The 45th Parallel Read online

  “How did you finally get away?” Kat asked.

  “The Lethe family rented out Alcatraz Island for a private party one night. They brought in entertainment and had caterers prepare a lavish dinner. The clients were being shuttled in on yachts. The party started to break up a little early when the weather conditions in the bay began to get rough. The decision was made to move the party to the mainland.

  “One of our clients had decided to come over on his forty-foot sail boat. I was told to ride back with him and his girlfriend since they had consumed quite a bit of wine that night. I told the couple to wait for me but they left without me. I thought the Lethes would be furious with me for letting the couple sail off by themselves, so I hid on one of the boats. I figured the two would make it back safely and the Lethes didn’t need to know I was not on board.

  “I got off the boat once everyone else had disembarked. As I was leaving, I overheard two captains saying the sailboat had not returned to dock. I stayed out of sight until I found out the couple’s boat never made it back to the mainland. The boat was found the next day on the rocks at Angel Island. When I realized I was presumed to have been on the boat, I knew my only opportunity for escape had arrived. The bodies of the man and his girlfriend were recovered after they washed ashore a few days later. I was reported missing and eventually assumed to have drowned and washed out to sea.

  “Over the last couple years, I have deluded myself into thinking this was all in the past, that I could start over,” Greg said as he rubbed his temples. “Now I realize that, no matter where I go, there will always be another West to remind me that there is no escape.”

  “I think we should contact the police,” John said.

  “Then you would be signing my death warrant. They have contacts in all areas of law enforcement. As soon as the Lethes find out I am alive, I will be dead in forty-eight hours,” Greg said.

  John sat down and ran his fingers through his hair. “Then I will go directly to West and confront him.”

  “Again, you are signing my death warrant,” Greg said.

  “We need to figure out what West is doing, and how he found out about your connection to the Lethe family,” John paused then looked up suddenly. “I can make West talk, and then I can make him forget we ever had a conversation.”

  “Have you ever done that before?” Greg asked.

  “No, but I think it will work.”

  “I can’t take the chance you won’t be able to wipe out his memory. I can make a wine that will make him forget your conversation. All you would need to do is make him drink it,” Greg said.

  “How long will it take to make the wine?” John asked.

  “If I work all night, I can have it ready by tomorrow morning.”

  “Can I help?” John asked.

  “No, just leave me here with my supplies and I will get it done.”

  “I will come by in the morning pick up the wine, and pay West a visit at the bank,” John said.

  “Do you think West is tied to the Reaping Moon Witches?” Kat asked

  “Reaping Moon Witches?” Greg asked.

  John looked back over to Greg and said, “We think my parents were killed by a group of witches that have the ability to shape shift. They drain people of their life force.”

  Kat was expecting Greg to look at them like they were crazy but instead he said, “I know he has some sort of connection to those things.”

  Kat and John looked at Greg in surprise. “West had one come to visit me at night. He used it as a means to control me. Once they…drain you, they can also read your thoughts. I think that is how West found out about the Lethe family,” Greg continued.

  John turned toward Kat and said, “Can you try to visualize West’s connection to those creatures? You can use my mother’s bowl.”

  “You can really see visions in that bowl?” Greg asked.

  “With Kat we can. She is a seer.”

  “I knew there was something special about you,” Greg said.

  Kat laughed with frustration. “A lot of good it has done us so far. I get visions, but they are not providing much in the way of answers.”

  “I will call your cousins and tell them to meet us at the house,” John said. “I will follow you over there in my car.”

  “All right,” Kat said. “Good luck with your concoction tonight, Greg.”

  “Kat, if I had any idea what West was going to do with the wine…” Greg stopped, unable to finish his thought.

  “I know,” Kat said. “We will figure this out. We have to,” Kat said as she turned to go back up into the tasting room. John followed close behind and walked Kat to her car.

  “I’ll be right behind you,” he said as he opened the door to the car for her.

  Kat climbed in the car and started the engine. John closed her door and walked over to his Porsche. He followed Kat along the dark country roads to his house. The sun was sinking quickly into Lake Michigan, so by the time they got to John’s house, it was almost completely dark. Kat pulled down the gravel drive and parked close to the house. John parked beside her and they walked up the porch steps to the front door.

  Just as John was putting his key in the front door, they heard Martine’s voice calling out from the woods beyond. “John, please help me.”

  “Martine,” John called, “Where are you?”

  “I can’t move,” Martine’s voice echoed off the dark trees.

  John handed Kat the house key and told her to wait inside. She watched him move quickly into the trees. As John disappeared into the darkness, Kat remembered Martine had gone to see her son. That could not have been her calling from the woods. Eleanor’s words reverberated in her head, “Skinwalkers are tricksters. They can imitate the voice of loved ones or the cry of a child to draw you out into the night.”

  Chapter Forty-Three

  “John…wait!” Kat yelled. Her words were swallowed by the dark woods. No one answered. She could no longer hear the sound of his footsteps. To her left, on the opposite end of the porch, Kat heard a heavy thump. Kat’s heart leaped into her throat as she backed up against the front door and turned toward the sound. Standing at the edge of the porch was the tall dark figure of a man.

  “Hello Kat,” he said in a menacing voice. “It seems your friend has left you alone.” The only feature Kat could make out on his face was his yellow glowing eyes. Kat instinctively clutched her purse to her chest.

  “John!” Kat yelled.

  “I don’t think he can hear you. Don’t be scared. I just came to give you a kiss good night.”

  Kat clutched tighter to her purse and she felt something long and hard. The knife. She slipped her hand in her bag and gripped the handle of the knife.

  The dark figure took two more steps toward Kat. “The moonlight makes me so hungry.” Kat tried to make out the witch’s face but instead of illuminating his features, the moonlight seemed to be absorbed by, and darken his face.

  “Your power is so much weaker when you are by yourself. You don’t have the others to draw from,” he said.

  “What are you talking about?” Kat said as she slowly pulled the knife from her purse.

  “The five of you together are a powerful force. Much more powerful than when you are alone,” he said. He was just a few feet from her now. The witch suddenly lunged with inhuman speed and grabbed Kat by the shoulders. She plunged the knife into its abdomen but instead of backing away from her, it wrapped its bony fingers around Kat’s hand which still gripped the knife blade. She could smell the odor of decay as it bathed her neck in its cold breath. Slowly, using her hand, it pulled the knife from its abdomen.

  “Did you think this was my true form?” He laughed darkly. “After this Reaping Moon, we will no longer have to go back into the earth. Everyone in your family will die.”

  Kat heard the crunch of gravel underneath tires. She could see headlights through the trees. The witch stepped back, spread his arms and took the shape of a large black crow. As Kat’s cousin
s were pulling up, the witch flew off into the night sky. Patrick, Anna, and Helene got out of their car and walked up the porch steps to Kat. Patrick looked down at the knife in Kat’s hand, still dripping with blood.

  “Kat, are you all right? Are you hurt,” he said as he rushed to her side.

  “It’s not my blood. It is one of the witch’s.”

  They heard the crunching of leaves and the sound of twigs breaking and looked over toward the woods. John came out of the trees and walked over to the porch. “I followed the sound of Martine’s voice, but I couldn’t find anything,” he said as he walked to the porch. John looked down at the knife in Kat’s hand. “What happened?”

  “After you went into the woods, I remembered Martine stopped by Aunt Mary’s house this morning on her way to the airport. She was leaving for Cleveland. I knew that voice in the woods could not have been her. I called for you. That’s when the witch appeared. He said the five of us together were very powerful and they would kill everyone in my family. He lunged for me and I stuck the knife in him. He didn’t even flinch. He laughed and said he was not in his true form. When you guys pulled in, he changed form to a large crow and flew into the trees.”

  “So, we are hunting them, and they are hunting us,” Helene said.

  “Let’s go in,” John said as he opened the front door. When John turned on the light, he saw a note from Martine explaining she had to go to Cleveland suddenly and would call later. “Why didn’t she call me at the winery?” John wondered aloud.

  “She seemed very agitated when I saw her this morning, but didn’t say why,” Kat said.

  Anna, who had been very quiet since their arrival, suddenly said, “Why didn’t he kill you?”

  “What?” Kat said.

  “Why didn’t the witch kill you? He could have taken the knife and used it on you. Why didn’t he?”

  “I don’t know,” Kat said.

  “Are we going to try the bowl?” Patrick asked.

  John nodded affirmatively and they proceeded to the wine cellar in silence.

  “I think we should try this without touching,” Kat said, remembering Martine’s warning.

  “Agreed,” Patrick said.

  “I want to know how West and the Reaping Moon Witches are connected,” Kat said as they all focused their attention on the water gurgling up in the black bowl.

  After a few moments the water began to cloud and a picture formed. They could see one of the witches on top of Dora. As always in the visions, they could see the witch in what Kat assumed was its true form. The pale white skin glistened in the light of the moon. Its sunken eyes and protruding cheekbones made it look like it was starving. It was night and Dora was lying in the grass naked. The witch was on top of her. It leaned forward and locked its mouth over Dora’s in a deadly kiss. Dora’s eyes bulged and her body convulsed until she suddenly stopped moving, her head dropping to the side and her dead, unseeing eyes stared out of the water directly at Kat. The vision broke up and they all sat in silence.

  “They are going to kill Dora,” Kat said.

  “We can still see your image, Kat, even though we were not touching,” Anna said.

  “West must be using the wine to drug people so he can feed them to the witches,” Helene said.

  “Why would West do that? What is he getting out of this?” Anna asked.

  “Maybe the Reaping Moon Witches have promised to make West one of them,” John said.

  “The Reaping Moon is three nights away,” Kat said as she turned toward John, “and unless West can tell us how to kill these witches before they go back to their resting place, they will have to be tracked back to Beaver Island.”

  “I was planning on leaving the day after tomorrow for Beaver. I will see what information I can get out of West before I go,” John said.

  “He can’t go alone,” Kat said to her cousins. “We are much more powerful when we are together.”

  “She’s right John. If you go alone, you are as good as dead,” Patrick said.

  “I can’t promise anyone’s safety,” John said.

  “Either we face it now, or we face it in three years. Our safety is not guaranteed either way,” Patrick said.

  “Can you be at the dock by seven a.m. the day after tomorrow?” John asked.

  “We will all be there,” Anna said.

  “Will you follow Kat back to Mary’s house to make sure she gets back safely?” John asked.

  “Of course,” Anna said.

  They all went back upstairs to go. As Kat stepped out onto the deck, she turned to John and said, “Are you sure it’s a good idea to stay here by yourself given that one of the witches already paid a visit?”

  He gave Kat a little smile and said, “I would welcome a visit from them. It might save me a trip to Beaver Island.”

  “Be careful what you wish for,” Kat said. She turned then and went down the steps to her car. John stood on the porch and watched them go. Kat wondered if that would be the last time she would see John’s house.

  Chapter Forty-Four

  John was at the bank as soon as it opened the next morning. He went in and approached Robert West’s secretary.

  “I need to see Robert West,” John said.

  “Mr. West is gone for the week. He will be back next Tuesday. Can I help you with anything?” She said giving John the once over.

  “Can you tell me where he went?” John said as he leaned against the secretary’s desk and looked into her eyes.

  “He…went on a sailing trip to Beaver Island with the Great Lakes Conservation Group,” she said slowly.

  “Who went on the trip?”

  “Dora Sampson, Denise Sakal, and Rose Fellow are going. They are taking Jerry Nelson’s boat.”

  “When did they leave?”

  “They left this morning.”

  “What are they doing there?”

  “They are going to visit Beaver and hike on some of the other islands.”

  “Thank you,” John said.

  Robert West’s secretary sat in her chair staring at John with a confused look on her face. John left the bank, got in his car and drove back to the winery. He went into Greg’s office and closed the door.

  “Well,” Greg said. “Did West give you any information?”

  “He wasn’t there. Apparently he left on Jerry Nelson’s boat this morning with Rose Fellow, Dora Sampson, and Denise Sakal. They are taking a trip to Beaver Island.”

  “You’ve got to warn those people about West,” Greg said.

  “I tried Jerry’s cell phone number on the drive back here. He is out of range or not answering,” John said. “I also called Fred Watkins, at the marina, and asked him to try to contact them via ship radio. If we can’t reach them, we will have to find them in person.”

  “I’ll make some phone calls and see if I can get Dora’s, Denise’s, and Rose’s cell numbers so you can try to reach them too. I feel sick about everything that has happened,” Greg said.

  “What will happen if West gives those people the wine you gave him?” John asked.

  “It’s similar to a date rape drug except it doesn’t knock them out. At first they will become very amorous and their inhibitions will drop. The next day, they won’t remember a thing.”

  “The wine is immoral, but not deadly. If he brings the deadly nightshade wine, that’s another story. How many bottles of that have you made?” John asked.

  “Just the one,” Greg said holding his head in his hands.

  “If those people come to harm, it won’t be because of the wine you made.”

  “I want to come with you to Beaver Island,” Greg said.

  “I appreciate the offer, but if we fail, there needs to be someone here who can plan for the next cycle and finish what we started.” John handed Greg his parent’s journal. “Now you will know what we know,” he said. John and Greg shook hands and then embraced. “If we don’t come back, the winery is yours,” John said as he left Greg’s office.

  Jo
hn left the winery and drove to the marina. There was a lot to do before leaving on their trip in the morning. Once John had taken care of a few things, he stopped by Muldoon’s.

   •●• 

  “I think you’ll want to take table six,” Sarah said to Kat as Kat was bringing out an order. Kat looked over to table six to see John sitting by himself looking over the menu.

  “I have never known you to come in for lunch,” Kat said when she went over to take his order.

  “I was down at the marina getting the boat ready for our trip. Did you tell Jack you would be gone for the next few days?”

  “Yes, he said they could cover it,” Kat said. “What happened with West this morning?”

  “I found out this morning Robert West is on a sailing trip to Beaver Island on Jerry Nelson’s boat. Dora Sampson, Rose Fellow, and Denise Sakal are with them. I can’t get in touch with Jerry or any of the others to warn them.”

  Kat slid down in the seat across from John. “We have to find them before it’s too late,” she said.

  “I have been trying all morning to contact them.”

  “How long will it take us to get to Beaver Island?”

  “Anywhere from eight to nine hours, depending on the wind.”

  “Do you think we will be too late?” Kat said.

  “I don’t think West will introduce them to the witches until the Reaping Moon. The trip is roughly fifty miles. If we can keep our speed at six knots, we should get to St. James Harbor around five.” John said.

  “All right, I guess I will see you at the dock tomorrow,” Kat said.

  After getting off work, Kat went home, packed a bag, ate dinner, and went to bed early. She slept fitfully and woke the next morning with her heart in her throat. She dreamed the woman in gray was standing at the end of her bed. Her hair and clothes were dripping wet. For the first time Kat could hear what the woman was saying.

  “You must not break the curse, you must not go to High Island,” the dead woman pleaded.