by Wendy Wang
Jason gently put his hand on Charlie's elbow, guiding her to the side of the lobby. Charlie could feel the deputy's eyes on them, watching their every move. Their closeness smacked of impropriety. It didn't matter how big the county was, in this little corner of it, gossip could infiltrate the community at the speed of sound. Deputy Darren Murray was married to one of the biggest gossips, besides Daphne, in the greater Palmetto Point area. The last thing she needed was for Lisa to hear some ridiculous rumor about her and Jason having a spat in public. Charlie pulled her elbow out of Jason's hand, careful not to spill the coffees. She took a step back.
“What are you doing?” Jason whispered.
“I'm saving my reputation and Lisa's,” Charlie said softly. “Why are you lying to me Jason?”
Jason put his hands on his hips and sighed. His lips pressed into a straight line and he glanced at the deputy behind the desk. “Murray can you give her a visitor’s pass please?”
“Sure thing, Lieutenant,” Darren said. He pulled a white laminated badge from the side drawer and tapped the sign-in log with the pen. “Charlie if I could just get your John Hancock.”
“Sure thing,” she said. After she signed her name she clipped the white badge to the collar of her pale pink blouse.
She followed Jason back through the maze of offices to a conference room. Sitting at the long wooden table were Beck and Cameron.
“Good morning, I come bearing gifts,” she said, placing the box of muffins on the table and setting the tray of three coffees next to it.
“Lord have mercy,” Beck said, hopping up from his seat. “It almost makes me believe you could read my mind, Miss Charlie. Now I hope you remembered my favorite.” Beck lifted the lid of the box.
“I think what he meant to say,” Jason rolled his eyes and punched Beck lightly on his upper arm. “Is thank you, Miss Charlie.”
“Yes,” Beck nodded. “Thank you, Miss Charlie.” He plucked a peach, streusel-topped muffin from the box, peeled half the paper back and took a bite. “Mmm-mmm-mmmh.”
Cameron rose from his seat and took one of the coffees from the tray. “Thanks, Charlie.” He eyed her with care. “At least I know this will be better than the swill they’ve got here.”
“Well I'm happy to oblige,” Charlie said. The words were automatic, polite. Always polite. Something she had learned from her parents before they died, more from her father than her mother. Her mother had been born in upstate New York and, while Sandra Keegan Payne believed her children should be raised to be polite, it was her father who understood and drilled it into her from the time she was a very small child. Being polite was akin to being invisible. Which she would later learn was an important skill to have, especially for someone like with her gifts.
“I thought you didn't really want to have anything to do with me or this investigation while I'm here,” Cameron said. He certainly knew how to pick at the scab between them.
“I don't,” Charlie said softly. “But I have new information and it's important.”
“Right,” Cameron said. He took a sip of his coffee. “Jason filled us in on it this morning.”
“You did?” Charlie asked. She turned to look at him and was surprised to find him shuffling papers as if his life depended on it. He didn't meet her gaze.
“I did,” he said. He still didn't look up.
Charlie’s stomach wound into a knot and dropped deep into her belly. “Jason?”
“I’ve been thinking about it.” He swallowed hard. “And I’ll take your information into account.”
“Into account?” Charlie said incredulous. “How are you gonna stop him?”
“With a bullet if I have to,” Jason said, finally meeting her gaze. Charlie's cheeks heated and she folded her arms across her chest.
“You don't believe me?” Charlie said. She didn't even try to hide the hurt in her voice. Hadn't they gotten past this?
“Charlie,” Jason straightened in his chair. She could see him thinking carefully about what to say next. “You know I believe you on a lot of things. Otherwise, I wouldn't pull you into the cases that I have.”
“You just don't believe me about this,” she said.
“No, I don’t. I'm sorry,” Jason said. “If you told me it was a ghost I'd probably be right there with you, but demons?”
Charlie shook her head and bit her lip to keep it from quivering. From the corner of her eye she could see Cameron wearing a smug expression. She would not cry no matter how angry this whole thing made her. Cameron did not deserve the satisfaction. She cleared her throat.
“All right. Fine,” she said. “Let's just hope that bullet you put in him actually stops him. Although I should probably warn you that if he's being possessed by a demon, I can guarantee you that it won't.” She shifted her gaze from Jason to Beck and finally to Cameron. “Good luck. You're gonna need it.”
Charlie turned and headed out into the hallway, noting the empty offices as she passed them. The deputies were already out and about keeping watch over the county.
“Charlie wait,” Jason said from behind her.
Charlie kept her eyes forward and her feet moving. Her long legs afforded her a speed that Jason could only match if he jogged a little. She passed through the door leading to the lobby and Jason touched her elbow.
“Please wait,” he said.
Charlie stopped and rounded on him. She jerked her arm away. “I don't want to hear it, Jason.”
“Let me walk you to your car. Please? I'd like to explain,” he said.
“There's nothing to explain. You think I don't understand your doubt? And what I'm proposing?” She lowered her voice and looked him directly in the eyes. “You think I don't know how crazy this sounds?”
Jason glanced over at the deputy behind the reception desk. He frowned. “Come on. We can discuss it on the way to your car.”
Charlie let out a disgusted sigh. “Fine.”
Jason followed her to the parking lot and they stopped and faced one another once they reached her blue Honda.
“I know you're mad,” Jason began.
“I'm not mad,” Charlie said. “I'm disappointed.”
“Ouch. Man, you go straight for the throat, don't you?” A grin tugged at one corner of his lips.
“Yep,” she said, not amused.
“Demons?” Jason said. “It's just …”
“I know,” Charlie said. “I know. It makes him more dangerous than anything or anyone you have ever met before, except maybe Tom.”
Jason rolled his eyes and made a scoffing sound in the back of his throat.
“Jason I'm not kidding. From what I know, when a demon possesses a human being, it can be unstoppable. It can and will stay in that host body until another one becomes available,” she said.
“Charlie, why does it always have to be supernatural with you? Why can’t it be some guy who is just a straight up murderer?” Jason asked.
“Maybe it is. I pray to the goddess above that it is. But based on my dream I know it's not.” She shrugged. “And when you hang out with a coven of witches, you’re gonna end up surrounded by the supernatural.” She smiled. “Wear your vest. Wear your pendant. I'll have Lisa make up a protection bag for you. Carry it with you everywhere.”
“I don’t need all that,” he whispered.
“Yes, you do. Now promise me.”
The grin faded from his lips. “All right. Fine. I promise.”
“Good,” she said.
Jason pressed his lips together. He seemed to be studying every line of her face. “What are you going to do?”
“He knows my name. I'm gonna do the only thing I know how to do, “ she said.
“What's that?” Jason asked.
“I'm gonna find him and I’m gonna stop him before he takes another girl,” Charlie said. “And I’m gonna banish him back to wherever he came from before he has a chance to move to another host.”
“What makes you think you can find him before we do?” Jason said, h
is voice full of skepticism.
“I know where to look now,” she said softly. She patted him on the shoulder before climbing into her car. Charlie put the car in gear and pulled away. In her rearview mirror, she could see him standing in the parking lot, watching as she drove away. “Blessed goddess, watch over him. Watch over them all.”
Chapter 17
Charlie knocked on the forest green door of Lisa's condo and waited. She probably should've texted first. But when she left the sheriff's station it was like some other person had put her car in gear and driven her over against her will. Some unseen hand guiding her. A minute later the door opened wide and Lisa's beautiful countenance met her.
“Charlie? What are you doing here?” Lisa glanced at her wrist, touched her gold watch. “I didn’t think we were getting together till later.”
“We weren’t. But I just left the sheriff's department.” Charlie scowled. “Jason didn't believe me.”
“I know,” Lisa said softly. “I’m so sorry.”
“I don’t understand. I thought he was on board last night,” Charlie said.
“He was, till Cameron overheard us,” Lisa said.
“What?” Charlie asked.
“Come on in.” Lisa opened the door wide and stepped back so Charlie could pass. “I’ll tell you everything.”
Charlie got settled on one of the chairs at the breakfast bar dividing Lisa’s kitchen from her living room.
“You want some coffee? Or maybe some iced tea?” Lisa asked.
“No, thank you,” Charlie said. “I just want to know what happened.”
Lisa nodded and took a seat in the other chair at the breakfast bar. “After you texted Jason this morning, we couldn’t go back to sleep. Evidently Cameron is a very light sleeper and came into the kitchen while we were discussing the ins and outs of demons.”
“So Cameron somehow convinced Jason I was crazy,” Charlie said.
“Not crazy – just backwards. I think his actual words were a ridiculous excuse grounded in superstition,” Lisa said.
“What did you say?” Charlie asked.
“I told him he was wrong, and he told me he was disappointed in me. I saw no point in arguing with him after that. You can’t change somebody’s mind that doesn’t want to be changed.”
“He changed Jason’s mind,” Charlie said defiantly.
“I don’t know that he really did,” Lisa said. “Jason was having a hard time with it. You know he’s more of a see-it-and-believe-it kind of guy. Not the other way around.”
“Dammit,” Charlie muttered. “I don’t know what to do. This thing is already hunting according to the spirit of his last victim.”
“You talked to her?”
“She was in my dream,” Charlie said. “She kept telling me to be vigilant. I just wish there was some way that we could track him down.”
“It's too bad Ben’s gone,” Lisa said. “He would know how to work outside the system. He might even have a way to track the demon.”
“Oh my goddess that is it,” Charlie said.
“What is?” Lisa said.
“We need to call Ben,” Charlie said.
“You sure that's a good idea? He hasn’t contacted Jen since he left,” Lisa said. “He may not want anything to do with this.”
“Ben cares deeply for Jen. I know it. In my gut – which I trust way more than anyone’s words. I also know he wants to do the right thing. And the right thing would be to help us. And he came to see me the night he left.”
“To say goodbye,” Lisa said.
“Exactly. You don't do that kind of thing if you don't care. I think he'll help, he may not be able to leave his job but he can at least answer my questions.”
“And then what?” Lisa said.
Charlie shrugged. “You wanna go demon hunting?”
“Girl you are crazy,” Lisa said.
“Come on. You don't have to work and I only have one eight-hour shift tomorrow, and I’m sure I can get someone to cover it.”
“What about the storm that’s coming?” Lisa asked.
“If it hits, and it won’t until Monday night, that gives us plenty of time. Now are you in or are you out?”
Lisa folded her arms across her chest. A frown tugged her lips into an upside-down crescent. “You better not get us killed, Charlie Payne.”
“Don’t worry, I won’t,” Charlie said, giving her cousin a sly grin.
Charlie sat at one end of Lisa’s white denim couch and Lisa sat at the other. She stared at the phone in her hand. The contact on the screen had a photo of Ben and Jen with their cheeks pressed together. It had been a happy day when she took that picture one late Friday afternoon on her Uncle Jack's back porch. She took a breath and selected the option for Send Message. She thought it was funny that she and Jason texted all the time but she almost never texted Ben. For some reason, he preferred to call her and talk.
She had asked him about it once, and he said that texting was too impersonal. He liked to hear a person's voice. It was easier to know what they were feeling from their intonation. It had secretly made her smile and reminded her that inside and out, Ben was a witch. Still, she was too afraid to just press the icon on the phone and call him. Being rejected in a text seemed much easier. She took a deep breath and tapped out a short message. Then put the phone down on the clear acrylic coffee table in front of the couch.
“Now what?” Lisa asked.
“Now we wait,” Charlie said.
Charlie glanced around at her cousin’s carefully decorated living room. It could have been in a magazine for modern minimalism. All the fabrics were functional and easy to clean, but there was a formality to the furniture. Clean lines, no clutter. The only thing that struck her as cozy about the place was the fat yellow tabby curled up in the apple green chair flanking the couch. Even the cat’s sculpted, cardboard scratching post was beautiful and fit with the decor.
The phone rang and vibrated at the same time traveling across the table a little ways before Charlie could pick it up. Her heart sped up at the sound. She glanced at the screen and read Ben's response. Call me was all it said. Charlie tapped his name and another menu dropped down and she pressed the Call icon and then the Speaker icon. A few seconds later the phone began to ring. He let it ring twice before picking it up.
“Hey, Charlie,” Ben said, sounding mildly surprised. “You know how much I hate texting.”
“I do,” she said. “But I was scared that you were gonna say no.”
“You know I would never say no to you. What can I do for you?” She could hear the smile in his voice.
“It's kind of a long story,” Charlie said.
“Okay. Why don’t you give me the abridged version,” he said.
“I'm helping Jason on a case. Someone or something has killed three young women over several months. I dreamed about one of them last night. She was very different from most of the spirits that I encounter in dreams,” she said.
“Different how?” he asked. She pictured him concentrating on her words with a deep line between his brows.
“She had wings. Black, shadowy wings.”
“Okay,” he said, “Tell me more about her.”
“It's not really her I'm worried about so much, as it is the other creature I encountered,” Charlie said.
“In your dream?” Ben asked.
“Yes,” Charlie said. A thick pebble of dread formed in her throat making it difficult to say the words. It was one thing to disassociate herself from the idea of a demon but something altogether different to relive the account of that creature she met. She closed her eyes.
“Charlie? You okay?” he asked. Despite all his swagger and confidence, at heart she knew he was just a healer. The same way her aunt was a healer. And that knowledge was enough for her to push through.
“I'm fine. It was a demon.”
“In your dream?” Ben said with quiet alarm in his tone. “You’re sure?”
“Pretty sure. He had black ey
es, the claws, the marbled skin. And he would never let me look at him directly.”
“No, he wouldn’t. Any chance he told you his name?” Ben asked.
“No,” Charlie said. “I asked but all he would say was legion.”
“Of course he did,” Ben said dryly.
“Did I screw it up? Should I have pushed him harder?”
“No, you didn't screw anything up. I promise. He wouldn't have told you no matter what you said or did, of that I’m sure.”
“Tom told me that if I knew his name I could control him and even banish him. Is there any other way?” she asked.
“Tom’s right. Knowing a demon's name is unfortunately, the only way to banish him,” Ben said.
“But if we get that, he can be banished, right?” Charlie asked.
“Yes, it can. Your reaper friend might be able to help you with that, once you know its name. Is it possessing someone?” Ben asked.
“I think he's possessing the man who killed these girls.” Charlie sighed and paused for a moment as if checking her mental notes. “Is there any chance you're just about done with your job?”
“I wish I could say yes. I'm in a holding pattern at the moment. I’ve got a meeting Friday afternoon with the witch that allegedly summoned the demon and snatched a baby in this town,” Ben said.
“Oh, Ben,” Charlie said her hand drifting to her throat. “You be careful, okay.”
“I will be. You, too. You should take a look at Jen’s secret shelf,” Ben said. “There are a couple of books there that might help you find the guy being possessed. And there's a binding spell that will actually trap the demon inside his body.”
“Why would we want to trap him?” Charlie asked.
“If you trap it inside the body and the guy dies, so does the demon.”
“I thought they could reanimate a dead body,” Charlie said.
“They can usually, but there's a hitch,” Ben said.
“A hitch?” Charlie asked, feeling a little sick to her stomach. A hitch was never a good thing in her experience.
