Dark Rites

“Dinner didn’t happen. Barnes was dropping me off at the restaurant when someone called in an attack down the street from where we were—we heard it on the scanner. Anyway, to make a long story short, I gave chase, caught the guy—and he took some kind of a suicide pill,” Griffin told her.

“So, he’s dead?”

“Who’s dead?” Roxanne demanded, looking at Vickie with alarm.

“An attacker,” Vickie murmured quickly.

“That’s great!” Roxanne said. “No, I mean, not the dead part. He’s been caught, right? But... Griffin killed him? I mean, we shouldn’t want anyone dead. Except this guy really hurt a lot of people, so—”

“He killed himself,” Vickie said quickly.

“How, what, why?” Roxanne asked.

“I don’t know! Let me listen,” Vickie pleaded. “Griffin? The attacker is dead?”

Griffin didn’t seem to have noted her absence from the conversation to whisper to Roxanne; whatever had happened that evening, it was still consuming his mind.

“Yes. Strange, he was trying for suicide by cop. I told him I wouldn’t shoot him. He took a pill before I could stop him.”

“But it was the man who attacked Alex, right? I mean, was it? You just said that it was an attack. It was the same kind of attack—with the same words written?”

Griffin hesitated on the other end of the phone line.

“A guy is dead. A guy who was seen leaving the same note that was found on Alex and the other two victims. I’m sure Alex will be glad to hear that. Tell him for me, and that I’ll give him details in the morning. Except...”

“Except what?”

Griffin seemed to hesitate a long time.

“What is it?” Vickie persisted.

“I don’t think the man who killed himself tonight is the only one in on this,” Griffin said. “But hey, that’s for later. Anyway, I’m at the station. Devin and Rocky are going to stay at my place tonight. I told them I seldom use it and they kind of figured that. Salem is only forty minutes away—well, forty minutes or two hours, depending on traffic! They were actually taking a little personal time to check on their homes up there, see some family and friends. I’m glad they’re here, though. I can toss around what’s going on with them. You can give Alex the news that we’ve stopped one of them, anyway.”

“I can’t tell Alex anything. He didn’t show,” Vickie said. “We’re still here—we’re having the café’s Sunday night special and hoping that he will make it eventually.”

“He didn’t show? You know him better than I do, but that’s not like Alex, is it?”

“No, it’s not like Alex at all.”

“Did you call him?”

“At least a dozen times. And I’ve left just as many messages,” Vickie said.

Griffin was silent for a minute. “How long have you been trying to reach him?” he asked her.

“Um, let’s see... I started calling him this morning, when you got the call from Devin telling you that she and Rocky were going to be heading up to Salem, and did you want to meet for dinner. So, I’ve called and texted all day.”

“I can come and join you. Well, in a while. A woman was attacked—she’s on her way to the hospital. And a man died. I’ve still got things to do and, you know, paperwork.”

Paperwork.

She’d learned all about police paperwork during the Undertaker case.

“Roxie and I will go ahead and have dinner and then head to my place,” Vickie said. “We’ll wait for you there. In the meantime, I’ll hope that Alex calls me with some kind of an apology!”

“Is his family near?”

“He grew up in Massachusetts, but his folks are living on an island off Georgia now—his dad started getting asthma,” Vickie said. “He has a little sister, but she’s studying in Europe somewhere.”

“Okay.” Griffin was quiet for a minute. “I just have to report to the local office, get my statement in. And Barnes has to do the same, but he can kick this over to one of the task force members. Finish eating. I’ll get to you as soon as possible.”

“I’ll head home,” she said.

“I’ll see you soon.”

She hung up and looked around the room again with frustration, hoping—perhaps ridiculously—that Alex might have appeared. No Alex.

She frowned, though. A young blonde woman was standing at the end of the counter bar, as if waiting for a coffee creation.

But she was staring at Vickie intently, with unusual intensity.

“Why is that woman looking at me like that?” Vickie murmured aloud.

Roxanne turned to look toward the counter, but at that moment, several young men walked by—all of them a fine size to serve as tackles for the Boston Patriots, should they choose.

“There—she was right there. Really pretty blonde. Young, long hair—white summer halter dress with a flowy white wrap...”

“I don’t see her.”

“She’s gone. She was staring at me, weirdly.”

“Maybe she got a bad shot of coffee, Vickie. Hey, not trying to be insulting or anything here, but it’s not always about you, Vick!” Roxanne said lightly.

Vickie laughed. “Yeah, yeah, honestly, I know!”

“So! Back to earth here. Griffin is on his way?” Roxanne asked.

“In a roundabout way,” Vickie said. “We’ll just have dinner and go to my place.”

“You’ll go to your place,” Roxanne said. She shivered. “I want to stay a mile away from whatever it is you have going on!”

Vickie didn’t blame her friend; Roxanne had gotten a concussion when she’d been dragged into the investigation during the Undertaker case. She might have been killed.

“Oh! What I said—it sounded absolutely horrible!” Roxanne said, wide-eyed. “I mean, I’d like to think that I’m a good friend, that I’d be with you through thick and thin, but—”

“It’s okay!” Vickie assured her.

“You two will want to talk. Do you think that Griffin caught the person who attacked Alex? Do you think that Alex is safe now?”