Wraith

Chapter 16 - Wraith Bait

Chapter 16 - Wraith Bait

The man in front of Jason Redcliffe was in his mid-fifties, a thin man with thinner hair that barely reached below his ears. He was short, hunched beyond his age to the point that he barely met Redcliffe's shoulder.

"Mr Grey," Redcliffe nodded to the man, "Sheriff Houseman told me that you wanted to talk to us."

"What I want is a protective detail," the older man replied, barely managing to keep the bite out of his voice. "The fucker called me."

Redcliffe's eyes widened. "He called you?"

Desmond Grey nodded. "Just past two in the morning. It was Henry's number. He... made Henry call."

"And what did he say?"

"He didn't say anything. Henry did, he must have forced him to."

"And what did Henry say?" Redcliffe asked.

"He said that the Wraith was coming for me next. He said that I was going to die."

Redcliffe paused.

"Mr Grey, can we have a moment?"

Grey opened his mouth to argue, but Redcliffe's back was already turned as he moved away with Sheriff Houseman.

"The Wraith called him?" Houseman asked, whispering but failing to keep his voice quiet.

"Henry Morgan called him," Redcliffe corrected, "Presumably under the instructions of the Wraith."

"Doesn't matter, he's taunting us!"

"If he was taunting us, he'd would have had Morgan call us instead of Grey. He didn't."

"Why?"

"Because he wants him to be afraid. He knew that Grey would go to the police, but he doesn't care."

"So he's a sick fuck that gets off on fear. Sounds like Castle to a tee."

"Potentially," Redcliffe nodded, "But there are a few things about this situation that just don't add up."

"Like what?"

"Grey gets a call from Henry Morgan that the Wraith is coming to get him, and he got the call at two in the morning. Still, he didn't come in until now. Why?"

"I talked with him about it," Houseman replied, "He's just scared. Hell, everyone in this town is scared. I think we can forgive him for being a little slow on the draw."

"It's not just that, Richard," Redcliffe said, shaking his head, "Something about these latest killings doesn't add up at all."

"What's that supposed to mean? We have our suspects, we know who's behind all this. It's Castle and his fuckin friends."

"We have reason to believe that Morgan falsified Charlotte Castle's medical records. Next, the Wraith targets the man who used to be Charlotte's boss. Do you think this is a coincidence?"

Houseman stiffened slightly. "Henry wouldn't do that, he was a good man! What evidence do you have?"

"Nothing solid yet," Redcliffe said, "It's just a hunch that we're waiting to confirm."

"Why wasn't I told?"

Redcliffe frowned. "Because we only just connected some dots. As soon as I had it confirmed, I was going to bring it directly to you."

"Really? Because all I've seen is you digging at things that don't need digging at, ignoring the obvious culprits while people in my town die!"

"We're not ignoring Nathan Castle or his men, Sheriff," Redcliffe said evenly, "We're trying to work out why all of this is happening, and right now a lot of things lead back to Charlotte Castle's suicide. That's a lead we need to investigate."