Jackson nodded. “I went inside it myself.”
“Okay, call me if—”
“There’s a massive team out there looking for Ms. Holly,” Jackson said quietly.
“I know…”
He’d gotten in his car and was halfway to the Longhorn when his phone rang. He answered it immediately, assuming Kelsey was returning his call.
“Raintree.”
There was silence. He almost hung up.
Then he heard the voice. It was altered, he thought, sounding like the voice of a murderous puppet in a horror movie. He’d heard speech that had been distorted by voice-altering devices before, the kind that could be bought at any place that sold “Nanny Cams” and amateur sleuth paraphernalia.
“Raintree. Yes, you are.”
“Who is this, and what do you want?”
There was laughter. “Tough Texas Ranger! Well, you’re not stupid. I want the usual. Don’t try to trace this call. I’m not stupid, either. The phone is an unregistered pay-as-you-go. And don’t go calling your buddies. You’re getting a second chance here.”
“At what?”
“At saving a woman you love.”
He practically drove off the road.
Kelsey hadn’t answered her phone. Ricky had said she was fine, up in Room 207. But Sandy Holly had disappeared just as easily, as if into thin air.
“Yes, tough boy, Lone Ranger, that’s what you are right now. On your own. If you want to play, of course. This is your chance. Yes, I have Kelsey O’Brien. Indeed, I do.”
He and Kelsey had been professional. They hadn’t run around holding hands or kissing in public. Not surprisingly, the team seemed to know, but respected their privacy. And maybe some of the people at the inn had guessed, too.
“I thought you’d enjoy this, Logan,” the caller said. “A second chance. You had a first chance once, didn’t you? And you blew it. So try number two. Kelsey’s still alive, I promise you—at this moment, she’s still alive. I’m hoping she’ll do what I need her to do, but I know you have the power, too. Kelsey tells me she doesn’t have any idea where the diamond is. Get the diamond, Logan. Get me the Galveston diamond, and you can have Kelsey back. You can also try to find me.” The horrible laughter sounded again. “Find me, Logan. But scare me and Kelsey dies. One of you comes up with the diamond, or you both die. But her first, of course. I wouldn’t want you to miss it.”
“There, that’s done!”
Prone on the pile of bedding, aware that she had no strength or will to fight, Kelsey pretended not to stir.
But she knew.
She had to get the patch off her neck and do it without being seen.
Now.
“That’s done,” she parroted.
She shifted, as if she was completely comfortable on her makeshift bed on the floor. She smoothed back her hair and felt the patch against her fingers—and she had it off. She noticed, however, that down here, there were more tools and lock boxes, and she was pretty sure the lock boxes were filled with the drugs that had been used on the women.
Her captor hunkered down beside her. “I know you can see ghosts, Kelsey. I know you can talk to them. Even when we were kids, you were seeing stuff, and people made fun of you, so you never said anything. You’d turn your visions or whatever they were into the most fantastic stories!”
“I see ghosts,” Kelsey said, looking into Sandy Holly’s eyes and wondering how she could have missed the fact that her dear friend, her hostess, the woman she’d known for so many years, was a psychopath.
“And you’ve seen the ghost of Rose Langley, haven’t you, Kelsey?” Sandy said.
She was so weak. Her mind was still fogged.
She saw a row of tools that dangled from a rafter above her. There was a large machete there, along with garden hoes and edgers. All Sandy had to do was reach up and grab the machete. One strike and—
She forced herself to stare into Sandy’s eyes and giggle. “I thought you liked Jeff Chasson. Instead, you cut his balls off.”
“I didn’t cut his balls off!”
“Well, since he’s dead, it doesn’t really matter.”
Sandy sighed. “Look, I did have a thing for Chasson. But he was a snoop, so I was trying to distract him, keep him in line. He was learning too much. Kelsey, listen, I don’t really want to kill you. You’re my friend…”
“Then don’t!”
“What I can do is give you a little dose and leave you here. They’ll find you sooner or later. All I want is the diamond, Kelsey.”
“Why?”
Sandy sounded impatient. “I just do! I just want what it can buy. I want the power it can give me. It belonged to royalty, and it would mean a whole new life. I’ve heard about it since I was a kid. When my grandfather first told me the story, I could see it, imagine it—I almost felt like I could touch it. I’ve watched this place. I’ve worked so hard to get this place so I could have the diamond. It’s my right!”
“What am I supposed to do?”
“Rose Langley had that diamond when she died. She hid it somewhere. You can talk to Rose Langley—you’ve probably already done it. So get her to tell you where the diamond is. I’ve already disappeared. You won’t remember any of this once I give you a bit more, and the world will think I was the killer’s last victim.”
She didn’t know how long she could keep it up, but Kelsey decided to stick with the stupid smile. “Why did you invite a U.S. Marshal to stay with you when you were killing people? Wasn’t that kind of…dumb?”
“I wanted you here. All the other idiots who claimed to be great psychics were useless. I really just stumbled on Sierra Monte—and her belief that she was a psychic and could find the diamond. After that…after Sierra, I was sure there was a real psychic out there somewhere who could talk to Rose’s ghost and ask her. But, as you know now,” she added dryly, “I’ve been trying for a while. I figured I’d get to you eventually. And then I eavesdropped on you and Logan Raintree. Everyone in Texas knows about him and what happened to his wife.” She patted Kelsey’s head. “So, you find it, he finds it—I don’t care. I just want it.”
“You’re good,” Kelsey said. “So good… But I’m curious. Did you kill Cynthia Bixby? Was she coming around here? Had you contacted her?”
“Actually, no. I didn’t kill her. I heard about her from Ricky and I did contact her, yes. She had some fantasy about being a psychic. But that was one messed-up woman. She had a hard time at home and claimed she heard voices. It might’ve been for real, who can tell? I’m willing to bet, though, that she looked at that water and just threw herself in. Drowned herself. I never had a chance to really get to know her—or to find out if she could locate the diamond. She was just…collateral damage. But you’re right—I am good. I didn’t let myself become a suspect.”
Sandy shrugged. “You did give me a jolt when you dug Sierra Monte out of the wall. That bitch told me she was going to find the diamond and she was going to keep it. I was livid. That night was a mess, I can tell you! I had to put a sheet over my head to go after her, and she kept running, and I had to keep stabbing her… . Thank God there were drunkards down in the bar, a bunch of losers who couldn’t hear an air-raid siren if it went off right next to them! But I couldn’t figure out what to do with the body. So I walled it up. Everything was all repainted later, after the room was cleaned, and no one was any the wiser. Anyway, when I was done, I went out the window and down the tree. When they told me about it, I cried, Kelsey. I cried real tears. I kept crying whenever I checked on the clean-up crew.”
“What about the smell?”
“I used cinnamon bark—not just cinnamon, it has to be cinnamon bark—and spices. I put it inside the wall. And, of course, I made sure everything was airtight when I did my little home repair. Remember history? How people used potpourri sachets to hide smells? Cinnamon was the base for those, and believe you me, I had to think of that quickly after she wound up dead! She was my first, Kelsey. I was just learning, you see.”
“Like I said, Sandy, you’re good.”
“I got good, that’s for sure. I knew the bodies would be discovered at some point, but I was pretty careful about promising fame and fortune only if they came alone, without anyone knowing. Oh, Kelsey, you’d be stunned at how naive women are! I took a course on what to watch out for, but those little fools are the ones who really should have taken it. They were so gullible!”
“Why did you kill them?” Kelsey asked.
“I wasn’t planning on sharing the diamond,” Sandy said. She spoke in a chiding voice, as if Kelsey should have undertood this.
“So you killed Jeff Chasson for getting too close to the truth.” Kelsey made an effort to keep her tone merely curious.
“I told you that,” Sandy said, pursing her lips.
“There’s more to it.”
“He was a prick!” Sandy leaned closer to her. “Do you know what he had the audacity to say to me?”
“What?”
“That he was interested in you.” Sandy giggled. “Well, pretty soon, unless you get me that diamond, he will get to know you. The two of you can haunt San Antonio happily together. Oh, oh…it’ll be a threesome. When the Lone Ranger shows up—minus any of his Tontos—one of you had better get me the diamond.”
“Oh, Sandy!” Kelsey said, using a voice she might have when they were kids. “You’re going to kill us, anyway!”
“I really don’t want to,” Sandy said earnestly. “I mean that. I just do what needs to be done.”
“Dress up like a hairy frontiersman?” Kelsey asked.
“That was fun. I wore a costume and did the computer invites at the internet café. But down at the plaza? That wasn’t me.” She moved her lips close to Kelsey’s ear, and Kelsey prayed she wouldn’t notice that the patch was gone. “That was my partner. No one manages this kind of operation alone. You know what? He’s a great actor. But he’s going to die tonight, too. The diamond is mine.” She moved away suddenly. “I want that diamond, Kelsey. And I want it now.”
