Sparkle

by Rudy Yuly

  “Where’d it come from?”

  “Phone booth. Right between the girl’s house and Joe and Eddie’s house.”

  “Shit. What did Joe say?”

  “Let’s just say he’s a bad fucking liar.”

  It was classic and sickeningly familiar. Guys like Joe and Eddie— former victims—usually ended up dishing it out to someone else sooner or later.

  But not Eddie. It was maddening. And perplexing. Eddie had always been as gentle as a lamb.

  “Well there’s something not right here,” Louis said. “Even if Eddie went nuts, I’ve heard Joe say like 20 times how he can’t stand sudden noises. Why the hell would he use a gun?”

  “Jesus, George. He totally fucking ripped her place apart. What do you want?”

  “Oh, fuck,” Louis practically moaned, trying to wrap his head around what suddenly looked like a cut and dried case.

  “You get any results on that scrap Eddie found at the Red Lotus?”

  Louis wasn’t sure if Pinky was changing the subject to be nice or to rub it in deeper.

  Louis stood up and wrestled on his coat. “It’s worthless,” he said, sounding irritated. “Got a couple of fibers on it, but it’s too small. All they could say is it was from the Goodwill. And the date.

  “When was it?”

  “The 14th.”

  “Day of the Silver murders.”

  “Yeah. So?”

  “Dunno. Coincidence.”

  “Well, it’s crap. Too many people handled it. Eddie touched it—fuck, you handled it—”

  “Oh, fuck off. What about the blood?”

  “No results yet.” Louis looked Bjorgeson right in the eye the way he did when he knew he’d been bested by his subordinate. “I’m not expecting anything from it. Okay? I think the 911’s enough to get a warrant on Eddie for the Walker thing. When Eddie wakes up, we’ll go for a voice match. And it’s probably way too late, but we might as well check out that pay phone, get prints and see if anyone saw anything.”

  “Yeah. Like we need that much frosting? Eddie’s the guy.”

  Louis pushed in his chair roughly. “I’m going to the hospital,” he said.

  Pinky allowed herself a face stretching grin once Louis was out of sight. Louis may have been the boss, but there was no doubt about who was really in control. No contest when it came to real talent. For the sake of appearances, Bjorgeson had been willing to hide it for a long time. But when it came to murder, Louis let his feelings get in the way—and most of the time he couldn’t see the truth even when it was right under his nose.

  Mark stood beside Jolie’s bed, nervously glancing up at the door and back down at her. No one’s around. Hurry. It’ll only take a couple of minutes. He pulled on rubber gloves.

  Keep one eye on his watch and the other on the door. If it didn’t work the first time, he could always come back. He wished he knew of a good way to tell when someone really was brain dead.

  This was crazy. But it had to be done.

  Mark moved his hand toward Jolie’s neck. He’d have to make sure to be gentle enough to not leave a mark. A mark. A Mark. His emotions shifted suddenly, and he felt a powerful sense of outrage build inside of him. Something he’d never felt before, not this strong. All this is Eddie’s fault. Sure, it was partly Jolie’s fault, but mostly it was the Eddie. Maybe after he’d finished what he had to do with Jolie—in a day or two, to avoid suspicion—he’d make a visit to Eddie. Then maybe he’d finish himself off. No, wait, with Jolie gone there would be no need to to that. It was all so fucking messed up.

  As Mark’s hand gently pressed into Jolie’s neck, seeking out the soft pulsing spot, he looked up.

  Eddie was standing in the doorway.

  “Shit!” Mark pulled his hand away as though it had been burned.

  Eddie walked into the room and stood on the other side of Jolie’s bed, facing Mark.

  “What the hell do you think you’re doing in here?” Mark said in a loud whisper.

  Eddie took a deep breath. Jolie was in danger. He reached down and, hesitating for only a second, took Jolie’s hand.

  A wonderful and surprisingly ordinary feeling flowed through him. The touch was warm and solid. He could feel her. She was strong. He could feel the pulse of life repairing itself in her. His own rhythm changed slightly to match it, encourage it. His dizziness subsided, and his physical strength began flowing back. He raised his eyes and forced himself to look Mark straight in the face. He thought it would be painfully hard, but it wasn’t.

  “I’ve got news for you, Eddie,” Mark said quietly. “This whole thing is your mess. You’d better get out of this room before I call security.”

  “Uh-huh. Okay.” Eddie’s eyes stayed on Mark’s glittering blue orbs. He was pleased to find that it wasn’t that hard. “Call them.”

  Mark’s jaw tightened. He glared at Eddie. “I have to get to work,” he finally said. “This isn’t over.” He looked down at Jolie’s bruised face and walked quickly out of the room, stopping at the door for a moment to look down the hall.

  Eddie heard the stairwell door open and close. Mark was gone. He stood quietly, looking down at Jolie, feeling their connection. It was strong and steady.

  He hadn’t trusted her, or himself. When he went into her house to clean, he’d assumed she was dead. It was a huge, bad mistake. It had not occurred to him she might still be alive. If he’d been quieter, more patient, more trusting. If he hadn’t let his conscious noisy fear take control, he surely would have realized the simple truth behind Jolie’s spirit not being there when he went in to clean.

  He’d never make that mistake again.

  As Eddie felt his connection to Jolie deepen, the pounding in his chest grew and grew, until it felt as though he might burst.

  Just let go.

  Waves of nausea spread over him. His knees became so weak that he had to kneel beside the bed.

  Just let go. Eddie’s heart swelled and rose into his throat. His mom. Her spirit. Just let go.

  He looked down at Jolie’s hand. He had a choice. He knew what had happened to his mother. What his father had done was horrible, but Eddie had made it worse by holding his mother’s spirit hostage for so long. By holding himself hostage.

  It was time to let his mom go.

  Eddie knew how to set souls free. He closed his eyes and sat in the chair next to Jolie’s bed. He felt himself sink down deep inside, then deeper—deeper than he had ever gone. He put everything he had into willing himself to trust, open, and surrender.

  “Just let go.”

  It happened so quickly, he hardly felt it. Eddie’s heart emptied out as his mother’s spirit left his body. He barely saw the faint blue spark as it left his chest. The sensation was one of overwhelming relief. Eddie closed his eyes and rested his head on his arms on Jolie’s bed.

  A lovely gold light hovered over him and Jolie.

  Then the sun hit Jolie’s window, and the gold evaporated as the room was flushed with cool, ordinary morning light.

  Eddie opened his eyes. He was overcome by the urge to look at himself. He thought he might be smiling. His body felt light. His chest felt open and new.

  He looked up toward the ceiling. There was nothing to see. His mom had gone out of him, out of the room. She had waited a long time for this moment. It was better, though. She felt somehow closer than she had before. Eddie could remember her now, without that nagging painful feeling that there was something he was forgetting, some wrong he couldn’t make right. When his mom was locked inside him, she was always just out of reach. Now she was free, and Eddie was free, too, of something that had weighted him down for nearly his whole life.

  Then again, her death had revealed his special gift for seeing souls. Asking her to stay with him had been the first time he had used the gift.

  Eddie stood up and went into the bathroom. He looked in the mirror. A man was there. He’d never seen himself like that before. He touched his face, studying it carefully. He was smiling, eve
r so slightly.

  He walked back into the room, couldn’t wait for Jolie to wake up and see him this way. He reached out gingerly and touched her hand again. He suddenly believed that she would be okay, and that she would forgive him for breaking his promise never to come back to her house. He would find a way to explain to her that it was because he was afraid for her. He felt the tiny place of skin where his fingers brushed her hand, and it did not feel bad at all. Was it so easy because she was unconscious, or was it something else? He bent down slightly, picked up her small strong hand, and brought it close to his face. He smelled her skin, and spoke to her closed, bruised eyes.

  “You never know,” he said, gently placing her hand back by her side. “You never know.”

  In Eddie’s head, the Sparkle music started to play, soft and sweet. He realized he was thirsty.

  And that he still had a lot to do.

  Then he felt a small hand slide into his other hand.

  Chapter 54

  Joe squealed to a stop in the hospital turnaround. He hopped out and dashed into the building, ignoring the fact that he was in a tow-away zone.

  He was in too much of a hurry to wait for the elevator. Why the hell was Eddie doing with a gun? He took the stairs up to Eddie’s room as fast as he could manage. Every step sent pain pulsing through his neck and his already pounding head.

  He was gasping by the time he got to the room. He couldn’t believe his eyes.

  Eddie was gone. It was like the worst joke ever told. Joe might even have laughed, if he could have caught his breath.

  He staggered to the floor receptionist. “Excuse m-m-me,” he stammered, trying not to pant.

  The receptionist barely saw him. “Can you wait one minute, sir?”

  “No, damn it!”

  The receptionist looked up at him, and then over at the nurse.

  Joe fought to compose himself. “I n-n-need to find my brother. He’s not in his room—and he should be.”

  “What’s his room number?”

  “It’s 337.”

  The nurse looked down at her patient roster and furrowed her brows. “Eddie Jones? That’s odd. Looks like he’s scheduled for a brain scan. But that’s not until ten.” She grabbed a clipboard off a hook and flipped through the papers on it.

  Joe barely kept himself from screaming.

  Five minutes later he and a nurse stood in heated conversation in front of Eddie’s room. Down the hall at the nurses’ station, the phone rang. The receptionist picked it up.

  “Oh, no,” she said, standing up. “Excuse me,” she called out. “Mr. Jones!” When Joe hurried over, she went on, clearly upset, “One of the security guards saw a guy in a robe who looked like your brother get in a cab and drive off.”

  Joe ran for the stairs. He got to the hospital turnaround seconds before the tow truck could back into position to tow his van.

  “Screw y-y-you!” he yelled at the truck driver as he drove off.

  That, at least, felt good.

  One minute later, as the still-cursing tow truck driver was pulling out to leave, Detective Louis pulled up and parked his Crown Victoria in the same tow-away zone. He got out and walked into the hospital, looking worried.

  Eddie got out of the cab in front of his house. It was comforting to be home again, but he wasn’t staying. The cab waited as he calmly walked inside.

  A few minutes later he came out, fully dressed and carrying his bag. He got into the cab and it drove off.

  Joe pulled up in front of the house and ran inside, tripping on the porch and almost banging his head on the door. He sprinted down the stairs to the basement. Eddie’s bag was gone. In its place were a neatly folded hospital robe and gown. Joe grabbed them off the couch and threw them in a heap on the floor.

  Eddie had a gun.

  Chapter 55

  Eddie sat quietly in the cab, his Mariners bag in his lap. All he had to do was ride in the cab for a little while. Then what? Stay open and do what came naturally. Just let go. He unzipped his bag and noticed the little gun inside. It sent a brief but unpleasant pang through his still-rising confidence. He would be glad to be rid of it.

  He reached into the bag, carefully avoiding touching the baggy with the gun, and pulled out a can of Sparkle. It wasn’t a bottle, but it would do. Eddie popped the top and sipped appreciatively, looking out the window. He was thirsty. He started counting cars and reducing license plates as the Sparkle music played softly in his head. It sounded especially nice, as though he hadn’t heard it in a long time.

  As Eddie finished the can, the cab pulled up to the zoo parking lot. Perfect timing. The driver headed to the front gate, but Eddie stopped him a little ways away, where Joe always dropped him off.

  “Stop here,” he said. “Please.” He pulled the envelope of cash from his bag that he’d taken from Joe’s top drawer. He peeled off a few bills and handed them to the driver. “Wait, please.”

  “How long?”

  Eddie thumbed through more bills. He looked at the driver as he did it. As soon as the man’s face relaxed, Eddie handed him the bills he had separated from the wad. It was still a challenge—but these cab rides were getting a little easier every time.

  “Take your time,” the driver said.

  Eddie got out of the cab, carrying his bag. He stood up straight and felt his muscles stretch and relax.

  It was a beautiful day. He took a deep breath of zoo air. Rich, earthy life. He felt grateful to be alive. He walked to his bench, sprayed it with Shiny Gold, and sat down. It occurred to him that he might not have needed to do that.

  The bench had been pretty clean already.

  Chapter 56

  The Killer had come to a decision, but there was no wave of chilly electric pleasure that usually accompanied the determination to do harm. When Eddie the janitor rattled the dressing room door at the Goodwill, the end was predetermined and unavoidable.

  Mark sat in his office with the door closed, unable to work. He was in an epic bad mood. He had to redo everyone’s schedule to make up for Jolie’s absence, but he couldn’t focus on the paper in front of him. He needed to figure out all over again how to get to her, and what, if anything, he should do about Eddie. He had his own life to consider. Who should stay and who should go? And the clock was ticking.

  One of the zoo guides knocked and stuck his head in. “Sorry to bother you, Mark, but there’s a call you might want to take.”

  “Yeah?” Mark said, trying to sound as normal as possible. He wanted to scream at the guy to get the hell out of his office.

  “It’s…sort of about Jolie. You want to take it?’

  Mark panicked slightly as he picked up his extension. Was it the police? He waved the guide out impatiently, and then took a deep breath. “This is Mark Bender,” he said, in his most casual professional voice. “What can I do for you?”

  “This is Joe Jones,” a strangled-sounding voice said. “My b-bbrother Eddie usually gets taken around the zoo every Saturday. B-b-by Jolie. Jolie Walker”

  “Oh, yes. Sure.” Mark blew out a sigh of relief. “Has, um, anybody talked to you about Jolie?”

  “I know all about it. I already heard. I j-j-just need to know, is my brother by any chance at the zoo?”

  “I wish,” Mark muttered.

  “What?”

  “Not that I know of, but let me ask around. Can you hold?” Mark got up and looked out the window toward the benches in front.

  There was Eddie, sitting calmly, looking straight ahead.

  “Oh, my God.” Mark shook his head. He went back to the phone and took a few deep breaths before risking speech. “Sorry, no. No one’s seen him.”

  “Oh. Fuck.”

  Joe hung up. Mark put his phone away and rubbed his eyes. Think. Think.

  He looked at his desk. A baseball sat on it—the one Eddie had left for Jolie.

  Joe hung up the phone and promptly ran a four-way stop sign. He didn’t even see it. A cop turned on her lights and set out after him.
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  Joe saw the lights in his rearview mirror, cursed, and slowed down to pull over. Then he changed his mind and sped up. He had to get to the zoo. Fast.

  Every once in a while, he knew exactly what Eddie was going to say or do before Eddie himself did—even on the rare occasions when it was something unpredictable. Regardless of what the guy on the phone had said, Joe felt certain Eddie was going to the zoo. The feeling was like an irresistible magnet, and, frazzled as he was, it was pulling Joe hard. He didn’t know what it was yet, but he had a feeling his brother had a damn good reason for everything he’d done this week. When he found him, Joe might finally get some answers.

  And this time, he was going to get there in time.

  Whatever it was, it had to be big. Because when Eddie really set himself to something, he wouldn’t stop at anything—probably not even if it killed him—until he’d achieved whatever it was he was trying to get done. If Joe got another nasty ticket, it was pretty much a piss in the ocean at this point. At least he could make sure that Eddie wasn’t going to get hurt—or hurt somebody else.

  Eddie closed his eyes and let his face be bathed by the sun, enjoying the soft breeze that carried the zoo’s tangled, intense smells to him. He believed he could almost single out certain animals by their scent. He imagined what it would be like to come here again when Jolie was well and everything was back to normal. He had a feeling things were going to change a lot.

  “Can you hear me?”

  Eddie slowly opened his eyes. It was Mark.

  “Your brother called.”

  Eddie stood, took off his sunglasses. He usually wore short sleeve shirts, and his muscular forearms and large gentle hands hung loosely at his sides. He looked Mark calmly in the eye. Eddie was only slightly over six feet, but that was a good three inches taller than Mark.

  “He’s worried about you,” Mark said, backing away slightly. All of a sudden he felt a bit off balance, and it took him a minute to remember who he was dealing with. His voice hardened again, and he lowered it to a harsh whisper. “Why are you here? What do you possibly expect to accomplish? Haven’t you made enough trouble already?”