Jack Kursed (43 page)

"It's okay. Don't tell
anyone else this, but I've got some pictures of you in my
wallet."

"I love you."

"I love you, too."

That was difficult to say the first
few times, but he'd gotten used to it, and liked how it sounded
coming out of his mouth.

"When are you coming back?" she asked.
"I miss you."

"Things are going pretty
well here. I think I'll get done ahead of schedule. With a little
luck, I might be able to catch a flight out tonight."

"Yes!" she shouted,
throwing her hands in the air. She glanced at Erica to see her
teacher still making dinner in the kitchen. "Erica doesn't really
cook all that good."

"Well," he corrected.

"Well!" she said, putting her hands on
her hips. "She doesn't cook all that well!"

"Hey, I'm right in here," Erica
said.

Jack chuckled. "Hey Erica? Can you
hear me over there?"

Erica turned the stove off
and stepped in front of the iPad, giving Tiffany a playful shove.
"Hey there, sexy, what's up?"

"Yuck," Tiffany said. "You called my
dad sexy."

"Hey Tiff, give me a minute alone with
Erica."

"Okay, I'll go upstairs
and change clothes. You aren't gonna kiss the iPad or anything, are
you?"

"Would you get going?"

"Okay, okay. Come back
tonight."

Erica watched as Tiffany ran up the
stairs. She moved the iPad to the bar and took a seat.

"Thank you so much," Jack
said. He'd thanked her repeatedly over the past few days. "Thanks
for house-sitting and watching after Tiffany for me."

"Are you gonna thank me when you get
back?" she asked with a sly smile.

"I think I can do that."

Jack planned on getting
Erica naked as many times as he could. He was nervous when they
first reached for each other in his brand new bed. It was a good
nervous, a type of nervous he never felt before. He wanted to
please Erica, to make her happy. He was almost surprised that he
was actually succeeding. Although he could never sleep, it was
relaxing to hold her in his arms after making love.

"We went to the mall the other day. I
got some new clothes I want to show you. Well, not really
clothes."

"I like the sound of that.
Wait, are we talking lingerie? You didn't take Tiffany into the
store, did you?"

"No, genius. She was with Victoria.
But yes, we're talking lingerie."

"The three of you went to the mall?
That would be something to see."

There was a knock at the
front door, followed by Victoria's head poking inside the living
room.

"Speak of the Devil. Your sister's
here."

"Victoria!" Jack called. "Come say hi
to me on Skype on the new iPad. I love technology."

"My favorite brother," she said,
standing next to Erica. "Call my cell phone. I need a private talk
for a minute."

"Sure. Erica, are you wearing
shorts?"

She backed up so Jack could admire her
legs. She gave him a mock irritated look, but couldn't wait for his
hands to touch her again.

"Okay, I'm happy now. Hanging
up."

Victoria answered her
phone on the way out the front door. The sun ducked behind a few
storm clouds, but the morning heat still felt great. She sensed a
day on the beach in her future.

"Everything okay?" Jack asked. "Thanks
for looking after the two of them for me."

"No problem.
Everything’s fine here. You might hear about a suddenly-bankrupt
billionaire or two on the news, and the market will drop a little,
but that’s a small price to pay for keeping ghouls out of the
living room. Now, tell me, what are you
really
doing?"

"I told you, I'm on
business. I have to make money sometimes, you know. You were just
on Skype. You saw the beach behind me. I'm at the hotel right now
on break."

"Whatever. Look, Jack, I
need to tell you something. I wanted to do this in person, but I
have to head back to Baltimore soon. I tried to tell you when I
first got to Parkville, but then Tiffany fell in your lap, and I
had my own selfish reasons." She took a breath. "I'm glad I don't
have to make the decision coming your way."

"Victoria, you're rambling, and I'm
kind of on the clock. What's up?"

She closed her eyes and
hesitated. Many times over the decades she imagined giving Jack his
special news, but never honestly thought the day would come. Now
here she was, standing in his yard, with his daughter and
girlfriend in the house behind her.

"The way I can move in the sun, it
wasn't science or technology. It's magic."

There was a long pause.

"What...what are you
saying?"

"I've found a witch. A full-blooded
witch."

*****

Jack's hand shook as he
held the phone to his ear. The patio door in the hotel room was
open behind him, leading directly to the beach. It was already hot
in the Virgin Islands, and yet a cold chill ran down his spine. It
was a good thing he was sitting, as his legs might have given
out.

He could barely speak.

"A...witch? He’s still
alive?"

"Alive and well, about
four hours from here. He’s nineteen, just graduated from high
school. He’s a good kid, and I call him a friend. You wouldn't
believe how strong they've gotten."

He laughed into the phone.
He’d given up hope long ago, and now Victoria was telling him his
chance had finally come. There was still hope his curse could be
lifted.

But all he could think about was
getting his business done, hugging his daughter, and kissing his
girlfriend the moment he saw her.

He heard someone just outside the
door.

"Thank you for telling me," he
said.

"Are you okay? What are you gonna
do?"

"I...don’t know. And
that’s a great feeling. Look, I’ve gotta get back to it here. If
you’re gone when I get back I’ll call you. It’s nice to have my
sister back. I love you."

"I...love you, too, Jack."

The door opened. Jack hung
up and leaned back in his chair.

"Officer Mark Taylor," he
greeted. "It’s been a while."

The former police officer stopped when
he saw Jack and dropped his tennis racket to the floor. His mouth
hung open in disbelief.

"Oh, I have a friend here that wants
to say hi."

Jack reached down and
tossed the severed head of Dom the henchman at Mark. He caught it
and immediately dropped it to the floor. He almost let out a
scream, but Jack was on him, running a knife across his throat.
Mark fell next to Dom’s head and bled to death as he gurgled on the
carpet.

Jack’s business was
done.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

I live in Maryland with my
wonderful wife and four cats. I love gaming, computer technology,
movies, and of course, reading and writing. I love science fiction
and especially horror. Ghosts, vampires, werewolves, zombies,
anything supernatural, all beautiful subjects.

I’ve been writing since I
was twelve years old. There’s just something about creating a story
that I like. It’s always fun to try to come up with something that
hasn’t been done, or is unique in some way. It’s fun to build a
character, give him a personality and background.

Visit my
website at
http://www.glennbullion.com

If you enjoyed Jack
Kursed, you may enjoy my other works below. Alex Teague and Kevin
Mishnar, two characters who had roles in the novel you just read,
have their own stories, Demonspawn and A Witch To Live.

Total works by Glenn
Bullion:

Demonspawn

Dead Living

Mind Slide

A Witch to Live

Jack Kursed