Pinewood Corner Kitchen Chapter 12
Big and scary, but good. Gabriella had no idea what that could possibly mean, but she thought about it as she got to work the next day. Maybe a new assignment? Or she’d move to a new apartment? A boyfriend? She wasn’t looking right now, but maybe someday. Casey hadn’t said when this thing was coming, just that it was on its way. So maybe it would take its time getting here.
It was just her and Bradley for the first two hours of her shift, so she took some time to catch up with the data from the Chapman case. The sensors at the Chapmans’ house and Pinewood Corner Kitchen had been nearly silent since they installed them. Beyond that base level hum, there were just a couple pulses on the day the chandelier came down. For a moment, Gabriella was afraid that there was something wrong with the sensors. But they’d used these plenty since they got them. And when she remembered the Lancaster Green case, how James had been afraid of the same thing, only for the issue to be something unrelated to the sensors, she felt a little better.
But a lack of data meant that she couldn’t compare any of it to the energy readings from the last two cases where Polly Grace had shown up. Gabriella had pulled everything they had about the case at the Delinsky’s store on the South Shore and at Celia’s house, including the readings from the energy sensors at both spots. Sure, they were different types of sensors and the handheld ones obviously only worked when they were actively carried through the space. But now she had a whole lot of paperwork from two old cases sitting beside her desk and next to nothing to compare it to.
“Maybe she’s dead,” Bradley suggested as he walked into the back bedroom and peered down at the printouts scattered on the bed.
“Wait, maybe,” Gabriella said.
She looked away from the printouts for a moment. “Do you know if that’s her real name?” she asked. “Polly Grace?”
“I have no clue,” he said. “I’m taking McManus’s office for a little while, I need to make some phone calls.”
“Anything fun?”
“What do you fucking think?”
She was about to offer up the back bedroom, which was his usual haunt, but he was already gone and James wasn’t on for another hour anyway. She woke the computer up, waiting impatiently for it to finally come to life, then started her search. Putting in “polly grace” gave her nothing, of course. There were plenty of toys and some Bible verses, but nothing about an evil sorceress casting curses and accepting all credit cards. None of the various combinations of her name and “obituary” came up with anything either. She was about to try those keywords with Leominster when she realized that Polly Grace didn’t live in town. And Gabriella had no idea where she did live, but someone here did.
James’s office door was open slightly as she approached. “That’s great for the rest of the year,” Bradley was saying. “But I don’t understand why health coverage is being changed in the first place. I already had my team submit a cartoonish amount of health forms for this exact reason. You’re really going to make me do that again?”
She swallowed a groan, stopped eavesdropping, and knocked on the doorframe, pushing the door open a little more. Bradley was sitting at James’s desk, on the phone. He glared at her. What? he mouthed.
“Where does Polly Grace live?”
“Ashburnham. Go away.”
She attempted to say thank you, but he shook his head impatiently. “Fair enough,” he said to the person on the phone. “Can you use the same forms or do I need to resubmit them?”
She ducked out of the room, closing the door most of the way again before hurrying back to the back bedroom. “Polly Grace” and “Ashburnham” didn’t bring up any results at first, but eventually she reached what looked like an old message board.
One account creation and six security questions later, Gabriella was able to see its contents. Dated six months earlier, the comment was buried in a thread about dealing with a property line dispute in Massachusetts.
Joker9827: idk if she’s around these days, but polly grace’s embroidery service really helped with that for me. If you know what i mean.
Bruinsguy63: i tried to reach her with the info you sent me and the phone number is disconnected. Its an ashburnham number, she still there? I dont want to drive all the way out there for nothing
Then, a few more answers down
Bruinsguy63: whatever. She’s probably fucking dead anyway. Ask anyone in those stupid fb groups
Of course Gabriella couldn’t find any of the Facebook groups in question. And she shouldn’t get all her information from message boards and online comments for this case, but to be fair, they hadn’t led her wrong yet. She sent the answers to the printer in the living room, then went out and got them, still thinking.
She needed to know for sure that Polly Grace wasn’t around anymore. Or, at least as much as she could be sure. She tried calling the number on her cell phone and, sure enough, it was disconnected. She was significantly closer to Ashburnham than Bruinsguy63 seemed to be. So maybe it was worth taking a drive over there before Graham got here and they might have to go deal with the Chapmans again.
Or maybe he could go there and she could go deal with the evil conjurer. That sounded much more pleasant to her.
She knocked on the office door again. “Jesus fucking Christ,” Bradley hissed as he glared at her, covering the phone receiver with his hand. “Are you nine? You better be bleeding.”
Gabriella held up her hands in surrender. “Never mind,” she said. “Damn, I’m sorry.”
She closed the door this time, in faint hopes of keeping the evil within contained. She’d just wait for James to get there to make her plan.
About twenty minutes later, he was standing in the doorway of the back bedroom, looking perplexed. “I just got kicked out of my own office,” he said. “What are you working on?”
She showed him the printouts. “I know it’s unlikely,” she said. “But I wanted to look a little further into Polly Grace.”
James nodded as he scanned the messages. “This doesn’t prove anything,” Gabriella continued. “But no one has heard anything about her recently. And I tried calling the number and it was disconnected.”
“What did Bradley say about it?”
“Nothing nice.”
James laughed. “You should check in with other branches,” he said. “See if Franklin or Hillsborough have dealt with anything. Maybe even Hampshire or Windham County in Vermont. They’re right on the state border.”
The idea of contacting the Hillsborough County branch was about as enticing as knocking on James’s office door again. But she had to admit it was a reasonable idea.
She hesitated before bringing up the next part. “What?” James asked.
“I want to go to her house and see if it’s empty.”
She saw the refusal on James’s face before he spoke. “I don’t want to talk to her,” she added quickly. “But if she’s always worked out of that house, it’d make sense to see if she’s there.”
“Are you thinking about spying on her?” James asked. “She’d definitely know you were there.”
“I guess I just want to see the house.”
“And what will you do if she is the one behind this?”
Gabriella truly didn’t know. Kill her? That was the least appealing thing she’d ever heard. She would defend the team and their headquarters physically in a heartbeat, but the idea of murder turned her stomach, she thought rightfully so. But James seemed like he was actually waiting for an answer.
“I’m not sure,” she admitted. “But I need to cross the possibility off my list.”
James let out a long breath and she wondered if she dared go against him when he inevitably said no. “Tell you what,” he said, glancing at his watch. “Let’s go together. If we have enough protections on us, we’ll be fine. It worked last time.”
She went into the storage closet in the hallway as he dared to go back into his office. The memories linked with this closet weren’t as strong as the ones in the gray bedroom and she could usually come in here without thinking of James, bleeding and hiding when she was so sure he was about to die. And as she watched him walk into his office, it was easy to move past it and go in for the protective measures that were stored in there.
She got out a bag of them, then brought it over to the dining room table. James’s office door was open and he was coming out as she got there. “I’ll set up comms when we get to Ashburnham,” he said as he walked out. “And it’s my fucking office, asshole.”
He looked at her and rolled his eyes, but Bradley didn’t say anything from the office and it was actually encouraging to see James so irritated and normal. Gabriella found the rest of the jewelry she needed on the table, neatly tucked against a small stack of pamphlets. “All set,” she said.
She looked down at the protective measures spread out in front of her. James picked up a blessed necklace and dropped it as he attempted to put it around his neck, which, like it so often was now, was covered in a black turtleneck shirt. He crouched down to find it. “Huh,” he said softly.
“What?”
“I was looking for this,” James said, reappearing with the necklace and an unopened envelope.
Fang had apparently been playing with it, based on the teeth marks along the edge. James examined it with a soft laugh. “Some kind of fanged creature,” he said, then set the envelope down and hooked the necklace around his throat.
“Hey, James?” Gabriella said.
“What?”
“What can she do?”
He raised his eyebrows. “I mean, a lot. And it’s physical and she doesn’t have to be there to hurt you.”
Her stomach sank. That seemed to line up perfectly with both this case and her memories of the Delinsky case. And Polly Grace would be a lot better at this than Casey Romano. James picked up a pin and pinned it to her sweater, neatening it with a smile that made her feel a little better.
***
The ride was about forty-five minutes long. As they left, James told her that their new team doctor was going to be coming by with Jolene at some point in the next few days and he really needed to remember to tell everybody. He seemed to blurt it out as he remembered it was happening, then went quiet as he drove.
“How are you doing?” Gabriella asked a little later as they attempted to navigate what she’d thought was a single lane at a traffic light, but was apparently not.
“Fine.”
“Yeah?”
He shrugged. “You know,” she said, knowing full well that this could lead to a metaphorical door in her face. “You’re allowed to be things other than fine, even if you’re captain.”
He was quiet for a second, long enough to confirm what she’d expected. But then he laughed slightly. “Yeah, you’re right.”
Of course she was. Plus, and she’d never tell him this because there was no way to do so without it sounding incredibly mean, the days of her not seeing him vulnerable were long over by now, whether he wanted them to be or not. Gabriella got the feeling that Madelyn might have talked to him about it, but it had also just become a major part of her routine to care for him in the past few months. Sometimes in the same way he’d always cared for her. And sometimes in others, like breaking Adele’s nose or going to Gran’s with him when his parents came home after he finally told them what had happened.
Not that she’d ever seen it as James’s obligation to show no weakness. But after months of being at least somewhat allowed to care for him, seeing him start to shut down again immediately after returning to the captaincy made her want to stop that process as quickly as possible.
“Do you want to talk about anything?” she asked a moment later, then winced internally.
“We’re almost there.”
They weren’t really, but she’d stop pushing. “Okay,” she said, as he turned off the highway. “But I’m here. I mean it.”
She waited for him to dismiss her again, but he smiled. “I appreciate it, Gabs,” he said.
When they got into Ashburnham, the route was similar to the one they’d taken to get to the Delinsky family’s compound a couple years earlier. The trees were dark and heavy above them on the straight, silent road, much like the ones in Pinewood Corner. After a few turns led them to a slightly more populated area, James pulled over in a CVS parking lot and pulled out his phone.
“Let’s get comms set up,” he said as he called.
“What?” Bradley greeted him.
“How did your insurance meetings go?”
“Terrible. Are you there?”
“Yeah, I’m hooking up the comms now. Gabs is going to wear them.”
“You’re not seriously going in the house, are you?”
“No,” James said, barely suppressing a sigh. “We’re not even leaving the car. Give me some credit, please?”
Bradley was silent for a second on the other end. “Alright,” he said finally. “I’m all set on my end.”
They got the comms set up and started driving again. According to James, they’d be there in about fifteen minutes.
“I’m going to send a mass email to all the other teams, I think,” Gabriella said. “Just to check in if they’ve heard anything about her.”
“You’d be better off calling Franklin and Hillsborough directly,” James pointed out as they turned off the main street and onto a bumpy road going deeper into the woods.
She didn’t want to do that. Maybe Graham would be willing to make those calls for her since they were technically part of the case. Franklin was fine, she didn’t know anyone there. But she really didn’t want to deal with Hillsborough. But she also wasn’t going to argue with James about it. “Sounds good,” she said instead.
“I’ll call them,” Bradley said. “I don’t have anything else to do while I’m stuck on here with you.”
She felt obligated to tell him it was fine, but before she could say anything, he shushed her. “It’s Bradley at North Worcester,” he said a moment later and she glanced over to see James shaking his head. “Has your team heard anything from Polly Grace lately?”
There was a pause. “Conjurer?” Bradley added. “Gets her kicks going after ten-year-olds for cash?”
Another pause. “Thanks.”
He hung up. “Franklin says no. I’ll call Hillsborough now.”
Gabriella braced herself. “Ghost King,” Bradley greeted.
Something wilted inside of her and James started to speak, probably to correct Bradley’s manners, before looking at her and stopping. “Has your team heard anything from Polly Grace lately?” Bradley asked Elliot. “The conjurer?”
A pause. “Want to maybe ask someone?” Bradley suggested.
There was another, longer pause as Gabriella listened for the faint sound of Elliot’s voice through the comms. She didn’t hear him before Bradley spoke again. “Right. Thanks.”
He hung up again. “No from both of them,” he said. “Send that mass email, though I can check with Essex directly.”
That was a good sign, that none of the other teams around here had heard anything. And she hadn’t needed to talk to Elliot in order to get that information. Maybe things were looking up.
“I need to talk to Roxanne,” Bradley said on comms. “Who the hell is this?”
“Bradley-” James started.
“She doesn’t answer her own cell phone anymore?”
He paused again. “Yes, this is fucking Bradley. Wait, is this Natalia? I thought you died in the field by now.”
“Bradley, what the fuck?” James groaned, but Bradley ignored him as he scoffed at whatever Natalia said in response.
“Tell her to have fun with McGovern,” Bradley said. “Maybe you can help. Have you heard anything in the past year about a conjurer named Polly Grace?”
Her answer seemed longer than the ones from the others. “I’m not trusting the fucking Salem psychics,” he said finally. “But that’s good to know. Thank you.”
Now Gabriella faintly heard a woman’s voice through the comms. “Yeah, check if you can,” Bradley said. “Yeah, I’ll be there. Wait, seriously?”
He sounded happier than he usually did when he talked to anyone at their branch. “Shit, okay. Yeah, I guess I’ll see you.”
He hung up. “She’s going to check in with Roxanne, but she did hear something from some psychic in Salem last time she went for a reading because she’s an easy mark. They said some sorcerer was dead.”
She glanced over at James. He looked strange. Not relieved, but not exactly angry either. “So maybe it’s her?” Gabriella said.
“Or maybe it’s bullshit,” Bradley said.
“Or maybe it’s bullshit,” James echoed. “Gabs, what did the Facebook groups say?”
“They seemed like they were all gone,” she replied. “I’m not sure, I don’t really use Facebook much. But when I looked, there was nothing.”
“They were coded,” James said. “Bradley, are you there?”
“Obviously.”
“Can you do me a favor? In my desk, probably in the top drawer near the bottom, I think there’s a list of links from the Delinsky case. Can you get it?”
There was silence on the other end. “You don’t think the actual case file might be a better option?” Bradley asked.
“No, not for this one. I wrote them down in case I couldn’t find them again after. I saw them the other day, they should be there.”
“Sure, I guess. Hang on.”
Gabriella related to the skepticism in Bradley’s tone. She’d seen James’s office, especially his desk. She doubted Bradley would find the paper in the time it took them to get to Polly Grace’s house, but she was surprised when he came back on the line.
“I found it,” he said.
“Try not to sound so surprised,” James said. “Could you try going to those links? I’d rather not have either of us try outside of headquarters in case there’s something that could alert her.”
She heard the sound of typing over comms. “This one is gone,” Bradley said.
“Shit,” Gabriella murmured.
“There’s two more, don’t worry,” James assured her.
“Second one is dead too.”
“What about the other?”
“Give me a fucking second?”
Again, typing as James pulled onto another road, the houses getting farther and farther apart as they passed them. “This one is still open,” Bradley said. “And-”
“And what?” Gabriella demanded.
“The top three posts are asking where she is. Dated for November, March, and April of last year. Saying they’ve sent…”
Bradley read softly out loud. “‘We sent her money and never heard back. My deposit was returned by my credit card company.’ And then this one saying they left sixteen messages asking about her embroidery.”
“That was the main way she was bringing in clients,” James said.
That didn’t seem like a practical way to run a business, but what did Gabriella know about the process of being an evil conjurer in the modern age? “That lines up with the other site,” she said.
“Also, you have…” Bradley paused for a second. “Six hundred messages and notifications.”
“Why are you…” James sighed. “I didn’t realize my account was still open. I’ll check them later.”
No, he wouldn’t. “So that’s another check in the dead column,” Gabriella said.
They pulled up outside an old cottage in the woods. The house itself was small and wooden, possibly a prefab building, Gabriella wasn’t quite sure. The yard was overgrown, with no fence or gate. Worn dollar store decorations littered the yard, only a few of them still standing. Sure, it could just be badly managed, but as they sat in the car, Gabriella noticed something.
“Look over there,” she said, taking off the comms and aiming the camera at the house. “It’s condemned.”
There was a sign with a big red X on it beside the worn front door. “Huh,” James murmured beside her as he looked at it.
“Maybe she really is dead,” Gabriella said.
“Maybe,” James said, but he sounded uncertain.
“Do you think we should-”
“I don’t think we should do anything except start driving back,” James said firmly.
Gabriella wasn’t entirely sure that a quick peek around the yard, maybe a glance in the windows, was the worst idea. She looked at James as she reached for her seatbelt clasp. “You’ve been in the yard, right?” she asked. “Both of you?”
“Yeah, but that was before she had a target on our fucking backs. And somehow showed up in Bradley’s dreams when she was going after Celia and the kids.”
Shit, he was right. She’d somehow forgotten about that. “She knows who we are,” James said. “Or, at least she knows who I am.”
And she didn’t want to put James in danger. Gabriella let go of her seatbelt. “That house looks completely empty,” she said, hoping to diffuse any possible argument that was about to start. “Do we remove her from the suspect list?”
James began driving again, the house sliding out of sight as he passed a thick patch of trees. “About as much as we’re removing Casey Romano,” he said. “I guess we could ask Uncle Tommy if he’s heard anything. But I doubt it’s her.”
“So it’s not Polly Grace,” Gabriella said, relieved. “And it’s not Casey Romano.”
“Leaving us with nobody,” said Bradley.
“No,” Gabriella said. “No, not nobody. I think the Chapmans are doing this to themselves. And I think they have no idea that they are.”
