by Alexie Aaron
“Did you love her?” Mia asked.
“When we were courting, she was soft and happy. When we married, she seemed to flip a switch, and things like respectability came before fun. If Stephen hadn’t already been on the way, I would have left her. Instead I drank.”
“Marriage is hard work,” Mia said as they walked out onto the large porch.
“You and Ted make it look fun,” Kevin said.
“We had a rough patch. I’m not sure that it wouldn’t have happened at all if the powers that be didn’t want me flying.”
“You didn’t want to have wings?”
“I didn’t want to be a freak show.”
“You seem to have a little bit of Catherine’s problem.”
Mia stopped and looked up into Kevin’s face. “Tell me.”
“You care too much for what strangers think.”
“In my defense, I don’t want to be locked up and studied or put in an insane asylum.”
“Duly noted. It looks like a nice evening. Would you like to sit in one of these rockers and scare the punters by rocking them?”
“Sure, why not.”
Kevin escorted Mia to a set of chairs at the end of the porch. Here, they could look down the long street and watch the vacationers walk back up from town.
“Mia, I don’t know what happened or what caused him to leave you, but I do know that my son did love you.”
“It doesn’t matter now. I miss him, but strange as it may seem, I feel better I don’t have these mixed feelings anymore.”
“I’m confused.”
“Um, it’s like this, sometimes when Stephen and I are fighting demons, bad ghosts, whatever, we operate as if we’re one person. But when it’s normal days and we have too much time on our hands…”
“Temptation. Let’s say you weren’t married, would you feel differently?”
“It would be worse. You see, Kevin, if ghosts start having a physical relationship with the living, they will be hunted down and destroyed. If I wasn’t spoken for, I would have to fight my urges in order to keep him safe. Am I making any sense?”
“You’re forbidden fruit.”
“Yes.”
“He’s rotten peaches,” Kevin said. “Am I rotten peaches?”
“You’re a friend.”
“Well, this friend wants you to know that I like that fellow you’re married to, and I can tell you do too. If my son does come back, don’t encourage him. Live a happy carefree life with Theodore.”
“I intend to.”
They rocked for a while, and Kevin told Mia stories that made her laugh. She told him about some of the stunts she got away with. They were having a good time, but Mia was aware that she had been out of her body for too long.
“I’ve got to get back. Thank you for the company and conversation,” she said, getting up.
“I’m going to stay here a while,” Kevin said. “Maybe someone will buy me a drink.”
Mia walked away and stopped to look back at Kevin. In the fading light, he looked a lot like Murph. She turned away and rose quickly to her room.
Mia opened her eyes. Staring down at her was Ted.
“Where have you been?”
“I OOBed. I was checking out the spirits.”
“Did you find any?”
“This hotel is rife with them. There must have been a fire at some point because there is a group of thirty or so milling around the stairway on the south side.”
“Mia, I don’t like you going out OOBing alone. Wait until Sabine comes.”
“Sure. That’s a great idea.”
She could have told him about Kevin escorting her, but she didn’t. Mia wasn’t sure why that was.
“Our dinner reservation is in a half an hour. I think we need to get dressed. I understand this is a dressy place. I have to wear a jacket and a tie.”
“Good thing you packed something. You did, didn’t you?”
“Cid did,” Ted admitted. “Did you pack something pretty?”
“Yes, I did. It’s even ironed.”
“Do you remember when I was ironing your clothes at that motel, and you came out of the shower and dropped your towel?”
“Yes, I do.”
“Did you do that on purpose?”
“Not deliberately. But who knows what my dirty little mind was thinking.”
“Do you want to know what my dirty little mind is thinking right now?” Ted asked.
“We’ll miss our reservation…”
“I’m not hungry.”
“Mason will pound on the door.”
“That’s right, we promised the boy a meal. Can we pick this up later?”
“I’ll write you a raincheck,” Mia said, slipping out of bed and heading to the shower.
Mason was playing solitaire when the Martins came out of the room. Ted was smoothing down his auburn curls that were normally stuffed into the Chief’s ball cap he wore everywhere. He wore a very expensive suit. Mason assumed Ralph must have bought it for Ted for an occasion. The suit flowed down his thin frame, giving Ted an air of sophistication. In stark contrast, Mia hopped around on one foot trying to buckle her slipper.
“Stop!” Mason said, walking over. “Stand still,” he instructed as he slid the sandal on her foot, buckling the tiny gold buckle. “Honestly, you need a lady’s maid.”
“Gee, I thought that’s what you were hired for?” Mia teased.
Mason stood up and looked her over. He picked some lint off the open shoulder dress. “You look nice. Not at all like the Mia I know, but nice. How do I look?”
Mason smiled, and Mia saw Murphy looking back at her for the briefest of moments. Mia didn’t trust herself to speak.
“You look hungry,” Ted said, confused by Mia’s silence. “Let’s go and eat.”
The three walked to the elevator. There were two other couples waiting there. Both were older, and the women looked wistfully at Mia’s companions.
“Good evening,” Ted said.
“Good evening, son,” one of the older men said. “Are you on vacation?”
“No, here for work,” Ted said.
The doors opened, and the small talk ceased. Elevator music entertained them until they arrived on the floor the restaurant was on. Ted held the door until the older couples got off. Ted waited for Mia and Mason to exit and then let go of the door.
Mason growled, tapping Ted on the chest, “Next time someone looks at the three of us like we’re fresh meat. Tell them I’m your lover, and we’re eating with your sister. That will stop the cougars from feeling up my behind.”
Mia laughed. “How does it feel to be leered at, Callen?” she asked.
“How do you stand it,” Mason asked, “to have someone drooling in front of you?”
“I ignore it for the most part, but sometimes Burt makes me talk to Mike when we’re on camera.”
“Mia!” Ted said. “Mike doesn’t drool, does he?”
“You caught me, that’s a lie, but he does pant.”
“That’s no way to talk about your second husband,” Ted said.
“Oh, I forgot. When you blow yourself up, Mike has dibs on Mia,” Mason said. “Don’t worry, Mia has better taste than that.”
Mia snuggled up to Ted’s arm.
“Are you cold? I could run back and get your sweater.”
“No, I was just feeling chilled for a moment,” Mia said. “I would, however, love to have a whiskey to warm me up.”
“I’ll order it first thing. How about one of them Manhattans?” he asked. “This looks like a place that can make one.”
Mia and Mason looked around as they followed the host. There were a few families seated, but for the most part, the clientele was over forty. There was a small dance floor with a three-piece combo playing. Mia was seated facing the stage with Mason and Ted on either side. She leaned over and whispered to Ted, “There is a tragic looking woman walking around the dance floor with only one shoe on.”
“That would have been you
if Mason hadn’t intervened,” Ted teased.
“I wonder what her story is?” Mia said.
“Wait until we’re on the clock, pumpkin,” Ted pleaded. “Let’s enjoy ourselves.”
“Even with Mason here?” Mia asked.
“Especially with Mason here,” Ted said wryly. “Where did you get that sports coat?” he asked him. “It looks familiar.”
“Ralph’s friend Dash was throwing it out.”
“I think you look really nice, Mason,” Mia said, still distracted by the woman with one shoe. She was doing a slow strip tease to the music.
Mason looked at the wine list and whistled. “Whose dime is this on?”
“Mine,” Ted said.
“Do you want me to be frugal?”
“No, but maybe look at a wine from this century,” Ted suggested.
“Gotcha, chief.”
The waiter came and presented the specials. Mia gave him her full attention, and when he left, she turned back to the dance floor. The woman had gone. She sighed.
“Are you alright?”
“Sorry, it’s just that ghost. She was hard to ignore.”
Mia’s drink arrived, and she sipped it. The warmth spread through her. She took another sip and the ghost no longer bothered her, a third and she was giggling.
Ted rarely saw Mia this way. The atmosphere of the hotel was really making her loopy.
Mason looked at Mia and realized that she was quickly headed for a meltdown. “Ted, may I dance with your wife?” he asked.
“Yes, sure. I hope she can stand.”
Mia let Mason lead her to the dance floor. “Now, girly-girl, what’s going on?”
“There are so many of them. This place is filled with unhappiness. I’m not sure I can stop it from taking over me.”
“Concentrate on my face,” he said, lifting her chin. “Yes, this is your asshole friend Mason.”
“You look like him. Kevin looks like him. I fucking left him in the middle of the fucking ocean.”
“No. Look at me again. I’m this sexy beast of a man. I radiate sex…”
Mia frowned. “Says who?”
Mason smiled. “Says me. You’re going to dump your husband and crawl in with me tonight.”
“I am not,” Mia growled. “You’re a child!”
Mason laughed. “Welcome back, Mia.”
Mason gave Ted a thumbs up. He danced her around the room and brought a happy, but obstinate, Mia back to the table.
“Sorry, I don’t know what came over me. It was such melancholy, I couldn’t breathe.” Mia picked up her drink and noticed it was empty except for the plastic sword full of cherries.
“You gulped it down,” Ted said.
“Oh,” Mia said as she put the garnish in her mouth, closed her lips, and pulled out the straw. She tucked it behind her ear, announcing, “I’m hungry. When is our meal coming?”
Ted and Mason looked at each other. Mia was back.
Chapter Thirty
Stephen enjoyed the camaraderie of the crew. They may have been mostly criminals in life, but death had given them a second chance in the GSD. He and the crew got along famously, except for Harley, who shook his head whenever his glance connected with Stephen’s. They were all hard workers and had blossomed under the new captain. Henry Waite stepped up when they found the captain pinned to the main mast with the blade that was taken from Abigor’s Emissary. Waite noticed the new chain the captain sported was missing from his neck.
“I guess she came for her birdmen and found them gone,” he said, not privy to Mia’s note that Crocker had burnt. “It’s what you get when you make deals with demons. Adjust that harpoon gun; we will no longer hunt birdmen.”
Murphy entered the galley and found it empty except for Harley. He decided to introduce himself and find out what the navigator’s problem was with him.
“Stephen Murphy,” he said, extending his hand.
“I know who you are,” Harley answered, both his hands not leaving the mug of coffee.
“Have I done something to offend you?” Stephen asked. “If so, I would like to make amends.”
“That’s very civilized of you, but you have not caused me any personal offense. It’s someone else you should be making amends to.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Farmer, let me explain this to you. I hope you can pick it up, because you appear to be rather slow.”
Stephen’s fists balled, but he let the anger go.
“I don’t pretend to understand how or why, but I’m in communication with a clairvoyant named Kai. He asks me from time to time to deliver messages to men on this side of the veil from their loved ones. Even after years of being here, they seem to appreciate that someone is thinking of them. And it eases the feeling of loss on the other side too. Now, you’re a whole ’nother case. I told Kai where you were, and your loved one came across the veil to bring you home. It’s never happened before. I think it may have something to do with that you’re a land death and she is a very powerful sensitive.”
“Mia, you’re talking about Mia.”
“Yes, thank you for her name. I’m going to include her in my nightly prayers. Nice to have a name.”
“You pray?”
“Peace and love come from Jesus, man.” Harley nodded a moment, recording Mia’s name with the others he would speak to Christ about. He looked back at Stephen. “You, how did you respond when she asked you to come home?”
Stephen frowned.
“You called her a whore. Is she your woman?”
“No, she is married and should not have been with the captain below decks.”
“What gives you the right to pronounce sentence on her? Do you know the whole story? Because Captain Waite does, and he told it to me. Mia committed no crime, aside from leading Crocker around by his libido that is. She came here to buy your freedom with a long gold chain. She heard about the plight of the three birdmen and decided to buy their freedom too. She worried that the captain wouldn’t honor her contract, so she distracted him long enough to get the keys to the prisoners. I’m not saying she did right, but she had no weapons but her wit and her body. If she were my woman, I would have kissed the horrible incident out of her mind.”
Stephen released his fists.
“She used the distraction of the Peacock - whose arrival was a surprise to all of us – to liberate you from this ship. We don’t have to go over what you did to her. She left here devastated. Kai says his granddaughter saw her husband at the hospital where she works. Evidently, you broke her heart, man. Not cool. Not cool at all.”
“You don’t know our history,” Stephen said.
“You don’t know mine,” Harley said. “When I was in college, I did a semester on an icebreaker. I died falling into the icy water. I was enslaved by the Peacock. Captain Waite, who was the first officer then, saw my worth and bought me. I will always be loyal to him. When I died, I was holding drugs. One night aboard, I took some. They were replenished magically the next day. In my altered state of mind, I found I could communicate with Kai. Only Waite knows this. Crocker would be too paranoid to appreciate my new mission in death.”
“Which is?”
“To spread love and peace into the GSD.”
“So then, why do you have a problem with me?” Stephen asked. “I bear no one here a grudge. I work hard and enjoy the company of all the sailors.”
“You’re a dangerous man. The captain was killed because of you. Abigor will hunt us down if he figures out you’re on board. You’re endangering us all. Waite’s a good man. He supports his crew. He will defend you, but you’re not worth it.”
Stephen frowned.
“Kai said you’re a hero, but I don’t see any hero. I just see a hypercritical dirt farmer who spreads negativity instead of love. Did she break your heart first?” Harley asked.
“She married.”
“Why didn’t she marry you?”
“I was dead at the time.”
Ha
rley leaned back in his chair. “How do you feel about her now?”
“I don’t.”
“It’s the GSD. Can you imagine my battle to bring love and peace here when it sucks all the love out of the people? Are you aware of this?”
“No. I just don’t love Mia, and I don’t hate Mia. I just see her as…”
“A whore,” Harley finished. “When I was alive, we were all making love to everyone. Sex is just sex. But sex with the dead… a big no no. Kai says the blackness will take the ghost, and the living will go crazy. Did you ever consider her going crazy?”
Stephen looked down.
“What else did she do to you?”
“She left me. We fight evil together. She left me aboard that boat and took the demon-with-no-name to Hell with her. I had to fight the kraken without her.”
“She left you behind. Must have stung your ego. Next thing that happens is boom and you’re here. A place where you don’t have to feel. So, you decide to stay. But instead of just saying, ‘Mia, I would like to stay here.’ You call her a whore for trying to rescue you. You live with that, man.”
“How is she now?”
Harley tried not to show his pleasure at Stephen’s interest. He sipped his coffee a while before speaking. “I know she’s gone from St. Kitts. I know that Abigor was surprised to see her laid so low. He’s no friend to you, Stephen, so I wouldn’t look to him for help.”
“Did he kill Crocker?”
“We thought you did.”
“I did not.”
“Why would you kill Crocker over a whore?” Harley baited. “Now Abigor would - he loves whores - but he’s not been on the Devil’s Pride.”
“Who’s the captain of the Peacock?”
“George Wall.”
Stephen’s mouth dropped open. “George Wall, the husband of Rachel Schmidt?”
“I couldn’t tell you. He’s a businessman but a nasty piece of work. He carries his anger with him. A rarity here.”