The Whispers

The Whispers - Part 7

Ray Muldune's car was overwarm and smelled of fast-food hamburgers. He filled his seat, belly hanging over his belt. His jacket was wrinkled and soft with overwear.

"I brought you something," he said. He pulled it out of his pocket and let it rest in his open palm. It was a red Goody barrette. There was one in the box in the man's room. This must be the other one. "A volunteer found this in the woods."

They both looked at it. Eloise wasn't sure why, but she didn't want to touch it. She looked away, watched a squirrel run lithely across a branch of the great oak tree in her front yard.

"I don't know how this works," he said. His wedding ring looked uncomfortably tight on his finger.

"Neither do I," she answered. She wrapped her arms around herself. It was so cold. She was always so cold lately. She felt as if she'd be shivering even if it were a hundred degrees.

"I don't believe in this kind of thing," he said. He kept his eyes on the cheap plastic bauble, not on her.

"I don't blame you," she said.

After a moment, she reached for the barrette. At first, there was nothing. It was just a piece of plastic and metal, no energy at all. But then she was there, in the woods. She was above them while he carried her carefully between the trees. Her hair snagged on the branch, and the barrette fell onto the ground.

"It's hers," she said.

Muldune was looking at her strangely.

"What?" she asked.

"I just lost you there for a minute," he says. "You were a million miles away."

"He knows her. But she doesn't know him," Eloise said. "He saw her, but she didn't notice him. No one ever does. Once he saw her, he followed her all the time. He has access to the school."

It came out of her in a strange tumble, facts that she had no access to moments before. There was something else. She'd seen it before, but it was just out of reach. What was it?

"Someone saw a car by the side of the road," the detective said. "It was parked in the shoulder by The Hollows Wood."

It came to her then, something about the mention of the woods. She'd lost that piece. "The blind," she said. "He took her to a hunters' blind."

Muldune sat up at that. He put the car into reverse and backed out of the driveway.

"Okay," he said. He pulled out onto the rural road and started to drive. "Where?"

"Somewhere in the woods," she said. "He walked miles with her. He's tall and strong. He works with his hands."

"We tried to bring the car owner in," he said. It was more like he was speaking to himself, though, as if she wasn't really there. "But we can't find him."

"Is his name Tommy?" asked Eloise. The name was just in her head. Muldune didn't say anything. "Does he work with cars?"

Still nothing from Muldune, but he was driving faster. She knew where he was going. He was taking her to where the car had been parked. At first, she didn't think that was right. The man had been on foot. But then she put it together: he'd driven first and then come up the back way. That's how he'd made it there so quickly.

After a bit, the detective pulled over. They both got out of the car and headed between the trees without a word to each other. He had a big powerful flashlight that illuminated the way before them. They walked far, getting breathless and tired. Muldune followed close behind Eloise, who had no idea where they were going. But she did