Downwinders: Blood Oath, Blood River Part 10

Although she was doing seventy-five, a car sped around her, pa.s.sing on the left. She slowed to sixty so they wouldn't miss the house.

They could see Apple Valley ahead in the distance, with Smithsonian b.u.t.te rising behind it. Houses were spa.r.s.e along this stretch of road. She saw her odometer cross the ten mile mark.

"That's it," Winn said, pointing to a house still too far in the distance for Deem to make out.

"You can see that?" Deem said.

"Yup," Winn said. "Yellow garage. Something under a blue tarp right next to it. That's it."

"Do I stop?" Deem asked.

"Nothing in the driveway," Winn said. "Sagan mentioned a red Suburban. Maybe no one's home."

"I don't want to alert this guy in any way," Deem said. "What do we need to figure out who it is?"

"A house number would be nice," Winn said. "Slow up as we pa.s.s."

Deem checked her rear view mirror no one was there. She slowed the car to a crawl.

"13595 are the numbers on the house," Winn said. "That should do it."

"Looks completely ordinary," Deem said. "Who would suspect anything evil would be inside?"

"That's always the story, isn't it?" Winn said. "White picket fence outside, gruesome murders inside."

Deem let her truck roll slowly past the house. "Do you think he's got children's corpses in there?"

"He's got to be getting the corpse poison from somewhere," Winn said. "So, yeah, probably."

The windows to the house that faced the highway were covered on the inside with a drape, the backing of which was a bright white, reflecting the sun. As Deem was wondering what might be behind the drapes, she saw the left edge pull back slightly. Someone was looking out at them.

She pressed the accelerator and the truck sped up. "s.h.i.t," Deem said, turning her head back to face the road. "Someone is in the house. I think they saw me."

"You sure?" Winn asked, looking back over his shoulder. "I don't see anything."

"I saw the drape pull back," Deem said, "and I saw a face."

"d.a.m.n," Winn said. "So much for subtlety."

"We might as well just walk up to the door, now," Deem said. "Why not?"

"Could you tell who it was?" Winn asked. "Was it him?"

Deem pulled her truck off to the side of the road and then made a turn back onto the highway, going back toward the house.

"No, I couldn't tell," Deem said. "If it's him, we'll confront him. If not, we'll see who it is."

"And if it's him?" Winn asked. "What are you going to do?"

"Awan said the skinrunner can only transform at night," Deem said. "Now might be the perfect time to talk to him and explain he needs to stop."

"I'll be very surprised if that works," Winn said, becoming uncomfortable with Deem's plan.

"So what if it doesn't?" Deem said. "He's already targeting me. I can at least let him know I'm on to him. Might cause him to back off. He seemed wary when he saw me enter the River."

"And if it's not him?" Winn asked.

Deem pulled her truck into the driveway by the house and shut off the engine. "Then we'll play it by ear," she said, opening the truck door and sliding to the ground. Winn sighed and followed her.

She walked to the front door of the house. Winn was watching the draped windows, looking to see if there was any movement. He saw none.

She pressed the doorbell next to the front door, then she knocked.

"Mrs. Jones?" Deem said. "Your ride to the airport is here."

The door slowly opened to three inches. A small woman with long brown hair peered out at them.

"You have the wrong place," the woman said meekly. "This is the Braithwaites."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Deem said, checking her phone. "You didn't call for a lift to the airport?"

"No," the woman said meekly. She began to close the door.

"Says 13959 Highway 59 here," Deem said, scrolling on her phone.

"We're 13595," the woman said, opening the door a little more. "That'd be further down the road."

"Oh, my apologies," Deem said. "Could I ask you a big favor?"

"What is it?" the woman asked.

"I can't get any bars on my phone," Deem said, "and I need to call into the office to check on this. Could I use your phone?"

The woman's eyes darted left and right, trying to decide if she should let them in or not. Finally she stepped back and pulled the door open more. "Alright," she said.

"Thank you," Deem said, stepping inside. Winn followed.

"It's just in there," the woman said, pointing toward a kitchen.

Deem walked in the direction the woman was pointing and located a phone hanging from a wall. She picked up the receiver and dialed a fake number, and began a fake conversation.

While she was giving her performance, she looked around. Everything inside the house looked normal nothing seemed odd at all. The woman had her arms crossed, with one arm raised to the side of her head. She seemed to be listening to Deem.

Winn looked at the walls in the entryway. They were lined with photographs. One showed the woman with a man and two small children.

"Oh, these must be your kids," Winn said.

"Yes," the woman said, "that's Jody and Jennifer. They're both off to college now."

Winn looked at the man in the picture. He was wearing a three piece suit from the previous decade. He had a slight comb-over and large gla.s.ses. He looked anything but frightening.

Deem concluded her fake call and hung up the phone.

"Thank you," Deem said as she approached the woman. "It was nice to meet you, I'm Danielle Smith." She stuck out her hand.

The woman took her hand and shook it. "Geraldine Braithwaite," she said. "My husband is John. Works at a bank in Hurricane."

"Oh, that's nice," Deem said. "I appreciate you letting me use your phone. Cell reception is kind of spotty out here."

"That's why we don't have one," Geraldine said.

"Have you lived here long?" Deem asked.

"Ten years," she answered. "Moved out from Toquerville. John wanted to have more room between us and the neighbors."

"Well, you sure achieved that," Winn said, and smiled at her. Winn's smile lit her up like a light bulb. She tilted her head looking at him, then a broad smile broke out on her face.

"Say, would the two of you like a pop?" Geraldine asked. "I've got cold pop in the fridge."

"Well, we do have to pick up that airport ride," Deem said.

"But, sure, I'd love a pop, if you have one," Winn said. "We're a little early for the pickup, aren't we Deem?"

Deem shot him a look, then turned back to Geraldine. "Sure, we've got a minute."

"Come in," Geraldine said, ushering them into her kitchen. She told them to sit at her kitchen table, and she went to the fridge.

"Fanta orange, grape, Sprite, or root beer," she said. "Which would you like?"

"Root beer," Winn said.

"Sprite for me," Deem answered.

"Alright," Geraldine said. She pulled the cans from the fridge and placed them on the table. "Would either of you like a gla.s.s?"

"No," they both answered simultaneously.

Geraldine went back to the fridge and pulled a root beer for herself. She sat across from Winn at the kitchen table.

"I don't get many visitors out here," Geraldine said. "Visiting teachers once a month, but that's about it."

"Lovely home," Deem said.

"Thank you, dear," Geraldine said. "It's a three bedroom house, built in 2002. We've got two acres. John's got a garage out back."

"Oh, I noticed that when we drove past," Winn said. "Bright yellow."

"It was yellow when we moved here," Geraldine said. "John always says he's going to paint it another color, but he's too busy. Between his work at the bank and his hobbies out in the garage he barely has time to breathe."

"Oh, he has hobbies?" Deem asked.

"Yes," Geraldine said. "I do too. I collect these little Christmas villages. When my youngest daughter moved out, I took over her room and unboxed my entire collection. I'll show it to you before you go."

"Wow," Winn said, smiling at her again. "That sounds fascinating. You did all the work?"

Geraldine seemed to melt as Winn talked to her. Deem recognized that he'd turned his charm to full blast.

"I did!" she said. "Took months to get everything just right."

"What kind of hobbies does your husband do?" Winn asked, smiling again.

Deem watched Geraldine's reaction to Winn's question. G.o.d, he knows how to wrap women around his little finger, Deem thought. Geraldine smiled back at Winn and actually batted her eyes.

"I think he just putters, really," Geraldine said. "To be honest with you, I don't know. He doesn't let me in the garage, he barred me from it years ago. Now it's his 'man cave.' I let it go, since he didn't object when I took over Jody's room for the Christmas villages."

"We should get going," Deem said. "We've got to find this pickup and get them to the airport."

"Of course," Geraldine said.

"Would you mind if I used your restroom before I go?" Winn asked.

"Not at all," Geraldine said. "It's just down the hall, first door on the right."

They all got up from the table and Winn made his way down the hall.

"Thanks again for the use of your phone," Deem said.

"Oh, it's no problem," Geraldine said. "So he's your co-worker?"

"Who?" Deem asked, pulling her phone out of her pocket. "Oh, him? Winn? Yes, he's the backup driver." She immediately regretted using Winn's real name.

"Quite a handsome fellow," Geraldine said.

Deem was looking at her phone, checking messages. "Yes," she said without looking up from the phone. "He is."

"Not such a bad job, riding with him all day," Geraldine said.

"Right," Deem said, wishing Winn would hurry up.

"I thought you said you couldn't get signal?" Geraldine asked.

Deem lowered her phone. "Looks like a text message got through. How, I don't know."

Winn came back from the restroom and thanked Geraldine for her hospitality.

"Stop by anytime," she said, smiling broadly at Winn as he and Deem stepped out the front door. "Come back and see my villages!" she called after them.

Once they were back in Deem's truck, Winn said, "Nice lady."