by CC Dragon
“Of course not. But she cares about you.”
“That’s her job,” I replied.
“It is. My jobs are over. You’re welcome here to visit any time. If you’re worried about your family or anything else like that, I can always lend an ear. But the any reassurance or validation, that door is closed. You were given some time because I couldn’t be there in the beginning. I needed to help you transition. Now you’re the one who people turn to. It’s hard but it’s worth it.” She closed her book.
“I’m sorry if I’m bothering you. I don’t want to screw things up.”
“You’re overthinking things. It’s good that you care but if you were busier, you’d have less time to stew over it and have to make decisions faster,” she said.
“I’m not asking for more challenges,” I said.
“No, but you feel them coming. They will vary and you will grow. I’m already proud of you. You can’t fail. You can’t lose. As long as you trust yourself and Amy.” Gran smiled.
Then she was gone.
I searched the house but she’d left.
My grandfather was nowhere to be found either. I could bother my brother but the message was clear. I had to live in the world of the living. This was a place to visit but I knew I didn’t belong here. Someday I would.
My family loved me but I had to grow up and looking for approval. I didn’t know a lot of people like me. Gran was the only one I really felt close to. Trusting people wasn’t easy for me.
I left Heaven and returned to my body to a jumble of dreams that had me chasing shadows alone. The echo of hissing snakes made it all the creepier but I could never find the source of the shadow or the hissing.
I woke up to my cell beeping like crazy with text messages.
The number was Candace’s but they weren’t messages exactly. I nudged Tish away from playing with the phone. All I needed was my cute cat to delete evidence.
The messages were actually pictures of address and names. It looked like a list.
Me: Who is this?
Candace: A friend of C...we need to meet
Me: Why?
Candace: They’re marrying me off next week
Me: How do I know you’re not one of them men trying to draw me into a meeting?
Candace: You’re smart
A selfie of a young scared girl with dark hair appeared.
Candace: Please. I can slip away this morning. I’m supposed to clean the church...
Me: Okay. When and where?
Candace: an hour from now behind the Lutheran church four blocks north of our church
Me: I’ll be there
I hastily got dressed and wrestled my hair into a ponytail. I skipped the makeup and texted Gunnar and Matt.
The two met me in the kitchen as I poured my second cup of coffee. They were both already dressed.
“Let me see the exchange,” Matt said.
I handed over my phone. “We can’t not go but it might be a setup.” I wasn’t dumb but what could I do?
“She looks young.” Gunnar nodded.
“Clearly she doesn’t want to get married. She’s giving us info—so she has to know we were trying to help Candace and in touch with the police. We have try to get her.” I shrugged.
Matt nodded. “I’ll get some backup in the area.”
“Do you know this church?” I asked.
Gunnar pulled up a map on his phone. “It’s got a field behind it but it’s not abandoned. That might help her blend in and hide if her church members come looking for her.”
“You’re not going,” Matt said.
“Yes, I am. She won’t trust a bunch of men,” I countered.
Gunnar buttered some toast. “I’ll go with De. Matt coordinates the cops. We’ll get her into the SUV and get the hell out of there. Cops can hang around and see who comes looking for her.”
“Sounds good. We’ll be armed. Forgot my gun. Be right back.” I trudged up the stairs knowing needed a few more cups of coffee but we were on limited time.
“DO YOU FEEL LIKE A sitting duck?” I asked
Gunnar chuckled. “Setup or not, we gotta try. You’d know if it was a real lie.”
“You think?” I asked. “I wonder.”
“Doubting yourself?” he asked.
“No, it’s just this case is all misdirection and confusion. I don’t know if that selfie is even the actual girl who was texting – anyone can lift a picture like that off the Web. I’m not sure if it’s the exorcism and demon hangover or self-doubt. Mary Lou was in my house. She was there possessed all along and I didn’t even see it,” I said.
Gunnar smiled. “You’re only human. No matter what special gifts you have, you’re still a friend. You’re not going to be perfect or all-knowing. I think some people put too much pressure on you.”
“Like who?” I asked.
“Yourself, for one. Others want you to give them a simple answer and that’s not the way it works. Like being a cop. Half of that job is talking to people and figuring out who’s lying to you. Who is the real victim? It’s easy to make it look black and white on the news.” Gunnar sipped coffee from his travel mug.
“You don’t miss that job?” I teased.
“Nope, I’d rather be your bodyguard, assistant, or whatever I am at the moment. No politics or backstabbing. The goal is good. You’re honest when you don’t know something.” He smiled.
“Thanks. You are low pressure but I feel safer with you around.” I nodded.
“Good deal.” Gunnar sat up straighter. “Girl.”
She wore jeans and a T-shirt, neither of which fit her well. It was the girl from the selfie and she looked about sixteen.
Gunnar and I both got out of the SUV. I opened the back door and motioned for her to get in. She had a backpack with her but nothing else.
“Deanna?” she asked.
I nodded. “Get in.”
“I tried to be careful but I think they followed me,” she whispered as she got in the back.
She laid flat on the backseat without me suggesting it.
“Gun!” Gunnar shouted.
I dropped to the ground and pulled my piece. A bullet grazed my left arm.
Gunnar was talking to Matt through his earpiece. The police moved in fast but Gunnar took a bullet in the shoulder as several pickup trucks with shooters jerking back in the open windows headed for us.
Gunnar got in the car. Once the shooting stopped coming at me, I managed to climb into the passenger side. Gunnar drove behind the police line and I turned to check on the girl.
“What’s your name?” I asked.
“Jill,” she whimpered.
“You’re safe, Jill. You better not have a gun or a bomb or anything like that on you,” I warned.
She smiled. “Candace said you were tough. I have nothing like that. My dad trusted me so I played along. I found out where he’d hid Candace’s phone and then I deleted our messages.”
“You’re the pastor’s kid?” I asked.
She nodded. “I turn eighteen tomorrow.”
“You don’t look it,” Gunnar said.
“They don’t let us wear makeup unless...I don’t want to talk about that. I want to get my sisters and go anywhere else but here,” she said.
“We’ll help you. But the police might need more info,” I said.
She sighed. “I’ll tell you and them whatever I know.”
An hour later in the emergency room, my arm was bandaged and Gunnar was grumbling about a sling. Matt and Gunnar were so cute.
“The girl is okay?” I asked.
Paul tapped on the computer mounted on a rolling stand next to my bed. “She’s been cleared. The police took her back to the station.”
“Matt’s here,” I said.
Paul winked. “She preferred a female doctor and a female detective. Can’t blame her. She’s almost an adult so she’ll be okay.”
Matt walked over. “We got warrants and they’ve been executed on all the addresses she
gave us in your text. The detective said Jill is giving them more names and locations. Some of them probably have scattered by now but we’re going to follow up.”
“Thanks, I know you were trying to avoid them fleeing. They’ll just start over so more crazy churches can crop up,” I said.
“I’m not giving up. We’ll get them, and you saved Jill.” Matt smiled. “Got my boyfriend shot. Nice going.”
I laughed. “I got shot, too. Small caliber, at least. You have to raid those new names and addresses soon.”
Matt nodded. “Fresh teams are going. They’re armed, clearly. They’ll probably get SWAT involved at the church.”
“Thanks. Take care of Gunnar.” I smiled.
Paul handed me a prescription. “Rest and bandage changes. Something for the pain.”
“Do you make house calls, Doctor?” I teased.
Paul sighed as Matt went to corral Gunnar.
“You can let the police do some stuff on their own,” Paul frowned.
I rolled my eyes. “If you can’t handle my life, my choices—tell me now.”
Paul tilted his head. “I can handle it. I get it. But you could’ve let a female officer take the meeting.”
“You can’t tell me what I should do or second guess my choices. We won’t work if you try to keep me safe in an office.” I laid the issue flat on the table.
Paul rubbed his forehead. “I love you. I hate you getting hurt. Seeing you shot makes me nuts.”
I squinted at him. “Seriously?” I asked.
“I know it complicates things. I don’t mean to tell you what to do but if I risked my life on a regular basis, you’d worry. You’d tell me what you thought.” He smirked.
I nodded. “True. But that’s not the part I was talking about. Love?”
“Bad timing? Too soon?” he asked.
“No, I just wanted to be sure you heard yourself. You meant it? I mean, bullets and all. That might hype the emotions and make people say things.” I held back my hopes.
“I meant it. Not the most romantic place but who knows when I’ll pin you down.” He smiled.
I grabbed his tie and pulled him into a kiss. Public displays weren’t me at all, but I didn’t mind the whooping or applause from the ER staff and others.
A week later, I was taking it easy with my arm. Matt called me down to the police station and I dreaded walking in. When I spotted Candace and her friends I’d seen in the swamp, I was relieved.
“They got you out,” I said.
She smiled. “They did, but a lot of the men ran with their families. We’re giving them names and information, but the scatter plans change and only the elders knew them.”
Candace looked much more normal jeans and a T-shirt. I wasn’t anti-skirt but after Catholic school, forced dress codes weren’t a favorite of mine. People had a right to dress how they felt comfortable.
“Matt won’t give up until he finds all of your friends. You just have to help and work with him,” I said.
She nodded. “I will. But we’re too old for foster care. We have high school diplomas but nowhere to live. Nowhere to work. They’re talking about a shelter.”
“No shelter. I’ll take care of it. Tell Matt to bring you by my place when you’re done,” I said.
“No, I didn’t mean that. I thought maybe I could get a job or something. I don’t mind hard work and paying my own way. But who do you trust when you don’t know anybody?” she asked.
“Me. You trust me. I’ll get you a place to stay and we’ll get you jobs,” I said.
“Thanks,” she whispered, her eyes welling up. I could feel the apprehension and doubt rolling off of the girls. They’d left the only thing they’d ever known and had jumped feet first into a strange new world.
Matt walked up, running his hand through hair that was already standing on end. “Lucifer is insisting on seeing you.”
“What? I thought I was here for the girls,” I said.
“No, that’s a nice coincidence.” Matt led me to a private meeting room. “Lucifer came in and confessed with a lawyer, looking to make a deal. Said he’s mentally ill. Devil made him do it.”
“Not that far off,” I replied.
“Well, he wants to talk to you before he goes before the judge. He’s willing to forgo a jury trial and cut a sort of deal.”
“What kind of deal?” I asked.
“Voluntary manslaughter. A facility with a mental health lockdown section. The judge will ultimately decide the sentence, but Lucifer could drag this out for months in court. He says he just wants to talk,” Matt said.
I shrugged. “Fine.”
“Have a seat.” Matt tapped on a secured door.
Lucifer was led into the room in cuffs.
“I’ll let you two talk,” Matt said.
“No, you need to stay,” I told Matt.
Lucifer sat down. “Thank you for coming. I know I hurt your friend but I didn’t mean to.”
“You didn’t know there were demons there? There had to be people practicing some evil in the backrooms. You know what can happen.” Hiding my emotions wasn’t an option right now.
“I’m sorry. I wanted to help her find herself. I wanted a connection to you. I was influenced by those demons as well. You’re right, I knew better. I knew the risks. I let things happen because the club was so popular. I didn’t want to go away. Those bad things kept you coming back.” He stared.
I suppressed a shudder. “I have a boyfriend and zero tolerance for evil in my life. I hope you steer clear of the bad guys in prison. Find a church group or something instead.”
“I promise I’ll try but I have a favor to ask. I need to unload the club.”
I nodded. “You want me to buy it? Your demon club?”
“It needs someone to change it. Contain it before someone in the dark arts uses it to spread evil. I can’t sell it to anyone else. It’d be wrong. It’d be unethical. I’m trying to do this legitimately. I need the money to help family while I’m in here, so I need to sell it,” he said.
The genuine, demon-free Lucifer had a totally different vibe.
“How much?” I asked.
“Whatever it appraises for. Fair market value. I just need that away from me. It’s on bad ground or something.” He smiled. “I’m better here.”
“You know you’re still vulnerable,” I said.
“I do but I’m in control here. I swear, I’ll try to heal and not hurt anyone. But I can’t own that place,” he said.
“I’ll have a real estate agent and lawyer look over the values and draw up some papers. But I won’t sell it back to you, ever,” I said. “Regardless of who asks.”
He nodded. “Thank you.”
Matt tapped the door and a guard took Lucifer back to lockup.
“You need another nightclub?” he asked.
I shrugged. “Apparently it’s what I do. But this one will be totally different. One other thing, have you had any offers on the mansion?”
Matt shrugged. “A couple lowballs. It hasn’t been modernized like the ones on the Garden District tours. Mother preferred to keep the original stuff. Why?”
“I might need to rent it out for a bit. Or I might have another idea, but I need to talk to Mary Lou about it,” I replied.
“I missed something.” Matt looked around as if my thought processes could be read on the walls.
“Yeah, bring the girls home with you. We’ll get them set up at your mansion for now. Mary Lou needs a project.” It all seemed to fall into place as I mused aloud.
“You’re just going to move them into my mansion?” Matt asked.
“What? You’ve got the valuables out of it. It’s staged for showing, but it has basic furniture. We stock the fridge and make sure they have what they need for toiletries and stuff. Put them to work cleaning or helping at the rehab center and they can try to get some college tuition help. Or find some relatives who weren’t in the church.” I sighed. “Were they really selling girls?”
&nbs
p; Matt nodded. “Most of the girls agreed to marriage under duress, but what alternatives did they have? If they were then trafficked, we can’t tell yet. It’s a big case and we’re bringing in the Feds because you know it’ll cross state lines for some of them.”
“Thanks. I need to learn to juggle cases better.”
“Paul did good. He just needs to be careful,” Matt said.
“I agree. But he’s helping. He’s part of the team.” I felt all warm and fuzzy at his mention.
“He’s good for you. Don’t screw it up.” Matt pointed out.
“Gunnar is good for you. You two should take a trip. Get away after losing Lance. I can see how it’s still weighing on you. I wish I had a cold-blooded killer who was just pure evil to hand you.” I really did wish it was as simple as a bad guy doing bad things sometimes. But life was more complex than that.
“Once Lucifer is sentenced, I think that’s a good idea. I need to know he’s behind bars and staying there for the foreseeable future first,” Matt replied.
“Good. Even if it’s just Florida,” I said.
Matt nodded. “Get out of here. You always draw the unusual and crazy. We get enough of that on our own.”
Back home, Mary Lou looked a million times better. It was odd how quickly one could recover from such an ordeal.
“Can I have my job back?” she asked as she filled a casserole dish. I figured she deserved to know that Dungeon was closing down and I was buying the property.
“No,” I said.
She frowned. “I’m better. I’m making dinner. Just because I have all of Lance’s money doesn’t mean I want to sit around and do nothing.”
“You won’t. I’ve got a new job for you. At least in the short term. I can’t entrust it to anyone else,” I said.
Mary Lou put the dish in the oven. “What is it?”
“Some of the girls from that weird church. Candace and her friends. They’re all over eighteen so not eligible for foster care but they’ve never had a job. Most have a GED or high school diploma but they need help. A place to live and guidance,” I said.
“You’ve got the room here. I can help,” she agreed.
I shook my head. “No, not here. Too many supernatural variables. Matt’s going to let us use his place for now. You can move back over there and sort of be the den mother. The end goal is for the girls to eventually reconnect with family members outside that church or become independent enough to get an apartment on their own. We might get more girls from that group or you might decide it’s a good charity to keep going. A lot of kids age out of foster care and some aren’t even done with high school yet. Eighteen and done. You could run a transitional house for young woman. Just a thought.”
