“Hickory dickory dock, two spoonfuls and then I stop.”
“No!” Stella whispered harshly. “Stop it!”
An overwhelming senselessness of emotions and memories broke down her most guarded horrors.
“Hickory dickory dock, Silly Stella made a medicine swap.”
“Please!” Stella begged. “Don’t, please!”
In her flashback she could hear the knocking on the door, signifying the coming vision. This was it; she would scream. She would scream, and everyone would find out.
Stella shoved her hands in her pockets to keep from injuring herself like the last time.
The mace!
Just as the last two verses were about to sing in her mind, she lightly sprayed her own face, her eyes wide, her mouth open.
It-wasn’t-my-fault-it-wasn’t-my-fault-it-wasn’t-my-fault! she screamed in her mind, wishing that her throat would close up, wishing for death, but reveling in the silence that was punctuated by the cries of a twelve-year-old girl who would never forgive herself.
It-wasn’t-my-fault-it-wasn’t-my-fault-it-wasn’t-my-fault!
Chapter 29
There Is Nothing So Seductive as a Second Chance
“Mace ointment, gotcha—holy shit! Goddamn, Stella! What’s wrong with your face?”
—Chief Turnovits
Ever since Cain told Charlie that this detective looked just like Holly, he didn’t know how to feel. A part of him felt as though Cain was either exaggerating or lying. And yet his face and his body language hinted at a great deal of discomfort.
He never stopped blaming himself.
It was an unfair self-judgment, believing that just because Charlie chose to stay with Cain, that his existence was to blame. Charlie had tried and tried to dissuade him of such absurdity. But seriously, how can you argue with someone so intent on punishing themselves for even the smallest things, not to mention the life-shattering things? He was about to dismiss Cain’s claims about Holly’s supposed twin, when a knock sounded on the door.
“Speak of the devil,” Cain said, and shouted to the door. “It’s unlocked.”
Charlie was sitting in the armchair that had its back to the door, across from the sofa Cain occupied. Cain glanced up to the door and back to Charlie. A slight frown crossed his brow, and he leaned over and kicked the armchair to swivel around. The sight caused Charlie to gasp, and he nearly fell from the chair.
The woman that was just now closing the door was indeed Holly’s twin. His mind was sent reeling back in time. He half expected for her face to brighten up with that honey-sweet smile. He would then watch her eyes light up, like the morning sky after the worst of storms. And her sweet voice would speak, and she would say—
“You didn’t say you’d have a guest over. Cain, who’s this?”
Amazing, she sounds nothing like Holly.
Indeed, Holly’s voice was light, delicate, and made her sound like she was shy. Stella’s voice was more mellow, calm.
“You mean, ‘Who are you?’” Charlie blurted. “Cain, ‘Who’s this?’ is at worst impolite, and at best improper English.”
Did I just say that? Aw, damn. Where is my nerves? Is? Are’s? Are? Ah, crap.
Unable to help himself, Charlie broke out laughing, braying like a donkey, wishing he could have shot himself to put everyone out of their misery. He forced himself to get up in spite of his nerves and walked boldly to Stella, cringing internally at the way she shifted her body weight as if ready to attack. “But seriously, my name is Charlie. I am Cain’s best friend of ten years, and it is a pleasure to meet you, Missus…?”
Stella’s eyes lit up, but not in a good way. She took Charlie’s hand with a firm grip. “Ah, so you’re Charlie Tsukada. I’m Stella. Detective Fullson to you,” she said as her eyes darted across his facial features, and his body.
Charlie tried his best to keep his mouth shut, as she obviously wasn’t Holly and wasn’t ever going to be Holly. But his smart mouth just couldn’t help itself. “Fullson…hmm, a spinoff of the surname Fullerton, which means ‘bird catcher settlement,’ and Stella, which means ‘star.’ It is a beautiful thought, a beautiful name—it suits you well, although a more poetic meaning would be ‘caged heavenly angel.’ Now that’s beautiful.”
Stella looked at Charlie blankly for several moments. The awkward silence couldn’t have been longer than a few seconds, but it seemed to stretch forever. Then slowly Charlie could see a pink blush creep up her neck and deepen to a cranberry red on her face. She appeared to be fully aware of her blush and frowned ever so slightly. “And Charlie means ‘free man,’ while Cain in its Hebrew translation would mean ‘acquired.’ I would appreciate that you keep your boyish games for a more appropriate time.” She turned to Cain. “You didn’t tell me that you would have a guest over.”
“I didn’t think that I had to give you any courtesy, as I have received none from the law,” Cain said angrily and popped the top off another can and drank deeply. “Not even an apology for my arrest. And if you think—”
Ah, crap! Cain, you asshole! “Dude,” Charlie muttered, nudging him and keeping his dark Asian eyes to the you’ve-got-to-be-shitting-me look Cain was giving him.
Cain threw his hands up and sighed. “I, ah. Lemme get the proof of my income. I’ll be right back,” he said, slipping off into the bedroom.
“I, um—can I get you anything?” Charlie asked. “Plenty of food and drink to be had,” he added giving her his warmest smile.
“Bottled water if you have it, thank you,” she said with a blank expression, though Charlie could tell her smile muscles were playing a fierce round of tug-of-war.
Aaah, maybe I have a chance after all! He smirked and got three bottles out of the fridge. “Fiji, Dasani, and Deer Park,” Charlie said, juggling the three bottles, pretending to be fully concentrating on his two-bit act.
“Fiji please,” she said grinning, perhaps believing that Charlie couldn’t see.
“One, two, Fiji!” Charlie exclaimed. Catching the Dasani and the Deer Park in one hand, he extended his other arm for the Fiji bottle to land upon. It slid down his arm to rest in his open palm that he presented to Stella at the count of “Fiji.”
“Um, thanks. I wasn’t expecting the show,” Stella said, plucking the bottle out of his hand, her grin now under control.
“Aaah, I don’t do that for just anyone, you know,” Charlie said, opening another beer and getting another slice of pizza.
“Oh?”
“Nope, just the pretty ones.” “Just the pretty ones”? Stop it, Charlie! Stop it! Damn it!
Stella scoffed slightly and drank from her bottle. “I see. You’re shallow then, right?”
“Hey now, I didn’t say what kind of beauty.”
Stella laughed, but it was a mocking laughter that was sweet nonetheless. “Oh, so you did that for my internal beauty, then? You don’t even know me, Charlie.”
Again, Charlie was thrown back in time, remembering his first few days of meeting Holly, and how she used that exact same counter to his flirt. He was grateful beyond words that he was right back in his element. And this time! THIS time, Goddammit—
“You’re right.” Charlie sighed. “Perhaps I could get to know you. I’d like to think that your internal beauty is far greater than your physical beauty. Perhaps I might get the chance to find out sometime?”
Stella blushed again and seemed to internally chastise herself for it, and she took another drink that spilled slightly. “Perhaps,” she said quietly.
This time I’m not gonna let it slip by me!
Chapter 30
Blue-Eyed Observations
“There is right and wrong. But, I happen to favor justice over everything else.”
—Stella Fullson
Stella felt a pang of pity for the braying donkey in Cain’s apartment. Her pity quickly turned into annoyance and, without a pause, a strange sensation of being so completely flattered by his comment about her name.
Well, t
here goes the notion that it would be easy to get more information out of Cain. Now it seems that I am stuck with two drunken idiots: one who hates me, the other with some stupid crush in an apartment that smells like dude.
Stella was prepared for the next couple of weeks to be rough. She even entertained the notion of asking his love-struck friend to leave. But she decided against it; such an action would have completely closed Cain off to her inquiries.
Well, what did I expect? Stella thought begrudgingly, noticing the way Charlie could be so bumbling and charming at the same time. After all, I look like her.
Cain’s background check put him at an IQ of 135 on the Stanford scale, which was impossible, but his coworkers that were questioned all confirmed his exceptional knack and all said that he had a friend by the name of Charlie who was smarter by far.
Smarter, but they didn’t say even more handsome.
Indeed, Charlie was exactly her type. Stella always had a thing for the “hot Asian male” long hair, dark eyes, and a smooth light olive complexion. Charlie wore a close-fitting shirt that clung to his thin yet muscular frame that looked hard as steel.
The tensions that started off the evening did not abate much for anyone. It was obvious to Stella that Cain was highly distracted, perhaps even upset. Though the thermostat read eighty degrees, Cain kept shivering and crossing his arms across his body in a peculiar manner.
Charlie, on the other hand, enjoyed playing the various console games and laying his charm on Stella that (against all common sense) was working.
“Excuse me a moment,” Stella said as she noticed Cain went out the front door, and followed him.
“You cold?” she said, closing the door.
“Yes, and no,” Cain said, never turning around.
“You certainly looked like you were cold inside.”
Cain was silent for several moments and spoke at last. “I’m not going anywhere, I want to be alone.”
Stella felt like an ass. He misses Al’bah.
The last few hours were hard on Cain. His attention kept wandering from the various questions and issues she and Cain went over. He gave her a full description of Al’bah, and a copy of his financial records.
Stella was glad that at the very least, she could keep her patience with Cain, as he would often go to “that place,” as Charlie called it.
Nothing about this case makes sense, Stella thought as she went back inside. Indeed, Cain allowed himself very few indulgences, and even those were cheap. He was very much a money-miser, buying almost everything he owned secondhand. And yet, he dropped nearly a thousand dollars in brand-new top-quality young women’s clothing for Al’bah in a single day.
Indeed, there was something completely off on how ignorant Cain was of Al’bah. He didn’t even know her last name. And his ignorance didn’t stop there. He didn’t know where she came from, who her parents were, her phone number, why she was in the city, or any other worthwhile detail of her past. Which was somewhat understandable, considering how he met her and was with her for barely three days.
It was an awkward situation. The more Stella asked, the more Cain seemed to realize how little he knew. It made him uncomfortable in a way that reminded Stella of how one feels when they are so completely deceived, or perhaps betrayed—no, deceived. Betrayal usually provoked anger. So that would only leave being deceived. But she didn’t know whether or not Cain felt deceived by Al’bah, or if he thought he deceived himself.
Her story, her hair, even her fingerprints are so strange, Stella mused. Cain had almost refused when Stella asked to acquire her fingerprints, but relented when she reminded him that he didn’t have a choice. Al’bah’s fingerprints looked as though they were a form of ancient runes, with sharp, angular lines that intersected at strange angles with no other details. Even her palm prints didn’t have that classic “M” feature. Her handprints also reminded Stella of ancient writing.
Stella easily found Al’bah’s hair on the couch and found it to be extremely strong. It took considerable force to break even a single strand. What has this girl been eating? she wondered, bagging up the hair, along with the other forensic evidence.
“If you’ll excuse me, boys,” Stella said, taking the bags to her car. “I need a few moments to myself.”
“Case subject: Al’bah, no last name thus far. Female, age indeterminate. Possibly of Hispanic, Middle Eastern, or Indian ethnicity, early twenties if not late teens. The more I ask subject Cain Lamentson about Al’bah, the more I feel that Cain is innocent and this Al’bah is some sort of enforcer in the cartel. I get the feeling that Cain was being watched for some time, and selected to be a picture-perfect fall man for something big. No, Stella, you didn’t come up with that one by yourself.” She stopped for a moment and blew her nose that still ran from her dose of mace.
“How she managed to so completely seduce Cain Lamentson is beyond me. As far as I can tell, he and his friend Charlie Tsukada are more devoted to each other than most people would suspect. I get the feeling that neither I nor Mister Lamentson will be seeing her again, unless it is under very strange or unusual circumstances.”
Stella yawned and stretched. “No other significant details worth mentioning, aside from the unusual forensic data that will be submitted to the lab no later than three p.m. tomorrow.”
Chapter 31
Self-Destiny Comes from a Mind Made-Up
“Life is big picture, and so is love. People who say either is unpredictable can’t visualize the big picture.”
—Walter Stratton
“If you’ll excuse me, boys. I need a few moments to myself.”
Once the door was closed, Cain turned toward Charlie. “So, whatcha think of Holly?”
“Dude, she’s great. I can’t believe that—” His words were interrupted as Cain threw a balled-up paper at Charlie’s head.
“Holly is dead, remember?” Cain shouted. “There, that’s all the proof I need to know that you’re confusing the past with the here and now.”
“Hey, man,” Charlie said softly. “I know. Don’t, okay?”
Cain nodded. “I won’t, man. I mean, you just got done ragging me over Al’bah.”
Charlie nodded. “Thanks, man. I miss Holly, I do. It’s strange being around Stella. She makes it feel like…” His voice trailed off.
“I know what you mean,” Cain said, settling into his armchair and closing his eyes.
“Hey that reminds me, how did you meet Al’bah?”
Cain opened his eyes and stared at Charlie for a moment and closed them again. “Dude, even if I told you, you wouldn’t believe me.”
“Strip club?”
A cross between a laugh and a sob bubbled up within him. “No, but she was naked when I first saw her. It’s funny; strip club is what I told the cop.”
“Was she in trouble when you first saw her?”
Cain nodded. “Yeah.”
“Dude, do you really think—”
“No!” Cain said, opening his eyes and leaning toward Charlie. “No, I don’t think that she is part of the cartel that the cops have such a hard-on for.” Cain lowered his head and thought hard for a moment. “Charlie?”
“Yeah?”
“If anything should happen in the next few days and I have to run, I want you to go where it all started, okay?”
“Sure. Hey, man, why won’t you tell me what’s going on?”
Cain was about to speak when Stella walked back in without knocking. “Was I interrupting?”
“No.”
“Yes.”
Stella shook her head. “I swear, you two are just like a couple.” Stella’s expression changed. “What, did I say something wrong?”
Cain shrugged. “Holly used to say that all the time. You coming in and saying things like that make it—”
“Cain, seriously, shut up,” Charlie said quietly.
Cain sighed and turned halfheartedly back to his game. He sensed a small chill from Charlie ever since he was about to give St
ella a piece of his mind. It didn’t surprise him in the slightest that Charlie would eventually choose her over him.
It wouldn’t last long unless she chose him as well. It was highly unlikely though. Cain knew Stella’s type: the consummate professional. Stella was likely going to wind up as the chief of police somewhere, the director of the FBI, or some other high-ranking position within the law.
He knew this day would come, a day that he and Charlie would part ways. But as he watched the two of them, Charlie flirting and Stella resisting, he could only think of Al’bah.
I miss you, Al’bah. I should be out there getting you out. God, I wish I knew how.
“Hey, no fair! You can’t use the dump truck to smash my fortifications!” Charlie snickered at the computer enemy.
Cain looked at the chaos on the screen. Charlie’s building was partially fortified by a metal shutter, in which a dump truck was completely obliterated.
***
Around eleven thirty-five, Charlie yawned and got up. “Cain, I’m glad that you weren’t in the shitter for this night, and that you brought Stella along, even if she is your babysitter.” He winked at Stella.
Cain was now familiar enough with her “tells” to know that she was fighting like mad not to smile back.
Cain shrugged. “Don’t oversleep like last time. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“‘Kay, see ya.”
After the door closed, Cain watched her chest deflate a little, revealing another tell; she was holding her breath. “I know—great guy, isn’t he?”
“Huh? Oh Charlie? Yes, I can see by the mess that you and he are quite the ‘pals.’”
“He is going to leave the country next fall.” Cain could barely hear her take a breath in, as if to ask a question. She held it for a moment, and let it go.
He watched Stella for a moment but didn’t say anything. His mind slowly turned back to Al’bah. She was under the building where that jackass Walter worked. Cain was sure her rescue would not be as easy as walking in there with a few tools or a few weapons, and a lot of hope.
Succubus Tear (Triune promise) Page 19
