By the next morning there was still no word from Sheryl, so Strong contacted her next of kin. Her sister, Jacinda Brown, who lives in Seattle, indicated that she had not heard from Sheryl for over two weeks. She had no clue where Sheryl could be.
When she investigated Sheryl’s house, she found Sheryl’s purse, her dog—who had not been fed in several days—and all her clothes and valuables. There was no indication of a robbery. Jacinda Brown then contacted the police, who determined there had been no activity on her credit cards or bank account either.
If anyone has seen or had contact with Sheryl Brown, please immediately contact the Moonshadow Bay Police Department. There’s a thousand-dollar reward for information leading to Sheryl Brown’s safe return.
I frowned, sitting back in my chair. What had happened? She was obviously back now, but what was the reason for her disappearance? Since I was on the Moonshadow Bay Monitor website, I did another search on Sheryl’s name and brought up three more mentions. The first was the story I had read, the second was much smaller, but equally as important:
A local woman missing for over a month has suddenly reappeared. Sheryl Brown disappeared on September 4, and remembers nothing of her disappearance. She claims to have amnesia surrounding the month she was missing. Doctors confirm that she seems to have no memory of the situation.
Ms. Brown appears to be in sound state, but has left doctors baffled with regards to where she was and why she suddenly returned. There is nothing to indicate foul play at this time, and she returned unharmed, though slightly malnourished. Ms. Brown has subsequently quit her job at Mystic’s Voice and opened her own business.
If anybody knows where she was, the authorities are asking you to notify them so they can fill in the missing pieces.
After that, the rest of the links seemed to point directly toward Majikoil’s website. I turned my tablet off, trying to fathom what might have happened. I brought up the satellite map and looked at her house on it. The place looked to be in good shape, though there was something odd about the energy. But I couldn’t tell what.
At a loss, I shrugged and gathered my purse and keys.
Killian had asked if we could pick up more of the ties that he used to affix the lights to the fence.
“While you’re at it, could you bring me back a pizza? I have a sudden hankering for Hawaiian pizza and I don’t feel like calling in an order.”
“Roger that,” I said. “Do you want anything else?”
He glanced at me and winked. “Yes, but I’ll have to wait for that.”
I laughed. “I meant in the way of food.”
“A milkshake would be good. Chocolate?” Killian loved his chocolate milkshakes.
I gave him a peck on the cheek and promised to bring him a double-thick one. Then, with Tally in tow, I headed toward my car and we took off for Maxwell’s Department Store, which had the biggest and nicest selection of holiday decor.
Along the way, I glanced at Tally. “So, is everything okay? Regarding the baby?”
She grimaced. “I suppose. I’m still leery of getting married again. But Les is a wonderful man and he’s going to make a wonderful father. Your grandmother was right—I keep imagining what happened in my former marriage, rather than focusing on what could happen with Les. He’s put me first ever since we started dating, and even though this pregnancy was an accident, he didn’t flinch once when I told him. He just kissed me and asked me to marry him.”
“What matters is that you’re happy about this. If you are comfortable with the idea of marrying him, and if you are happy about having a baby, it’s nobody else’s business what you do.” It seemed to me that a number of my friends had been facing familial difficulties lately. “When are you going to tell your parents?”
“After they get back from vacation. That will give me time to talk to Les first and settle matters.” She paused. “Speaking of marriage, Killian told me that he’s proposed to you.”
I froze. “Kind of. We talked about marriage, but I need more time. I need to be on my own for a while. I spent eighteen years in a marriage that should have ended before it started. I’m just starting to find out who I am again. You know how that goes.”
“Yes, though I spent far less time in my shambles of a marriage than you did. Do you think—” she paused. “Do you want to marry my brother?”
I paused, then gave her a half-shrug. “I love Killian very much. I think it’s likely we’ll reach that point, but I don’t want to jinx anything. When I stayed with him while the renovations were going on, we both discovered that we have very strong opinions about how the house should be. I don’t think your brother’s quite ready to get married yet, either, and that’s another reason why I want to wait. If we do, I want to be sure. It won’t hurt us to wait, especially since we do have an understanding that we’re headed in that direction.”
“Well, I hope you end up as my sister-in-law. I like you, January. And I think you’re good for my brother.”
We fell into an easy silence as I drove down Arnica Avenue. A steep street, with several S curves involved, Arnica led from the upper residential level of Moonshadow Bay to the lower shopping level.
In winter the street could be a bear, with ice sheeting over the roadway. Even the rain could send a car hydroplaning off the side into the ravine.
Ravines were endemic to the Pacific Northwest, deep gouges slashing through the land, filled with huckleberry bushes and brambles and waist-high ferns and stinging nettle. The trees grew thick in ravines as well, and the chasms were home to all sorts of wildlife.
As we drove into the town proper, city workers were finishing decorating for Yule and the Black Friday celebration. They were wrapping lampposts in garlands and lights, trimming the trees on the median strips that divided the street lanes. The town square shimmered with glittering boxes that could fit a person, life-size figurines of Santa’s elves, along with a life-size sleigh. The sleigh was hidden by a large tarp. On Black Friday, Santa would show up and kids could ask him for the toys they wanted.
I parked in one of the lots near the middle of the downtown area and Tally and I strolled through the town square. I hooked my elbow through hers, and gave her a warm smile. She was shorter than I was, and leaner by quite a bit. We crossed to the fountain and sat down on the outer edge, the massive tree behind us.
As we did, a tall man in a long camouflage coat approached. He was wearing a ski hat, and he had long straggly gray hair. His beard covered his neck and flowed down over the top of his chest. There was a distant look in his eyes, but he focused on me as he approached.
“Who’s that?” Tally asked.
“He’s known as the Gull Catcher. I think he’s a veteran, and he has PTSD pretty bad. He also has an affinity for seagulls, and they tend to follow him around. I don’t know much about him other than that.”
“Is he dangerous?” Tally pressed her lips together as he approached us.
The Gull Catcher stared at me, his gaze linking with mine. I felt like I could get lost in the gray of his eyes—it was like seafoam on a dark overcast day.
“Can I help you?” I asked.
He ducked his head, and then, in a low, throaty voice, he said, “You’ve met him, haven’t you? The demon who walks with crows.”