Krewe of Hunters: The Hidden Part 23

There was silence.

Then Scarlet realized what had happened.

It was the statue. The d.a.m.ned statue of Nathan Kendall.

It had fallen off its pedestal to the floor.

"To the best of my knowledge, everyone was accounted for after our trip to The Stanley. But I can't swear to that," Brett said.

Ca.s.sandra Wells's picture was now all over the media, with the message that the police were seeking witnesses who might have seen her or anything suspicious the night before. Some broadcasters were suggesting that the Parkers' murders had been perpetrated by the same killer, though the police themselves were keeping quiet on that score.

Diego himself had gone on camera to say that he didn't wish to create a panic, but that all three victims could trace their lineage back to Nathan Kendall, though, since Zachary had fathered so many children, the relationship might be coincidence.

One station had interviewed the owner of Moose Pot Pie, who appeared to be genuinely devastated. Vince Guttenberg had been in Denver the night before, at a nephew's birthday party, and he had stayed over at his sister's house. He had returned to discover that his best employee had been murdered. He wasn't a suspect, and he wasn't even any help as a witness. He couldn't think of anyone who had shown Ca.s.sandra any animosity or even any undue interest.

They were still at the police station in a conference room with Lieutenant Ernest Gray, when a call from Adam came through on Diego's phone. Adam asked him where he was and who he was with, then suggested he put the call on speaker.

"We have a tentative ID on the victim from the mountain," Adam said without preamble. "HQ received a call from the Asheville, North Carolina, PD. A Daniel Kendall has been missing since he headed out on vacation, solo, a couple months earlier. He planned on taking a month, but when he didn't return, his girlfriend grew concerned and filed a missing persons report. It was difficult to do any kind of a real search, because he hadn't told her where he was going, other than 'out West.' That was followed by a call from a man named Leo Piper in Lyons, Colorado. He owns a hotel there and recognized the picture as a former guest who'd planned on hiking the Rockies and doing some genealogical research."

"Thanks, Adam. Kendall, huh? I'm a.s.suming Daniel was a descendant of Nathan Kendall, too?" Diego asked.

"Yes, exactly," Adam responded. "Jane and I are about to go over to the museum and check on Scarlet and Meg. Then we'll head out to Lyons to see what Mr. Leo Piper can tell us."

"d.a.m.n," Gray said.

"Pardon?" Adam asked.

"I'm a descendant, too," Gray said.

"Perhaps you should excuse yourself from this investigation," Adam suggested.

Gray laughed. "And hightail it out of town 'til the coast is clear?" he asked. "No, no. Couldn't live with myself if I did that. I'm in for the long haul. I want to bring this b.a.s.t.a.r.d in. I don't care about the collar. I'm fine if one of you nabs him, I just want to be there when someone stops his a.s.s."

Diego smiled. He liked Gray's new att.i.tude.

Adam said his goodbyes and rang off. Gray excused himself to see if there had been any results from all the media attention and the posters he'd had his men plaster all across town.

Someone had to have seen someone or something somewhere at some time.

"I think we need to hang out at a bar tonight," Diego told Matt and Brett. "The Twisted Antler. That's where Ca.s.sandra was supposedly heading last night. Gray already checked with the owner and the manager-neither remembers seeing her, and if she bought anything, she paid cash. But the manager said they have a lot of regulars, plus the staff, of course. Oh, and the band. We can divide and conquer, talk to as many people as we can."

Matt stood. "Let's get back to the ranch, and touch base with Meg and Scarlet. I'll give Adam a call and let him know."

He didn't have to call Adam, because just then Jane called Diego.

"Are you on your way back?" she asked.

"Yes, but why? Is something wrong?" he asked anxiously.

"No, but if you weren't headed here, I was going to tell you that you should be. We'll wait for you at the museum, then head down to Lyons once you get here."

"You're sure there's nothing wrong?" he asked.

"No, nothing. We have a visitor, that's all. Someone you're going to want to meet."

Before he could ask for details, she hung up.

12.

The living room was already crowded when Matt, Brett and Diego arrived; Adam and Jane were there with Meg and Scarlet, and there was another man standing with his back to them as they entered.

Scarlet jumped up to greet Diego, her smile wide and welcoming. Then the unknown man turned around, and even before Scarlet reached him, Diego froze.

The man appeared to be flesh and blood.

But, he wasn't. He couldn't be.

"Daniel Kendall," Diego said.

"Yes!" Scarlet said, sounding ridiculously happy for a woman who was hosting a dead man. "Yes, this is Daniel, who's been trying to reach me. Daniel, Agents Diego McCullough, Matt Bosworth and Brett Cody. Guys, meet Daniel Kendall."

"I'd shake if I could," the apparition told them, grinning.

"Nice to meet you," Matt said. "And also sorry to meet you."

Diego looked over at Adam, then back to Daniel, and sighed. "I don't suppose you know who killed you, huh? Because if you did, you would have told Meg and Scarlet, and we'd be arresting him now."

"Believe me, you can't wish I knew who he was any more than I do." He shimmered for a moment, then solidified. "Sorry. I vanish now and then, so please bear with me. I'll be back as soon as I can."

"I can't really see you anyway," Adam said. "I can hear you loud and clear, though. I don't have that extra sense my Krewe do, though over time I've grown able to see my son," he said softly, then turned to Scarlet. "But you..."

"I see him as clearly as a mountaintop on a sunny day," she said, obviously pleased. Then she took Diego's hand and led him into the room, urging him into one of the big upholstered chairs.

He wasn't that good at seeing ghosts yet, either, Diego thought. He didn't want to say that to Scarlet, though.

But his abilities were firing on all cylinders tonight, though, because there he was, the dead man Jane had drawn, acting as if he was just hanging with friends on a lazy day.

"Any news on Ca.s.sandra?" Daniel asked. "I knew her, though she didn't know me, if you see what I mean."

"I do. And we know where she was until just before her death," Diego said. "What can you tell us?"

Daniel went through the same story he'd told Scarlet and Meg earlier. His concern for Ca.s.sandra-a woman he'd never met, whom he'd only known as a ghost-was clear.

I would have liked this guy, Diego thought.

When Daniel had finished with his explanation, Meg went on to talk about the discoveries they'd made in the journals.

"Interesting," Matt said.

"Do you think we'll ever be able to figure out the truth about something that happened so long ago? We can't even question the suspects, much less find any forensic evidence," Scarlet said.

"Maybe we couldn't take someone into a court of law and prove their guilt," Diego said, "but that doesn't matter. We can still put clues together and come up with a truth that we believe, and that truth is what we need to help us solve the present case."

"I'll help any way I can," Daniel announced, then wavered. Seconds later, he was gone, leaving a frustrated "Sorry" hanging in the air.

For a moment everyone else was quiet.

"He's really gone?" Adam asked.

"Yes," Scarlet said.

"I guess it doesn't make much sense for us to go to Lyons anymore," Adam said. "When Daniel gets back he can tell us everything he did right up to the time when he was killed."

"In that case, we can all go to the bar tonight," Diego said.

"We're going to a bar?" Scarlet asked.

"Ca.s.sandra told a coworker she was going to listen to a band, but it looks as if she either never made it or wasn't there long before the killer got to her," Diego explained. "We want to talk to the regulars and staff to see if anyone saw anything. A place called the Twisted Antler."

"The Twisted Antler?" Scarlet repeated.

"Yes, you know the place?"

She nodded. "I have a friend who plays drums with the house band there. Eddie Keye. Nice guy. He might have seen her if she was there last night."

"Do you think someone managed to pick her up in the bar, then take her for a ride, drag her halfway up a mountain and then kill her?" Adam asked.

"It's possible. The killer surprised Daniel from behind," Meg said, "but we don't know how he's approached his more recent victims."

"He was wearing a burlap bag over his head when he attacked Daniel," Scarlet said.

"Obviously he can't do that if he picks up his victims in public," Meg added. "But here's the strange thing. Nathan Kendall and his cohorts-Jeff Bay, Brian Gleason and Billie Merton-wore similar 'masks' when they were robbing banks after the Civil War."

"I've got to think it's all connected," Diego said. "Meanwhile, food. Let's get into town and hit the Twisted Antler."

Scarlet noticed that Adam and Jane were walking along the sidewalk ahead of her and Diego, with Brett, Matt and Meg bringing up the rear. And while it all seemed very casual and natural, she was pretty sure that the others were consciously making sure that she was surrounded at all times.

It was rather nice to feel so protected.

When they reached the Twisted Antler, the band was just setting up. Eddie saw her and lifted a hand, smiling.

"I'll introduce you," Scarlet said.

"You go ahead," Adam told the others. "I want to introduce myself to the manager and let him or her know we're here."

As he left to speak with the hostess, Scarlet led the others over to where Eddie and his group were setting up.

"Hey," Eddie said as they approached, looking curiously at her entourage. He offered his hand even before Scarlet got a chance to introduce everyone.

"Nice to meet you," Eddie said. He pointed to his bandmates, who paused to nod and wave as they were introduced: Jack Isle on ba.s.s, Lee Bell on lead guitar and Hanley Warner on keyboard.

"Friends from back East?" Eddie asked. His tone was casual, but she could tell that he was a.s.sessing the group and in particular wondering how Adam-who was not only older, but also still wearing his signature suit-fit in.

"Diego is my ex-husband," Scarlet explained. "He's a federal agent. Adam-" she nodded in his direction "-heads his division, and Matt, Brett, Jane and Meg are also FBI. They're working the murders up at the Conway Ranch."

"Yeah, I was worried, wondering how you were doing. Bad stuff happening here," Eddie said. "I was going to take a ride up there, tell you maybe you should go back to Florida for a while." He grinned, looking from her to Diego. "But I see you're in good hands. Are you guys out to get to know Estes Park tonight or working the case?"

"Both," Diego said. "We know the most recent victim, Ca.s.sandra Wells, liked coming here, so we figured if anyone had seen anything, it might be you guys, or the staff and regulars here. Did you know her, by any chance?"

Eddie nodded. "Casually, from the restaurant and here. She seemed like a nice kid, kind of serious but nice. She didn't deserve what happened to her."

"Was she in here last night?"

"I didn't see her," Eddie said, "but then, I don't see everyone." He pointed back to his bandmates. "Hanley thought he saw her come in, then stand in the back. But she was gone when the set was over. He called that number from the TV and left a message, but no one's come in to talk to him yet. Hey, Hanley?"

The keyboardist stepped over as soon as Eddie called. Scarlet knew him casually, the same way she knew all of them, except for Eddie. She knew him better since they'd gone for coffee a few times.

Hanley kept his head shaved-crazy for cold weather, Eddie liked to tease him-but he'd gone mostly bald by the time he turned thirty, so he'd decided to embrace the bald look and buy himself a big old hoop earring. In truth, like Eddie, he was just a nice guy who loved his music.

"Hanley, you thought you saw Ca.s.sandra last night, didn't you?" Eddie asked him.

Hanley nodded. "Yeah." He pointed to the back of the room, where there was a ledge with a few bar stools to the left of the door, providing a better view of the stage than the bar itself did.

"She was just standing there, leaning against that support beam off to the left," Hanley said. "It looked like she was talking to someone, but they were behind the beam."

"Okay, now we know she at least made it inside," Diego said.

"I hope you catch the guy," Hanley said. "I wish you could pretend this was still the Old West and shoot the b.a.s.t.a.r.d's kneecaps out, then torture him to death."

"Hey, don't be shy, Hanley, tell them what you really think," Eddie said drily, and then looked at the others again. "I gotta say, screw that humane punishment thing. I feel the same. At least Colorado has the death penalty. I hope you get the guy and that he gets it."

Adam had joined them just in time to hear the last. He introduced himself and shook hands with the band, then said, "My agents-and the police-will get him. What happens next will be up to a jury."

"Unless he shoots at you, and then you get to shoot back, right?" Hanley asked. "Sorry, I was crazy about her. We were just friends, but not 'cuz I didn't want more. But she wasn't into dating, not until she got herself through school."

"We're allowed to defend ourselves, yes," Matt said.

"Well, I hope he shoots at you, then," Hanley said. "I mean, I don't want him to hit any of you or anything, but..."