by Catie Rhodes
“There are no charges.” Dean leveled his gaze on me. “The Holzes started out wanting to press charges.” He snorted. “There they sat on your burning property, gas cans in Joey’s truck, golf clubs, baseball bats, and chains on the ground, but they were pressing charges. Then I told them we’d talked to Rainey first. Then Myrtle Gaudet caved. Last I talked to Carly, she hopes you won’t press charges.”
“Are all the Holzes alive?” I wasn’t sure if I cared, but I needed to know.
“Joey had a heart attack. He was life-flighted to Dallas. You broke Felicia’s jaw and knocked out five teeth.” Dean glanced at my bruised fists for a second. “Scott had a seizure. Doc’s trying to figure out why. You’re lucky you know how to fight. They really meant to kill you.”
“What about the other matter at Beulah Church?” Rainey’s face was still as the air before a tornado.
“No charges.” Dean crossed his ankle over his knee.
“What about Wade and Tubby?” My voice sounded like I had a lump of concrete in my throat. I took another sip of water.
“Sheriff’s office’ll let it go in exchange for your story, although we ought to charge Mr. Tubman for fleeing the scene.” He waited a beat. “If you tell me what you experienced, I have further information that might interest you.”
I glanced at Rainey. She nodded her consent. “Okay, I’ll talk.”
“Mr. Hill told us Gage used Hannah to force you to find the treasure.”
“Gage called my cellphone several times from a blocked number. He sent a video of him torturing Hannah. He said he’d kill her if I got the police involved.” My hand trembled on top of the thin hospital blanket. “So I did what I needed to do to find the Mace Treasure.”
“This next is just between us.” He gave me his I’m-a-charmer smile. “What was the treasure?”
“A leather bag with a few diamonds in it and some old jewelry.” I glanced around for my backpack, heart speeding up.
“It’s in the safe at my office.” Rainey patted my arm and gave it a light squeeze.
“Where’d you find the treasure?” Dean had a smile on his face, but his eyes weren’t smiling. He was analyzing everything I said.
I glanced at Rainey. Her cool, dark eyes offered no hint what I should say. So I winged it. “It was hidden in the floorboards of the Mace Carriage House.”
“That makes no sense. Why wouldn’t someone have found it over the years? More experienced treasure hunters than you have looked.” He uncrossed his legs and leaned forward, squinting at me. It made me feel like a rat in a snake cage. But then his eyes drifted over the shape of my body under the blanket. Something moved behind them. The familiarity I saw in his gaze pissed me off. I said the thing I knew would shut him down.
“Remember why we broke up Dean? Because I do magic, and I’m unnatural?” I waited for the tips of his ears to turn red. They did, and I continued. “That’s how I found it. Reginald Mace hired a witch to spell the magic so nobody could—”
He held up one hand, but I was on a roll.
“—find it or even see it. She also put a curse on the treasure when the people of this awful, nasty town lynched her, and a bunch of your more experienced treasure hunters died because of it. You want to know why I was able to take off the curse and get the treasure, Dean-o?” I knew the nickname pissed him off.
His cheeks heated to the color of bricks.
“I did it because in addition to being descended from Reginald Mace, who hid the treasure, I am descended from that witch. And that’s where my gifts—because they are gifts, even though you hate me because of them—come from.” I lay there panting, already feeling the effect of my temper tantrum. I touched the black opal pendant for comfort.
Dean’s gaze followed my hand. He gulped. I’d been right. The magic scared him away, always would. But there was one thing he was forgetting. Magic ran in his veins just like mine. What would he do if one of his children had the second sight? Not my problem.
Something tapped on the window. I took my gaze off Dean’s red face to see what it was. The silhouette of a big black bird sat on the sill. Orev. He tapped on the window again. The bond between us awoke, and I felt the bird’s curiosity about my well-being, since he depended on me for his survival. I sent back comfort and assurance. He cawed and flew away.
“What do you know about Michael Gage’s death?” A tremor ran through Dean’s words. I raised my gaze to find him staring out the window. I’d have bet my last dollar bill someone told him about the bird attacking Scott Holze.
Rainey gave me a short nod.
“He shot at us. We rammed Nash's car into the church, and he took off running.” My words ended in a coughing fit. I took a sip of water. “He went around the side of the church and started shooting. The shooting stopped. We went to see what happened and found him dead.”
I stared into Dean’s face. Did he hear my lie? Probably. The only real question was whether he’d press for the truth. After all the magic talk, and the lack of injuries on Gage’s person, I somehow doubted it.
Dean put his thumb and forefinger to his lips and tapped. He sat like that for a while. Finally, he raised his gaze to stare at me. “Okay. Fine. Do you have any idea where Nash Redmond is?”
Hard question. He was in the dark outposts and would stay there forever. Did I know exactly where the dark outposts were? Not really. There was my answer. I shook my head at Dean.
“How did you get use of his car?”
“It was sitting at the Mace House with the keys in the ignition. Nash and I went out a few times. I knew he wouldn’t mind me using it.” All this was true. Dead people don’t have much use for cars.
Dean nodded, his eyes flat. “We have reason to believe Nash may be using Jay Harris’s truck. Are you familiar with it?”
“Big, red Ford pickup?” I nodded. “But why?”
“Mr. Harris was found dead in his apartment. His truck is missing.” Dean let out a breath. “A neighbor saw a man who looked like Nash Redmond get into the truck and drive away late last night.”
Chilly sweat oozed out of my pores. I shivered. The neighbors didn’t see Nash Redmond late last night. He was already dead. But I knew one person who’d masqueraded as Nash Redmond last night. Tubby Tubman. He saw his chance to get rid of an old adversary and took it. He probably made sure he was seen leaving the scene as Nash Redmond. Something in my new knowledge told me the glamour should have worn off by the morning. I’d make sure.
“Normally, I wouldn’t give you information about an open case, but, dammit, I need you to understand how dangerous Mr. Redmond is.” Dean glared at me. “If you see him, you have got to call me.”
“Oh, I understand.” And I did.
“Ok. The information I promised you.” He got up out of his chair pulled it close to my bed and sat again. He lowered his voice. “What I’m about to tell you could get me in huge trouble. But I think you deserve to know the truth.”
“You know I’ll never tell.” Even though Dean’s and my relationship came to a messy end, I once loved him. I’d never shit on him in such a petty, underhanded way. If I were going to shit on him, I’d be up front about it.
“The first thing to understand is that Nash and Michael Gage met in prison.”
Both Rainey’s and my mouth fell open.
“Nash Redmond was serving time for a drunk driving charge and assault on a law officer.” Dean took out his notepad and read off it. “He’d been a nurse on the outside, so he got to work in the prison hospital as an orderly. We know now Gage was faking the extent of his injuries with the help of a civilian nurse. Nash probably told Gage who he was, and things went from there.”
“Why would Gage have cared about Nash Redmond?” Rainey wrinkled her nose.
“That’s the good part.” Dean grinned. “The big mystery about Michael Gage was that nobody knew his real identity. Even when he was arrested in the 1980s as Billy Ryder, that name was discovered to be fake.” Dean leaned forward, eyes glowing w
ith excitement. “Thanks to you, law enforcement got another crack at him last year. Gage was connected to so many crimes, across so many states and even in other countries, the Feds got involved.” Dean practically vibrated with excitement. “Eventually, Gage’s DNA was tested against all prisoners in the state of Texas system. They came up with two matches.”
A dark shadow crossed my heart. All of a sudden, and for no reason, I knew.
“One was Nash Redmond. The match indicated Gage was Nash's father.” Dean had his notepad out again, reading straight from it. I was glad he couldn’t see my face. “The Feds traced Nash Redmond’s history but learned he was adopted as an infant in a closed adoption.”
“Closed adoption?” At this point, every word Dean said sounded foreign and meaningless. Something deep inside me wanted him to stop. But part of me wanted to know.
“It just means the identity of the birth parents was kept secret. It used to be more common than it is now.” Rainey glanced at me, and her eyes widened.
Dean nodded. “They ran a background on Nash, trying to figure out if he knew Michael Gage was his father. Nash never got into any trouble as a kid and worked as a nurse. Did a good job, from all reports. But then he and his parents were in a car accident while on a Memorial Day vacation. The parents died in the wreck. Nash suffered head injuries, which caused a coma. He woke up from the coma two months later.”
I thought I knew the answer to this question. “Nash said he woke up from the coma with psychometry—the ability to touch things and know past and present about the object’s owner. So I bet he somehow knew.”
“You know I don’t believe in that stuff, but listen to what I have to say next.” Dean’s face shifted into a sour grimace. “The Feds tracked down Nash's girlfriend back in Massachusetts. The girlfriend said Nash had discovered, when he went through his parents’ papers, he was adopted from a single mother in Texas. He’d found an item that was apparently given to his adoptive parents along with him. It was a very old rattle. He left for Texas right after that.”
“What about the other DNA match? You said there were two.” Rainey, brow furrowed, glanced at me. I saw something moving in the dark depths of her eyes and knew it only as worry. My heart sped up.
“The other match was an elderly prisoner, a lifer named John Mace Rydell. He actually died in prison, of old age, last month. Rydell was one of those guys who got into trouble over and over again and finally committed an offense that got him life without parole.” Dean took a deep breath and put his notepad away. “The DNA indicated John Mace Rydell was Michael Gage’s father.
“Mace,” I muttered. The world around me swam.
“The mother was Danita Younis. She married John Mace Rydell, and they had a son they named William.” Dean paused. “See where Michael Gage got Billy Ryder?”
I didn’t care about all that. “It’s the same Mace, isn’t it? Nash and Michael Gage are related to me.”
“I did a little research on your behalf, even subscribed to one of those genealogy research websites. Michael Gage and his son, Nash Redmond, trace back to William Mace. Just like you.” Dean reached out and put one hand on my arm. “But you’re not like that at all.”
Wasn’t I? My stomach roiled with disgust and an odd kind of guilt. Gage and Nash, psychos though they were, had just as much right to the Mace Treasure as I did. Had I stolen from them? And why hadn’t Gage just told me instead of murdering my cousin? The questions compounded and bred into more questions. I realized I’d never know the answer to any of them.
Dean left not long after that. The jerk actually kissed me on the cheek and wished me the best. Rainey helped me dress in the cheap clothes she’d brought for me to wear home—wherever that was.
“Wade checked himself out of the hospital early this morning. He said for you to call him when you, and I quote, ‘Get out of this sleazy son of a bitch.’” Rainey wadded up the sack and shoved it into a trashcan. “Mysti Whitebyrd has called your cellphone every hour on the hour. You need to call her back.”
“I’d like to see Hannah first.” I grunted as I bent to tie the cheap white canvas shoes Rainey bought me.
“Of course. I’ll take you.” She held out one arm while I stood and helped me haul my sore bones out of the hospital room.
RAINEY WALKED through the hospital the same way she did life—head high, shoulders straight. The world was hers to do with as she pleased, a foe already conquered. She led me through a door marked Hospital Staff Only. A nurse met us there, took one look at us, and went the other way. Rainey tipped me a wink. “There are benefits to looking like you’ll puree them if they speak to you.”
She led me down a deserted hallway and stopped in front of a closed door. Unlike many of the other doors we’d passed, this one had no name tag. Was this the right place?
“I want you to prepare yourself.” Rainey’s grip on the door handle tightened. “Dean told me Hannah held it together until she realized it was really over. Then she became hysterical and scratched her own face. That’s why she’s sedated.”
My stomach dropped all the way to my feet. I didn’t want to see Hannah like this, but I knew I had to go in even if she’d never know I was here. I nodded my understanding. Rainey opened the door and let me inside.
Hannah’s room was dark, the blinds closed. She slept the deep sleep of sedation. As Rainey promised, there were thin red tracks down her face. I leaned over Hannah’s bed and pressed my cheek to her forehead. I held her still, cool hand in mine for several minutes. Finally, I whispered, “I’ll always be here for you.” And I meant it.
Rainey and I didn’t speak until we reached her Mercedes. She hit the alarm and motioned me to get inside. My cellphone lay on the console. I noticed it was turned off.
“Mysti kept calling. She was driving me crazy.” Rainey started the car and turned to me. “She threatened to put a hex on me if I lied to her about you.”
“I’d put a hex on someone if they lied to me about you or Hannah.”
Rainey’s head slowly swiveled to face me. “And it would work, wouldn’t it?”
I shrugged.
“It might take a lifetime to find them, but when you have the right friends, you know it.” She steered the Mercedes out of the parking lot. We went through town and toward her subdivision, the only gated one in Burns County. Rainey blew past the guard shack with one hand raised. A few minutes later, we pulled into her garage. “You’re welcome to stay here for the time being. I invited Wade, but he said one of the Six Guns would let him crash.”
“Thanks, Rainey.” I got out of the car and limped behind her into the house. “I better call Wade, let him know I’m okay.”
“You might think about calling Mysti Whitebyrd first.” Rainey bent to pet her dog, Ugly. “Wade knows you’re safe with me.”
I powered up my cellphone, and it rang immediately. Mysti’s picture flashed on the screen. I answered the call. “Hello?”
“You did it, didn’t you?” I could picture her in one of her tie-dyed dresses, big grin plastered all over her face. “I knew you could. Just knew it.”
“I killed Michael Gage,” I hissed into the phone. “The mantle—”
“Gave you what you needed when you needed it?” Her voice held a gentle hint of challenge. “What would have happened if you hadn’t had it?”
No need to answer that one. Gage would have played shootout with us until one or all of us were dead. His entire life had been a misguided attempt to burn the world down. Bad legacy to take into the afterlife. I wanted to use my time on the planet more wisely and leave more good stuff behind.
“Gage hurt Hannah. He hurt her so bad. If only I had—” My voice shook.
“Peri Jean, life is mostly stuff you wish hadn’t happened.” She paused and took a deep breath. “You do the best you can and go from there. Win some, lose some, move on.”
Her words at first sounded callous. Then I gave them some thought. She was right. I could feel guilty and still accept what happen
ed and learn from it. It didn’t have to paralyze me. I could move forward, learn about this power I had inside me, and do good things with it.
“Rainey told me those bigots burned down your house.” Sharp edges of dislike hardened Mysti’s normally soft voice.
“They wanted to beat me to death too.” I flashed back to the bloodiest fight I’d ever been part of and shivered. “For the last month, I’d been having those dreams of being on the gallows. I thought Priscilla Herrera’s story had gotten into my subconscious, but I think it was a warning. Because when Joey Holze and his thugs surrounded me with their bats and chains, all I could think about was what Priscilla Herrera must have felt.”
A deep voice spoke on Mysti’s end.
“Griff, Brad, and I want you to come down here to the city and live with us.” Mysti said the words in a rush and let out a breath when she finished. “You can learn to use your mantle while you work for us. When you’re ready, there’s all kinds of places to live. You don’t have to answer right now…” She trailed off, maybe hoping I would.
I thought about it. There was no reason to stay in Gaslight City. I could barely make enough money to survive. Wade and I couldn’t room together. We’d drive each other crazy. I listened to Rainey crooning to her dog in the next room, thought about Hannah lying in the hospital. The idea of leaving my friends hurt. But Mysti’s words rang in my head. You do the best you can. I took a deep breath.
“I’ll do it.” The words sounded so final and huge.
Mysti let out a victory yell. She spoke to someone, probably Griff, and told them I’d accepted their offer. She came back on the line. “You’re going to learn so much. We’ll practice every day.”
“Mysti, thank you for being my friend.” My eyes stung as I said the words. I needed her to know I’d be lost without her.
“Thank you for being mine, my sister from another mother.” She let out a long breath. “I don’t want to keep you, so listen. You call me when you’re ready to come.”
