Dead Weight (Cold Case Psychic Book 4)

by Pandora Pine

  It had taken a couple of beers and two shots of Fireball before the good father had finally told Ronan he was going overseas to begin training in how to perform the Rite of Exorcism. Ronan had laughed like a loon until he’d seen the serious look in the priest’s eyes. That look had sobered him up in a heartbeat. It was funny that Ronan had forgotten all about that conversation until a few days ago.

  What they hell did you say to a friend you hadn’t seen in nearly thirteen years? “Hey, how are you? Are you free for an exorcism on Thursday?” Ronan shook his head. He was going to need a better opening line than that if he had any hoping of saving Mark Abruzzi or his friends from Rod Jacobson’s malevolent soul.

  42

  Tennyson

  Tennyson was gob smacked. He couldn’t believe what Ronan had just told him. “Tony Abruzzi was here last night and he knows where Mark is?”

  “Yeah, I couldn’t believe it either. I couldn’t get him to tell me where he was hiding Mark.” Ronan shook his head, as if he thought there was something more he could have done to get his friend to confess.

  “Forget that for a second, Ronan. How did he get in here? Fitzgibbon specifically put Tony on the list of people not allowed into your room.” Why the hell was there security outside the hospital room door if anyone could just waltz in unchecked?

  “I overruled the officer. I told Daniels to frisk Tony and if he was clean, to let him in the room. Obviously, he was here to talk about something and I wanted to hear him out.”

  Tennyson was stunned. “You what? Ronan, that wasn’t just crazy, it was reckless. You saw how hard it was for me to battle Jacobson’s spirit yesterday. It took you squirting me with holy water to get him out of me. If he’d been glommed on to Tony and then tried to attack you with his bare hands, he could have killed you!” Tennyson’s heart rate was through the roof. He knew he needed to calm down, otherwise he’d end up in the bed across the room from Ronan after he stroked out or had a fricken heart attack.

  Ronan rolled his eyes. “I admit I’m not back to full strength yet, but I’m not weak as a kitten anymore either. I could have held him off long enough for Daniels to have gotten in here.”

  Getting up from his chair, Ten sat down on the bed and kissed Ronan. Just that simple touch calmed his racing heart. “I don’t mean to sound like a worried mother hen.”

  Ronan set his hands on Tennyson’s hips. “Yes, you do.” He kissed Ten back.

  “Okay, fine. Yes, I do. I came so close to losing you and I don’t want to go through that again.” Ten meant every word. That night he spent with all of their friends in the waiting room praying that Ronan would make it through surgery alive, and the subsequent nights sitting at his bedside in the ICU praying his heart would keep beating took ten years off his life. Scratch that, they took twenty years off his life.

  “Well, babe you might have to.” Ronan wore a guilty look.

  “I know we all have to die someday.” Ten shot Ronan a cheesy smile.

  Ronan snorted. “I know that, but I mean sooner than someday. I mean tonight.”

  Tennyson’s goofy smile faded. “What do you mean tonight?”

  “Even though Tony wouldn’t tell me where he was hiding Mark, he did agree to an exorcism and that he would turn Mark in to the police himself once the final prayer was read.”

  “What does Mark having an exorcism have to do with you? You’re not performing the ceremony, are you? Or acting as an altar boy?” Tennyson remembered back to yesterday when Carson was joking around about Ronan knowing priests since he’d been a Catholic schoolboy.

  “After Tony left last night, I reached out to an old grade school friend of mine, Frank O’Callaghan. He’s a priest with Saint Christopher’s down in Duxbury. I explained the situation. Told him about the original Jacobson case and about what’s going on now. Then I told him about you and Carson and the reading with Jacobson yesterday.”

  Ten couldn’t believe his ears. This was all happening way too fast. He knew Mark needed help now or Jacobson was going to kill him, but Jesus, did Ronan have to be smack dab in the middle of things? Again? “Okay, wait. You know a priest that does exorcisms? I thought you said before that not all of them know how to do the ceremony.”

  “It’s a rite and that’s true, not all priests can perform the Rite of Exorcism.”

  “But this grade-school buddy of yours can?” How was that even possible?

  “He’s one of the select few in the United States who’s sanctioned by the Vatican to perform the rite.”

  Ten shook his head. Sometimes the planets just aligned like that. “What did Father O’Callaghan say?”

  “It took some convincing, but he agreed that it sounds like Mark is close to full possession. Father O’Callaghan said he’d do it. We need to find a place for the rite that it would be okay to contaminate.” Ronan nibbled with obvious nerves on his lower lip.

  “What do you mean a place that’s okay to contaminate? And what do you mean we?” Ronan didn’t actually think he was going to be a part of this madness, did he? Over Tennyson’s dead body.

  “I think he means a place like a hotel room. The spirit of Rod Jacobson is going to come out of Mark and I don’t want it in our house or Tony and Carlie’s house. The hotel where Tony’s got the kid stashed is fine with me.”

  “You only answered one of my questions. I get the impression you think you’re going to be a part of this exorcism.” Ten had a bad feeling about this. Not a Ronan-was-going-to-die feeling, but a feeling that Ronan was about tell him the details of a foolish plan.

  I’m going to sign myself out of the hospital for a few hours for the rite.” Ronan held up his hand, in an attempt to keep Tennyson from interrupting. “Look, I’m the one who brought Mark and the other boys into Tony and Carlie’s home. I have to be there to see this through. I promise you that once the rite is finished and Mark is in custody you’re driving me right back here.”

  Tennyson had a very bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. None of his spirit guides were offering any resistance to Ronan’s plans and he wasn’t getting any hinky feelings of the psychic sort. He was just feeling like a worried fiancé. “Before I say yes to this crazy plan, I want to hear from your doctor on how dangerous it is for you to leave the hospital for a few hours.”

  Ronan nodded. “Okay, I think that’s fair.”

  “I also want Fitzgibbon there. For protection. I trust him with my life. What’s more, I trust him with your life.” Tennyson felt like he was going to throw up.

  “I’ll call him,” Ronan agreed. “I can’t imagine he’s going to like this idea any better than you do.” He pulled Tennyson closer. “Hey, look who’s back.” Ronan waggled his eyebrows.

  “Who?” Tennyson had no idea who Ronan was talking about. They were alone in the hospital room, well, aside from the officer standing guard outside the door.

  Ronan looked down at his lap. “Huge Jackman.” He snorted. “Go on, feel for yourself.”

  Tennyson felt himself blushing. “Ronan, for God’s sake, we’re in a hospital.”

  “What better place to give it a whirl? It’s a controlled environment with life-saving equipment on hand in case things go wrong.” Ronan hitched his hips a little. “Come on, he’s missed you. Hell, I’ve missed him. I didn’t know if I’d ever be able to get it up again.”

  Ten peeked over his shoulder toward the closed hospital room door and looked back over at Ronan. His teeth nibbled on his bottom lip. His hand edged toward the bulge in Ronan’s gown and he massaged the tip of Ronan’s erection.

  “Jesus, Ten. That feels like heaven.” Ronan rested his head on his fiancé’s shoulder. “But, how about some skin-on-skin contact? I’ll watch the door. Those nurses barely knock before they barge right in.”

  “No, you won’t! I know you. It will get to feeling good and your eyes will roll back in your head.” Ten had watched it happen a million times. Ronan’s blue eyes would be locked on his own and just as he was about to come, they’d slip shut.r />
  “I promise I’ll keep them open, Ten. Please. I need this so bad, babe. I need you. It feels like it’s been forever since we’ve done this.”

  Ronan had a point there. It had been nearly three weeks since they’d gotten it on in any form or fashion. “Okay, but no moaning either. You’re mouthier than most porn stars.”

  “Geez, you take the fun out of everything, don’t you?” Ronan rolled his eyes dramatically. “Fine. I promise to be quiet.”

  Tennyson loved impatient Ronan. He couldn’t blame his fiancé for worrying if his own equipment would get back to working order again. Ten felt bad for wondering the same thing himself. Ronan had been on the verge of checking out permanently. Sex should have been the last thing on his mind.

  “Hey, uh, babe?” Ronan whispered, tugging on Tennyson’s earlobe. “We gonna get it on or are you gonna stare off into space with your hand on my dick?”

  Not bothering to answer Ronan’s asshole question, Ten slipped his hand under Ronan’s hospital gown and slid it up the warm skin of his thigh. It felt so good just to be touching Ronan again. When he got to his prize, he wasted no time in wrapping his fist around it and sliding his fingers down to the root. “Huge Jackman seems glad to see me.”

  “Fuck yeah, he does,” Ronan whispered in his best indoor voice.

  Tennyson had missed this intimate closeness with Ronan, the smell of his freshly washed hair, the sound of his hitched breathing in Ten’s ear, the slide of his hardened flesh in Ten’s hot hand. He’d been so busy over the last three weeks worrying about his lover surviving his injuries that he’d stopped thinking about Ronan as his lover and started thinking of him more as his patient. “How bad do you need to come, baby?”

  Ronan groaned softly. “You have no idea.”

  “Oh, I’ve got some idea. Started having wet dreams again, since you haven’t been around to get me off,” Ten whispered.

  Ronan whimpered against Ten’s neck.

  “You better have your eye on the door. If that husky cop walks in here and sees my hand on your dick, he’s gonna want a piece of the action and I’m not willing to share what’s mine.” Ten didn’t want to admit it, but the thought of someone catching them in the act was turning him on.

  Speeding up his hand on Ronan’s heated flesh drew a strangled moan from his lover. Ten loved that Ronan was trying to control his reactions. “You’re being such a good boy for me. I wish I could wrap my lips around your fat cock and swallow you whole.” Ten felt Ronan get a bit harder and knew his lover was about to come.

  “Jesus, Ten, gonna…”

  “That’s it, babe. Come for me,” Ten whispered. To be honest Ten was surprised Ronan had lasted this long to begin with, between how long it had been since they were last together and how excited Ronan was that his dick was working again.

  Ronan turned his face into the hollow of Tennyson’s throat and let out a low moan as his cock jerked in Tennyson’s hand. He wanted to laugh and shout his love for Ronan from the rooftops, but settled instead for pressing gentle kisses to the side of Ronan’s head while he rode out his wave of pleasure.

  When his cock stopped jerking, Ronan started to giggle against the side of Ten’s neck.

  “What the hell’s so funny?” Ten asked, pulling back from him.

  “You’ve got a handful of my jizz.” Ronan laid back on his pillows and started laughing hysterically. “Ow, that hurts!”

  Ten rolled his eyes and gently pulled his hand out from under Ronan’s hospital gown. The last thing he wanted was for any of the incriminating evidence to end up staining the blue fabric. “You’re a teenager in an adult body. Anyone ever tell you that?” He couldn’t help laughing along with Ronan.

  “That’s why you love me!” Ronan winced.

  There were a million and one reasons why Tennyson loved Ronan O’Mara. He was just thrilled that they would have a lifetime together for Tennyson to be able to tell Ronan every single one of them.

  43

  Ronan

  Ronan’s doctor had looked at him like he was several donuts shy of a dozen when he asked about how fit he was to leave the hospital for a few hours. He’d looked like he was ready to call for a psych consult when Ronan had explained why he needed to leave.

  Thankfully, Tennyson had been with him and after he’d reunited the disbelieving man with his long-lost grandfather, who’d taught him how to fish, the doctor had been a bit more amenable to Ronan’s request.

  There was nothing truly dangerous in Ronan leaving the hospital, he was just in a weakened state. He’d promised the doctor several times that he wouldn’t be running a marathon or chasing down perps. He just hoped it was a promise he could keep. Tony Abruzzi had said he would turn Mark in after the exorcism. Ronan aimed to see him keep his word.

  He was sitting in the front passenger seat of Fitzgibbon’s SUV, while Tennyson sat in the back. It had been a quiet ride so far even though they still hadn’t been given their actual destination yet. Tony had just told Ronan to drive to the North Shore Mall in Peabody and park near the food court.

  “I still don’t like this,” Fitzgibbon grumped for the hundredth time during the ten-minute ride from Salem. He pulled the SUV into a parking spot near The Cheesecake Factory.

  “At least we’re close to the hospital,” Ten chimed in from the backseat.

  “There’s Tony.” Ronan could see his former partner coming toward the car under the harsh glare of the orange fluorescence of the parking lot lights. He rolled down his window.

  “Follow me to the Holiday Inn off Route 1. I swear to God, Ro, if you call in the cops.” Tony looked like he hadn’t slept in days.

  “Did my friend, Father O’Callaghan, meet you there already?” Ronan asked sharply. He didn’t like the way Tony was threatening him. He’d already given his word that they were going to go through with the exorcism. He wasn’t about to go back on his word to his oldest friend.

  Tony nodded.

  “Okay then, let’s just do this.” Ronan rolled the window up without bothering to reassure Tony any further. They were all in the shit now and he wasn’t in the mood to be a balm on Tony’s insecurities at the moment. He didn’t like the feeling of being on the wrong side of the law.

  Three members of the Boston Police Department were harboring a wanted fugitive. Tennyson could also be charged under that statute as well, although the consequences wouldn’t be as dire for him. Tony, Fitzgibbon, and himself could be facing immediate termination and loss of their BPD pension if this were ever uncovered.

  “Tennyson, are you getting any kind of vibe on this?” Ronan asked as Fitzgibbon started following behind Tony’s truck.

  “No, nothing. Erin and Bertha are here with us and they’re just trying to keep me calm. I’m all over the place with worrying about all of you and how this is going to turn out.”

  “I know you hate it when I say this, but it’s going to be okay, Ten.” Ronan had no way of knowing that, of course, but it made him feel better just to say it.

  “Tony’s pulling in here.” Fitzgibbon turned the SUV into the hotel parking lot and parked a few spaces away.

  “You’re a big tough cop, Ronan, but promise me you’ll say something if you’re not feeling right.”

  “I’m tired, Ten, but nothing I can’t handle.” Ronan was exhausted. The doctor had warned him he’d tire easily, but Christ, all he’d done was ride in the car.

  “I don’t mean that. I mean if you feel like Jacobson or another spirit is affecting you. Same goes for you, Cap. The priest is going to be focused on Mark, which is how it should be, but I’m going to be focused on the two of you. Promise me you’ll both say something.” Ten sounded nervous.

  “I promise,” Fitzgibbon agreed.

  “Me too,” Ronan said. He’d never once considered that he could be in danger here from something other than his own injuries. Rod Jacobson had promised on numerous occasions that he was going to kill Ronan, Tennyson, and the captain. He might just get the chance tonight.
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br />   They all got out of the SUV and walked around to meet Tony at his truck. No one uttered a single word. Instead of walking into the hotel through the main lobby, Tony walked them around to a side door that his key card opened.

  “We’re up on the top floor with the room next to the stairs, facing the highway. We figured that would be the most out of the way room, especially on a Monday night. Fewer business travelers or families on vacation.”

  Ronan nodded and followed Tony into the building. He hoped to hell they were taking the elevator. He was in no shape to climb the ten or so stories to the top floor.

  “Elevator’s this way.” Tony pointed down the hall.

  Breathing out an audible sigh of relief, Ronan took Ten’s hand. His fiancé’s palm was sweating. He wished Ten didn’t have to be here tonight, but understood why the man insisted on coming with them. His psychic and mediumistic powers would come in especially handy tonight. “I love you, babe.”

  Ten squeezed his hand. “Love you too.”

  Fitzgibbon set a hand on their shoulders and gave a small squeeze.

  It was on the tip of Ronan’s tongue to ask why there was no sarcastic remark or fake gagging noises from the captain, but he knew why there wasn’t. This was a serious matter with the soul of a teenage boy on the line. This wasn’t a time for jokes.

  “This is it.” Tony stopped at the last room down the hall and stuck his key card in the slot. The light turned green and he opened the door.

  Ronan wasn’t prepared for the sight that greeted him. Mark Abruzzi was tied to a chair and practically foaming at the mouth like a rabid dog. Father O’Callaghan was sitting near him speaking softly. Ronan assumed he was praying.

  “Ronan, so good to see you.” Father O’Callaghan got up from his seat to shake hands. He was wearing his collar and the purple vestment, which looked a bit like a scarf. Time hadn’t been as good to the priest as it had been to Ronan. He looked much older than his thirty years and his blue eyes looked worn down by life, as if they’d already seen too much. His red hair was thinning and he had the tell-tale Irish nose years before most Irishmen started sporting the signs of it.