Haunted in the Night

Chapter Six- Part One

Chapter Six.

“We’re here" Bob said as he pulled up in front of a decent sized cabin, there were a few smaller sized cabins all around the place in the background, last Claire knew there were some placed all around town, and when she had left they had been making more, plenty of people loved to come here travelling in the spring time, it was one of the town’s main source of income for the year, tourist season.
The big cabin had a wooden sigh dangling from a hook next to the front door that read Admission but they didn’t need to venture inside, the owner was sitting out on the porch, on a wooden rocking chair.
The best way to describe the man who owns the cabins is his short and stumpy, he couldn’t be more than 4 and a half feet tall and he looked fairly round, he was bald but had a decent beard going, if Claire hadn’t have know better she would have thought he was one of those dwarfs you see on movies where their mining for gold and jewels in the dark caves.
“Sir we’re here about Katherine Pearl, we believe that she may have rent a cabin from you" Claire spoke kindly as they climbed the wooden steps to stand in front of the man.
“Yes she rents it out every month, good customer" he had a gruff, deep tone and his brown eyes looked at them almost suspiciously.
“Did you ever see her with anyone when she would stay here?” Claire asked and he instantly scanned her over.
“I recognise you, you were that little girl who lost her parents, Claire wasn’t it? I heard you was coming back" he avoided her question and made it about her instead.
“Roy that’s not what we’re here to talk about, Katherine has been kidnapped, we need you to answer the question" Bob intervened, he knew Claire was feeling uncomfortable, her body screamed it, her shoulders had tensed, he hands clenched slightly and her jaw tightened.
“Yeah she’d sneak in a man, I knew it was happening but it was none of my business what they wanted to do with their lives, everyone in this town makes everyone’s lives their business, well not me, I’m not a little old lady who lives for the gossip" he snapped at them, taking offence by their questions.
“Do you know who the man is? Please sir it may help to understand why she was taken" Claire spoke kindly again, hoping to appeal to his compassionate side, if he had one.
“Why? So you can pin it on him just because he was getting a little bit of action on the side?” Roy snapped again, once more avoiding the question and Claire was losing patience.
“Sir I would never let that happen, now if you don’t want to help us that’s fine but the less help we get the less idea we have of what is happening here and the less chance we have to stop it and the more people that could go missing so either you suck it up and help us or we’re leaving you to you’re bitterness" Claire declared and both Roy and Bob looked taken aback, not expecting that from her.
At first Roy was shocked, then he grumbled, pouted for a moment before finally telling them what they wanted to know.
“His name is Hayden Sandson" he grumbled leaning back in his chair and putting his bottle of beer to his lips even though it was only 8 in the morning now.
“Thank you sir, you have a good day" Claire smiled at him before they made their way off his porch and back to the car leaving Roy to it and Claire scribbled the name down on her notebook.
“You know him?” Claire asked as she pulled on her seatbelt.
“Yes I do, his married, this is going to break his wife, I don’t even want to think about what it’s going to do to their little boy" Bob sighed sadly, he was dreading the thought of having to tell this man’s wife.
“She deserves to know" it was the only thing Claire could think of to say, if someone had cheated on her she would want to know, the worst would be not knowing, not seeing it, still believing in him.
“Will you help me?” his voice was pleading, he obviously hadn’t had to deal with much stuff like this before, mainly just petty kids playing pranks or stealing candy.
“I’ll help" she promised as they drove off towards this poor woman’s house where one of her worst fears was probably about to come true.
It was a nice house, white walls with a brown wooden layer on the roof, it had a big porch with wooden pillars and a lovely blue porch swing next to the front door.
Bob was about to knock but right before he did he froze, inhaling a massive breath, nerves rolling off his entire body.
“I’ve got it Bob" Claire told him as he dropped his hand down by his side and sighed, frustrated with himself.
Claire knocked, three times, then waited, listening to the footsteps as they came closer to the front door before it opened and she saw a lady standing inside holding a baby in her arms.
“Hi Chief Bob is everything okay?” the lady asked after she looked over Claire then spotted Bob who was looking very anxious.
“Lucy, meet Claire, Claire this is Lucy Sandson, Hayden Sandson's wife” Bob introduced them, not knowing how to reply to Lucy’s question.
“It’s nice to meet you ma’am, may we come in? I’m afraid we have some bad news" Claire spoke kindly, she had never done this before so she was trying her best to keep a level head.
“Um sure, right this was" Lucy replied as she led them into the kitchen where they sat down at the white round table on white wooden chairs.
Lucy was a short lady, no more than 5 feet tall, she had long brown hair that she wore up in a ponytail, her eyes were small and green and she had a thin nose.
The boy she held in her arms couldn’t be more than 4 months old, he had blue eyes with very thin hair, he wore a cute blue onesie outfit.
“This is James, my son" Lucy introduced her baby to Claire when she noticed her looking at him and Claire smiled politely.
“His precious, Lucy I’m afraid we’re here about your husband" Claire started, watching Lucy for reactions, the first one that came was confusion.
“His at work, he works as a handy-man, has something happened?” Lucy asked, the second reaction was fear, that something bad had happened to him on the job.
“No, as far as we know his fine, this is about a lady who has gone missing last night, her name was Katherine Pearl, have you heard of her?” Claire asked, watching as the confusion returned to Lucy’s expression.
“Yes, she works at the library, I have seen her there from time to time, I love to read, she’s missing? Wait what has this have to do with Hayden?” Lucy asked, shifting in her seat, looking from Claire, to Bob and back to Claire, trying to understand where they were going with this.
“Lucy I’m sorry to tell you this but we have had an eye witness come forward and state that your husband was having an affair with this woman" Claire explained to Lucy, gauging her reactions.
Surprise, confusion, dread, pain, one after the other until the lady finally burst into tears.
“No, no you must be mistaken, he couldn’t, who was this witness? Maybe he saw wrong, maybe it was somebody else" she tried to reason with herself, with Claire and Bob, as she clutched onto her child, the only thing helping this woman cope with the world right now.
“I’m so sorry Lucy, Roy said he saw Hayden with Katherine at the cabins every month, has he ever been unaccounted for once on every month?” Bob asked her.
She looked confused for a moment, then thought hard, and Claire knew that they were right when the horror finally came across Lucy’s face.
“He told me he was just going to the store, but he was gone for hours, and one time I went looking for him and he wasn’t actually up the street at all, I searched every store, and when I got home and asked him he got defensive, said I was being stupid and that he didn’t want to hear another word of it" Lucy gasped as the memories of that day were coming back to her, the puzzle pieces being put into place and she closed her eyes and focused on her breathing while the tears fell down her cheeks.
“You said Hayden works as a handy-man? Claire asked and Lucy opened her eyes and nodded as she grabbed a tissue to wipe at her tears.
“Um yeah, he also does online personal training when his at home" she replied and Claire nodded while she wrote this down on her little notebook.
“We’re going to pick him up and take him down to the station, have a little chat with him, see if he knows anything, are you going to be alright?” Bob asked her and she attempted to smile slightly.
“Yes, I’m going to go stay with my parents, I don’t want to stay in this house anymore" she sniffled as she got to her feet and started shuffling around grabbing something’s that she wanted to take with her, all while holding James close in her arms.
“Call us if you need anything" Claire said as her and Bob got to their feet.
“I really am sorry about all this Lucy" Bob said as he placed his hand on her shoulder and she sighed sadly.
“As much as I hate it, I’m glad you told me, I should have seen it, I guess in a way I did, I just didn’t want to believe it" she sobbed quietly and Bob and Claire let themselves out.
“Is it safe to leave her alone?” Claire asked concerned that Lucy might do something reckless.
“Why don’t you wait in the car? I’ll help her pack some stuff and then we can drop her and James off at her parents place?” Bob suggested and Claire nodded, she didn’t feel comfortable leaving Lucy alone after what they had just sprung on her, even if she did have her son with her.
As soon as Claire sat down in her car she continued to write notes down.
Hayden Sandson.
Works as handy-man, would have knowledge and access to people’s houses.
Also works as a online personal trainer, would have strength to overpower his victims.
Was having an affair with one of victims (Katherine Pearl).
It wasn’t long after that Bob and Lucy climbed into the car, James sitting on Lucy’s lap.
“Sorry I don’t have a baby seat" Bob apologised and Lucy just shrugged as she made sure to secure James in as much as she could.
“Got everything you need?” Claire asked kindly as she looked at Lucy in the rear view mirror, her face was red and puffy from crying, her eyes swollen.
“Yes, for now, Bob helped me pack and put it in the boot" Lucy replied as Bob started up the engine and drove off.
Lucy thanked them for the lift and Bob helped her get her stuff out once they were at her parents, Lucy’s mother instantly came out and hugged her daughter and grandson while her father grabbed her things and thanked Bob for bringing them over, it sort of made Claire envious, to have such kind caring parents, she did have that once but it had been gone for a long time now.
“Let’s go pick up Hayden" Bob said gruffly as he got back into the car and started to drive again, his knuckles going white from his tight grip on the steering wheel, his jaw tightening and his eyes hard.
“Bob I’m sorry this has been happening, especially to the people in this town who you care about but you need to calm down, we don’t need you getting in trouble because of your anger towards this man" Claire replied, reading the situation from his body language.
“You’re right" was all he replied and Claire could see that he physically tried to relax which was not an easy feat.
Hayden Sandson was not out in the field at the moment which meant he would be at the office doing paperwork so they headed straight there.
It was a small building, with a pale brown door on the right side of it and a window that took up the rest of the left side.
“Hi Hayden" Bob said once they had walked in and straight up to a very tall man, she had let Bob lead the way.
The man had to be at least 6’5 feet tall, he had big broad shoulders, all muscle, he had longish blonde hair that goes down near his shoulders, as well as blue eyes and he had a little bit of stubble.
“Bob what brings you here? Who's this doll?” Hayden asked spotting Claire, he sounded full of himself already and Claire couldn’t see what Lucy saw in him, he looked like the town jock who couldn’t let go of his glory days.