Blood in the Marsh Read online

  “Well, how about calling me a bartender!” Chelsey drew Michael’s attention to her. “Cause I’m dying of thirst.”

  Nick reached them and leaned down to kiss Lyra lightly. “You look incredible.”

  “Thank you.” She lowered her eyes, trying to stem the stab of jealousy she felt at the way Chelsey was smiling at Michael.

  “Hi, Chelsey. You look beautiful.” Nick smiled at her. “I see you’ve met Michael.”

  “Yes, and your handsome roommate was just about to show me where I could get a drink and then he’s going to tell me every little thing about himself.” Chelsey wound herself around Michael’s arm, giving Lyra another swift jab of jealousy.

  Michael smiled and shrugged his shoulders. “Duty calls.”

  Lyra watched them as they made their way to the kitchen. Michael turned to look back at them and their eyes met. Once more, she was seized with the disturbing feeling that she was right. She was meant to know him. Not just in her dreams but in real life.

  Nick took her hand and she felt her heart sink. As attractive as he was, she didn’t want to be with him at that moment. But she wasn’t ready to tell him that. He’d think her crazy if she was honest with him. .

  They walked outside. “I was beginning to think you’d changed your mind about coming,” he said.

  “No, it just takes a little longer when Chelsey’s around.”

  “What’ve you been up to the last couple of days?”

  Lyra forced herself to shove thoughts of Michael to the back of her mind. She was wrong about him, she told herself.

  “Let’s see. Well, you remember me telling you about Lucius leaving me his estate? His attorney called yesterday and told me that everything was finalized. I went to his office this morning and signed the papers and now it’s all mine.”

  “That’s great. I know you didn’t want his things sold.”

  “No, I didn’t. And now they won’t be. But the offer still stands for you to look through his props and see if there’s anything you want to use for your magic act. I know he kept all kinds of things stored in his attic. In fact, most of the rooms on the second floor are crammed with all his old props and things.”

  “That’d be great. When can we get in and look around?”

  “I called the power company this morning and they promised they’d have the power on tomorrow.”

  Nick took her hand and led her around to the backyard. They walked to the back of the yard and sat down in an old swing attached to a low limb of an old oak.

  “That’s a lot of trouble to go to just to let me ramble through his stuff.”

  “What is?”

  “Having the utilities turned on.”

  “Oh, well, to be honest, I’ve decided to move into the house.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes. It’s about time I got out of Lexi’s. And I always loved the house.”

  “I think it’s great. Hey, I think I hear the band cranking up. You want to dance with me, beautiful?”

  “Sure.” She wasn’t sure she was really in the mood, but let him pull her to her feet.

  Nick held her close as they swayed to the music. After a few moments, she relaxed. She should be thrilled to have someone as sexy as Nick interested in her. She couldn’t let some childish dream ruin what might be something good.

  He smelled the freshness of her hair and felt her breasts pressed against him and was seized with the urge to take her into his room where they could be alone.

  She pulled back from him with a nervous little smile. “If I remember correctly, you promised me some magic tonight.”

  He thought about the kind of magic he’d like to show her. It had nothing to do with sleight of hand. The look on her face told him it wasn’t going to happen. With a smile, he gave in. “And I always keep my promises.”

  It was almost three in the morning before Lyra and Chelsey left. Lyra was driving since Chelsey had been drinking steadily all night. Another girl, Patty, was in the back seat. Lyra and Chelsey had both been surprised to see her at the party. She had gone to high school with them but they hadn’t seen her since graduation.

  Patty was working part-time as a waitress in the restaurant where Nick performed, and was putting herself through college. She had gotten married right after high school and moved to Texas but the marriage didn’t work so she came back to St. Simons.

  Chelsey and Patty were going to sleep over at Lyra’s then they planned to go horseback riding. Lyra listened to Chelsey and Patty chattering as she drove along. It was a dark night with clouds forming a blanket across the sky, obscuring the stars and periodically hiding the moon.

  They crossed over Frederica Road on the Sea Island Causeway. After the intersection the land became less and less developed, eventually giving way to empty marshland. A mist blew in from the river, drifting over the road like snaking vines.

  Lyra slowed as she saw red lights blinking ahead of them. “What’s going on?” Patty asked from the back seat as Lyra came to a stop behind a car with its emergency flashers on.

  “Looks like someone’s broken down.” Lyra looked out of the window trying to see.

  Chelsey stood up in the seat of the convertible, balancing unsteadily. “Hey! You need some help?”

  A woman stuck her head around from under the opened hood of the car. “It won’t start!”

  “Want us to call a wrecker?” Chelsey wobbled so bad she almost fell.

  “Chelsey sit down!” Lyra turned toward her, trying to pull her down in the seat before she fell out of the car. Chelsey screamed at the same moment Lyra felt someone grab her arm. She jerked around and saw a man dressed in black with a ski mask covering his face. His gloved fingers gripped her arm painfully.

  Lyra yelled and tried to break away, at the same time trying to put the car in reverse. But Chelsey was dancing all around the front seat, trying to avoid another man who was grabbing at her. She kicked Lyra’s hand and it slipped off the gearshift.

  Patty screamed from the back seat as Chelsey grabbed her can of mace from between the seats and started spraying it everywhere. The man trying to grab her yelled as he was blinded by the liquid and stumbled away from the car.

  Lyra was fighting to hang onto the steering wheel, to keep from being pulled from the car. She kicked out as the door opened and for a moment thought she was free. Then a fist smashed down on her fingers.

  She lost her grip and they dragged her from the car. She could see Patty disappearing into the darkness between two men. A dark figure sprinted past her and she knew he was heading for Chelsey.

  “Chels, get out of here! Now! Get help!”

  Chelsey hesitated for a split second before jumping behind the steering wheel. Not bothering to close the door, she jammed the car in reverse and stomped the accelerator to the floor. Blue smoke boiled from the tires as the car fishtailed out of sight.

  Lyra screamed and fought as hard as she could as the black figures dragged her off the shoulder and into the marsh. She could hear muffled sounds from up ahead but couldn’t see anything in the dark and the fog. It seemed like an eternity before the men finally stopped. They threw her to the ground and she looked around.

  Patty was lying on her back on the ground. Blood from a nasty cut on her forehead was running into her eyes. Lyra scooted over to her and wiped at the blood with the hem of her skirt. One of the men walked up beside her and she looked up at him.

  “What do you want?” She fought to keep her voice from trembling, trying to remember what she had been taught in the self-defense classes she took in college.

  He didn’t answer but pointed to Patty. Four men moved forward. Lyra tried to fight them, but one of them backhanded her and sent her sprawling. She could taste blood on her lips and her head was spinning. She was close to blacking out. It took a moment for her to realize what was happening.

  By the time she did, she screamed. The men had Patty held down on the ground. Her arms were pulled out tight to her sides and her legs were sprea
d wide. One man was kneeling between her legs, unzipping his pants.

  “No!” Lyra stumbled to her feet and lurched toward them. “Stop!”

  Someone tackled her and she went down face first. The breath whooshed out of her and she sucked in loose dirt and debris as she tried to get air back in her lungs.

  The man turned her over and pointed a gun at her head. “Shut up!” His voice was a whispered hiss. “If you want to live.”

  Lyra looked at the gun and started shaking violently. The man sat on her chest, making it difficult to breathe. She could hear Patty crying and wailing in pain and she knew that as soon as they finished it would be her turn.

  “Please, just let us go. We won’t say anything. Just don’t hurt us.”

  The man pulled the hammer back on the gun and Lyra closed her eyes, knowing that any moment she would be dead. But a moment later, she felt his weight leave her chest. She greedily sucked air into her burning lungs and rolled over, thinking that maybe she could just run.

  She got to her hands and knees and started to push herself up. That was a far as she got. Someone grabbed a handful of her hair and jerked her up, pushing her in the direction of the cries.

  Lyra saw Patty. She was bleeding from numerous cuts and her face was dirty and swollen on one side. The men held her spread out on the ground and Lyra could see the terror in her eyes.

  Lyra was pushed forward, her eyes tearing as she was pulled by her hair. She opened her mouth to scream as the gunman pointed the weapon at Patty. A hand clamped over her nose and mouth as a flash issued from the barrel of the gun.

  Patty’s body jumped as her chest exploded. Lyra gagged and the man moved his hand, holding onto her hair. She retched until her body shook with dry heaves. The man shoved her down on the ground.

  “No, please!”

  Two men grabbed her wrists and pulled her arms out to her sides. It felt as if they were being pulled out of the sockets.

  “Please.”

  The gunman put his weapon in the waistband of his pants. At a nod from him, two of the men grabbed her legs and spread them apart. Lyra opened her mouth to scream and someone shoved a wad of cloth in it. She gagged and tried to split it out.

  Hands tore at her underwear and her eyes bulged, muscles straining as she tried to pull free. She felt his fingers as he inserted them inside her and she thrashed around, knowing that this was only the beginning. She closed her eyes tightly, holding her breath, trying to steel herself for what was next.

  A sudden sting on the side of her neck made her throat convulse. Then everything went black.

  Brunswick

  Nick skidded to a stop as Chelsey screamed. “They were right here! There was a car stopped and they grabbed them!”

  Nick and Michael jumped out of the car and looked around. They saw nothing. Michael turned to look at Chelsey. “I want you to go to the nearest house and call the police. Tell them Detective Michael Santera of the Brunswick Police needs back-up and tell them where we are. Can you do that?”

  Chelsey nodded, tears running down her face. “Find them, please.”

  “We will.”

  Michael pulled his gun as Chelsey backed the car up and turned around. He followed Nick to the opposite side of the road. The soft dirt was scratched and grass trampled.

  Nick looked around at him. “Looks like someone went this way.”

  “Let’s find out.”

  They wandered off the road, searching the ground in the dim yellow glow of the flashlight. Michael was wound up as tight as an elastic band ready to snap.

  He couldn’t help wondering at his own feelings. When Chelsey had come back and stammered out her story, his first thought had been to save Lyra. That didn’t make any sense to him. Why should he be any more eager to save her than the other girl, Patty?

  He couldn’t find any answer that satisfied because part of him felt guilty. He had been very attracted to Lyra when they met. He had to inwardly ridicule himself for the thought that ran through his mind. When their eyes met for the first time, for a split second he thought maybe she was the woman he had been waiting for.

  Embarrassed by such romantic fantasies, he tried to force himself to consider her no more or less important than the other woman. Yet, visions of what the men would have done to her flooded his mind and filled him with fear and a cold anger.

  For fifteen minutes they searched, losing all sight of tracks. They heard the wail of sirens in the distance and paused.

  “I’ll go back to the road,” Michael offered. “Yell if you find them.”

  For over an hour after the search party arrived, they searched the marsh. Michael was beginning to give up hope when he saw something in the distance. He ran toward a patch of scraggly trees and saw her. She lay on her side on the ground, her long hair covering her face. Patty lay a few feet away, a gaping hole in her chest and wide sightless eyes staring up into the darkness.

  Why then was it the sight of Lyra that had his heart hammering in his chest and a cold sweat breaking out on his body?

  “Lyra!” He threw himself down beside her and smoothed the hair out of her face. “Can you hear me?”

  She didn’t respond. Knowing better than to move her before the medic checked her out, he stood and yelled, waving the flashlight. “Over here!”

  He knelt back down beside Lyra, gently patting the side of her face. “Lyra? Can you hear me? It’s Michael. Wake up.”

  Still she didn’t respond. Over and over he called her, checking her to see if there were any wounds. She looked scratched and bruised, as if she had been in a fight, but there was no evidence of a gunshot. At least none he could see. A few minutes passed before Nick ran up with a paramedic, two uniformed officers and another detective.He took one look at the dead girl and walked over to kneel down beside Lyra.

  “She’s unconscious.” Michael looked up at the paramedic.

  The medic stooped down and rolled her over on her back. He quickly checked her. Once it was determined she hadn’t been shot he tore open a small packet and waved it under her nose.

  After a few moments, she blinked then sat straight up and screamed. Nick and Michael both grabbed her but she didn’t realize who they were and fought them as if her life depended on it. Finally, they got her pinned down and Michael grabbed her face in his hands.

  “Lyra, look at me. It’s Michael Santera. You’re safe now. Do you hear me?”

  She looked up at him with wild eyes, her chest heaving with fear. A long moment passed. Her mind was filled with confused images, images of him. But the images made no sense. Neither did the feelings. Somehow, she was sure that as long as he was there she would be safe. Why, she didn’t know. “Michael?”

  He released her and she sat up, throwing her arms around his neck and sobbing violently. The medic tapped Michael on the shoulder. “I’ll go for a stretcher. Keep her quiet.”

  Michael nodded and turned to Nick. “She’ll have to go to the hospital.”

  Nick nodded but said nothing. He watched as Michael held Lyra, seeing the sobs wrack her body. She was still crying when they returned with the stretcher. They had to pry her arms from around Michael’s neck to get her on it. He held her hand as they carried her toward the ambulance waiting on the road.

  Michael looked at Nick as the medics loaded Lyra into the ambulance. “Give me a minute to talk with Detective Ritcher and I’ll ride with you. They’re roping the area off and the coroner should be here in a minute.”

  Nick climbed in the back of the ambulance. Lyra looked at him then looked away. He took her hand but she pulled free. When Michael climbed in, she reached for his hand, gripping so tightly her knuckles were white. Michael gave Nick an apologetic shrug and held her hand the entire way.

  She was taken to emergency and the nurse told Nick he would have to leave. Michael leaned over and kissed Lyra on the forehead, then gently pried her fingers loose from his hand. She looked up at him with frightened eyes and he smiled.

  “It’s okay. You’re
safe. Nick’s going to be just outside.”

  Lyra cut her eyes at Nick and he smiled. “They just want to make sure everything’s okay. I’ll be right outside.”

  Michael stepped into the hallway with Nick. “I’ve got to go in there, you know.” Nick looked at him with a blank expression for a moment and Michael put his hand on his shoulder. “It’s procedure in all rape cases.”

  Nick’s head jerked up and his eyes met Michael’s. Michael could see the fury and knew the kind of cold rage Nick was capable of. He also knew he could not let Nick get out of control.

  “Look, we don’t know for sure, but we have to find out. Let’s not jump the gun, okay? I’ll be out as soon as the doctor’s finished and you can be there when I question her.”

  Nick nodded and leaned back against the wall beside the door, crossing his arms. Michael sighed and walked back into the room. The doctor was standing beside the bed and Lyra was sitting with her arms wrapped tightly around her knees, the sheet tucked in all around her.

  “Miss, we must examine you,” the doctor said gently.

  Lyra shook her head and the doctor turned to Michael. Michael walked over to her.

  “Lyra, you have to let the doctor examine you. It’s for your protection. Please.”

  She looked up at him and frowned. “Why are there so many people in here?”

  He cleared his throat. “It’s standard procedure in rape cases. We have to document everything.”

  She turned a bright red and looked down. Michael knew she was embarrassed. “Lyra, believe me, we’ll try to make this as quick as possible but it does have to be done.”

  She looked up at him with a hard stare that seemed to see through him. He could not stop the thought that crossed his mind. How he wished he had met her before Nick.

  Her skin flushed more deeply as his eyes met hers. Abruptly she lay down and closed her eyes, her arms crossed tightly over her chest. The doctor arranged her in the stirrups and performed the examination. Michael snapped the pictures of the scratches and bruises quickly then turned away.