Page 60 of Hold a Candle

They all stared at Mica.

He ran his fingers through his hair. “Fine, there’s a rifle on the ground below it though, so I’m guessing it must be Juice. I’ll have to get closer to check for sure.” He made no move to go forward and Pauley didn’t either.

“The Ghillie Dhu is said to protect children,” Jamie offered. “Do ye think he knew they were aiming for Luca?”

Pauley and Mica both stared at him. Pauley cleared her throat. “Do ye actually believe Florence saw a spirit, Jamie?” She could feel cold fingers trudging up her spine at the look Jamie gave her.

“Aye, I believe it’s possible,” he said finally. “I saw my dead brother once on All Hallow’s Eve. It scared the living crap out of me. I’ve never left my doors open since then. In fact, I dislike and dread the holiday every year,” he confessed.

“They say there is a logical explanation for everything if ye are willing to look for it,” Mica added in a muted voice. “I still say it’s lightning, the poor bastert.”

“I’ve never known of a lightning strike that burned the flesh off though. Either way, better him than Luca,” Pauley huffed decisively.

Mica shot her a disturbed side eye. “Cripes, lass. I had no idea mothers could be so bloodthirsty.”

Pauley narrowed her eyes and huffed again. “Are ye going to inspect the body? “We need to make sure it’s Juice for the safety and peace of mind of everyone at Neamh.”

“Yer the superior officer,” he reminded her with a slight smirk.

Pauley, rolled her eyes. “Fine, I’ll do it.”

“Keep yer shirt on,” Mica muttered, blocking her path. “Ye can’t tell anything from the face and the black clothing is all generic. Do ye know if he had any distinguishing characteristics?”

Pauley frowned, trying to think. “Wait! Didn’t he have a Glasgow school ring with his initials on it? I remember it on his hand when he was chugging the Screwdrivers.”

Mica snorted. “I’m not climbing that tree to check his fingers, Pauley. I will look at the gun though. Florence kept her sniper rifle in the truck of her car, and she let me inspect it when we were investigating a case. It has her initials etched in the gun barrel.”

He walked over and carefully picked up the gun by the stock with just two fingers, then backed away from the tree, never taking his eyes off the awful figure above him.

“It has her initials alright,” he said as he handed the gun to Pauley, who took off her scarf and wrapped the gun inside it to preserve the evidence. “I think we can safely assume this is Juice since they were here together.” He took out his cell and started snapping pictures from all angles, then jumped like a startled rabbit when a sudden breeze swept through the clearing and the shredded trousers on the figure flapped up and down.

“Cripes,” Jamie swore, also startled.

“Where did the wind come from?” Pauley asked, looking around fearfully. The wind through the barn earlier had been sudden too, but this time it didn’t carry any screams with it. Had she imagined the screams earlier?

They were all silent until Pauley’s cell phone suddenly rang, jarring the eerie silence and making them all jump again. It was Darro.

“Pauley? Have ye found anything yet?”

“Aye, we found what we think is Juice. Ask Florence if she left her rifle with him when she ran.”

With the phone on speaker, they could all hear Darro’s question and Florence’s frantic response.

“I missed my first shot and Juice thought he could do better,” Florence babbled. “But when I handed my gun back to him and laid down on the branch, the Ghillie Dhu appeared in the air and vaporized him. I only caught part of the blast and fell out of the tree, then ran away. It was really him I tell ye, a monster. He looked just like his pictures too, with pieces of tree branches and shrubs hanging off his face. I’m lucky to be alive.”

Pauley shivered. “We’re heading back to the East entrance, Darro. There’s nothing more we can do until a crime scene unit gets up here. At least we know he’s not coming after Luca again.”

“Okay, see ye there,” Darro replied, and hung up.

They watched as the helicopter made a wide turn and started back over the woods headed east.

“Let’s get out of here,” Pauley muttered with a full body shiver. She and Mica started back, but Jamie didn’t follow. When she turned around, he was just standing there staring at something in the murky shadows. Following his gaze, she didn’t see anything, but he wasn’t moving.

“What’s he doing?” Mica asked. “He’s just staring into the darkness.”

Pauley walked up and tentatively put her hand on Jamie’s arm. “Jamie? Are ye alright?”

Jamie turned towards her, his face pale as he cleared his throat. “Aye. I’m fine. Are we ready to go?”

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