Hollow Road Read online

  “Maybe. I don’t know.”

  “And maybe part of the reason you want to go through with this job is to learn more about Oliver Chadwell.”

  “I’d do it regardless.”

  “But…?”

  Dez wanted an admission. Sully couldn’t refuse.

  “Okay, yeah. If I can find out more about him, that would be a pretty cool bonus. I don’t really know where I came from, what it all means. All I know is what Lorinda and Rhona Dule told me about this supposed Dule curse, and I can’t exactly place a lot of stock in anything they told me. One thing’s for sure though. They told me Dule men all fall victim to evil, to being possessed by it. Oliver Chadwell was in his seventies when he came to Loons Hollow, and Gillian had nothing bad to say about him. He sure didn’t sound like someone possessed, and he definitely didn’t sound evil. If I am related to him, then that proves this supposed Dule curse is bullshit. The Dules would have no reason to come after me if I can show them they’re wrong, that not everyone goes bad.”

  The words brought his brain snapping back to a dream he had recently, one that had awoken him in a cold sweat, the feel of a rough noose around his neck and a hateful rage boiling inside him. Sully had talked to his professor friend Marc Echoles about it, but had never shared it with Dez. He’d told himself he didn’t want to worry his brother. But somewhere deep down, he’d been aware of another reason: He carried his own worry. Perhaps the Dules were telling the truth. Dez believed the best of Sully, always had. The idea of him, even for a second, thinking the worst was unbearable.

  That said, there was a time for truth, regardless of consequences.

  “You remember that morning I woke up and I couldn’t breathe?”

  “Yeah. You were having a nightmare, you said.”

  “Only it wasn’t really a nightmare. It was a memory. Not my own, though—not exactly, anyway. I heard somewhere once that souls can have memories. There are people who say that’s why we experience things like déjà vu, or why we sometimes feel like we already know someone when we first meet them. Some people travel someplace new and have the feeling they’ve been there before. The dream I had was beyond all of that. I was this man in a past life. He was being hanged. I don’t know what he did to end up with a noose around his neck, but I do know there was nothing good in him. All I could feel was hate and darkness and a desire to kill everyone within reach. I asked Marc about it, and he says it sounds like it happened sometime in the sixteen hundreds. I’ve thought about it since, and I keep coming back to the possibility it has something to do with the curse I was told about.”

  “Even if the curse is real, you’re not that guy, Sully. There’s nothing evil about you.”

  “But maybe there’s something in me that’s susceptible to it. I’ve been possessed before, and I tried to kill someone.”

  “Still wasn’t you. I was there when you went after Lowell in his office that day. It was Harry Schuster, not you. You’re not capable of that sort of thing, not without some major ghostly intervention.”

  “Sitting here right now, I know you’re right. I know who I am and who I’m not. Problem is, I don’t know where I’ve come from, or who I might turn into. And I don’t know who I would have become if it hadn’t been for you. You, Mom and Dad might be the only reason I haven’t gone dark.”

  “Maybe that’s good enough. Why question it?”

  “Because I can’t risk not questioning it. If there is something inside me that isn’t good, I need to know so I can stop it if it starts to come out. I know I’m a good person, but even good people are capable of bad things. I love that you have faith in me, but what if, at the end of the day, that’s not enough?”

  “I can tell you this, Sully: It isn’t enough. It won’t do you any good if I’m the only one of the two of us who believes in you. If you don’t believe in yourself, you’re sunk before you’ve even started. You’re better than this, and you need to accept that. Don’t let the Dules convince you of anything else. If you let them do that, they win.”

  “I’m not saying I believe them. I’m just saying it would make me feel better if I could find someone who defied the curse.”

  “If the curse even exists.”

  “Fair enough. But I need to know. There’s strength in knowledge.”

  As usual, Dez had an answer, and not the one Sully was looking for.

  “Sometimes all that comes from knowledge are more problems,” he said. One corner of his mouth turned up in dry smile, the kind that carried something far deeper than amusement. “Curiosity killed the cat, remember?”

  10

  Dez’s stomach had been growling loudly enough to classify as its own species when he convinced Sully they should go get something to eat.

  Dining out with Sully wasn’t an option anymore, so they settled on take-out, tucking into Chinese food inside Dez’s apartment while Pax ogled the contents of the containers from his spot on the floor.

  Dez tossed the dog a piece of beef, watched as it disappeared down his throat almost as soon as it hit his tongue. Ordinarily, Dez found Pax’s eating habits amusing. But his mind had gone elsewhere, travelling paths too dark for humour to follow.

  “What’s wrong?”

  Sully’s quiet question wasn’t entirely unexpected; the younger man’s keen observational skills were at their finest when it came to Dez.

  “Just thinking.” The truth was his thoughts had turned again to Aiden. They were heading in that direction more and more often lately, and he knew he’d sound like a broken record—a frustratingly broken record. Sully was doing the best he could; Dez knew that. He didn’t need the added pressure, the constant reminder of how badly Dez was plagued by thoughts of his lost brother.

  Little got past Sully. “About Aiden.”

  Dez answered with a nod.

  “I’m sorry. When we’re done with this, I’ll get back to it. I promise.”

  “That’s the problem. Something always comes up. There’s always something more important.”

  “Not to me. I haven’t forgotten. I never will, okay?”

  “Yeah.” Dez paused, took a breath, let it out in a sigh. “I know. I know you won’t. I just…. It’s frustrating. Now that I know something bad happened to him—something worse than what I thought—I just want to help him. And I want to find out who did it, and why. Someone killed him, and they need to pay for it. I hate that someone’s gone seventeen years without paying. Who kills a kid anyway? He was five years old.” He felt the blood drain from his face as he stared at Sully. He didn’t know why, but the stomach-churning thought hadn’t occurred to him before. “Hey, Sull, you’ve seen him, right? Was he—I mean, was there any sign he might’ve been…. Was he…?”

  The words were there, sitting at the front of his brain in big, black letters. Yet he couldn’t say it, didn’t want to hear it out loud like that, to face what it would mean if the answer was one more thing he couldn’t bear.

  Sully picked up on that too. “He wasn’t sexually assaulted. There was nothing like that.”

  That was something, at least, enough to merit another long exhale as Dez released the tension. “Okay. Good. But that still doesn’t tell us why.”

  Sully shook his head. “No. It doesn’t.”

  Dez checked his watch. Early evening, less chance Lachlan would send him out somewhere. “We have some time. Maybe we could swing by the acreage, see if we can find him. I’m thinking maybe if he sees you enough, he’ll realize he can trust you with whatever it is he’s guarding. Or maybe I can come talk to him, persuade him to communicate with you. He might listen to me, right?”

  “Dez—”

  Whatever Sully was about to say was interrupted by Dez’s phone. He expected Lachlan, was pleasantly surprised to hear Eva’s ring tone, and to see her beautiful face pop up on the screen.

  “Hey, Evie.”

  “What are you up to?”

  “Just hanging out with Sully. You?”

  “I was wondering if you wanted
to come over for supper. Kayleigh would love to see you. It’s been a few days.”

  “I just ate, but I’d love to come for a visit anyway.”

  “That would be great. Kayleigh’s not the only one who wants to see you, you know. You can spend the night if you want, save yourself the drive later.”

  He recognized the tone in her voice, one that sent a rush of warmth through him until it settled in a place that didn’t get much use these days.

  “That would be awesome. Let me check on a couple of things, and I’ll come right over.”

  Sully had a response ready when Dez got off the phone. “I don’t know what you want to check on, but I can’t think of much that’s more important. Go. I’ll hold down the fort.”

  “You know, now that mom knows, it wouldn’t be so bad for Kayleigh to know you’re alive. Mom was the reason we decided not to tell her. We didn’t want her to feel like she was lying to her grandma.”

  Dez grinned at the changing expression on his brother’s face, a hopeful smile plucking at his lips before fading away into worry. “You think it would be all right? I mean, you don’t think she’d be mad?”

  “Oh, she’ll be mad. She might not even talk to you for the first while. But she’ll get over it. She’s not one for a grudge.” He paused, thinking it through further. “Just the same, though, maybe you’d better let us talk to her first. It’s going to be a shock, and I want to ease her into it as much as we can. Give us tonight, and we’ll work out a time for you to come visit.”

  Sully agreed, and Dez prepared to leave.

  Another interruption, another phone call. This time, though, it was Lachlan’s ring tone.

  “Oh no,” Dez said. “Bloody hell, not tonight.”

  “Maybe he just wants to tell you something.”

  “Yeah, right,” Dez said to Sully. Then, into his mouthpiece, “What’s up? It’s late.”

  “It’s not even seven o’clock. Were you planning on getting in some early beauty sleep, or is there a sitcom you were desperate to watch?”

  “I’ve got plans tonight.”

  “Cancel them. I need you to go talk to someone. I found Eleanor Kilpatrick.”

  “The other bank employee? Why aren’t you talking to her? I thought that’s what you were planning to do.”

  “I was, but my stupid brain had other ideas. I’ve been going hard all day, which I knew was against my doctor’s orders. I’m paying the price with a massive headache and dizzy spells. And I’m starting to have trouble stringing two coherent thoughts together. I have no choice. I’m not going anywhere tonight.”

  “Are you at home?”

  “Yeah, tucked up in bed like a geriatric patient.”

  Dez resisted the dig. Lachlan was clearly not in a good place, and Dez didn’t want to deal with the fallout if the man took his ribbing the wrong way. “Sorry to hear that. Should you be in hospital maybe?”

  “No, I shouldn’t. Trust me, Braddock, I’ve been through this plenty since I got clobbered on the noggin. I know what I need and, unfortunately, it’s rest. That means you’re going to have to pick up more slack than I was hoping. Eleanor lives in Tinford. I’ll text you the address.”

  “Tinford? That’s an hour out.”

  “Yep, and an hour back too. What’s your point?”

  “I don’t have one, I guess.”

  Lachlan had fallen blissfully silent, and Dez saw why as an address popped up on his screen. “You get it?” Lachlan asked a moment later.

  “Yeah, I got it. Is she even home?”

  “Yes, and she’s expecting you. She agreed to talk to us about Lonnie Debenham. You’d better get going. She won’t appreciate it if you keep her up past her bedtime.”

  Dez didn’t bother suggesting the possibility of a phone interview. Everyone trained in police interview techniques knew body language and expression could reveal truths the subject sought to keep hidden.

  He hung up with a sigh. “Damn it.”

  “Why don’t you let me go talk to her?” Sully said.

  “Maybe you’re forgetting, you don’t exist. Dead people don’t conduct interviews, Sully.”

  “I don’t know Eleanor Kilpatrick from a hole in the ground, and I can pretty much guarantee she doesn’t know me either. Go see Eva and Kayleigh. I’ll borrow Emily’s car and head out there.”

  “After I ruined her old one, I don’t think she’s going to be eager to lend a vehicle out again.”

  Half of Sully’s mouth quirked up in a smirk. “Hey, it was wrecked on your watch, not mine. Just because she won’t let you anywhere near her car again doesn’t mean she won’t let me.”

  Dez elbowed Sully in the ribs, taking satisfaction in the round of hacking it caused. Sully’s offer was tempting. Too many days went by without Dez getting the chance to see his wife and daughter. The chance to move home was there, Eva having extended it some time ago. But the situation with Sully precluded anything else, no way either of them could risk the welfare of the people they loved. Until Dez knew Sully and the whole situation was safe, there would be no going home—not for longer than a day or two at a time, anyway.

  But the thought of spending a normal night with his little family was hard to put out of his mind. Were he to do as Lachlan requested, he’d have trouble focusing on the interview, anyway, with his mind elsewhere and his mood too dark to allow light conversation. Sully was good with people, and his unusual gift meant he was experienced in talking to strangers about uncomfortable topics, like homicide. And Tinford was a fair distance from Kimotan Rapids. The chances of Sully running into someone he knew there—let alone an enemy—were pretty remote.

  “You really don’t mind?” Dez asked.

  “No, I don’t. Get going.”

  Dez ruffled his brother’s hair. “Thanks, buddy. I’ll make it up to you.”

  “You can do that by telling Kayleigh about me. I’m dying to see her.”

  Dez couldn’t resist the dig. “You ‘dying’ was what complicated matters in the first place. I’ll call you in a bit. Oh, and don’t tell Lachlan I let you do this. He’ll kick my ass.”

  “I doubt he could reach.”

  Dez grinned. “Good point.”

  The porch light was on when Dez pulled up, one he’d installed himself shortly after they’d first moved in.

  He and Eva had put a lot of work into this house, had made it their own. They’d built a life inside these walls, had raised Kayleigh here from infancy to her now seven years.

  They’d been happy here. Until life got in the way.

  But with his world getting closer to righting itself, Dez saw hope again. For the first time in well over a year, he could picture himself walking through that door not as a visitor, but as a resident—as a husband and a father.

  Eva was waiting as he reached the front steps, the door opening before he had a chance to knock. He opened his mouth to offer a greeting, was surprised by her grip on the front of his shirt yanking him inside. The door slammed shut behind him, and then he was being pulled down until his lips met hers.

  There was nothing gentle in the kiss, an urgency that would have required a fast trip upstairs in their pre-Kayleigh days.

  Speaking of Kayleigh….

  Dez pulled back enough to ask. “Where’s our girl?”

  “Upstairs finishing her shower. She had football tonight and she was worried she stank.”

  Dez chuckled and took advantage of the momentary privacy to pull Eva into the living room, taking the two of them behind the wall separating the room from the stairs. There, he continued what Eva had started, deepening the kiss until he’d completely lost himself within it.

  “Does this mean you’re staying the night?” Eva asked.

  Dez grinned. “Damn straight, babe.”

  “Don’t call me babe, Snowman.”

  Her nickname for him drew a playful growl from his throat, had him burying his face in the crook of her neck while she laughed.

  “Ew, gross,” came a voice from a fe
w feet away.

  Dez pulled back, and looked down into the judgmental face of their little girl. Kayleigh stood at the entrance to the room, arms folded across her chest as she regarded her parents with an amused smirk. She was every bit her mother’s daughter, beautiful and strong, ever-ready to playfully take Dez down a peg or two. She possessed Eva’s Indigenous colouring but had inherited Dez’s green eyes, giving her an exotic look he was convinced would require his attention in a few years, once boys started to notice her. For now, though, she was still his little girl, and she happily hugged him back as he swept her up into his arms.

  “Gross?” he said. “What’s gross?” He started blowing raspberries against the side of her face while she squirmed and giggled. “Is this gross?”

  “Stop it, Dad!” she squealed. “I just had a shower!”

  A few minutes later had them downstairs in the family room, sitting in front of the large-screen TV.

  “You said you’d already eaten, so we had something quick on the way home from practice,” Eva said. “We thought we could watch a movie together.”

  “Princess Bride,” Kayleigh said.

  Dez resisted the groan. At least four years had passed since Kayleigh first fell in love with that movie, and Dez was losing hope she’d ever fall out of love with it. He’d watched it so many times he could quote it word for word.

  Even so, the fact he was sitting here with his two girls meant he would’ve happily watched a three-hour video of paint drying. It wasn’t what they were watching; it was who he was watching with.

  He waited until Kayleigh had loaded up the movie before deciding this might be the ideal time to break it to her about Sully. He’d have to talk to Eva first.

  “You know what we’re missing?” he said to Kayleigh. “Popcorn. Have we got any?”

  Kayleigh rolled her eyes. “You could have said that when we were upstairs.”