Black Forest, Denver Cereal Volume 5 (32 page)

“
Kill him?”

“
That’s what I’d do,” Ferg
said. “Bastard. Killed all those kids; hurt Amelie and killed her
cute roommate; not to mention she killed our policewoman. You know,
she took the detective’s test. She wanted to work with you,
O’Malley. That’s why she was Amelie’s bodyguard. Poor
girl.”

“
I’m not sure what I’m
going to do yet.”

“
But you know where that
mortar is from?” Ferg asked.

“
I think so,” Seth
said.

“
Good,” Ferg said. “I’m
going to tell the guys. We’ll be ready when you’re ready to
roll.”

Ferg hung up the phone. Seth closed his
eyes. Saint Jude was in the coal tunnels that ran under most of
downtown Denver and to the East. Sound carried in those tunnels
making a silent search impossible. He had to know where Saint Jude
was before anyone entered the tunnels. Hearing a sound, he looked
up to see Ava.

“
What is it?” she
asked.

“
Nothing,” he said.
“Another puzzle.”

“
You remembered what you
noticed,” Ava said.

Seth nodded. She put her warm arms around
him.

“
When are you going to get
him?” Ava asked.

“
My first priority is
you,” Seth said. “We need to get you to and through the funeral.
Saint Jude’s taken enough from you. Let’s not let him control
today.”

“
You’re going to go while
I’m at the funeral?” Ava asked.

“
I’m going to consult with
my team while you’re at the funeral,” Seth said. “No
promises.”

Ava rubbed her bald head and turned to go
back to bed.

“
Join me?” Ava
asked.

Ava held out her hand. He took her hand and
walked to the bed. She gave him a sleepy smile and fell asleep
again. Listening to her breathe, Seth tried to figure out how to
get to Saint Jude. His mind spun in circles. Every solution had at
least ten problems. He closed his eyes to try to slow his mind.

The next thing he knew, the light was
streaming in the windows, his alarm was blaring, and Ava was
crying. It was going to be a rough morning.

~~~~~~~~

Saturday morning — 8:25 A.M.

“
What are you doing?” Ava
asked.

“
Getting dressed,” Seth
said.

He was buttoning the shirt to his dress
uniform. After calming Ava’s tears, Seth had left her with Maresol
and gone for his swim. When he returned to the house, there were at
least fifty uniformed police officers downstairs. Ava was hiding
upstairs and Maresol was passing out donuts and coffee. When Dale
didn’t appear, he looked for him and found the boy incapacitated
with grief. Between Seth and Mike Roper, they got him showered,
shaved, and dressed in one of Seth’s suits. Mike was force feeding
Dale donuts in the living room.

“
I thought you were
working during the funeral,” Ava said.

They had decided not to try to hide her
bruising. Her face was a mask of purple. She had her big bug
sunglasses tucked into her shirt pocket and a package of Maresol’s
tissue in her back pocket.

“
Change of plans,” Seth
said.

“
I was hoping you’d find
the bastard who killed Beth,” Ava said. “The bastard who hung me in
that barn and killed all those kids. You know where he is, why not
go get him?”

“
It’s more complicated
than that,” Seth began tying his tie. “If I ‘go get him’ as you
say, he’s likely to disappear. I have to get the DA involved and I
need some expert help. My experts don’t keep regular schedules.
Especially on Saturdays.”

“
Oh,” Ava said.

“
The investigative team is
going to the funeral,” Seth said. “We wanted to support our fellow
officer.”

“
Me?” Ava
asked.

“
You’re a part of the
investigation team,” Seth said. “Aren’t you?”

Ava walked to the corner window and looked
out. Seth finished getting dressed.

“
May I escort you down?”
Seth asked.

“
I love this room,” Ava
said. “From the first time I woke up here. I love the way the light
comes in through the trees. This is such a beautiful view through
the trees to the garden. I wish Beth had seen this.”

“
You’ll say that the rest
of your life. It’s hard to survive,” Seth gave her a soft smile.
“Come on. It’s time.”

He held out his elbow and she tucked her
hand in his arm.

“
You look very handsome in
your uniform,” she said as they walked to the open stairwell. “I
have a thing for guys in uniform.”

“
Lucky me,” Seth laughed.
“Ah, shit. There are a hundred guys in uniform here.”

Ava chuckled. When they reached the top of
the stairs, the police officers clapped for Ava. Surrounded by her
friends and colleagues, Ava let go of Seth’s arm at the bottom of
the stairs. The officers kissed her cheek and hugged her. Seth
watched Ava laugh and cry. Dale appeared at her side. For a moment,
the two friends looked deep into each other’s faces before holding
each other tight. Holding hands, they made their way to the limo.
Seth helped them both into the back seat and sat in the passenger
seat. He waited until Mike raised the privacy glass before
speaking.

“
Tell me everything you
know about the coal tunnels,” Seth said.

“
Jake and I spent days and
nights wandering those tunnels,” Mike said. “I don’t think anyone
knows them as well as we do.”

He continued down Montview to Colorado
Boulevard and sat in the turn lane.

“
Did you ever see him?”
Seth asked. “I think he’s been living in the tunnels for
decades.”

“
We saw a lot of shit,”
Mike said. “There are miles and miles of those tunnels. I’d have to
ask Jake about it.”

“
Does anyone have a map?”
Seth asked.

“
Not that I know of,” Mike
said. “You’re a cop. Don’t you have one?”

“
No map,” Seth shook his
head. “The tunnels were built by the railroad and the coal
companies. If there ever was a map, it’s lost
somewhere.”

“
Did you ask Charlie?”
Mike asked.

“
No but I will,” Seth
said. “I have some experience in tunnels. I want to know what I’m
getting into before we go down there.”

Stopping the limousine at the light on
Seventeenth, Mike turned to assess Seth.

“
Tunnel rat?” Mike asked
as he continued forward through the light.

“
Something like that,”
Seth said.

“
Aren’t you a little big
for that?” Mike asked.

“
I’ve always been pretty
skinny,” Seth said. “You’ve seen Sissy and Charlie. You can guess
what their Dad looked like.”

“
Skinny. Yeah, I can see
that,” Mike said.

“
It was a volunteer
brigade,” Seth said. “By the time we got there, they were happy to
have fresh recruits.”

Mike nodded. They continued driving down
Colorado Boulevard. Stopping at the light at Eighth Avenue, Mike
turned to Seth.

“
Listen, let’s talk to
Jake and Charlie,” Mike said. “Between the three of us, and Delphie
of course, I bet we’ll figure out where he is. I’ll tell you, man.
We saw some weird shit down there.”

“
I bet,” Seth
said.

“
Yeah, you’d know,” Mike
said.

“
I see Rachel at two,”
Seth said.

“
I’ll call and see what I
can set up,” Mike said. “Might have to be tomorrow.”

While Seth’s head nodded, his face shifted
to a scowl. He rubbed his short salt and pepper hair.

“
What?” Mike asked. The
limousine continued through the light on Eighth Avenue.

“
I have an old friend who
knows those tunnels,” Seth said. “I haven’t seen him in a couple of
years. Lives outdoors. God, he’s got to be at least seventy
now.”

“
You want to find him
first,” Mike raised an eyebrow.

“
Probably should,” Seth
said. “I should probably get my ducks in a row before we
meet.”

Mike nodded his head to the back seat. “What
about…?”

“
Duck,” Seth
said.

Mike nodded. They continued on to Temple
Emanuel.

~~~~~~~~

Saturday mid-day — 12:05 P.M.

“
Who are you?” Charlie
asked the woman sitting in the main Castle living room.

“
I’m Anjelika Katherine,”
the woman stood to shake his hand. “I’m Jillian’s mother and
Katherine’s grandmother. You may call me Mrs. Anjelika.”

“
What do you want with
me?” Charlie curled his lip at her.

“
First, you will not take
that tone with me,” Anjelika said. “I am an adult and you are a
child. You will treat me with respect if this is going to
work.”

“
What is
this
?” Charlie worked to
keep his usual surly tone out of his voice.

“
You requested a tutor,”
Anjelika said. “I’ve agreed with Sandra to help you. I will work
with you to get caught up in school. I think we can make a good
stab at it this summer. We will probably need to work next year as
well.”

Charlie set down his backpack and assessed
the woman in front of him. She was more elegant than beautiful. Her
accent was Russian or maybe French. Her casual clothing cost more
money than Charlie had ever seen. When he looked into her eyes, he
saw a knowing kind of steel that only came from surviving a
difficult life.

“
Okay,” Charlie said. “You
started with the rules. What else?”

“
You will treat me with
respect,” Anjelika said. “I never tolerated attitude from my
children and I won’t tolerate it from you.”

“
I’m kind of rusty at
respect,” Charlie said.

“
You will learn,” Anjelika
said. “You will show up for our meetings on time, bathed and
wearing clean clothing. Nothing will block your progress faster
than a lack of punctuality or hygiene.”

“
I’m just learning
hygiene. I’m not very good at it,” Charlie said. “Aden makes me
brush every tooth.”

“
This will be good
practice,” Anjelika said.

“
What else?”

“
You will work and work
hard. We have a long way to go and not much time,” Anjelika said.
“You will complete your assignments regardless of how mundane or
stupid you think they are. You have met my children?”

Charlie nodded.

“
They are polite, kind,
interesting and well read,” Anjelika said. “By the end of our time
together, I expect you will be the same.”

Charlie gulped. He secretly worshiped
Anjelika’s son, Steve. Steve was tough, strong, looked great, and
was a real man. And he was deeply kind. Ever since Charlie moved
in, Steve had stopped Charlie to ask him how he was and listened
intently to Charlie’s response. Charlie knew Steve helped Honey get
ready in the morning and that’s why he was at the Castle every day.
But when Steve talked to Charlie, Charlie felt like he was the only
person in the world. Charlie wanted to be just like Steve. Charlie
wasn’t sure what to say so he nodded again.

“
This will not be easy,”
Anjelika said. “But nothing worthwhile is easy.”

“
Anything else?” Charlie
asked. “If we’re going to start today, I should go
shower.”

“
You will continue
working,” Anjelika said. “You have a responsibility to your
reparations and you will repay them.”

“
How can I study and
work?” Charlie asked.

“
How did you manage to get
high and do anything else?” Anjelika asked. “You got high because
it was your number one priority in life. Your school will need to
become that priority or you will fail.”

Charlie squinted at Anjelika. For a moment,
the two sized each other up.

“
You are not my first
addict,” Anjelika said.

“
You’re not my first
mother,” Charlie said.

Anjelika laughed. Charlie smiled at her
laugh.

“
That’s all I can think of
right now,” Anjelika said. “I reserve the right to add more
rules.”

“
Fair enough,” Charlie
said.

Charlie stuck his hand out and Anjelika
shook it.

“
I’ll wait here,” Anjelika
said.

“
You can come up,” Charlie
said. “We can work up there.”

“
We’re not doing book work
today,” Anjelika said. “I have something else in mind.”

Charlie looked puzzled but was too
intimidated to ask. He pointed upstairs. Anjelika nodded and he ran
up the stairs. Sandy came out from the kitchen with Rachel in a
baby sling.

“
What do you think?” Sandy
whispered.

“
You’re right. I like
him,” Anjelika said. “We can do this.”

Sandy hugged Anjelika.

“
How come you adopted me
without all of those requirements?” Sandy asked.

“
You are already kind,
interesting, thoughtful and polite,” Anjelika said. “Plus you make
the cutest babies.”

Sandy hugged Anjelika again. Anjelika
retrieved Rachel from the sling and played with her. Hearing
Charlie leave the apartment, Anjelika gave back Rachel and Sandy
scooted back to the kitchen. Charlie trotted down the stairs
wearing clean clothing. His long hair was wet.