The Choice

by Lorhainne Eckhart

  It didn’t take a genius to see Richard shut down, as if clamping an iron wall around him.

  “Sam. There’s a lot you don’t know.” Jesse wandered into the center of the small bright room.

  “What?”

  “Dan stashed the drugs in your locker.”

  “What?” Sam’s face paled.

  Jesse moved to the foot of the bed, so he could eyeball Marcie. “Remember the mess we found this girl in yesterday? Scared. Freaked out. Remember what you said Marcie? You ever have to do something, and it’s the only way to protect the one you love?”

  Marcie scrunched her eyes, turning her face away.

  Jesse walked around Diane to the other side of the bed, forcing Marcie to look at him. “Apparently, Dan McKenzie was hiding in the cottage. Remember Marcie’s off feeling? Someone was in her house. Well, he was there. And he caught her alone, after her shower when we were hiking around the property.”

  “For fuck sakes Marcie, why the hell didn’t you tell me?” Sam hovered, bracing a hand into her pillow on each side of her face.

  She couldn’t hide from him. “Because he said if I didn’t go to every garden I planted and get him his marijuana, he’d make sure, this time, enough evidence of some unspeakable crime would be planted on you. And even your boss would be convinced you worked for Lance Silver. You’d not only lose your job but your freedom.”

  “You believed him? Come on, Marcie.”

  She touched Sam’s arm. “No Sam, I told him to get lost, that I wouldn’t help him. And that’s when he told me intimate details of what was found in your locker, where, when and how. Only someone who masterminded the setup could know those details. Am I right?”

  Sam pulled away.

  “Richard, I’m sorry.” Maggie spoke quickly. Her voice raised to an anxious pitch while she paced in front of the man she loved. “Dan came to see me yesterday. He said you’d be away on business, and he was right. And I never asked you about your business before you left.”

  “What the hell does that have to do with what you were doing last night?”

  As gifted as Sam was at concealing emotions, he had nothing on Richard.

  This time Richard shut his eyes as if remembering something. When he opened them, his jaw hardened, and his voice held a hint of steel. “I was at an auction in Seattle Dan arranged. For some reason, at the last minute, he couldn’t go. Supposedly, equipment from a bankrupt contractor was featured. I didn’t buy anything, what we needed wasn’t there. Then he messaged me to meet with an investor. But he never showed. I missed the last ferry, so I drove around the peninsula. When I couldn’t keep my eyes open, I stopped around two a.m. at a pullout to sleep for a few hours, son of a bitch.”

  “Richard, he has proof that you started the fire and burned the house down.” Maggie touched Richard’s sleeve.

  Richard just looked at her. He didn’t blink. “What the hell are you talking about? I didn’t burn any house down.”

  Diane dropped down into a typical padded hospital chair, shoved in the corner. “Richard, an anonymous tip had been called into crime stoppers a while ago. You were there at the fire. A good arson investigator can recreate a fire from the ashes. And there’s enough evidence from the burn patterns it was electrical. And there’s evidence the wiring was tampered with. Also, marijuana residue was discovered in the basement. From what was left of the house, they were able to ascertain no forced entry. They suspect whoever set the fire had access to the house. And let’s add in a piece of information the investigators didn’t know. Motive, the state contract for a group home, and the fact that the house needed extensive renovations.” Diane as usual was blunt and to the point.

  Maggie reached up pale, slender fingers to touch Richards’s darkened cheek. “Dan said there’s an eye witness who puts you coming out of the house almost the same time the fire broke out.”

  “And you believed him?” He shook her off. “You think I’d do that? Answer me; you believe I’d burn down some piece of shit, run down house for what? Insurance money, renovations, what are you crazy?”

  “No. I didn’t believe him at first, but he brought the witness with him.”

  Chapter Thirty-one

  Two nurses from the floor arrived within moments of Richards’s explosive outburst.

  “What’s going on in here?” One of the nurses demanded an answer.

  Diane stepped forward and flashed her badge. “I’m so sorry, Richard was so upset to see how badly his friend’s hurt and how she was injured. He panicked and imagined the worst. She could’ve been killed, and it got the better of him. But I can assure you as an officer, there’ll be no more noise.”

  One of the nurses remained by the open door. She waved someone away. “It’s okay George; go back to your room.”

  The other short, plump nurse faced Diane, pursing her thin lips. “I think it’s best if everyone leaves. The patient needs rest, and I’ll not tolerate any further commotion.”

  Diane didn’t move but softened her shoulders and her voice. “You’re absolutely right. The hospital is a place of peace. I promise you there’ll be only calm words spoken and we’ll be leaving soon. Would it be all right, if we take a few moments to say goodbye and make arrangements for Marcie’s care before she’s released tomorrow?”

  Both nurses appeared satisfied when they glanced at each other. One shrugged. The large one with the short, permed hair responded. “Just make it quick.” And then they left.

  “Diane, you’re a born diplomat. Your negotiating skills could be put to good use with hostage negotiation. Ever thought of transferring?” Jesse leaned against the wide window ledge.

  Marcie’s heart raced. Why didn’t Maggie tell her Dan had brought someone with him? A sick rumble pummeled her already shaken insides. She searched out Sam, wanting to ask. He leaned closer, snaking his arm around her pillow. Their eyes met, and his odd expression kept her silent.

  “Richard, you need to take Maggie home.” She couldn’t get a read on the situation. Her foggy brain jammed all her senses. And she was worried about what Dan might do to Sam. She needed time and quiet to digest all she’d heard.

  “She’s right Sam, let’s go. We’ll pick this up later.” Diane slipped around the bed, brushing past Jesse. She gazed thoughtfully down on Marcie and laid a calm hand on her shoulder. “We’ll go, get some rest. We’ll be back to get you.”

  “Thanks.”

  For the first time since she met Jesse, he picked up her hand, lifted it to his mouth and kissed it. She fought the tears. “Thank you, Jesse.”

  “Thanks for caring enough for Sam that you’d risk doing something absolutely stupid. If there’s ever a next time Marcie, talk to me first.” She nodded as a smile wavered in among her crying jag.

  Sam didn’t move. “I’m staying.”

  Warmth poured into Marcie’s center, regardless of why he wanted to stay, he was here.

  Diane tossed her keys to Sam, which he caught midair. “We’ll catch a ride with Maggie and Richard. Call me.”

  Richard wrapped his arm around Maggie and pulled her with him to the foot of the hospital bed. “Oh Marcie, I’m sorry honey.” Tears pooled in Maggie’s wide eyes as she swallowed. There was a whole lot they both needed to say. But when she looked up at Richard, who stood stone still, there was something else passed down to her. Rage, they turned and left.

  “Marcie.” Sam touched her forehead.

  “Hmm.”

  He said nothing for a few seconds. “Never mind, get some sleep, I’ll be right back.” She wondered what he wanted to say, but was so tired. She closed her eyes when the room emptied, breathing deep, past the ache in her battered body. She tried to sleep. Because she knew with a clearer head, she’d have a better chance to figure out how to bring an end to Dan’s madness.

  Chapter Thirty-two

  Sam caught up with Diane, Jesse, Maggie and Richard in the parking lot beside Richard’s dark blue one ton pickup truck. “Diane, wait.” He pulled her aside, behind th
e black BMW, just out of hearing. Jesse took Maggie’s keys from Richard, making plans to follow behind in Maggie’s SUV.

  “You haven’t told me what Maggie said. I somehow believe it has to do with those marijuana gardens Marcie was growing for Dan.”

  Diane placed her hand on Sam’s shoulder and led him away from Richard and Maggie. “Yup, they were cutting all the marijuana. Marcie took a dirt bike in, and Maggie delivered to Sandra Carter. Maggie wants me to call the sheriff and send them to Sandra’s house. She’s really upset. Sandra has two special needs kids she’s looking after while packaging the marijuana.”

  Sam ran his hand roughly over his face. “You’re kidding right?”

  “No.”

  “What are you waiting for, call the sheriff. Get him over there.”

  “No.”

  “Diane, what the fuck…”

  She cut him off. “We call the sheriff, Dan finds out. We lose him and our link to Lance Silver.”

  Sam looked at Diane, unable to understand how she’d sacrifice the most vulnerable kids—the ones with no voice.

  “Don’t look at me like that. I’m not unfeeling. I already made a call to a friend of mine—a social worker and asked her to find a way to get those kids pulled out of there now, without tipping Sandra off.” Diane placed a steady hand on Sam’s arm. “Go back in and stay with Marcie. Dan could show up. I suspect he has eyes everywhere, and we don’t want him getting near her again. Jesse and I are going to Maggie and Richards. We’ll talk to them without you. The way you and Richard appear to butt heads, I think he’ll be more apt to open for us.”

  Richard approached shoulders hunched fists clenched. He looked miserable, tired, and he appeared to seethe. “Diane, we’re leaving now, are you coming or staying? Decide now, I pull out with or without you.” When he spoke, he transferred his gaze from Diane to Sam in a combatant challenge, the one guys do when one treads on the other’s turf.

  Sam shoved his hands in his pockets. He didn’t move.

  “I’m coming. Sam’s going back in.” Diane placed a gentle hand on Sam’s shoulder—one preventing him from moving any closer to Richard.

  Sam didn’t trust Richard. No matter what Marcie said about him. He wanted one-on-one time with Richard. He was convinced Richard had his hand in some part of what Dan was involved in.

  Diane walked away with Richard and climbed in the back of his full size truck. When Richard drove past, the steel warning he launched at Sam, flared in the hard set of his jaw.

  Chapter Thirty-three

  All achy and banged up, Marcie slumped in a typical black wheelchair, pushed by one of the floor nurses out of the hospital. She’d no idea how Sam arranged discharge so quickly. But when she awoke after a few hours’ sleep, the nurse checked her vitals and release papers arrived.

  Sam parked Diane’s SUV in the loading zone at the front door. Although warm today, heavy clouds swept in with a slight breeze, stealing away any chance of sun, which added a further gloom to Marcie’s already heavy head.

  While the nurse, a slim average woman with shoulder length brown hair, held the wheelchair, Sam eased Marcie into the narrow back seat of Diane’s SUV. She knew he tried to be careful, but when he accidentally banged her cast against the door's edge, the searing pain shot up her leg, and she swore a few curses that would have curled her granny’s hair. Beads of sweat trickled down her back and into the thin blue cotton of the borrowed baggy hospital scrubs, now stuck to her back. Sam leaned over Marcie, careful not to bump her foot. His eyes were bloodshot, and he needed to shave. “You’re going to bed as soon as we get back to Diane’s.” Then he took off his black windbreaker and draped it over her.

  While Sam drove, Marcie remained lucid, hovering on a level somewhere between cotton-filled grogginess and hurried anxiety ready to resolve this mess. She leaned against the door and closed her eyes, allowing the engine’s hum and vehicle motion to lull her body past the state of a limp rag doll.

  Jerome appeared to her as she remembered, with a halo of golden hair. Except now, she knew who he was.

  They stood together in a clearing, by a pool of tranquil water, vibrant greenery from bushes and trees surrounded them. “I found your letters.”

  “She never got them; her father intervened.”

  “What happened to you?”

  “I think you know. I survived twenty years in the Cabildo. Hell on earth, and watched a monster take what was mine.”

  “Rand Morison, he’s the one who betrayed you. But why?”

  “I was in the way. Her father had plans. Rand and Isabel were his blood. Her father was pure darkness and could not exist in love.”

  “I found something in the attic about Sam, his father was killed. His stepfather raised him. I don’t understand.”

  Jerome wore a white shirt that shimmered over his arm. His light touch was filled with love and hope. “Marcie, you need to look here now. We learn from the past. I needed you to understand what happened to Sam, how he grew up. Darkness feeds down to the next generation if you allow it. You already saw in the notes. Your heritage comes from Rand Morison. They’re nothing but pirates who feed on the darkness of greed, take whatever’s not theirs, by whatever means. The piracy continues, instinctively handed down. But for you it’s in a secret society that arrived in Rand, his great great grandchild’s here in the community where you live. It’s not so different Marcie, what we stole in my time, and what you illegally sell now. Boats still come, but the cargo’s different. There’s one on the way up now from South America, bringing cocaine. And Richard knows. It’s pure evil, now the drug of choice. Each generation of Rand’s surviving offspring has descended further into darkness; they’re powerful and still evade detection. Dan’s not a middle guy, Marcie; you have it all wrong. He’s vying for the top. You were the target all along. It was no coincidence when you met Dan at that market after your granny died. That was arranged. Lance Silver’s wanted you as a toy for years. He sent Dan. You were his assignment. He was supposed to get your land. But Dan discovered he needed your light too. And it became a game for him to eliminate all your goodness and fill you with his darkness as he slowly dragged you into that vile sticky black tar of his underworld. Didn’t you feel the spiritual connection? You two have been together in another life. There was a lot of pain between you in that lifetime, and you died of a broken heart.”

  “There’s something about him I’ve never felt with anyone. I couldn’t get past this desperate need to be with him, to connect with him. I needed his love, and it felt like he dangled it like a carrot. I’d almost have it. Then he’d snatch it away again. What’s wrong with me still to want him so much? It’s like I’m being pulled toward him, and I can’t help myself.”

  “Marcie, he’s powerful, and he knew how to surpass your weak aura. He connected to you, attached his cords into you. You weren’t strong enough to fight him after your granny died.

  “Did he ever love me?”

  “This isn’t about love Marcie. Darkness holds no love. Haven’t you figured that out yet? He wants and needs your light; he feeds off it. It makes him stronger. The only way he can get his power is to take yours. He’s taking it from you bit by bit, and if you continue with him, he’ll suck the life force right out of you. You’ll end up with some autoimmune disease. Then you’ll be dead. Your physical body can’t take much more. Didn’t you notice your energy depleted around Dan?”

  “Yes, but I made excuses.”

  Jerome touched her hand. “Marcie, don’t be confused by what I’m telling you, the universe is not black and white. It’s filled with mysteries that’ll take a lifetime to tap into. And then still, you’ll know very little. Not all of Rand’s offspring have followed the darkness. Some broke away. You have that chance too. And not all were born with dark entities. It’s like a game within the shadows, to turn those of the light dark. And if they can’t, they’re eliminated, in many different ways.”

  “Just remember the future’s not set; it’s what you m
ake of it. You, Maggie, Sam, are all pawns, easily disposed and inconsequential. Don’t you get it yet? Dan and Lance care for no one but themselves. To them this is about destruction, greed, control and power.”

  “What about Richard? I know he’s not bad he can’t be part of this.”

  “Richard’s involved more than you know. He’s the warrior, who’s balancing on the line of light and darkness. He ventured into the muck, but it hasn’t stuck to him yet. He too is at a crossroad, and only he can make that choice. You need to trust and have faith. You need to look closer and not on a linear level. What you see in the material world is an illusion; it’s not as it is. When you get past that, you’ll see what you came from, and what you are now.”

  “I’ve been sent to help you get back on the right path. I need you to learn from what I did, and what happened to Isabel and me. You’ve a choice to make, start by looking back at your childhood. Your Granny saved you, remember? As a child, your father's land oozed in immorality. It’s who he was. He liked them young. Didn’t much care where they came from. Your mother lived in the other house with you, chose not to see. You’re still deeply scarred from that cesspool. Your granny took you when you were twelve, and she broke that circle for you. Dan came from that circle, a spawn of your fathers' seed.”

  “He’s my brother!” She felt the violation of intimacy.

  “No, your father wasn’t blood, he was your stepfather. And Dan wasn’t raised by your father. Dan’s mother was one of his victims. But Dan is Rand, who’s come back into this life bringing his karma and powerful gift of sight, destruction and power, but even more so, he sees through the veil. And is far more gifted in sight than you’ll ever be. You need to go back to your teacher. She’s still waiting to hear from you.”

  “Who’s my real father?”