Never Forget (Haunted Series Book 15)

by Alexie Aaron

  He watched Murphy leave. He walked out of the sanctuary, into the office area, and had his secretary get him Cid Garrett’s phone number.

  ~

  “She’s here at her parents’ apartment. He did? He said what? He has been acting odd, but he always acts odd. I’ll bring her. Yes, sir, right away.” Cid put down his phone and looked at Mia and Burt. “That was Father Santos. Murphy showed up at the cathedral and told him he thought Ted was possessed.”

  “Stephen won’t go into a church or near Santos. He’s afraid of both,” Mia said. “It couldn’t have been him.”

  “Would Santos lie to me?” Cid asked.

  “No, he wouldn’t.”

  “He wants you to go to the farm.”

  “I can’t.”

  “You can come with me or Burt, just come. We have to find a solution. Ted would not intentionally hurt you. Murphy must have seen something to make him come to the city and walk into that church,” Cid said.

  “What do I do with Brian?”

  “Let’s drop him off at Susan’s before we go to the farm. This way, he’s with a familiar face,” Cid suggested.

  “Alright, I can’t take Brian in the truck. The baby seat…”

  “I’ll take you in my beater,” Burt said. “Cid, we’ll meet you there.”

  ~

  Santos pushed past the driver and walked through the immaculate living room, not caring about the dust trail he was leaving. He knew his friend so well. He would be perched like a hawk watching the city.

  “Angelo, I have to talk to you,” Santos called. Angelo started to direct him, but Santos, “No, you come to me.”

  Angelo walked over to his beloved friend, worried by his tone of voice. “I’m here. What is this all about?”

  “What have you done? What did you say to Mia that is such a dark secret that has her crying in her sleep?”

  “Oh that,” Angelo said and looked down.

  “Guess who visited me in church today?”

  “Mia?”

  “No, Stephen Murphy himself.”

  “Impossible, he knows you can send him on his way with a flick of your finger.”

  “And yet he came to me. He’s worried about Ted. He thinks that Ted is possessed. Now, is it possible? Is there something you know that would have put him in harm’s way? Did he pick up a traveler in the Dark World?”

  “Roumain possessed him and Mia and had them conceive a child. He did this to keep Mia out of the Dark World. I found this out and told Mia. Mia knew that he may have influenced them, but she had no idea how perverted Roumain is. Mia was understandably upset that she caused her husband to be violated this way.”

  “Why did you tell her?”

  “She needed to be told that she can’t trust Roumain.”

  “Mia’s not an idiot. She doesn’t trust Roumain, does she?”

  “She confides in him. He wants her.”

  “You jealous bastard. Is this why there is an archangel watching Roumain’s every move?”

  “Ask Mia, she’s pretty cozy with Sariel.”

  “Sariel, one of the four not sanctioned by the Catholic Church? That Sariel?”

  “One and the same. He calls her sister of the light.”

  “Why hasn’t she come to me with this information?”

  “Paolo, Mia confides in Father Alessandro. He is less prickly, no?”

  Santos took a deep breath. “The more I look into this, the more this all seems like a telenovela.”

  “You shouldn’t have stopped me from having her. She would have been a great asset for the Brotherhood of the Wing,” Angelo said. “And now she has been called by Sariel.”

  “She may not have answered the call,” Father Santos said. “All may not be lost.”

  “Then you’ll support me when I take her to the aerie?”

  “No, she doesn’t belong there. She’s a married woman with a child. Let her have a normal life.”

  “She will never have a normal life if what Roumain says is true.”

  “Tell me what lies did he tell you?”

  “Not me, Mia. He told her that she had active demon DNA. That’s why the demon child Sticks was attracted to her. Also, she has superhuman, angel, and birdman genes as I have seen for myself.”

  “That must have freaked her out.”

  “That’s putting it mildly. Ted seemed alright with it though.”

  “You spent quite a long time in her head. Did you see anything else that may help me in this matter?”

  “She’s not in love with Ted. She loves Murphy.”

  “You visited her heart?”

  “No. Only her memories.”

  “Angelo, you can’t see love by accessing memories. Love is a feeling. It runs through your blood. It permeates your soul. That’s why you couldn’t erase her feelings for the humans that hurt her. Love is in the heart.”

  “She still loves Murphy, and he her. You need to take care of him, Paolo,” Angelo insisted.

  “Stephen loves her, and she no doubt loves him, but Mia and I’ve talked. She will not cross over that line. The line that Roumain crosses so easily. Mia will break some of the rules but not the important ones. She will not condemn her friend, even if it kills her. When Mia loves you, she loves you forever. Angelo, she loves all of us, even you. She doesn’t ask or need us to love her back. She was given to us to help the lost. That she has evolved, may be designed by God, maybe not, but she has to be protected, and the best protection for her happens to be an axe-carrying dirt farmer.”

  Chapter Twenty

  Mia walked into the kitchen and saw the devastation. She recognized the work of Murphy. She looked at the wall and said, “I never liked those cupboards anyway.” She picked up a piece of broken mug with an early PEEPs logo on it. “Damn, I loved this one. Oh well,” she sighed.

  Cid walked into the kitchen. “Did you - oh my god, what happened here?”

  Mia bent down and picked up a piece of paper and read it. “Evidently, an intervention. Cid, would you build me a pantry instead of those cupboards. They are too high and…” Mia said, her voice breaking. “Find him, find Ted.”

  Mia walked to the cellar door and down the steps. She remembered how hard Ted had worked on Murphy’s final resting place. Nothing made sense to her. Ted was kind enough to open the door to Beth, but the man that held her close wasn’t the man who would cheat on her with the one person who had hurt her so deeply. She sat on the steps, weakened by the thought that her marriage, if it wasn’t over already, soon would be when she spoke to Ted. She couldn’t afford to buy the farm. Her name wasn’t on the deed. She wouldn’t even get half. She walked down and ran her hand along the marble. “I’ll have to get custody of Murph.”

  “I’m not so sure,” Ted said from under the stairs. “He’s my friend too. Just as Brian is my son. Legally.”

  Mia stiffened her back. She turned around and took a good long look at Ted. His face was bruised and scratched. She ran over to him, but he pushed her away.

  “Did Murph do that?”

  “No, Burt did when he threw me out of the office window. The window was still closed at the time.”

  Mia put her hand over her mouth. It hid not only her surprise, but a small bit of pleasure that Burt was that upset. “He’s pretty strong. He used to pick me up like a sack of potatoes.” She waited for Ted to comment about her weight and love of donuts, but he looked at her as if she were a stranger.

  “Where is Brian?” he asked.

  “He’s safe. I didn’t want him to see you this way, Teddy Bear.”

  “I am not your Teddy Bear!” he shouted at her.

  Mia pursed her lips. “Maybe not. Sorry, Ted. I think I need to clear some air, and then you can say whatever you want. I promise to sit here and hear all of it. Deal?”

  “Go on.”

  “When I was down in N’awlins, I was made privy to something I would give my life not to have heard, a brutal truth learned by Angelo when he read my mind. Now, before you say anyth
ing, he wasn’t lying because I myself have suspected something but didn’t have the courage to face it.”

  “That surprises me. You’re normally so strong.”

  “I’m not, it’s bravado. Okay, bear with me a moment. This is so painful,” Mia sighed and then drew a breath and let it out slowly. “The night Brian was conceived, I thought we were influenced by Roumain. Perhaps he had some thoughts put in our heads? Whatever it was, Brian was conceived, so all-in-all, I could let it go. The idea that a pregnant woman wouldn’t be able to traverse the Dark World was his motivation. Unfortunately, it wasn’t just thoughts. He possessed both my and your body and played with us until I conceived Brian. He violated our bodies, used us. The fact that he used you is something I can’t forgive myself for.”

  Ted stared at her. Mia watched for the disgust that would soon come, the disgust that would drive him from her forever.

  “Is this why you attacked him? Provoked him into raising his hand against us?” Ted asked.

  “Yes, I provoked him. Just like I did Two Face Tony. I wanted revenge on what he had done to us. I knew that there was no recovering from this. If the situation was reversed, and one of your science gods used my body, I may have let the blame fall at your feet.”

  “You got a promise from him that he wouldn’t influence us or our friends.”

  “But you see,” Mia cried, “he had already destroyed us! Inside you, he had planted a thought. This thought says that you’re not good enough for me, that I’m some super being and you’re not worthy of me. It’s a thought, not a demon or a flitch. You aren’t possessed as Murphy thought; you have been given a thought that turned faith into a doubt. The doubt corroded your love and brought Beth back into our lives. For my part, I am sorry you were violated this way.”

  “Sorry is just a word, isn’t it, Mia? Like all the other words that you so inadequately use. If I have to listen to one more incorrect use of the English language, I’m going to hit you.”

  Mia turned to leave. This wasn’t her husband. This was something else.

  “You promised to stay until I had my say.”

  “Yes, I did.” Mia turned around and faced the music.

  “I don’t know what the fuck is happening. One minute we’re fine, enjoying our son, our jobs, and my home. And the next minute, I get to thinking that you’re just putting in time before the next great adventure. Beth’s right. You’re an adrenalin junkie. You have to get us all into deep shit and then play the hero. You or Murphy, it doesn’t really matter. We were fine before you, Cooper, and we’ll be fine again.”

  “I’m glad to hear you’ve been getting quality advice from the woman who tried to ruin my life. And all I did to earn this was to believe in your words. Words like, I love you, you rock my world, and we were meant to be together. Need I go on? I wasn’t looking for you. You jumped in front of me and convinced me. I didn’t take you from Beth, unless you lied about your entanglement at the time. Still, I fell in love with you. I shared my life with you, as it was, and supported yours too.”

  “Funny, that’s not how we see it.”

  “We as in you and Beth?” Mia asked. “When did your helping her with her coding end up as we? This isn’t you. This isn’t the man I left the house with yesterday morning. Maybe Murphy is right; maybe there is more inside you than the guy that I’m in love with.”

  Ted turned his back on her.

  Mia went to him and touched him. This brought about a shudder of revulsion from Ted.

  “I’ll make arrangements so that you can see Brian until Alan can sort this mess out for me. I’ll not come between you and PEEPs. I’ll go away for a while until I can work with you without being too nauseated. I have to warn you that I’m going to be here if PEEPs needs me. I’ll not abandon my friends because I have a broken heart. Goodbye, Ted.”

  Mia walked up the stairs. She kept her eyes on the floor as she passed the group of people in the kitchen, taking in the black robes of Father Santos and Murphy’s dust-covered boots. She brushed Burt’s hand as she walked past him. Mia stopped and looked into Cid’s eyes. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what happened. Look after him, please.”

  Mia stopped and looked around at what was once her happy home. She walked over to the fireplace mantle and ripped the painting off the wall. She grabbed the keys to her new truck and left the house.

  She headed into town and stopped for Brian. She told Susan that she and Ted were having problems and when she was able, she would stop by and have a heart-to-heart. She started to leave the village of Big Bear Lake when something occurred to her. She turned down a street she rarely drove down anymore. She pulled into the vacant lot, pulled Brian from his car seat, and walked over and sat on top of the cement steps going nowhere.

  “This is where Mommy was born. It used to be a grand house. One day, I’ll tell you why I had to burn it down.”

  Brian sensed her pain and put his head on her shoulder to comfort his mother.

  “I promise you, Brian, that I’ll make this right for you. Your daddy loves you. Your mommy loves you too.

  “Ooooh ooooh,” Brian said.

  “Murphy loves you too, baby.”

  “Murphy loves you too, Mia,” the ghost said from behind her.

  Mia carefully turned and got to her feet. Stephen Murphy stood there, hat in hand. His axe was leaning against the truck. “Where are you going, Mia?” he asked.

  “Don’t really know. I can’t go far. Brian needs his father, even in the state he’s in right now,” Mia said. “I thought about buying the Schumacher place because it…”

  “Isn’t haunted?” he said, lifting an eyebrow. “It’s not fit for elephants.”

  This made Mia laugh. “No, it isn’t. I’ll go back to the city until Alan can advise me. I own a lot of land around your farmhouse. Maybe I’ll build something new on the hillside next to your saplings. That way, I can watch the deer eat them.”

  It was Murphy’s turn to laugh.

  “I don’t want to give up on Ted. There must be something we can do.”

  “Father Santos says that perhaps there is something he can do for him, but…”

  “He can’t do much for him and me,” Mia said sadly. “I looked in his eyes, and he no longer adores me. I don’t get it, most of the nerds, eighteen to twenty-six, who watched me on the internet do.”

  “Can I go home with you?”

  “Really, you want to go into the city and watch me cry all night?”

  “Someone needs to watch over you and Brian, so you can cry.”

  “And you’re volunteering for the job?”

  Murphy nodded.

  “Come on. Why the hairy spider not?” Mia said, getting a laugh out of Brian. “I have thirty-two energon cubes that I forgot to take out of the truck. You might as well use them,” Mia said.

  Murphy opened the passenger door, and Mia secured Brian in the backseat of the extended cab before waiting for Murphy to get in. She walked around and got in the driver’s side. As she backed out, she smiled as Patsy Cline began to sing. Patsy was a good choice tonight.

  ~

  Cid came up the stairs.

  Burt had managed to rescue the coffee pot and had a fresh pot made. “How’s it going?” he asked, handing Cid a mug.

  “Father Santos has tried everything in his book, and Ted is still the same. I guess the problem is that Ted doesn’t believe in magic.”

  “Mia always said that you can’t send a nonbeliever to someplace they don’t believe in. Poor kid.”

  “I’m surprised that you didn’t offer her your shoulder.”

  “Cid, she doesn’t want me. She wants that confused guy down there.”

  “But he no longer wants her,” Cid said. “It’s as if someone flipped a switch. I don’t even recognize him.”

  “He could be concussed. I did throw him through the window,” Burt said.

  “No, he’s behaving as if he’s…”

  “Bewitched,” Father Santos said, shutting the cellar door.
“I don’t know how, why, or when, but someone got ahold of that boy. Beth didn’t seem like she had any powers when I worked with her,” the priest said. “But it sure seems like she’s now the queen bee, and everything she says is law.”

  “Witches are way out of my comfort zone,” Burt admitted. “I do have some old books at the house. The house? I should have offered Mia her house back.”

  “She wouldn’t take it. Too near the water for what will be a very active toddler,” Cid said.

  “I’d like to look in those books and maybe have a chat with Orion and have him look at Ted,” Father Santos said. “I owe it to Ted to try to find out what happened to our auburn-haired nerd.”

  “Thank you, Father,” Cid said.

  “Don’t thank me; it was Murphy who saw the signs that Ted wasn’t himself.”

  “I’m surprised Ted’s still alive. He was very cruel to Mia. You’ve seen what Murphy can do. Mia’s very special to him,” Burt said. “I didn’t read all of it, but he let Beth talk about Mia in the most brutal of ways. I never thought that Beth could be so hateful. Maybe there’s something wrong with her too?”

  “I’m going to see if a friend of mine in Wichita could drop in and talk to her. In the meanwhile, Mia will survive, but I don’t know for how long. Even if half his words were lies, they cut the heart out of her,” Santos told them. “I’ll look in on her tomorrow after I have a talk with Alessandro.”

  “Let’s get a start on this,” Burt said. “Follow me over, and let’s get entrenched in a possible solution. I’ll call Audrey and Mike and give them a heads-up.”

  Cid watched the taillights move down the drive. He had taken Maggie outside and rung Murphy’s bell. He didn’t come. Cid didn’t expect him to. If Murphy was worth his salt, he would have found his way to Mia.

  Cid walked back, passing the dark farmhouse and let himself into the office. Ted was sitting there with a spool of tape, trying to put the destroyed emails together again.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

  “What if she sees?” Ted asked. “She might think it’s me.”