Demon's Stand

by Dahlen, K. J.

  “Donna and I met on a regular basis, at least three or four times a year. I was her pipeline to the investigation and she was my pipeline to you. At first, I stayed in touch with her to see if you remembered anything and then our relationship became something more. I grew to care for you and your aunt. I knew Donna would never come back here as long as Simon was a threat to you and I couldn’t leave here. This city is my home, I have a home and a family here, but I was also keeping track of Simon’s moves while he was here. We were caught in an impossible situation, but it was the best we could do to keep you safe.”

  Shiloh glanced away for a moment then looked back at Charlie. “In the end it didn’t matter anyway. Simon found us again and may have tampered with her car. Had she gotten medical attention soon after the accident, she might have lived. She wasn’t found for over a day and that’s what caused her death.”

  “I know. I was too late to save Donna, but I’ll be dammed if I’m going to let anything happen to you.” Charlie said. “That’s why I’m not too keen on letting you go face to face with Simon. There has to be another way.”

  “Did Donna tell you that I could get my memories back if I confront the situation I most fear?”

  Charlie stood up and the chair he had been sitting on flew back behind him. The resulting crash echoed in the room. “No, she didn’t. The doctors always thought your memories would come back slowly. One of them even said it might not return at all. He said the memories might be too deep in your subconscious to resurface.”

  “Well, we all know I can remember the events of that night so that doctor is wrong,” Shiloh said.

  “Maybe you’re pushing yourself too hard to remember that night,” Demon offered his opinion.

  Shiloh began wringing her hands. “But if I don’t push myself there may not be time to remember. We only have a small window of opportunity before Simon realizes I’m back.”

  “That’s true,” Charlie said. “Simon isn’t going to give you time to remember anything.”

  “But I don’t think he’ll hurt me right away. He still needs me to remember where the safe room is. He needs what’s in that room more than he needs me dead. I have no doubt he’ll kill me once I find the room.”

  “That’s why one or both of us are going to stay with you at all times,” Charlie told her.

  Shiloh shook her head. “Don’t think for a moment that Simon won’t go through you to get to me. He’s already murdered three people to get to the contents of my father’s safe. I don’t think he’ll hesitate to kill you to get what he wants.”

  The doorbell rang and the sound of it startled everyone.

  Charlie reached for his weapon and rushed for the front door. Peeking out the side window light, he saw a pizza delivery person. He was holding two large rectangle boxes.

  “I forgot to tell you we ordered pizza for supper.” Demon announced as he sauntered up behind Charlie. He was reaching into his back pocket for his wallet.

  Charlie sighed deeply and holstered his weapon. “Give a guy a little warning next time ok?”

  Shiloh’s hand covered her mouth as she stood in the doorway giggling. “I think we all need to lighten up and relax a little. Let’s try and put Simon out of our minds, at least for tonight.”

  Later that night, Shiloh laid in her parent’s bed thinking about the day’s events. Demon had gone home but he said he would be back early in the morning and Charlie was sleeping on the sofa in the living room. The house was quiet, but Shiloh found that she couldn’t sleep. Her restlessness wouldn’t allow her to sleep. There were too many questions running through her mind.

  She leaned over and snapped on the lamp on the bedside table. Flopping back on the pillows, she looked around the softly lit room. Everything was as it had been back then. Even though her parents were gone, the feelings of the house being her home was still there.

  Pushing the covers off, Shiloh sat up and looked around. She had no memories of this room. She stood up and walked over to the closet. Opening the doors, she saw an empty closet. She moved down a bit and opened the other closet. It too was empty but Shiloh closed her eyes and breathed in deeply. This was her mother’s closet and her scent was almost gone yet not quite.

  Shiloh went over to the dressers and opened each of them. They were empty except for a hairpin in one and a broken pencil in another. Then she went back to the bed and opened the drawers in the bedside tables. She found an old picture of her family in one and nothing in the other. When she tried to close the drawer, she found something wouldn’t allow her to completely close it.

  She got down on the floor and tried to see the bottom of the drawer. To her surprise, there was something there. Lifting the drawer a little, she removed the drawer completely. Turning it over, she found there was an envelope taped to the bottom.

  Removing the envelope, Shiloh ripped it open and pulled out a piece of paper. On it were several numbers along with the words ‘safe combination’ on the paper. She recognized her father’s handwriting. He had written the combination of the safe and put it where only he and her mother would ever think to look for it.

  Shiloh sat down on the edge of the bed and stared at the handwritten note. Now all she had to do was remember where the safe was hidden. She folded the note and stuck it in her pants pocket.

  Lifting her head, she stared at the door. She thought she heard a murmur coming from the living room. Standing up, she went to the door and pressed her ear against the wood. She reached for the handle and quietly opened the door. Moving quietly down the short hall, she stopped at the opening of the hall into the foyer. She paused to listen and this time she heard the soft murmur of someone talking.

  Peeking around the corner, she saw Charlie laying on the sofa speaking to someone on his cell phone. She had to concentrate to hear what he was saying but what she heard sent shivers down her spine.

  “She still doesn’t remember anything specific. No she hasn’t said anything about remembering where the safe room is yet.”

  “I know what I have to do.” She heard him hesitate before he said, “Don’t threaten me. This will work if we don’t rush her. You’ve been patient this long, you can be patient a few more days”

  Shiloh felt her heart rush to her throat as the meanings of his words slammed into her head. Very carefully, she stepped back the way she had come. Only when she closed the bedroom door did she dare to breathe again. Taking another couple of steps backward she stared in horror at the flimsy barrier between her and the man who would see her dead.

  She could only imagine who Charlie was talking to but if she had to guess the first one on the short list would be Simon Pratt. Was Charlie working in league with Simon? Would he betray her to the man that brutally murdered her parents? Was he the one who tampered with Donna’s vehicle and ultimately caused her death?

  Shiloh felt a shiver of fear and the hair on the back of her head tingled. Could she still trust Charlie?

  Demon slammed the clubhouse door shut and stomped his way over to the bar. Leaning over, it he grabbed a full bottle of Black Velvet and a glass then went to sit down at a table Lucifer, Hades and Jinx were sitting at.

  He glared at Lucifer and poured himself a shot. He slammed it down and poured another.

  Lucifer just stared at his man. “Is something bothering you, Demon?”

  “Yeah,” Demon growled. “Something is bothering me.”

  Lucifer continued to stare at him. “Care to tell us about it or are you going to sit there and drink yourself into a stupor?”

  Demon sat back in his chair and glared at Lucifer for a moment. Then he leaned forward and topped off his shot. “Do any of you remember our last mission? The one before the ambush?”

  Jinx and Lucifer stared at him. “What about it?” Lucifer asked as he narrowed his eyes against the glare of the lights in the room.

  “Remember when we were watching the meeting between the American, the Russian bastard and the Sheik of Garda?” Demon gritted as he remembered every
fucking detail of that day. They had been trailing the Russian that day. Their intel told them the Russian was here for a VIP meeting with his Middle East and American partner’s. They identified the Middle Eastern sheik but they had no clue as to the identity of the American man, other than the name Devlin. As soon as the meeting was over, the American disappeared but not apparently, before he told the Sheik and the Russian that Special Forces were snooping around their operation. His warning was what led to the ambush that took the lives of eight men their troop and what led to the last four being held for four months in captivity.

  “What about that meeting?” Lucifer asked.

  “We could never find Devlin because that wasn’t his real fucking name.” Demon groused. Reaching inside his jacket, he brought out a photograph of Simon Pratt and tossed it toward Lucifer.

  Lucifer picked it up and stared at the face of the man in the photo. His body tensed as he searched the features. “What the fuck is his name? And how did you find him?” he demanded.

  “His name is Simon Pratt,” Demon spit out.

  Jinx grabbed the photo and stared at it for a long time. Slowly turning his head to where Demon was sitting he asked, “How did you find him?”

  Demon never looked away from Lucifer as he asked Jinx’s question. “My uncle returned today from a week- long trip. He brought back a young woman with him. Then he told me her story. Twenty years ago, this town was rocked by a double murder. A young couple was found bludgeoned to death in their own home. There was no sign or evidence of who did the deed and the only witness was their four year old daughter found hiding in the closet covered in their blood. Charlie told me that he found her and turned her over to her Mom’s sister and the aunt took her and disappeared.”

  Lucifer leaned forward. “As touching as all this is how the hell does Simon Pratt fit this story?”

  “Simon Pratt and the girl’s dad owned and operated an Import/Export shop. They had a small consignment shop here in Whiskey Bend but the main shop in across the river in Wabash. Wabash is a bigger city and has more traffic from the river and the highway. I haven’t looked into how big the Import/Export business is but Charlie thinks it’s mixed up in an international smuggling ring.”

  Hades thought for a moment then suggested, “Could that have been the meeting we watched just days before the ambush? Special forces were able to track the Russian, even if they could never capture him, but the Sheik disappeared and Devlin was last seen boarding a plane to America where they found no trace of him name under that name.”

  “Does Simon Pratt live in this town?” Lucifer finally asked.

  “Not sure yet if he lives here or in Wabash, but he’ll be coming after the girl. My uncle wants me to watch her. I gave him three days,” Demon told them.

  “We’ll give him three days.” Lucifer smiled as he stressed the we’ll. “I want our men to watch for Simon Pratt. Meanwhile, we’ll use those three days to gather what info Special Forces has on the ring and maybe we’ll finally have some sort of justice for our men. The Rebels killed eight of us before we went down and I want the people responsible for those deaths.”

  Demon nodded and poured another shot. Holding the glass up in the air he called out, “To justice for the fallen.”

  Everyone sitting there echoed his toast.

  Demon slammed the liquor down his throat. As he got to his feet, he looked over at Lucifer and Jinx. “I have to go back first thing in the morning.”

  “Is there somewhere close we can set up and wait for Simon to arrive?”

  “There’s a wooded area behind her house.”

  “Good, we’ll set up there.” Lucifer nodded. “I’d really like to know what we’re dealing with here. Can you get a copy of the police file for us?”

  Demon nodded.

  Lucifer looked around the men sitting at his table. “Let’s lock and load boys, our mission is to find this Simon and get justice for those lives he took.”

  Chapter Seven

  A few hours later, Shiloh was caught in the all too familiar nightmare of her childhood. She could hear the voices raised in anger getting louder and louder as she sneaked down the hall. She could feel her heart pounding in fear as she stopped at the edge of the hall. She placed her hands over her ears as the voices got louder. She wanted to peek around the corner to see who her father was arguing with but the tone in his voice frightened her.

  Finally, she peeked her head around the corner and saw her father arguing with another man. She knew the other man but the commotion scared her. All she understood was the fact that her father seemed angry at him.

  She wanted to go hide in her room but she couldn’t pull herself away from what was happening in front of her. She saw the other man raise his hand and strike her father. There was a small statue in his hand and from what she could see, it was bloody. Shiloh wanted to cry of but knew she couldn’t. She watched as the man hit her father again and again. Her father fell to the floor and blood began to pool around him. The other man kicked his still body, then she heard her mother scream.

  The man turned and struck out again. They moved out of her line of vision. Shiloh scooted across the hall and hid behind a table. Tears were rolling down her face as she watched the man hit her mother a second and third time. She lifted her teddy bear to her mouth and cried into the soft fur. She watched as her mother fell to the floor. Her face was bloody and bruised.

  Shiloh wanted to go to her mom but her mom caught her eye and motioned for to stay where she was. The house was quiet now and Shiloh watched as the man paced back and forth beside where her mother on laying. Suddenly, she heard another sound invading the quietness. It was a buzzing sound. Then she heard the man speaking again but Shiloh couldn’t see who he was speaking to.

  Shiloh wasn’t really listening to the conversation, instead she was watching her mother. She looked up at the man and saw he had turned his back to her. Shiloh tried to creep closer to her mother but again, her mother motioned for her to hide.

  Shiloh was in a Mommy and Me class and they were learning sign language as part of the class. She loved going to class with her mom and one of her friends was deaf. Now that she was learning the language, she could communicate with her friend.

  Her mother was using sign language to tell her to hide.

  She moved toward her mother but her mother signed again for her to hide. She ducked into the closet and curled up in the corner. She heard the conversation end and then she heard another sound. It was the chiming of a clock. She knew that sound, it was the chiming of Simon Pratt’s pocket watch. He had showed it to her many times. She had danced to the tune it played over and over again.

  She crept to the door and looked out through the narrow slats. She saw someone moving around in the living room but she couldn’t see clearly, who it was. She must have made some kind of noise because the man stepped up to the door and squatted down. Shiloh fell back so he wouldn’t see her. The doorbell rang and he moved away. She leaned toward the slats and saw the door open and heard two men talking. She was afraid they would find her and hurt her so she moved to the back corner of the closet and waited for her mom to come for her.

  A little while later she thought she heard her Aunt Donna calling her name but Shiloh found she couldn’t move. She was sweaty and cold at the same time. Her tiny body was shaking but she didn’t make a sound. Her mother had told her to hide and keep quiet. Suddenly, the closet door opened and the light from the living foyer shined in to the closet. She wanted to scream but couldn’t.

  It was only when someone reached into the closet and hauled her out that she came back to life. She kicked, screamed and tried to wriggle herself free.

  Shiloh sat up in bed screaming. Sweat rolled down her face and mingled with her tears. Sobbing her heart out Shiloh became aware of someone pounding on the bedroom door.

  Leaning over to snap on the lamp, she brushed the tears away from her face. “Just a minute,” she called out as she untangled her legs from the covers. She st
ood up and stumbled to the door. She unlocked it and cracked it open.

  Charlie stood there with his gun in his hand. “Are you okay?”

  Shiloh trembled as she nodded. “I’m okay. I just had a nightmare that’s all. Sorry for all the noise.”

  Charlie lowered his gun and wiped the sweat off his face. “No problem. You scared me there for a minute that’s all.” He peered at her again and asked, “Are you sure you’re all right?”

  Shiloh brushed her hair away from her face and nodded. She hadn’t opened the door any further than a crack. “I’m fine.”

  Charlie frowned and turned to leave. “Ok, I’m sorry I bothered you.”

  Shiloh watched as he turned and went back down the hall. She closed the door and locked it again. She knew he could break in any time he wanted but for now, she felt a little better with the door locked. She turned and made her way back to the bed. Sitting down on the bed, she brushed her hair away from her face and took a deep breath. She was still shaking underneath and she wasn’t quite sure what to do next.

  She laid down on her pillow and curled up into a ball. She stared into space and tried to clear her mind. Tears wet the fabric underneath her cheek as she cried for her parents. She had tried for a long time to remember what happened that night and now she knew.

  She felt the loss of her parents fresh and clearly. Nothing had prepared her for this. She could still see their faces and all the blood. The shock of finally remembering what happened stunned her.

  She laid there and replayed the scenes from her nightmare over and over in her head. Later when the sun came up and its light came into the bedroom window, Shiloh finally raised her head from her pillow. She couldn’t believe it. Her world had crashed during the night time hours and still the sun came up to herald another day.

  She stood up and went over to the window. She had to shade her eyes against the bright light from outside but after a few minutes, she could see clearly the world around her. The backyard was still the same as it had been yesterday.