Demon's Stand

by Dahlen, K. J.

  Charlie glanced over at Demon and Thomas, then faced Shiloh. “I don’t know what to tell you.”

  Shiloh shook her head. “There isn’t anything to say. Donna did what she did and now we all have to live with it. I just wish she would have prepared me somehow for all of this. I feel like I’m stumbling around it the dark.”

  “She was hoping somehow the police could tie the murders to Simon, but we could never get the evidence we needed.” Charlie sighed.

  “The evidence we need could be in the safe,” Demon suggested.

  Shiloh turned toward him. “The green book?”

  Demon nodded. “The book in the safe won’t have mine and Pete’s blood on it bit it should it connect Simon to the smuggling ring.”

  “But not to my parents’ murder.”

  “We don’t know that yet.” Charlie stared at her. “You can’t give up. You’re remembering more and more details all the time.”

  “I was all of four years old when he murdered my parents. How many jurors will believe the recollections of a four-year-old? Are the recollections are really mine or something someone fed me? You forget Donna saved all the news clippings and photos. I haven’t even had time to go through the whole package yet.”

  “What did you say?” Charlie asked as he frowned and glanced at Demon.

  “Donna kept all the news clippings and photos of the crime scene. She had an attorney hold the package for her and when she died, the attorney gave the package to me.” Shiloh glanced from Charlie to Demon. “Why?”

  “Can you let us see the package?”

  Shiloh left to go to her room and get the stuff Donna gave her. When she returned, she handed the package to Charlie.

  Charlie took it and carried it to the living room. He set it on the coffee table and opened it. He began sorting through the items in the package. Most of what was there were newspaper clippings and legal papers. He skimmed those and set them aside. Toward the bottom of the package, he found a report that made him sit back and read it carefully.

  “What did you find?” Shiloh asked.

  Charlie glanced up at her and handed her the report.

  She started reading it and moved over to plop down in a chair. She couldn’t take her eyes off the report until she read through the whole thing. “Oh, my god…”

  The report was from a doctor’s office in Phoenix. She had been six at the time and the doctor used hypnosis on her. He took her back to the night her parents died and in her own words—she told him exactly what she saw and heard.

  Shiloh felt stunned. Everything she’d remembered the last two days and more was in the report. She looked up at Charlie. “Why didn’t I remember any of this until just now?”

  “Honey, I don’t know.” Charlie shook his head. “It doesn’t make any sense to me either. When you were in Cheyenne, I stopped out there one year to see you and I suggested getting you some help with the nightmares you were having. I told Donna there were ways doctors had of bringing out memories locked inside. She never told me about this doctor. She must have flown down to Phoenix right after I left. It was around the same time frame.” He glanced back at the package and found another letter from the doctor. He read it and then handed it to Shiloh.

  The letter stated he was not comfortable with Donna’s decision to block the memories they discovered. He told Donna the memories would continue to haunt Shiloh until she uncovered them on her own.

  The second page was a copy of Donna’s response. Donna told the doctor she appreciated his concern but Shiloh was only a child and she needed to protect her from the pain of remembering the deaths of her parents. She also told him when Shiloh was old enough she would tell her the truth.

  Tears rolled down Shiloh’s face. “That day had never come for Donna and I now have to figure out the tragedy for myself. Why would she do something like this to me?”

  Charlie shrugged. “I don’t know. She never told me about this. If I had known I would have pushed for her to tell you.”

  “Is there a transcript of the session with the doctor in there?” Shiloh asked.

  Charlie handed her the recorded tape in the package.

  Shiloh stared at the tape in her hand. Reading the date on the label it corresponded to the date on the letter. Shiloh wiped her cheeks and got to her feet. She disappeared into her bedroom and brought back a tape recorder. Opening the tape player, she slipped the tape from its case and loaded it in the player. Pressing play the tape began.

  “My name is Doctor Gary Rider. I practice Hypnotic therapy in Phoenix, Arizona. The date is Sept. 12, 1984. The case subject is six-year-old girl named Shiloh George.

  “Shiloh, I want you to relax. Close your eyes and relax. Listen to the sound of my voice. I want you to count backwards from ten.”

  “Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five four, three” a child’s voice counted down the numbers.

  Shiloh got goose bumps as she listened to her own voice on the tape.

  “Now that you are relaxed, I want you to remember a day a couple of years ago. That day, something bad happened at your house.”

  They all heard the child whimper in fear.

  “I don’t want to remember that day. I’m afraid.”

  “Don’t worry, sweetheart nothing came hurt you. This is only a memory.”

  “Mommy and Daddy took me to the zoo that day, then we had lunch in the park. I love going to the zoo. The animals look funny sometimes.”

  “What did you do after the park?” the doctor asked.

  “We went home to get ready for the party. Mommy blew up pink and blue balloons and Daddy and I taped colored ribbons all over the house. Mommy told me we were having a baby come and stay with us.”

  “What happened next?”

  “Mommy said it was bedtime and I put my pajamas on and brushed my teeth. Mommy and Daddy came in to kiss me goodnight and I closed my eyes. I heard Mommy close my door and then I got out of bed. I went to play with my dollies for a while then I heard my Daddy yelling in the living room. I opened my door and sneaked down the hall.”

  “Why did you do that?” the doctor asked.

  “My daddy never got mad at me and I wanted to see who he was mad at.”

  “What happened then?”

  “When I peeked around the corner, I saw my daddy yelling at Uncle Simon. I didn’t like Uncle Simon. He scares me sometimes. He and Daddy were using bad words, then Uncle Simon picked up a statue and he hit my daddy.” The child’s voice was crying now and the tone had dropped to a whisper. “He hit my daddy again and again and my daddy fell to the floor. Then I heard my mommy scream and I peeked around the corner and I saw her laying on the floor. I wanted to run over to her but I was scared.”

  “What did you do next?”

  “I peeked around the corner again and I saw my mommy. I came around and was going to go to her but she signed for me to hide. I didn’t want to hide I wanted to be with her. She signed for me to hide again, so I went to the closet to hide. Then I heard Uncle Simon’s watch play music. The phone rang and I heard him talking to somebody then I didn’t hear anything for a long time. I heard somebody knocking on the door but I couldn’t move. I was so scared and my mommy told me to hide. I was waiting for her to come and find me.”

  Shiloh turned off the tape player and there was a moment of silence.

  Chapter Sixteen

  “Damn…” Demon whispered.

  “That’s everything I’ve remembered since I got here and more. I even remembered Simon’s watch,” Shiloh said.

  “What about Simon’s watch?” Charlie asked.

  “If I remember correctly, when he opens the watch plays a tune. I used to ask him to play the music so I could dance to it.”

  “This is what we need to arrest him for the murder of your parents,” Charlie told her.

  “Why didn’t I remember all of this?” Shiloh asked.

  “Maybe you’ll find out when you finish playing the tape,” Thomas suggested.

  Shiloh leane
d forward and pressed the play button again.

  “What else do you remember from that day?” the doctor asked.

  “I don’t what to remember any more.” The child’s voice whimpered. “I want to go home now.”

  “Ok, sweetheart. Calm down. These are only memories and they can’t hurt you anymore.” The doctor’s voice was calming. “When I count to five you’ll open your eyes.”

  “Can you suggest to her before you bring her out that she not remember these events?” Donna’s voice asked.

  “Why would I do that?” The doctor’s voice sounded astonished.

  “She can’t handle these memories,” Donna argued. “She’s only a little girl.”

  “The sooner she confronts the memories the better she will handle it.”

  “I don’t want her to remember what happened that day.” Donna was adamant. “She lost her parents in the cruelest way possible. What she needs right now is understanding and love. I don’t want her remembering the event.”

  “I don’t agree but I will do as you ask. I would however like to bring the memories back slowly,” the doctor said.

  “Just suggest something that will make her forget,” Donna told him.

  Shiloh hit the stop button and stared at Charlie. “Why would she ask the doctor to do that?”

  “I don’t know, maybe she wanted you to get a little older before you remembered. You were only six at the time.”

  Shiloh hit the play button again.

  “We’ll worry about her remembering later, when I know she’s safe.”

  “Safe from whom?” the doctor asked.

  “Safe from the man that murdered her parents. If she doesn’t remember any of this, he can’t hurt her.”

  “If he thinks she might remember at some later date, he won’t hesitate, she’ll meet the same fate as her parents,” the doctor warned. “It would be better to bring this all out into the open, not only for her sake but to catch the man responsible for all of this.” “

  There is no limitation on murder,” Donna said. “I want her to grow up safe and happy rather than have to deal with this right now.”

  “She’s going to have to deal with it at some point in her life,” he warned Donna. “I don’t think this memory will stay hidden for long. She’ll see past the block one day and she’s going to ask you why you didn’t let her remember any of this before.”

  “I’ll tell her I loved her too much to put her through the pain,” Donna said.

  Shiloh hit the stop button again.

  No one said a word as they absorbed the contents of the tape.

  “There, gentlemen, is all the evidence you need to arrest Simon Pratt for the murders of Shiloh’s parents,” Thomas finally said.

  Shiloh got up and went back out to the kitchen. She went to the patio doors and looked outside. Her mind was in a turmoil.

  Demon walked up to her and wrapped his arms around her. “Are you okay?” he whispered.

  Shiloh kept looking outside and shook her head. “No, I’m not. I feel as if my whole life has been a lie.”

  He turned her around to face him. “Why?”

  “How can I not feel that way? I remembered everything that happened the night my parents died and Donna hid it from me.” Shiloh raised her arms to grasp his upper arms, “Why would she do that to me? If she loved me why wouldn’t she let me remember?”

  “I don’t know,” Charlie admitted from behind them. “I do know she loved you very much, and you remember it all now. Isn’t that enough?”

  Shiloh began to back away from both men, shaking her head. “I don’t know.”

  Charlie nodded. “Plus now, we have the evidence we need to arrest Simon Pratt for your parent’s murder. This is the actual proof we need to get him into court. By the time we get through with Simon, he’ll wish he’d never been born.”

  “It would be even better if he still had the watch,” Demon commented. “You were humming the tune the watch played on the tape. We could use the actual watch as evidence.”

  “We have to move quickly and quietly if we want to catch Simon unprepared.” Thomas also joined them. “Charlie told me earlier that Simon is liquidating his assets due to a time problem. I was hoping to catch the whole ring in action, now that may not be possible.”

  Shiloh took a deep breath. “Would Simon’s account book help? I think it’s in my father’s safe, along with over two million dollars’ worth of diamonds and precious gems.”

  Thomas stood straight up. “Do you know where the safe is and how to open it?”

  Shiloh nodded. “I guess I got sidetracked for a moment.”

  Charlie gave her a forlorn look. “Donna made some mistakes but she loved you and all she ever wanted was to protect you.”

  Shiloh nodded. “I know but I can’t worry about it right now. I’ll think about it later. Let’s go see if the safe will open after all these years and what treasures it still holds.”

  All four of them walked downstairs to the basement. When Shiloh activated the sliding door and the panel slid out of place to reveal the safe’s heavy metal door Charlie, Demon and Thomas gasped in unison. Shiloh worked the tumblers on the lock and they all heard the snap of the clearing on the catch.

  They all grabbed the handle and pulled the heavy door open. The safe was wall to wall, ceiling to floor four-inch-thick heavy metal. With the door open, the room revealed was six feet deep and nine feet wide. Rows of shelving lined the back and sides of the vault.

  The four of them stood motionless and gazed at the inside of the safe. Every shelf was stacked high with valuable items. They could see Chinese vases, jewelry, gold coins and bars of silver everywhere. Rare books, boxes labeled and filled with treasures galore.

  Demon whistled at the sight in front of him. “Wow, no one is going to believe this. There must be millions of dollars’ worth of stuff in there.”

  Shiloh stepped into the vault and grabbed a green book from one of the shelves. She turned to Demon and held it out to him, “Is this the book?”

  Demon took the book from her hands and looking down at the cover his face lost some of its color. “Yes, that’s the book. It looks just like the second book.” He looked over at Thomas and handed it to him. “Please be careful with this. You should find everything you need in there.”

  Thomas nodded. He looked at Shiloh and asked, “Do you have somewhere quiet I can look at this?”

  Shiloh went to her father’s office and turned on the light. “Will this do?”

  “It will do indeed.” Thomas went to her father’s desk and sat down. Opening the book, he got his tablet ready and a pen.

  Shiloh turned back to Charlie and Demon. They were finding treasures in the safe. “Is there anything interesting in there?”

  Charlie glanced up at her and held up four small bags. “These are the same bags your father brought in the day he came to see us.”

  “I thought you said he only had one bag that day?” Shiloh said.

  “He did,” Charlie smiled. “But if you remember correctly, he said there were at least three more vases he hadn’t checked yet. He must have found a bag in each vase.” Charlie opened one of the bags and dumped the contents into his hand. The diamonds glittered in the light.

  ‘That’s probably worth two million alone,” Demon said.

  “They aren’t worth spit to me,” Shiloh said quietly. “Those stones cost my parent’s their lives.”

  Charlie stood up and put the stones back in the bag. “We’ll have to get the police down here to inventory the items in here, but that can wait.”

  “Wait for what?” Shiloh asked.

  “I want to check out the basement of the shop tonight while the place is closed and Simon doesn’t know we’re coming.”

  Shiloh had forgotten about the shop and the locked room in the basement. She glanced at the wall clock and noted the time. It was after nine already.

  “Gentlemen and of course a lady.” Thomas stood in the doorway grinning at them. “
We have found the evidence we need to put an end to a smuggling ring that’s been bringing in contraband for over twenty years.”

  “You found it already?” Shiloh frowned. “That was fast.”

  “We already had most of the players, all we needed was proof.” Thomas held up the book. “This little green book is our proof. I called my office and Kelly Drake is organizing a round up as we speak.”

  “Then we’d better get prepared on our end,” Charlie said. “We have a lot to accomplish in very little time. Simon has about twenty-seven hours before Mischa comes to collect his debt.” He put the gems back on one of the shelves and shooed Demon out of the vault. He closed the door and spun the tumblers. Closing the wall again, he glanced at Shiloh. “The safe can wait until we have Simon in custody. The items aren’t going anywhere and as only you have the combination, everything inside is safe.” He glanced at Demon. “I’m going to the shop with a couple of other cops, you stay here and protect Shiloh. Thomas is on his own, he’ll probably stay in the office getting ready for the round up.”

  As Charlie turned to leave, Shiloh called out, “Be careful. Simon’s no fool and he’s getting desperate. He knows he’s running out of time.”

  Charlie grinned. “Don’t worry darling, I’ve been a cop longer than you’ve been alive. I can take care of me. You worry about you.”

  Shiloh watched as he disappeared around the corner of the stairs, then she turned to Demon and shrugged. “I supposed I’d better go clean up the supper mess.”

  When they got to the living room Shiloh paused to look at the package Donna left for her.

  “Why don’t you go through the rest of that and see what else is there? I can clean up the dishes,” Demon offered.

  Shiloh turned to him. “Are you sure?”

  Demon nodded. “Go ahead, I know all of this has you unsettled and you need to find answers.”

  Shiloh went over and sat down on the sofa. She began sorting through the rest of the material in the package. Buried deep was another legal form from the state of Missouri. Shiloh pulled it out and stared at the form. It was a legal change of name form. It stated that a minor Georgia Corbin, at the request of her legal guardian, Donna Weston changed her name to Shiloh Michelle Tremaine. The form was dated seventeen years ago. Shiloh set the form aside for a moment and reached for the next item in the package. It was a brown leather journal.