by J N Duncan
Jackie had had enough. If Charlotte could come through, then staying here was even less safe than before. “Laur?” She reached out to her with her hand. “Now.”
Laurel clasped onto her hand, its grip dry and cold, and Jackie focused on Nick’s house, willing herself toward that comfortable place before the fire. Nix turned toward them, spines in hand, an indecipherable look on its alien face. A moment later, he was gone.
Chapter 22
The sleepy little town of Thatcher’s Mill had sprung to life. Shelby was forced to slow to a sane speed as they entered the town proper, otherwise she might have hit someone crossing the street. People were out everywhere, but the obvious spot was in the center of town outside of the diner. The crowd had spilled out into the road, making getting through all but impossible. Some had weapons, rifles, shotguns, shovels, and anything else they could apparently find handy. It was a mob looking for a victim.
“Maybe you should—” Nick began.
“I’ll circle around behind the station,” Shelby finished, sliding the car around the first corner they came to and driving down to the next block where the police station stood. There was a crowd out front there, too, and Nick was hopeful they had a back way into the station to avoid any confrontation with the locals.
“Charlotte has them all on edge,” Nick said.
“Crazy,” Shelby replied. “You’d think we were alien invaders or something.”
“Might as well be,” Nick said. “If Charlotte feels attacked, you can be sure they will, too. At least those under her sway.”
“Looks like the whole damn town is out to get us.”
“Wouldn’t surprise me.” The car came to a stop behind the station in front of the back door, and Nick stepped out. “Let’s hope we don’t have to go through them to get to Charlotte.”
Nick did not bother knocking, exerting enough power to trip the lock instead, and stepped into the station. At the end of the short hall to the reception area, McManus poked his head around the corner and then stepped into view, sagging with relief.
“I was worried you might run into trouble out there,” he said. “What the hell did you guys do here?”
Nick ignored the question. “Anything on Jackie?”
“No,” he replied. “The clueless wonder-sheriff doesn’t run a very tight ship around here.”
Carson’s voice piped in from around the corner. “Things were just fine until you city folk came in and stuck your noses where they didn’t belong.”
Nick stepped into the reception room and found Carson sitting on the edge of the reception desk, looking like a disgruntled child. Three strides had Nick standing in his face, where he grabbed two fists full of khaki uniform and pushed him up against the wall, leaving Carson’s feet dangling six inches off of the floor.
“What happened here, Carson?” he asked, his gaze boring into Carson. “What the hell did you do with Jackie?”
Carson gasped and spluttered, grabbing at Nick’s arms and kicking at his shins. “I don’t know. This is assaulting an officer! I will have you arrested for this.”
McManus cleared his throat. “Carson, I don’t think you’re in a position to be making threats, so you might want to cooperate with Mr. Anderson. I’m not sure I could get him off of you before he caved your chest in.”
“What?” Carson struggled even more violently to break Nick’s hold. “You federal fucks think you can just walk in—”
Nick slammed him against the wall again, hard enough to knock the breath from his lungs. “Where is she, Carson?”
“I don’t know!” he squeaked. “I ... I stepped out to deal with the crowd. When I came back in ... she was gone.”
“Who else was here?”
“Nobody!”
“What about Charlotte?” Nick focused his energies on Carson even tighter. “Did Charlotte come in here?”
“I don’t—” Nick reinforced his question by pushing his fists harder against Carson’s chest, who cried out in pain. “Yes! She was here, but I saw her leave alone.”
Nick dropped him roughly to the floor. “Was the cell door open?” Would Charlotte have freed her? Or perhaps charmed her to walk out the back door so she could grab her outside?
“Sonofabitch,” Carson said. “I’ll be reporting you assholes. You can count on it.”
Nick stabbed a finger against Carson’s chest. “If you let Charlotte get hold of Jackie, you won’t be reporting anything. Ever.”
Carson tried to puff himself up against Nick, but the round gut, red face, and wheezing breath defeated his efforts. “Are you threatening me? You’ll go to jail for this, Anderson.”
Nick grabbed Carson’s chin in his hands, hard enough to bruise it. “No, you won’t.” Finally, he thrust him away and stepped back. Even the smell of the man was turning his stomach.
McManus chuckled. “OK, got the picture now, Carson? You’re in deep shit here. Where is Charlotte?”
“How the hell would I know? You try her house?”
Nick was about to slap him across the face when the cell in his pocket buzzed. He pulled it out and saw that it was Jackie’s number. All of the rage abruptly flowed out of him. “Jackie? Where the hell are you? Are you OK?”
“Nick!” Her voice sounded out of breath. “I’m back at your house.”
Her words stunned him momentarily. “What?”
Shelby was beside him an instant later. “Is she all right?”
“She’s back at home,” Nick said. Then it dawned on him what must have happened.
“Charlotte came after me,” she said. “I had to ... go over there.”
Hell. Damn it all straight to hell. “Are you all right?” he asked again.
“I think so.” She took a deep breath, letting it out in a rush into his ear, full of fear and relief. “Think you can get back here soon?”
“Yes,” Nick said, breathing a sigh of relief himself. “We’re on our way.” He was about to click off when he put the phone back to his ear. “Jackie?”
“What?”
“I’m glad you’re OK. I was worried there for a minute.”
She laughed. “Not sure OK is the word I’d use, but thanks. I’m alive at least.”
Nick put the phone away. “We have to go,” he said.
“What’s going on?” McManus asked.
“Jackie is back in Chicago,” he replied, and then raised a hand to McManus’s open mouth. “Don’t ask. We’ll explain later. Charlotte Thatcher attacked her. She had to leave.”
“Hey,” McManus said, sounding pleased. “She’s OK, and that gives us something to work with now. I can deal with assault charges.”
“That’s not under your jurisdiction!” Carson yelled. “You can’t have Charlie arrested for that.”
McManus walked over to Carson, casually putting his hands into his pockets. He looked very FBI in his dark blue suit and tie. “What exactly is the nature of your relationship with Ms. Thatcher, Chief Carson? Can I count on you to bring her down here for questioning?”
“I’ll do no such thing,” he replied. “You have no basis for anything here. It’s pure conjecture, and this is my town, Agent McManus. If anyone is going to be doing some arresting, it’ll be me.”
McManus gave him a wry smile. “Then perhaps you would like to go have a word with Ms. Thatcher and tell her that I’d like to ask her a few questions about her interactions with Ms. Rutledge.”
Carson looked around at the three of them, lingering the longest on Shelby, who had merely stood leaning against the wall, arms folded over her chest for the entire time. “I’ll speak to her, but I make no guarantees on her coming down here to talk with any of you.”
“Mr. Carson,” McManus said, “let me be clear. If you don’t get her down here, I shall be going up there with the county sheriffs, who will be more than happy to assist me, given your obvious problems maintaining the safety of your prisoners.”
“You have no jurisdiction in local matters, Agent McManus,” Carson said
. “I know the law.”
McManus shoved him back into the wall. “You let someone into your jail who assaulted my former partner. This is a personal matter now. You’ll deal with it or I’ll throw your ass into your own jail cell and take care of it myself.”
The fear and anger on Carson’s face dissolved into something more like worry. “You can’t do that.”
“Do I look like I’m joking?” McManus said.
“McManus,” Nick said, laying a hand on McManus’s shoulder. “A quick word, please.”
“Sure,” he replied and stepped away with him to the other side of the room.
“Don’t go up to the Thatcher’s,” he said. “Not until I’ve seen to Jackie, and we can get back here.”
McManus smiled. “You think I’d go up to that place on my own after what you’ve told me? Not a chance in hell. Pernetti will have the others out here soon. We’ll formulate a strategy to take her down when you get back here. Just don’t take too long. I don’t expect this asshole to bring her down here, but I have no plans of talking to her. If shit hits the fan, I’m getting my ass back up to Dubuque and we’ll work from there.”
“I’ll stay here with McManus,” Shelby said. “You might need my help.”
Nick nodded. “Thanks, Shel.”
“Go get our girl,” she said. “We need to take care of this before anyone out there gets killed.”
“Couldn’t agree more,” McManus replied. “Get out of here, Nick. We’ll stay in touch.”
“It will take us about five hours to get back. If Charlotte comes down here,” he added, “you need to leave. Shelby? I mean it.”
She smiled. “Would I try to do anything that stupid?”
Nick shook his head. “Of course you would. Just don’t. I’ll back as fast as I can. Call me when you’re set up with everyone else.”
Shelby yelled at his back as Nick walked toward the back door. “Ye have little faith, babe. I’d never do any of the really stupid stuff without you.”
Nick closed the back door behind him. He had a feeling this whole thing was about to get really stupid.
Chapter 23
After three shots of tequila from Nick’s cabinet, followed by another three shots of espresso, Jackie still felt jittery. The wound on her stomach both stung and itched, and she had that tweaky feeling of being exhausted but too frazzled to even consider sleep. The grandfather clock in the great room struck another quarter hour, reminding her that it had now been over ninety minutes since she had called Nick. He would be here soon, and to her surprise, she found that she was desperate for his presence.
“Would you at least try to relax?” Laurel said for about the fourth time since their arrival. “You’re making me dizzy. Go soak in Nick’s steam bath.”
“He’ll be here soon,” she replied, “and I don’t want to be lost in the shower when he gets here. Besides, I couldn’t sit in there for one minute, let alone fifteen. How am I supposed to relax anyway?”
“I know,” Laurel said, who continued to stay with Jackie as she paced around the house. They had been everywhere except Nick’s bedroom. “But you should try. You just need to take a breath.”
“I can’t!” Jackie threw up her arms in disgust. “I don’t know how to wrap my mind around what happened back there. A vampire wants me dead and some freaky alien thing wants my help for God knows what. Why does it need me? I don’t get it. What could I possibly do that would be key to its needs?” She groaned in frustration. The same questions had been rolling around in her head over and over again since their return. There were no answers, only more questions.
“We can deal with Nix later,” Laurel said calmly. “Right now, Charlotte is the most pressing matter. We have to figure out a way to stop her.”
“I know,” she yelled. “Shit. Sorry, Laur. I know we do. McManus is putting the team together. We’ll make a plan, though what the fuck that plan might be is beyond me. We can’t arrest her. We can’t detain her long enough for her power to dissipate, since she’s already shown she can cross over to escape. She knows we won’t leave her alone. So, this is goddamn Drake all over again. We’ll have to fill her with enough holes to make swiss cheese out of her or blow her up or cut off her goddamned head!”
“Sweetie, please. We’ll figure it out somehow. We always do.”
Jackie finally flopped down on the couch by the fireplace. “I don’t know if I can do it, Laur. She’s a bitch, a sociopathic, manipulative, egotistical bitch, but ... hell. You saw her. She’s a damn kid, a petulant little teenager who can’t get her way, and I’m supposed to empty my Glock into that pouty little head? She isn’t Drake.”
“Let’s just worry about that when the time comes,” Laurel replied. “There’s no point stressing over—” She stopped and looked toward the front door. “I think Nick’s here.”
A second later, Jackie felt him, too, the cold shifting feeling of death wrapping around her. “Thank fucking God.” She jumped to her feet and made her way toward the front door.
He was walking up the front walk from the driveway, quick and purposeful, his scar-lined jaw set with determination. His eyes had a fiercer brightness to them than usual. When he realized she was standing behind the glass of the screen door, everything eased, and his mouth relaxed into a faint smile.
“A sight for sore eyes, Ms. Rutledge,” he said.
Jackie opened the door but stopped him in the threshold and threw her arms around his neck. A second later, she got the one thing her body had been craving since her return, the physical surety of his embrace. Jackie held on tight, burying her head against his chest and savored the security of those unnaturally strong arms pulling her against him. That cool strong shell of protection made those jitters fade into the background.
“Really glad to see you,” she said, finally letting go. “This whole thing is getting a bit out of control.”
He stepped by her and into the foyer. “So it seems. You want to tell me what happened?”
“You aren’t going to believe it,” she said. His silence answered her statement. “OK, you probably will, but I’m still trying to myself.”
“Come on and sit down,” he said. “You look stressed. You need anything?”
She waved him off and walked back toward the fireplace. “I had a couple of shots already. Didn’t help.”
Laurel laughed and sat down next to Jackie. “She must love you, Nick.”
He paused before sitting. “Oh?”
“I tried for over an hour to get her to sit down and relax,” she replied. “You did it in thirty seconds.”
Jackie’s fist swung through Laurel’s arm and hit the cushion. “You aren’t helping.”
Nick sagged back into the couch next to Jackie and heaved a sigh. “Wish we could stay a while.”
“McManus said things were going crazy there,” Jackie said.
“Charlotte has the town in an uproar and that Carson fellow is a useless snake, but that can wait. Tell me what happened.”
Jackie told him, rolling her eyes when he stopped her to check her wound, and narrowing his own with worry when she explained what happened with the Spindly Man.
“Nix,” he said, perplexed by what she had said.
“I can’t pronounce what he said. It was absurdly long, and had some weird inflections I could never replicate.”
“So, what could you be so important for?” he wondered. “He protected you against Charlotte and went after Laurel, but wants you. Curious.”
Jackie snorted. “That’s one way of looking at it.”
“I think it does what you can do, Nick,” Laurel said.
He leaned forward to look at her. “What do you mean?”
“I believe those spines are used to absorb spiritual energy. That’s why everyone in Deadworld runs from it.”
“And it went after Charlotte with what almost seemed like relish,” Jackie said, recalling the odd sound it had made before attacking. “But why not me? I have the same energy.”
&n
bsp; Nick made a groaning sound, rubbing his face with his hands. “Because you can open the door between worlds,” he said. “You aren’t key to what it needs. You are the key.”
The jittery nerves began to make a comeback. “You think it wants to come here?”
“I don’t know,” he replied. “Maybe. You didn’t get a chance to ask.”
“And I have no intention of going back to ask him,” Jackie said.
“Which incurs its own problems if it’s going to keep following you around.”
Jackie’s head lolled back against the cushion. “I know, but I can’t just let it come here. Who knows what it might do.”
“Agreed,” Nick replied. “We can’t just let it come here, but I don’t want it following you around for the rest of your life.”
“Me either,” Jackie replied. It was going to have to remain in limbo for now. Laurel was right. They needed to deal with Charlotte immediately before more people got killed. “OK, we’ll figure out Mr. Alien later. What do we do about Charlotte?”
Nick sighed. “I see only two options. We get her to turn herself in and stop consuming real blood or we kill her. Regardless, we need to get McManus and the team in on this. Planning now is pointless, and we need to get back.”
As though he had been listening in, McManus called. “Nick, how’s Jack?”
“Strange story and a bit shaken, but we’re good here.” Nick set the phone down and put it on speaker.
“Good. Now, get on that plane and get back here. We’ve got shit hitting the fan in Thatcher’s Mill.”
Nick sat up on the couch. “What’s going on?”
“We’ve got a riot on our hands,” McManus said. “People here have gone batshit crazy. County sheriff showed up and is now sitting in the station with a busted nose and probably some cracked ribs. Carson is gone, and we’ve had a couple of shots fired in here. People are screaming about the Thatchers being dead.”
“What? Dead?” Nick asked in disbelief. “All of them?”
