The Returned

by Bishop O'Connell

  He nodded. “I suppose we could go for coffee and beignets. I’ll call Henry and see if he and Hannah want to meet us someplace.”

  “Yeah, that sounds good.” She kissed his lips, mouth closed.

  “Brave woman.”

  “Yes, I am. Now hand me my phone.”

  Edward did, noticing the clock read just after seven. “So much for sleeping in, huh?”

  She laughed. “I’ve been an early riser since Fiona was born. You married me. That’s part of the deal.” She arched an eyebrow. “And if we’re going to spend extra time in bed, we’re not wasting it sleeping.”

  Edward opened his mouth, but he had temporarily lost the ability to form words.

  Caitlin dialed the phone and put it on speaker.

  “Hello,” said Daniel.

  “Morning, Daniel,” she said into the phone. “I didn’t wake you, did I?”

  “Not at all. Fiona and I are just having our coffee.”

  Edward looked from the phone to Caitlin and mouthed, “Did my dad just make a joke?”

  “Just make sure hers is half-caff,” Caitlin joked.

  “Is that Mommy and Daddy?” Caitlin heard Fiona ask.

  “Okay, I’ll tell her,” Daniel said away from the phone. “My granddaughter says to tell you she is having so much fun that she doesn’t have time to talk to you right now.”

  “Taid, you know very well I did not say that,” Fiona said. “If you don’t give me the phone, I’m telling Nana.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Daniel said.

  “Hi, Mommy! Hi, Daddy!” Fiona said.

  “Hi, honey,” Caitlin said.

  “Morning, munchkin,” Edward said.

  “I’m sorry I didn’t talk to you last night,” Caitlin said. “Nana said you were all tired out and asleep.”

  “I was,” Fiona said. “They ran me ragged yesterday.”

  Caitlin and Edward both stifled a laugh.

  “I heard you went to the Children’s Museum.”

  “Yep,” Fiona said. “And Nana even let me invite Carleigh too.”

  “That was really nice of her,” Caitlin said. “Did you say thank you?”

  “Mommy, of course I did,” Fiona said. “We had lunch before going to the museum and ice cream after that. I had vanilla. Then Carleigh and I built our own flying machines, and they really flew. Then we . . . ”

  Edward and Caitlin snuggled close and listened to Fiona recount her adventures.

  “How is New Orleans?” Fiona asked after her in-depth, if-not-always-linear detailing of her day. “Have you got my present yet?”

  They laughed. “No, we haven’t.”

  “You won’t forget, will you?” Fiona asked.

  “Don’t be ridiculous,” Edward said.

  “What are you doing today?” Caitlin asked.

  “Taid is taking me to the aquarium in Boston!”

  “He is? Wow, you love the aquarium!”

  “I know!” Fiona paused for a long moment. “I miss you.”

  “We miss you too,” Edward said and stroked Caitlin’s hair.

  “Well, I have to get ready for the aquarium,” Fiona said.

  “You’d better get hopping, then,” Caitlin said. “Be good. We’ll call you later today.”

  “Okay, I love you.”

  “We love you too,” they both said.

  “Just to be clear,” Daniel said when he got back on the phone, “I really was joking about the coffee. She’s drinking milk.”

  “We know,” Caitlin said. “We’ll have our phones if you need us for anything.”

  “Will do,” Daniel said. “Call anytime.”

  Caitlin hung up.

  “I have no idea who that was,” Edward said. “But that was not my father.”

  Caitlin smiled, but it was a little forced.

  “It sounds like she’s having a good time with the aliens impersonating my parents.”

  “I told you, it’s the magic of a grandchild.”

  “Not to take anything away from Fiona,” he said, “but I’m sticking with the theory they were replaced by aliens.”

  Caitlin laughed and shook her head. “Okay, you call Henry. I’m going to get in the shower.” She slipped out of bed and retrieved a robe from the closet.

  Edward admired the lines and curves of her naked body as she slipped the robe on. “I’d rather go with you.”

  “Better be quick on the call, then,” she said and left the bedroom.

  Edward dialed Henry, who picked up on the third ring.

  “Good morning. I’m surprised to be hearing from you so early,” he said in a wry tone.

  Edward was about to retort, but he heard the shower turn on. “Are you and Hannah up for coffee and beignets?”

  “That’s Hannah’s weakness,” Henry said.

  “Great, an hour and a half at Café Du Monde, then?”

  “Sure, that sounds like a plan—”

  “See you then,” Edward said, hung up the phone, and moved quickly to the bathroom.

  “We’re going to be a little late,” Edward said into the phone as he and Caitlin made their way down Royal Street. “We should be there in about fifteen minutes or so.” Edward smiled watching Caitlin look through the windows of the countless antiques shops. “See you soon.”

  Edward let out a contented sigh. Everything felt perfect. The weather was warm but not hot, he was on his honeymoon with his beautiful wife, and Fiona was even having a good time without them. Then something tugged at the edge of his mind.

  He stopped and looked around.

  “What is it?” Caitlin asked, scanning the area too.

  After a moment, he shook his head. “Nothing, sorry.” He made to resume walking, but Caitlin held fast.

  “Tell me.”

  He shrugged. “I just had a feeling like we were being watched.”

  Caitlin looked around more intently this time.

  “It was just for a second,” he said. “I was probably just imagining it.”

  “You sure?”

  He nodded. “Positive. Come on.”

  They resumed their walking, and Edward tried to ignore the stab of guilt when he looked at Caitlin. She’d slipped from carefree enjoyment to suspiciously observant.

  Maybe seeing Henry and Hannah would put it out of her mind.

  He glanced over his shoulder.

  And out of his mind too.

  “Hey, you,” said a pretty woman about Edward’s age with chestnut-colored hair and a big smile. Next to her sat Henry, whom Caitlin had called a young Don Cheadle. Edward didn’t really see it.

  When Caitlin stepped close enough, Hannah threw her arms around Caitlin, and they hugged like old friends.

  Henry and Edward shook hands and exchanged very manly one-armed hugs.

  “It’s so good to see y’all,” Hannah said.

  “You too,” Caitlin said.

  “Why don’t you two catch up? I’ll go get us our coffee,” Edward said to Caitlin, then turned to Henry and Hannah. “You want anything?”

  “An order of beignets,” Hannah said.

  Henry gave her a sidelong glance, and she wiped some powdered sugar from her lips.

  “Yes, we had an order already,” she said. “Would you like to comment on that fact?”

  “No, ma’am, I would not,” Henry said. “I was just going to ask for an order of my own.”

  Edward laughed and went to the walk-up window. A few minutes later, he set down the two incredibly hot cups of café au lait and a triple order of light, delicious fried dough. After sitting down, he noticed Hannah’s cup.

  “Community Coffee?” he asked her.

  “I thought the coffee here was famous,” Caitlin said.

  “Sure, for tourists,” she said.

  Henry laughed.

  “This is what locals drink,” Hannah said, then pointed to the cups Edward brought. “We save that chicory stuff for you Yankees who don’t know any better.”

  Everyone laughed, then slipped into
easy small talk: how nice the wedding was, embarrassing college stories, and what to see in New Orleans. After an hour or so, Hannah looked down at her phone.

  “Oh, damn,” she said. “I’ve got to go.”

  “Now?” asked Caitlin. “But it’s Saturday.”

  “Life of a professor,” Hannah said.

  “Professor, hell,” Henry said. “You didn’t have a tenth of these meetings before you became the department head.”

  Hannah looked from Edward to Henry. “Yes, because doctors have such reasonable hours.”

  “This is the point in the conversation where you stop talking,” Caitlin said through a grin.

  Henry nodded. “And I wish my wife a good day and kiss her good-bye.” He did just that.

  “We’ll do dinner sometime this week,” Hannah said to Caitlin. “Promise.”

  “Absolutely,” Caitlin said.

  Hannah gave her good-bye hugs and cheek kisses, then darted off to her car.

  “I really like her,” Caitlin said.

  “She is something special,” Henry said.

  The casual conversation resumed, but ten minutes later, Henry glanced down at his phone.

  “Did Hannah forget something?” Edward asked and reached to eat the last beignet.

  Caitlin snatched it before he could.

  “Huh?” Henry looked up. “No, it’s a friend of mine,” he said, clearly distracted as he read the text. “I’ve been offering advice and consults on some—” He shook his head. “No, I’m not ruining your honeymoon with this business. We’re not talking shop.”

  Caitlin snorted. “Please. It’s not like any of us have regular jobs. It’s the talking about it that keeps us sane.”

  Henry let out a long sigh. “In this case, I think talking about it would have the opposite effect.”

  Caitlin and Edward exchanged a glance.

  “Well, that’s not intriguing at all,” Edward said.

  “No kidding,” Caitlin agreed. “You’ve really got to work on your dissuasion skills.”

  Henry shook his head. “No way, I am not sharing this weirdness with you.”

  “I see what you mean,” Edward said to Caitlin but still looking at Henry. “With every word, he just makes it sound more and more interesting.”

  “You really should just spill it,” Caitlin said. “The sooner you give in, the better it’ll be for you.”

  “Resistance is futile and all that?” Henry asked.

  “Spill it, Henry,” Caitlin said with a grin.

  He took a sip of coffee. “Okay, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

  “Again, that isn’t helping.” Edward said.

  “You remember after medical school I went into forensic pathology,” Henry said.

  “You were an ME?” Caitlin asked.

  “No,” Henry said. “I just went through the residency and board certifications. After that I was hired on with a private consulting firm.”

  “Why’d you leave?” Caitlin asked.

  “Honestly, money is better as a practicing MD,” Henry said. “And I like connecting with patients. But my certification doesn’t expire for another three years, so I sometimes consult with the Orleans parish coroner. He’s an old friend. It’s nothing exciting, but occasionally he wants a second opinion or needs something peer reviewed. If it’s serious, he usually outsources to someone he doesn’t have a friendship with.”

  “Makes sense,” Edward said. “Isn’t the city under stricter review since Katrina?”

  Henry nodded. “That’s one of the reasons he calls on me. Lab work has to go through the FBI, and autopsy records have to be randomly checked by outside reviewers. He was elected a couple of months ago, and he wants to show he takes the job, and the city’s history, seriously. I check his reports sometimes, make sure he hasn’t missed anything that would make him look bad.” Henry lifted his hands. “Nothing untoward, you understand. But everyone makes mistakes, and he can’t afford any.”

  “We got it,” Caitlin said. “He’s a good guy, doesn’t cover things up, and you don’t help him cover things up. Tell me this isn’t the story.”

  Henry went to take another drink of his coffee, only to find that it was empty.

  Edward leaned forward. “Okay, all fun aside, something is really bothering you. What is it?”

  “Two weeks ago, a body came into the morgue,” Henry said, eyes on the table. “Male in his early twenties, multiple gunshot wounds, found at the scene of a terrible shoot-out at a known gang house.” Henry began fiddling with the empty cup. “Terrible mess, dozens of victims, but not exactly unheard of in this city.”

  “But,” Caitlin prompted.

  “But,” Henry said, “when performing the autopsy, John, the coroner, noticed the healed scars of a Y incision.”

  “What?” Edward asked.

  Henry nodded. “Not the kind of incision you’d see outside of an autopsy. At first he didn’t recognize it.” Henry shrugged. “It’s not like you ever really see those after they’ve healed.”

  “But this one was?” Caitlin asked. “Was it some kind of scarification?”

  “That was the theory,” Henry said. “But after running the ID, it turned out that young man had come through the morgue once already, a couple of months before.”

  Edward opened his mouth.

  “Yes, he checked the fingerprints,” Henry said. “And had them rechecked, twice. Then he ran the DNA, both from this case and the previous. Then he had those checked twice. All the results confirmed it was the same person.”

  “So they made a mistake the first time,” Edward said. “Misidentified the body. It’s not a nice thought, but it does happen sometimes.”

  Henry nodded. “It surely does. But when John reopened the boy, it just compounded the weirdness. According to the previous records, the victim had been a heavy smoker and drug user.” He looked up at them. “But all the organs were in perfect health. And I don’t mean normal, healthy organs. I mean absolutely perfect, like a newborn’s. They showed almost no sign of aging.”

  “How is that possible?” Edward asked.

  “That’s the question, isn’t it?” Henry asked. “I checked all his work, and it was spot-on.”

  “So what was the text?” Caitlin asked.

  Henry looked at his phone. “John decided to do some digging. And it turns out this isn’t a solitary event.”

  “Wait,” Caitlin said. “You’re saying you’ve had other repeat customers to the morgue?”

  Henry nodded. “John found that over the last six months, at least five other bodies have come through that morgue twice. All of them had the same Y-incision scar, all had the same perfect organs, and all of them were known gang members who died violently.” His fingers tapped the table. “It was considered an odd side note, but it also turns out they all died in shoot-outs with their own gang.”

  “How common is that?” Caitlin asked.

  “Sometimes someone gets eager climbing the ladder or they change sides and are sent to their old gang to prove their loyalty.” He shook his head. “But the only reported incidents of it in the last six months involved these young men.” He pointed to his phone. “That was the text. He’d gone and talked with the police and verified those facts after reviewing the case histories.”

  Caitlin and Edward exchanged a look, and both thought the same thing: magic.

  “What was that?” Henry asked, eyes narrowed.

  “What?” Edward and Caitlin both asked at the same time.

  “That look?”

  They glanced at each other again. “Nothing,” they both said again.

  “Okay, I fessed up,” Henry said. “Your turn.”

  “What are you talking about?” Edward said.

  “First of all,” Henry said, “I know you, and you’re a terrible liar. Second, I just told you about a series of bodies that went to the morgue, were autopsied and released to their families, only to come back with a whole set of brand-new organs.” He leaned forward. �
�Any other person hearing that would’ve called me a liar or suggested I was being duped. You two didn’t bat an eye.”

  Edward opened his mouth to speak, then closed it.

  Caitlin did the same, then looked at Edward.

  “Tell you what,” Henry said, getting to his feet. “I’m going to get something fresh to drink. You two talk amongst yourselves and get your story straight. When I get back though, I expect some sort of answer.”

  “I thought you hated the coffee here,” Caitlin said.

  “I do,” Henry said. “I’m getting a Coke. Would you like something?”

  Caitlin shook her head, and Henry walked away.

  “He’s talking about freaking zombies,” Caitlin said as soon as Henry was out of earshot. “Real-life zombies!”

  Edward shrugged. “We are in New Orleans—”

  “Don’t make a joke right now,” Caitlin said.

  “Sorry.” Edward looked to Henry placing his order at the window. “So, you think he’s telling the truth? The bodies really are coming back to life, only to be killed again?”

  “You tell me,” Caitlin said. “Can magic do something like that?”

  “I have no idea. It’s not exactly something I researched.” He shrugged. “But after what Dante said about Wraith and some of the things she could do, I’d be inclined to say yes.”

  “Who could do something like that?”

  “Not a clue.” He watched Henry pace in front of the counter. “The question is, what do we tell him?”

  “You’re kidding, right?” Caitlin asked. “He’s your best friend. We tell him everything. There’s no living a happy ignorant life now, and he deserves to know the truth.”

  Edward opened his mouth.

  “As someone who was in a very similar situation not too long ago,” Caitlin said, “there’s no easy way to tell him, but he deserves the truth.”

  “Truth about what?” Henry asked, then sat down and looked at them expectantly. “Well?”

  Caitlin looked at Edward and nodded.

  “Okay, here goes,” Edward said. “Do you remember the news reports about the terrorist attack in Seattle last year?”

  CHAPTER SIX

  Wraith woke up and immediately regretted it. Her safe house was basically a brick box with no windows. However, she’d used magic to entangle the roof of the building to the ceiling in her room. The effect meant the room lit up with natural light when the sun rose. A second spell stored excess light that was used at night via a dummy light switch. And now sunlight shone on her like God’s flashlight.