Fort Morgan (4 page)

“
Ready?” Abi
asked.

“
What are we doing?”
Tanesha asked.

“
Just follow us,” Abi
said. “And remember, we think the serpents are going to swoop in to
capture Yvonne.”

“
Fin said I have to save
Mom,” Tanesha said.

“
Of course,” Abi said.
“First we have to get there.”

Abi took off flying, and at least a hundred
fairies followed her. The fairies around Tanesha waited for
her.

“
Shouldn’t we follow
them?” Tanesha asked.

“
After you,” the fairy
nearest her said.

“
I don’t know how to fly!”
Tanesha said.

The fairy behind her pushed her. They were
off! Tanesha flew as fast as she could to catch up with the rest of
the fairy corps.

~~~~~~~~

Tuesday night — 9:58 p.m.
Denver, Colorado

“
Is there anything I can
do tonight?” Edie the fairy-turned-nanny asked.

She and Jill had been sitting at the kitchen
counter while Edie told Jill about her date with James Kelly.

“
No, thanks,” Jill said.
“I’m glad you had a good time.”

“
Not as amazing as you!”
Edie said. “A real serpent.”

“
Fog-serpent,” Jill
said.

“
Dust,” Edie said. “Made
from the serpent dust. Very powerful.”

“
Not as powerful as the
real thing.” Jill nodded.

“
That’s true,” Edie said.
“Why didn’t you believe me when I told you that everything in our
world was fine?”

“
I figured you didn’t
know,” Jill said. “I mean, Jake’s gone.”

“
Delphie and Keenan too,”
Edie said. “Scary stuff.”

“
Anyway,” Jill set her
glass in the sink, “I’m glad you had fun tonight.”

“
He’s in town for a
while,” Edie said. “Is it okay if he sees the kids?”

“
Of course,” Jill
said.

“
What if he stays over?”
Edie asked. She looked embarrassed. “I
mean . . .”

“
I don’t think that’s a
problem,” Jill said. “Just keep it down.”

Edie giggled, and Jill smiled.

“
No really,” Jill said.
“You can hear everything that happens here. No one cares, but
you’ll have to deal with MJ asking James about it.”

“
Sounds embarrassing,”
Edie said.

“
Exactly,” Jill
said.

Edie nodded. Jill touched Edie’s shoulder
and walked toward Katy’s bedroom before she remembered that the
kids were with Megan tonight. She waved to Edie and went into her
bedroom.

And the nightly torture began.

During the day, Jill was over-busy with work
and school and Katy and the twins. The kids were the center of her
life. She spent every moment she could spare with them. Even with
Edie’s help, Jill was overwhelmed.

When she was married to Trevor, Jill spent a
lot of time alone. She was either alone at work, cleaning and
cooking at home alone, or alone with Katy. Trevor was a full-time
job in himself. When he was around, he was her entire focus, which
also meant that she was alone.

Jill had not felt so alone since meeting
Jacob. He spent most of his free time by her side. If he wasn’t
with her, he texted or called her every couple of hours to check
in. His presence was everywhere in her life. He built this home for
them. He fathered her children. He took care of her in every moment
of every day.

Now, he was gone.

She’d listened to that fog-serpent with true
horror. Her Jacob was stuck in that stuff, and there was nothing
she could do about it. Her children didn’t have their father.
Lipson Construction didn’t have their leader. And Jill was
terribly, horribly alone.

She worried that she wasn’t making the right
decisions. Should the boys be eating more solid food? Was it better
for them to be at the Marlowe School or with Edie? Was there
anything she could do to help Katy with her horse issues? If Jacob
were here, they would talk through all of the options and make a
decision together. Katy would have accomplished her horse
certification and be able to spend the weekends riding with Paddie.
As it was, both children were miserable. Jacob would know what to
do.

And what should she do about the
fog-serpent? According to Jeraine, Tanesha had gone off with Abi.
Of course, she had asked him if he’d actually buried Tanesha in the
yard so that he could go back to being a drugged-out whore, which
only made him angry. Not that she blamed him.

Jill felt like every
little thing was her fault.
She
was the reason Jacob hadn’t come home.
She
was the reason Katy
couldn’t pass her horse-riding test.
She
was failing at raising the
boys.

None of this should affect her. If she was a
good person, she should be able to it all together for at least a
little bit! But as it was, she was stumbling along, making one
decision after the next with no real plan. Muddling through, that’s
what her mother called it.

Jill didn’t like muddling. She especially
didn’t like muddling through things where her children were
concerned.

And now that Fin hadn’t appeared before
them!

Jill flopped over onto her back and pulled
the covers over her head. No one would say it, but even her dearest
friends thought maybe Jill had gotten it wrong.

Or maybe they didn’t.

Certainly Jill wondered if she’d gotten it
wrong. Did Jacob just get sick of her and their life? Did he just
leave? She’d asked Sam this very question tonight. Sam had just
hugged her. He told her that Jacob would come home, not to worry.
But Jill did worry.

What if he never came home?

She rolled onto her side to try to push the
thought away, but her mind continued down the path. Jill would have
to leave the loft. They were broke, so she would probably not even
have enough money to raise the kids. She’d have to go back to
waitressing because her contacts with the lucrative remodel jobs
were all through Jacob.

The boys would starve.

Katy would have to give up her horse.

Jill started to cry. She couldn’t hold it
all together if he wasn’t here. She’d built this enormous life with
him. He was an integral part of everything. Without him, everything
would eventually fall apart.

Without him, she was sure to fall apart.

“
Where are you, Jake?”
Jill whispered.

~~~~~~~~

Tuesday night — 9:58 p.m.
Phoenix, Arizona

Tanesha flew close enough to the bodyguard
to make sure it was who she thought it was. She saw the distinctive
burnt-orange Vivaldi “F” armband tattoo peeking out from under his
sleeve. That guy belonged to Alex Hargreaves. So how did he get
here? She flew too close and caught his eye.

“
What is it?” the guy with
Dionne asked.

“
A bee, I think,” the
bodyguard said.

“
Bee?”

“
Damned bees,” the
bodyguard said. “They love me.”

Tanesha sped across the room and landed on
her mother’s shoulder. She saw the sparkling lights of the fairy
corps twinkling around the room. Abi waved her wand and Tanesha
heard her say, “Go ahead.”

“
Mom,” Tanesha said. “I’m
here.”

Yvonne looked up. She glanced at the
bodyguard and then at Dionne. She gave a slight nod.

“
Mom,” Tanesha
started.

Without warning, Yvonne slammed the back of
her right fist into Jeff-the-alpha-banker’s nose. It made a
satisfying pop.

“
You stupid whore!” Jeff
said.

He raised his hand to slap Yvonne, but
Tanesha flew to his hand. When she did, the five fairies protecting
here flew at her side. Tanesha bit down on his thumb and the other
fairies followed suit. Jeff screamed.

“
Hey!” Gino jumped to his
feet.

Yvonne turned in an arc around the man with
the white hair. Tanesha flew in front of her. Tanesha came face to
face with the man. He reeked of wealth and privilege bought out of
the suffering of countless children including Sandy, Tink, and Ivy.
Her very being pulsed with rage. This man would never see
justice.

Tanesha wished the man’s head would explode.
Instead, his eyes began to bleed. Yvonne pushed his shoulders. He
hit the back of the small love seat and flipped head first onto the
floor.

“
How dare you!” Jeff said
as he jumped to his feet.

Gino tried to grab Yvonne, but the fairy
corps intervened. He gave a yelp as if he’d been shocked and jumped
back.

“
Are you going to do
something?” Gino asked the bodyguard.

“
Sure,” the bodyguard
said. He pulled a Homeland Security badge out of his pocket.
“You’re under arrest.”

The bodyguard looked like he was going to
arrest Gino, but went to where Jeff was lying on the ground.

“
Kill him, Tannie,” Yvonne
said in a low voice. “He’s already talking about starting the whole
thing over again.”

Tanesha flew forward but was knocked out of
the way by the bodyguard. She spun end over end until her flock of
fairies caught her. The bodyguard was pointing to the ceiling.

“
What?” Yvonne
asked.

“
That’s a camera!” Dionne
said.

“
We’ve got all of this
covered, Mrs. Smith,” he said. He nodded to Dionne. “Gino, can you
escort these women out?”

“
Of course,” Gino
said.

Dionne was so surprised that she gawked at
Gino. He grinned.

“
Mrs. Smith?” Gino asked.
“We picked up your clothing from the hotel. If you want to shower
and change, you’re welcome to. The national news media is out
there.”

“
I just want to go home,”
Yvonne said.

“
Yes,” Gino said.
“Unfortunately, we need to keep you here for a bit.”

“
We’re prisoners?” Dionne
asked. “Is that what this is about?”

“
No, ma’am,” Gino
said.

Gino gestured to the door. Yvonne walked out
of the room. Dionne watched her back for a moment before following
her out. They were in the hallway when four policemen ran toward
the room they’d been in. They kept going until they reached the
conference room they’d started in.

“
I thought you might want
to get your purses first,” Gino said.

“
Thank you,” Yvonne
said.

Yvonne went to where they had set their
purses. Dionne knelt down to where the dead secretary had lain.

“
What?” Gino
asked.

“
You shot and killed that
girl,” Dionne said. “Right here
and . . .”

“
So?” Gino
asked.

“
Where’s the blood?”
Dionne asked.

“
What blood?” Gino
asked.

“
You shot and killed that
girl,” Dionne said.

“
You sure?” Gino
asked.

Yvonne knelt down to pick up their
purses.

“
Tannie?” Yvonne
whispered.

Tanesha flew in front of her face.

“
There you are!” Yvonne
said. “Is Abi . . .?”

Abi flew next to Tanesha. Yvonne smiled.

“
I knew you’d come!”
Yvonne said. “Will you kill that Jeff creature?”

“
No need,” Abi said. “It’s
all worked out.”

Yvonne smiled. She got up with the purses in
hand.

“
Yvonne’s in real danger
now,” Abi whispered.

Tanesha nodded.

“
Fairy corps!” Abi yelled.
“Circle the wagons!”

The fairy corps surrounded
Gino, Dionne, and Yvonne as they moved out into the
hallway
.

Amber of
Despair

Rodney felt something — a nudge or some kind
of pressure. It was the kind of dream feeling that, when awake, he
couldn’t remember exactly what it was. He only knew that he felt
something. More than twenty years in prison had taught him that
anything that wakes you could easily be a threat. He never opened
his eyes until he knew exactly what had awakened him.

He tried to listen to the environment around
him, but heard very little. In fact, his ears felt almost
waterlogged. Any sound that came to him seemed like it was
traveling through water. He was pretty sure that he was not in
prison. He waited another minute or so before opening his eyes.

He saw only a goldish-orange hue. He was in
the Sea of Amber. For a moment, he cursed himself for being so
trusting.

Throughout his life, Ne Ne had been an
antidote to his difficulties. She’d come to visit him while he was
in solitary confinement and protected him when he was not. He’d
assumed that she’d come again because Yvonne was in trouble.

But this woman, this Ne Ne, had betrayed
Tanesha and sent him here.

Where was here?

He closed his eyes for a moment and listened
again. There were vague sounds, as if someone or something was
moving through water. He opened his eyes again.

This was the Sea of Amber.

He remembered seeing it on Tanesha’s laptop
before it caught fire. He looked around him. There were objects
near him, but far enough away that he couldn’t make them out.

And that sound.

What was it? He listened intently. Oars
hitting the water — that’s what he heard. Someone was rowing a boat
on the Sea of Amber somewhere above him.