A Life of Death: Episodes 9 - 12 (16 page)

“Now wait a second, Liz,” I said, stepping between them and raising my hands. “Let’s put the gun down. No one needs to get hurt here. Enough blood’s already been shed.”

“Alex, there’s more than one bullet in this, and they’ve got both your names on them. Whoever wants to go first is fine with me.”

“Shelley,” came Jamie’s calm voice from behind me, “this isn’t how it’s supposed to be. Your grandmother realized that. She’ll be okay in time.”

“You have
no
idea how this is supposed to be!” Liz screamed, her hand shaking as rage contorted her face. “Jessie should be alive. My mom should be alive. My brother shouldn’t have burned.” With her free hand, she gestured wildly, emphasizing each sentence.

Jamie let Paige slump onto me. Then he stepped closer to Liz.

“Jamie,
stop
.”

He didn’t listen or even acknowledge my voice. “Look, your mother died of cancer. That couldn’t be helped. The doctors did all they could.”

Jamie’s words surprised me.
How does he know?
A moment later it occurred to me. Andrew Easely wasn’t the only one he was speaking to.

Jamie continued and closed the distance with another small stride. “But your father isn’t dead. Your mom lied to you.”

“Don’t you dare,” Liz demanded, motioning at him with the gun. “She would never do that. She was a professor in search of knowledge and the truth.”

Jamie held up his hands as I had, showing he had nothing in them. “I’m telling you, he’s not dead.”

“He’s not,” I added, reaching an arm around Paige’s waist and hoping to gain Liz’s attention. Paige winced, and I loosened my grip. “Your father is Greg Rayson, right?” I waited for her to nod. “He lives in DC. He doesn’t even know your mother’s dead. I met him with Jessie. They work together.”

“That can’t be true,” she said, almost talking to herself.

“Think about it,” Jamie added. “Your mom didn’t tell you because she and your father fought. She thought you’d be better off with her. All parents lie to their children if they think it’s in their best interests. She didn’t mean any harm by it.”

“But how do you know?” Liz demanded, shaking the pistol at him.

I swallowed the large lump in my throat at seeing the unsteadiness of her hands.
She’s goin’ over the edge, Jamie. She might shoot you without even realizing it.
Paige’s eyes met mine, pleading for me to do something. I held my coat in front of me and took a small step to the right, opening my view of Liz, and Paige followed my lead, sticking with me.

“I’ve talked to her,” Jamie answered. “You know exactly what me and my dad can do. Your grandmother told you, right?”

Liz nodded. “Yes, she did. How do you think I knew to keep hidden?”

This time, Jamie nodded. “I realize. So you know I’m telling you the truth. I’m not crazy, but what you’re doing is. You have to stop.”

“But Mom is in the Duat,” she explained, a tremor running through her words. “She and Trevor both are. I made sure of it. Osiris got his golden bulls. It says so in his prayers.”

Trevor? Wait, Buddhist-wannabe Trevor?
It dawned on me who the young boy was, and who the voice in the distance calling his name belonged to.

“That wasn’t what Osiris meant,” Jamie replied. “Shelley, your mother’s work was precious to her. You know she loved every aspect of ancient Egypt, and you also know what you’ve done wouldn’t have made her happy. You have a father who’d love to be with you. Don’t throw it away.”

The pieces in the puzzle finally began fitting together. The local Egyptologist that lost her job when the college closed its Archeology department must have been Liz’s mother. This was all a morbid, twisted misunderstanding of her mother’s life-long passion. It also occurred to me how pained and distorted Liz’s view of the world must have been over the years.

Liz shook her head as though forcing out Jamie’s attempt to reason with her. “Even if you’re right, there’s nothing if I let you take me in. Jessie’s gone, and I have no future in a prison cell.” The tremble in her voice vanished, and she steadied the gun on Jamie’s head. “You know, that brand makes a perfect target.” Her voice was ominous and decided.

Gripping my nine-millimeter, I jerked it free, leveled it on Liz, and pulled the trigger. Paige dove at Jamie, shoving him aside and to the ground. A split second after my shot rang out, Liz’s gunshot permeated the air. Then she fell backward, blood streaming from her eye where my bullet hit. I slumped to my knees next to Paige and Jamie as they rose. Pushing back Jamie’s hair, I inspected every inch of his face and head.

“I’m okay, Dad,” he said, pushing aside my hands. “Mom, you okay?”

She knelt over Jamie on his other side and smiled. “Yeah, honey, I am.”

I helped them to their feet, grimacing when Paige took hold of my injured shoulder. She pulled her hand away and stared at her bloody palm, then at me. “Oh, Alex?” she asked, worry etched across her face. “We’ve gotta get you to a hospital.”

Sirens wailed in the distance, but much closer now. “They’re comin’. Anyone seen Hector?”

“No,” Jamie said while stooping over Liz’s still form, “but you’re a damn good shot, Dad.”

“We’ve gotta find him. He might be hurt. I think I saw someone over here.” I ran to where I’d first seen the prone form hidden under the trees and slumped to my knees as a glimmer of starlight played across a bloody wound on his head. I felt for a pulse and sighed with relief. It was strong.

Examining his forehead, Martinez winced at my touch. “Damn, woman!” he muttered. “Can’t you leave me—” Opening his eyes, his words came to an abrupt halt as he stared up at me.

“Martinez, you call me woman again, and we’re gonna have issues.”

He smiled and chuckled. “Did you get the license plate of the freight train that hit me?”

“Can you get up?” I asked, shaking my head with a laugh.

“Yeah, if you’ll give me a hand.”

I offered him the lesser of my two injured ones, fortunately the hand not attached to my bleeding shoulder, and he took it.

Making our way as a group back to the large house that now looked like a bonfire of the gods, Paige commented, “You know, babe, I think we’re gonna have to get you a new jacket.”

I lifted the draped coat on my arm, staring at the bloodstains, burns, and torn sections, and that was just what was visible under starlight. “Yeah, you’re probably right, but I don’t think I’ll ever get rid of this one. It saved too many lives today.”

“Oh, is it a part of the family now?” Jamie asked. “Can I name it Fluffy?”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “Sure, Jamie.” Questions were flitting through my mind, and I couldn’t help but ask one. “I think I know, but how did you really get all that information about Easely and Liz?”

He gave me a crooked smile that looked quite odd with the distant firelight playing across the blistered ankh on his forehead. “I’m sure you know. It wasn’t a trick. Like you’ve always said, Dad, use what you’ve got.” Paige watched us with interest, my free hand gently circling her waist, while Hector stared at Jamie in astonishment.

“Wait, you too?” my partner asked.

Jamie smiled wider. “Yeah, me too.”

“How long have you been talking to them?” I interjected.

“A couple years. It started when I visited Grandpa’s grave with you once.”

Suddenly it hit me. About a year and a half prior, Jamie began visiting my father’s grave on his own. I thought it a bit odd at first considering Jamie’d never met the man, but let it be.

“Grandpa spoke to me that time. It was out of nowhere, and I didn’t know who was talkin’, but eventually I figured it out. Now I can even see them. Their bodies glisten like they’re covered in dewdrops. Is that how you see them?”

I shook my head. “I can’t see them, Jamie. Never could. I can hear them, but normally only if it’s part of a vision.”

He gave me a considering look and stared at the approaching house fire. I followed his gaze. A collection of flashing lights in red, white, and blue were spinning in frantic circles, casting wide arcs of color across the tree line, gravel road, and grass. “That’s how I knew about Mr. Easely and Sandy.”

“Sandy?” Hector asked.

“Sandy Easely, Shelley’s mother,” Jamie supplied. “Andrew Easely wanted to talk to his wife, to explain and show her what Shelley had done, the pain she was causing. Mrs. Easely’s probably having a hard time coping right now. I don’t think she could see past Shelley to what she was doing. Mrs. Easely needed to know.”

“She already knew, though,” Paige complained. “She was protecting Liz. She may have even helped kill all those people.”

“Yeah, but knowing in retrospect is different than experiencing it from a different perspective while it’s happening,” I added, thinking back on the hundreds of visions I’d had over the years. “Sometimes parents can excuse anything.”

Jamie nodded and stared into the distance.

Nineteen

Troubled Thoughts

September 21, 2011

I walked past the graveyard where my father was buried and up the stone steps of the church. Stepping out of the gray, cloudy day and inside the old building was a little strange considering it wasn’t an Orthodox church. The atmosphere even seemed odd after missing the last few weeks of Sunday attendance. The mayor was riding us hard, like every year. Then, a comfortable hand settled onto the shoulder of my new black overcoat, gaining my attention. A glance to my left, injured shoulder told me that no one was there.
Ghost?
I wondered. Shaking my head, I took a seat a few pews inside in the left row and sat both bouquets down to the left with my bandaged hands. One of the bouquets was orchids, my father’s favorite, and the other spring flowers. A casket sat in the front of the church, below the dais and elegantly carved podium. It was closed. The thought of who lay inside sent a chill down my spine.

The rest of the pews were filled with people scattered throughout. A few were people I knew from school and the community. They purposefully glanced away when they caught sight of me.
People just don’t understand the unexplainable, nor do they want to.

The minister walked out and began his homily/eulogy. I watched the people around me, keeping a spot open next to the aisle, more focused on the late arrivals than anything the preacher had to say. Thankfully, a pair of belted, black slacks stepped up to my right. I’d been afraid he wouldn’t make it. The doctors had thrown a fit about his coming after flatlining and then only taking a few days of bed rest, but I knew what it would mean to Jessie.

He slid into the spot I’d left vacant without a word wearing a burgundy dress shirt, the same color as Liz’s sweater.
Liz probably bought him that thing.
His brown hair was trimmed and combed, and he twirled a single rose in his hands, back and forth, mimicking the decision I was sure he’d been juggling until now.

I’m glad you could make it,” I whispered.

He nodded with a frown. Shaking his head, he said, “I just—No matter what she did, I loved her, Alex.”

I patted his shoulder. “I understand. It’ll be alright. You doin’ okay?”

He nodded and stared at the priest at the podium. I turned back to the front, and we both watched the remainder of the ceremony in silence. Partway through, Jessie clenched his jaw and tears began streaming down his cheeks.

At the end, we both filed through the line, each person paying their respects in their own way. Women stumbled out in tears, leaning on their husbands’ arms, and various other members of the community said a few words, but some spat on her coffin. The priest stood watching, but did nothing.

Mr. Lee and his distraught wife were ahead of us. “Why’d you have to take our boy,” Mrs. Lee pleaded, barely remaining upright with her husband’s assistance. “What’d he ever do to you?” She waited for a response that would not come until Mr. Lee ushered her past and up the aisle, out the church doors.

I laid the spring bouquet in front of her coffin, but said nothing, leaving Jessie to lower himself onto his knees and prop his forehead against the dark-stained wood, the rose still clutched in his hands. “Why?” he whispered. “All of this, and why?” He sat silent for a few minutes, saying his goodbyes. He set the flower on her coffin as he stood and turned to leave.

When we made our way slowly through the pews, following the other attendees, Jessie asked, “How do you do it? How do you go to these funerals when the woman tried to kill Paige and Jamie?”

“How can I not?”

Jessie quirked an eyebrow and waited for a better response.

“She was a tortured soul. I could have come out just as twisted as she did.”

“But you didn’t,” Jessie replied. “You didn’t kill over a dozen people. You didn’t do all those horrible things. You’re stronger than her. You go out of your way to help people.”

I shrugged. “I could have, though. Liz and I each had a very troubled past. We lost our families. If not for the friendship and support I got early on, I could have wound up just like her. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying what she did was right. I hate her for it and had a real hard time stepping foot in here, but I can’t ignore the similarities. It comes down to decisions. Any one decision I made in my past, or she made, could have changed who we became in the future. I could have turned out just as screwed up as she was.”

Jessie shook his head. “I… I know why I came, but I’m not sure I could’ve done it if I were you.”

“Well, I spoke with Mrs. Easely the other day. She explained a lot of things. I had my suspicions, but the extent of Liz’s delusions is easier to understand now. She sacrificed seven people for her mother and seven for her brother to help them get into the Duat… the ancient Egyptian’s afterlife.”

“Yeah, but how did her brother die?”

“You might say he was victim zero. He started it all by accidentally setting himself on fire.”

“The first vision you had,” Jessie offered quickly.

“Yep, that drove Liz over the edge. She must’ve come across her mother’s files or taken an interest in her mother’s work, and all of a sudden the idea came to her as a way to save her family. From then on she sacrificed one person per year on the same date her mother died.”

We passed through the church’s double doors and down the stone steps. “Why not the day her brother died?”

“I don’t know,” I replied.

“So, the brands the football team got…?”

“That was her mark… marking you as a golden bull.”

“You mean, marking us for death,” Jessie mumbled. “Do you think she really loved me, or was I gonna be another victim?”

“Jess, seven is a special number in ancient Egypt. She was done. I think you were her chance at a future. Unfortunately, you can’t run away from your past.”

We crossed the street and entered the graveyard. After passing the large cement fountain with the angel perched in the center near the front of the cemetery, we eventually came to my father’s row. Jessie stopped and motioned for me to go ahead. “I’ll wait in the car. Seems you have enough company.”

I nodded and strode down the row of tombstones, approaching the old pine tree with wide, drooping limbs. Jamie sat beneath it in my reserved spot, his back against the smooth side of the trunk and a diamond-shaped Band-Aid covering the four-inch brand on his head. He wore a black t-shirt and blue jeans. Paige also stood at the foot of my father’s grave staring down in silence. Her black dress and bowed head reminded me of a weeping widow, and a shiver ran down my spine. I’d asked them to come with me, but they both refused to come inside for the service. Instead, they waited here in the crisp morning air.

Shaking it off, I stepped between them. “Hey, you two. Everything alright?”

Paige nodded and gave me a slight smile. Her gaze then returned to my father’s grave, and she was silent for a time. Her folded hands were bandaged like mine. Taking a deep breath, she looked up. “I’ll leave you two to chat.” Crossing her arms against the chill morning, she went to join Jessie in the black Lincoln where it was warm.

“So, is he here?” I mumbled, brief excitement bubbling inside me.

Jamie nodded, and then tilted his head back against the trunk once more as though exhausted. “He wants me to tell you something. He said it might answer a few questions.”

I looked from the grave to my son and back again. Finally I returned my gaze to him. “Go on.”

“I think I told you before, but he’s proud of you, Dad.”

I smiled. “Yeah, you did tell me that. It meant a lot.”

“Well, he really is. You’re doin’ it right, a lot better than he ever could.”

I was a bit confused. “What do you mean?”

“Grandpa had an ability like ours, too, but it wasn’t the same. He was trying to reach a guy who’d sped off the road and was dying. That’s why he went out that night.”

“Wait, so he saw visions of people when they were dying?”

“Yeah,” Jamie said with a nod. “Kind of cool, huh?”

“Then how—”

“Grandpa could function in both realities,” answered Jamie before I could finish. “Unfortunately, that didn’t make him invincible. He never made it to the guy to save him. They both wound up dying when that truck driver hit him.”

I was floored and awkwardly fell to the ground at the foot of Dad’s grave, settling onto the damp grass Indian-style.

“But he’s proud of you. You’re doing so many things and helping so many people. I want to help. I can do more than you—well, a little different I guess. I don’t see visions like you and Grandpa. I can just talk to them and see them.”

I tried to breathe normally and maintain control. “I’ll have to think about it.”

Jamie’s dark eyes watched me for a minute longer. “Alright. Let me know.” Rising from under the tree, he said, “I’ll leave you to say a few things to Grandpa, like usual.” He headed toward where Paige and Jessie stood waiting.

I moved over to take my old spot, which Jamie had vacated. It was a bit more cramped than it used to be. The limbs seemed closer now, and it was more confining. I looked at Dad’s headstone, and the words ‘In memory of a loving father taken too soon. We miss you, Terry, but will see you when we get home,’ stuck out in my mind.

“Dad, I never knew. I wish I had, it would have made all these years easier to understand.” He didn’t reply, but I knew he was with me. “I hate what happened with Liz. She murdered so many people and almost took my family and a good friend with her, but I’m trying to keep things in mind. It can’t always be personal, but it’s difficult to do. She was crazy, and it could just as easily have been me.”

I bit my lip, considering what else to say. “Maybe things are better where you’re at, Dad. Can you look after her… try and make sure she finds her mother?”

I waited for an answer I knew wouldn’t come, but I held out hope. If Jamie could, maybe I could too. A cool breeze stirred the colorful leaves on the tree limbs at the edge of the graveyard and whispered through the pine boughs overhead.

I sighed and rose to my feet. Setting the bouquet of orchids at the base of his headstone, I said, “Thanks for listening, Pops. Although I can’t hear you, I want you to know you mean the world to me.” Kissing my fingertips, I touched the stone and walked over to join my family.

My cell phone vibrated, and I grabbed it. Glancing at the display, my shoulders slumped as I read ‘Dispatch’.
Just another day in the neighborhood,
I thought with a sigh. The phone buzzed again, urging me to pick up. Flipping it open, I said, “What ya need?”

Taylor’s youthful voice replied, “You won’t believe this, but I think we may have a copycat. We need you down at the mortuary.”

I stopped, my feet feeling as though they were sinking into the dew-covered grass. Sirens echoed in the distance, and clouds swirled with ominous procession overhead. I stared at my waiting family.
Guess crime never takes a break.

“Alex, you there?” asked Taylor, her voice now tinged with concern.

“On my way,” I mumbled and shoved the phone back into my pocket, deep down where it might be harder to find.