Revenge, Photos and Covenants

Chapter 19: Prime Suspect

"That sounds like Sarah, if we can get Kenzie to positively ID her then you can start investigating Sarah," Zack replied, dialing Kenzie's number without waiting for Lindsey's response. "Kenzie, we need you at Lindsey's house now, she has some suspect photos she wants you to look at."

Zack hung up and turned to meet a clearly unimpressed Lindsey. "She could have come down to the station in the morning to make the ID. Have you forgotten I am kind of in the middle of something tonight?" Zack winced, having completely forgotten the fact Lindsey had her dinner party guests waiting for her in the other room.

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Lindsey left to attend to her guests, After running Sarah's information through the system, tracking calls, and credit card purchases. "Look at this," Rob said, gesturing toward a series of photographs hung on the walls. "They found a woman's footprint at the scene of Tom's murder," suddenly the computer pinged flagging a credit card receipt from Pisa Pizzaria on the night that Maria was killed.

Zack leaned in to examine the evidence. "We can place her at Maria's murder too."

Lindsey poked her head back into the office, "I heard a ping, what did the system find." Lindsey made her way over to the computer on her desk and scanned through the results. "Well, this puts her at two murder scenes on the nights they happened. It is certainly enough to get an investigation going."

"Alright then," Zack replied, pulling out his phone. "So if Kenzie can positively ID Sarah as the hooded figure in this photo, then you can bring her in for questioning right?"

"That would be the plan," Lindsey agreed, watching as Zack checked his phone for any word from Kenzie.

Rob's stomach growled "Um, would it be ok if...." He started to ask.

"Go for it, there is plenty of food out there, make yourself a plate," Lindsey said, Rob smiled and made his way toward the dining room.

He could smell the roast before he even turned the corner, but as he entered the room he realized just how quiet it was. It took him a moment to realize that the guests were lying face down in their meals. Rob rushed to the closet woman, pulling her blonde hair back so he could check her pulse. As her neck became visible. so did the two large puncture marks in it. Before he could react, he felt the clawed hand wrap around his neck from behind.

"Hello, Rob," Sarah's chilling voice greeted him, her once-blue eyes glowing yellow.

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Ethel floated adrift in a formless white void, her naked body covered in sweat. A distant voice called her name, its breath coming in short gasps. "We don't have much time," it warned before an ear-splitting, low-pitched sound assaulted her senses.

Suddenly, Ethel awoke in her bed, disoriented and dazed. Paulina sat over her, concern etched on her face. "What was that sound?" Ethel asked weakly, trying to sit up but nearly collapsing from the effort.

"Sub-sonic dog whistle," Paulina explained, holding up the small instrument. "Your holly poisoning put you in a coma, but this sound seemed to do the trick. Now we have a more pressing issue to deal with."

"More pressing than finding the person who put me in a coma?" Ethel rolled her eyes, her mind racing with questions.

"The scales have been tipped and not in a good way. Before your mother died we had an arrangement," Paulina admitted. "It has always been my duty to protect the balance of the world, but I am barred from ever directly influencing the outcome. Your mother would help reset the scales whenever they tipped too far, and now I need you to take on her role."

"She changed fate for you, what did she get out of it?" Ethel murmured, remembering the whispered conversations between her mother and Paulina.

"She got you, and your safety. That was our arrangement and I will hold up my end until the day I pass on from this world." Paulina could see Ethel was still trying to process this information. "I know this is a lot but recently I discovered Gluttony has escaped his imprisonment."