False Healer

Chapter Seven

A few hours later, Nathan received a call, telling him that another body has been found thanks to a woman walking her dog along the beach, but instead of it washing up from the ocean, the man had been buried deep in the sand. His body was more decomposed than the others, which meant that he had been killed some time before they were.

A large crowd had gathered around the crime scene by the time Nathan and Audrey had arrived. Most of them were fearful citizens, some of them were trying to take pictures of the body as the officers tried to maintain crowd control, but one person at the scene wasn't there to look at the body. Instead, the man began to watch Nathan as he arrived with his partner and began to examine the body.

"This is Tom Baker, a bookkeeper in the town's library," Nathan said. "I didn't know him very well, but I know that he is one of the 'Troubled.' He could read the minds of those, who were within a few feet of him. It's why he kept to himself. He had no one. They are definitely targeting the 'Troubles."

"Tom must be the first death, due to the amount of decomposition," Audrey responded. "How many more are we going to find before we stop this?"

Nathan shook his head and replied, "The question I want to know the answer to is, how does this cult know which of us have an affliction? Most people knew that Tom could read minds, which is why no one ever went around him, but Ashley and Billy never told anyone, but each other and their parents. I doubt they ever said anything to anyone. And how did they even know to come here to Haven in the first place?"

Audrey answered as they both stood and walked around the area of the body, "What if the Rev had something to do with this? He's always wanted to get rid of the 'Troubled.' It's possible that he put this in motion before he died. You know that if anyone had a way of discovering this town's secrets, it was him."

"I have a feeling you're right," Nathan responded. "Let's get back to the jail. The first officer we assigned to keep an eye on Abassi and Taymor should have gotten back by now."

"You told the officers to call you if they noticed anything strange about their comings and goings," she replied. "They've done nothing suspicious so far, Nathan. But like I said, we will stop this. We will get justice for Ashley, Billy, and Tom, and any others they may have hurt."

Nathan ran his hand over his face in frustration and then started to walk away until Audrey stopped him as she held him in a hug. When the man, who had come to the beach to observe Nathan, saw that he was about to leave, he quickly moved away from the crowd he was standing in and once he was sure he was out of sight from any of the onlookers, he took out a gun with a silencer on the end.

The man aimed and fired his gun, directly at Nathan, making a perfect shot that grazed the left side of his neck. Nathan didn't flinch as he continued to hold his partner. Taking that shot was his way of making sure that what Abassi's other follower in their group had said about Nathan being the key to saving all of Haven from the 'Troubled' was correct. He was pleased to see that his friend was right.

As the man walked away, Audrey pulled herself away from Nathan and looked up at his face until she suddenly noticed blood slowly pooling out from a small wound on his neck and she cried out, "Oh, God, Nathan. You're bleeding."

As she quickly began to look over the wound, Nathan reached up to get a look of the blood for himself and replied, "That's strange. I don't remember bumping into anything. I suppose I could have been hit by something, but what?"

"It looks like something very small, like a bullet grazed you, but I didn't hear anything," Audrey answered as she quickly scanned the crowd near the crime scene. "Luckily, whatever it was only broke the skin. You're very lucky. How are you feeling? I mean, are you dizzy at all?"

"I haven't lost enough blood to get dizzy," Nathan responded. "I'm fine. I promise you, there's no need to take me to the hospital or the clinic. It just needs a little patching up."

Audrey finally pulled her hands away and nodded as she said, "I think you're right. It's a good thing I decided to put a first aid kit inside your truck."

Nathan chuckled as he asked, "You getting worried about me?"

"I am just trying to be cautious and prepared," Audrey replied as they began to walk back to his truck. "I know how stubborn you are about not wanting to see a doctor every time you get hurt. You are not invincible, you know?"

"Yes, I do know," Nathan answered.

Shortly after Audrey finished bandaging the graze on Nathan's neck, her phone rang and when she answered it, she discovered that it was Ashley's Mom calling, saying that she needed to speak with her right away. It was almost the same time that Nathan got a text from Duke, telling him that he had some more information for them as well.

Once Audrey hung up, Nathan asked, "Is everything all right?"

She answered, "Ashley's mother found something in her daughter's room that she said I needed to see. She wouldn't tell me what it was over the phone."

"Duke has something more for us too," Nathan responded. "He said it was important."

"How about I have one of the officers drive me over to Mrs. Mirren's, while you go and visit with Duke," Audrey replied. "It will save us time. When you're finished, you can come by and pick me up."

Nathan nodded as he asked smugly, "Are you sure you don't want to go and speak with Duke, while I speak with the Mirrens? I'm kidding. Just be careful, all right? I'll see you soon."

Audrey smiled as she kissed him and walked away to go speak with an officer down by the body, which was currently being taken care of by the town's coroner. Nathan left the beach and drove off toward the docks, where Duke was waiting for him on his boat.

When Audrey arrived at the Mirrens' home, Mrs. Mirren greeted her and offered her some tea. Audrey declined and followed her and her husband into their living room. Then, Mrs. Mirren walked away to go upstairs and returned a minute later carrying a small book in her hand, which she then handed to Audrey.

Audrey looked up at Ashley's mom and then back down at the book as she asked, "Mrs. Mirren, what is this?"

"When I was cleaning up my daughter's room, I found a diary," the woman answered. "I had no idea she kept one. I began to read a few of the passages and when I came to the last one, I found out something I wish I hadn't."

"You have no idea how hard it was for Ashley, dealing with her affliction," her father cut in as Audrey began to read through the last entry in the book. "Eventually, she got a handle on it and allowed it to become a blessing instead of a curse, but if given the opportunity, she would have done anything to get rid of it once and for all."

When Audrey finished reading, she looked back and forth between the young woman's parents and said astonishingly, "Ashley and Billy weren't kidnapped. They both willingly went to see a man, who claimed that he could heal them of their 'Trouble.' Her diary doesn't say who this man is. Is there anything in her room that might tell me who he could be?"

Mrs. Mirren shook her head as she replied, "Not that I noticed."

"May I take a look?" Audrey asked. "I promise that I won't disturb anything. I just need to know if there is anything that will help us to catch your daughter's and Billy's killer."

"Of course," the woman responded. "Take all the time you need."

When Audrey was alone in Ashley's room, Audrey took out her phone to call Nathan so that she could tell him what she had just learned, but he didn't answer, so she put her phone away and began take a look around slowly. Sadly, there was nothing else in the room that gave them a clue to their killer's identity. Then, just as Audrey walked back downstairs to wait for Nathan to come by to pick her up, her phone rang and when she looked at her caller ID, she saw that it was Duke.

Audrey suddenly got a bad feeling as she quickly picked up and asked, "Duke, what's going on?"

Duke answered in a dismal tone, "It's Nathan, Audrey. He's in trouble; a lot of trouble."