Spirit [New Crescent 2] (BookStrand Publishing Romance) (14 page)

The air cleared, but the profound sadness lingered, and Reggie shed tears for all that Constance had endured and all she’d lost. Her suffering made Reggie even more determined to defeat Vincent. An evil like his, if loosed, could infect the entire town, and from there, who knows what it could do. The Guardians of New Crescent had protected the world from evils such as this in the past. The Old Families’ history, with its tales of epic battles of good and evil, had always fascinated Reggie. Sometimes, the battles weren’t so epic, but even those had been important because if not checked, evil always grows. Every single struggle against it was important.

With irritation, Reggie said, “If I’m supposed to take this on, why the hell didn’t I get some help from my ancestors? You know? Some sort of gift? Like I was supposed to inherit? Duh!” She spoke to no one in particular. For years, she’d lamented that the gift had passed her over and had even accepted a measure of guilt because of it. The very thought of the injustice made her mad. She looked up, unsure of whom she was addressing exactly, but she did it anyway.

Raising her hand pointing her index finger at the sky, she said, “If I get through this, some way, some how, you’re going to have to make this up to me! Do you hear me?” She was met with silence. She stalked off.

Unable to concentrate, Reggie decided that she’d spent enough of her day working on the house. She dialed the number John Marks had given her and talked to Todd. She could use some ice cream.

* * * *

Sitting beside the eleven-year-old at the ice cream parlor counter, Reggie scanned the menu on the board.

“I can’t decide whether to go for the untried but tempting, or the tried but true. Oh, I’m feeling adventurous today. I’ll have a double scoop of Bahama Mama in a waffle cone.” She turned to her companion. “What’ll you have?”

Todd looked at the young server and said, “I’ll have one scoop of bubble gum and one chocolate fudge in a waffle cone, please.”

“Ah, the ever-popular split decision…a safe choice.” Reggie said. “I swear if I like the Bahama Mama, I’m getting a carton to take home for emergencies.”

Todd nodded. In fact, his order had been the first thing he’d said since she’d picked him up. Reggie spun around on her stool twice. Todd looked at her in surprise.

“What? Just because I’m old doesn’t mean I don’t have fun anymore.”

She got her first smile from him. He had a couple of crooked teeth and she wondered if he’d be sporting braces some time in the future.

He finally said, “I’m really sorry about what I did, Miss Stanton.”

“It’s Reggie, and I know, Todd. I accept your apology. It’s not so easy being a kid.”

He nodded.

She accepted her cone with thanks, and Todd did the same. For a few moments, they were silent as they gave the ice cream the attention it deserved.

“How’s yours?” He ventured.

“Not bad, but I think I’ll bring Rocky Road home tonight. How’s yours?”

He closed his eyes with reverence. “Mmmm, perfect. Thank you.”

Fleetingly, Reggie wondered if she’d just found the man of her dreams. They had so much in common.

“I’m glad you’re feeling better. Todd, can you tell me about that night? I know what happened, but I need to know how you felt.”

He took another lick of ice cream and then finally responded. “Mostly I was scared. I didn’t want to do it.” He applied himself to the cone once again.

Reggie did the same. She had long ago mastered the art of talking and eating ice cream at the same time. Deciding to demonstrate those skills, she continued to ask questions.

“In the hospital, you said you’d decided not to go through with it. Can you tell me what happened to change your mind?”

Unaware of the ice cream on his chin, Todd said, “I was gonna turn around and go home. It got real cold. I just wanted to go home. I felt real sad. I think I started to cry.” Embarrassed, he ignored his cone for the moment. “I don’t cry much anymore, but I wanted to curl up like a baby and cry. I wanted my parents.”

“You don’t remember taking anything or running away?”

“Nope. My mom says I pulled a knife.”

“Yes, but you were clearly not yourself. Where did you get it?”

“It’s my dad’s from when he was a kid. I’m not supposed to ever play with it. I got in big trouble for taking it.” His ice cream cone started to drip onto his fist but he didn’t notice.

Reggie handed him a napkin and said, “It’s okay now, Todd. It’s over, and no one got hurt. You’re never going to do something like that again, are you?”

He shook his head. “No way. I don’t care what the guys say.”

“Good.” Reggie smiled. “What have the guys said to you so far?”

“Well, Jeremy, he’s my best friend, he was cool. His dad was real mad at him, but Jer was okay with me tellin’ and all, seeing as how I got so sick.”

Reggie smiled at Jeremy’s juvenile justice system…it made a certain amount of sense to her. “Did Jeremy get sick too?”

“Nah, but Aidan did., He got the flu, but was okay the next day. He probably gave it to me.”

Reggie nodded, “It happens.”

“The whole thing was Aidan’s idea. He’s the toughest guy in school. He’s cool.”

She continued to talk with Todd, gently questioning him about the other boys and Bennett House. From what she understood, Todd and his friends had felt the same kind of thing from the Big Bad. They just weren’t aware of it, and the aftereffects were blamed on the flu.

When she dropped Todd back at his house, she warned his mother that the ice cream she’d bought him might have ruined his supper. Tammy Marks smiled. “Don’t worry, nothing spoils his appetite.”

As Reggie drove away, she decided that Todd Marks really was the man of her dreams but was way too young…as usual, her timing sucked.

Reggie drove by Chase’s place before heading back to Bennett House. His battered old truck was parked in front of the bungalow. He was still home. She pulled into the driveway. She’d been to Chase’s house once or twice before with Sam or Travis, so it wasn’t completely unfamiliar to her. She was anxious to find out what he’d been able to uncover about Vincent. She rapped sharply on the front door.

“It’s open,” Chase called out from inside.

Seeing him at the computer, Reggie thought,
Ah, the glasses again. Damn he has that sexy, geek look nailed.
He looked distracted and absent-minded professor-ish. She loved it. The sight of him gave her a familiar feeling of excitement.

His welcoming smile made her warm inside. “Hey there, Crash. I’ve found some information about Vincent Bennett. I don’t know if it’s going to help us, but it’s a start.” He was all business as he motioned with his hand to bring her to his side. He stood when she moved closer and absently picked up a stack of papers. Smiling, he swooped down and kissed her lingeringly. He didn’t stop until she was breathless.

He licked his lips and said, “You taste fruity. What have you been eating?”

“Blame it on the Bahama Mama at the ice cream shop. I just dropped Todd off.”

“How’d it go with our criminal mastermind?”

“Oh, he made a much smarter choice, bubble gum and chocolate fudge.” She smiled at him happily.

Chase humored her instead of responding as she’d expected. “I’m glad he’s showing at least some good judgment after his foray into a life of crime.”

She smiled and shrugged. “He described pretty much the same sense of loss that I felt in the library. We were right. He was under Vincent’s influence.”

“Did he say anything about the other boys?”

“Yeah, I don’t think we’ll have further trouble from them. Apparently, the ring leader is a kid named Aidan.” Reggie frowned. “I wonder what his story is.”

Chase unfolded the list of names John Marks had given him. He pointed to one of the names. “Aidan Scott, here’s his phone number.” He passed her the sheet of paper.

“Thanks, but I’m not sure I want to go through the parents on this one. John said that some of them weren’t so concerned about what their sons were doing. Maybe Todd can point Aidan out to me. I want to see how the other boys relate to him before we meet.”

Chase frowned. “Clever, but be careful. Your actions have to be above reproach.” He narrowed his eyes at her. “We’re talking about children here.”

“Exactly. I have to tread lightly. I want to get a feel for the kind of kid he is before talking to him.”

He nodded. “Sounds reasonable.” With a hopeful tone, he said, “I don’t suppose you thought to bring me any ice cream.”

“Ah-ha! That’s where you’re wrong. I’ve got a tub of Rocky Road in the car. I’ll go get it.” He stopped her by putting a hand on her back and saying: “I’ll get it.” He handed her the papers he’d been holding. “You take a look at these. I’ll be right back.”

Distracted by what was printed on the page, she said, “Yeah, thanks.” She sat on the chair he’d just vacated.

After Chase left the room, Reggie, engrossed in the papers, heard rather than felt an unfamiliar vibration. She stopped reading and looked around the room. Nowhere was anything that could have been causing the strange sensation. She pushed the chair away from the desk slowly.

She heard an inhuman growling sound and a large weight landed on her. The flash of quick movement shocked Reggie, and she cried out as sharp little needles pierced the fabric of her jeans.

Chase came running when he heard her cry. He froze in the doorway. Reggie sat pinned to the chair, her lap overflowing with thirty pounds of purring cat. She looked crossly at the feline and pulled his claws out of her thighs with annoyance.

She cast a glance at her host. “My God, Chase, you should warn a person. I almost had a heart attack.” She tentatively stroked the huge cat’s back. “I didn’t know you had a sabertooth. What do you call him?”

“Inconvenient,” he said with irritation. “Or how ’bout Pain-In-the-Ass?”

She looked the cat in the face and spoke softly.. “So you don’t have a name, huh? Figures, men just don’t understand that sort of thing. Maybe you should have selected a female companion to bond with.” She scratched behind his ear, and the purring grew louder as he closed his eyes and pressed against Reggie’s hand. She looked at Chase standing in the doorway. “Pain in the ass, huh? Well, P.I.T.A. it is then.” Addressing the cat, she said, “No complaints Pita. You have no one to blame but yourself…you’re the one who picked him.”

“He’s not my cat. He just showed up one day and never left.”

“Did you try to locate his owner?”

He rolled his eyes at her, “Of course I did. I’m still trying in fact.”

“He’s a Maine Coon cat, I think, the largest and heaviest breed. You should be honored. You’re no outsider. You know better than to take an animal’s spontaneous attachment so lightly. Be grateful he chose you.” She shifted under Pita’s weight and declared, “He belongs here in New Crescent. He belongs with you. He knows it, even if you don’t. I like your cat Chase. He’s a beauty.” She laughed as he walked into the kitchen. “I want a bowl too,” she called out.

After a few moments, he returned carrying a bowl and two spoons. He opened the ice cream tub and handed her the spoon.

“Since when do you use a bowl?”

“Mmm.” She closed her eyes with pleasure after her first spoonful of ice cream. Nodding at the papers on his desk, she said, “You’ve done a lot of work here. Man, you’re set up. I look at this computer system, and I want to ask, how do you fly this thing?”

Moving a chair next to hers, he said, “It works.”

“You don’t say?”

He ignored her. “I’ve been able to access the Bennett Family archives in England. That’s where Vincent was born. Records show that his parents died when he was six, and he was sent to live with a distant relative. According to this, he grew up in London and took over his adopted father’s shipping business.”

“How’d he end up in America?” Reggie asked, looking over his shoulder.

“That’s unclear. But I suspect he came for business reasons. He arrived in Boston when he was twenty-nine.”

“That would make him at least eleven years older than Constance. Women married young then. Eighteen would have been a perfectly respectable age to wed.”

“Yeah, that was normal for the time, but here’s the creepy thing. Get a look at the cargo Vincent profited from.”

“Oh my God…slaves.” Reggie wanted to be sick.

“We really shouldn’t be that surprised. It makes sense. The slave trade wasn’t so profitable in Britain at that time. He went where the money was, the United States of America. It says here he trafficked in Asian, African, and Native slaves. Our guy didn’t discriminate, it seems. He was an equal-opportunity sociopath.” Chase’s voice dripped with disgust. “A man with his wicked ways would have had a field day trading in human beings. The hell he’d undoubtedly visited upon those poor souls is unimaginable.”

Reggie read on. “It looks like the Bennett family didn’t approve of his dealings because, here it is, he was disowned. Hmm, that kind of explains why no Bennett ever claimed the house here in America…ill-gotten gains. Maybe somebody had a conscience.”

“He’d traveled widely. There’s no telling where he picked up the dark magic Constance referred to, could have been anywhere.”