A Little Town Called Mercy

by Wendy Saunders

  ‘Where are you off to this time?’ he asked.

  ‘Rowan Oaks.’

  ‘The care home?’ he replied in surprise. ‘What for?’

  ‘No idea,’ she shook her head. ‘They seem to have mixed up their records and somehow managed to get my details down as someone’s next of kin. I need to go and straighten it out.’

  ‘No problem,’ he nodded, ‘we’ll hold down the fort.’

  ‘Thanks Mitch,’ she smiled warmly, ‘what would I do without you?’

  He laughed and climbed back up the ladder, not noticing the person who turned and followed Roni out of the door.

  Roni stepped out of the cab, smoothing down her skirt and hooking her purse over her shoulder. She turned and gazed curiously at the old building; she didn’t often have cause to visit this side of town. The building itself was one level only, laid out in a huge ‘L’ shape. The lawns surrounding it were neatly trimmed and edged with flowers in full bloom. It was generic but pleasant enough.

  She stepped onto the path leading up to the main entrance, turning when she heard a car screech to a halt behind her. She saw Jake climbing out of a police cruiser, his expression serious.

  ‘Hey?’ she smiled as he jogged up to her, ‘you that desperate to have lunch with me?’

  ‘What the hell are you doing here Roni?’ he frowned.

  ‘Some mix up,’ she started walking toward the entrance with Jake falling into step beside her.

  ‘Mix up?’

  ‘They seem to have my details down as some woman’s next of kin, but I don’t know who they’re talking about and I have no idea how they ended up with my name.’

  ‘Who?’ he asked curiously.

  ‘Um,’ she tried to remember, ‘Della Kane.’

  ‘And you’re sure you don’t know who that is?’

  ‘I’m positive,’ she replied, ‘I’ve never heard of the woman. Anyway, why are you here?’

  ‘Roni,’ he stopped her, turning her to face him.

  ‘What is it?’ she asked, noting his concerned expression. ‘Jake?’

  He looked up at the building briefly before answering. ‘There’s something weird going on here at Rowan Oaks.’

  ‘What do you mean weird?’

  ‘There have been at least three deaths in mysterious circumstances, all of them tied back to Rowan Oaks, the first one back in February. One of the care workers, Bianca Shepherd, was found dead in her locked apartment with a bullet wound to the head. Then about a week ago, just after we got back, there was another, Dennis Waller, also bullet wound to the head. He was the janitor here. Both of them died from apparently self-inflicted gunshot wounds, inside apartments that were locked, and dead bolted from the inside and with no trace of a gun or a bullet found.’

  ‘How is that possible?’ Roni frowned.

  ‘I don’t know.’

  ‘And the third?’ she asked, ‘you said there were three mysterious deaths.’

  ‘We found another this morning,’ Jake replied, ‘a physical therapist. While she didn’t work exclusively at Rowan Oaks, most of her clients are patients here who she sees on a regular basis.’

  ‘It could be a coincidence.’

  ‘In Mercy?’ his brow rose, ‘when have you ever known it to be something as simple as a coincidence?’

  ‘True,’ Roni conceded.

  ‘I just want to make sure you’re alright,’ Jake replied, ‘and you are not going in that building without me, not until Mac and I have figured out what the hell is going on.’

  ‘Fair enough,’ she smiled as she reached out and entwined her fingers with his, reaching up and dropping a kiss on his lips. ‘My protector.’

  ‘Come on,’ he took her hand and led her to the glass double doors, ‘let’s get this straightened out.’

  They headed through to the main reception desk.

  ‘May I help you?’ a young blonde receptionist asked pleasantly.

  ‘Veronica Mason,’ Roni introduced herself, ‘I’m here to see Ella Vaughan. She’s expecting me.’

  ‘Of course, if you wouldn’t mind signing in,’ she indicated a book sitting on the edge of the desk.

  ‘Sure,’ Roni moved across and picked up the pen.

  ‘Deputy Gilbert,’ the young woman beamed up at him, leaning over the desk to give him a prime view of her cleavage.

  ‘Ahem,’ Roni cleared her throat loudly enough that the blonde looked over at her, annoyed at the interruption.

  ‘You do know you can’t see any of the residents if you have any germs.’

  ‘Oh, I’m sure I’m not the one with something communicable,’ Roni muttered under her breath.

  ‘Miss Mason,’ a woman appeared beside the desk. She was in her late thirties at least and wearing a tidy skirt and blouse with sensible heels. She offered her hand.

  ‘Miss Vaughan, I assume?’ Roni took her hand and shook.

  ‘That’s right,’ she nodded as she glanced around Roni, ‘Deputy Gilbert, back again so soon?’

  ‘Oh, he’s with me,’ Roni glanced at the perky blonde who gave her a dirty look.

  ‘Not here officially then?’ Ella asked.

  ‘Nope,’ he replied easily, ‘not this time.’

  ‘That’s a relief,’ she laughed uneasily. ‘Why don’t you both come back through to the office and we’ll get this matter cleared up?’

  ‘Of course,’ Roni nodded.

  As they followed along behind her Jake leaned over and whispered in her ear. ‘Not gonna lie; seeing you get jealous was hot. You gonna get in a chick fight?’

  ‘Shut up,’ she laughed, elbowing him in the ribs.

  ‘Come on in,’ Ella opened the door and beckoned them in.

  Once they were seated she skirted around the desk and sat down, rummaging through the mess of paperwork and files on her desk.

  ‘Ah here we go,’ she opened up the file. ‘Della Kane; point of contact and listed next of kin Miss Veronica Mason.’

  She listed Roni’s address and phone number.

  ‘That’s definitely me,’ Roni told her, ‘but I don’t know what to tell you. I didn’t fill out any forms and I don’t know who this Della is.’

  ‘Della is one of our long-term dementia patients,’ Ella replied, ‘she’s nearly ninety-eight. She hasn’t been entirely functional the last few years, but earlier this year back in February she suffered a stroke and is mostly unresponsive now. It’s been a downward slide since then. That’s why we’re looking for her next of kin, she’s coming to the end of her life and we need to make sure we have a care plan in place.’

  ‘I’m still not sure how she ended up with my details,’ Roni frowned. ‘May I see the contact form?’

  ‘Sure,’ Ella handed over the piece of paper for Roni to study.

  ‘What?’ Jake asked when he recognized her expression.

  ‘I didn’t fill out this form,’ she looked up at him, ‘but I know who did.’

  ‘Who?’

  ‘Renata,’ she told him, ‘I recognize her handwriting.’

  ‘But why would she list you as this woman’s next of kin and not tell you?’ Jake took the sheet of paper from Roni and stared at it.

  ‘Judith!’ Ella looked up at the light knock at the door, ‘just the person we need. I’ve only been here a year myself, but Judith has been here forever.’

  ‘Hi,’ Judith headed into the office, ‘what is it I can help with?’

  ‘Miss Mason here is down as Della’s next of kin,’ Ella told her, ‘but she doesn’t seem to know anything about it. She thinks someone called….?’

  ‘Renata,’ she supplied helpfully.

  ‘Someone called Renata filled out the forms and put Miss Mason’s details down.’

  ‘I knew Renata,’ Judith nodded.

  ‘You did?’

  ‘It was before you started Ella,’ she told her. ‘I was so sorry to hear Renata had passed away,’ she said to Roni.

  ‘How did
you know her?’ Roni asked.

  ‘She was here every Friday without fail to visit Della.’

  ‘She was?’

  ‘Every Friday,’ she nodded. ‘I’ve worked here now for twelve years and she never missed a visit.’

  ‘So, they were obviously very close then,’ Roni mused. ‘I just don’t know why she would have put me down as her contact and not told me.’

  ‘I don’t know,’ Judith shook her head, ‘all I know is that Della was extremely important to Renata.’

  ‘Can I see her?’ Roni asked impulsively.

  ‘Sure,’ Judith nodded, ‘but I will warn you she’s almost completely unresponsive. You won’t be able to ask her any questions.’

  ‘I understand,’ she replied. ‘I don’t know, I just feel like Renata wanted me to be responsible for this woman for some reason, so the least I can do is meet her.’

  Judith nodded.

  ‘Follow me.’

  They trailed along behind her in silence, contemplating the strangeness of the situation. They finally came to a halt as Judith stopped to open a door. Roni’s stomach suddenly swooped, feeling somehow like she was stepping down and had missed a step. Her heart banged loudly, and her palms were clammy. For some reason her neck began to prickle as they stepped into the room.

  The atmosphere felt heavy, there was no other way to describe it, like the approach of an oncoming storm. The electricity prickled in the air. Judith seemed oblivious but as Roni’s gaze met Jake’s she knew he felt it too.

  ‘Well here she is,’ Judith crossed the room to the bed and leaned over. ‘Morning Della, how are you doing today my love?’

  She chatted away as if Della was aware of her.

  Roni stepped closer and gazed down at the woman who had obviously been important to Renata. Della Kane was a tiny little woman; her hair was a thin little puff of pure white, her face thin and peaceful, her eyes closed. A hand crocheted blanket was tucked carefully over her small body leaving only her arms exposed. They seemed almost as delicate and fragile as a bird.

  ‘Although she lost the ability to communicate with us some time ago,’ Judith told her as she picked up the hand lotion from the nightstand and squeezed a little onto her hands, ‘I like to think she can still hear us.’

  Roni watched silently as Judith picked up Della’s hands one by one and massaged the lotion into her papery skin. ‘Her skin gets so dry in here,’ she murmured.

  ‘You said Della suffers from dementia?’

  ‘That’s right,’ Judith nodded, ‘poor lamb. For some reason her dementia took on religious connotations.’

  ‘How do you mean?’ Roni frowned.

  ‘When she was still able to talk she would spend hours and hours going on about Angels, about how she saw one and that they were real.’

  ‘Did she now?’ Roni murmured.

  ‘Judith,’ another woman poked her head around the door. ‘I need help with Mr Ardell.’

  ‘Sure,’ she nodded, ‘would you excuse me?’

  Roni and Jake watched as Judith shuffled out of the room, leaving them with the tiny silent woman.

  Jake glanced around the room, taking in all the details of Della’s life, as Roni took a seat beside the bed.

  ‘Hello Della,’ she spoke softly as she picked up her hand. It was clammy from the lotion and released a sweet flowery scent. ‘My name is Veronica, I’m a friend of Renata’s and for some reason I think she wanted us to meet…I wish I knew why.’

  Roni sighed and glanced over at the night stand; there was a small black bible sitting on the top. Curious, she reached out and picked it up. Opening it up and fanning the pages she realized that it was all in German.

  She stopped at the front inside cover where there was an inscription in very faint ink. She lifted the book closer and squinted to read the curly script. It was no use, it was also written in German but as her gaze drifted to the signature line her heart jolted.

  ‘Liebe Hans…’

  Love Hans… Roni blinked as she looked up at the old woman. It couldn’t be, it must be just a coincidence. Hans was a very common name in Germany.

  ‘Roni,’ Jake drew her attention, his voice soft as he picked up a framed photograph from the bureau.

  She stood and crossed the room to see what he was staring at.

  ‘Oh my God,’ her eyes widened as she looked down at the picture he was holding.

  The date scrawled in untidy handwriting read ‘Mercy 1954’ and was a picture of two young women standing closely together, with their arms wrapped around each other’s waists. The smaller of the two women was unmistakably a very young Renata Gershon, but it was the woman standing next to her that caused Roni to draw in a sharp breath. She was almost the exact image of her; the resemblance was uncanny.

  Jake turned to glance at the bed, his brow furrowed in concern.

  ‘I think we may have just found Adelaide Franke.’

  7.

  ‘That doesn’t make sense,’ Roni frowned. ‘How did she end up in Mercy?’

  ‘Same way as Renata I’m guessing,’ Jake replied.

  ‘But that’s another thing,’ Roni stared down at the photograph, studying it as if it held all the answers, ‘look at them, they look so close. You can see the bond between them and from what they were saying of Renata visiting her religiously, she must have been really important to her. But if what they say about Adelaide is true, that she was indeed a Nazi working with Mengele, there is no way Renata would have been friends with her, not after losing her entire family in the Holocaust.’

  ‘You and I know better than that,’ Jake took the picture and placed it carefully down on the bureau, ‘things are seldom as they seem. You said Renata and her family were taken to Auschwitz?’

  ‘Yes,’ Roni murmured as she continued to stare at the small woman in the bed.

  ‘Didn’t that e-mail from Erna Schultz say there was evidence that Adelaide visited Auschwitz several times?’

  ‘You think that’s where they might’ve met?’

  ‘I think it’s possible their paths crossed,’ Jake nodded. ‘It’s a connection at least and you have to remember, we haven’t had any real evidence to suggest Adelaide was a Nazi. We don’t know for certain what happened, but Renata must have known something.’

  ‘You think that’s why she came looking for me?’ Roni turned to Jake. ‘She knew the connection between me and Della?’

  ‘It’s looking that way, but we’ll never know for certain. Of the two people who know the truth, one’s dead and it looks as if the other is about to be.’

  Roni turned to him, her gaze narrowing thoughtfully.

  ‘You can read her, can’t you?’

  ‘Huh?’

  ‘You can use your ability,’ Roni explained as she grabbed his arm and tugged him closer to the bed. ‘You can see if you can hear her thoughts.’

  ‘I don’t know,’ he frowned, ‘I’m still learning to focus it.’

  ‘Could you at least try?’

  ‘I suppose,’ he murmured as he stared down at Della.

  Roni slid back onto the seat next to the old woman and once again took her hand, watching as Jake’s gaze narrowed as if he were concentrating intensely on something. After a few moments of silence, he released an audible breath and shook his head.

  ‘I’m sorry,’ he replied, ‘there’s nothing there for me to work with. Her thoughts are disorganized, chaotic. Between the dementia and the stroke, I can’t get hold of anything solid.’

  ‘It’s okay,’ Roni sighed, ‘I guess it was worth a shot.’

  ‘I can feel her though,’ he added, ‘she’s frustrated…angry…very, very angry.’

  ‘She looks so peaceful,’ Roni frowned.

  ‘She’s not,’ Jake looked worried. ‘Roni, I have a really bad, gut feeling about this. There’s something about this woman, something dangerous. You can feel it in the air, the oppressive weight of it.’

  ‘I feel it too,
’ she replied in confusion, ‘what is it?’

  ‘Magic,’ he murmured, ‘really dark magic, fueled by anger and pain.’

  ‘You don’t think…’ Roni’s eyes widened, ‘you don’t think she somehow had something to do with those people’s deaths, do you?’

  ‘I don’t know how she could,’ Jake shook his head as he tried to figure it out. ‘I mean, look at her, she’s practically catatonic.’

  Roni turned back to Della and stroked her hand.

  ‘She just looks like a harmless old woman,’ she said softly.

  She moved to fold Della’s arm over her waist, when the movement shifted the sleeve of her bed jacket, revealing some sort of mark on her skin. Eyes narrowing curiously Roni pushed the sleeve back out of the way and let out a short, sharp gasp of shock.

  ‘What is it?’ Jake stepped closer.

  Unable to say anything Roni lifted Della’s arm to show Jake. There was a small tattoo in the shape of an Ankh, the top loop of which was a curved serpent.

  ‘The Veritas,’ he whispered, ‘shit, the fucking Veritas! Just when I though this couldn’t get any weirder.’

  They knew so little about it, only that it was a secret organization hiding in the shadows. It had originally been founded by Theo’s brother back in the 17th Century and was created to protect people of magical descent from persecution and dedicated to learning about magic, but like everything it had become corrupt over time. Learning and protection was no longer the party line. Their mission now more centered around the acquisition of magic and power.

  They’d had the unfortunate experience of running into the Veritas the previous winter when they’d tried to abduct Olivia and her unborn children. They were still sketchy on information when it came to the Veritas but one thing they did know was that they were very definitely bad news.

  ‘We need to look around,’ Jake checked the door to make sure no one could see them.

  ‘What?’ Roni replied, ‘what for?’

  ‘Any information,’ Jake replied as he started opening drawers and rummaging through them, ‘on her, Renata or the Veritas.’

  ‘It just seems a bit tasteless,’ Roni stood and crossed the room toward Jake. ‘I mean, the woman’s lying right there unable to move and we’re just going to rifle through her personal belongings.’