Envy

by J. R. Ward

Chapter 48

  Reilly must have lost consciousness after Veck got her down from the chains in the cave, because when she came to again, there were red lights flashing all around and she was stretched out on something relatively soft.

  "Veck . . . ?"

  "Ma'am?"

  Definitely not Veck's voice. Frowning, she forced her eyes to try to focus . . . and got the blurry picture of an EMT leaning over her.

  "Ma'am? What's your name?"

  He did it, she thought. Veck had somehow gotten them out.

  "Ma'am? Can you hear me?"

  "Reilly. Sophia . . . Reilly. "

  "Do you know what year it is?" After she told him, there were a couple more how-many-of-your-marbles-have-you-lost questions.

  "Where is . . . Veck?" Why the hell wouldn't her eyes work -

  A brilliant light exploded on one side of her vision. "Hey!"

  "Just checking your pupils again, ma'am. "

  She fought to bring her hand up, and found that they'd run an IV into her arm vein.

  "We'd like to take you to St. Francis," the man said. "You're on the verge of shock, you may need a transfusion, and you have a concussion. "

  "Where is . . . "

  She turned her head . . . and there he was.

  Veck was standing off to the side, just on the verge of being outside of the light thrown by the open double doors of the ambulance. His forearms were crossed in front of his chest and he was staring at the ground at his feet. He looked like he had been through a war, big patches of sweat staining his shirt, his pants splashed with dirt and ripped in places, his hair sticking straight up. Dimly, she had to wonder where his windbreaker had gone.

  A CPD officer with an open pad was next to him, obviously taking a statement, and there were several members of Search and Rescue who looked like they were about to go down into the quarry.

  To get Bails, no doubt.

  Veck was shaking his head. Then nodding. Then speaking.

  Tears cheated her of the sight of him.

  He had carried her out of there. And he had done the right thing . . . he was not a killer at heart.

  As if he felt her eyes on him, he lifted his stare and met her own: Instantly, she was back to that night in the woods, when they had looked at each other over Kroner's body.

  When he seemed to hesitate, as if unsure of whether she'd want him, she tried to reach out her hand. "Veck . . . "

  He took a step forward. Then another.

  The police officer let him go and the medic got out of the way and then he was beside her in a rush, taking her palm in a squeeze that faded to a gentle holding.

  "How you doing?" he asked in a ragged voice, as if he had screamed a lot, or maybe panted like a racehorse getting her up the rough slope.

  "Head . . . " She tried to lift her free hand and found that her arm weighed four hundred pounds. "You? Are you . . . "

  "Fine. "

  He didn't look fine. He looked gaunt and washed-out. Matter of fact, if it had been any other man, she would have said that he was . . . lost.

  "Bails," she said, and then tried to swallow. Her throat was so dry, she felt like she had been in a forest fire, breathing smoke. "He shot himself - "

  "Don't worry about - "

  "No. " Now she was the one squeezing. "He set you . . . up. Said . . . juvie record . . . Facebook . . . "

  "Shh - "

  "He was at the prison. For your father. He was . . . " An abiding cynicism eclipsed Veck's exhaustion. "One of the legions. "

  "I know . . . you didn't plant the earring. Bails . . . Had to have been him. He shot himself . . . in front of me. . . . "

  "None of that matters - "

  "I'm sorry. " Those damn tears returned, but she did nothing to stop them. "I'm so very sorry - "

  "Shh. " He placed his fingertip on her lips. "Let's get you out of here. "

  "You already did. "

  "Not far enough. "

  For a long moment, they just stared at each other.

  "I'll call your parents. " He brushed her hair back. "And tell them to meet you at the hospital. "

  "And what about youhS"

  "I'll make sure they're there. " He stepped back and glanced at the medic. "You'd better get going. "

  Not a request. A demand.

  "Veck . . . ?" she whispered.

  His eyes avoided hers. "I'll call your parents. "

  "Veck. "

  As she started to try to sit up, the medic and his partner began rolling her to their vehicle. Meanwhile, Veck just took another step back.

  There was a bump and a smoother roll as she was packed inside.

  "I love you," she shouted as loud as she could. Which turned out to not be very loud.

  The last thing she saw before the doors were shut was Veck's expression of pain . . . and then him slowly shaking his head back and forth . . . back and forth.

  Good-bye, she realized in a cold rush, didn't have to be spoken in order to be real.

  Veck breathed in sweet diesel fumes as the ambulance trundled off the shoulder and onto the dirt road that led away from the quarry. As it took off, its engine growled loud and then settled into a softer hum that gradually disappeared.

  "Detective?" his fellow CPDer said behind him. "I just have a couple more questions. "

  Good luck with that, he thought. He wasn't sure he could remember how to speak English.

  "When you arrived, Bails was holding Officer Reilly - "

  "She was strung up," he gritted. "By the wrists. "

  "And then what happened. After you arrived. "

  Yeah, how to explain all that. "I was set up . . . to kill her. " "Officer Reilly?"

  "Yes. "

  "But why?"

  In this he could tell the truth: "Because like everyone else . . . he wondered how much like my father I am. I disappointed him. Gravely. "

  Might as well leave out the woman. Obviously, she didn't really exist - at least, not in the conventional, 3-D, police-report kind of way.

  "You said Bails was dead when you left the cave. "

  "He was dead when I got there. Shot in the head. "

  "By who?"

  "Reilly just said he did it himself. "

  The officer nodded and scribbled.

  Man, Veck thought, he was so done with being on this side of the law.

  "Well, that's all I've got for now. " The officer looked up. "I imagine you'll want to get to the hospital. Can I give you a lift?"

  Veck shook his head. "I'm just going to go home. "

  Except, shit, how was he going to accomplish that, given the way Jim Heron had brought him out here? And where was the guy, anyway?

  At that moment, an unmarked pulled up, and Detective de la Cruz got out, the brisk wind blowing at the man's coat and hair.

  "Okay, Detective," the other officer said. "Take care. And no doubt there will be others from your own departmentth questions. "

  "I think one's just arrived. "

  As the uni walked off to his squad car, de la Cruz strolled over, his head shaking back and forth on the approach.

  "We've got to stop meeting like this. " De la Cruz offered his palm. "How you doing?"

  Veck shook the hand that was offered briefly, and became aware that he was getting cold. "I'm okay. "

  "You look it," the guy said dryly. "You need a ride back into town?"

  "Yeah. " On that note, how was he going to explain how he got out here?

  Oh, who the hell cared anymore, he thought.

  "So Reilly went to the hospital," he said.

  "I heard. Also heard you saved her. "

  More like she saved him. Not that anyone was counting.

  "She was the one, by the way," de la Cruz continued. "The one who found out about Bails. We think that's why he targeted her. She found him on your father's thing on that Facebook what's-it. Then she followed up on something
he'd lied about concerning your past - with a little help from someone else. "

  Given the dark light in the detective's eyes, it was not a stretch to wonder what role the man had played on that front.

  "Thank you," Veck said softly.

  Casual shrug. "I wouldn't know, of course. "

  "Of course. "

  "Listen, I called her parents on the way in. Let them know she was going to St. Francis. "

  "That's good. " It meant he didn't have to bother them. "You want to question me?"

  The detective's weary eyes met his own. "I want to take you to the hospital. You're shivering in case you haven't noticed. "

  "Am I?"

  "Come on, St. Francis has a stethoscope waiting for you - "

  "Reilly doesn't need to see me now. Or ever. "

  "Don't you think that's her call?"

  Not in the slightest. There was too much that couldn't be explained - and the context of that vast informational void was not pixie dust or unicorns or leprechauns. It was demons and evil and double shadows. It was what he had been seeing in mirrors all of his life. It was nothing that you wanted anyone you truly loved even reading about, much less being around.

  "Mind if we get in your car, Detective? I think you're right, I'm fucking freezing all of a sudden. "

  "Yeah. Sure. "

  Good plan. Except when Veck tried to walk forward, the heavy muscles of his legs locked up tight against his bones, the lactic acid buildup from the sprint to the rim compromising not only his ability to walk, but challenging his pain tolerance.

  "Legs hurt?" de la Cruz asked as he measured the hobbling.

  "Nah, they feel great. "

  De la Cruz laughed. "Like I said, you need the hospital. "

  "It's nothing that a good stretch and some Motrin can't cure. Just take me home, cool?"

  They both got into the unmarked, and as soon as de la Cruz fired up the engine, the good detective cranked the heat. Which somehow made the ice cold in the core of Veck's body worse.

  "Ffff-uck," he muttered, grabbing his forearms.

  "No wonder you don't want to take that bike of yours back. "

  "Huh?"

  De la Cruz put the car in drive and eased forward around the lane's first corner . . . and there was Veck's ride. Parked safely off to the side.

  "Hold up," Veck said roughly. "I want to get the key. "

  "Guess you were distracted when you got here. "

  "You could say that. "

  As Veck went to get out, the blast of cold wind eased the deep freeze in his bones - which probably meant he was into hypothermia territory - and to protect the other man from the gust, he shut the door.

  Sure enough, the key was in the bike's ignition.

  "Nice touch, Heron," he whispered, looking around at the brush.

  Over on the left, a soft glow illuminated the budding trees.

  Veck took a deep breath. "There you are. I thought you'd blown this Popsicle stand. "

  "That's usually my MO. " Heron stepped out, and Veck frowned as a shaggy little dog limped forward with him. "I'm making an exception in your case, though. "

  "Lucky me. " Veck tempered the reply with a half smile. "That your dog?"

  "He's everyone's, really. "

  Veck nodded, even though there was no question to answer. "So I think I need to thank you. "

  "Not in the slightest. As I said going in, s'all you, buddy. "

  "And I guess I passed. That whole crossroads thing. "

  "You did. Flying colors. " The angel stretched out his pack of smokes. "Cig?"

  "Thank you, baby Jesus. " Veck slipped one free and then leaned into Heron's lighter. "Oh, man . . . this is better than a parka. "

  "Yeah, no offense, but your lips are blue. "

  "Just the makeup. I wanted to look pretty for you. "

  Heron grinned. "Asshole. "

  "Actually" - Veck exhaled - "I'm going to be looking for a new job soon - thought I'd try auditioning for the Michelin man. You saying I need to go more silver?"

  "Yeah. That's it. " The angel got serious. "You're free now. You can put this shit behind you. She's never going to bother you again. "

  Obviously, the "she" was not Reilly. "What was that brunette ?"

  "A devil of a woman. "

  "You got that right. "

  "So now you need to go to that Reilly of yours. " This was all said in the tone of What are you waiting for, idiot.

  Veck stared at the glowing tip of his cigarette. "I think she's dealt with enough. "

  "You're free. "

  "And so is she. "

  Jim cursed under his breath. "Look down. "

  "Excuse me?" When the angel pointed at the rough earth of the road's shoulder, Veck obliged - only to roll his eyes when he saw nothing. "What. "

  "Behind you, jackass. "

  Veck muttered something vile, and looked over his -

  On the ground, stretching behind him . . . was a single shadow.

  "Like I said, you're free. "

  Veck stared at the nice-and-normal for what felt like ages. Then he refocused on the angel. "My father . . . he thinks the execution is going to get stayed. He told me he was going to live. "

  "Not a bet I'd take. " Jim shook his head. "Maybe that was true if you'd have made a different choice, but thanks to the way things worked out . . . I think you'll like what you see in the papers soon enough. It's what my boss has told me all along - there are no coincidences. "

  "I thought you were the boss. "

  "I wish. "

  "Veck? Who're you talking to?"

  Veck glanced at de la Cruz, who'd craned out of the unmarked. "Ah . . . " When he looked back, Heron had disappeared, as if he had never been there. The little animal, too. " Ah . . . no one. "

  "Look, I don't care if you smoke in the car. Especially if it'll save you from frostbite. "

  Veck looked back to where Jim had been standing. The man was gone, the glow had faded . . . and yet the presence remained somehow.

  Go to your woman, you moron, Jim declared into his head.

  "Veck?" de la Cruz said. "Come on, you can smoke in here. "

  "Nah," Veck replied after a moment. Then he stabbed the ember out on the sole of his boot. "I think I'm quitting. "

  "Again. "

  Veck snagged the motorcycle's key and got back in the unmarked. As he and the other man closed their doors, Veck stared across the front seat.

  "Do you believe in God, Detective. "

  De la Cruz made the sign of the cross over his chest. "Absolutely. "

  "So does that mean that demons exist?"

  "Hell is real. Unless you've forgotten that girl we found at the motel? Or what happened to Sissy Barten. "

  "I haven't forgotten. "

  De la Cruz nodded and began driving off. "But yeah, I got the faith. And I believe that sinners go to Satan's living room for eternity and the just go to Heaven and the mighty Lord provides. I attend Mass with my family every week, and the Good Book" - he pounded on the glove compartment, the door flipped open, and a little red Bible glowed in the tiny light - "is always with me. If there's one thing that life's taught me, God takes care of us, my man. "

  "So you think . . . people can be saved. "

  "No, I know it. And once you got the faith - and I don't care what kind it is - it transforms you. There's no going back, and no one and nothing can take it away from you. You open the heart, and it comes in, and that's when you know hit's going to be all right. "

  Veck nodded and fell silent as he stared out the front window.

  Together, they bumped along the dirt lane. Got out to the county road and hung a left. Angled over for the highway.

  After they were on the Northway and headed toward Caldwell, Veck said, "Permanently. "

  "Huh?"

  "I'm quitting permanently. "

  De la Cruz looked over. "You know . . . this ti
me, I believe you. "

  "Take me to the hospital. "

  "Emergency room or inpatient. "

  Veck smiled a little. "Wherever my partner is. "

  De la Cruz grinned and clapped him on the chest. "Now you talkin', my man. Now you makin' some sense. "