by S F Bose
Bullets barked from Finn’s gun while Raspy’s gunshots sounded like muted “pops.” I heard thuds and breaking glass as bullets missed their mark. It seemed to go on forever until there was a loud crash. Then there was total silence.
“Finn!” I shouted. “Talk to me, Finn.” I was still lying face down. I heard footsteps approaching and felt a hand on my shoulder. My heart raced and I felt a roaring in my ears.
Then Finn said, “It’s me, Liz. It’s okay, it’s okay.”
I had been holding my breath, waiting for a bullet in the back. When I heard Finn’s voice, I exhaled and said, “Thank God.”
I rolled slowly over on my back and then sat up. My head was still spinning and I closed my eyes.
“Finn, are you okay?” I asked, opening one eye to look at him. “Is he dead?”
Finn knelt next to me with a Beretta in one hand. “I’m okay. He’s dead. Police and paramedics are on the way. Lay back. Are you all right? Did he hurt you?”
I looked at his concerned face and felt such relief that he was okay. Pulling Finn into a hug, I said, “I was so worried.” He hugged me back. We hung on to each other for a minute.
“Okay I have to lie down again,” I said. I rolled back until I stretched flat on the floor again. I stared at the ceiling.
“What happened after I left?” he asked.
I shut my eyes and said, “We had a fight. I thought I had him beat a couple of times, but he kept on coming. Then he rushed me backwards, I fell and hit my head on the floor.”
Finn nodded. “That explains his bloody face. You’re sure you’re not shot, though? I saw you rolling. I was afraid you got hit.” He started patting my body and looking for bullet holes.
“No, I don’t think so,” I said remembering the feeling of hands rolling me toward the kitchen.
“You’re okay. No blood. Thank God.” I heard relief in his voice.
“What about Haas?”
“I headed north along the tree line and found him. I was going to use my cellphone flashlight, but it was too risky. Then I called his name and he called back. He was awake but groggy and couldn’t stand up. He said he had called in for help. Then he gave me his spare gun,” Finn said.
I felt another surge of relief. Haas would be okay. He was young and healthy. Then I opened my eyes. “You’re absolutely sure Damian is dead?” I asked.
Finn sounded surprised. “Positive. How did you know it was Damian?”
“His story about being in the Emporium was way off. He said he arrived at 4:15 p.m. However, thanks to you, we know that Damian arrived at 4:25. Raspy said Damian was already there when he walked in, so the timing was impossible. And if he left at 5:00 p.m., he would have run right into Mark Sweet. Also, Damian’s middle name is Steadman,” I said. “When he said that was his name, I knew it was him.”
“You called him ‘Raspy.’ That’s an apt name. Why didn’t you challenge him on who he really was?”
“He was crazy, Finn. I think he had a genuine, split personality. If I called him on his identity, he would have shot us right away.” I closed my eyes and breathed slowly.
“So Damian Fletcher killed Justin Church, tried to burn down the Emporium, made those calls about the Bibles…it was all him,” Finn said.
“It was all him. I still find it hard to believe.”
“I know. He my eyes. Finn had set his gun on the floor. He sat cross-legged with his head dropped down.
“Are you okay?”
Finn’s voice was very quiet. “The adrenalin is leaving me. I never thought I'd kill anyone, not even Fletcher. I just wanted him to let Sherrie go.”
“You’re sure he didn’t hit you? There were so many shots.”
“No, I was very lucky. Fletcher started to turn and then stopped to shoot into the kitchen. Then he continued turning toward me, shooting into the walls. I hit him in the shoulder and upper chest and he kept on shooting. I thought I was going to die. Then I ducked down and centered three shots in his chest. At the last second, I dove to the floor behind one of the chairs. When I heard the crash, I knew he was finally down.”
I shivered. "You saved my life, Finn. He had me dead to rights. In fact, you saved all our lives. I think he would have killed you, me, and Haas too.”
Raising his head, Finn gave me a long look and then smiled before nodding and lowering his head again. He sighed. "I was just hoping to get through life without breaking all of the commandments.”
I reached up and squeezed his arm. Then I remembered. “Finn, go look in the wood bucket. The Bible and letter are at the bottom. You need to give them back to Martha and Peter Church.”
“You bet,” he said pushing up to his feet. “Don’t move.”
Instead, I closed my eyes and slowly sat up. When I opened my eyes, I saw Damian’s body on the floor to my right, facing away from me. He had fallen in front of the couch. Ahead of me, I saw apparitions of Grandma Addie, Nana Anna Doyle, and Raven standing by the back cabin wall. They faded in and out, even when I blinked. You’re in trouble, I thought and blinked some more.
The three of them stood looking at me with great concern. Addie and Nana Anna wore camo pants and field jackets that I’d never seen before. Raven sported a black, muscle tee shirt, camo pants, and held the largest, golden sword I’d ever seen in my life. But what brought my brain to a screeching halt was a tattoo of black and sepia lightning bolts that ran from the top of his right shoulder to just above his right elbow. Just like Chloe’s tat. Just like the painting in the coach house living room.
I felt my head hit the floor again and bounce several times. Then everything faded to black.
Chapter 58
When I regained consciousness hours later, I was lying in a hospital bed. In the hallway entrance to the room, Mom, Dad, Grandma Addie, and Nana Anna were facing away from me and listening to a tall doctor. Sam was standing by the side of the bed. He wore his Irish cap, wrinkled clothes, and a worried look.
When he saw my eyes open, he smiled and said quietly, “Hey slugger, welcome back.” Then he leaned forward and added, “If anyone asks, I’m your brother. It’s the only way they’d let me in to see you.”
“Roger that,” I whispered. Sam clicked a button and the top half of the bed rose, until I was sitting up.
“Your head isn’t spinning or anything is it?”
“No, I just feel tired,” I replied.
The Doctor noticed I was awake and said something. Mom, Dad, Addie, and Nana Anna rushed over on either side of the bed. Sam stepped back, smiling.
“Oh Liz, we were so worried. We love you so much,” Mom said kissing my left cheek. Dad leaned in and gave me a kiss too. His face was tight with worry. I was shocked. Mom and Dad were rarely this emotional. “I love you too, Mom, Dad. Am I dying or something?”
They all laughed. “Of course not, Lizzie Bean,” Mom said. She hadn’t called me that since I was ten!
“You’re nowhere near dying,” Dad confirmed.
“Thank you for helping Ben,” Mom said and I saw tears in her eyes. I patted her arm but didn’t trust myself to speak.
Grandma Addie and Nana Anna were on my right side and leaned in for kisses.
“Liz, you gave us a scare,” Addie whispered. Then she smiled and patted my arm.
“We love you, Lizzie,” Nana Anna said softly, holding my right hand in a tight grip.
Tears came to my eyes. “I love you both.” I smiled at Addie and Nana Anna.
The doctor slid in next to Mom and checked my eyes with a light. I winced and told him the light was too bright. His name tag said “Dr. Lyle Monroe.” He asked me to count to forty with even numbers and back down to one using even numbers. I gave him a dirty look but complied. Then he asked me what month it was and the names of all the people in the room. Finally, I had to name some political figures.
After that he said, “Okay Liz, tell me how you feel?”
I did a quick assessment of my body. “I have a headache and feel really tired. A little
fuzzy-headed too.” I raised my left hand to my head and felt a goose egg on my left temple. That’s where Raspy clocked me with his gun.
“Did you hit someone with your forehead?” Dr. Monroe asked.
I only had to think for a second. “Yes, I did.”
“Okay that explains the bruising on your forehead. The bump on your temple is above the hairline and there’s no broken skin there. However, because you hit your head several times and were unconscious for a while, we did some imaging. Everything looked fine. However, as a precaution, we’ll keep you here for the night.”
“I’d rather go home,” I replied and he smiled.
“Better safe than sorry. You have some of the symptoms of a mild concussion. You also have a very slight hairline fracture of a knuckle on your right hand. We’ll splint it before you go home.” I looked down and my right hand was wrapped with a small ice pack over the knuckles. It was the first I had noticed my hand ached. I was a real mess.
“Will I be able to box again?” I asked and he smiled again.
“Yes, with hand wraps and gloves of course. I’d give it six weeks to be safe.”
“So I can go home tomorrow for sure?” I pressed.
“If everything looks good.” Dr. Monroe arched an eyebrow.
“All right,” I said. He shook Mom’s hand, then Dad’s hand, and left the room.
“Ben and Margo are down in the cafeteria. They both send their love,” said Dad. Mom’s boyfriend and Dad’s girlfriend. Instead of feeling weird, it was starting to feel good that they were a part of the family.
“Olivia and Chloe stopped by too, but you were still sleeping,” Grandma said.
After a pause, Mom said, “You need a new line of work, Liz. PI work is too dangerous. You could go back to school and get your doctorate. Then you could teach at the University like Brian.”
I frowned. When hell freezes over. “Don’t start, Mom,” I replied with a finality that silenced her. Then I remembered the fight at the cabin and Finn shooting Damian.
“How’s Finn doing?” I asked.
Sam came to stand next to Addie and Nana Anna. “He’s shook up by the shooting but he’ll be okay. Matt Durand got his story and will be talking to you too.”
“And Jeff Haas?” I asked.
“He’s in the hospital too. They’re monitoring him for a concussion. Evidently, he was unconscious for a while after Fletcher hit him from behind. When Finn found him, Haas was groggy but had called in for help. He gave Finn his spare gun and wanted to come help you, but he couldn’t stand up,” Sam said. “He was amazing. He’s been asking about you.”
“He and Finn saved our lives. Please tell Haas that and thank him.”
“I will. Finn said you rattled Damian by beating him up,” said Sam.
“I don’t know about that. I was pathetic, actually. Totally off-balance. All my training went out the door. But I did get some punches in and that head butt.”
“It was enough to slow him down,” Sam said.
“I’m still surprised it was Damian. He was talking with a British accent and the build was off,” I replied.
“When they looked at the body, they found that his sweater and coat had added padding in the shoulders. It made him look more bulky than normal,” said Sam.
I shook my head. “Sam, I swear he had multiple personalities.”
“It’s so hard to believe Damian was a murderer,” Mom agreed, shaking her head.
I remembered something. “Damian did say that Martin Fletcher didn’t know anything about Justin’s murder.” Addie and Nana Anna looked relieved.
“This is going to kill Martin and Cecille. We’re going to go see them tomorrow,” said Addie, looking at Nana Anna, who nodded.
“They’re going to need our support,” Nana agreed.
“It wasn’t their fault,” Dad said. “They did the best they could with both boys.”
I noticed Sam was frowning.
“What’s wrong?” I asked him.
“I’m just sorry I wasn’t there at the cabin with you. I really thought it was Mark Sweet.”
“Of course, you thought it was Sweet. So did I. We had a good plan,” I replied. He relaxed and smiled.
“Okay, it’s after 10:00 p.m., there are too many visitors in here, and the patient needs rest,” a loud voice boomed. I saw a stern nurse standing in the small hallway. Mom looked disappointed. She and Dad kissed and hugged me and then left.
“I need a few minutes with my Grandmother and Great-aunt,” I told the nurse. Her eyebrows arched. “Five minutes,” she said and waited for Sam. He gave me a sheepish smile and followed her out of the room.
***
Grandma Addie and Nana Anna stood by the bed and looked worried. “What is it, dear?” Addie asked.
I took a deep breath and puffed the air out. “Okay, this is going to sound strange.”
Nana Anna gave me an encouraging smile. “Go ahead, Liz.”
“Okay. Just before the shooting started, when I was on the living room floor behind Damian Fletcher, I heard both your voices, clear as a bell, telling me to stay down.”
“That’s it?” Nana Anna asked.
“No, there’s more. When I was still in the line of fire, I felt hands rolling me toward the kitchen.”
“I see,” Grandma said. They both looked at me expectantly.
“There’s one more thing. This is the really weird part. After Finn killed Damian, he went to get the Bible and letter from the wood bucket. I sat up and saw you both standing by the cabin wall. You were watching me and looked worried. You wore camo pants and field jackets and Raven was with you. He was dressed in camo pants, a muscle tee and carried a huge sword. You all faded in and out, but I recognized all of you.
“Raven?” Nana Anna frowned and looked confused.
“My old boss.”
“Oh, Dan Kearney!” Grandma said. I shook my head. I’d never get used to calling him Dan Kearney.
“You saw him when you saw us?” Grandma asked.
“I did. And you know what else?”
“What, dear?” they replied in unison.
I looked toward the door and back at them. I whispered, “He had a lightning tattoo on one arm just like Chloe’s and just like the painting in the coach house.”
Grandma Addie and Nana Anna looked at each other and back to me. They both looked surprised. Grandma reached down and put her right hand over my left hand.
“I don’t know about Dan Kearney or why you saw him. One possibility is you took a couple of hard knocks on the head and imagined it,” she said.
I slowly shook my head. “Except for the fading in and out part, it was as real as seeing the two of you right now.
“I can tell you that we didn’t see Mr. Kearney at the cabin,” said Addie and Nana nodded in agreement.
I frowned. Addie just admitted she was at the cabin last night. I looked at both of them and had an ominous feeling. “What’s going on? What happened at the cabin?”
Grandma patted my hand. “I debated when to have this chat. It seems now is the best time.” She glanced at Nana Anna, who smiled.
“Liz, it will sound strange, but it’s all good. Here goes,” Grandma Addie began. “Many of the women in our family have… unusual talents. When Anna and I were little, we found that we knew when one of us was in trouble or needed help. Sometimes, I’d feel a tingly vibration and see Anna’s face in my mind. If I thought about Anna, my spirit would go directly to where she was. I could see everything, but only she could see me. Then I could help her.”
My mouth dropped open. I looked at Nana Anna and she smiled. “Help her how?” I asked.
Grandma pursed her lips. “Well, one time there was a bully bothering her and some other girls. I just imagined tripping him and he fell down. He was so embarrassed, he ran away.”
“You imagined tripping him? You didn’t physically trip him?”
“No, I just thought it and he tripped,” Grandma replied. “That’s how it works.�
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“And you can do the same?” I asked Nana.
Nana nodded. “Yes, I always sensed when Addie needed help and would come to her.”
Addie continued. “When we got older, we discovered we could visit each other just for fun. You probably won’t remember this, but Anna’s spirit came to visit us on your second birthday. She and her family lived in the city at the time. Well you saw her, pointed, and said “Nana” over and over. Everyone thought you were being cute. But that was when we knew you had the gift of vision.”
I shook my head. “I don’t remember that at all. So you and Nana Anna did help me at the cabin last night? I’m not crazy?”
Addie laughed. “No, Liz, you’re not crazy. We were there helping. We sensed that you were in danger and went to you in the cabin. We told you to stay down. Then we imagined rolling you toward the kitchen divider.”
“But it felt like your hands were actually touching me,” I said.
Grandma shrugged. “Maybe our anxiety amplified things. We haven’t intervened like that in a long time and it was both of us at the same time.”
“Wow that blows my mind. Thank you. I thought I was a goner. Did you ever help me when I was a kid?”
They both sighed. Nana smiled and leaned in. “We did come to you when we sensed a problem. For example, when you were nine and ran away to the northeast forest, Addie’s spirit went with you. It was too dangerous for a child your age. She didn’t have to intervene and you came back safely. Every time you went to the forest, one of us was with you in spirit, just in case.”
“Another time you hurt your leg in gym class when you were in high school. We knew right away and Anna’s spirit went to you. She stayed with you. Then I got the telephone call from school and met you at the hospital,” Grandma said.
“So you mostly stalked me when I was a kid,” I said. They laughed but didn’t deny it.
Then I had a thought. “What about when I worked out east?”
Grandma Addie frowned. “That was a difficult time for us. Things changed when you moved away. When we realized the nature of your work, we decided we couldn’t intervene. There were too many other people in dangerous situations with you. We decided that when we sensed you were in trouble, we’d channel as much positive energy as we could to you. Then we’d ‘visit’ briefly afterwards to make sure you were okay.”
