His cock pressed hard against her leg. She fought against her need for Ray right at that moment and a killer instinct to go find and take care of Phoenix and his sister.
“Becky Sue I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean for any of this to happen.” He said around kisses.
“It’s okay. We made it. We’re going to win.” His fingers found their way down to her wet spot. She couldn’t deny him again. She needed him with every fiber of her being.
And he took her there, on the rock floor of the cave, locked in passion that only two matching souls could know.
When they finished, they lay on the ground, out of breath staring up at the blue glow around them in awe. Slowly it burned out, leaving them in wonder.
“Did… we just rekindle our Sparker power?” Becky Sue asked.
Ray flicked his arm, fire shot from his hand and hit the rock wall, instantly diffusing. “Yep. Looks like they didn’t get all of it. Now let’s go find those mother fuckers and take them down.”
Chapter 19
After a long awkward hike, with Ray only wrapped in a blanket, they made it to the cabin. He hid in the woods while she retrieved his clothes. He put in a call to his chief to get all the information he could rolling in on Phoenix and Benu before he made the drive up there to pick up the file since receiving a fax or email was out of the question.
Afraid her mother would be worried sick about her, Becky Sue left to check on her mom while he drove to Harrison and back. She was half surprised her mom hadn’t sent a posse out scouring the hills for her.
“Mom? I’m here.” She called out.
Kate rolled out of the kitchen. “There you are. I wondered when you were going to get around to coming by today. So when are you going to tell me?”
“Tell you what?” Becky Sue looked at her confused, all the more so because her mom actually looked happy and gleeful when she expected her to be either raging mad at her tardiness or worried sick.
“That the reason you’re late is because you and Ray ran away to elope this morning.”
“Mom.” She was at a loss for words. On one hand she didn’t want to worry her, but on the other she needed to know they hadn’t married. “We didn’t elope.” There she said it.
“Then why are you so late today and not at the shop?”
“We…” She couldn’t tell her mom they’d been hijacked, drugged, relieved of magical powers, hiked through the woods, Ray naked in a blanket, or any of it. “Alright, yes we did elope.” It was the easy way out and one day she’d try the truth again, but today it wasn’t working for her.
Kate squealed. “I knew it. I’m so happy for you.” She reached out for a hug from her daughter. Becky Sue felt like a fraud.
“So when are you going to bring Ray by so I can congratulate him too?”
“Umm. I don’t know. He’s kinda busy right now,” she hedged.
“He must be, now that’s he’s married. He needs a job. Good. I knew you’d give him the motivation he needed to restart.”
Becky Sue turned her head to keep her mom from seeing her eye roll. “Go shower Mom. I can’t stay long.”
“Of course not dear. Not with a young husband waiting.” She squeezed Becky Sue’s hand one more time and wheeled off. It was going to break her heart when she had to tell her it was all a lie.
**
He couldn’t remember a time when he’d felt so focused and satisfied with his personal life. But he did and it was all because of Becky Sue. He’d never really been one to believe in soul mates before, but if she didn’t fit the bill, no one would.
At the office he collected the files they’d prepared for him, promised the chief he was hot on the trail, although it looked like it could just be a front for something far more dangerous, but he’d soon have the drug runners in custody.
On the way back home, he started thinking about marriage for the first time in years.
There was no more use for the cabin so when he got back, he cleaned and packed up. Becky Sue arrived just as he was finishing stripping the bed.
“Whatcha doing?”
“Checking out. I think it’s safe to say our targets,” because he refused to use their names as pissed as he was about everything still, “have fled. I was thinking maybe we could work the rest of the operation from your house, since everyone thinks we’re together and all that anyway.”
“Yeah, about that…. Mom thinks we’ve eloped.”
“Whatever gave her that idea?” He grinned. It wasn’t a bad idea.
“I was late and have been with you so much, she just assumed we just up and eloped this morning. At first I tried to tell her we hadn’t, but when I went to explain I knew I could never tell her about what actually happened. So I lied.”
He laughed. He wasn’t exactly sure why, but he did. It felt good to be able to laugh again. Becky Sue quirked an eye brow at him.
“I’m glad you find it so amusing.”
He picked her up and spun her around before kissing her lightly on the lips. “Let’s go finish this job so we can spend some real time together and see where to go from here.”
They finished packing and drove their own trucks to Becky Sue’s. He dove into the files trying to pin down where exactly to look for the Quell siblings while Becky Sue fixed them some food.
“Are you up for some more adventure tonight or do you need to rest?” Ray asked after their plates were emptied and they sat talking at the kitchen table.
“Does it involve bringing down a certain person and his sister?”
“Yep.”
“I’m game. Let’s go.”
Hurricane Valley was located about halfway to Harrison and a few miles off a side highway, population: almost double Thunderhead. Night had fallen. An occasional porch light dotted along the road.
They took a turn down a dirt driveway and pulled up short at a small ordinary house that was listed as both Phoenix and Benu’s home address. Outside the house an over abundance of animal statues were scattered around the yard, many of them had dark splotches on them near their throats, heads, and chests. A few of them looked singed, like they’d been through a fire.
“Stay here for a minute.” Ray put the truck in park and got out. The windows were dark, the porch light was off. Walking outside the beams of the headlights he crept into the yard and took a closer look at the animals. It was either blood or red paint making the blotches on them. A cold chill that had nothing to do with the cool night air ran down his back. They were at the right place. It was creepy.
He tread softly around the house looking for any sign of life. There was none. He motioned Becky Sue to get out and join him.
“What is this?” She asked motioning to the animal statutes when she approached.
“Long thought out revenge, or just evil imagined. Take your pick. Just don’t dwell on it too much.” She visibly shivered. He took her hand and led her to the door.
He knocked. Nothing stirred. He tried the door knob. It turned. Either they weren’t returning or they weren’t worried about visitors. Considering their yard décor, he leaned toward the latter. Flicking on the light, he blinked twice at the sight that greeted him.
The living room was a conglomeration of strange and disturbing. On the wall were framed newspaper clippings, some with pictures, many of them with fire engines, some without. Between the pictures hung objects with strange designs carved into them, horoscope charts, and over the couch one lone woman’s picture hung. She was clothed in garb of the late 19th century.
“Becky Sue, come here.” She was still standing in the doorway, mouth agape. “Look at this picture. Does it look legit or is it one of those mock up things people do on vacations?”
She studied the picture for a minute. “It looks legitimate to me.”
Was it some relative of Phoenix and Benu or some hocus pocus person they looked up to? Why was she the only person singled out on the wall? He fished a small camera from his jacket pocket and took a picture as it was, then pulled on a pair
of gloves and took it down to examine it closer.
“What an egotistical maniac,” Becky Sue’s voice pulled him away from the picture.
“Why do you say that?”
“All these newspaper clippings are about Phoenix. Apparently the local paper thinks he’s a hero. These three here are about him rescuing someone from a burning building. This one is for some good citizen award he got,” she was pointing to various clippings framed and hung on the wall as she went. “These people really don’t know what kind of creep he really is.”
Ray hung the picture back on the wall and moved to examine the newspaper clippings Becky Sue had pointed out. “Here’s one where a couple people died in the fire and he was injured trying to save them.”
“I still don’t like him.”
“Me either, but something tells me we better tread softly in this town or we may ruffle some feathers and get thrown out.”
They moved out of the living room and into the kitchen, which turned out to be the most normal place of the house. At first glance, the first bedroom seemed to be average, but on closer inspection the knick knacks and collectibles scattered about were ancient Egyptian in origin. A small book case in the corner was full of ancient Egyptian mythology and lore. A single book on genealogy stood out. Ray pulled it out and flipped through it. A few things were highlighted here and there, but nothing was written in it. He opened the closet to see whose room this was. It was Phoenix’s.
As an afterthought, Ray opened the dresser drawers one by one. Most of it was typical, socks, underwear, long underwear, t-shirts. He opened the last one. Junk drawer. An old wallet, loose change, screws, nails, and other odds and ends floated in it. He was about to shut it when something caught his eye. He pulled the drawer out further. It was an old book. He picked it up and opened it. Correction. It was an old diary in a feminine script. The page he’d flipped to was dated June 23, 1871.
**
While Ray searched the first room they came too, Becky Sue wondered down the hall, past the nondescript bathroom to the other bedroom. She flicked on the light and immediately felt like she’d entered the twilight zone. Posters and charts with stars, planets, and all things astronomy littered the walls. Some books were stacked on a dresser. How to Read Tarot Cards, The Complete Guide to Stones and Their Healing Qualities, Advanced Astronomy, Horoscope Reading, and other variations of the same subject matter.
She moved to the closet to see who the astronomer was. It was Benu. Clothes littered the floor of the closet, but near the bottom a piece of paper stuck out. She pulled it out. It was a picture of Ray standing with a group of policemen out on a job. Reaching down she threw the clothes aside. At the bottom of the pile was as small stack of photos. They were all of Ray in one capacity or another. A few he was in uniform, but more often he wasn’t even though he was in the presence of those who were. They’d been watching him for a while. What about her? Had they been watching her too? But why?
We have to go after more Sparkers. The words echoed in her mind. They were after other Sparkers, but how did they know who they were? She and Ray didn’t even know they were Sparkers themselves until they lit the flames by accident. How many others were there out there? How did they find them?
Becky Sue walked out of the room to check on Ray when he exited the other room. “Did you find anything?”
“Did I find anything? You mean other than these two are total whack jobs? Maybe. I found a book about genealogy in his room. I’m betting that’s how they found us. They tracked us by our ancestors. That’s probably how they’ll track the others too.”
“How are we supposed to know who they’ve gotten too already and who’s next? There’s no way we can cram in that much genealogy and track people down when they’re so far ahead of us. We don’t even know where to start!” She felt over whelmed and defeated.
“This might help point us in the right direction.” Ray held up an old book.
“What is that?”
“It’s an old diary. It dates back into the 1800’s and was written by a woman named Elizabeth Downs.”
“That was the Quell I told Phoenix about from the war!”
“What?”
“You obviously haven’t been listening. Have you not heard any of the stories about the Sparkers and the Quell from the Civil War?”
“I never really paid attention. I always thought they were fake and they didn’t interest me.” He shrugged. At least one of them had been listening though.
“You’re useless.”
“No I’m not. I gave you your powers back.” Ray stepped up to Becky Sue and wrapped his free hand around her, kissing her lightly on her lips.
“You dummy.” She kissed him back. “You didn’t give me nothing I didn’t already have. You just helped, a little.”
“Stop distracting me, I’m supposed to be working,” he mumbled into her lips as he kissed her again.
Becky Sue stepped back first. “Alright then, let’s work.”
Ray made a play pouty face at her. “All work and no play make you boring.”
She rolled her eyes. “Is there anywhere we haven’t looked that might point us in the direction we need to go?”
“I think we’ve checked everything. We covered both bedrooms, the kitchen, the living room. Did you check the bathroom?”
“Not closely.” Ray ducked into the bathroom.
Becky Sue wondered back into the living room, walking around, taking in all the pieces and trying to patch it all together. She knocked her shin into the coffee table in front of the table. “Ouch.” She grabbed at her leg and rubbed it.
What’s this? A small drawer was inconspicuously hiding under the lip of the table. She pulled it out and picked up a hand sized notebook. The pages were filled with writing, mostly names and lines, some had dates. This was some of their research! Ray walked in and came to stand beside her, looking at what she’d found. She flipped to the front again. The first names on the page were Phoenix and Benu.
“They were tracking their own ancestors. Do you think this will help us find other Sparkers?”
“I don’t know, but it’s worth a shot.”
Ray grabbed the picture of the woman off the wall from behind the couch and they left with just the diary, notebook, and picture, leaving everything else as untouched as possible, just in case Phoenix and Benu returned.
“Home?” She asked as they got in the truck to leave. She was anxious to get back so she could dive into the diary and notebook more.
“Not yet. There’s one more place I want to stop tonight.”
They turned out of the dirt driveway back onto the main road and headed into the middle of downtown Hurricane Valley.
The fire station was easy to find, a block off the main highway that ran through town. Three trucks were parked out back.
Ray knocked on the door. A large man that had a few inches on Ray and a mustache that’d have made Hulk Hogan proud answered the door.
“Can I help you?”
By the time Ray explained who he was and that he was looking for Phoenix another man had joined the first at the door. This one just a little over half the size of the first, shaggier hair and a sharp nose.
“What’s this guy want Bo?” His question was directed at the bigger man in the doorway, but his eyes never left Becky Sue. She squirmed.
“He’s looking for Phoenix and I was just about to tell him he’s on administrative leave.”
“What for? How long ago was this?” Ray asked.
“It’s been close to a week I imagine. It put us in a little bit of a bind with covering shifts and all, but just as soon be rid of him.” The one referred to as Bo said.
“He’s being investigated for arson,” the other fire fighter said.
“Arson?”
“Why don’t you two come in where we can talk more comfortably? This could be a long conversation,” Bo opened the door wider to allow them entry.
Inside Bo led them to a room with two couches, a larg
e coffee type table in the middle with a large TV against the wall, and a small kitchen off to the side. One last man was sitting on one of the couches flipping channels, apparently taking advantage of the remote while his companions were absent.
Bo made the introductions, and they shook hands all around before offering them a seat. The man who’d joined Bo at the door was named Wayne. The one taking advantage of the remote was Lonnie.
“Ray’s here looking into Phoenix,” Bo told Lonnie. “You’re the one that first put us onto him why don’t you tell him what got your hair up.”
“Don’t believe a word of what the papers tell you about him. Phoenix ain’t nothing but trouble. He’s got the whole town in an uproar thinking he’s a hero.”
“I don’t read the papers so tell me your side of it,” Ray said.
Lonnie’s eyes slid over to Becky Sue and sized her up. “Phoenix joined the force about five years ago. At first he was all gun-ho and played everything by the rules. Then his sister came back to town after having left for college and things changed shortly after that. The number of fires we got called to increased. Sometimes they were nothing more than an old barn burning in someone’s pasture, or a little grass fire that started near the road. But sometimes they’re bigger.”
“Houses started burning more. Most the time it was when folks weren’t home, but last year we had a family not make it out of one. Phoenix wasn’t on duty that day, but he was on the scene. Said he was passing by and saw the smoke so came to help. We got there just as he ran out of the house, coughing and soot faced. He acted all sad to us and made a big scene. Benu showed up right after. I’m sure he didn’t realize I could hear him, but I overheard him tell his sister that he’d succeeded and there was one less to worry about. Since I didn’t catch all that was said, I didn’t think about it much at the time. I was too busy making sure the house fire didn’t get out of control.”
“Later, I started thinking about what he said and it made me curious. When we started investigating that fire, there was evidence of arson. Now around here most the kids that like to burn stuff don’t target houses, especially houses with folks sleeping in them. Phoenix had been declared a hometown hero for trying to rescue the family before we could get there, but when he found out that it was ruled an arson, he argued vehemently it wasn’t. Some of the evidence was tampered with, but I wasn’t able to prove who done it although I had my suspicions.”
Legend Of The Sparks Page 20