Cimarron, Denver Cereal Volume 4

by Claudia Hall Christian

  “You make it sound like almost dying is just life, just happens,” she said. “If I…”

  “Oh Jill,” Jacob said. “It’s not your fault. You didn’t do anything to make him hurt me.”

  “It feels that way,” Jill said. “The least I could have done was heal your wound.”

  “You saved my life,” Jacob said. “I don’t think you could have done more, Jill. You’re not God. You don’t control everything.”

  “Oh, the God thing again.” She flopped back against her pillow.

  “I’m looking forward to spending the summer with you and our daughter, Katherine. I’m very excited to hike, fish, play, work on some rehabs and whatever else life has in store for us.”

  “I’m excited too,” she said.

  “This year has been a complete upheaval. Everything is different today," Jacob said.

  “Is different good?”

  “This different is fabulous,” Jacob said. “I’ve never been as happy. I think everyone I know is happier than they’ve been in years and years.”

  “I am,” she smiled at him.

  He leaned down on his elbow.

  “Then what’s bothering you?” he asked.

  “I just have this feeling… like the other shoe is going to drop,” Jill said.

  Jacob leaned over to kiss her lips.

  “Could happen,” she said.

  “You don’t think this crap with the secretary, me getting run out of Lipson Construction, you getting tortured by people’s cruel words… That’s not the other shoe?”

  “That’s just life,” Jill said.

  “Well, then, it will have to be a big fucking shoe,” Jacob laughed. “Mammoth, in fact.”

  Jill laughed.

  “As long as we have each other, we’ll be fine,” he said. “Do I still have you?”

  “You do,” Jill said. “Do I still have you?”

  “More and more every day,” he said. “We’ll be fine.”

  “You don’t see…”

  “I don’t.”

  “But you can’t see your own future and…”

  “There’s nothing coming, Jill,” he said.

  “Just life,” she said.

  “Just life,” he said.

  “Good.”

  ~~~~~~~~

  Sunday afternoon — 3:25 P.M.

  When Noelle heard a car pull up into the Castle driveway, she raced to the door. She opened the side door, looked out and closed it again.

  “Nope, it’s not him,” she said as she returned to the Castle living room.

  Sandy and Jill were clearing and cleaning up the final wreckage from Levi Johansen’s visit. The floors would be sanded and polished tomorrow. Jill had arranged for new furniture. But right now, they needed to finish taking down the hundred year old wall paper. Once the floors were done, the plasterers would repair the walls. Jill worked the steamer while Noelle and Sandy scraped the strips from the wall.

  “Who’s here?”

  “Mrs. Heather, Uncle Blane, and Mack,” Noelle said.

  “You closed the door in their faces?” Giving Noelle a dark look, Sandy dumped the wall paper she was holding into a thirty gallon trash can.

  “Not in their faces,” Noelle said. “They weren’t even out of the car.”

  “Still,” Sandy said.

  Wiping her hands on the pair of Aden’s old jeans, Sandy went to the door. Heather and Blane had already gone around the back. She shrugged.

  “They must have gone around the back,” Sandy said. She turned into the living room

  “I’m sure they’ll find us,” Jill said. “Can you take this piece?”

  Sandy scooted forward to catch a big piece of wall paper. Another car pulled into the driveway. And Noelle ran to the door.

  “Nope, it’s Jake and Mike,” Noelle slammed the door closed.

  “Noelle! You can wait for people to come in,” Sandy said. “Open the door. Go. Now.”

  Noelle slumped her way back to the door.

  “They went to the backyard,” Noelle said. “Daddy’s here!”

  Noelle ran out to meet her father. She slammed the door behind her. They heard another car pull into the driveway.

  “You can go,” Jill said. “I can finish this.”

  “It’s OK,” Sandy said. “Plus, I’m wearing his jeans. They were the only jeans that fit.”

  Jill laughed. The women worked together in happy silence. They finished the rest of the room before they realized Aden and Noelle hadn’t appeared.

  “Why don’t you go shower?” Jill asked.

  “Sounds like everyone’s in the backyard,” Sandy said.

  “I find out what’s going on,” Jill said.

  Sandy nodded. She took the stairs two at a time. Waving to Nash and Teddy, who were playing video games, she jogged into her bedroom. She stripped out of Aden’s pants and tucked them at the bottom of the laundry pile. She was sure he wouldn’t care but he might. Turning on the water to the shower, she defensively told herself that he could stand to be a little responsible for the baby. She laughed at her own justification.

  A quick shower led to dressing in a pair of pants she couldn’t zip, a long sleeved shirt and a big sweater. She looked like a bowling ball but that would have to be all right. When she went out into the living room, the boys weren’t there. But neither were the cookies she made this morning. The boys must have gone looking for sustenance.

  Sandy pulled her wet hair into a ponytail, pulled on a pair of fleece lined boots and wandered down to the first floor. The entire Castle seemed deserted. She wandered downstairs but Aden wasn’t in his apartment. Honey and MJ weren’t in their apartment either.

  Perplexed, Sandy went upstairs. She checked the main Castle living room. No one. Even the kitchen was still. Sandy looked out through the window in the door to the backyard. The backyard was set up for a party. Of course, every day Valerie was home was a party. Smiling, she walked out onto the deck.

  “SURPRISE!” Everyone yelled. “Congratulations!”

  Sandy was so shocked she took a step back.

  “What?”

  Aden came forward with a glass of champagne.

  “They wanted to have a little party for us,” he said. “Everyone helped.”

  He leaned down to kiss her.

  “Are you all right?” Aden asked.

  Sandy bit her lip to keep from crying. She nodded.

  “We were doing the wall paper to keep me occupied?” she asked Jill

  Jill nodded and gave her a hug. And the party began. The laughing, talking crowd of loved ones celebrated the first union of Aden and Sandy.

  CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED and EIGHT

  Ghosts

  Monday early morning — 5:25 A.M.

  Jill woke with a start. She wasn’t sure what had startled her, but Jacob wasn’t in bed. She lay there for a moment before remembering that he wasn’t working at Lipson Construction anymore.

  “Jacob?”

  Hearing an odd sound, she got out of bed to find him.

  “Jacob?”

  Jill checked Katy’s room. Sometimes when Katy had a vision, Jacob would stay with her until she was settled.

  No Jacob.

  Wandering out into the main loft area, she turned off a light in the kitchen. Jacob wasn’t in any of their living areas. She turned to look at the rooms. He’d been so excited to have another child. Maybe he was planning a nursery. She stuck her head in the empty room.

  No Jacob.

  She heard the sound again. Thump, thump, thump.

  The door to her office was closed. She always closed her office when she was done with work or school work. Standing at the door, she paused.

  What if he was doing something she didn’t want to know about? She’d heard all kinds of stories about men who went to chat rooms or played games on the Internet. Maybe he was downloading porn.

  She heard the sound again and smiled. The sound was Sarah, Jacob’s Labrador’s tail hitting the floor when she wagged
. Thump, thump, thump. Jill opened the door.

  Jacob was working on her computer with Sarah under his feet.

  Of course.

  Less than a week after being forced out of Lipson Construction and Jacob was working again. Jill laughed.

  Hearing her laugh, he looked up.

  “Hi,” he said. He held an arm out and she tucked herself into him.

  “What are you doing?” she asked.

  “Uh,” Jacob pointed to the blueprint on the computer screen. “Downloading porn?”

  “Don’t read my mind,” Jill laughed. He kissed her and looked back at the blueprint.

  “Where’s that?” Jill asked.

  “It’s a new rehab,” Jacob said. “The building is in the middle of nowhere. It was a debtor’s prison for the North Animas valley. A guy I know wants to move it to a lot in Denver. Since the building’s condemned, he can pick it up for a song. He wants us to rehab it. If it works, there will be lots more where this comes from. He’s scouted houses all over Colorado and Wyoming. Old mining houses, these debtors’ prisons, abandoned schools, stuff like that. He secured a parcel of land out on Stapleton to make an old town. You know with the ‘e’s.”

  “Olde Towne Stapleton?” Jill asked.

  “I think it’s Old-y Town-y,” Jacob laughed. She smiled.

  “What does he want from us?”

  “You caught that too,” Jacob said. “He’s been bugging me about this for at least a year. I have the same feeling – he wants something. He finally came out and asked.”

  “What does he want?” Jill repeated.

  “A couple of things,” Jacob said. “He definitely needs rehab and design help. He plans to condo everything, even the businesses.”

  “But he needs financing,” Jill said.

  “No, financing he has,” Jacob said. “He has a banker in his pocket. He even has a board of directors behind him.”

  “A lot of people can do his rehab work for a lot less money,” Jill said. “We’re kind of a specialty shop.”

  “He wants special services,” Jacob said.

  “What?”

  “Ghost removal,” Jacob said.

  “Is that all?” Jill shook her head.

  “Pretty incredible, right?” Jacob asked. “The buildings are supposed to be haunted. That’s why he’s able to get them so cheap. He’d heard from someone that I’d cleared out some nasties from a rehab and contacted me. That’s why I haven’t done it yet.”

  “And this morning?”

  “I don’t know. He called yesterday while you were working on the wallpaper,” Jacob said. “I told him I’d take a look at the plans and talk to my associates. Aren’t you glad you got up?”

  Jill smiled.

  “He’ll pay double our rates,” Jacob said. “That’s how cheap he can get these buildings. Most of his costs are in moving the buildings. And…”

  His voice trailed off as he looked at the building plans.

  “Jacob?” She touched his shoulder.

  “Oh, sorry,” he said. “Mom used to have this thing about ghosts. She said they were tortured, frightened souls who needed our help transitioning. There were a few here when she bought the place.”

  “I wonder if they were from the bodies,” Jill said.

  “Probably,” Jacob said. “We’ll have to ask Delphie. She and Mom transitioned them.”

  “Can you do that?” Jill asked.

  “Sure,” Jacob said. “Delphie has a knack for it. Of course. But…”

  “You’re better at it? I could see that,” Jill said.

  “Why?” Jacob asked.

  “You like people and people like you,” she said. “You’re a natural born leader. People feel safe around you. I don’t know why dead people would be any different.”

  Jacob fell silent. His attention shifted back to the building plans.

  “What’s the problem?” Jill asked.

  “I don’t like the work,” Jacob said. “It’s too spooky, too weird. I feel… dirty when I do it.”

  “You’d have to come out about your skills,” Jill said. “That feels weird.”

  “Not really,” Jacob laughed. “I can always blame Delphie.”

  “Then what?” Jill smiled.

  “I guess I wonder why I don’t get into this business,” Jacob said. “The profits are… enormous. Our merry household has the skills.”

  “So why don’t you?”

  “Doesn’t seem right to profit off the demented dead,” Jacob said.

  Jill kissed his cheek.

  “Plus, there are plenty of haunted buildings here in Denver,” Jacob said. “The Peabury’s up for sale again. There’s a resident spirit there that Delphie’s had at least one run in with. The Croke Patterson just sold to a guy who’s clueless about the demons in the basement. Hell, those poor girls who died at the Lumber Baron could use some peace. They’re sideshow entertainment for the amateur ghost hunters twice a week.”

  “You’d put all those ghost hunters out of business if the girls were at peace,” Jill said.

  “That’s actually a good reason to do it.”

  “Why not try it and see how you do?” Jill asked.

  “Yeah, why not?”

  “And?” she asked.

  “I’m both intrigued and repulsed at the same time,” Jacob said.

  “Sounds like you need more time off.”

  “Time off…” Jacob’s attention turned back to the plans. “Yeah…”

  ~~~~~~~~

  Monday morning — 10:25 A.M.

  “You sure you don’t want a donut?” Seth asked.

  Delphie smiled. They were sitting in his police sedan next to the Platte River.

  “Oh right,” he said. “Just had a stroke. No fat or processed food for a couple of months. I remember.”

  Delphie took a drink of her green tea.

  “It’s just hard for me to imagine someone turning down a donut,” he said.

  “How do you stay slender?” Delphie asked.

  He laughed.

  “I like you, Delphie,” Seth said. “Your relationship with that Sam guy. It’s solid?”

  Delphie laughed.

  “I run,” Seth said. “I used to be addicted to drugs. Alcohol. Women. A buddy and I quit together. We started running together. We used to run marathons.”

  “What happened?”

  “Don’t you know this stuff?” Seth asked. “Can’t you just…”

  “I can but I don’t,” Delphie said.

  “Why?”

  “It’s not very polite,” Delphie said. “In fact, it’s very rude. Plus, I like listening to people weave their own story. It’s much more interesting.”

  “Oh,” Seth said. “My buddy died of lung cancer. He used to smoke a lot of everything before we kicked our mutual vices.”

  “Sandy’s Dad,” Delphie said.

  “Yep,” Seth said. “Anyway, I run about fifty miles a week. I like it. Gives me time to think. My only vices now are donuts, coffee, and now an odd affection for a woman named after a flower.”

  Delphie smiled at him.

  “You’ll find true and lasting love from someone who adores you,” she said. “But that won’t be me.”

  “I guess I’ll get another dog.”

  Delphie laughed. There was a tap on his window.

  “You can go in now. I’m to escort you through the scene,” a uniformed police officer said. Nodding to Delphie, he said, “Ma’am.”

  Delphie gave the young man a little wave. Seth and Delphie got out of the car and began walking toward the river.

  “Ma’am, I hate to ask but could you…”

  “Girl,” Delphie said. “You’ll have your boy next.”

  “Thank you, ma’am,” he said. “That’s a relief for me.”

  “Yes, I can see that,” Delphie smiled.

  “Ok, this guy, David Craig, was out walking his dogs…” the uniformed officer said.

  “Breeze and Chance,” Delphie said.

&nb
sp; “Right, Labradors,” the police officer said. “He works at the Teatro so he comes down here early.”

  “He doesn’t have anything to do with this,” Delphie said.

  “You sure?” Seth asked.

  “Positive,” Delphie said.

  “So this guy’s walking his dogs and he finds a body,” the officer said.

  “A body?” Seth asked.

  “The dogs find something,” the officer said. “He doesn’t like the smell. Thinks it’s suspicious and has been around enough to know what can go on down here. He calls 911 and waits for us. You know how many people wait for us? Almost no one.”

  Delphie smiled.

  “Anyway, he takes the patrol down to the area,” the officer said. “And they don’t like the smell either so they call it in. Whamo, six bodies.”

  “Exposed bodies?” Seth asked.

  “Oh, no,” the officer said. “They were buried at different times too. In this weird pattern. I’ve never seen anything like it. The guys are saying it’s a serial killer. Is that true?”

  “Probably,” Seth said. “Thanks. I’ll take it from here.”

  The police officer nodded. Seth and Delphie continued walking until they reached a sandy path. Turning right, they walked under the Fifteenth Street Bridge.

  “Sandy and Aden just stayed at the Hotel Teatro,” Delphie said.

  “Yes,” Seth said. “Coincidence?”

  “Probably,” Delphie shrugged.

  The slowed down at the open space area where the Coroner and her assistants were working.

  “Are you picking up anything?” Seth asked.

  “Just that a lot of people don’t want me here,” Delphie said.

  “Seth! Delphie!” the Coroner said. “I’m glad you’re here.”

  The woman waved them over to her.

  “Same pattern, same number of bodies,” the Coroner said.

  “But?” Delphie asked.

  “Someone unearthed one of the more recent bodies,” the Coroner said.

  “You mean it wasn’t buried,” Seth said.

  “No, it was buried,” the Coroner said. “Someone unburied it.”

  “Why? Would someone do that?” Seth asked.

  The Coroner and Seth looked over at Delphie.

  “He wants to be in the newspaper,” Delphie said. “He knows that we’ve found his…”