Six Times a Charm

by Deanna Chase

  Stuart turned to me and mouthed (not very subtly, either) How long?

  I punted, focusing on Eddie. “You’re not on the force anymore, Gramps,” I said. “And Allie certainly isn’t.”

  Eddie peered at me, his eyes narrow, a smear of mashed potatoes beside his mouth. “Who are you? Where am I? WHERE’S MY HOLY WATER?”

  Allie’s eyes widened, and I aimed a gentle smile in her direction. “Gramps is getting old, sweetie. Sometimes he loses touch.”

  “A cop, huh?” Stuart said, clearly trying to lighten the mood.

  Allie looked from Eddie to me and back again, worry etched on her face. Finally she drew in a breath. “I could be a cop,” she said, in a small voice. “That’s cool. And tomorrow Cutter’s going to show me how to toss guys over my shoulder.” She was gathering steam, her initial trepidation fading. “Right, Mom?”

  “Absolutely,” I said. Then, in case that just spurred Eddie on, I added, “Self-defense class,” for clarification.

  Eddie reached over and patted Allie’s hand. “You’ll knock ‘em dead, little girl.” And when he flashed a tobacco-stained grin, I couldn’t help but cringe. If I had my way, Allie wouldn’t ever knock anything dead. And nothing dead would ever knock her, either.

  But Eddie’s comment had been good, nonetheless, because I could see the discomfort drain away from Allie. She even scooted her chair a little closer. “Did you ever toss anyone over your shoulder, Gramps?”

  He waved his hand (which, unfortunately, held a forkful of potatoes). “All the time,” he said. “Every single day.”

  I almost called a stop to the conversation, but in the end I decided it was harmless enough. I concentrated on feeding Timmy, half-listening to Eddie and Allie’s fast-track bonding experience. They were in their own little world, Stuart and Timmy and me all but forgotten as Eddie offered Allie all sorts of tips for tossing those pesky bad guys over her shoulder.

  Stuart shot me a you-got-us-into-this look, but I just smiled and pretended like this was the most normal thing in the world. After dinner, while Eddie supervised Allie’s clearing of the table, Stuart took my elbow and steered me into his study.

  “You still haven’t answered me. Why?” he asked. “And how long?”

  I couldn’t tell him the real truth—I think he knows something about Goramesh, and I can’t risk the demons deciding to kill him off—and so I told another one. “Because I had to. They were keeping him all drugged up. I couldn’t let him go on living like that.” As for the other question—how long?—for that, I had no answer.

  Stuart studied my face for a while, then he reached out and pressed a palm to each of my cheeks, gently turning my face up until I was looking into his eyes. “It means that much to you?”

  I nodded, blinking a bit, as tears stung my eyes.

  “Okay, then. We’ll try and find someplace better suited. In the meantime he can stay here.” He turned, glancing toward the general direction of the kitchen. I knew he was thinking of Allie, and my heart melted just a little. I might not know what Stuart had been doing in the cathedral earlier, but I did know that he loved his family.

  “Thanks,” I whispered.

  “You don’t have to thank me,” he said. “We’re a team. I trust your decisions. I just wish I’d known before I came home and found him sprawled on the couch.”

  “Right,” I said. “Sure. Sorry.” At this point you might think I’d tell him about Timmy. The whole “we’re a team” speech and all. But did I? No, I didn’t. Enrolling his son in day care was going to elicit a much more vigorous response than dragging home old Demon Hunters. And, quite honestly, I wasn’t up for it. Not right then. But I resolved to tell him tomorrow. Or, at the very least, the day after. And maybe by the time I finally got around to confessing, the Goramesh problem would be solved and KidSpace and I could go our separate ways. I could dream, couldn’t I?

  We headed back toward the kitchen, with me hurrying more than Stuart. I didn’t really expect Eddie to say anything too revealing, and even if he did, I knew Allie wouldn’t believe him, but I wanted to be around just in case. Stuart pulled the door open, then flashed me a grin. “I’m glad you signed Allie up for the self-defense classes,” he said. “I like knowing she’ll be able to protect herself against the demons.”

  I froze, my mouth hanging open.

  But Stuart just winked at me, then shook his head. “Demons,” he muttered, his voice tainted with mirth. I’ll say this much for the guy—he’s got one hell of an imagination.”

  ***

  “So he really said Eddie could stay?” Laura asked. She was leaning up against the bathroom counter while I sat on the closed toilet seat, my fingers deep in the pile of suds on Timmy’s head.

  “Bubbles, Momma. Want more bubbles.”

  “Hold on a sec, sport,” I said to Timmy. To Laura, I said, “That’s what he said. For now at least.”

  “And day care? He was cool with that?”

  I concentrated on forming a mohawk out of Timmy’s lathered hair. Laura, no dummy, leaned back and let out a low whistle. “You’re living dangerously.”

  I shot her a quick glance over my shoulder. “On more than one count.”

  “Yeah. No kidding. Seen any demons lately?”

  “I’m a little curious about Nurse Ratched at the home, but if you mean did any sail through my windows today, then no.”

  “What are you going to do? Go back and clean out the demons?”

  I shook my head, my attention focused on Tim, who was singing “rubber ducky, you’re the one” at the top of his lungs. “No,” I said. “I got into this for one reason only. I’ll do what I can to stop Goramesh, and I’ll tell Larson so he can pass it up the food chain, but after that, I’m out of the demon biz.” I got out a washcloth and lathered my boy up. “They’ll find another Hunter,” I said. “They have to. I already have this life, and I’m not giving it up.”

  I heard Laura moving behind me, adjusting things on the bathroom counter. “Did you find anything in the archives today?”

  I gave her the CliffsNotes version, finishing with, “Not much to work with, huh?”

  “Not from the demon end, but it rates high on the gossip meter.”

  By this time I was toweling Timmy off, and I scooped his damp little body up and headed for his room. “Clark Curtis, you mean?” I plunked Timmy on the changing table, then crouched down to fish a diaper out of the bottom drawer.

  “Yup. Wild, huh? There were all these rumors a while back that he was going to quit and run for state senate. But then he never did and he just kept running in the local elections.”

  I shrugged. “That’s wild?” I’d expected something juicy. Gossip, in my opinion, needs a little more oomph.

  “Sure. His father said over and over again how Clark was going to inherit his entire fortune, and then he goes and leaves everything to the Church? That’s the stuff of soap operas.”

  “True,” I said. I’d had a similar thought myself. “But he seems perfectly content now,” I added. After all, he was doing the political thing and seemed to be making a success of it.

  “Hmmm.” Laura leaned back against the counter, and I went back to my kid’s bottom. The rest of the house was pretty quiet. Stuart was in his study, and Allie and Mindy were camped out at the kitchen table doing homework. My family wasn’t my worry, though. I had things to do tomorrow, and I couldn’t do them with an eighty-five-year-old shadow.

  “Laura,” I began, a wheedling tone to my voice.

  “Oh, boy,” she said. “Here it comes.”

  “Remember how you’d agreed to watch Timmy for two days? And remember how I took him to KidSpace today, so you only had to watch him for one?”

  She crossed her arms over her chest and lifted one eyebrow. “Yeah?”

  “Well, I was wondering if I could call in that marker.”

  “I’m guessing we’re not talking a two-year-old.”

  “About forty times that,” I said.

  “Eddie.
”

  “Eddie,” I confirmed, trying to coax Timmy’s kicking feet into a pair of pajama bottoms. “I can’t leave him alone here.”

  Laura took pity on me and dangled a toy over Tim’s head. He quit kicking and grabbed for it. “So you want what?”

  “You were going to spend tomorrow bouncing around on the Internet, right? Can you do that from here? Set up my laptop at the kitchen table?”

  “I could do that here,” she said. “What exactly do I get out of the deal again?”

  I ensnared Timmy in a Bob the Builder pajama top and got it pulled over his head before he had time to howl. “My love and admiration,” I said to Laura. “Plus a lifetime of free desserts.”

  “Sold,” she said. “But if he sprays me with holy water, you’re going to hear about it.”

  I lifted Timmy to the ground, then patted his rump. He headed for the living room and story time on the couch. Laura and I followed. “Poor guy, believing he had holy water, and all along the nurses were just giving him tap water.” Her brow furrowed. “Do you think the nurses were just appeasing an old man? Or do you think they’re demons, too?”

  Her words hit me with the force of a slap, and I stifled an urge to thwap the heel of my hand against my forehead. I grabbed her arm and tugged her back toward Timmy’s room, all the while hollering down the stairs for Allie to entertain her brother until I got there.

  In the room, I pulled the door shut. I was almost bouncing with excitement, and I saw my own energy reflected in Laura’s face. “What?” she said. “What have you thought of?”

  “The nurses aren’t demons,” I said. “They’re pets. Or some of them are.”

  “Pets,” she repeated. “As in Fluffy and Fido?”

  “Sort of,” I said. “But not really.”

  “Kate. I’m going to grow old here …”

  “Right. Sorry.” I ran my hands through my hair and started pacing Timmy’s room. “I should have realized this before. We don’t just need to be looking for Goramesh’s mysterious thing. We need to look for whoever’s going to be trying to get it for him.”

  Laura blinked, and I realized I was going way too fast for her.

  “Okay,” I said, “here’s the deal. Demons use humans. They can inhabit us when we die or they can possess us when we live or they can even move in and share space with us while we’re alive.”

  “Eww!”

  “I know. Time-sharing with a demon. Very yuck.” I waved my hand, pushing all those little educational tidbits away. “That’s not the point. The point is that demons don’t always take over humans. Sometimes they’ll just recruit people to do their dirty work.”

  “Why?” she asked.

  “Lots of reasons. Maybe they want a relic from a church to use in some gross demonic ritual.”

  “So they’ll send a human to steal it?”

  “Exactly,” I said. “And I’m betting that the people at the nursing home—most of them, at least—are just human. Most probably don’t even know there’s anything weird going on. But the others—”

  “Like Nurse Ratched.”

  I nodded. “—the others are the demons’ minions.”

  She looked positively grossed out “Why?”

  I shrugged. “Who knows? The lure of power? Immortality? Demons lie. The bait could be anything. The point is they do things for the demons. Things the demons can’t or won’t do.”

  “But—” I saw it in her face the moment she made the connection. “Oh! So you’re saying Goramesh must have someone who’s going to schlep into the cathedral and get whatever this thing is that we’re looking for.”

  “Exactly.”

  “Any ideas?”

  “Nope.” I frowned. “Well, not a legitimate one anyway.”

  “I’ll settle for illegitimate,” she said.

  At the moment, frankly, so would I. With nothing concrete to go on, though, conjecture seemed good enough. I hated to even voice the suspicion. I drew a breath. “I was just thinking about Clark. If he was expecting to inherit everything, but his father gave everything to the Church instead …” I trailed off, certain Laura would get my drift.

  She didn’t disappoint. “And you know what they say about politicians—they’d sell their soul for a vote.” As soon as the words passed her lips, she gasped, then squeezed her eyes shut, obviously mortified. “Oh, shit, Kate. I didn’t mean—”

  I shook my head, holding up a hand to ward off her words. The make-it-all-better mom in me wanted to pat her on the shoulder and tell her it was okay. I didn’t, though. Instead, I just stood there, her comment about politicians setting my thoughts to humming.

  Stuart. The car accident he’d survived. His sudden and absolute certainty he’d win the election. And the mysterious trip to the cathedral archives.

  I fought a shiver and closed my eyes. This couldn’t be happening. My husband couldn’t be in league with a demon.

  Could he?

  Chapter 16

  “It’s possible, Kate,” Larson said. “I hate to say it, but it is very possible.”

  I’d arrived at Larson’s office a few minutes before eight, wanting to catch him before he took the bench. I’d called and canceled with Cutter, telling him I’d see him this evening with the girls. Now, though, I was almost sorry I’d come. Although Larson was saying words I’d expected, they were still words I didn’t want to hear.

  “But Stuart? He’s hardly even religious. He only goes to Mass when I prod him.”

  “Is that supposed to be an argument against consorting with demons?” he asked. I frowned, but Larson continued. “You’re the one who pointed out his quick recovery from the car accident.”

  “No. No way.” I shook my head so hard I almost wrenched my neck. “I was just tilting at windmills, wasn’t thinking clearly.” I rubbed my head, trying to ward off a massive migraine. “And besides, I saw him in the church after the accident. He didn’t die. He was barely even injured.”

  “Perhaps the injury was minor, but the impact more than you realize. A man can change his thinking when faced with his own mortality.”

  “A deal with the Devil? Stuart? I don’t think so.”

  “Your husband is an ambitious man, Kate. If he thinks that Goramesh can help him …” He trailed off, leaving me to draw my own conclusions.

  I didn’t like the conclusions that were slipping into my head despite all my efforts to keep them out.

  “Watch him, Kate. But if the time comes, you must stop him. It’s imperative we discover what Goramesh is searching for, and that we get it safely to the Vatican. If Stuart were to get to it first—”

  “You’re talking as if we’re sure he’s involved.” My heart seemed to tighten in my chest.

  “Until we know for sure that he isn’t, we have to assume as much.”

  The bailiff poked his head in then, checking to make sure Larson was ready to take the bench. He left to go work, and I left to…what? Sulk? Worry?

  No, as much as I wanted to do all of that, I had those damn responsibilities.

  I got in my car and headed for the cathedral.

  My cell phone rang as I was parking the car, and when I checked the caller ID, I saw that the call was coming from my house. Had Allie missed her ride? Had Eddie come out of his funk? Had Stuart come home? Was he looking for me? Did he know I was on to him? For that matter, was there anything to be on to, or was I just being paranoid, and Larson along with me?

  I waited another ring and then pushed the talk button. “Hello?”

  “Hey, it’s me.” Laura’s voice. (She would have been my next guess.)

  “Do you have news?”

  “You-know-who is driving me nuts,” she said, her voice just a hair above a whisper.

  I cringed. “Sorry about that. What’s he doing?”

  “Hovering,” she said. “He’s watching television right now. He just keeps circling me and looking over my shoulder, and then he’ll mumble something about demons and go change the channel. It’s freaky, Kate
.”

  “Sorry,” I said again, uselessly. “Do you want me to come home?’

  “No, no. I’ll be fine. Did you talk to him before you left this morning?”

  “He was still asleep. How’s he look?”

  “Better, actually. He’s driving me nuts, but he’s not spouting off as much. I can’t put my finger on it, but I think he’s clearer.”

  “Good.” Better than good, actually. I needed Eddie not to be nuts. Especially if Larson’s (okay, my) suspicions about Stuart were true, I couldn’t afford to have Eddie revealing secrets. (That train of thought prompted another round of guilt. How could I think that about Stuart? My husband. Timmy’s father. The man I’d vowed to love, honor, and cherish. He wasn’t that ambitious. Was he? Was he?)

  I drew in a breath and tried to get off that line of thinking. “Was that why you called? To report about Eddie?”

  “Nope. Two things. Do you want the good news or the bad news?”

  “Oh, please. The good news.”

  “I found out that Brother Michael used to live at a monastery just outside of Mexico City. And guess what?”

  “It’s the one that was recently ravaged by demons?” This was good news.

  “Yup.” I could hear the excitement in her voice. “So that’s a connection, right?”

  “It’s great,” I said. I kept my voice enthusiastic, but in reality, I wasn’t sure where to go from there. We already knew there was a connection. This confirmed it, but didn’t really add anything new. I wasn’t about to burst Laura’s bubble, though. “So what’s the bad news?”

  “You’re hosting a playdate. Here. At three—”

  “Shit.” I’d totally forgotten. I always check my calendar. Always, always, always. Except today.

  Damn, what was I thinking? (Actually, I knew the answer to that one. I was thinking about demons, and the possibility that my husband, who I thought I knew so well, had hooked up with one. In the grand scheme of things, I suppose I had an excuse for forgetting a four-child playdate at which I was supposed to provide snacks, but that didn’t make me feel a whole lot better.)

  “Did I screw up? Should I have canceled for you?”