Hellrider

by JG Faherty

  On the way to the hospital, he prayed she’d never have to put the information to use.

  Chapter Twenty

  Eddie shouted his joy at the heavens as he blasted his way through the darkening sky, an invisible comet shooting through the cosmos. Possessing Hank had filled him to overflowing with radiant energy, energy he was afraid to use too close to the ground for fear he might destroy entire buildings. Instead, he’d settled for lighting a few trees on fire out in the ’Glades before heading back to town.

  Even better than the power flowing through him had been the thrill of seeing Hank Bowman arrested for his lunatic actions at the hospital. God, the look on the nurses’ faces when they’d seen Hank spraying the hallway like a homeless drunk.… Man, that was priceless!

  Flashing lights far down below caught his eye and he swooped down for a better look. He spotted Chief Jones’s SUV pulling into the hospital, siren wailing and dome light splashing red and blue across the ER entrance.

  What gives? Why’s Jones back again?

  Not that it mattered.

  Hey, maybe I’ll jump inside him, make him act like a fool, too. Do a chicken dance in the lobby. That oughta—

  Eddie’s thoughts stumbled to a halt as he saw a familiar figure get out of the Chief’s truck.

  Carson? What the—?

  Carson, Johnny Ray, and Carson’s little girlfriend took off at a run into the hospital.

  A terrible chill welled up inside Eddie. There was only one reason other than personal injury for his brother to be at the hospital.

  Oh, no. Ma?

  Eddie aimed himself at the emergency entrance, all thoughts of Hank and Johnny Ray gone in an instant. He passed through concrete and steel as if they were air and arrived at the front desk just in time to see Carson sprint past, following Chief Jones down the hallway to the exam rooms. It was easy enough to see which one they were heading for: the only one with doctors and nurses waiting while paramedics transferred a body onto a bed.

  One of the EMTs stepped back and read from a clipboard while the doctors and nurses dove in like vultures attacking roadkill. “Thirty-eight-year-old female with chronic emphysema. Her son found her unconscious at the scene. She revived when placed on oxygen.”

  Ma! Eddie floated over her body as the nurses attached her to a series of machines. A green oxygen mask covered her face, but the rise and fall of her chest let him know she was still alive. Small comfort, but a lot better than the alternative.

  “Looked like she sat up too fast and passed out,” said the second EMT.

  “Is my mom gonna be all right?” Carson asked. He dodged back and forth, trying to see past all the taller figures standing between him and his mother.

  “She’s going to be fine,” one of the doctors said, without looking up. “We just need to get her breathing stabilized and her oxygen levels up, and she’ll be able to talk to you. Give us about fifteen minutes, okay?” This last was aimed at Chief Jones, who nodded, put a hand on Carson’s shoulder, and led him out of the room, with Kellie following close behind.

  Like a nice little goddamn family, Eddie thought, and then wondered why the idea made him so angry.

  I should be happy there’s someone around to help him. And my mother.

  Maybe that was the problem. Someone else was caring for his family instead of him, and doing a good job of it. Better than he had, when you thought about it.

  I did my best. I busted my ass to keep food on the table and pay the bills, and now it seems like they didn’t even need me.

  Like a spark in a field of dry grass, Eddie’s anger ignited, spread outward. Lights flickered, and one of the machines hooked up to his mother gave a stuttering beep.

  “What the hell’s going on?” A doctor pushed several buttons on the misbehaving machine. In the hall, Carson turned around, a nervous, almost anticipatory look on his face, as if he expected something else to happen.

  Gotta calm down. It’s too dangerous to let my emotions loose in here. Not when Ma’s life depends on that equipment.

  Eddie took a deep mental breath and forced himself to relax. Immediately, the lights steadied and the affected machine returned to its normal hum.

  “Must’ve been a power surge.” The doctor gave the machine a final tap and then left the room.

  I’ll give you a power surge, Eddie thought, then instantly forced the image away before anything else happened.

  Now what?

  There’s nothing you can do for her, asshole. You’re dead.

  Figuring the safest thing was to tag along after Carson, Eddie caught up with his brother and the Joneses in the waiting area, where Carson and his new squeeze sat in cheap plastic seats while Johnny Ray played dad and got sodas and snacks for everyone from the vending machines.

  Bastard!

  Eddie’s anger returned with a vengeance and a trickle of energy slipped out before he regained control. On the other side of the room, sparks flew from the soda machine and Johnny Ray stumbled away as a conga line of soda cans tumbled out of the dispenser. Eddie laughed to himself while Jones fell on his ass and scooted backward, the soda cans rolling in all directions. His laughter died when he noticed that Carson, unlike Johnny Ray and Kellie, wasn’t looking at the soda machine.

  He was staring around the room, as if trying to locate a hidden culprit.

  Hidden, or invisible?

  Shit, he couldn’t know about me, could he?

  It seemed impossible, but Eddie knew all too well how smart his little brother was. And with all the clues Eddie’d been leaving behind lately….

  Clues, or memories. He said everything’s a blank from the time I was inside him, but what if some of it’s coming back to him? I need to be more careful, at least until I get rid of the Hell Riders for good. Then it won’t matter anymore.

  Rising slowly so neither he nor Diablo created any noise, Eddie left the hospital and found a spot on the roof where he could see the Chief’s car. He already had his next move planned.

  Now it was just a matter of waiting.

  * * *

  “That was really weird about the soda machine, huh?” Carson kept his tone neutral as he spoke to Kellie. He’d waited until Chief Jones went looking for a maintenance person before bringing the subject up.

  “Freaky,” Kellie agreed.

  “A lot of that going around lately.” He glanced over at her, hoping she’d catch his hint.

  She did. “Carson, there’s nothing supernatural about a soda machine having a short circuit.”

  “What about the lights flickering when we left my mom’s room?”

  “What about it? Maybe the hospital’s having electrical problems. Maybe there was a power surge. It doesn’t mean your brother’s ghost is hanging around. Besides, what reason would Eddie have for breaking a soda machine?”

  “Maybe he didn’t do it on purpose.” The words sounded lame even to his own ears, and Carson shook his head. “I know it sounds dumb. It’s just…I have this feeling that something isn’t right.”

  “Of course you do.” Kellie glanced at the hallway and then placed her hand on his arm. “Your world’s a mess right now. Your brother, your mom…it’s going to take time to get over it all, get used to the new order of things.”

  “Easier said than done.” Even the softness of her touch couldn’t keep him from feeling bitter over the cards he’d been dealt lately.

  “Lucky for you I’m here to help.”

  Before Carson had a chance to process her words, Kellie leaned over and gave him a short but passionate kiss. He was about to reach out and pull her closer when the sounds of people talking in the hallway reached them. They had just enough time to sit back in their chairs before the doors to the lounge opened and Kellie’s father walked in with a heavyset man in blue coveralls.

  “That’s the one, over there,” Johnny Ray point
ed at the soda machine. “Damn thing went haywire and attacked me. I pulled the plug so it wouldn’t start a fire. Scared the heck outta me and the kids.”

  Johnny Ray glanced at them, his eyebrows furrowed, and Carson’s cheeks grew hot. He wondered if he looked as guilty as he felt. He imagined a cartoon version of himself with a neon sign on his forehead proclaiming I made out with your daughter! in big red letters. But the Chief just nodded at them and then returned his attention to the maintenance worker, who was examining the machine’s half-melted electrical cord.

  Kellie cleared her throat and Carson jumped in his seat before he realized where the sound came from. She was blushing as badly as he knew he was. He opened his mouth, but for a frightening moment no words came to mind.

  Don’t just sit there with your jaw hanging, like the village idiot. Say something!

  “Um, you want a soda?” He held up one of the cans he’d scavenged from the floor.

  “Thanks.” One word, but she sounded as grateful as if he’d just rescued her from a surprise math test. He opened one and handed it to her, savoring the momentary tingly contact of their fingers, and then opened another for himself.

  They spent the next ten minutes in silence, until a nurse entered the room.

  “Carson Ryder? Your mom wants to see you.”

  “That’s me!” He jumped up so fast he spilled soda on his jeans, but he didn’t even bother mopping it up as he hurried after the nurse.

  Carson wasn’t sure what to expect – after all, only an hour ago his mother had looked ready to die – but it certainly wasn’t the sight of her sitting up in bed, the oxygen mask replaced by the usual cannula under her nose and most of the color returned to her face. Only the darker-than-normal smudges under her eyes served as evidence she’d been seriously ill.

  “Hey, Mom. How are you?” He went to the side of the bed and she took his hand. For the first time, he understood how different a girl’s hand and a woman’s hand could feel. Both brought comfort, but only one sent delicious shivers through his body.

  “Sorry I gave you such a scare.” Her smile was as strong as ever. “I should have called for you the moment I felt dizzy, but I thought it would go away.”

  “How long are you gonna be in the hospital?” Carson bit his lip as he waited for her answer. The longer the stay, the worse off she really was. Even he knew that.

  “Actually, your mom’s ready to go home right now,” the nurse said. She checked a number on one of the machines and made a note on the patient chart. “The doctor’s already signed the release. We’re just waiting for her new prescription to come down from the pharmacy.”

  “That’s great news, Mrs. Ryder.”

  Carson looked back and saw Kellie and her father standing in the doorway. He turned away quickly, embarrassed by the tears brimming in his eyes.

  “Thank you, Kellie,” Sally said. “It will be good to get home. Lord knows I hate hospitals. Oh, God.” Her eyes went wide and she brushed at her hair with both hands. “I must look like a complete mess.”

  “Yeah, you’re definitely feeling better. I’ll bring the truck around,” Chief Jones said with a laugh. “We’ll be downstairs waiting whenever you get sprung loose, Sally. C’mon, Kellie.”

  “See you in a little while, Carson.” Kellie flashed him a quick smile.

  “Okay.” Carson waved his hand, but avoided direct eye contact. His hope at seeming casual was quickly erased by his mother’s next words.

  “Kellie’s a nice girl. Are you two getting serious?”

  “Aw, geez. I don’t know. We’re just kind of hanging out, you know?” Carson felt his face grow warm again. Lately it seemed like he spent more time feeling foolish than not.

  Sally took a couple of deep breaths before speaking again. “Good for you. You should invite her over for dinner sometime.”

  At that moment, the doctor returned, saving Carson from continuing the conversation, which was fine by him. He had a strong notion that a couple more minutes and he’d be getting the dreaded lecture about being safe and using protection.

  “You’re all set, Mrs. Ryder. Just sign these papers and you can be on your way. Hopefully we won’t see you again for a long time.” He gave her a nod and a smile and then placed a folder on the tray next to the bed.

  Five minutes later, Carson was pushing her wheelchair down the hall. By then he’d already managed to change the topic of discussion from Kellie and dating to ordering pizza for dinner.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Eddie was hovering outside the hospital entrance when Chief Jones and his daughter came out of the building. He’d figured Jones would go back to the jail, perhaps stopping long enough to drop his daughter off at home. Except instead of exiting the lot and heading into town, Jones drove around to the hospital’s front entrance and parked there with his hazard lights flashing.

  It didn’t take a genius to figure out why.

  He’s going to take them home, just like he brought them here.

  Eddie felt the resentment rising up again and he forced it back down with a curse. Stop being such a goddamned jealous idiot. They need the help, you’re not there anymore, and Carson certainly can’t handle everything. So quit your bitching.

  Still, he couldn’t stop himself from hanging around while Jones held the door open and Carson pushed Sally to the truck. Together, they helped her get into the front seat, and then Carson and Kellie climbed in the back, Carson’s face alternating between nervousness and relief. Eddie coaxed Diablo higher into the air and toward his old home, following the Chief’s headlights. He tried to imagine what was going through Carson’s head. Was he thinking about his mother? Or was he too lovestruck to keep his mind on anything other than the pretty young thing sitting next to him? Carson was a good kid – sensible, intelligent, kind-hearted. All the things Eddie hadn’t been. But he was still a teenage boy, meaning hormones could overrule common sense at any moment. Remembering how he’d felt while in Carson’s body, he found himself more than a little envious of his brother’s new-found happiness.

  Don’t waste the opportunity, little bro. You never know if you’ll get another chance.

  From his vantage point a hundred feet up, Eddie noticed the dark Cadillac in front of the trailer, and the portly bald man standing next to it, before the others even arrived. He let Diablo drift down until they were just above roof level.

  Jonathan Lyons? What’s our lawyer doing here at this time of night? That nasty feeling started up in his gut again, the same one he’d gotten when he’d seen his mother in the hospital.

  “Mrs. Ryder, sorry to interrupt you on what’s probably been an already terrible evening,” Lyons said, stepping aside as Johnny Ray guided Sally into the house and helped her get situated on the couch.

  “Can’t this wait?” the Chief asked. He gave the lawyer a nasty scowl that earned him some brownie points with Eddie.

  “Actually, I’ll only be a moment, but I wanted to deliver this news in person rather than over the phone. I was just getting ready to leave the papers when you showed up.”

  “What papers?” Sally asked.

  “I, um, don’t know how to say this, but it appears the insurance policy on the garage…well, it’s lapsed.” The lawyer looked down, avoiding Sally’s eyes.

  “Oh, no.” Sally’s pale face went a shade grayer. “We were counting on that money.”

  “Lapsed?” Carson looked from his mother to the lawyer. “What does that mean? It’s overdue?”

  “Not just overdue, son. Cancelled. Apparently, the last three payments were never made, so, at the time of the fire….”

  Bullshit! Eddie’s mental shout shook the house with thunder, causing everyone to jump.

  I paid that goddamn policy every month, even if it meant getting behind on the electric or the phone.

  Not only was he sure he’d paid the premiums, he knew exa
ctly where the returned checks and bank statements were – in a shoebox in his bedroom. He kept all the house and work financial documents there because the garage office was always a mess and he’d been afraid of losing important papers or spilling something on them.

  “I’m sure Eddie paid them,” Sally was saying. “He was very good about paying all the bills on time.”

  Lyons shrugged. “It’s possible there were computer entry errors. But we’d need proof.… If you can bring in the receipts, we’d have a good case against the bank and the insurance company. One I could settle very quickly. But without them…well, it’s out of our hands.”

  The lawyer said goodbye and let himself out, while Eddie fumed by the front window.

  They want proof? I’ll get them their damn proof. And then I’ll make those motherfuckers get on their hands and knees and apologize.

  Separating himself from Diablo, Eddie leaped through the window and dove into Carson’s body. There was a momentary disorientation, during which Eddie/Carson stumbled, but Eddie regained control just in time to grab the back of the couch before anyone noticed.

  “That lawyer is full of shit,” he said, the words exiting Carson’s mouth before Eddie could stop them.

  “What?” Sally turned and stared at him. “Watch the language, young man.”

  “Sorry,” Eddie said, with Carson’s voice sounding anything but. “He’s wrong, though. The insurance was paid. Eddie told me.”

  Johnny Ray cleared his throat. “Just because your brother said he did something doesn’t mean—”

  “Yeah, you would think that,” Eddie interrupted the Chief. “I’ll show you. I’ll prove he didn’t mess things up.”

  Before anyone could say another word, Eddie guided Carson’s body down the hall to Eddie’s old room, where he quickly located the old shoebox and dumped it out on the bed. Just as he’d known they would be, the insurance bills – complete with the cancelled checks stapled to them – were right in their envelopes. He took them and returned to the living room, slapped the papers down on the table.