Kacey was impressed; Hollis's "crazy idea" had actually worked.
He had written the note with his left hand, claiming to be ambidextrous. It had looked to Kacey like a three-year old epileptic had written it during a seizure but what was important was that Captain Bryce took it seriously. And their intervention had actually saved a life for once. That felt good. It was all over the news. It was a huge step in the right direction...
But what next? Hollis had been right to worry about the fact that they seemingly had no way of killing Crowe. So... that was where Kacey's "crazy idea" came in. Crazy, because it required the cooperation of the one person on earth who wanted to have nothing to do with her: her brother J.D.
She found him, as she knew she would, standing at their parents' grave. It was, after all, the anniversary of the accident that took their lives.
"Hey," she said as walked up behind him. A light breeze stirred his curly brown hair as he continued staring down at the headstones, not acknowledging her presence. "I know you get up early, figured you'd be here at the butt crack of dawn..." She came up and stood next to him. The two of them were silent for a long moment. Finally J.D. said "Why are you here?"
Kacey considered trying to B.S. her brother for a bit, butter him up first... but he would see right through that. Might as well get to the point. "To pay my respects but also... because I need your help."
"You need my help," J.D. responded, his voice laced with sarcasm.
"Look I know we haven't really talked since... since mom and dad died. And that's my fault. After the accident I needed to get away. People... process things differently."
"Yeah you run," J.D. said.
"What?"
"It's what you do. You run away. You ran away from home twice when we were kids. After mom and dad died you ran again and then after that incident in L.A. you came running back."
Kacey's hands clenched into fists as she turned to face J.D. "'The incident?' Are you serious? 'I run'? Okay that's better than what you do: you sit. In one spot, and you get stuck there until roots grow out of your feet. What have you ever done? You took over mom and dad's business because it was the safe thing to do. You've stayed in this town all your life because it's safe. You don't take any risks, you don't take chances. You know what? Maybe I run but at least I get somewhere."
J.D. turned and locked eyes on her. "Really? Looks to me like you ended up right back where you started."
It was all she could do not to throttle him. She had to remind herself that she needed J.D. if her hail-Mary plan had any chance of success. She took a deep breath and blew it out. This conversation was getting nowhere. Reaching into her jacket she pulled out a piece of paper, thrusting it at J.D.'s stomach. "This isn't about me. Or you being pissed at me. This is about saving lives. I need something," she said. "It's a Winchester rifle, model 1920."
J.D. yanked the paper from her hand, frowning. "Winchester stopped using years as model numbers in 1919."
"Yeah, I know. Look, I spent like three hours yesterday in a library, looking at freaking microfilm. Microfilm, okay? You know me well enough to know what kind of torture that was. I didn't even know that crap existed until my partner-it doesn't matter, the point is, you're better at tracking down antiques than just about anyone... except for dad." J.D. winced at the mention of their father. "If anyone can find this thing, it's you," Kacey said.
"Why would some old rifle save lives?"
She gazed at her brother, considering telling him what she had found out about the history of the rifle... but he was always such a realist... and there was no way to really tell part of it without telling the whole crazy story. Finally she settled on "You saw the news yesterday, right? You know there are things about what I do that I can't tell you but what I can tell you is that the guy who lived yesterday, he lived because of me and my partner. And I'm telling you that you can save more lives by getting me this gun. So I need you to do something incredibly difficult; something you haven't done since we were kids. I need you to trust me."
Kacey had no idea whether or not it would work.
J.D. had taken the paper and left without saying much of anything. Typical. But if J.D. did come through; if he could get his hands on that rifle...
What Kacey had learned was that a little-known legend existed regarding Sarah Winchester. She was the old gal who built the famous Winchester House throughout the late 1800s into the early 20s; the giant house with the stairways that led to ceilings and doors on upper floors that opened onto thin air. She had built the crazy domicile to fool the ghosts that haunted her; phantoms of those who had been shot with Winchester rifles, rifles made by her late husband. That much of the history was well known. What wasn't well known was what Kacey had uncovered at the library, a story that had been published in a single paper and for whatever reason had never really caught or held the public's attention...
Supposedly, toward the end of her life Sarah became convinced that the spirits would take corporeal form and seek vengeance by ripping her to shreds. The legends had it that Sarah held a séance, wherein she contacted the ghost of her dead husband and received from him the specifications for a singular rifle... one capable of killing even the most powerful of hell-spawned demons.
That was the Winchester Model 1920; only one of them ever made... the same gun that the Westco board of directors had supposedly tracked down and supplied to Booker Finn; the very same weapon allegedly used to kill the coal miner inmates of Pleasant Hills Asylum in 1930.
How much of that could be true? Kacey didn't know, but her view of what was believable or unbelievable had changed substantially in recent days. She pulled up in front of Hollis's house in her civilian vehicle, a beat-up Dodge Daytona. Hollis had taken her by her apartment before sunrise so Kacey could shower and pick up her car. He had walked her to her door and waited outside, then walked her to her car when she left to meet J.D.
For a crotchety old goat turd, Hollis was turning out to be an okay guy.
Kacey got out and knocked on the front door. Hollis answered in sweatpants and a T shirt, having apparently decided to go back to sleep once he got home.
A minute later the two of them were seated across from each other at Hollis's dining room table, coffee mugs in front of them. Kacey filled Hollis in on her conversation with J.D.
"Let's say he does get you the gun," Hollis said. "How do we find Crowe?"
"I was thinking about that," Kacey answered, leaning forward. "Now that the law is on to him, I don't think Crowe will use... "chosen" anymore. I think he'll go after the descendants himself."
Hollis set his mug down and rubbed his forehead. "We have no idea who he might target next. There's gotta be twenty people left on that list..."
Kacey's eyes twinkled as she spoke faster. "Yeah, but, once Crowe had done his... first sweep of Westco descendants, who did he try to knock off next? Brad Graham, brother to the first victim, Percy."
"You think he's being systematic?"
"Maybe," Kacey said.
Hollis's eyes flicked to the corner of the room as he thought. "Nicole Richards was the second victim," he said. Kacey nodded and said "Unmarried, no siblings, and of her parents, only her father's left alive."
Hollis took a sip of coffee. Then: "So you think we should stake out Nicole's dad."
"I think you should," Kacey said. "On the Graham side, Brad was also the only descendant left. Neither he nor Percy were married or had kids, and their parents are gone. But I think if Crowe is truly being systematic, or just plain stubborn, he might try to finish what he started with Brad."
"You're going to watch the hospital," Hollis responded.
"I watch Brad at the hospital, you watch Papa Richards. We stay in constant contact."
"And what if Crowe shows up but your brother hasn't gotten you the gun? What if you do get the gun and it doesn't work?"
"Then... we'll have to improvise," Kacey said, aware of how lame that sounded.
Hollis took a deep breath and blew it out. "This is a terrible plan," he said.
And he was right. It was a terrible plan. But it was the only plan they had. And until they came up with a better one, Kacey would just have to cross her fingers and pray to all her lucky stars that her brother would come through in finding that gun.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I had a chance to tour the Winchester House a while back. Absolutely amazing! And what an incredible history it has. Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter. See you all in one week!