“So that's why you're still here," I said. "Because you're in pain. Unrequited love can hurt like nothing else."
"It's not only that!" he burst. “It’s that I’m innocent! I'm an innocent man and this town was so convinced I was guilty. That I was a murderer! All I'm guilty of is falling in love with someone without a heart."
He stood up and walked over to wall before looking up to the spot the bars once sat, the very place of his death.
"I don't understand," I told him. "You were suffering in this place for so long. Why did it take until the wall was damaged before you were noticed?"
"The wall. The wall!” Clyde threw up his arms like he was sick of explaining things to me like I was a toddler. “I was here long before that idiot crashed into the wall! All that crash did was remind me how long I’d been wallowing in my own pity. And that made me angry! Started a true rage that made me wonder if I was gonna explode. So I started smashing things and scaring the hell out of people.”
I looked over to the original jail wall. His grave lay just a few feet away on the other side. I tried to figure out why that had made him snap more than anything that Li Mei had allegedly done. Why was that the last straw that broke him?
"They just don't have no damn respect," he explained, as though reading my mind. “They've been digging around and doing work on this building and messing with my resting place. They don't give two hoots that there are people buried out there. I'm there!" he raged. "I'm there! Dozens of other people are out there too, yet day in day out they park their fancy mechanical wagons on top of us like we're nothing but dirt. I know most of us were criminals, but we’re still human."
His pale, ghostly eyes burned right through me, leaving me cold and breathless.
"I know you're human," I told him. "I get it. You're a human being, and your life mattered.” Slowly, I moved my hand towards his and lay it on top of his fingers. All I felt was a piercing cold as I patted him. "You deserve more than being tortured down here, don’t you agree?”
“Of course I agree."
Just then there was a soft knock at the door to the evidence room. Clyde stiffened, preparing himself to run.
“It’s only my partner Elena,” I said when she peeked her head into the room. She handed me a small brown booklet and then backed out of the room on her tiptoes.
“That’s your partner?” Clyde said, still casting a suspicious glance at the now empty doorway. “She’s too pretty. How do you get anything done with her around?”
“It gets more challenging with every day, that’s for sure,” I grinned after handing him the book.
“What is this?” he said, looking down at it.
“Do you recognize the writing?” I asked. “It’s Li Mei’s journal. It’s on loan from the Mariposa Historical Society.”
Clyde was quiet for a long time as he read, using his anger and pain to flip each page. Then his eyes grew huge. He looked up at me, clearly stunned.
“She . . . she was going to have my baby?”
“That’s what she wrote.”
“I . . . I never knew. She never told me about any upcoming visits from the stork. All she said was that we had to leave town as soon as possible. I didn’t understand why she was in such a hurry.”
“If she was pregnant, that would definitely give her a reason to act fast.”
Clyde swallowed hard and kept reading the pages.
“Says here she confessed to her father about the crime . . . but that he forced her into an arranged marriage. Some Chinese guy with enough money to pay her way to San Francisco. And here she writes that she’d always regret killing those people during the bank robbery, and regret what was going to happen to me. But I thought . . . I know she told me she’d never see me again. What if . . . what if she came to say goodbye?”
“There’s still a lot we don’t know,” I admitted. “I can’t ask Li Mei to fill in the missing pieces. But you can.”
“Me?” Clyde asked. The poor guy was practically in tears. “How do you figure?”
“She’s been on the other side for over a hundred years,” I told him. “And so is your daughter.”
“My daughter?”
“Yeah,” I nodded. I couldn’t help smiling. “Turns out there’s some history nerds in town who want to see justice for you. My friend Jillian did some genealogy research. Li Mei had a baby girl and went on to live a wonderful life. I’m sure she’ll tell you all about it . . . if you’re ready to move on.”
Clyde’s eyes kept getting wider and wider.
"Moving on where?”
“You know . . . moving into the light?"
He looked confused at me for a second, then said, “You mean like going to Heaven?"
“Something like that."
“Well, I guess me and Li Mei have some catching up to do. But if I leave, you need to promise me that those people buried out there, myself included, are given a proper memorial. And I want the world to know I'm an innocent man."
"I think I can manage to clear your name. Do you want your remains left here, in the jail’s old cemetery?”
“No. I think I’d like to finally visit San Francisco. Better late than never!”
I snorted a small laugh and he smiled wide. There were no tears on his lifeless cheeks.
“Clyde, that’s a great idea. I’ll take you there myself.”
"Thank you," he said. “Alright then. I’m ready to get the hell outta Dodge, as long as I’m leaving here as an innocent man."
"You definitely will."
"So how do I get there? Is there a special stagecoach?”
“Not exactly, but I know someone who can help you.”
"Are you ready?" I asked Patrick.
After my long talk with Clyde, I'd emerged from the evidence locker feeling as though I'd been in there forever. I'd updated the group on what had happened and by the end of it, they were all close to tears. Even impatient Chief Alvarez was wiping his eyes more than usual.
"I'm ready," said Patrick. "I'll do everything I can to help him.”
"It's all yours," I told him, handing him the hag stone. He took it gingerly and pressed it against his eye. Then he took one step into the evidence locker, saw Clyde, and declared, "Oh, goodness! You poor thing. It's okay. I will help you be at peace."
I followed close behind him, the rest of the group staying just outside the doorway.
Now back inside the locker, all I could see was Patrick with the stone pressed to his eye. He was walking slowly to the box where Clyde had been sitting.
"I understand," said Patrick softly. "And I am so, so sorry you had to go through what you did. You're a noble man and you deserve to be at peace.”
The sound of disembodied crying rose up in response and a pang of sadness tore at my gut. I may not have known Clyde very well, but I knew he didn't deserve what he’d been put through. In another place and time, his life could have been so different. He could have been so happy.
"Okay, Clyde," began Patrick. "I want you to stay calm. We’ve all made an oath to honor your wishes. You can go now."
The crying stopped. Suddenly, it felt like all the air had been sucked out of the room. The temperature dropped. The old, musty scent of dry rot filled my nostrils. I started shivering so hard my teeth began to chatter.
"Move towards the light," urged Patrick. "That’s where you’ll find happiness . . . where you’ll be left in peace."
Although I didn't think it was possible, the temperature dropped further until I could see my breath in front of my face. A ringing sounded in my ears as though a huge pressure change was taking place around my head.
In front of me, Patrick started to sway ever so slightly as though he was struggling to stand.
“Keep moving towards the light," he repeated. “You’re almost there, Clyde! You’re free to go. Draw on my energy. I can help guide you."
My teeth chattered harder. I tried to take a deep breath but it felt like my lungs were frozen solid.
A br
illiant flash of white appeared at the corner of my eye. I looked up into the corner of the room just as a light started to pulse. It was so bright my retinas burned, and all I could do was raise my arm to shield my eyes and turn away.
"Move towards the light!" called out Patrick who was swaying even more. He raised his arms out at his sides as though he was struggling to balance. He clenched his jaw shut as the light scorched his face. "That's right! That's it. Move into the light. Yes! Go!"
The ringing in my ears reached a violent crescendo that sent me doubled down onto the floor with my hands clasped over my ears. The light burned all around us, like the sun shining on us through a giant magnifying glass.
I thought I'd never be able to see or hear again. I wondered if I’d ever stop shaking or feel anything but cold. When it became unbearable, and I thought the breath was sucked out of me forever, the ringing in my ears came to a sudden halt.
Opening my eyes, I saw the light had vanished and my breath no longer hung in the air. The air was soft and warm, and smelled fresh and clean. Patrick was on his knees with his head in his hands. Slowly, he peeled his fingers away from his face and looked around in wonder.
"He's gone," he said, a grin pushing up his bright red cheeks. "He's moved on. And I saw her waiting for him.”
“Li Mei was there?” I asked, dumbfounded.
“Yes. And she had a little girl with her.”
29
Elena
The second Logan unlocked the door to his hotel room, we both staggered inside and collapsed onto the bed.
“Holy fucking shit—that was intense," groaned Logan. His voice was muffled from being face-down in the pillow.
"You did so great!” I told him, flopping down at his side and running my fingers through his hair. "You really connected with Clyde. What a sad story."
"It wasn't just me. It was Patrick, too. And Jillian, with all her research. And you, for being there when I needed you the most. And there was this."
Turning to face me, he took the hag stone out his pocket and placed it on the bed between us.
"You're so damn lucky to have one of these," I said, lightly touching it with my fingertips. "They’re super rare."
"I don’t need you to tell me how lucky I am."
Wrapping his arm across my waist, he pulled me a little closer and pressed his lips to mine.
“Don’t you have another room you could do this in?” piped up a very annoyed feline voice. “Voyeurism is so not my thing.”
“Says the guy who washes his ass in front of me every chance he can get!” I howled. Lafayette’s tail twitched and he turned around, giving us an unnecessarily graphic view of his asshole. I turned back to Logan, ignoring his ornery cat.
"I meant it when I said you connected with Clyde. You just understood him so well."
"It was easy for me to see how much he was suffering."
I thought for a long moment as I watched him resting on his pillow. Even though he was sweaty and had been sitting on the floor of the police station, he still smelled an awful lot like coffee cake and apple strudel.
“We should be packing,” I said. “We have to get to the airport soon.”
“Oh! That reminds me . . . ” With a sudden burst of renewed energy, Logan jumped off the bed and stepped over to the closet. “I have a present for you. Close your eyes.”
“Can I guess what it is?”
“Sure, or you could just look. Ta-da!”
I had no idea what to expect when I opened my eyes. Logan wasn’t the type to make over-the-top declarations of his feelings, but when I realized what I was looking at, a strange emotion came over me, and I didn’t know how to respond.
“This is why I asked you about your favorite color the night we went out to dinner. It is your favorite color, right?” he asked, smiling unusually wide.
“It is my favorite color,” I repeated, still registering what emotion deserved to take center stage. There were a lot of them vying for the role.
“I felt like such an dickhead after giving you shit about your old army surplus bag,” he explained, wheeling over a hot pink carry-on luggage bag with the shiniest rhinestone-encrusted spinner wheels. “I never realized that foster kids move so much that they sometimes have to put their stuff in trash bags. I’m glad you told me. I just wanted you to have something nice to pack your stuff in, since we travel so much for work.”
I still didn’t know what emotion was going to come out. A ripple of something cold tore through me, followed by a shudder. Then my breath caught in my chest, and I started crying.
It was not cute.
“Oh no,” he groaned. He looked at me, then back at the luggage. Then he wrinkled his nose and ran a hand through his uncombed hair. “You hate it, don’t you. I’m sorry, Elena. I tried to get you the blingiest, most sparkly hot pink luggage out there. Did I fuck up? I fucked up, didn’t I?”
“No, you—you d-didn’t f-f-fuck up,” I babbled between sobs. “I like it. I r-r-really like it!”
“Are you sure?” Logan was standing a safe distance away from me. “You don’t seem too happy.”
“I’m r-r-really h-happy!” I shouted, and ran into the bathroom for a handful of tissues. After blowing my nose and washing my face, I ventured back out into the main room. Logan was sitting on the edge of the bed with his head in his hands.
“Look, Elena, if you don’t like it I can return it. Just tell me—”
“It’s perfect, okay?” I said, sniffling as I walked over to the luggage and gave it a twirl. The rhinestone wheels spun like it was hovering just above the floor, gliding without a single squeak. I tried the zippers next. They were perfect. All of it was perfect.
“I love it. Thank you, Logan,” I said, trying not to start crying again. "Maybe this is your power.”
"My power?"
“Yeah. As a fae, you’ll have a power that stands out above the others. Maybe your super power is thoughtfulness and empathy?”
“Maybe,” he said, although it was obvious he was unconvinced. I gave my new carry-on bag one more twirl, then climbed onto the bed where Logan was sitting. “I suppose there could be some element of my fae genetics lying buried deep down inside of me."
"All we've got to do is unearth it," I said, running my hand along his broad chest. I wanted to leave a kiss everywhere my hand touched, but I was exhausted and besides . . . we had an audience. “We can find it together. I'll be here to show you the way."
He pulled me tighter and kissed the top of my head. Lafayette made a sound like he was trying to cough up a hairball.
"I'm worried,” Logan admitted.
"There's no reason to be worried. Your power will only make you stronger."
"No, I’m worried about Solana and her dickbag sidekick Sluagh. They're still out there. I'm not even worried about myself. I'm worried about all the people she’ll hurt in the meantime. She needs to be stopped."
"We’ll stop her. Don’t worry. Sluagh, too."
"We thought we stopped her before."
"We will find a way to stop her. I can promise you there's nothing I want more than to stop her spreading her darkness."
He opened his mouth to speak, but his voice was cut off by the sound of my cell phone ringing from inside my pocket.
"It's Alvarez," I said, pulling out my phone. “Hi, Chief."
"Agent Rivera. You'll never guess what?"
"What?"
"The evidence locker. All the shit's been returned!”
"You're kidding me! Seriously?”
"Do I ever kid anybody? Look, after you feds left, I went upstairs and told some of the guys the good news. When I came back down I couldn't believe my fucking eyes. All the evidence is back exactly where we left it. It’s like it’s never been touched. Can you believe that?"
"I've believed in weirder things," I laughed. "I'm happy the stuff's back."
“Yeah, we all are. The trouble we were in because of it all going missing. Although, I'm not exactly going to have
an easy time explaining to my superiors how it all got returned."
“Yeah, damage control’s not really part of our job description,” I said with a laugh as I rolled onto my back to face the ceiling.
“We’ll figure it out. But I wanted to be sure and thank you and your team,” said Alvarez. "You did good. It's been wild having you here."
“Thank you, sir. It's been quite a ride."
“If you’re ever out this way again, be sure and drop by the station.”
“Will do. Have a good night, Chief.”
I hung up and smiled up at the ceiling.
“Sounds like our job is officially over," said Logan.
"For today it is. Who knows what tomorrow will bring?”
“I’m guessing it’ll look like writing reports,” Logan groaned.
"Let's not think about tomorrow. Let's just think about right now."
I felt the warmth of his lips press against my cheeks, then my neck. A moment later, his fingers were gliding across my stomach and flipping open the buttons of my shirt. I turned back to face him and melted against his body.
“Aww, come on, you guys! Stop it!”
“Sorry, Lafayette,” Logan said, and hoisted me off the bed. “We’ll be next door if you need us.”
“Can you at least write down the birds on my life list before you go?” I heard him call out to us as the door swung shut.
But we had better plans.
30
Elena
“Home sweet home,” sighed Logan as we stepped up to our shared cubicle at the office. The Arizona heat had been a welcome vacation from the cold, wet, late February chill that blanketed the DC metro area. We both shuffled in, set down our drinks from the Drip & Sip, and plopped into our chairs. I stared at my computer, knowing exactly what I needed to type in my report. I just had no motivation to do it.
“What a week,” I grumbled. “I could murder someone for a Fanta right now.”
“I should’ve ordered another Americano.”
Catnip & Curses (The Faerie Files Book 2) Page 25