Dae's Christmas Past (7 page)

“I noticed that.”

“He’s covered in hoof prints too. I think one of those may have been what caused the fatal blow to his head. Did you get pictures of it, Dae?”

“Yes. But I don’t see how it’s possible. I was standing in the middle of the road when the horses stampeded by. There weren’t any
real
horses.”

“Maybe not that time.” He took out his cell phone. “But that man is dead and the horses that don’t exist left their calling card.”

“Maybe it’s the demon horses I saw in the vision.”

“Shh. I don’t want to think about it. Let me get with Ronnie and Tuck. We can talk about it like normal people.”

It kind of hurt my feelings when he said that. I understood what he meant—it was one thing for me to hold his hand and tell him where he’d dropped his wallet. It was another to tell him that demon horses from the excavation in Corolla were running up and down Duck Road, possibly killing Tom.

“I’m sorry, honey.” He squeezed my hand. “I shouldn’t have said that. You know I didn’t mean it that way. I’d just like this to be something the police can take care of without your help. You’ve been through enough recently.”

“That’s okay. I understand.”

Gramps went to find a tarp he could use to cover Tom. I went inside to get dressed and found Mary Catherine. She was waiting by the door with Baylor.

“What’s going on?” she asked.

“I found a dead man on the road.”

“I assume that’s not a normal thing.”

“No. I have to get dressed. We’re about to have a house full of law enforcement. I’d rather not be here talking to them in my robe.”

“Dae?” She stopped me. “Does this have anything to do with the horses? Baylor and I felt something . . . unusual. I can’t describe it, but the local animals were terrified. I think you’ll find many of them have run off. They don’t want to be here.”

In a hushed tone, I told her what I’d experienced. “I don’t know what to make of it. It felt like there were horses, but none were there—at least none that I could see.”

She put her hand on my arm. “I think you
do
know. Don’t be afraid to be certain of your gift. I know sometimes other people don’t understand, but it’s important for you to take hold of it. Make it your own.”

“Thanks.” I heard the distant sound of a siren coming our way. “I have to get dressed.”

“I’m going to hide upstairs. There aren’t many animals I dislike, but sheriffs, police chiefs, and officers make me nervous. Excuse me.”

I watched her go into my mother’s old room before I disappeared into mine. I quickly pulled on jeans and a red Duck Jazz Festival sweatshirt. I ran a comb through my hair and shoved my feet into boots.

It had been a strange and terrible night. I wanted to be prepared in case anything else came my way.

Treasure didn’t move from the bed as I dressed. He didn’t even lift his head to see what I was doing. I closed the bedroom door and went downstairs, taking out the large coffee urn that we always kept around for these times.

I could remember dozens of these nights as a child, and as an adult. Sheriff Tuck Riley sitting around the old wood table in the kitchen drinking coffee and eating any pastry we had on hand. Duck Police Chief Ronnie Michaels would be there too, shaking a donut at Sheriff Riley and reminding him whose jurisdiction they were working in.

That was going to be a problem in this case. The crime happened in Duck, although Tom Watts lived in Corolla. That was another town and another county. I knew Sheriff Riley would jump on the chance to take the case. Our police chief would have to participate. But it seemed fair for the new Corolla police chief to take part in it too.

I cut up what was left of the strudel Gramps had made yesterday and put it on small plates so it would go further. There were some day-old cookies from the grocery store that I put on a plate. No one would care that they were stale. While they discussed a case, they’d eat anything and drink gallons of coffee.

Several other sirens got closer. I was glad Gramps had blocked off Duck Road to protect the crime scene.

Tuck Riley got there first. He had to come all the way from Manteo and should’ve been the last person there. He tipped his flat-brimmed hat to me as he came in the kitchen. His brown uniform was clean and pressed as always, but there was something slightly askew about his overall appearance. I couldn’t put my finger on it. Maybe it was the button in the wrong hole or the collar not quite pressed down flat.

“I guess this is good morning, huh?” He poured himself a cup of coffee.

“For us,” I replied. “How did you get here so fast?”

“I was out and about when I got the call.” He cleared his throat and glanced away, pretending to take a sudden interest in the pastry. “Is this strudel homemade?”

Sheriff Riley never asked questions like that. It was easy to tell he was up to something. But what?

I continued my assessment of his appearance. His dark brown hair wasn’t perfectly combed and in place like always. His brown eyes flitted restlessly instead of his usual inquisitive stare.

“Yeah, I made the strudel yesterday.” Gramps came out of his room and down the stairs. He’d changed clothes into dry cargo pants and a blue flannel shirt. “Sorry to drag you out so early. You made good time getting here. You must’ve flown.”

Sheriff Riley’s face turned red. I couldn’t believe it. He was embarrassed about something!

“Good coffee, Dae,” he finally gruffly muttered. “Now, what the hell happened out there on the road?”

Gramps filled him in as he poured a cup of coffee and winked at me to say thanks for making it. “I don’t know where Chief Michaels is. It seems like he should’ve been here first. I did what I could to preserve the crime scene and protect Tom Watt from getting hit by a car.”

“Don’t you mean another car?” Sheriff Riley asked. “Looks like one of your partygoers from the mayor’s celebration last night had too much to drink and mowed him down. Hit and run. You have another theory?”

“Nope. Not right now. You can’t even see the crime scene clearly yet. Let’s wait until it gets light.”

“What about that gash on his head?” I asked.

“I suppose you found him.” Sheriff Riley showed his even white teeth in a sardonic smile. “Leave it to Dae. What were you doing out on the street at that time of night?”

“I went out to look at the snow.”

“Of course you did.” He nodded and shrugged at Gramps. “What else?”

There was a knock at the door. I went to answer, hoping it was Chief Michaels. They’d probably only want me to write a statement about what happened. They could share it.

But it was the new Corolla police chief, Heidi Palo. I’d only met her once before. There was a meeting of several mayors from local towns in Corolla a few months back. She’d been the deputy police chief then. With the arrest of her boss on murder charges, she’d stepped in to take his job.

“Hello.” She coughed and tugged at her gray uniform. “Is this where everyone is meeting to discuss what happened to Tom Watts?”

“Yes. Come in.”

“Heidi! Let me get you some coffee,” Gramps said. “This is my granddaughter, the mayor of Duck, Dae O’Donnell. I suppose you know Sheriff Riley. We’re waiting on the EMS people and Chief Michaels. Come on in and warm up.”

Heidi Palo was at least six-feet tall, very blond, with startling blue eyes and high cheek bones. She was about my age, mid-thirties, and handsome, not pretty. “Hello, Mr. O’Donnell. You used to be the county sheriff. It’s nice to see you again.”

I shook her hand and gave her my big mayor’s smile. “It’s a bad night to be out. I’m glad to finally meet you.”

She took my hand. “It’s nice to meet you too, ma’am. I’ve seen you around, just haven’t had the opportunity to introduce myself. I’m sorry it has to be during this circumstance.”

“Please call me Dae. We aren’t too formal around here.”

“Thank you. I hope you’ll call me Heidi.”

As I grabbed a mug of coffee that Gramps had poured, I caught a sneaky, sidelong glance between her and Tuck Riley. His face turned red again, and he quickly looked away.

So that’s how it is.

“You must’ve been monitoring your police scanner, Chief Palo,” Sheriff Riley said. “Otherwise you wouldn’t have known about this since it’s not in your county, right?”

She nodded quickly. “Uh-that’s right, sir. I picked up the message on the scanner. I came right down when I heard one of my people was involved.”

Gramps scratched his head. “I don’t remember saying who was involved when I called it in.”

Chief Palo faltered—her expression stricken.

“Oh, it must have been my call that you picked up on.” I stood close to her. “I called the Corolla police. I thought they should be involved.”

Sheriff Riley brought his hand down hard on the wood table, one of his funny habits. “I understand this happened right outside your door, Mayor, but you had no right to call in someone outside this jurisdiction.”

“Sorry.” I shrugged.

“Thank you, Dae.” Chief Palo gave Sheriff Riley an angry glance. “I appreciate you thinking about me.”

I almost laughed out loud. Sheriff Riley had been alone for a while after his wife had divorced him. Heidi Palo was much younger, but I could see where the two of them could be good together. They just needed to acknowledge their relationship before everyone else noticed it. Either way it would be fodder for the small town grapevine that ran up and down the highway.

“Whatever.” Sheriff Riley took a big swig of coffee. “Where’s Ronnie? How long does it take to get here from his house? He must be driving a golf cart.”

Chief Michaels came in with a blast of cold air still filled with snowflakes. “Sorry I’m late. It’s been the weirdest night.”

“Weirder than having a dead man in the middle of Duck Road?” Sheriff Riley asked with his usual sarcastic tone.

“As a matter of fact—” Chief Michaels took off his heavy coat. He was shorter than Tuck Riley and older, in his sixties. He and Gramps had been deputy sheriffs together.

Ronnie Michaels reminded me of a drill sergeant with his curt tone and immaculate uniform. His patent leather shoes were always shiny. “We’ve been run ragged by phone calls about horses running through the streets and trampling people’s yards. Ever hear of such a thing?”

Gramps glanced at me. He buried his words in a stale cookie.

But it had to be said. They were going to see the hoof prints anyway. “When I was on the street, I heard horses run by me. It was more like a stampede, with hundreds of horses.”

Sheriff Riley whistled. “Close call. You might’ve been killed. I never heard of so many wild horses being down in this area. Are you sure you didn’t have a little too much to drink, Dae? I heard you only made it to one post-election party because you were ill. Was it something else?”

“I know you don’t like it when I tell you these things, but there were no
real
horses. I could smell them and hear them. But there was nothing there.”

“That doesn’t explain the hoof prints all over the road and on top of our victim.” Gramps passed my phone around with the pictures I’d taken. “You were right to call it a weird night, Chief.”

Chief Michaels looked at the photos. “Every call we went out on was the same. Tim, Scott, and I went out to dozens of houses tonight. Lots of hoof prints, but no one actually saw any horses. Everyone
heard
them, though, and they did plenty of damage. Fences were trampled, lawn furniture destroyed, even a broken window.”

Sheriff Riley laughed. “Are we talking ghost horses now? Because if so, I’m going home. I’ve never seen or heard a horse that wasn’t really there. And I don’t want to.”

“But what if Mr. Watts was killed by these horses?” Chief Palo handed the phone back to me after examining the pictures. “It seems too coincidental to overlook that he was killed during this stampede.”

“Maybe someone is training killer horses.” Sheriff Riley hooted. “That’s even funnier than ghost horses.”

“Well then you’ll love this,” I added. “The horses came
after
I found the body. Tom was already dead when the horses, or whatever it was, ran by me.”

“Now that makes sense,” Sheriff Riley said. “Someone hit this man with a car and let loose a few wild horses to cover it up. Sound like anyone we know? Maybe someone with a grudge against Tom?”

Chief Michaels nodded. “We all know Jake Burleson fits the bill, Tuck. He was here in Duck tonight skulking around the Blue Whale during the post-election party. I saw him myself.”

“There have been some confrontations between them,” Chief Palo confirmed. “I’ve had officers out at the ranch almost every day. Mr. Burleson wants to keep his land for the wild horses. Tom agrees with the state that it should be taken for the excavation. It’s been ugly out there.”

“I don’t think you understand what I’m saying.” I looked at their mostly closed faces. “There were no
real
horses on the road.”

“Thanks, Dae,” Chief Michaels said. “Why don’t you write down exactly what happened, and what you did? We’re gonna go down and have a look at the crime scene. Keep the coffee coming.”