Oblivion (20 page)

“I didn’t twist her arm, Lance. She wanted to do the right thing.”

“The right thing could get you both hurt, Lindsay. It’s not a risk I’m willing to take. When you graduate; we leave here.”

She could see Lance made up his mind. Lance had the Turner’s stubborn streak. Once his mind was set; forget it.

“I’ll think about it,” she said and refused to discuss it further.

Lance gave her that look that said she was an idiot. “You’ll go if I have to drag you all the way there, little sister.”

“What are you doing down there anyway?”

“I work for Uncle Ed now,” he said proudly and shrugged. “Its steady work and the money is good. I was never a brainiac like you, Lindsay. School isn’t in the cards. I barely graduated from high school.”

“Why didn’t you call?”

“We can talk about that another time,” he said and looked away. “Right now, I want your promise you’ll stay away from Cam and the guys he hangs out with. Let Wilson and Dooley do their jobs, Lindsay.”

 “Jace is dead, Lance!” she cried in outrage. “You expect me to just let them handle it?”

“It’s their job!”

“Yeah, well they let Cam walk!”

Lance made a noise and his expression was angry. “Lindsay, he’s out on bail! That means you stay away from him; get it?”

Lindsay looked mutinous and spun around and left him in the living room. She slammed into her bedroom where Sara was packing. She saw Lindsay and looked sad.

“They let Cam go, didn’t they?” she asked.

“You heard?”

“You guys were yelling,” she admitted and smiled. “You sound like me and Jace used to.”

Sara looked away then. Lindsay could see the girl suffered missing her brother. She remained stoic for Dougie’s benefit, but she could see Sara was barely holding it together.

“He’s going down if I have anything to say about it.”

“Jace didn’t know about the drugs,” Sara said and looked back at her. “He would have never hung out with Cam if he’d known.”

“How is it Cam is the biggest drug dealer in Little Bend and he didn’t know?”

“Did you know?” Sara countered with a disgusted look that made Lindsay feel ashamed for her accusing tone.

“No, it’s news to me.”

“My brother was pretty much wrapped up in us and you, and our Pa. He didn’t see it.”

“Did you know?” Lindsay asked and saw Sara’s guilty look. “Did you?”

“He sells up at the middle school; everybody knew.”

Lindsay was disgusted by this news and was eager to see Cam put out of business. She knew now that he was charged with drug possession he wouldn’t dare try to sell drugs around Little Bend.

“If it’s the last thing I do I’m going to see him punished for what he did to Jace,” she assured Sara.

“It won’t bring my brother back.”

Lindsay felt a pang of sorrow as Sara packed. She felt a hollow ache knowing it was true. The emptiness inside her each day that passed reminded her that Jace was gone. Something beautiful and rare was taken from her. The anger and remorse would never be assuaged until Cameron Chase paid for what he did.

Chapter Twelve

Jace and Daphne stood in the lot and she smiled as she emptied the chamber at the target, not hitting it once. He rolled his eyes as he reloaded her weapon. He handed it back to her, his dark eyes teasing.

“Let’s hope you’re a better waitress than a shooter.”

She grinned as she took the gun. “Yeah, I was a great waitress, but I can’t hit the side of a barn door with this gun.”

Jace shook his head and helped her with her stance, mindful of how she affected him. He fought his attraction to her, feeling disloyal to Lindsay. Daphne was older than him by a few years and married. He reminded himself daily to ignore her but it was tough. One couldn’t ignore Daphne. He was still a guy, even if he was dead.

“Ok, it’s all in the breathing, try again.”

She pointed the gun at the target. They were about fifty feet from it and moved up closer. She squinted as she aimed, mindful of her breathing like he taught her. She squeezed off a handful of rounds and only grazed the target.

“Alright, we’re done for now,” Jace commented and under his breath he added. “Let’s go check out that new ripple I found yesterday.”

“Do you know how to get through?” she asked.

“Merrick said it’s all a mind projection,” Jace explained and shrugged. “Just think about home; I’m thinkin’.”

“Jace, we’re going to be in big trouble when they find out.”

Jace didn’t want to think about that. He and Daphne had unfinished business back in the world. If Merrick and the others had a problem with it, so be it. He had to get back and make sure everyone he loved was alright. He couldn’t move on until then.

Maybe that was why he was still in Oblivion. He remembered everything now. His dark eyes narrowed. He remembered every downward plunge of the knife that took his life and he even saw Cameron’s look of satisfaction as he stood over him while he bled to death from his wounds.

The one thing that escaped him was why his former best friend murdered him. It ate at him.  He would find out what Cameron had to gain with his death. It made no sense. Daphne was leaving after Merrick and the others went out on patrols tomorrow.

He would tell them he found her gone and they would assume she ran. The homeless guy, Goose had taken off as well as the insurance agent Will. They were in denial of the danger to them in Oblivion. McNeal and Raymond didn’t go after them.

You got one chance with the group. The pair would find out the hard way they couldn’t make it without their protection. By then the demons would have them or they would fall prey to the deadheads.

“Don’t worry about it,” he said. “I’ll cover you with Merrick.”

She looked relieved. “I just have to think about home as I’m walking through the ripple?”

“Yeah, and focus really hard, picture it in your mind. If what Merrick says is true, your mind will do the rest.”

“How do I get back?”

Jace grinned. “Think about me pacing outside that ripple in two weeks. That’s about it.”

She nodded and smiled, dimpling prettily. “I’d bring you a souvenir but I think I’ll be traveling light on my return trip.”

“Just come back, Daphne,” he warned. “Whatever you find; resolve it.”

“Something tells me it won’t be that easy.”

Jace knew his advice fell upon deaf ears. Daphne wanted revenge against her husband’s boss. The woman who ran the advertising agency where her husband worked would have a rude awakening very soon. Daphne planned to torment the woman.

“No matter what you find out; don’t deviate from our plan. I need to get to my family.”

“The guy who killed you will get a big surprise.”

“Cameron is going to wish he was dead when I’m done with him.”

“Natalie probably got caught,” Daphne mused, thinking of her killer and shook her head. “She was as dumb as a box of rocks. Knowing her, she probably posted killing me on Facebook as her status that night.”

Jace chuckled at her joke. “Cameron isn’t very smart either. He probably tripped himself up somewhere.”

Daphne’s smile faded suddenly. “What will happen if Raymond finds out what we’ve done?”

Jace looked grim. “I don’t know. Hopefully we won’t have to find out. Merrick will cover for us if he figures it out.”

Daphne handed him the 45 mm and glared at the target she missed by a mile. “Maybe when I come back I’ll be better at this. Right now I can’t concentrate on anything but my son.”

“Remember what I said. The living will take care of the living. He’ll be ok.”  

She nodded and looked away, her expression bleak. “And the dead take care of the dead.”

~ ~ ~

The next day they walked in the darkness to the ripple that formed. It was a murky rolling thing, one-sided and transparent. Jace saw and heard no demons. The street was deserted. Even the deadheads were quiet today.

Merrick said the old Mexican Jose recognized Drea and knew his days were numbered. The group was trying to keep her away from the old man before she tossed him to the demons. It was a tense group these days. They rescued more Newbies the night before and Merrick was distracted. Jace claimed he needed a break from the nightly patrols to stay behind to talk Daphne through the membrane-like opening.

They stood in front of it now. Daphne wore a frown. She glanced at Jace with a trembling smile.

“Well, here goes nothing.”

“Two weeks, Daphne. No matter what.”

She smiled sadly. “Two weeks. I promise.”

Jace talked to her as she stood at the opening of the ripple. She stuck her hand into it and it disappeared. She gasped and drew her hand back.

“It’s cold.”

“Just concentrate on home as you are walking through.”

“How does it close up?”

“I use my mind to will it shut,” he told her. “That’s it.”

“That sounds easy enough.”

“Just listen to my voice and keep thinking about home the whole time.”

“I’m scared Jace.”

“Merrick said it’s easy.”

“Not about that,” she confided. “What if I find out something I don’t want to know?”

Jace knew what she meant. Would it really be worth it to know?

“You’ll come back knowing more than you do now.”

She took a deep breath and squared her shoulders as she stood in front of the ripple.

“Yeah, you’re right. I have to know.”

She walked into the membrane and Jace watched in fascination as it swallowed her before his eyes. He concentrated on closing the ripple. It evaporated before his eyes, sealing it instantly. He sensed the demons nearby.

They felt the breach in the lining of their world and came to investigate. He knew the next ripple would open somewhere else. He would have to find it in two weeks and wait for her. He didn’t look forward to deal with fighting them off upon her return.

Jace waited for Merrick, surprised he came back on the patrol alone. He seemed perturbed to know Daphne ran off too. The black man rolled his eyes.

“Damn Newbies,” was all he said and cooked himself another disturbing meal Jace wanted no part of. He went out to the fire escape and watched the demons loitering around the ripple Daphne disappeared through, hearing them seethe to know they couldn’t follow. He was distracted as Merrick joined him for his nightly smoke.

“Raymond finds out what you two are up to; he won’t like it,” he said as he lit up.

Jace hid his surprise. This was Merrick. He knew what they were up to.

“She had unfinished business.”

“We all have unfinished business, kid. Don’t matter. He finds out where she really went he could kick you two out of here.”

“Will you tell him?” Jace demanded and looked angry.

Merrick chuckled and shook his head. “Nah, I ain’t no snitch. Won’t do no good to go back anyhow. Just holds ya back even more.”

“What do you mean?”

“When ya go back ya leave some trace behind and it ties ya there. That gal will find out she gonna stay here longer now.”

“Maybe it is worth it to her to find out what she needs to know,” Jace argued back.

Merrick shrugged. “Hope so cause time is all we have down here now, that and more time.”

Jace thought about what Merrick said long after he left him to secure the warehouse for the evening. What if Merrick was right? Was going back worth the risk? He had no idea what he went back to or if he could even make a difference for those he loved. He prayed it wouldn’t prove as disastrous as Merrick’s crossing over.

Thinking about a demon getting Lindsay or his brother and sister haunted him for many days and nights of inky darkness. He went about the nightly patrols, waiting for Daphne and hoping for her safe return. It was an eventful couple of runs. They took down a fair share of demons that first couple of days.

The deadheads nabbed the last batch of new arrivals and they searched the outer reaches in vain for them. They were hiding them now. Merrick seemed worried about these unknown Newbie’s.    

“We gotta find them,” Merrick muttered one night as they gathered their arsenal and packed the van. “Raymond is ticked. The deadheads are getting smarter the longer they here. It ain’t like them to evade us like this.”

“You said they were all brain dead or something,” Jace pointed out. “We’ll find where their holed up.”

“This is different. Raymond says they have a new leader now,” Merrick said and shook his head. “They’re getting organized.”

“Who’s their leader?”

“White Mohawk from your first night out, remember him?”

“Yeah. What about him?” Jace asked, remembering how the man kept getting up and coming after them.

Merrick frowned darkly. “His name is Rhys. He showed up down here ten years ago. He’s smarter than the others for some reason. It wasn’t hard for him to become their leader, trust me.”

“What does this Rhys want?”

Merrick grinned. “To get rid of us, Kid. Ain’t that obvious? He’s working with the demons now. They promise him he’ll get out of here if he delivers us to them.”

Jace thought of the man with the white-blond Mohawk and his pale, lifeless gaze. The other deadheads followed him without thought or question. Combined with their lack of intelligence and desire for pain, the deadheads were angry. They didn’t think it was fair they were sentenced to eternity here. If they managed to achieve an alliance with the demons, none of them were safe while they waited to be redeemed.

“What does Raymond say about the deadhead leader? Has he found anything out?”

Merrick laughed and kicked back on a lawn chair. “He don’t have much to say, Kid. He got his hands full with Jose right now.”

Jace thought of the man who killed Drea with a surge of anger. “How’s that going?”

“Drea confronted him. It got real ugly. He remembers her.”

Jace tensed, imagining Cameron in front of him down here. “What happened?”

Merrick raised an eyebrow and blew out smoke. “Now you know Drea by now. What you see is what you get. How do you think that went? She threatened him.”  

“I don’t get why we protect him after what he did to her.”

“I don’t make the rules, Kid.”

“No, you don’t and either does he!” Jace snapped and stood up, glaring. “Who died and made Raymond boss? This is a joke! The guy doesn’t deserve us protecting him.”