had moved to the lake house, but she didn’t remember where he had put the heavy canvas bag.
She looked under the bed and found nothing but dust bunnies. Nothing in the closet either, or in either chest of drawers. Now, Lucy looked up with trepidation at the trap door in the ceiling that led to a small attic space. She decided that maybe she could just have a feel for the duffle. Lucy was afraid to put her hand up there in the dark, because if she did and it landed on something small and furry? She knew she’d die on the spot.
Just for good luck, Lucy touched the Martisor around her neck, and immediately felt better. Her Romanian grandmother had given Lucy the amulet when she was just eight years old and Lucy never took it off. She sighed as she remembered the night when she had given her friend an amulet almost identical to her own. Lucy had had it specially made for Annie for her thirty fifth birthday. It pained Lucy to think that Annie had been murdered just a few days later. The gold chain had been found close to the body, but the amulet had been ripped off the chain. Lucy had been desperate to find the good luck charm. She had even gone back to the crime scene several times, in the hopes that maybe she could find it, but law enforcement would not let her near the place.
Shaking away a feeling of foreboding, Lucy climbed carefully up on the chair, and pushed the trap door aside. Her gloved fingers patted the floor of the rafters. Growing bolder now, but still thinking that any moment her finger would be bitten off by a rabid bat, Lucy gathered all her courage for one last reach. When her hand hit the rigid canvas fabric, Lucy cried out in victory and did a small fist pump in the air. Then she pulled the duffel down from the attic. It was surprisingly heavy, and Lucy struggled to keep her balance as she stepped down from the chair.
Lucy sat with the bag on the floor. When the zipper caught on something inside the duffle, she broke a nail trying to force it. But she tried again and this time managed to pull the zipper through. Lucy felt at once rewarded because there they were, the red and blue bandanas were sitting right there on top of some other clothing. But to Lucy’s disappointment, the bandanas had already been worn and were now covered with fine dirty dust. Hoping to find something else she could use, Lucy pulled the dirty cotton scarves and put them aside. Then, she continued to forage through. Next, she found a mud- dried pair of jeans, and a white t-shirt that looked like it had been splattered by red berry juice. She didn’t recognize the clothing as anything Kenny would wear and assumed that the duffel had been in the attic when they had rented the cottage. It had to be coincidence that the two bags looked identical. Khaki colored canvas duffle bags were a dime a dozen and could be found just about anywhere. Same was true with the red and blue bandanas.
Curious now, Lucy dug right into the rest of the contents for a closer look. Under the clothes she found a roll of heavy ply plastic garbage bags, tightly bundled thick twine, silver duct tape, a compact shovel, and a small box.
Lucy shook her head and swallowed the bile that rose in the back of her throat. An odor of old, tarnished copper came rushing up from deep in the bag and hit Lucy in the face with the force of a tidal wave. Lucy picked up the tee shirt she had cast aside and examined it more closely, only to discover that those red splatters were not what she had first thought. With dread, Lucy sought and found the same blood splatters on the muddy pants, and on the blade of the shovel. The bag smelled… evil. The strong stench of the dirt, dust, and blood lingered in the air like the sweet smell of a depraved soul…like the decaying perfume of the dead.
Lucy’s body slammed back on her heels and away from the bag. Her heart began to pound, and she struggled to keep her thoughts from turning towards the unthinkable. A strong suspicion filled her mind, pieces of the puzzle beginning to fit together. And then…No! Lucy shook her