Page 10 of Dark Shadows
Mason put the SUV in park and glanced at her. “I guess that look means you recognize the place.”
She nodded and tried to still the nerves strumming in her veins. “This is the exact location I took the police twenty years ago.”
“They didn't believe you.”
“I couldn't prove it. The body and every shred of evidence had been removed.” She swallowed hard, the memory burning fresh.
“You're not alone this time,” Mason said, his voice gentle but firm. “No one's going to hurt you while I'm around.”
She appreciated the sentiment, but she wasn't that scared little girl anymore. She had survived on her own for years, dealt with ghosts most people couldn't even imagine, and come back to face the town that had rejected her.
She’d gained years of hard-earned resilience. Mason's protection was welcome, but unnecessary.
“I know,” she said with quiet confidence.
“You ready for this?” he asked with sincerity in his voice.
She nodded, not sure if it was the truth.
He gestured with a nod of his head. “They're waiting on us. Our forensics team have already cataloged the scene. Photographs, trace collection, luminol sweep, standard stuff.They're waiting on a read from you before touching the note or the body.”
“Note?”
“Yeah, you'll see. I wasn't lying when I told you the body resurfaced, gift-wrapped with your name on it.”
She didn't know what she’d expected, but this already felt too real, too fast. Caution and fear kept her rooted in the seat. Did she really want to know what was waiting for her inside?
He reached for the door handle, but she stopped him with a hand on his arm.
“Are you sure you want to take me into an active crime scene? You just found the new victim a couple of hours ago. That's not how they did things back in my dad's day.”
“Maybe not, but it's how I work. You're a pivotal part of this story. You might notice something we missed.”
“Like a ghost hanging out ready to confess who killed him?”
Mason grinned. “Exactly.”
He started to get out again, and she grabbed his arm once more.
“How did you even figure out this dead guy was the one I called about?”
“I’m good at my job.”
“The psychic.” She answered her own question and followed him out of the SUV. She should have known. She'd experienced most of the things that went bump in the night. For years, entities and the dead tended to gravitate in her direction. Had that been his best friend’s experience too?
Mason rounded the car and waited for her to join him.
They followed the floodlights toward the gray barn in the distance. It looked almost the same as it had back then, just a little more beat up around the edges.
The paint had faded, and the roof sagged a little, but the place still gave her that same twist in her gut.
In the fields beside it, little ghostly girls were watching.
When they'd pulled up, they'd been chasing each other through the grass. Now they stood still, eyes locked on Savanah as she got closer.
How could she have ever forgotten Emily was still around, hanging out with the other children from the cemetery?
Mason shook hands with one of the guys suited up in full forensic gear.
