Read Online Polar (Prequel): The Turnagain Arm by Julie Flanders - Free Book Online

centuries.”
    Lara returned his smile, realizing that in spite of the lunacy of the situation, she truly did believe her husband. They had all known something was terribly wrong around the camp. In spite of the protest from her rational mind, she somehow knew that Vasyl’s explanation was correct. “Look at me,” she said. “Married to a witch. Who would have guessed?”
    “I have to do this, darling. Not just for us, but for our baby. This monster, he won’t leave us alone now. He won’t stop coming after us. And he won’t stop killing the rail people. He sees these camps as his own personal dinner bowls.”
    “We’ll stop him then,” Lara whispered. “We’ll go through your books tonight and we’ll stop him.”
    Vasyl smiled and kissed his wife’s hands. “We will.”
    ***

Chapter 13
    If there was one thing Aleksei was sure of, it was that James Hawkins was one of the stupidest human beings he had ever met. And considering the rampant stupidity of the species that was quite a feat. But James was exactly what Aleksei wanted. He was a perfect pawn.
    “So James,” he said as he poured the man another shot of whiskey. James was his last remaining customer. The other workers had all wanted to leave in groups for fear of walking alone with the murderer of the guards at large. And the whores had been too scared to leave their tent at all. “Tell me again about that knife you saw by those dead men.”
    “It was the biggest damn butcher knife I ever saw. And there was blood all over it. Whoever this murderer is, he must have gutted those men with that knife ’fore he broke their necks.”
    “You know, I haven’t been able to find the butcher knife Mr. Dzubenko uses here in the kitchen. It was in the drawer last night, but now it’s gone.”
    “That so?”
    “Yes. It’s strange isn’t it?”
    “Why’s it strange?”
    “A weird coincidence. There aren’t too many butcher knives around the camp I don’t imagine.”
    “You think somebody broke in here and stole Mr. Dzubenko’s knife to kill those guards?”
    Aleksei shrugged his shoulders and poured more whiskey, encouraging James to drink up and quench his thirst. “I don’t know. I guess I was wondering more about Mr. Dzubenko himself.”
    “What about him?”
    “What do you know about him?”
    “What you do mean, what do I know? I know he and his misses run this bar. What else is there to know?”
    “Did you know he’s involved in magic?”
    “What?”
    “Black magic.” Aleksei shook his head. “It really surprised me, but I heard him chanting some spells earlier. Some sort of gibberish that sent a chill up my spine just to hear it.”
    “Like some sort of devil worship, you mean?”
    “I don’t know. I suppose that’s what witchcraft is, isn’t it?”
    James set down his shot glass. “I don’t believe it.”
    Aleksei held up his hands. “I understand, believe me. I didn’t want to believe what I was hearing.”
    “What was he doing with this spell you heard?”
    “I don’t know. Performing some kind of ritual, I imagine.”
    “A ritual? You think these murders were some kind of ritual too maybe?”
    Aleksei shook his head. “Well that’s quite a leap. I certainly didn’t mean to accuse Mr. Dzubenko of anything like that. But…” Aleksei paused.
    “But what?”
    “But it’s odd, isn’t it? All of the people who disappeared spent a lot of time here in the saloon, didn’t they? And Mr. Dzubenko was the one who asked the guards to come here.”
    “It all started with Kenneth going missing. He worked here!”
    Aleksei nodded. “Yes, I was thinking that too.”
    “God damn. Who would have thought Mr. Dzubenko was a murderer? And some kind of devil-worshipper too!”
    “Now James, really. We don’t have any proof…”
    “Shoot, what more proof do we need?”
    “Listen, I don’t want to start some kind of riot here.”
    “Well I’m gonna let the other fellows know. We can take care of this…”
    “Why don’t