them is a killer, right?"
Harrison frowned. She almost felt bad for making the statement but decided she had
