Except of course.
He had.
“It’s so good to see you,” Nadine said putting her face between the front chairs. “Not you, specifically – but a familiar face I mean. Someone I can trust.”
“You look different,” was all Jason could say.
“I’m aware. You look different too.”
“Really?”
“You’re much older now.”
“Okay.”
“You’ve grown up.”
Jason swallowed. “Not really. I’m still…”
“What?”
“I’m still figuring things out.”
Immediately as he said it, he felt as though he’d made an omission of betrayal. The faces of his wife and daughter surfaced in his mind, and then he tried to push them away.
He wondered if his own words were true.
“Where do you want to go?” Jason asked. “I can’t see that anyone’s following us.”
“Anywhere we can talk.”
“Alright.”
He kept his eyes on the road. Tall trees with thickened leaves waved gently in the sky above them. The area was unfamiliar and there was no accounting for what would come next.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
It was a small town in the middle of nowhere that caught their sights. They slowed down to a drift and maneuvered their way from the main road to the side streets.
Clouds of orange dust rose in the air as the car glided along the gravel behind a corner store milkbar. In the rearview mirror Jason could see a nearby soccer field where a group of kids were at practice. He shut off the ignition and leaned back towards Nadine. “Come up here with me. Okay?”
Nadine hesitated for a moment, then got out of the car.
Jason waited.
She climbed back in.
“I hope I haven’t given you the wrong impression,” Jason began. “Picking you up, I mean. You said some pretty crazy stuff on the phone. About unfinished business and so on. It’s … troubling to learn you haven’t moved on. But … I have…”
Nadine didn’t seem too happy with his comments. Her expression endured some strain.
“I don’t believe it.”
Jason blinked. “Pardon me?”
“How … can you move on…? I heard – I heard your girlfriend died in your arms that night –”
“Yes.”
“I heard you almost died –”
“It was five years ago, Nadine.”
“Don’t you want to get this guy? He’s still out there.”
“Sure … I wanted to get him. After it happened. Once I was out of the hospital, I tried to involve myself with the investigation as much as I could. But ... it went nowhere.”
“Because they weren’t really looking. Wanted it all swept up under the carpet. Forgotten about.”
“Those were dark times. I wound up in hospital again four months later. Too many pills.”
“Shit.”
“Yep. Almost killed myself over it. But … I had to move on. That was the only way to heal. To … forgive.”
“Forgive? Are you outta your mind?”
“Myself, I mean.”
“Oh.”
Jason sighed. “I understand this is your big day. Getting out and all. But you’re better off just moving on too. There is no positive outcome.”
“And I thought time had weakened me.”
“I’m…”
“What?”
Jason tilted his head forward. “You know, I … I don’t want it to be bad between us. For what it’s worth. I don’t mind talking to you for a bit. Just … I can’t be a part of whatever you’re thinking of going forward with.”
“Why not?”
“I told you already. I’m – I’ve moved on –”
“Seriously, that’s a bullshit excuse. What’s it going to take for me to convince you? I need you with me on this – I can’t do it alone. I swear to fucking Christ –”
“Well, what’s your first move? Tell me. What crazy scheme have you been brewing on all these years?”
Nadine shook her head. “Our first move is getting the old team together.”
“Who does that include then?”
“Me, you … Riley. Dino. And … Luna, I guess.”
“Well, good luck with that.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
Jason laughed. “I don’t know. As far as I remember, Dino hated your guts. He cut his ties off from the paranormal police faster than any of us. In other words he doesn’t give a shit. And – Luna? Isn’t she the reason you went to prison in the first place?”
“What about Riley? Surely you must be friends with her still.”
“No. No, I haven’t heard from her in ages. I don’t know where she is. What she’s doing. She could be anyone by now. With anyone. Doing anything.”
“So it’ll be just the two of us then.”
“Great,” Jason rolled his eyes. “Look … it’s not happening. The best case scenario I guess would be to find Haley. Alive. Somewhere, somehow. And then if we decide that The Count, or Brock or whoever is the killer – someone who hasn’t bothered us in forever mind you – so we kill them, and then what? Feel good about things. Justice was served? I mean, come on. I understand that need to latch onto something. To give your life some purpose. It’s important. But … life doesn’t work that way. It doesn’t give a fuck about us. Even with two-hundred percent invested, we’d never get the truth out of it. We’d never find out what really happened…”
And then something stung him.
Something crept into his ear.
He saw her face again. The ghost that had driven him here.
“What is it?” Nadine asked.
“Nothing,” Jason muttered. “I just. I see her sometimes. Roxanne. She was trying to tell me something before she died. I can’t remember properly though. It’s a haze. But … she knew who it was. She knew who had done this to us.”
“It was both of them,” Nadine declared. “Kendra Armistice, and her ex, the Count.”
“Kendra? What do you mean?”
“I saw her right before I escaped. She wasn’t dead. She’d been turned. She’d rejoined her old family. I think … I think it was her all along. Passing those files off to our enemies. She was playing both sides. So … they could destroy us…”
“Why didn’t I ever hear about this?”
“Because they didn’t want anyone to know. Just blame it all on me, and then bury the whole division. But I’m out now. For how long, I have no idea. I’ve got to make the most of it though. I’ve got to turn things around this time.”
Tears fell from Nadine’s eyes.
Jason had trouble looking at her.
“If we do this,” he said softly. “If I choose to help you, then … there can’t be any doubts. We can’t just go off and assume who the killer is. Who the traitor is. Until we know for sure, we have to keep an open mind. About everything.”
Nadine thought on what he’d said. “Alright. Agreed.”
“We need to go back. Right to the start of this whole thing. Just look at everything that happened. Piece by piece. See if there’s something we missed. Something that could bring everything together.”
“Do you really not think it’s the Count then?”
“I don’t know who it is,” Jason said. “And that’s the problem. Because I’m not sure. I remember how it was on the night. It’s Brock, it’s the Count – hang on its Cyrus. No, Cyrus is dead. It’s Brock again. Then it’s the Count. I just … I don’t want to go through that again. It should be obvious who this is. If they’re still out there. God. I wonder if – I wonder –”
“What?”
“I wonder if they know you were getting out today. I wonder if they know –”
Jason cut himself short.
He looked up into the rearview mirror again. And saw the soccer field was empty.
“You wonder if he knows we’re coming?” Nadine finished for him.
“Yeah,” Jason said. “Something like that.”
He pulled his phone out from his pocket.
And was relieved to see there were no new messages.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
Five pm. The shadow ticks over.
All the walls, barriers, gates and guards had been dissolved in the moving of time. Jason and Nadine sat in the car, now parked outside their former workplace – the Department of Paranormal Investigation. Grey walls had been painted blue. Gardens had been planted. There was nothing secretive about this place anymore. Because it no longer was what it used to be.
“I told you,” Jason said. “It’s just another government building now. Look. You can get your taxes done in here.”
“I’m going to step out,” Nadine replied. “Look around. You coming?”
“I thought I might call home. Tell Amelia I’m going to be late.”
“Well. When you’re ready.”
Nadine pushed open her door and stepped out onto the road.
Glancing back before she made her way across, she could see Jason already had the phone to his ear. Looking perplexed. Uncomfortable. His demeanor was almost alien to her. For years she had dreamed of this place – of coming back here to see if it still remained. Of course the place hadn’t been torn down, but as Jason spelled out it no longer served the purpose they needed it to. If there was a Paranormal Division still operating within the state, they would never find its location. Unless it wanted them to.
Nadine took her time as she approached the building, her bony arms wrapped around her fragile centre. She knew she was weak. She knew that the only thing carrying her forward was her own mind – her inner will and determination. She felt fierce. Angry, almost. Even in the presence of this empty shell of a memory, she could feel fragments of her old self returning. Between the seconds it was as if no time had passed at all.
Except it had.
Bright colors and sunshine reigned over her as she entered the calm and inviting reception area. Posters and signs on the walls indicated the building was multipurpose – as in many different practices were operating independently within. She took a few paces down the area passed the reception desk, breathing in the plant life, trying to recall where everything should have been, as opposed to where it was now.
“Can I help you?” the receptionist called out behind her.
Nadine tilted her head slightly. “Maybe.”
“Where are you supposed to be?”
Nadine had no direct answer. She was listening to the sounds of the room. Feeling its vibrations. Experiencing its journey.
She turned back to the desk.
“I used to work here,” she confessed.
“Oh?”
“I was in another wing. In the far west-hand side. It was quite a while ago though.”
“You don’t mean … when it used to be…?”
“Yes,” Nadine nodded. “I was one of the investigators.”
“Oh my God. Is your name Nadine?”
Nadine’s eyes flared. Her posture straightened. “Yes, that’s me.”
“We had a call from someone a few weeks ago. They said you might turn up here.”
“Who from?”
“We didn’t get a name. But they left you a message. I … I’ll have to look for it.”
The receptionist got onto her knees and opened a drawer beside her.
Nadine leaned over the desk. “Do you remember what it was?”
“List of addresses. All local. He said you would know what they were.”
Nadine ran her fingernails across the desk. Splashes of red shone through her mind.
“Okay. I got it.” The receptionist stood up and Nadine snatched the paper away from her.
It was true what she had said. There were four addresses on the paper.
One of them she recognized.
It was Jason’s.
“Did you speak to him?” Nadine asked. “The person who called?”
“Yes, it was me.”
“Well, did he say anything else? Anything you can remember at all?”
“No,” the receptionist said. Then she thought a moment. “Wait. There was something.”
Nadine put her elbow to the desk. “Tell me.”
“He said Dylan would be proud. Or something.”
“Dylan? Or Dermott?”
“Could be Dermott. Yes. Dermott would be proud.”
Nadine turned back to face the way she’d came.
She suddenly felt strong again.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
Jason’s call to his wife lasted barely more than thirty seconds. Actually … eighteen. Eighteen seconds. He could check that. He felt a bit strange, given the quickness of the call. Neither of them had tried to get off prematurely, it just sort of fell out the way it had. He obviously hadn’t told her a lick of truth about what was going on. He knew without even asking her – without looking into her eyes – She wouldn’t understand.
Nadine was back at the car again. She had a piece of paper with her.
“Have a look at this,” she said launching it across to him as she climbed in.
Jason turned it over. He saw his address among the others.
“What’s this?” he asked.
“The second one is you, right?”
Jason nodded.
“So. Who do you think the other’s belong to?”
“I don’t know.”
Nadine took the sheet back. “Someone called ahead here. Told them I’d be coming. Asked them to give me this.”
“What do you mean? Are we being followed?”
“No, they called ahead weeks ago. It’s … it’s so bizarre … It has to be the person who got me out.”
“And they want you to go to these places? They want you to … visit me? Why is that?”
“I think I know who the other addresses belong to.”
“Who?”
“Look. There’s only three others. And there’s only three other people that are still alive that are connected to this. Dino, Riley and Luna. I bet you … a thousand dollars that these addresses belong to each of them.”
“Isn’t that a reach? I mean … they could … they could go anywhere –”
“Well, I did my research on everyone while I was locked up. I’m pretty sure that this one at the top is Dino’s address. I had it written down at some point but it got lost. It was just for back up anyway. In case I couldn’t get a hold of you.”
“Wait. Let’s just … think for a moment here. Who … who is sending you this information? What do they want you to do?”
“Well … the lady inside said it was a man who called. Not that that means much … but … well, she said something else too. She said that the caller said to tell me, ‘Dermott would be proud.’ Like … Cresh is supposed to be dead. But what if he’s not? What if they covered it up? And he’s been still involved this whole time?”
“I don’t believe it. That’s … just … too silly. He wouldn’t do that to us. He wouldn’t allow Luna to put you away –”
“Unless he wanted me away all along. Maybe … it was me … or it was him. You know?”
“Let’s just stay with the facts. Anyone could call and send you that message. It could be the killer for heaven’s sake.”
“The killer? He’s going to get me released from prison, so I can reunite with our team of investigators so we can go after him … because…”
“Alright, alright. Maybe it’s not the killer. I just … don’t think we can trust whoever is sending you this information. One of these addresses could turn out to be a trap or something.”
“Well, at the moment they’re all we got.”
She fell silent.
Jason looked out the window back towards the building. A distant sadness pierced his heart.
“So we’re going to go down that road then,” he finally said. “We’re really going to bring everyone back together.”
“It’s our destiny, Jason,” Nadine said. “We n
eed to know what happened.”
He breathed in deeply. “You’re right. You’re so right. We fucking do.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
Dino’s address was not only the first on the list, but also the closest to them. After a brief conversation with his girlfriend at the front door they learned that Dino was not at home, it was his day off from work, and that he could probably be found at the local bar with his drinking buddies. Jason plugged the location into his GPS and once again they navigated along to a new area. Thankfully the bar had its own car park and there wasn’t any trouble in getting a spot. Both Nadine and Jason got out of the car on arrival, Jason gripping the cane in his right hand.
“What’s that for?” Nadine asked sounding confused.
“This is how I get around now,” Jason explained. “I’m lucky I can walk at all.”
“Alright. No undercover work for you then, I suppose.”
“Very funny.”
They made their way across the car park and through the bar’s entrance. Once inside, they surveyed the room.
Clouds of cigar smoke and heavy metal music separated the back of the bar from the main area. Jason could see several heavy set men crowded around a pool table, talking loudly, joking with one another. His eyes peeled across each of them, until he finally found Dino, standing at the side of the table.
He nudged Nadine. “Got him.”
“Can I get you guys something?” the bartender asked suspiciously as they made their way over.
Jason stopped.
“I’ll handle this,” Nadine said quietly. “You go talk to Dino. Bring him over here.”
Jason nodded. He continued on as Nadine pulled up a stool, distracting the bartender.
He stepped slowly into the back area, leaning on his cane for support.
One of the men turned to Jason. “Do you need something?”
“I’m looking for Dino Hinch.”
The man at the side of the table turned slightly. Now that he was closer Jason wasn’t sure it was him.
“What the…” Dino muttered, squinting. He walked over. “Jason?”
“Hey,” Jason managed.
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