Cimarron, Denver Cereal Volume 4 (48 page)

“
We’re letting Mommy
sleep,” Jacob said. “She has her big presentation today for
school.”

“
You forgot to tell about
Auntie Sandy,” Katy said.

Katy’s hand touched the rough stubble of
Jacob’s chin.

“
I don’t mean to be barfy,”
Katy said.

“
Of course not,” Jacob
said.

“
Can’t Mommy fix me?” Katy
asked.

“
We decided it was better
for Katy to fix herself,” Jacob said.

In a dramatic gesture, Katy put her hands on
her own stomach. Feeling nothing, she shook her head.

“
Doesn’t work,” Katy said.
“I tried.”

“
From the inside,” Jacob
smiled. “Like regular people. For…”

“
Immunity,” they said
together.

Katy looked up into his face and then
snuggled down on this lap again. She rested her head against his
chest. Jacob checked to see if she was watching. Seeing her closed
eyes, he beckoned a spiral binder from a bookshelf. The book flew
across the loft to his outstretched hand. He caught the book and
looked down to Katy. Her eyes were still closed.

Setting the binder on the table, he found
her looking up at him.

“
I wish I could do that,”
Katy said.

“
It’s not as fun as it
looks,” Jacob said.

Katy nodded against his chest and he opened
the book. This binder held full descriptions and financial
projections for properties his friend wanted him to work on. The
properties were architecturally sound, beautiful buildings with one
drawback. There was at least one nasty ghost living within the
walls of every one of them.

His friend wanted to buy the buildings for a
fraction of what they were worth. Jacob and Delphie would clear out
the ghosts. The buildings would be brought to town where Jacob
would have a chance to restore them to their former glory. They
would sell for five or six times their total investment. If Jacob
put in a little money, he'd share in the profits from the sale.

The buildings were a gold mine. He could use
the money to buy a larger building for the ever expanding Marlowe
School; or create the scholarship fund Honey wanted for her new
handicap accessible apartment building; or support one of those
wretched friends of Charlie’s, maybe that little guy, Jeffy; or…
There was no downside to this proposition.

Except one.

He didn’t want to do it.

He didn’t like dealing with the dead. He
always felt they were selfish. They had lived their lives and were
now here to steal away the precious hours of his short time on this
planet.

His mother had felt differently, of course.
Like the lost people she nurtured, Celia believed that ghosts were
frightened souls. ‘They need our love just as much as the living
do,’ she used to say. Jacob never saw it that way. More often than
not, when he encountered a ghost, he sent it on to the great
beyond. He’d done it so often that it was almost an automatic
gesture. That’s why the Castle was ghost free.

Of course, once sent there they could always
come back. That’s how his mother continued to visit long after her
death. And he did enjoy her visits. He looked down at his sleeping
daughter. So did Katy.

He hadn’t talked to his mother about this
job. Outside of general mumbles, he hadn’t really talked to anyone
about this job. It seemed like such a good opportunity.

If only he could figure out why he didn’t
want to do it. He began flipping through the pages.

“
What’s that?” Katy pointed
to the book.

“
It’s a book of houses
Mommy, Delphie, and I might work on,” Jacob said. “They’re pretty.
Aren’t they?”

“
Scary,” Katy said. “Not
pretty. I don’t like them.”

“
You don’t?”

Katy shook her head. Puzzled by her
response, he continued turning the pages.

“
Not any of
them?”

Katy shook her head.

“
How come?”

“
They are sticky,” Katy
whispered. “Like glue. They suck you in and you have to stay
there.”

“
What?” Jacob
asked.

“
I don’t know,” Katy said.
“That’s just what they are. Are people stuck there?”

“
Ghosts,” Jacob said.
“Angry, mean ghosts.”

“
Angry, mean ghosts,” Katy
repeated his words.

“
I guess I’d be mean too if
I was stuck somewhere,” Jacob said. “That’s a good reason to help
them. Delphie and I could unstick the ghosts.”

“
Or get glued there,” Katy
said.

They looked at the houses together. Some
were huge mansions. Others were small and delicately detailed. When
he got to the end, he began flipping the pages in the other
direction. Katy would touch the photos or pretend to read the
pages.

“
Wait,” Katy
said.

He stopped flipping the pages.

“
Go back,” Katy
said.

Katy’s little hands tried to move the pages.
Jacob helped her flip one page and then another until Katy patted
both hands on a page.

“
Read this,” Katy
said.

“
Let’s read together,”
Jacob said.

“
I want
you
to read.” Katy shook her head.
She fake coughed into her hand. “I’m sick.”

Jacob shook his head at his manipulative
daughter. Happy about her joke, she bounced on his lap.

“
Please?” she
asked.

“
All right,” he
said.

“
Built in: 1847. Location:
Brighton.

Square footage: House: 2340 square feet,
Outbuildings: 1000 square feet

Acreage: 380 Acres

The sale must include the acreage and…”

“
No, Daddy,” Katy said.
“Read it.”

Confused, Jacob pursed his brow.

“
With this.” Katy tapped
Jacob’s forehead.

“
You know that’s not really
my gift.”

“
Just try.” Katy gave him a
stern look that he was certain Valerie had perfected.

“
You look like Val when you
make that face,” he said.

“
Dadddy! Just
try!”

He put his hand on the picture of the
building. Trying to stretch out his mind...

And got nothing.

He was about to quit when he smelled
something familiar. He refocused his attention on the building.
There it was again.

Industrial cleaner.

The same kind he’d used to clean the grill
at his college hangout. He looked at Katy.

“
Noemi told me,” Katy
said.

“
Why don’t we wait a
while?” Jacob asked. “It’s pretty early.”

“
You have to call
now.”

Not willing to upset Katy, Jacob picked her
up and walked toward his Blackberry. He found Detective Seth
O’Malley’s home phone number and called.

“
Seth? Jake Marlowe. Sorry
to wake you but I think I’ve found a lead in your case. I figured
you’d want to know right away.”

~~~~~~~~

Thursday morning — 10:35 A.M.

“
Just one more step,”
Heather said.

“
You can do this,” Tanesha
said.

With their arms around Sandy, they were
standing in the stairwell to the apartment. Sandy wouldn’t stay in
the hospital. She just wouldn’t. The doctors encouraged her to stay
an additional day or two. One doctor wanted her to stay all
weekend.

But Nash’s last day of school was Friday.
After the difficult year, Sandy didn’t want to miss it. Plus Noelle
would transition into the fifth grade on Monday. With Teddy Jakkman
moving in this weekend as well, Sandy insisted on coming home.

With the assurance that a nurse, Jill’s
brother Steve, would attend to her, and the fact that the Castle
was three blocks from two major hospitals, the doctors had
discharged her. She’d felt fine until they were almost to the
Castle. In an instant, Sandy’s pain had increased so much she was
almost ready to go back to the hospital.

And still, she’d insisted on getting to the
Castle.

Steve would help her, she said. He would
know if she needed to get to the hospital. The obstetrician said
the baby was fine, not to worry about, she assured them. She
couldn’t rest in the hospital. And rest was what she needed.

So, here they were on this stairwell.

“
I don’t know,” Heather
said. “I think we should call the paramedics.”

“
We can’t call them on this
stairwell.” Tanesha looked up. They had ten steps to the second
floor hallway. “Let’s set her down.”

Tanesha and Heather set Sandy down on a
step. She looked up at them with gratitude.

“
We were going to drop off
her prescriptions after we got her into bed,” Heather said. “She
could use one of those pills now.”

“
We should try to get her
back to the hospital,” Tanesha said.

“
Hi.”

The women jerked around toward the male
voice from the bottom of the stairs. MJ looked up at them.

“
I’m looking for Honey. I
was going to meet her here but I’m a few minutes late,” MJ said.
“Have you seen her? We have a doctor’s appointment and… What are
you doing?”

“
Trying to get Sandy into
her apartment,” Tanesha said.

“
What? She’s out of the
hospital?” MJ climbed the stairs two at a time. He grabbed Sandy’s
wrist and began taking her pulse.

“
Steve’s coming to…”
Heather said. “What are you doing?”

“
I’m taking
her…”

“
Stop that,” Tanesha said.
“She’s very sick and…”

MJ scowled at her.

“
I don’t know who you think
you are but…” Heather started.

“
He’s a Special Forces
Medic,” Honey called from the bottom of the stairwell. “Remember.
He saved my life.”

Heather and Tanesha looked at each other and
then at MJ.

“
Should I get your kit?”
Honey asked.

Without looking away from Sandy, MJ
nodded.

“
He can’t talk to you,”
Honey yelled as she wheeled off. “Just let him do his
thing.”

“
Well how do you like
that?” Tanesha asked Heather. “Psycho boy is saving the
day.”

“
Haven’t been called…
ps-ps-Psycho b-b-boy in ten years,” MJ said.

“
That’s not true,” Heather
said. “I called you that until we graduated from high school and
that wasn’t ten years ago.”

“
Ten years this summer. Are
you going to the reunion?” MJ’s attention never shifted from
Sandy.

“
Who do I need to reunion
with?” Tanesha asked.

“
I need to get my kit,” MJ
said. “Leave her here. Honey!”

MJ ran down the stairwell. When he turned
the corner, Heather hit Tanesha’s arm.

“
What are you doing?”
Heather asked. “Don’t harass him while he’s saving Sandy
life.”

“
Did you hear how clear his
voice was?” Tanesha asked. “Keep a part of his mind focused on
something neutral and he’s all right.”

“
Is that true?” MJ asked as
he ran up the stairs with his kit.

“
I read it somewhere,”
Tanesha said.

“
Great field test,” MJ
said. “Now get the fuck out of this stairwell.”

“
But…”

“
I’ll carry her up,” MJ
said. “She’s what? A hundred pounds with the baby
weight?”

“
One twenty,” Sandy said.
“I’m huge.”

MJ looked down at Sandy and laughed.

“
Get the apartment door
open,” MJ said. “Wait, give me her prescriptions.”

Heather gave him the prescriptions and
followed Tanesha up the stairs. He read the prescriptions then
prepared a hypodermic needle. In one swift move, he injected it
into Sandy’s neck.

“
Ow,” she said. “Why my
neck?”

“
Faster.” He took her wrist
and followed her pulse.

“
We’re ready!” Tanesha
yelled. “Are you coming?”

He rolled his eyes at Tanesha.

“
You should know,” Sandy
put her hand on his forearm. “I never called you ‘Psycho Boy.’ I
was too worried about being…” Her voice slurred. “Ps-yyy-cho…
m‘self.”

He picked her up when she passed out. MJ
carried Sandy the rest of the way to the apartment. He went through
the front door where Tanesha stood. He passed Heather in the living
room. And Jill’s Mom, Anjelika, stood at the door to Sandy’s
bedroom. He set Sandy on the bed. While he washed up, the women
made quick work of changing Sandy into soft pajamas. Without saying
a word, he rebandaged Sandy’s surgical wound.

“
She has a lot of fluid…”
He worked with her drains. “I need a clean towel.”

Heather ran to the bathroom for a clean
towel. MJ put it under one of the drains in Sandy’s belly.

“
You might want to look
away,” MJ said.

He fiddled with the drain until blood and
puss shot out of the end. The women moaned with disgust. He worked
the rest of Sandy’s drains until they were clear.

“
These drains get clogged
up,” MJ said. “Keeps her sick. When does Steve get
here?”

He set up an IV and a catheter.

“
He’s due here at noon,”
Heather said. “Why?”