“Supposedly he’s got some old documentation of church records. Possibly some adoption references. I’m trying to verify my birth parents.” Victoria watched his face carefully. Why was the teen so alarmed? “Does that sound like something he’d have?”

“I don’t really know.” Jason looked away, picking at his jeans.

Why is he lying to me?

“Did your grandfather belong to a church that burned down a long time ago?” Seth asked, his brows nearly touching each other as he studied the young man. Seth sees it, too.

“Beats me.” Jason bent to examine the bloody denim around his knee.

Victoria turned toward the house as the squeak of hinges caught her attention. She turned in time to see a flash from a shotgun muzzle and was deafened by the immediate roar.

Seth tackled her from behind, crushing her into the mud.

Seth saw the old man step out the door with his double-barreled shotgun pointed in their direction. The boom sounded in his ears as he rushed at Victoria, hitting her in the shoulders and landing on top of her, covering her head with his hands. Trinity cried out, as Jason pushed her aside, knocking her down.

“Nonno! Stop it! It’s me!” the teen yelled at the old man.

“Jason?” the man asked.

“Damn it, Nonno! What are you doing? You knew I was coming.”

“Don’t swear at me, boy! I expected you and the girl. Who else is with you?”

Seth studied the white-bearded old man from his position on Victoria’s back. He was squinting in the dim light, and Seth suspected he’d shot over their heads, not directly at them. “Mr. Adams?” Seth asked.

The gun moved toward Seth. “Who wants to know?”

“My name is Seth. Victoria Peres is with me. I think you were going to show us some paperwork in your barn?” The old man was silent, and Seth wondered if he’d forgotten about their meeting already. Was he sane? At the worst he had one round left in the shotgun. Judging by his stiff movements, it’d take a few moments to reload. “Are you going to put away that gun?”

“Are you armed?” Mr. Adams asked.

“No,” said Seth, immediately wishing he’d kept his mouth shut. But the old man lowered the gun a little, pointing it behind them instead of directly at them. Seth exhaled and Victoria squirmed underneath him.

“Get off of me,” she hissed.

He moved. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay. But my wrist cracked when we went down.” Pain rang in her voice. She pushed up with her right hand, tucking her left close to her chest. Mud covered the front of her clothing and one side of her face.

He wiped at her face with his sleeve. “What do you mean, cracked?” Dread tightened his chest.

“I’m not sure. I heard it and I can feel it.” She looked at the old man by the front door and raised her voice. “Mr. Adams, you said you were okay with us coming out tonight, right?”

“Lady, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Victoria caught her breath. “I just talked to you on the phone. Less than an hour ago. You have some old church records we were going to look at.”

The old man stared at her, squinting in the poor light. “What’d he say your name was?”

“Victoria Peres.” The twin barrels returned to point directly at her.

“Peres? The lady doctor?” Adams asked.

“Yes. I have a doctorate in forensic anthropology. I’m not a medical doctor.”

A grin cracked the man’s face. She didn’t like it. It wasn’t a happy grin. It was an I’m-a-crazy-bastard grin.

“Why do you think he can help with some paperwork?” Jason asked, his voice low. “He’s an old man. He doesn’t know anything.”

Seth looked at the teen. Jason was helping Trinity wipe off the mud just like he’d done for Victoria. There was an urgency in the boy’s voice that made the hair stiffen on the back of his neck. “Why not?”

“You guys should just leave. He can’t help you. Get Trinity out of here, too.”

“Why did you bring her out here then?”

“I didn’t know he was going to be in one of his crazy moods,” Jason stated. “It’s best to leave him alone when he’s got the gun out.”

No kidding.

“Maybe we should come back another day,” Seth whispered to Victoria.

“No. We’re here. I want to see what he’s got.”

“Jason probably knows when it’s best to leave his grandfather alone. I think we should listen to him.”

Another gun roared and Victoria flung herself back to the ground with Seth a split second behind her. His ears rang, and he mentally checked his limbs for injuries.

“Jesus Christ, Dad. What the hell?” Jason yelled.

Dimly Seth noted that the second gunshot had come from behind them. Looking back, he saw a tall, thin figure with a similar shotgun who’d just blasted a hole in Victoria’s rear tire. Panic flared in his lungs.

“Don’t blaspheme,” the figure said.

Jason’s dad?

“Why did you do that?” the teen yelled at his father.

The man said nothing. Seth couldn’t make out his face in the dark, but he could plainly see the shotgun focused on him and Victoria. Two barrels again. Images of the crazy men in Deliverance spun in his brain.

“Oh my God,” Victoria whispered. “What is this?”