Silt
Denver Cereal, Volume Eight
Claudia Hall Christian
Cook Street Publishing
Denver, CO
Also by
Claudia Hall Christian
StoriesbyClaudia.com
The Denver Cereal
The Denver Cereal
Celia’s Puppies
Cascade
Cimarron
Black Forest
Fairplay
Gold Hill
Silt
Alex the Fey Thrillers
The Fey
Learning to Stand
Who I am
Lean on Me
In the Grey
The Queen of Cool
The Queen of Cool
Seth and Ava Mysteries
Tax Assassin
Originally published at DenverCereal.com
September, 2012—March, 2013
copyright © Claudia Hall Christian
Licensed under the Creative Commons License:
Attribution–NonCommercial–Share Alike 3.0
Smashwords Edition Licensing Notes:
Thank you for purchasing this eBook and welcome to Denver Cereal! This book may be reproduced, copied and distributed for non-commercial purposes, provided the book remains in its complete original form. If you enjoyed this book, please return to Smashwords.com to discover other works by Claudia Hall Christian. Thank you for your support
ISBN (13 digits) 978-1-938057-12-0 (digital)
Library of Congress available on request (print)
PUBLISHER’S NOTE:
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
First edition © June, 2013
Cook Street Publishing
PO Box 18217
Denver, CO 80218
For all of you who risk yourselves in public and private ways
to fight for a better world.
We salute you.
What’s happened so Far
Denver Cereal is an addicting, sweet and crunchy serial fiction filled with the tension, drama, and love of urban life.
The Denver Cereal
In the Denver Cereal, we meet Jillian Roper when she pulls on her thigh high leather boots and crashes her abusive ex-husband Trevor’s engagement party. At the party, she meets her dream man, Jacob Marlowe. Jill and Jacob begin a crash course through grave injury and illness, to find love. Along the way, we meet Jacob’s movie star sister, Valerie, and learn of her struggles to have her own dreams and share a life with her husband Mike. Jill’s best friends, Sandy, Heather, and Tanesha, begin new courses in their life that take them to confront their greatest fears and deepest longings.
Celia’s Puppies, Denver Cereal, Volume 2
Jacob and Valerie’s mother, Celia, had a habit of helping lost people, called Celia’s Puppies. In this second Volume of the Denver Cereal, Celia’s puppies come to the forefront. We meet Jacob’s noble step-sister Honey, we learn more about Jacob’s ‘cousin’ Blane, and, via Oprah Winfrey, Valerie learns of Mike’s terrifying time away from her. Trevor and his fiancé attempt to kidnap Jill’s daughter Katy and her best friend Paddie at a holiday party. The fiancé all but kills Honey. She is saved by her childhood sweetheart MJ and they reorient their lives and love. Jill and Jacob dance around getting married and, in the very end, they marry in a beautiful ceremony in the Castle Chapel.
Cascade, Denver Cereal, Volume 3
Peace comes to Denver Cereal, but demons from the past refuse to stay in the past. We learn of Sandy’s horrific childhood and her boyfriend Aden responds with violence. His violent act ends with Sandy getting shot by her pedophile father and Aden lands in jail. Jill, her mother, and father tell the story that was never to be told and her family begins to heal. With the help of Heather, now his wife, Blane confronts his past loves and battles Hepatitis C. Beloved Delphie must confront a demon from her past. When he arrives to kill her and everyone else, he meets what he could never expect. Delphie’s family battles for her. In the end, Delphie survives a life
Cimarron, Denver Cereal, Volume 4
In Cimarron, the characters of Denver Cereal grapple with the consequences of their actions to restart their lives. Aden heals and continues his jail sentence. Delphie has to come to terms with almost dying to start her life again. Valerie launches herself as a movie actress while Mike’s painting career flourishes. Jill and Jacob face their first true relationship challenge. Sandy holds everything together only to become gravely ill herself. Her child, Rachel, is born 2 months early. They fight their way through the problems to come together as a family. And just in time! Six pairs of human remains under the Castle Chapel draw everyone into a dark murder mystery.
What’s happened so Far
Black Forest, Denver Cereal, Volume 5
The Denver Cereal takes off into the wild, action packed pursuit of the child killer, Saint Jude. Danger lurks and evil’s host threatens to destroy the lives of those we live. Friends are murdered and even with Jacob and Delphie’s abilities, Saint Jude continues to rampage against the children of the city and even tries to steal Rachel. When all hope is lost, the bond between the women and children triumph over the serial killer and the evil that drives him.
Fairplay, Denver Cereal, Volume 6
Why is life so unfair? Charlie’s question permeates the Denver Cereal as his mother rejects her children to embrace her greed; Seth’s greatest love falls to her death; Jill must fight to protect her own children while her in-laws attempt to take Katy; Blane’s health deteriorates; and a true love, broken by betrayal, reignites for Tanesha. Through their individual losses, the friends and family embrace the wealth and power available within their circle. In the end, Charlie’s pursuit of life’s fairness carries the Denver Cereal back into the grace and bounty of present life.
Gold Hill, Denver Cereal, Volume 6
Tanesha’s plans are shaken when true love returns with a truck load of baggage in the form of Jeraine Wilson. A world famous pop star and ladies’ man, Jeraine pits his self-indulgence against his love for Tanesha. The sparks from their struggle ignites a firestorm that illuminates their private pain and burns away the injustice in Tanesha’s past. Tension mounts as Tanesha’s mother, the beautiful Yvonne, tried to break free from her life as a sex slave to return to Tanesha’s father, Rodney. With the Denver Cereal characters meddling in the background, a powerful love story unfolds and an unbroken vow is reforged. In the end, the sediment of the past is swept away to reveal the truth that love is more precious than gold.
Confused? Download the Denver Cereal, Volume 1 from Smashwords, and everywhere eBooks are sold. You’ll find all Denver Cereal books in every electronic format and paperback at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Smashwords, iBookstore, and your local independent bookseller.
Table of Contents
Chapter 222 – Perfect
Chapter 223 – Harvest
Chapter 224 – Kiss
Chapter 225 - Get out of here
Chapter226 – Pan
Chapter 227 – Belong
Chapter 228 – If you do this thing
Chapter 229 – Vision
Chapter 230 – Huge risk
Chapter 231 – Tea
Chapter 232 – It begins
Chapter 233 – Problem
Chapter 234 – Down by the river
Chapter 235 – Trouble
Chapter 236 – Something new
Chapter 237 – No drama
Chapter 238 – Family problems
Chapter 239 – Meeting of the minds
Chapter 240 – Sons
Chapter 2
41 – Crux
Chapter 242 – Gold heart
Chapter 243 – Honest life
Chapter 244 – Your truth
Chapter 245 – In the air
Chapter 246 – In the park
Chapter 247 – Enough
Chapter 248 – Scared kids
Chapter Two Hundred and Twenty-Two
Perfect
Saturday morning—5:15 a.m.
Somewhere over the United States
A little woozy from the airline champagne, Yvonne turned to look at Rodney. His airline blanket was pulled up to his chin and his eyes were closed. She was about to touch him to see if he was awake when he opened his eyes.
“You okay?” he asked.
She nodded.
“What’s up?” Rodney asked.
“I wondered if you were serious about being naked all week,” Yvonne said. His eyes scanned her face. When he didn’t say anything, she continued, “It just doesn’t seem like you.”
“How so? I’ve always had an intense desire for you, woman.”
“I would expect you to have a big plan about how we’re going to this museum and that one,” Yvonne smiled. “We have to, just have to, see this other thing. I guess, if I were to imagine you in Paris, I wouldn’t imagine you spending the whole time in bed. Some quality time, sure. Not all week. But then I don’t know. Maybe you go to Paris every weekend.”
Rodney laughed.
“Do you go to Paris every weekend?” Yvonne asked.
“No,” Rodney said. “In the summer, I work on Saturdays. In the winter, I split my time between Cañon City, Limon and Buena Vista prisons to mentor young men on Saturdays.”
“You just go to Paris on Sundays?” Yvonne smiled.
“I spend my Sundays at church and with my daughter,” Rodney said. “Your mother fixes an afternoon meal. Bumpy and Dionne come. Miss T is there when she can. It’s nice, reminds me that I’m free.”
“Oh.” Yvonne looked straight ahead.
“You’re saying you don’t want to be naked all week?” Rodney smiled and Yvonne turned her head to look at him. “Well, what do you think?”
“I think some naked time is definitely in order,” Yvonne said. “But I want to see everything and eat all that delicious French cooking.”
“Now that you mentioned it.” Rodney smiled and took out his phone.
“You can’t use that,” Yvonne said. “The lady said that when we took off!”
Rodney smiled.
“What?” Yvonne asked.
“You remembered,” Rodney said.
“I did!” Yvonne beamed.
“The phone’s on airplane mode.” Rodney showed her the setting and she nodded. “I was going to show you.”
He passed the phone to her. There was a map with detailed notes about what to see at each location. He pressed a button, which opened a spreadsheet with a schedule of everything he wanted to see.
“That’s my Rodney,” Yvonne said. “What’s this and this?”
She pointed to timeslots on the itinerary.
“Your friend Claire,” Rodney said. “The woman who made your pretty dresses?”
“I remember her.” Yvonne gave him a bright smile.
“Just checking,” Rodney said. “I asked if she could help get appointments to buy you some clothes. She set up appointments for the both of us. She said that either she or her son Frederec would come with us to help.”
Yvonne gave a happy clap.
“Perfect?” He raised his eyebrows. She leaned over and kissed him.
“Thank you,” she said.
He smiled.
“Can I ask you a question?” Yvonne asked.
“Anything,” Rodney asked.
“It’s kind of a . . .”
“Just ask.”
“Was the spider in the car next to your car? You know in the parking lot of the 7-11?”
Rodney became very still. His eyes reviewed her face.
“The car was a US Government Fleet car,” Rodney said. “There was a guy who was definitely some kind of cop watching us, and the car. He wasn’t wearing Kevlar, but he had a Glock 22 or 23 in a side holster like the Marshal’s carry.”
“Smelled like him.” Yvonne gave a little shiver. “I made myself not look.”
“The windows of the car were dark tinted and looked like they were bullet proof,” Rodney said. “The way it was rocking and not moving, I’d say it was an armored car.”
“You noticed all of that,” Yvonne said.
Rodney nodded.
“Was he in there?” Yvonne asked.
“I honestly don’t know,” Rodney said. “If he was, it wasn’t because I asked for him to be there.”
“Then who?”
“Seth, maybe,” Rodney said. “Your handsome Homeland Security agent, Senator Hargreaves . . .”
“You know some important people now,” Yvonne said.
“I met most of them through you,” Rodney smiled. “What if the spider was there in that car?”
“Well . . .” Yvonne sighed. “It didn’t seem like he could get out.”
“I don’t think he can get out,” Rodney said. “He’s in witness protection. That’s kind of like being in prison. He can’t go where he wants to, can’t see who he wants to; he has to work a real job . . .”
“What about his family?” Yvonne looked horrified. “That lovely girl I met today?”
“He traded everything to not to go to prison,” Rodney said.
“Everything?”
“All his money, his secrets, everything,” Rodney said.
“I don’t believe it,” Yvonne said.
“Everything,” Rodney said. “Bumpy said that his daughters just found out. They’re quite distressed. The youngest was in college. She’ll have to drop out. Seth’s fiancé lost her job. So did her older sister.”
“And he traded it all just to not go to prison?”
Rodney looked away from Yvonne.
“He traded it all for me,” Yvonne whispered. “Then why am I here? Why didn’t I have to go with him?”
“Because of your book,” Rodney said. “Because you are not without friends. But mostly because the world is filled with decent people who used this opportunity to free you.”
“So I go free,” Yvonne said.
“And he’s locked up like you were,” Rodney said.
“I’m sorry about his family, especially his children,” Yvonne said.
“He’s a monster,” Rodney said. “Only an evil man would do such a thing to his family. But look at what he did to you? To us?”
“Why do you think he was there in the parking lot?” Yvonne asked.
“I don’t know,” Rodney said.
“Any guesses?”
“To show him what he lost,” Rodney said.
“Me?”
“Everything he stole was returned to where it belonged,” Rodney said. “There’s some justice in that.”
Yvonne smiled and leaned back against her seat.
“What?”
“He never stole my heart.”
Rodney smiled.
“That’s what he really wanted,” Yvonne said. “But he never could have it.”
Rodney couldn’t think of anything to say. He just smiled.
“Do I really get all new clothes?” Yvonne asked.
“Do you have any clothes?”
“No,” Yvonne said. “But I really get all new clothes?”
“We’ll have fun,” Rodney said. “Do you want to go to all these boring old museums with me?”
“I’m never bored when I’m with you,” Yvonne said.
Rodney smiled. Yvonne shut her eyes.
“Are you going to sleep?” Rodney asked.
“If I sleep, we’ll get there sooner,” Yvonne said.
Smiling at her logic, he closed his eyes. Yvonne opened her eyes to look at him again. He opened his eyes and reached for her hand. For a moment, their eyes held. She smiled and he kissed her hand.
>
“Sleep?” he asked.
“Sleep.”
~~~~~~~~
Saturday morning—5:15 a.m.
Denver, CO
Heather heard a sound and sat up in bed. She’d been sleeping with one ear open for Blane to come home. But this wasn’t Blane.
After the ceremony, she’d taken Mack and Tink home. While Mack was used to sleeping at the Castle, Tink needed her medication and some real rest. Heather had to be super good and try to keep her on her schedule if they were going to be her forever family. So they came home, had a snack, and went to bed.
Heather checked the crib in their room. Mack was sound asleep with his head on his favorite stuffed giraffe and his thumb was just to the side of his mouth. She put her hand on him to see if he was warm or sick. He seemed fine. She went out of her bedroom and into the hall.
She heard a noise from the room across the hall where Tink was sleeping. Having had a nosy, invasive mother, Heather debated with herself as to whether she should look in. She went back in her room to get her phone. Normally, she would just call Blane. They lived their life together and made every decision together. But tonight, Blane was with Honey, and Honey really needed him.
Which one of her girls was awake? Tanesha had left right before they did because she had to study. Jill was becoming a continent on her own. She was surely asleep. She heard the noise again. Unable to stop herself, she jogged across the hall and opened the door.
“Tink?” Heather leaned in the door.
The girl was lying diagonally across the Queen sized bed. Her body jerked and she was making a low moaning noise. Her fist jerked as if she was trying to hit someone.
Heather blinked. She’d seen this before. She crept out of the bedroom.
In the hallway, she dialed Sandy and waited impatiently while the phone rang.
Silt, Denver Cereal Volume 8 Page 1