Dragon's Cove
Book 4 of the Hunted Series
by Jamieson Wolf

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I’ve said it before: no writer lives in a vacuum. This book, indeed this series, would not have been possible without the following people:

Shelley and Arline at Write Words Inc.: Your faith in me and my writing has been a blessing. My words are more beautiful because of you. I can’t thank you enough. You have my thanks and my gratitude and I wish I could give you more.

My Muses: Kimberlee, Nai, Wanda, Erin and Sandy. Your constant support has made me a better writer and have enriched my life, my work and my heart. Knowing that I have all of you in my cheering section makes the solitary life of being a writer a much happier one.

I would also like to thank my husband Robert without whom I am nothing.

To all of you, I am thankful.

 Prologue

The man pushed a lock of white hair out of his eyes as he surveyed the room around him. It was sparse, except for three tables that stood in the centre of the room.

The walls were made of white stone, so white it almost blinded him. It made him chuckle to think of what was done in these rooms with walls that were virgin white, pure. He laughed out loud, the sound echoing off of the walls.

He wasn’t alone in the room, however. Three women lay on the long tables, the sunlight filtering through the windows making them seem as if they were sleeping. But he knew different. Sleep didn’t come to the dead, only nightmares.

Looking at the women, he went over to them and stood in front of the tables. They looked like Snow White; peaceful, yet full of cold and

ice.

The red woman looked particularly ragged. A long scar ran along the front of her neck and there was a bullet wound on her forehead. She looked as if she had gone through war and back again. Her lips,

however, remained whole and supple, almost as if waiting to be kissed. Her skin, whiter than death, complimented the mane of red hair that

spilled off the table like tongues of fire.

She had been here before.

The blond on the table next to her also had a bullet wound in her forehead. What had befell these women that they had been killed in such a way? The blonde’s eyes were open, the blueness of their gaze almost startling. Even in death, this woman was beautiful.

The third woman…looking at her he walked over to her. She was older than the other two, her face lined with age. She had been a woman in the end of her life, and still she had died too early.

A sound of tenderness escaped his throat as he touched her cold face.

She looked almost at peace with herself. This time he did allow himself to kiss her, bending down to brush his lips softly against hers.

Standing upright, he looked at her again, hoping that his kiss had wakened her. With a soft touch, he brushed back a lock of her graying hair and looked at her a moment longer. Then he surveyed the three of them.

Three women. They had all died. And they had come to him.

He was about to turn away when he saw the older woman’s hand twitch. A small movement, and then nothing.

It was beginning. He knew now that they were coming.

All he had to do was wait.

 Chapter 1

August, 2007

Erin stood outside and let the sun shine right into her eyes. She had her eyes closed and could only see the red of her eyelids, but the sun felt wonderful on her face. In the sun, she felt whole, vibrant.

Shielding her eyes from the sun and opening them, she came back to the present. She looked at the tree that grew in the backyard of the Eagle Valley house and the three flowers they had planted there. She went

over to them, drawn to them as she had been for the past month.

Three white trilliums. Each of them represented someone they had lost: Sophie, DeDe and Cleo. Three women that had had a hand in shaping

their lives. She wasn’t sure why she was so drawn to them, when Sophie and DeDe had almost ripped them apart.

Perhaps it was because she felt guilty that they had died and she had lived. It felt wrong to be alive, somehow, when she had been so close to dying herself. A tear slid down her cheek as she touched Cleo’s

flower. “Cleo…” She whispered. She had known them all for such a little time but felt as if she had known them all her life.

Death did what it could to bring people closer.

The events of the past two months, Howard once more finding them and subjecting them to fighting for their lives when they thought they had

escaped, DeDe holding Susan captive in the basement of the house.

There were too many memories here and she, for one, was glad that they were leaving this place.

Eagle Valley now represented death for her. She had come here to find answers and had come away with more questions. She shivered when she

remembered her conversation with Miriam last night.

She had been sitting on the back stoop, looking at the trilliums glowing in the dark, when she had felt Miriam sit down beside her. Miriam lit a cigarette and passed one to her, which Erin gratefully accepted. She had quit smoking more than a year ago, but having come

so close to death, it didn’t seem to matter what she did anymore.

Miriam was quiet for a moment, the two of them not saying anything. No words were needed. They had buried Cleo, DeDe and Sophie that day and

everyone was exhausted. Everyone had questions, especially for Miriam, but no one felt like talking about it yet. They all wanted one night where their problems were not the focus.

Madder was asleep in one of the guestrooms and Derrick was sleeping with Susan in their room. Erin remembered Miriam’s face when she caught sight of the ring on Susan’s finger, but again, nothing was

said. The ring said it all to Miriam. Derrick had moved on without her.

Erin glanced over at Miriam and noticed that she had a red file folder on her lap. When the other woman said nothing, Erin broke the silence. ”What’s that, Miriam?”

Miriam smirked. Even in the darkness, Erin could tell it was not because she as happy. There was a malice to that small little smile that chilled Erin, even in the warmth and heat of the night.

”There’s a lot going on that you don’t know about,

Erin.” Miriam said. “And I thought at first that, when I came back here, you would be spared. But I know that’s not going to be the case now. We’re all involved. Do you know about the snuff films?”

It was a simple question that just spawned more questions in her head.

”Derrick gave me the basics of what was happening at Hope Falls. But there is still a lot I don’t know.”

Miriam patted her hand. “There’s still a lot I don’t know either, but that doesn’t seem to matter. None of it does.”

The words chilled Erin further. “What’s going on Miriam? I came here for answers. I was hired by someone to find you and I did. But I wanted to know why before I handed you over. The man that hired

me just wanted you found but didn’t tell me why. I knew something was going on; I wanted to know what.”

”You got more than you bargained for. Do you know who it was that hired you?”

”It was a man. I know that for sure. I never saw his face.”

”Howard has always been a coward.”

”Do you think it was Howard? Do you really think it was him?”

”Who else could it be?” She was quiet for a moment before she asked her next question. “Why did you come here, Erin?”

Erin wasn’t sure how to really answer this but she did her best. ”Until I came here, you were all faces to me. Facts and files, pictures and names. Something didn’t ring true to what my employer was saying. He wanted you found and paid me a handsome sum to

find you. I wanted to know why. He wouldn’t tell me why he wanted you found so badly.”

 ”I’m surprised you found the house. It’s very well

hidden. They were all very well hidden.”

”I’m good at my job, I’m good at what I do.”

”I didn’t question that. I just wanted to know if your

intentions were genuine.”

Erin was momentarily stung before she remembered the circumstances they were in. “They are.”

”I’m glad to hear it. Because what I’m going to tell you isn’t going to be pretty.”

Erin shook her head. “What are you saying Miriam?”

Miriam opened the red file folder on her lap. Inside where pictures of Erin and a paper that looked like a contract stapled to the inside flap. Erin took the folder and flipped through the pictures.

Erin in her apartment, Erin in the shower, Erin walking in downtown New York when she had been looking for a cheating husband, Erin asleepin her bed. She felt sick looking at them. “What’s going on here, Miriam? What are these pictures?”

”It seems,” Here Miriam paused, as if looking for the words.

”It seems that Howard was watching you too.”