Depart the Darkness

by Melissa R. L. Simonin

  Miles gave Jackson the address of the Edmunds’ house and went over a few other details, then said goodbye so Jackson could get busy carrying out his orders.

  “I feel better having that taken care of,” Miles commented, as he held my hand again.

  “Me too. How horrible if we told Steve we’d take care of it, and during the night Phillip Edmunds disappeared with the kids.”

  “No kidding. I wonder what’s going on with this guy, though. If he hasn’t always been this way, what changed?”

  “Or, was a controlling nature always simmering beneath the surface?” I wondered.

  “When you talk to Lorna Edmunds, we’ll have a better idea of the truth than we do now.”

  “Unless she’s as honest as her brother!” I exclaimed.

  “My goodness, Anika. I’m surprised at you. For someone whose most powerful ability is truth, you don’t seem to be much of a fan,” he teased.

  I laughed.

  “Well that ability only works when people lie! And when they lie, I get a whole lot more information than when they tell the truth!”

  “It works when people tell the truth too, though. Because of your ability, you know when they are.”

  “Yeah, I guess so,” I said more grumpily than I actually felt.

  Miles laughed a little, and kissed the back of my hand.

  “I don’t know about John and Annette, but Xander and Jenny are probably still up. We could invite our friends over to tell lies, if it’ll make you feel better.”

  The thought made me laugh.

  “That won’t be necessary,” I smiled.

  “Good, because I really don’t want to spend the evening with our friends,” he said, and his voice was melting. His eyes were on the road though, because he was driving.

  “Oh?” I asked, pretending to be incredibly dense. “And why’s that? Are you feeling antisocial all of a sudden?”

  “Extremely antisocial,” he replied. “What I want, is to be completely alone. With you.”

  “Okay fine,” I said with a sigh of long-suffering. “Since that’s the way you feel, I’ll put off listening to our friends tell us a pack of lies for another night, and spend the rest of the evening completely alone with you, instead.”

  Miles laughed.

  “Can you imagine how crazy so many of our conversations would sound to the rest of the world?”

  “Yeah, especially this one, if they got a good look at you,” I replied, and smiled.

  He laughed again, as I knew he would.

  “In spite of what a big deal you make over my looks, I know you’re not that shallow.”

  I tilted my head and listened intently for several seconds. Miles frowned and gave me a look, and I ceased tormenting him and laughed.

  “You’re telling the truth,” I smiled.

  “The only thing protecting you from a major shoulder bump right now, is the fact that I’m driving,” he informed me.

  I laughed as I leaned toward him, and pulling him closer, I kissed his cheek.

  “Careful,” he said. “Don’t go distracting me. Remember what happened to the armoire when you did that.”

  “Okay,” I smiled. “No more distracting until we get back to the Lodge.”

  Two hours later, after walking the dogs, playing with the puppies, straightening the suite, and distracting Miles to my heart’s content and his, we sat on the sitting room couch with bowls of ice cream, a roaring fire, and his laptop open in front of us.

  “I’m so glad you put a force field around this,” I commented, as I loaded my spoon with rocky road.

  “How does your sister eat the way she does and not weigh five-hundred pounds?” Miles replied.

  “Crazy, huh,” I said. “She has the metabolism of a hummingbird, I guess.”

  “I suppose that’s appropriate. She’s about as busy as one.”

  “If she gets any hint that we’re working another case, she’ll want to get busy on it,” I said. “I don’t see what there is she could do to help, though. Besides, this guy could be dangerous. I really don’t want her involved.”

  “As long as your Grandma Thompson doesn’t have a second gallbladder that needs removed, then Doreen doesn’t have to know a thing about it,” Miles pointed out. “She just spent the weekend here. We can easily work around your siblings’ visits to see the puppies.”

  “What are we going to do when we have kids?” I asked.

  “Hm. I was planning to raise them. Did you have something else in mind?” he asked, and I laughed.

  “No, I just don’t know how we’re going to manage that and solving cases, too.”

  “I don’t either. We also didn’t know how we were going to handle having what we believed to be a paranormal entity at our Lodge when your sister was here. But everything turned out alright.”

  “You’re right. It did. I’ll quit worrying about it. Who knows, we might get a reprieve once we start having kids.”

  “Before long, we’ll have the missing persons division of the Bannerman Foundation set up like we talked about last semester,” Miles pointed out. “In many regards we’ll choose our own cases at that point.”

  “That sounds awesome. I love the idea of prevention and saving people, instead of coming in after the fact.”

  “I do too. Prevention is what this case is all about. We’ve already prevented a murder. Who knows what else we’ll prevent by the time this is wrapped up.”

  “It’s disturbing that Lorna overheard her husband talking about fake IDs for the kids,” I said.

  “It is. All of it is disturbing,” Miles added.

  “I wonder if she’ll be willing to talk to us?”

  “We’ll find out soon.”

  “The biggest question right now, is will she let us help her,” I added.

  “I really hope so. As my Mother once said, ‘It is impossible to help when help is not accepted.’ I think you know what I’m referring to.”

  “She was talking about her friend, who was the victim of domestic abuse and she wouldn’t accept help from your father. Right?”

  “Right. It was incredibly sad. She refused it. She was sure she could make her husband change… you can’t make anyone do what they don’t want to, though.”

  “You can,” I pointed out, and he laughed.

  “Okay, technically yes. But, I can’t change a person’s heart. I can’t alter another person’s freewill. If I could do that, I would’ve altered yours a few times.”

  “What in the world are you talking about?” I wanted to know, because he wasn’t teasing me. He was telling the truth.

  “Oh how quickly you forget! Remember how you tormented me the year we were engaged?”

  “Oh… that. You know I never take risks anymore, though. I stopped that before we got married.”

  “I know,” he leaned over and kissed the side of my face. “If you failed to see the error of your ways, you’d be in a locked room with a force field surrounding you right now.”

  “You’re telling the truth!” I laughed. “My goodness, I really did a number on you.”

  “Honey, you have no idea,” he said.

  “Well I wouldn’t care if you did that, as long as you were inside the force field with me,” I declared.

  “I would be,” he smiled. “And… considering we’re in a room, the door is locked, and there is a force field surrounding us… the only difference between that scenario and this, is that I’m not really, really irritated with you.”

  There was laughter in his eyes. He forgave me for all of that long ago. A few months ago, anyway. I laughed and set my empty ice cream bowl aside, then kissed his cheek.

  “So what have you found?” I asked. “I see you’ve been taking notes. I have no idea how you do searches, read, take notes, and carry on a conversation with me, all at the same time.”

  “It’s called multi-tasking,” he said, reading over the notes he made.

  “Yes, on a supernatural superhero level,” I agreed, as I looked o
ver his shoulder.

  “What I didn’t find is just as important as what I did. He doesn’t have a prison record.”

  “That’s good,” I replied.

  “Here’s a picture of the Edmunds,” he said, bringing up a tab on the laptop.

  I took my time studying the four of them, one at a time. They all looked cheerful and carefree. I’d never believe this was a family with major problems, if I didn’t know how different appearances can be, from reality.

  “When was this taken?” I wondered.

  “Two years ago, it was in an Edmunds family reunion newsletter. Look at it again, then I have something else to show you.”

  “Okay,” I said, and did so.

  “And now… take a look at this,” Miles said, and brought up another photo.

  “My goodness,” I exclaimed in surprise. “When was this taken?”

  “Within six months of moving here,” he replied. “Looking at the photos one right after the other, the change is remarkable. And disturbing.”

  “Phillip and Lorna look so distant. He looks tense, and she looks tired. The change in the kids isn’t as great, but it’s there.”

  “So the question I now have is this,” said Miles. “What happened? What was the catalyst that took the family from that, to this?”

  I shook my head slowly as I thought.

  “Your idea that it might be medical in nature is a good one. It could also be that he’s having an affair. He’s distant with his wife, he’s tense because he knows what he’s doing is wrong… maybe he’s trying to keep Lorna from finding out, that’s why she’s not supposed to answer the phone or leave the house.”

  “We’ll know before long if he’s guilty of that,” said Miles. “That’s one reason among several, for having him tailed.”

  “Other possible reasons for this change might be that he’s got a gambling problem. Or money issues of some kind. He gets upset if she spends money, and he’s emptied several accounts. But…”

  “I know what you’re thinking, and I agree,” said Miles. “Nothing is ever as it seems. It could be that she’s not being entirely honest with Steve. She may have caused their money troubles, assuming they have any. He might be emptying accounts to protect what resources they have left. It would explain why he’s upset if she spends. Maybe he didn’t receive a call about fake IDs, at all. Maybe she’s the one with a problem of some kind, medical or otherwise.”

  “Maybe she’s saying the things she is to get her family on her side, and to muddy the water before she leaves him, and the real truth comes out. They’ll disbelieve anything he has to say, because they believe he’s abusive.”

  “You won’t have to talk to either of them long, to know what the truth is,” Miles said.

  “If one of them will just come straight out and lie!” I replied, and Miles laughed.

  Chapter 3

  Miles and I sat in the nursery with the puppies. They made the most adorable little sounds, and were just learning how to hobble around. They had such bright eyes, and were curious about their world. And probably hungry. They were always ready to eat! Trixie was taking a much needed break. She slept in front of the fire which blazed in the fireplace of our bedroom, while we sat and played.

  Chip relaxed on the floor beside me. He watched as the puppies struggled to stand, then took a step or two, then wobbled and fell. Ed had the hang of it, and was busy knocking over his brothers and sisters as he explored. He was busy, just like my little brother! No wonder Trixie decided that’s who Ed should live with when he’s old enough.

  Ed endeavored to climb over Chip, who used his nose to give him a helpful boost. Trixie knew Chip would never hurt her babies, so she took no offense to his presence in the nursery.

  Fidget was more sleepy than fidgety, so I picked her up and held her.

  “When Jackson and the other PIs get back to us with their observations, we’ll need to pay Lorna Edmunds a visit.”

  Miles set one of our golden service dog trainees beside the rest, and picked up another.

  “A benefit to having Phillip Edmunds followed is that we’ll know when he’s at the house, and when he isn’t. If Steve is correct, I’m concerned that Phillip will retaliate against Lorna in some way if she talks to us, and he finds out about it.”

  “I’m afraid he’ll retaliate even if she doesn’t talk to us,” I said. “The picture Steve painted was ugly. His knowledge is second-hand though, so I can’t say whether or not he’s right. Wouldn’t it be nice if I could?”

  “It would be great, then I could make statements about situations I know nothing about, and you’d know whether they were true or not. We could solve all of life’s mysteries. There would be no unsolved murders, no missing people or pets…”

  “In the interests of looking on the bright side, having to work for the truth we gain is a lot more fun than listening to statements twenty-four hours a day.”

  “That’s just about what we’d do, too. The weight of every cold case and missing person would weigh heavily on us. We think we don’t get much down-time now… just imagine!”

  “I am, and I’m exhausted just thinking about it,” I said. I looked down at Fidget, now sound asleep in my arms. I pet her soft fur and kissed her furry forehead. “Do you think Trixie will let us keep her? She didn’t find a home for her like she did Spaz, Linux, Ed, and Lacey.”

  “She’s not earmarked as a service dog trainee, either,” said Miles. “Trixie may just break our hearts if she doesn’t. It’s a good sign she named her after you, though. Do you think if I let her name one after me, she would’ve let us keep two of them?”

  “I don’t know,” I laughed. “And you don’t know if we’re really naming our firstborn son Miles, either.”

  “Why do you say that?” he asked curiously.

  “Because when you told her we would, you weren’t a hundred percent sure either way.”

  “And how do you know this?” he asked.

  “Because I heard a tone, not the truth or silence,” I answered.

  “That is very cool,” he said, impressed.

  “It’s helpful, too,” I replied. “When we interviewed for an accountant I passed over all the ones who weren’t absolutely, totally certain they would always be honest with us and never channel funds into their own bank account like the last accountant did. Some didn’t think they would, but a sliver of doubt remained.”

  “Considering the opportunity for temptation that job holds, we don’t want that. Good job, superhero wife,” he smiled. “I couldn’t be happier with the accountant you approved of, or any of our other employees. You sure know how to pick ‘em.”

  “Yes, I do,” I smiled. I held the sleeping puppy, who might or might not be ours, tucked against my chest with one arm. I leaned over and gave him a hug, with the other.

  Trixie appeared, it must be dinner time again. She lay down, and most of the puppies hurried her way. Those who didn’t, she gave an encouraging nudge with her nose. I set Fidget beside her and Miles added his puppy to the pile, then we made our exit, and so did Chip.

  “Poor Chip, it’s too bad you can’t stay,” I said, as Miles closed the door behind us. Chip smiled up at me, he didn’t look all that heartbroken over it. He sprawled in front of the fireplace and stretched, then closed his eyes. I glanced back at the nursery. “It’s great though, how Trixie doesn’t need the door left open to come and go. When do you think we’ll know if the puppies inherited her abilities?”

  “When we come back to the suite someday, and find puppies running loose,” he promptly replied.

  I laughed at that.

  “Thank you so much for stating the obvious, Mr. Bannerman!”

  “You’re welcome, Mrs. Bannerman,” he smiled. “It did seem obvious, but since you asked…”

  Instead of laughing again, I suddenly thought of another question.

  “Have you asked Trixie if her puppies will have abilities?”

  “I have. She said it isn’t up to her to decide.�
�

  “And I’ll bet that’s all she told you,” I said.

  “That’s all. She had nothing else to say about it.”

  “Which means she could know more than that,” I said.

  “Yes. Or, not. It’s impossible to know with her.”

  “You’re telling the truth,” I said, and he laughed.

  Night and Pandora were sprawled out on our bed, taking up as much room as they possibly could. They stretched even further as we pet them, defying the laws of physics in the process.

  “Do you think they’re done growing?” I asked, as Night purred loudly.

  “They’re over a year old now. I’m not sure what’s typical for a cat. I do think breed plays a part,” said Miles, as Pandora stood, and stretched, and climbed onto his lap.

  “She’s not going to be happy when you get up,” I pointed out, as Night climbed onto me. “Neither is he!”

  “We’ll give them about five minutes, then I’ll float them off so we can get going. In the meantime, I wonder if that credit report came in?”

  Miles took his cell phone out of his pocket, and tapped the screen a few times.

  “What does it say?” I asked, as I watched him read. His expression didn’t tell me anything.

  “The good news for the Edmunds is that they’ve got great credit, and the only balance they’re carrying right now, is less than a hundred dollars on a gas card.”

  “So why would Phillip be emptying accounts then, unless Steve is right, and he’s planning to take off?” I wondered.

  “Is he emptying accounts, though? We don’t know for certain,” Miles pointed out. “We do know they either own their home or rent, because there’s no mortgage listed.”

  “I’m not familiar with the company he works for,” I commented. “I don’t even remember the name right now.”

  “Intersect.”

  “And what do they do?” I wondered.

  “They handle a number of government defense contracts.”

  “Hm. That sounds serious.”

  “Yes, I imagine it has the potential to be.”

  “What does Phillip do at the company?” I asked.