Castle of Sorrows Read online

  He froze, remembering the butler’s table. Suddenly sure Rex’s moldering corpse would emerge from beneath it, Chad glanced down.

  Nothing. But all at once he needed to be sure. Chad wrenched the tablecloth up. What he saw made his limbs go limp.

  Then he was bent over and chuckling with relief. Someone—he had no idea who and didn’t really care—had left an empty prescription bottle of pills under the table. Chad frowned, reading the name: TANYA BROOKS. Was that Teddy’s wife? Chad couldn’t remember if Teddy was married.

  Still shivering with relief, Chad made his way around the table and reached down for the gun, and it was then that a hand darted out from the shadows and clamped over his wrist. The bones there splintered. Chad’s mouth hinged open in a soundless scream. He pitched forward toward the misshapen face, Rex Holder’s face, the skin dark red but the eyes glowing a hideous fluorescent white. Rex was grinning, reeling Chad steadily nearer, and then Rex’s other hand came up grasping a handful of what looked like dark orange pieces of jewelry. But they were vials, and they were overflowing with tiny black spiders. Rex crammed the vials into Chad’s gaping mouth, the spiders scurrying over Chad’s tongue and tickling the back of his throat. Rex’s iron fingers grasped Chad by the top of the head and the underjaw and made him chew the amber glass and the black furry spiders, and Chad tried to scream again and made only a wet, meaty gargling sound, the blood choking him the same way it had choked Rex, and then the spiders were scuttling under Chad’s eyelids, biting his eyes, and Chad could only cough more blood as he choked on glass and spiders.

  Chapter Four

  “This is nice,” Teddy said. “Just me and you. I thought I’d never get you alone.”

  They were picking their way along the muddy forest trail, Teddy’s feet occasionally slipping on the slick earth. He made a mental note to bring hiking boots if he ever visited a haunted island again during a stiff rain.

  “I don’t get it,” Ben said. “The redwood grove should be right around here.”

  “That what we’re looking for? A bunch of redwoods?”

  Ben scowled, hands on hips, and surveyed the forest.

  Teddy shivered. “I thought redwoods were the biggest trees on earth.”

  Ben didn’t answer him, but his scowl deepened.

  “There been any lumberjacks vacationing here?”

  Ben still didn’t respond. The afterimages of Castillo’s bloody face were still emblazoned on Teddy’s memory, but as so often happened he found he couldn’t control his mouth.

  “Maybe David Copperfield came out here. He figured, ‘Hey, I tackled the Great Wall of China. I made the Statue of Liberty disappear. Why not try a whole forest?’”

  Ben looked at him. “Let’s pretend what I’m saying is true.”

  Teddy arched an eyebrow. “You mean…”

  “I mean all of it. The deaths, the spirits, the beast. Just to humor me, I want you to pretend it’s all real.”

  “That’s askin’ a lot,” Teddy answered. “I used to make believe I was Willie Mays when I was a kid, but that was the extent of my imagination. I didn’t even get into G.I. Joes. Not enough racial diversity.”

  “Are you finished?”

  “Probably not, but let’s get movin’ anyway. My balls are shrivelin’ into acorns, it’s so damned cold.”

  Teddy started down the trail again, but Ben made no move to follow him. Teddy exhaled wearily and said, “All right, man, so we stand here. You get my circulation going with a good ghost story.”

  “You’ve got to make an effort to believe.”

  “Okay, an effort I can do. I think you sound like that freaky Pedachenko chick, but I’ll listen to you anyway.”

  Ben scanned the upper reaches of the trees. “Have you ever seen The Shining?”

  “Shit,” Teddy chuckled. “Jack Nicholson? ‘Here’s Johnny’? That naked dead bitch kissin’ him in the bathroom? Course I’ve seen it.”

  “In the novel Stephen King describes the Overlook Hotel as a psychic battery. It absorbs all the evil thoughts and deeds of its inhabitants through the years and bides its time, awaiting the arrival of a vulnerable individual to pour all that malice into.”

  “And Jack Nicholson was that vulnerable individual?”

  “The character’s name is Jack Torrance, but yeah, because of his drinking and his temper he’s the ideal candidate for the hotel to prey on.”

  “You realize we’re talking about a book here, right? A novel? I would think a guy like you, writes music for made-up stories, would know the difference between make-believe and reality.”

  “I’m using King’s metaphor.”

  Teddy thought about it. “So all those people on the Sorrows last summer were Jack Torrances?”

  “Not exactly.”

  “They were alcoholics?”

  Ben shot him a sharp look. “I thought you were gonna make an effort.”

  “Takes a hell of an effort when you keep feedin’ me Stephen King books.”

  “It’s just a starting place,” Ben snapped. “For Christ’s sake, would you bear with me?”

  “Okay, okay. Take it easy, would ya? I don’t particularly want those mob psychos hearing us out here, come try to finish the job.”

  “They’re the least of our worries.”

  Teddy grunted noncommittally, waited for Ben to finish.

  Ben said, “Imagine this island is like a psychic battery too, only it doesn’t just absorb the evil that’s already in a person when he comes. It sends a signal to the spirit world—heaven, hell, wherever it is that people go after they die—and those spirits, they’re summoned to the Sorrows. It’s like…it’s like a telepathic link between them. A supernatural conduit.”

  “You’re losin’ me.”

  “It’s simple. You live a good life, don’t kill anybody or treat anyone too badly, the only thing the island can do to you is magnify your flaws.” Ben’s expression grew troubled. “Of course, sometimes that’s enough.”

  “This place do somethin’ to you?”

  “I have a temper,” Ben said.

  “No shit,” Teddy said, thinking of Castillo’s mangled face.

  “It’s easy to contain under normal circumstances. Manageable, at least.”

  “But not here?”

  Ben nodded back the way they’d come. “You saw it. I started in on Castillo, but that breaker that’s supposed to shut me off before I really lose it, it was just gone. I hardly even remember what happened. Just this dark cloud coming over me, and the next thing I know everybody’s staring at me like I’m a serial killer.”

  “You see Castillo’s face?”

  Ben’s voice went sullen. “I didn’t need to.”

  “That what happened to you last summer, Shadeland? That breaker malfunction then too?”

  Ben nodded. “I almost killed Ryan. I would have if Claire hadn’t stopped me.”

  “So the island turns a guy into the Hulk even if he’s mild-mannered to start with.”

  “It’s not just anger, Teddy. It’s all the sins. Vanity, greed, lust.”

  “I thought you said it only did that to the people without skeletons in their closets.”

  “It does that to everybody. Amplifies their shortcomings…preys on their weaknesses. But some people come here with more baggage than that. More skeletons.”

  Despite the fact Teddy was already shivering, a deeper chill took hold of him.

  Ben was eyeing him steadily. “Yeah,” he said, “I’d imagine a cop of all people would have skeletons.”

  Teddy clenched his jaws. “I told you I wasn’t a cop anymore.”

  “You told me,” Ben said. “But you never told me what it was that made you quit.”

  “I don’t need—”

  “Or why it is you and your wife got divorced.”

  “
Now just shut it right there, okay? That’s private information neither you nor anybody else needs to know.”

  Something dawned in Ben’s face. “It’s already happening, isn’t it?”

  Teddy bounced on the balls of his feet, tongued the inside of his cheek. “Man, I don’t give a damn whether you’re all beefed up or not, you keep talkin’ shit about my wife I’m gonna knock you on your sorry, deluded ass.”

  “Who was it?” Ben asked.

  Teddy made a face. “Man, who was what?”

  “The one you killed.”

  Teddy started down the trail. Fuck Ben Shadeland. Fuck the mob guys too. They wanted to ambush him, they’d have their hands full. Way Teddy felt, he’d like to take them all on himself. Shadeland too, the asshole.

  Teddy stalked down the decline, slipped, then caught himself by planting a palm in the mud. Straightening, he wiped his hand on his pant leg. He was about to continue on when a hand fell on his shoulder.

  Teddy whirled and slugged the hand’s owner in the face.

  Ben staggered but did not fall.

  Surprised at his own violence, Teddy nonetheless took a step forward. “You wanna go at me, man? Show me how uncontrollable your rage is, what a bad man you are? Well, come on!”

  Ben rubbed his underjaw, touched his lips, inspected his fingertips. But when his gaze again settled on Teddy, his expression was thoughtful rather than enraged. “You don’t want to come clean, that’s up to you. I’m just trying to help.”

  “Like hell you are. You’re just using me to get your daughter back.”

  Ben nodded. “It’ll use your suspicion to turn us against each another.”

  “Aw, man, not that psychic battery shit again.”

  “Eddie Blaze was my best friend,” Ben said. “He didn’t tell me anything he was feeling, any of the uncanny things he experienced. I had to piece it together later. But once I did, I started to wonder if I could’ve saved him.”

  Teddy spread his arms in mockery. “You couldn’t have saved him because the island didn’t want him saved. Man, you act like this place has a mind of its own. Like the spirits are in league together.”

  “Maybe they are.”

  “That how you explain the redwood trees going missing?”

  “Could be.”

  “Yeah, that’d have to be it,” Teddy said. “It couldn’t have anything to do with it being pitch black, getting hit with torrential rains, and the fact it’s goin’ on four in the morning.”

  Ben looked unperturbed. “Have it your way, Teddy.”

  Teddy looked around. “So where you wanna go? Back to the castle? We best get there before the island decides to hide it too.”

  “The dock,” Ben said. “If the boat’s there we can at least get you guys home.”

  “‘You guys,’” Teddy repeated. “What about you? You gonna shack up here, redecorate the castle?”

  Ben stared back at him.

  “You’re gonna wait until the island gives you back your girl,” Teddy said.

  Ben set off down the trail.

  It was answer enough for Teddy.

  And most of all it kept Teddy out of that castle. Out of that pantry and away from all those other shadowy places Castle Blackwood seemed to be comprised of. Teddy hadn’t heard his late wife’s voice since last night, and he hadn’t found another one of those damned business cards since then either. But what he’d seen and heard last night had been enough. Enough to persuade him to stay with someone else at all times, enough to make him feel even more frazzled than he had during the investigation a decade ago. So as Ben trudged through the forest and the windswept night, Teddy found himself thinking about a restaurant, about his wife looking absolutely gorgeous—even finer than she ordinarily looked, which was very fine indeed. Finer than frog hair, Teddy would have said at the time.

  Lovely dark legs shifting under the silky black sundress she’d worn to Amelio’s restaurant that night, the beige interior of his white Honda showing off those legs to stunning effect.

  Aren’t you going to start the car? Tanya had asked.

  Eventually, he’d responded, If you don’t mind, for now I’d just like to look.

  She’d made a pleased humming sound, the one she made when she was good and turned on, when she was eager for his attentions. She called him oversexed sometimes, but Teddy never thought it a crime to be attracted to his wife. You rather I stare at other women instead? he sometimes asked her. No, she answered, but sometimes you make me feel like it’s the only thing you care about. That wasn’t fair and Tanya knew it, but tonight she wasn’t in her prudish state, was instead in one of her naughty moods. Which was fine with Teddy. More than fine. Because he was too. He could feel the closeness of the Honda, the heat trapped in here bringing him to a sweat. He keyed the engine, thumbed down their windows, and Tanya nestled into her seat, groaning with pleasure now that the sultry summer air was kissing her toned arms, caressing her splendid brown legs. Tanya leaned against the window, dipping her short black hair toward the warm breeze, and as she did the black sundress hiked up a little, showing a good deal of thigh. Teddy was already eager, the crotch of his beige twill pants constricting him, demanding he make adjustments for his throbbing erection.

  Apparently Tanya noticed too. Looks like someone’s ready to play, she said.

  I need a playmate though, Teddy answered, tilting his head toward Tanya, his radiant dark goddess. I don’t suppose you know anyone would oblige me?

  Drive, was all she said, so Teddy slipped the Honda into gear and pulled out of Amelio’s.

  On the freeway he asked her, You gonna sit all the way over there, taunt me like that the whole way home?

  You mean you can’t wait? she asked, but she was smiling broadly, and even more importantly, she’d allowed the sundress to hug her hips so much that a the smallest V of aquamarine panties peeked through at him from the cleft of her thighs. He couldn’t see much due to the darkness of the night, but with the warm wind whipping through the Honda, the sundress kept flapping and undulating, the panties beneath playing peekaboo with him.

  Roll up the windows, she said. I want to hear some Luther.

  Teddy obeyed, thinking some Luther Vandross would be just fine. She picked out one of his favorite tracks, “A House Is Not a Home,” and then she was leaning over the console, her mouth breathing deliriously tropical air over his ear. God, just the way he liked it.

  I’m surprised at you, Darlin’, he said to her. Gettin’ me all riled up and still thirty minutes from home. Some might even call that cruel.

  Her luscious red lips kissed his neck, the area behind his ear. Then the breath again, the tongue licking his ear, a sweet warmth that sent electric sparks of excitement through his body. Teddy reached over, nuzzled his fingers between her thighs. He massaged her leg so that his hand pressed against the crotch of her underwear, which was already hot and moist.

  Someone’s ready, he said, smiling at the freeway ahead but dying for them to be home in bed, writhing naked on top of the sheets.

  How long till we’re off the freeway? she asked through her achingly warm kisses.

  Turn-off’s up here, he muttered, but we’ve still got a lotta miles to go.

  I know how to make the time pass faster.

  His whole body tingled. You do, do ya?

  Her hand closing over his crotch, her touch gentle, maddening.

  Uh-huh, she said.

  He swallowed. That feels pretty nice.

  Pretty nice? Her eyebrows rose, taking it as a challenge.

  Yeah, he said. You know…

  The pressure on his shaft increased, the fingers massaging, kneading.

  That’s real nice.

  Yeah?

  She unzipped his twill pants, drew down his underwear. Lord, like being let out of prison.

  Let’s see what we c
an do about this, she said, head lowering.

  Sure, you want...

  Uh-huh, she said, and her lips closed around him.

  Teddy’s breathing went husky, his eyes a trifle bleary. He decided to take the back way home so they could avoid the highway traffic. She worked on him a good ten minutes, using her mouth but also her hand, the way he liked it. Teddy could scarcely breathe, it felt so good. They kept decelerating, his foot unable to maintain a constant speed. He was getting close, but she liked him to warn her. He was about to tap her back when her head slowly rose, the sudden coolness on him almost enough to make him spurt. She gazed out the windshield at the foliage overhanging the tortuous mountain road.

  Took the indirect route, huh?

  He tried to speak through the thickness in his throat. I figured it’d be safer.

  Always a good cop, she said, smiling and swinging a leg over him.

  What’re you doing? he asked, stupidly he knew. Because it was obvious what she was doing. Tanya was like that, she’d act like a Puritan for several months and then, inexplicably, she’d turn wildcat on him, shock him with her enthusiasm.

  Just go slowly, she said. I’ll lean over so you can see.

  But she’d unsheathed her succulent breasts, and the temptation was too great to plunge his face into them. God, they’d been married for fifteen years and she still made him crazy with his need for her. But this, he thought, this was beyond their prior experience. She liked to do some things he considered inventive, but they were always in the house, secret between them and confined to four walls.

  This was dangerous. Even though he’d only passed a couple cars since leaving the freeway, there were hairpin turns up here, places where the shoulder dropped away into nothing and the guard rails were old. Teddy was getting ready to point this out to her, but then she lowered her hips onto him and his fears were forgotten.

  She put her mouth to his ear. I want you to come inside me, she breathed.

  Teddy nearly fainted it felt so good. Tanya was doing all the work, her sex hot and slippery and darkly persistent. Teddy braked as they came around a curve, made the curve easily, and as the road straightened out he felt that magnesium-bright heat build up from the hollow of his lower back, his belly, his whole body alight with the exquisite pleasure her pistoning hips were kindling in him. The road was nice and smooth and straight, the next curve a goodly ways up, and he abandoned himself to the moment, Tanya breathing heavy and moaning now too, their tongues wrapped together, huffing into each other’s wet mouths. The geyser in Teddy built, built, rocketing higher and hotter, his whole self—