The Conch Shell of Doom (11 page)

“Sorry,” Alexis said. “I didn’t think he would literally be
right
there
. I feel like such a girl, making that sound.”

“Your secret’s safe with me.” Bailey peeked around the corner. The man hadn’t moved.
 

“There you are. Right where Mr. Lovell said you’d be.”

Bailey and Alexis exchanged glances.
Oh shit!

The man took out his cell phone and dialed. “It’s Percy. I’m at the museum. Yep, looking right at it.” Percy waited a moment before speaking again. “So sweet, hiding the Conch Shell of Doom in a museum exhibit full of shells. Right under everyone’s noses.”
 

Hearing about the Conch Shell of Doom, Bailey almost remembered something about last night. The memory was like an itch his brain couldn’t scratch. He even scratched his head, hoping that would help. It didn’t.

Percy ended the call and stuffed the phone back into his pocket. “The eye’s doing better, not that you care.”

Alexis nudged Bailey. “You mentioned that last night.”

“That his eye is feeling better?”

“No, you goof. The conch shell part. Do you remember?”

“Kind of, sort of, but not really.”

Bailey took another look around the corner. Percy was gone, off to the next part of the museum. Bailey didn’t want to risk being recognized, so he and Alexis left the museum the way they came in. Since the museum was designed for people to travel in one direction, they got tangled up in a group of tourists. After a few minutes of weaving through everyone, the two walked out of the museum.

And found themselves face-to-face with Percy.

Bailey didn’t have the awareness to keep moving and act like nothing happened. He stopped, a confused look on his face. Alexis nudged Bailey to do exactly that, but he didn’t react fast enough. Percy noticed them as he lit a cigarette.

“Hey, it’s you kids.” He exhaled through his nose as he spoke. “You’re not following me, are you?”

Bailey’s mouth went dry.
Does he know?

“No, after you asked us about the museum, we got to talking and realized neither of us had been here since the third grade.” Alexis put her aviators on. “It didn’t take long for us to remember why.”

“It’s pretty weak.” Percy flicked ash on the sidewalk.

Whew.
Bailey glanced at Alexis, appreciative of her quick thinking.
She’s pretty good in a tight squeeze.
If she weren’t there, he would’ve stammered for a bit and then tried to run away.
 

“Isn’t it?” The sun’s glare coming off the aviators made it impossible to read her face.
 

Percy’s unbandaged eye narrowed. “You’re not lyin’ to me, are you?”

Bailey laughed nervously and then forced himself to stop.
 

Stupid! Run away!

Bailey fought off the instinct to make a run for it.
Keep cool. Alexis got us this far. Give her a chance to bring it home.

“Why would we lie to someone we’ve never met?” Alexis tucked the aviators in her hair and then crossed her arms, taking a defensive pose. “I don’t think I appreciate some
stranger
talking to me like that.”

Percy seemed rattled. His good eye darted from side to side. He flicked the cigarette away and then pushed them around to the alley beside the museum. “Enough of this.”

“What are you doing?” Bailey didn’t know why Percy would do such a thing, but people didn’t normally get shoved into an alley so something
good
could happen to them.

Percy threw them against the side of the museum. “Did Franklin send you kids to follow me?”

“Who?” Bailey asked, feeling his body speed into the anxiety zone.

“Don’t lie to me!
 

“I swear we don’t know who he is!”

“That rotten old bastard did this.” Percy pointed to his eye. He seemed more shaken than the other two combined. “Did he pay you five bucks to follow me? I’ll give you ten just to piss off.”

“We don’t know what you’re talking about.” Alexis’s voice cracked. “But you’re really scaring us.”
 

“Good,” Percy said. “You’re lucky I don’t have my gun.”

“You have a gun?” She held up her hands and knelt down, eyes watering. “Don’t hurt us, mister. Please. We’re just kids. I almost died of cancer. Please don’t do this! My mom would be so disappointed!”

“You did?” Percy looked at her, his mouth unhinged.
 

Even with the anxiety telling Bailey to run or curl into a ball, he forced himself to help. “She went bald and everything.”

“Oh, man. I’m not going to. I’m sorry.” He ran, stopping only to pick up his hat, before disappearing out of the alley.
 

Bailey and Alexis didn’t move, afraid Percy would come back. Bailey relaxed, leaning against the museum’s wall.

“If that were any closer, I’d need a change of underwear,” Bailey said.

Alexis stood up, wiping the tears from her eyes. “I should’ve gone out for drama.”

“That was amazing. I can’t believe you did that. Are you okay?”
 

Alexis bent over, hands on her knees. She cried some more. “I will be. Just give me a minute.”
 

“Take all the time you need.” Bailey wasn’t sure if he should pat her back, but he did it anyway. When she didn’t brush him away, he leaned in closer.

“I hate going there.” Alexis stood up and pulled the aviators over her eyes. She looked like nothing ever happened. “I’m okay.”

“You sure?”
 

“Yeah.”

Bailey looked at Alexis in a new light. Simply amazing. He didn’t think she’d do that if Percy busted them, but she did. It was impressive. Bailey did feel ashamed he didn’t do more to protect her. Guys were supposed to do that, even if the girl was more than capable of taking care of herself.
 

“If he’d touched you, I’d have gone down swinging,” Bailey said.

“I know.”

“I mean it. If he’d even breathed on you, I’d have pummeled his face.”

“I’m positive, though I think he breathed on me a little.”
 

The deadpanning made Bailey smile. “Really?”

“I think it was more smoke than him. Does that count?”

Bailey and Alexis walked back to her car, taking care to stay within earshot of other people in case more trouble came their way. Bailey’s phone vibrated with a text from Marshall, saying they needed to talk ASAP.

“Interesting.” He showed Alexis the phone.

“Very. So, we’re definitely coming back tonight to catch that jerk in the act, aren’t we?”

“Of course.” Bailey hated the idea, but he couldn’t say that.

Franklin’s bladder wanted to explode. He’d been sitting in the same spot for five hours, his back was sore, and he couldn’t take it anymore. Things had gotten so uncomfortable he’d contemplated smoking to distract himself, even though a cigarette hadn’t touched his lips in over seventy years. Never mind that he didn’t have a smoke on him.

“Hell with it.” He started his car. Finding a bathroom became his sole quest in life. And getting some food. In that order. If Percy showed up in the next few minutes, there’d be an infinite amount of hell to pay.

Franklin turned the Mustang to the right and drove back toward Mooresville. He remembered seeing a McDonald’s nearby. The thought of using one of their bathrooms gave him a sick, coppery taste in his mouth. That place was beneath him in so many ways. Anything he ate there would probably make his stomach explode like Hiroshima. Since the only alternatives were a mom-and-pop gas station or Hardee’s, what choice did he have? He swallowed his pride and decided to take his chances with the golden arches. The alternative only seemed more destructive to his intestines.

A black van approached in the opposite direction.

That better not be Percy
.

Even if it was, Franklin couldn’t wait much longer. Otherwise, he’d need a fresh pair of pants.

Damn
.

Franklin could spot that stupid hat of Percy’s anywhere. Franklin needed to turn around and follow the turd, but the pain in his bladder was too great. He squeezed the steering wheel and pushed down on the gas pedal. Time, on too many levels, was of the upmost importance.

Three minutes later, he walked out of that McDonald’s bathroom feeling like a million bucks. He drove back to Percy’s, an Oreo’s McFlurry in hand. Franklin parked in the same place as before. The
A-Team
van was nowhere in sight. Franklin took off his jacket, got out of El Cid, and went for a looksee. Not wanting to get too close, he walked down the sidewalk across the street from the building. The van looked like it had been parked underneath the raised complex, but he wasn’t sure. He ran across the street, taking cover behind a Toyota Corolla. A quick peek around the car brought a smile to his face.

Got him
.

Percy’s van was parked under the building.

Franklin walked into a stairwell and marched up to Percy’s place on the fourth floor. Cars passed by on the street below, making a faint
whoosh
. One of the windows to Percy’s condo was cracked open. Franklin slid along next to it and waited. He didn’t have to wait long.

“Yeah, it’s there at the museum,” Percy said. “Just like you said it’d be. I did good, didn’t I?”

“But what about these kids? Do you really think they followed you?”
 

Franklin recognized that raspy voice of Mr. Lovell’s anywhere. The Blade of Hugues de Payens was wrapped around Franklin’s leg, but there was too much risk to use it in the daylight.

And
kids
? What, did Percy steal their lunch money? Franklin didn’t see any reason why kids would go Scooby-Doo on these two.

“If they did, I scared the living daylights out of them,” Percy said. “Those two see me coming, they’ll run the other way. No doubt.”

“Let’s hope so.” Mr. Lovell coughed. It sounded scratchy and thick, like his body tried to get rid of some phlegm.

“You all right?”

“Fine. My guest is just antsy for the Awakening.”

I’ll bet
, Franklin thought to himself.

A station wagon pulled into the parking lot. An overweight couple and three kids poured out, making all sorts of noise. If they didn’t shut up, Percy or Mr. Lovell might close the window. Franklin leaned in a little closer, trying to hear every morsel of conversation.
 

Percy laughed. “I guess you shouldn’t tell him that we’re picking up the Conch Shell of Doom later. That’ll really make him hopped up.”

A pit opened in Franklin’s stomach. He didn’t know the Shell was close by. He was so wrapped up in finding Mr. Lovell that it slipped his mind. Of course it was here. The Awakening always took place by the ocean, the power source for the Shell. Franklin cursed under his breath.

You’re slipping in your old age, Franklin. You know better than that
.
At least they don’t have it yet.

Forget destroying Trenton piece by piece. None of that mattered. Trenton was a monster, but the Conch Shell of Doom was his God. It brought the twisted little shit back from the dead. If Franklin controlled the Shell, he controlled his brother.
 

“Tell me again why we can’t just go get the Shell now?” Percy asked.

“Too many people would see us,” Mr. Lovell said. “And my appearance can leave an impact. Better to get the Shell after the museum closes.”

The family disappeared into the far stairwell, but Franklin had heard enough. Only the Shell mattered. The nautical museum couldn’t be hard to find, so all he needed to do was break in and steal the Shell before midnight. That would be easy enough.

Franklin even thought about leaving a note:
Sorry guys. Best to my brother.

Alexis and Bailey decided to meet up again at eight thirty to stake out the museum, and he insisted on picking her up. Alexis was already waiting outside her house when Bailey arrived a few minutes early. She’d changed into a gray shirt with the Gryffindor house logo on it from
Harry Potter
.

“Be careful,” Alexis said as she got in the car. “Dad’s about to cook out.”

“Huh?”

Chuck flung himself on the driver’s side window, screaming. He held up a fleshy stump where his hand used to be. Bailey jerked back, terrified, and honked the horn.

“Go away!”

“Why?” Chuck yelled. “Why? And why do I want to grill it so bad?”

“Hilarious, Dad.” Alexis stared off to the side, waiting for the torture to end.

Chuck frowned, disappointed neither of them laughed. Bailey rolled down his window, but remained on guard in case Alexis’s dad had more shenanigans planned.

“It was just a joke.” He took the raw meat off his hand, which remained attached to his arm. “You got it, didn’t you Bailey?”

“I did,” Bailey said. “It was funny.”

“Oh, we got it,” Alexis said. “That wasn’t the problem.”

“See Bailey,” Chuck nodded toward his daughter. “This is what’s known as the ‘I’m too cool for my parents’ phase of puberty. She can’t say the joke was funny, because that’s admitting on some level she’s a lot like her parents, and there’s way too much insecurity running through her for that conversation. Maybe when she gets to college.”

Alexis gave her dad a crazed look. “Dad! Mom said no psychoanalysis outside of the dinner table.”

“Love you too, sweetie.” Chuck grinned, giddy at the sight of his embarrassed daughter. He rolled the raw meat into a ball. “You guys want to stick around? Primitive man about to put fire to meat.”

“We have some stuff to do,” Alexis said. “It’s kind of why I’m in Bailey’s car.”

“She’s right.” Bailey held his finger over the power windows button, ready for the “prank” to end. “But thank you for the offer.”

“You sure you don’t want to stick around for a dog or two?” Chuck tossed the meat ball in the air. “We were supposed to have a bunch of people over, but they all stood us up. I guess everyone’s freaking out over this storm that might hit in a couple of days. It can’t be my sparkling personality.”
 

“Charles Robert Carrington,” Debbie called from the patio, a beer in hand. “Stop messing with them and cook me some meat. Momma’s hungry.”