Black Forest, Denver Cereal Volume 5 (42 page)

“
Sissy! Come on!” Charlie
called. Sissy and Noelle ran to catch up with him.

“
It’s nice to meet you,”
Ward’s mother said. “I’m Edith Stiefel.”

“
Nice to meet you, Edith,”
Sandy said.

“
Ward told me all about
your appendix. Is this your baby?”

“
This is Rachel,” Sandy
opened the baby sling to show Rachel. Rachel yawned when Edith
leaned in to look at her.

“
She’s tiny,” Edith said.
“And so perfect.”

“
She was a preemie,” Sandy
said. “But she’s growing.”

The women looked at Rachel for a moment
before Ward’s mother shifted away.

“
Listen, I have to go,”
Edith said. “I wanted to say that Ward’s been in this eating
disorder clinic three times. I almost lost him last time. The only
thing that’s kept him here, on the planet, you know, is Sissy. He’s
very fond of her.”

Not having heard about Ward from Sissy,
Sandy could only smile at the woman.

“
Would it be all right if
they got together sometime?” Edith asked. “For a meal
or…”

“
He has the body structure
of a ballet dancer,” Ivan interrupted. “I bet he has
talent.”

The women looked at him. He shrugged and
followed the kids down the hall.

“
I’ll talk to Sissy,”
Sandy said. “To be honest, Sissy hasn’t talked about Ward. But
that’s not unusual. She usually plays important things very close
to her chest. She was excited to see him today.”

“
Seeing Sissy will make
Ward’s week,” Edith said.

“
Why don’t you give me a
chance to talk to Sissy?” Sandy asked. “I bet we could set
something up. Her dance and work schedule are intense but I bet we
could find time. Would you like to call me?”

Sandy dug in her purse to find a card.

“
I know who you are,”
Edith said. Expecting the usual judgment about her past, Sandy’s
head jerked up to meet the woman’s eyes. “Are you doing hair
again?”

Relieved, Sandy smiled.

“
I just started a few
hours in the afternoons,” Sandy said. “Why don’t we schedule
something? You can bring Ward and I’ll make sure Sissy is
there.”

The woman’s face brightened before a shadow
fell over her face.

“
Are you expensive?” the
woman asked. “It’s just Ward and me. This is all paid for with my
Ward’s Dad’s insurance. It’s all he gives and I… I
mean…”

“
Let’s just see what you
have in mind,” Sandy said. “Family is always free. And the way
Sissy reacted, I bet Ward’s going to be a part of our family
soon.”

Edith smiled. They heard Ward call her from
inside the therapist’s office. She shook Sandy’s hand and went in
the room. Sandy smiled and went down the hall to find her family
and a brownie.

~~~~~~~~

Tuesday early morning — 3:12 A.M.

“
I had a wonderful time
tonight,” Ava repeated. “I don’t think I’ve ever had such a
wonderful time.”

Drunk, Ava staggered against him. Seth had
his arm hooked around her to hold her up. He raised a hand to say
goodbye to Dale. He nodded to Seth and stumbled down the hall to
his room. Seth flipped open the door to their room and set Ava on
the bed.

“
I had a wonderful time
tonight,” Ava repeated. “I don’t think I’ve ever had such a
wonderful time.”

Seth smiled. He began taking her clothing
off.

“
Did you really write that
song for me?” Ava hummed a few bars of the song. “Jeraine called me
up there and you sang that song, my new song, and then Jeraine sang
my old song. I didn’t know there were words to my old
song...”

Ava sighed and fell back on the bed. One at
a time, Seth pulled off her cowboy boots. He lifted her to
standing.

“
When I find my Amelie,”
Ava sang. “I pray she’ll be with me. I pray she’ll be my wife. I
know she will be my life. Only Amelie can set me free.”

Seth unzipped her jeans and helped her
shimmy out of them.

“
I think you should marry
me,” Ava said.

“
I think you may be
right,” Seth laughed.

Ava’s eyes filled with tears. He pulled her
top over her head and helped her into the bathroom. She brushed her
teeth with her eyes closed. She flipped off her bra and it fell to
the floor. Seth picked it up and added it to the pile of her
clothing. When she zigzagged back to the bedroom, he put a T-shirt
over her head and helped her into bed. He took a quick shower and
joined her.

“
I had a wonderful time
tonight,” Ava said when his head hit the pillow. “I don’t think
I’ve ever had such a wonderful time.”

Seth rolled onto his side to look at her.
Her eyes were closed. He could get loaded from her breath.

“
Seth?” Ava
asked.

“
Yes?”

“
I had a wonderful time
tonight,” Ava said.

He waited for her to finish her statement,
but she was sound asleep. Chuckling to himself, he rolled over and
went to sleep.

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED & FOURTY-SEVEN

Helpless

Tuesday morning — 6:25 A.M.

Seth looked at his watch and rolled his
eyes. The FBI profiler’s snide references to his lifestyle ran
though his head. Seth was going to be the last to arrive at the
investigator’s breakfast. Again.

Seth jogged down the basement steps, made a
quick turn, and then another. He unlocked the door to his piano
room, stepped in and closed the door. Flicking on the overhead
fluorescent lights, he went to the back of the room. Seth pressed
on the wood panel to reveal a small fireproof safe. He spun the
dials to unlock the safe.

The contents were arranged in tidy order.
There was another safe in the house that held money, passports, his
will, and other important documents. Maresol had the combination as
did his attorney and Schmidty, his agent. But this safe was
private. If anyone knew it existed, they wouldn’t know how to get
into it until after he was dead. Feeling paranoid, he looked over
his shoulder before he pulled a small velvet box out of the back of
the safe.

Setting the box on a table, Seth braced
himself against the feelings that arose when he opened it. One day
in the middle of his messy divorce from Emily, his mother had
arrived at his Capital Hill studio apartment. She’d awakened him
from a deep drunken stupor and had fed him coffee until he was
conversational. When he was conscious, she’d given him this box.
Together, they’d gone through his mother’s treasures - his
grandmother’s broach, a locket with a photo of his
great-great-grandmother’s first son in it, an antique woman’s
pocket watch, a few necklaces, bracelets and a couple of rings.
Bonita was buried with one of those rings on her finger. Before his
mother had left, she’d slipped off a thin sapphire and diamond
band. The ring had lived on her finger for as long as he’d known
her.

“
If you ever find your
Amelie, give her this,” his mother said. “It was given to me by a
man who loved me, who I’ll meet again very soon.”

His mother had died the next day. She was
sixty-two years old.

He’d later learned that his mother had been
engaged to a man who never returned from war. A man named Seth.
He’d tracked the man down to Arlington National Cemetery and
scattered his mother’s ashes on this Seth’s grave.

The box opened with a wave of his mother’s
rose perfume tinted with his longing and grief for her. She had
loved him completely, accepted him totally, and she had been gone a
long time. Swallowing hard, Seth picked up the ring and held it to
the light.

Saint Jude hated him. He blamed Seth for the
loss of his residences and hideouts. Both the FBI and Raz had
warned him that Saint Jude would come for him. If they didn’t catch
him first, Saint Jude would try to kill him. The closer they got to
Saint Jude, the more likely it was that he would lash out at Seth.
The FBI profiler set the chances of Seth surviving the week at
around thirty-percent. No one was taking bets but he didn’t like
the odds.

Seth closed his fingers around the ring and
strengthened his resolve. He delicately placed the box in his safe,
closed the door and the panel. He made a quick retreat up the
stairs to his bedroom.

Ava was laying on her back sound asleep.
After last night’s party, she was completely out. She hadn’t
stirred when he’d showered and changed. Unsure of his plan, he
hesitated. Catching the time on his bedside clock, he once again
heard the FBI profiler’s mocking voice in his head. He strode
across the room. With his hand on the door knob, he heard:

“
When you meet your
Amelie.” His mother’s words.

But she hadn’t meant a literal Amelie. She
hadn’t meant this girl, this child. Seth was almost three times her
age. This Amelie didn’t need or want a used up old man like him. He
was as disgusting as Hefner or that cretin Sheen. She was just too
young and intimidated by him to speak her own mind.

“
I think you should marry
me,” she’d said last night.

Seth sighed. His excuses were stupid. No one
had ever stopped Ava from speaking her mind.

Spinning in place, he walked back to the
bed. He picked up her left hand and slipped the ring onto her ring
finger. Miraculously, it fit. He set her hand back on the bed and
fled the house.

~~~~~~~~

Tuesday morning — 6:25 A.M.

“
Take this,” MJ
said.

“
I don’t need a weapon,
MJ!” Honey said. “I’m not in any danger.”

“
Please.” MJ held out the
small pearl handled automatic they had practiced with. “This one
works with your fingers and you can handle the recoil.”

“
Where am I going to put
it?” Honey said. “This wheelchair doesn’t have its own sidearm
holster.”

Smiling, Honey wheeled back and forth in
front of him. He smiled at her antics.

“
Please.”

Honey sighed. She held out her hand for the
handgun. He kissed the palm of her hand and set the gun on it.

“
You can keep it tucked
next to the seat,” MJ said.

Kneeling down, he helped her tuck it in.

“
Now try to get it out,”
MJ said.

Honey pulled the gun from the hiding
space.

“
Remember…” MJ
started.

“
My safety training,”
Honey said. “Check that the safety is on before putting it away.
Make sure there isn’t a bullet in the chamber so that it doesn’t go
off by mistake. Safety first.”

“
I wasn’t going to remind
you of s-s-s… Ah fuck.” MJ stomped out of their living room. Honey
spun her wheelchair to catch up with him.

“
I’m sorry,” Honey said.
“I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“
I’m t-t-t-terrified,” MJ
said. “F-f-feel s-s-so h-h-helpless.”

“
I know,” Honey said. “I
was inconsiderate to make light of this. I’ll keep the gun with me
and I’ll remember to use it like we practiced.”

“
Oh God, Honey, if
anything h-h…”

“
Nothing will happen, MJ,”
Honey said. “Me and Ralph will be just fine.”

“
Ralph?

“
Our son.”

“
I thought we were waiting
to find out,” MJ said.

“
You were waiting to find
out,” Honey said.

MJ lifted her from her wheelchair and spun
her around.

“
Wheeee,” Honey
squealed.

“
I love you so
much!”

“
I know,” Honey laughed.
“Can you help me up the stairs? I’m already late.”

MJ picked up Honey and her wheelchair and
carried her up the stairs. One last kiss and she was out the door.
Honey wheeled to her van. Settling her wheelchair in the back, she
pulled herself into the driver’s seat and breathed a sigh of
relief.

She hadn’t told him that she’d seen Saint
Jude last year. She hadn’t told him how interested Saint Jude had
been in her. Glancing back at MJ in her rear view mirror, she
swallowed hard.

They were going to catch a serial killer
today.

And she was going to be a big part of
it.

~~~~~~~~

Tuesday morning — 10:25 A.M.

“
Ok, we’re live,”
Lieutenant Colonel Alexandra Hargreaves said. “What do you
have?”

“
Heat,” Homeland Security
Agent Arthur “Raz” Rasmussen said.

“
Video,” Captain Troy
Olivas said.

“
And audio,” Captain
Matthew Mc Clenaghan said. “They did a great job setting it
up.”

“
We have radar,” the head
of Denver Police team said via intercom.

“
There’s Leena.” MJ
pointed to Petty Officer Leena Carmichael when she walked by the
camera. Tall with the grace of a dancer, they’d decided to let
Leena join the tunnel team when a few people didn’t pass the Lipson
drug testing.

“
I can’t believe those
Homeland guys couldn’t pass the drug test,” Troy said.

“
I can,” Major Joseph
Walter laughed.

“
Did you hear the fuss?”
Matthew said. “They went ballistic.”

“
They did? Must have
missed it,” Alex said. Alex raised an eyebrow to let them know
she’d dealt with the agents. The team laughed. “What do we
have?”

“
Nothing on heat,” Raz
said.