Death Whispers (Death Series, Book 1) (25 page)

Boy,
that would be great, raising your teacher for a personal slave.

A
fantasy come true. I got a dreamy look.

“Snap out of it. You weren't there, it's not
remotely cool.” She rolled her eyes. Girls must take eye rolling
classes in kindergarten.

“Well, there's a short list of teachers that I
want to do My Bidding.” I laughed. The Js were getting a full
report.

She didn't laugh. Kinda humorless.

“
Anyway.”
she glared at me, well sor-ry
.
“The AFTD teacher knew that we had ourselves a real, live,
Cadaver-Manipulator. No one had ever manifested the five points
before. They had a heck of a time figuring out how to put it back.”

I bet they did, remembering the fun of getting
granny back-in-box. Back-in-coffin?

“What did they do?”

“
It
was a big deal. The principal came to our class with the Empath
Professor.” I thought briefly of Jade. “Of course, we had our
AFTD professor as well. He was one of the first professors to
theorize
about
the potential for cadaver-renewal,” she paused, “it had never
been well-received. Then Jeff proved it
could
be done. And he hadn't even tried.”

We turned at the same time, hearing the murmurings
of the conversation wrapping up in the foyer. Gale dug around in her
uniform pocket until she came up with a business card.

It had a big dollop of coffee on it, obscuring the
last four numbers of her pulse-phone.

“Ah the heck with it. Do you have your pulse?”

I
nodded, turning it in her direction. I put my thumb on the pad and
thought;
new
contact
.

She looked at me, I nodded as I lifted my thumb.

Gale replaced it with hers. She stared for a
second, the green characters illuminated on the screen:

Gale,
Bobbi
206.631.6312.

“
My
direct line, not the Department's 'general'.”

“How'd you get that area code? Is it Kent?”

She smiled. “Yeah, it was my grandmother's
number. When she passed I inherited it. When Pulse Technology came on
board, I transferred it to my pulse.”

Officer
Ward and my parents walked in and Gale stood. We shook hands. When we
touched I'll be damned if there wasn't a sorta low, voltage-type
buzz. I didn't let it show on my face, but her eyes widened, too
weird.

We
trailed the cops into the foyer. Gale mentioned she'd be available if
I needed anything, day or night. I'd heard
that
before. She knew
way
more than she let on, her partner included. They left and Mom closed
the door behind them softly.

“Major strange,” Mom said.

“I wasn't real pleased with the 'testing' of
Caleb. It seemed odd,” Dad replied.

“I don't trust Garcia much. I liked her better,”
I said.

“Yes, that was a troubling turn of events at the
cemetery.”

Troubling?
Yeah.

Mom got the broom and dustpan, starting the clean
up on the shattered debris of her beloved pots and plants.

“Caleb, go fetch me some of the picnic glasses
and we'll get my babies in some water.”

Brother...Mom. But when I took in her long, sad
face I just turned without a word and went into the pantry, digging
through the mess of the closet until I found the recycled plastic
goblets, like big colored jewels that sparkled in the light.

“These ones?”

“Yes, those ones.”

I
walked to the kitchen sink, opening the tap, setting it to
gray
water.
I
filled each glass about three quarters, arranging them on the
windowsill. Low-slanting sunlight streamed through the window,
catching them in a kaleidoscope of colors, which lay like jagged
pieces on the floor behind us.

Shaking off the dirt in the compost can under the
sink, I placed the four plants that would be saved in their
respective glasses. I turned to hold the dustpan for Mom.

I cruised the living room, throwing afghans on the
back of couches, closing drawers and straightening pillows.

Mom came out from her bedroom. “Nothing has been
stolen. Mom's necklace, my fancy bracelet with real diamonds.”

Dad looked up, puzzled. “Nothing?”

She shook her head.

“What about your pulse-top, Kyle?”

“The mainframe shut it down the instant someone
tried to hack it.”

“Did they? Try, I mean.”

“They most certainly did. When I return to work
on Monday, we'll do an analysis of what files they breached, if any.
In the meantime, I won't be able to recover anything, it's locked
down. It's for the best, if they return...” Mom startled, her hand
flying to her chest.

“We have to consider the possibility.”

“I thought the police were watching,” I said.

“True, but they don't have the manpower to be
here twenty-four hours a day, son.”

That blows. Out loud I said, “That doesn't seem
safe enough. I mean, they didn't rob us, but somehow, they got in
even with pulse-security.” I turned to Dad and he nodded. “So
they can get in again.”

“I'll change the pulse-code,” he said.

“But, what I'm saying is, how did they get in to
begin with? The cops said there were no signs of forced entry.”

Dad rested his chin on his hand. “That's the
best I can do. Also, it provides a fail-safe.”

“A what?” I asked.

“A way to find out who or what may know
sensitive information, like our pulse-code,” Mom said.

“So that means if someone got in here again,
it's an inside job?” I clarified.

“Exactly,” Dad agreed.

“Can't we just assume that now?” Mom asked.

“I'd like to, but the scientist in me insists
that it may have been some malfunction, or someone using one of the
many pulse tools out there to neutralize settings.”

“Thereby allowing them to assign a new
pulse-code,” Mom finished.

“Right,” Dad said.

The
clean-up continued its silent course for the next hour. Four o'clock
came around and Mom started to do her thing in the kitchen. It was
magical. She disappeared in the kitchen, looked inside our empty
fridge, pulled a few things out and ta-da! a meal was ready. Now, if
I were to try that same thing, looking in the freezer and pantry for
good measure, which I often did as a ritual, there would not be
anything popping off the shelves saying something cool like, eat me.

“What's for supper Mom?”

Mom turned around, looking lost. Dad noticed,
their eyes meeting.

“How about a McDonald's run?” he asked the two
of us.

Huh? Could I get this lucky?

“Alright!” I said, doing a Jonesy-style fist
pump.

Mom's shoulders slumped a little. Don't ruin it
Mom, I silently begged. Dad closed the distance, taking her by the
shoulders and they stared into each others eyes. About this time was
my cue to take off... but I stayed. We were in this whole mess
together, this was not a gross-out parents moment.

He ran his hands up and down her arms, sort of
caressing her. “It's been a tough day on all of us. Just... let's
go out.”

Mom opened her mouth, to protest I think. But Dad
put a finger to her lips. “Let me take care of you and Caleb
tonight. I know you like to make the suppers, but let's get some food
in us and a good night's rest. Things will look better tomorrow.”

She smiled, a wan thing, not her usual, full
toothed grin. “Hey, that's my line buster.” She playfully punched
him. He released her, his hands sliding down her bare arms.

A caress
, I thought, definitely a caress.

****

McDonald's
was always an act of self-restraint. I had a fantasy, where, I walked
up to the counter (glided up to the counter), and began with, I'll
have one of everything.

Unfortunately, the reality was more like Dad
finding a place to sit and Mom selecting the food. As Dad put it,
“She's the health nut of the house, son.”

That meant that I usually couldn't get a
milkshake. It didn't matter if they were made with seaweed or not. I
had tried that argument with Mom and she didn't buy it.

Imagine
my surprise when she came to the table with not two but
three
shakes!

That meant it had been a Really Bad Day.

Mom slid into the booth and put the tray on the
glaring orange Formica table top. “It's been a really bad day,”
she said as she sat down next to me.

Yay for ransackers! I guess it was too much for a
family to go through for milkshakes, but it was a near thing.

I tore the lid off, sighing with pleasure at the
chocolaty goodness.

Mom opened hers and threw in a straw which stood
up in the center of the cup in a satisfying way. I liked to slurp and
Mom hadn't bothered to get me a straw. She had strawberry and Dad had
vanilla.

Neapolitan family.

Dad thought that someone suspected me but without
proof they had fished around, hoping to find confirmation of my
Cadaver-Manipulator status.

“Caleb,” she said, swallowing a mouthful of
fry, then chasing it with some shake. “What about those papers that
John gave you?”

Ah! I had forgotten all about those.

“Maybe they're in my locker at school?” I said
hopefully.

“Really? Why would you have taken them there?”
Mom asked.

She knew organizing wasn't a strong point of mine.

Mom's half eaten meal was before her. I slid her
tray over to my side and started polishing off was left. Her shake
was also made available. To all the germ-naysayers out there, I stand
by the “family cootie” mantra of we're all exposed to each
other's germs anyway so a little shared shake wasn't going to take
away my fun. I slurped and gulped, quietly, as to not get nailed,
listening to the parents figure out our next move. Trays were emptied
in the separator and we piled back into the car, the seat harnesses
locking after Dad pulsed the car ignition.

It was a silent drive on the way home. Dad glided
back into his spot in the garage but turned to us. “You guys stay
here and let me look inside.”

Our days of just roaring in and out of the house
were behind us. No longer did I feel safe.

Mom and I waited in silence. The first thing I was
gonna do was pulse Jade, then the Js. A bright spot in the week was
picking up black dog on Tuesday. If I survived that long, I thought
morbidly.

Dad
gave the thumbs up. Mom and I got out, walking into the house. She
paused just inside the door and I almost piled into the back of her.
She sighed, then headed for the kitchen. Dad came over to her and
gave her a side hug and she leaned into him, her head tucking almost
into his armpit. I got out of there. Dad could deal with Mom and the
house would survive. Whether we would, now that was another story.

I
rushed to my room flipping my hair out of my eyes as I went and
jerking my pulse out of my pocket. I flew into the air and
back-landed
onto
the bed. Home sweet home. I pressed my thumb onto the pad and
thought:
Jade.

Green
letters appeared:
Hey.-
JLeC

What's
up with you?
CH

Nothing
much, Sophie's here.-
JLeC

Oh.
Well, our house was broken into and the cops came.-
CH

What?!
gasp
Are you guys okay? Why was it broken into? Did Garcia come?
JLeC

Ya
know why. No, he didn't; some other cops.-
CH

You
think?
JLeC

I
do. I think it's all about that.-
CH

Well,
Sophie's here (I can't really talk much) so I better go. Are we still
meeting at your house tomorrow?
JLeC

Yeah.
Say, three o'clock or around there.-
CH

Okay,
I'll be there.-
JLeC

C
an't
wait to see ya.-
CH

smiles
,
Caleb?-
JLeC

Yeah?
CH

Be
careful.
-JLeC

Okay
smiles-
CH