Divine Evil

I got there, and my father was ticked.”
    “Okay.” The little bastard couldn't be in two places at once, Cam thought. But he wasn't willing to let go quite yet. “You've seen that pendant Ernie wears?”
    “Sure, he used to wear it under his shirt, but …” She realized too late what that implied, and looked down at the table again.
    “Do any of the other kids wear one?”
    “No. I don't think so. Nobody's really into that kind of thing.”
    “What kind of thing?”
    “You know, Satanism and stuff.”
    Cam felt Clare stiffen beside him but concentrated on Sally. “But Ernie was?”
    “I guess. He had the pentagram. He had black candles in his room. He liked to light them and listen to black metal.”
    “Did you ever ask him about it?”
    “I asked him once why he was into that kind of thing, and he just smiled and said it was a game. But… I didn't think it was a game to him. I said I'd seen on television how cults killed people, even babies, and he said I was gullible, that was just society's way of putting down something they didn't understand.”
    “Did he say anything else about it?”
    “Not that I remember.”
    “If you do, will you come and tell me?”
    “All right.”
    “Do you want me to drive you home?”
    “No, I'm okay.” She pressed her lips together. “Are you going to talk to my parents?”
    “If I have to talk to them about any of this, I'll tell you first.”
    “Thanks.” She gave him a weak smile, then turned to Clare. “You and Angie were really great.”
    “We have to stick together.”
    Sally nodded as she stood. “I, ah … Ernie has a telescope in his room,” she blurted out. “I looked through it once when he left me alone for a minute. I could see right into your bedroom window.” She blushed again. “I thought you should know.”
    Clare struggled to keep her face blank. “Thanks.”
    “I'll see you around.”
    “Come back any time you want.” Clare let out a long, quiet breath after Sally had gone. “I guess I'd better start pulling down the shades.”
    “The little sonofabitch.”
    Clare clamped a hand on Cam's before he could rise. “What are you going to do, punch him out? Not only are you twice his age and half again his weight, but you've got a badge that says you're not allowed to.”
    “I'll take it off.”
    “No, you won't. And if nothing else, that bombshell Sally dropped will get you what you want. I'll stay away from him.” She leaned forward, framed his face with her hands, and kissed him. “But I appreciate the thought.”
    “Start locking your doors.”
    “He's not going to—” She broke off, gauging the temper in his eyes. “All right. Now, do you want to tell me what brought on that line of questioning with Sally?”
    “Missing graveyard dirt, what looks like a ritual killing, and the attack on Lisa MacDonald. The headless black cat on your back door.”
    “You can't seriously believe that one unhappy kid is on some kind of rampage for Satan.”
    “No, I don't. But I have to start somewhere.”
    Restless, she rose to pace to the window. The lilacs were blooming, damn it. There was a nest of starlings in the eaves, and the grass needed mowing. That was the way things were supposed to be. The way they had always been. She wouldn't accept that there was something undulating beneath the calm surface.
    But she thought of the books in her night table drawer. For one horrid instant, she could see her father sprawled on the terrace, broken, bleeding, beyond hope.
    She rubbed her hands over her eyes as if to erase the image. “It's absurd. The next thing you'll tell me is that the Emmitsboro Ladies Club is actually a witches′ coven that meets every full moon.”
    He put his hands on her shoulders and turned her to face him. “I'm telling you that there's something sick in this town. I'm going to find it and cut it out. Right now Ernie Butts is the only lead I've got.”
    Again she thought of the books, her father's books. God, her father. She couldn't bring herself to speak of it. But there was something else, something that perhaps meant nothing but wouldn't be such a complete betrayal.
    “I didn't think anything of it at the time,” she began and had to give herself a moment before her voice steadied. “The day you found Biff, and we went out to your mother's. …”
    His fingers tensed on her shoulders. “What about it?”
    “I stayed with her after the doctor gave her a sedative. I just kind of wandered around. There