“Was I Azrael’s to give?” Mia questioned.
“Yes. You died. You were dead long enough to find yourself in a white world. Didn’t you ever wonder why you weren’t just taken by the light? Here was this ballsy human hybrid who asked, no, demanded to have Altair’s wings be restored, and for him to be forgiven. You bargained your eternal life away to save a fallen. I’m surprised that Azrael didn’t take you for himself. Mia, I believe you would have flourished under his care. But he found a way to save his brother and wake up Lucifer at the same time.”
“Well, I’m not going to thank him for that.”
“Lucifer is a cruel being. What did I just see in your memories? Yes, Ted said, ‘All of us smart men are mean sometimes… We hide our vulnerability behind a mask of cruelty. It’s wrong, but it’s how we survived our peers.’ It doesn’t excuse what Lucifer did to you, but he allowed his minions to rise and save this planet. Who led them?”
“Abigor.”
“No, they feared Abigor, but they fought for you. I saw it, and Ted saw it. The miracle of all of this is that you didn’t let it go to your head. Azrael read you correctly in the whiteness. He instinctively knew you wouldn’t fail him. Did you ever wonder why you get along so well with the dead and the fallen?”
“My mother said she tried to kill me. My father brought me back. Maybe this was the moment the machine the Circle of Women made lost their programing.”
“How soon after did Abigor hold you I wonder? Oh, Mia, this is a conversation for a hundred years from now. Maybe by then I will know why Azrael gave you to me after your restitution.”
“Am I yours then?”
“No, you are your own being. One of the wondrous things about having even an ounce of human inside you is free will.”
Baxter took off his glasses and put them in his pocket. “Ted called me. He said you were in trouble, and he’s right. Tell me, honestly, do you want to be consumed by the conversations of the old ones?”
“Not now. I have too much in the physical world to deal with.”
“Then let me help you gently close the door.”
“How?”
“I could shut it for you, but you need to close it or a part of you will feel cheated. Look into my eyes.”
Mia trembled with fear.
“Don’t worry. Remember, we did this before, and I returned you safe. I’m not Lucifer. I invite you into my safe space.”
Mia walked into Baxter’s eyes. She found herself at the entrance to a maze. Mia knew before Baxter walked out of the shadows who she was going to see.
Baxter in his shape of a minotaur stood there. “I knew you would remember. I can’t be anyone but my true form here. Mia, do you want to know what your true form is?”
“Do you think I’m ready?”
“Yes, come look at your reflection in my pool.”
Mia looked down and, at first, focused on the mighty minotaur and then looked beside him and saw a golden-skinned woman. Her hair was gathered and fell in a thick wheat-colored braid off one shoulder. Her dress was but a wrap of gilded silk that caressed her form. Her eyes were vivid sparkling green, and a smile came naturally to her face. There were laugh lines and joy that radiated outwards.
“The world sees you as pale and white, but this is who you are. There are no wings on your back or sword in your hand. You are the harvest, and you are bounty. You are fertility, and you are motherhood. But you are also a clown.”
“If this is who I am, why was I, instead, a warrior and a machine?”
“It’s what the world needed, and you acquiesced. I noticed you weren’t surprised by me as a minotaur.”
“I know I asked you to take the memory away of me healing you in your natural form, but truth finds a way to be known. Baxter, I invite you into my safe space.”
Baxter walked into Mia’s eyes. He felt the warmth of two stars upon his shoulders. “Is this what you see when you close your eyes?” he asked.
“Yes. This isn’t my mind house but my safe space. There is the door Komal opened with me.”
Baxter walked over and leaned against the jamb of the door. Mia walked over and took a deep breath and closed it. “Maybe, when I’m ready, I’ll be back.”
“You can visit it from time to time. I do. But I’m more comfortable with my eyes open,” Baxter admitted.
Mia closed her eyes, and they were once again at the maze. She looked into the pool and sighed. Baxter walked over and put his hands on her shoulders.
“This is who I first saw when Quentin brought you. It’s how I’ve always seen you. You may have wings, a beard, or three eyes in the future, but you will always be a golden woman to me.”
Mia nodded her head. “You will always be my strength, my counselor, and my friend. May we always be able to see each other as we really are.”
Baxter closed his eyes, and Mia found herself in the ballroom once again.
“I’m going to send you back alone. Quentin will be wondering where I’ve gotten to. We’ll be arriving home in a few days. I have to warn you, he has purchased a lot of gifts, and a lot of them are pink.”
“He is a gift, Baxter.”
“As are you, Mia.”
Mia found herself standing alone under the stars. She turned to the camera. “How long was I gone?”
“Six years. Your children have taken over and your husband has gotten fat,” Jake said.
“Are you still available?” Mia asked.
“You wish. I married an android from Japan.”
“Damn.”
“You were gone fifteen minutes tops, and no one missed you.”
“Thanks, Jake, you always know the right thing to say.”
Mia walked into the house and felt so much calmer. She took the stairs, and by the time she reached the first floor, she was ravenous. She walked into the kitchen to see Don washing dishes and Reg drying them. She inched her way to the refrigerator.
She opened the door and felt a finger to the middle of her back.
“Turn around slowly, and no one will get hurt,” Cid said.
“I’m still hungry,” Mia whined.
“What was wrong with my fish?” Cid asked.
“It was wonderful but…”
“Give the girl a break,” Reg said. “She’s feeding three humans. I saw a pizza joint in town. Come on, Mia, let’s ditch this dump.”
“Not without me,” Don said, tossing down his washrag.
“You caught the fish,” Cid accused Don with his hands on his hips.
“But I didn’t know I was going to have to eat them. I always feel so empty after eating something healthy,” Don said, rubbing his stomach.
“Now look what you’ve done,” Cid said, swatting Mia with the dish towel.
“Come with us, Cid. Lazar will never know we went off schedule,” Mia said.
“I won’t know what?” Lazar asked, walking in from the dining room.
Mia ran out the back door. Cid smiled and followed her. Don and Reg sidestepped around the veteran and made the front door by the time Cid pulled up with the SUV. Mia threw open the doors and waved them in.
Lazar stood looking at the red lights disappearing down the driveway from the front porch. Ted walked out carrying a wiggling Brian and Noah under each arm. “What’s the ruckus?”
“Your wife ran off with your father, Tom’s father, and Cid. Pizza was mentioned. No mention of when they would be home.”
Ted smiled. “She’s back.”
Chapter Nineteen
Mia felt fingers open her eyelids. She focused. “Doctor Martin, I presume,” she said to Brian.
“She’s alive, Dad, but she may be suffering from the-boys-played-video-games-all-night illness, and she smells like pepperoni, garlic, and beer.”
“Brian, leave your mother alone,” Ted said, walking in with a tray. On it were coffee and sweet rolls.
Mia sat up and rubbed her eyes. “Are those croissants?”
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“Pistachio Chocolate Escargot from Du Pain et des Idées, Brioche à Tête from Stohrer’s, and the infamous Ispahan Croissant from Pierre Hermé,” Ted listed, sliding into bed beside his wife.
“How?”
“Seth arrived with a care package from Audrey and Orion. He complained that he had to stand in line at Stohrer’s, but he did meet a girl.”
“He’s always meeting girls. Maybe he could bring a girl back for Cid,” Mia said.
“I heard that Cid tripped the light fantastic with my girl last night.”
“Who told?”
“My father, Reg, is the original blabbermouth.”
“We started at the pizza joint, and then Don had this brilliant idea. A lot of beer was involved. If I nurse the girls today, I’m going to get them drunk.”
“Nanny has that covered. And even though Maeve turns her nose up at the formula, she loves being fed by Susan. Genevieve is a Millie fan.”
“Cid was pretty drunk last night. How did we get home?”
“Chambers. Don pulled the my-son-is-the-fucking-sheriff card, according to my dad.”
Mia laughed. She rubbed her fist. “Damn, it’s coming back to me. I think I punched Wonder Woman in the nose.”
“You were defending Cid’s honor,” Ted said. “This is from Reg’s phone.”
Mia saw Cid and she dancing to some music that currently gave her a headache. A blonde bimbo walks up and pushes Cid and points a finger in his face. Mia pushes the woman away and gets between them. The woman yells something about Cid being a big disappointment downstairs. That’s when Mia threw a punch that landed the barfly on her butt. Ted turned up the sound. “At least he doesn’t have hemorrhoids!” Don rushes over and picks up Mia under one arm, takes Cid’s arm in his hand, and the three exit the bar. “End of scene,” Ted said.
“I imagine you want an explanation?”
“No. Did you enjoy yourself?”
“Yes. Don’t worry, I won’t make a habit of going barhopping with Reg, Don, and Cid. They are such bad examples.”
Ted turned her head with his finger and waited until she focused in on his face. “How do you know about Cid downstairs?”
“I don’t. But no one insults our wife.”
Ted fed Mia a piece of pastry. “Tell me about your time with Baxter.”
Mia did.
After she finished, Ted and she drank coffee and hugged.
“Thank you for having my back, Popeye,” Mia said.
“You’re welcome, Olive.”
~
“So, she’s not going to press charges,” Tom confirmed.
“I think she’s embarrassed that the petite Mrs. Martin landed a punch,” Chambers said. “Plus, we’ve got her for solicitation of a minor.”
“What?” Tom asked.
“Behind Brooks Comic Store. I followed her to take a statement, and she propositioned Doug Braxton’s two sons right in front of me,” Chambers said. “Not cool.”
“How old are the kids?”
“Sixteen and Seventeen. I think their father wants this to go away.”
“How did Miss…”
“Miss Hollis Dunbar,” Chambers filled in.
“How did Miss Dunbar end up in Big Bear Lake?” Tom asked.
“She said she was hired for a house party on the lake and decided to stay.”
“We need to encourage her to go home,” Tom said.
“I’ll put her on a bus this afternoon,” Chambers said.
“Good. Is there anything else?”
“Agent Martin wants a word.”
“He’s here?”
“Yes. He’s got his feet up on your old desk.”
“Grand. Send him in,” Tom said.
Whit walked in and sat down. “I need you to convince Cooper to work with me.”
“Do you think I have any control over Mia?” Tom asked.
“You and she have become very close. She trusts you. You delivered her twins.”
“If she trusts me, why would I sell her out?” Tom asked.
“I need her, I need Murphy, and I need PEEPs.”
“Hire them. I think Burt and Ted are supporting the investigation. Paula can’t afford it. Throw some money their way, and maybe Mia will be more cooperative. Or guarantee Paula Glynn and her son won’t be spirited away by the marshals. Mia is very invested in Noah Glynn’s welfare.”
“In order to free Paula and her son from this nightmare, the Franco family and this supposed ghost of Macario need to be rounded up. No loose strings,” Whit said.
“Present your plan to PEEPs.”
“I have to form one first.”
“I think I can help you with that,” Tom said.
“Why?”
“I want you out of Big Bear Lake. You’re spreading negativity.”
Whit put a hand on his sore chest. “Me?”
“Who’s responsible for Sherry’s death?” Tom asked.
“Mia,” Whit said without thinking.
“Wrong! This is why you have to leave. I was there. Sherry hung herself under the influence of an evil entity. Mia fought to save her, but the damage was done before she got to her. Who warned you away from the hollow?”
“Mia. But if she can heal people, why didn’t she heal Sherry?”
“Mia can’t bring back the dead - or couldn’t at the time when Sherry died. Besides, you need to accept the blame for Sherry’s death. It was yours to stop. Instead you…”
Whit’s sharp eyes glared at Tom.
“You couldn’t keep your wife. No more than Stephen Murphy could keep his wife. Evil came and took your wives away. In Sherry’s case, it presented itself as a muse and promised her that her painting would be shown at the MoMA, which eventually happened. Murphy’s wife didn’t fare as well. He didn’t fare as well. You’re still alive, so act like it. Stop blaming Mia!”
Whit didn’t like hearing this all again. It took him a long time to forget the reasoning of well-intentioned words. It was easier to blame his problems on the girl who screamed in the graveyard than to own up to his own participation.
“Evil came to the hollow. It took Chastity Murphy. It woke up and took Sherry. Now it’s trying to take Paula Glynn. Are you man enough to stand up to it?”
“I can’t possibly do it alone.”
“Then you have some crawling to do,” Tom said.
~
Mia was rocking both her babies on the large porch swing while she watched Brian, Noah, Varden, and Adam playing. They were enjoying some kind of game Noah made up. The boys were rolling on the soft sod and laughing.
Dieter walked up the drive with Mark. They were talking about the closing days of school and seemed quite happy with the prospect of having a study-free summer.
“What a different place this is,” Murphy said, sitting down in one of the rockers. “I never remembered all this activity when I was alive. It was a very lonely place here. Now it’s filled with children of all ages.”
“You made all this possible,” Mia said.
“Me?”
“You cleared the land and built the first farm. I wouldn’t be here if not for you.”
Murphy looked at his friend. “I think you’re stretching things, Mia, but thank you anyway.”
“Have you heard from your lady in distress?”
“Enos said she chatted briefly with Jake. She will be in touch soon to come and pick up her camera.”
“Oh, that’s right. Ted got it to work. He was going to enhance it, but Cid stopped him. We don’t really know this woman; we don’t want to overstep ourselves.”
“Cid’s right. I heard you punched a woman in the nose.”
“Yup. Not proud, but it’s the Martin way. She was saying crude things about Cid in front of me.”
“How many people have you brought grievous bodily harm to in regard to me?” Murphy asked.
“Huh, I always thought it was egregious. Who knew
?”
“Well?”
“I’m still counting. Eight.”
“You little liar,” Murphy said and then laughed.
“One, if I could get Jake out of the damn computer.”
“We could go in.”
“Not again!”
“Not again what?” Ted asked, walking out with an icy pitcher of lemonade and a stack of plastic glasses.
“Murph wants me to go into the computer and punch Jake in the nose.”
“I think if it got around, you’d have yourself a very large cheering section,” Ted said. “Cid, Mike, Burt, Audrey, Altair, Angelo and… is there anyone he hasn’t insulted?”
“You,” Murphy said.
“No, he took me to task quite a few times when Mia wasn’t around. Speaking of punching someone in the nose…” Ted said as Tom’s cruiser pulled in followed by a black SUV.
“Maybe they’re going to see Burt in the PEEPs office,” Mia said, cuddling her daughters.
“Maybe Tom’s arresting you for beating up that hooker,” Ted said.
“Surround me with children quick,” Mia said.
Ted whistled and got the boys to come up on the porch. He gave each of them five dollars to say a line. Dieter and Mark joined in on the fun.
Tom walked up with Whit on his heels.
Varden walked to the top of the steps, stood his ground, put his hands on his hips, and said, “You have to go through me first.”
Tom picked Varden up, turned him sideways, and continued up the stairs where he saw Mia sitting cuddling her twins. Dieter and Mark stood behind her with their arms crossed. The other three boys pretended to cry. “Don’t take Mia away!”
Whit broke into a smile. “Hey, I’m just here for the lemonade,” he said, pouring himself a glass.
Tom turned around and growled. “This was your idea, Brutus.”
Crossroads Page 20
