Krewe of Hunters: The Hidden Part 15

"They're very different for FBI," he said. "Come on, let's get going. Time to get back down the mountain so we can get back to the ranch before dark."

The late-afternoon sun seemed to dim even as he spoke. Scarlet looked up; the majestic blue of the sky had changed to mauve.

The sun slipped behind a cloud, turning its light an orange hue that darkened to an eerie crimson.

Yes, darkness was coming.

The strange red glow settled over the graveyard, the mausoleums and tombstones and simple wooden crosses, filling her with a sense of foreboding.

She wanted to throw herself against Diego and stay there in his arms forever, safe from the darkness.

The breeze lifted, the sun shifted, and she suddenly knew that she couldn't run away from the dark, she had to face it.

She walked past him toward the horses. He was a bastion of towering strength.

But better than that, he allowed her to find her own.

8.

"I love Teddy Bear," Diego heard Meg say to Scarlet as they joined the others. "She's a great horse."

"She's a sweetheart," Scarlet agreed.

Diego turned away and walked back toward the graveyard, intrigued by the grand mausoleum Jillian Kendall's father had commissioned for himself. He stared at the tomb, and then back toward the bushes and forest area. He saw nothing, but he did notice the day had suddenly started to darken.

Colorado days were brilliant and beautiful. Nights could fall swiftly.

If someone had been lurking, that someone had disappeared.

Matt strode over and joined him. "I can't wait for Jane to get here tonight. If she's up for it, we can take her straight to the morgue so she can start creating a face for our John Doe. Even if he's not related to our case, maybe we can help solve another mystery."

"Sounds good," Diego said. "I can't help thinking that his death is related, though I could be way off base."

"If nothing else, it will be good if we can at least give the dead man a name," Matt said.

Diego was still staring at the mausoleum.

"You seeing something I'm not?" Matt asked him.

Diego turned to look at him. "Just an odd sensation. Like someone else is here. Think I'm sensing a ghost?"

"Maybe," Matt said. "The dead can speak volumes-when we let them."

Diego nodded and then shook his head slowly. "Well, if the marshal's here, he's not saying anything. Not to me, at least," he said. "Interesting man, though, from what we've learned. Maybe he wasn't the bad guy we've heard. Maybe he was just worried about his daughter. Nathan was a retired bank robber who was involved in a murder, after all."

"True, but a lot of men took a temporary wrong turn after the war, and the West tended to be pretty forgiving of such things," Matt said.

"Maybe, but someone sure hated Nathan, judging by the way that he was killed. I wonder if we'll ever be able to figure out the truth," Diego said. "And I wonder if that truth is important to our current case."

"I wouldn't be surprised. The case is lousy with people who've turned out to be descendants of Nathan Kendall. I wonder. Maybe everything goes back to something Kendall did-something that got him murdered and someone still wants revenge for today? There are a lot of possibilities, if that's the case." Matt was quiet for a moment. "I hate to say this, but I do think it involves Scarlet."

Diego's muscles tighten with a tension he couldn't dismiss. Thing was...

He agreed.

He looked around the graveyard again and asked Matt, "Did you see anything here? Feel anything? You're the old hand."

Matt laughed. "Not that old. You, Brett and I have all been with the Bureau for a long time, but not even I have been with the Krewe that long. But while I'm open to finding whatever else might be out there, I believe that our killer is flesh and blood. And someone right here in the area, close to us-and to Scarlet."

"Very close. We can't leave her alone for a minute, Matt. Not for a minute."

"We won't," Matt a.s.sured him.

"Never," Diego insisted.

No, we'll never leave her alone. So even if you b.l.o.o.d.y dead b.a.s.t.a.r.ds want to reach her, you'll have to come through me.

Blaze whinnied when Scarlet approached him, which made her happy.

At least the horse really trusted her and seemed to like her.

But Diego had seemed sincere when he'd said the Krewe believed in her.

When they returned to the ranch they helped Angus remove saddles and brush down the horses for the night. Angus kept shaking his head, saying he appreciated the help, he just hoped he wasn't being helped out of a job.

Scarlet laughed and a.s.sured him that couldn't happen.

When they'd finished and were walking back toward the museum, Meg suddenly paused and looked across the valley to the hill where The Stanley Hotel sat. "I'd love to see The Stanley while I'm here," she said. "I loved The Shining."

"You should take one of the tours," Scarlet said. "They talk all about the hotel's history as well as its ghosts and literary fame."

"Just out of curiosity," Brett said quietly, "but does anyone know why everybody would be standing on the porch staring at us?"

Scarlet looked over to the main house. Brett was right. Ben and Trisha, the Levins and Bartons, Terry, even Linda and Adam, were sitting there and staring. She'd noticed that morning that Adam was a great listener, and she was suddenly very curious to know what he'd found out while she and the others had been up at the cemetery.

She knew that at least some of the Krewe members believed that the killer was someone here at the ranch.

Terry waved enthusiastically. "Join us!" he called. "This may not be the South, but Trisha has whipped us up some amazing mint juleps."

"Not bad for a New Yorker, if I do say so myself," Trisha said cheerfully.

Diego laughed, walking toward the porch. "If I didn't hate mint I'd have one in a heartbeat, but I'm happy to join you anyway. How is everyone?" he asked.

"Tense, nervous," Linda said flatly.

"Speak for yourself," Terry said. "I'm not going to let some brutal jerk-who you people are going to catch any minute now-win by ruining my vacation. I'm breathing in my heritage. And," he added, "I'm trying to talk these guys into enjoying life with me. I'm taking a tour at The Stanley tonight, and I'm hoping to get them to come along."

"We were just talking about The Stanley," Meg said.

"Sit and tell us," Ben offered as he stood.

Diego shook his head. "That's okay. We've got to go clean up."

"You look fine to me," Linda a.s.sured him with a grin.

Diego grinned at her. "Well, thanks, ma'am. But trust me, I can smell me, and I smell like a horse. Not a bad thing if you are a horse, but..."

"Want to go to The Stanley tonight?" Terry asked.

"I have to meet a friend," Diego said. "Brett and Matt will be with me, but I'm sure Meg and Scarlet would love to go."

Scarlet looked over at him. There was a killer on the loose, and he thought she should go sightseeing? With one of the sort-of suspects? Even if she had Meg with her, it didn't sound like a great idea to her. And who was the friend he was meeting? Maybe the FBI artist Matt had mentioned?

"Adam, you know The Stanley, right?" Diego asked.

Adam nodded. "I was a guest there years ago. It's been changed since King made it famous, though."

"Wasn't the movie filmed there?" Terry asked.

"No, that was Oregon's Timberline Lodge," Adam said.

"I think we should go," Meg said to Scarlet. "It's a perfect opportunity."

"Okay," Scarlet murmured, giving in to the inevitable.

"Great!" Terry said.

"I suppose if we made a thing of it," Gwen said, "it would almost be like a party."

"We might be in," Gigi said. "We've been there before, of course, since we come up here every year. It would be fun to go with the rest of you, though. I mean, come on, we can't all sit around here morosely day after day."

"You'll definitely have fun if you come with us," Terry said.

"You'll have to count me out, I'm afraid," Clark said. "My back is acting up on me."

"In that case, I'll stay here, too," Gigi said. "Sorry to disappoint."

"Charles and I will go," Gwen said decisively.

"Sure. Why not," Charles agreed.

"And I wouldn't miss it for the world," Adam said.

"Scarlet, why don't you see if you can make tour reservations there for tonight?" Diego said. "I'm sorry Matt and Brett and I won't be able to join you."

"What about you, Linda? Would you like to come with us?" Terry asked.

"G.o.d, no," Linda told him. "I'm as weary of the history of this area as it's possible to be. You'll all have much more fun without me." She waved and walked into the house.

"She does have att.i.tude," Ben said to Trisha, but he was smiling.

"That's why we keep her, sweetheart," Trisha said, matching his smile.

"So...six of us?" Scarlet asked. "Don't get your hopes up-the ghost tours sell out fast." She headed inside.

When she returned a few minutes later she was smiling. "We lucked out. They had a cancellation. Let's be ready to leave in an hour, okay? It's only a short drive over, but the views are gorgeous, and you may all want to enjoy the lobby before we head down to the bas.e.m.e.nt to start the tour."

"I'll head right up to get ready," Meg said.

She and Matt headed inside, and Brett waved a goodbye and started toward the museum.

Diego walked over to Scarlet. "You need to get changed, too. Come on."

As he led her away, she studied him curiously.

"What?" he asked.

"With everything that's going on, do you really think we should be sightseeing?" she asked.

"Sightseeing is exactly what you should be doing."

"I've seen the sights."

"Yes, but not with this mix of people. And it's intriguing to see who's going and who's staying."

"And why aren't you going?"

"I have to see a man about a horse," he said.

"Right." Her skepticism was plain.

"I have to see a woman about a face."

"What?"

"That artist who's also a Krewe member is flying in tonight," Diego explained. "If she can help us ID the remains found up on the mountain it could help."

"That's how you're investigating? By trying to identify a dead man who might not have anything to do with the murders? You're not going to grill a lot of people-the way the police grilled me?"

"I need to have a reason to grill them. You were taken in because of those pictures on your camera. We don't have a reason to prioritize anyone over everybody else. But we will. Sooner or later the killer will make a mistake."