by Pandora Pine
“Tony was more than happy to let me leave the house with Jacobson’s hair. It shouldn’t be a problem to channel him now that I have something that belongs to him.” Tennyson sounded a bit excited.
“NO!” Ronan shouted. This couldn’t be happening. Tennyson could not channel someone as dangerous as Rod Jacobson by himself. Ronan needed to do something.
“Hey, did you see that?” Ten asked.
“See what?” Truman replied.
“Ronan fluttered his eyes. I swear to God.” Ten pressed a kiss to Ronan’s cheek. “That’s it, Ronan. Wake up. I’m right here waiting for you.”
“No!” Ronan whispered with all the force he could muster. He was fighting with eyelids that were refusing to budge, but incredibly his voice seemed to be working. “No!” he whispered again.
“You’re safe, Ronan. No one else can hurt you. You’re in the hospital. Truman’s here too,” Tennyson said as he lightly stroked Ronan’s dirty-blond hair.
“Ten, the doctor told us that coma patients can hear what we’re saying. What if Ronan heard you talking about channeling Rod Jacobson and he’s telling you not to do it?”
“Is that it, babe? Are you telling me not to channel Jacobson?”
Thank Jesus for Truman. “Yes!” Ronan whispered. He was happy to be back in the land of the living, but his chest hurt like hell and he felt like he could drink a gallon of water.
“I’m so glad you’re awake.” Ten bent over to kiss Ronan’s chapped lips.
Ronan tried his best to return the kiss, but his own lips barely twitched. “Don’t read,” he whispered, with his last tiny bit of his strength, praying Tennyson got the message.
34
Tennyson
It had been an exhausting week. Tennyson spent his days going back and forth between the hospital and his house, where he now had two permanent guests. Fitzgibbon and Greeley had moved in for what felt like was going to be forever. Ten didn’t mind though. With Ronan gone, he was grateful for the company.
Ronan was getting a little bit stronger each day, but still wasn’t able to string together more than a few sentences at a time. Fitzgibbon didn’t want to question him about the shooting until he was sure what Ronan was able to tell him would be something that would hold up in court.
The most frustrating part of all of this was that the lab still hadn’t sent any results back on the guns that Fitzgibbon had collected from the Abruzzi house over a week ago. Tennyson was never really an anxious person, but he was feeling more and more edgy with each day that passed and he was unable to speak with the spirit of Rod Jacobson.
Carson had agreed with Ronan that it was too dangerous to channel Rod Jacobson without Ronan being back at full strength. Ten thought that was just a convenient excuse though. According to Ronan’s doctors, it would be months until Ronan would be back to one hundred percent again.
“Hey, babe.” Ronan was grinning at him from his hospital bed.
“Back at you.” Tennyson leaned over the bed and kissed Ronan. He was pleasantly surprised when Ronan was able to kiss him back. “Well, there’s an improvement.”
“Feeling better today.” Ronan’s eyes were brighter and more alert than they’d been so far. He also had more color in his cheeks.
“The doctor was here a little bit ago. He was talking about releasing you from the ICU as soon as tomorrow. Apparently, you’re some kind of Superman.”
Ronan smiled. “Any news on the guns?”
Tennyson’s smile faded. “Not yet, which means Fitzgibbon still can’t arrest Mark Abruzzi.”
Ronan nodded. “Fitzgibbon and Greeley?”
“They’re living with us.”
Ronan’s mouth dropped open in obvious surprise.
Ten kissed the back of his hand. “I know, right? We went from cozy love nest to a weird version of The Golden Girls. Since you’re flat on your back, I guess that makes you Blanche.”
Ronan barked out a quick laugh and then winced in pain. “Shit, I didn’t think that would hurt so much.”
“According to your doctor, all of the fun things are going to hurt. Talking, laughing, walking, sex.”
“Christ, what does it say that I haven’t even thought about sex?” Ronan winked at Ten.
“That you’re a human being who had three bullets fired into his chest not even two weeks ago.”
Ronan frowned.
“Ronan, do you remember our chat?” Ten asked carefully.
“Our coma chat?” Ronan grinned.
Ten nodded. “I’ve never spoken to someone in a coma before. I wasn’t sure it could be done. I was less sure if you would remember it when you woke up.”
“Here’s another little tidbit for when you write me up in some paranormal journal. I could hear everything that was going on around me when I was in my coma too. All the letters and cards that Carson and Truman read to me, the way the doctors and nurses shamelessly flirt with each other, the four thousand times you told me you loved me.” Ronan smiled.
“That was the God’s honest truth.” Ten shook his head. He could feel his emotions building again. “I’ve never been more scared in my life, Ronan. You almost made me a widow before you’d made me your husband.”
Ronan squeezed their joined hands. “Come hell or highwater, you’re marrying me, Nostradamus. I asked. You said yes. That’s the end of the discussion. Don’t think for a second that three small pieces of lead are gonna stop me from making you Tennyson Grimm-O’Mara.”
“You want me to take your name?” Ten had no idea Ronan was even thinking of that.
Ronan nodded. “Nothing would make me prouder.”
“Oh, Jesus!” Fitzgibbon made gagging sounds. “I liked it better when he was in the coma and I didn’t have to listen to this sentimental shit.”
“I’ll remind you of this day when you and Jace Lincoln are acting like this together.”
Fitzgibbon rolled his eyes. “From your lips to God’s ears. He’s been on lockdown in his apartment since Tennyson told me the story about Rod Jacobson’s kill list. And besides, it’s not like I’m gonna get any action living in your spare bedroom.”
“I don’t recall inviting you to move in, Fitzgibbon.” Ronan grinned.
“Oh, so that’s how it’s going to be! I move in to protect your family and this is the thanks I get?”
“My family?”
“Your husband-to-be and your dog. That poor little thing.” Fitzgibbon shook his head. “Someone needs to tell Dixie you aren’t dead. She walks around the house crying for you.”
Ronan turned to Tennyson. “Is that true?”
Ten nodded. The dog was inconsolable. “She’s lost without you, Ronan. She barely eats or sleeps. She just sits near the door waiting for you to come home.”
“Is it possible to smuggle her in here for one of those, what do you call it?” Ronan closed his eyes for a minute.
Tennyson was starting to wonder if Ronan had fallen asleep.
“Conjugal visits!” Ronan said, in what sounded like a eureka moment for him.
Fitzgibbon snorted. “Conjugal visits are for prisoners who want to get it on with their spouse or significant other.”
“I need me some lovin’, Cap. It’s obvious Dixie, my little pixie, does too. Make it happen.” Ronan waved a hand weakly in the air.
“Is he always that bossy?” Fitzgibbon asked turning to look at Tennyson.
“He thinks now that he’s been shot, we won’t be able to refuse him anything.”
Ronan yawned. “Stop… Reading…My…Mind…Nostradamus.” He let out a small snore.
“Damn,” Fitzgibbon shook his head. “I’ve got news for both of you and I was hoping he’d be able to tell us what happened the day he was shot.”
“I’m awake,” Ronan said stubbornly. “I’m just resting my eyes. Did you get Dixie yet?”
“Ronan, you literally slept for thirty seconds. Neither one of us has moved. And besides, I don’t think you can bring a dog into the ICU.”
“The nurses love me. They’ll love Dixie too.” Ronan sounded so sure of himself.
Tennyson had no doubt they would love Dixie. What Ten knew they wouldn’t love was a dog in the ICU. He’d figure out a way to Facetime later tonight when Carson was here. He’d put Dixie on the screen for Ronan to see and they’d go from there. “Kevin what were you saying about having news for us?”
“I got the lab results back from the two guns we collected from the Abruzzi house.” Kevin reached into his back pocket and pulled out a piece of paper folded into fours.
“How was it working with the captain?” Ronan asked with a grin.
“It was fine. We had a good time working together, right Cap?” Ten asked.
“It’s like being on vacation,” Fitzgibbon agreed.
“Like being on vacation?” Ronan frowned.
“Fitzgibbon is good to work with. He didn’t make fun of me once. Or threaten to make me ride in the back seat if I got a grain of dirt in his SUV. Oh, and I got to pick the radio station.”
Fitzgibbon snorted and looked like he was trying hard not to laugh.
Ronan raised a silent eyebrow. “Well, maybe you should be Kevin’s partner from now on.”
“Ronan…” Tennyson started. He should have known Ronan was going to react like this.
“No, that’s fine. I’m just lying here with three bullet holes in my chest, but I’m thrilled the two of you turned into Thelma and Louise while I languished in my coma.” Ronan pouted.
“Come on, Sleeping Beauty. We could hardly wait for you to wake the hell up before we served that search warrant. Now could we?” Fitzgibbon shot a frown equal to Ronan’s own right back at him.
Ronan didn’t answer.
Tennyson sighed. “No partner is as good as you, Ronan. I promise Kevin and I didn’t take one stoplight selfie and we didn’t sing any Lady Gaga.”
“Lady Gaga?” Kevin mouthed silently.
Tennyson shrugged. “And we definitely didn’t get a victory blizzard at the Dairy Queen.”
“Christ!” Fitzgibbon burst out laughing. “I didn’t realize a victory queen was even on the table.”
“That’s a victory blizzard, Kevin.” Tennyson rolled his eyes. “Fitzgibbon and I just teamed up because you’re on the bench, Ronan. No one could ever be as good of a partner as you, grumpy cat.”
“There! Was that so hard?” Ronan grinned.
“Jesus Christ, you two! I feel like the theme music to Days of Our Lives should start playing any second now. So, before that happens, can we just get on with the briefing?”
“Just as long as it’s brief. I’m due for a nap.” Ronan winked at Tennyson.
“Do you think they have a spare bed in the psych ward for the night?” Kevin asked no one in particular.
“What did the lab say about the guns?” Ten asked hoping to get the captain back on point. He could see Ronan was fading fast.
“As Ten suspected, there were no fingerprints or DNA belonging to Mark Abruzzi on either of the guns or the ammunition. Same goes for the shell casings recovered at the scene. We did find Tony’s DNA and fingerprints on the bullets loaded into the clip of his gun and Ronan’s DNA and fingerprints on the bullets loaded into the clip of his gun. I fully expected that was what we’d find. Also, as Tennyson suspected, Keegan Abruzzi’s fingerprints were on both weapons as well as trace DNA.”
Ronan shook his head. “That isn’t possible, cap. Keegan didn’t shoot me. Mark did. I’d bet my life on it.”
“When we got to Tony’s house on the day we executed the search warrant, Tennyson swept the house with his mind.” Fitzgibbon shrugged, looking like he assumed Ronan would understand what that meant. “He saw that your gun was hidden in a shoe box under Keegan’s bed.”
“Tennyson figured that since Jacobson hid the gun in the brother’s room that he was also smart enough to get the brother’s fingerprints and DNA on the gun too,” Ronan concluded.
“Right,” Fitzgibbon agreed, “but there was one problem.”
“What’s that?” Ten asked.
“The fingerprints are in the wrong place.” Fitzgibbon smiled like the cat who ate the canary.
“What do you mean in the wrong place?” Ten looked confused.
Fitzgibbon pulled out his gun. He held it up to Tennyson to show him that the safety was on. “If I’m going to shoot you, I’m going to hold my gun like this.” Fitzgibbon held the gun in his right hand, with all of his fingers wrapped around the grip, with the exception of his index finger which was resting on the trigger. “Notice where all of my fingers are?”
Tennyson nodded.
“Now, if I were trying to manufacture evidence, with a sleeping brother, let’s say, I’d just set the gun in his hand.” Kevin placed the gun in Ronan’s slack hand. “Notice where Ronan’s fingers are?”
Tennyson studied Ronan’s hand. “His finger isn’t on the trigger like yours was.”
“Exactly. If you shot someone three times, there’s going to be evidence of your index finger on the trigger. Same goes for the area of the trigger. DNA and prints transfer through all kinds of skin contact. Same goes for fibers. The lab was able to tell the guns were both wiped down, even Ronan’s.”
“Does this mean that even though his fingerprints were on the guns that Keegan is in the clear?” Ronan asked.
“Yes, but we need to hear your story too, Ronan.” Fitzgibbon was all business now. He’d put his gun back in the holster and had pulled out his notepad and a pen.
Ronan shut his eyes and took a shallow breath. “I’d just come home from the press conference. Truman was leaving his house to go to yoga class. We talked for a minute and I watched him drive away. When I turned around, I practically ran into Mark Abruzzi. He told me he was in town to visit the college. Something about him was making me feel uneasy, so I told him it had been a long day and that I was going in the house to take a nap. I turned away from him and climbed up the first step toward the front door of the house. That’s when he grabbed my elbow with strength a boy his size couldn’t possibly have had.”
Fitzgibbon looked puzzled. “What do you mean, strength he couldn’t possibly have had?”
“Mark is like 5’6” tall at best, Cap and I’m 6’3”. He pulled me down off the steps one-handed. When he started talking to me again, it wasn’t in his own voice. It was in Jacobson’s voice.”
Fitzgibbon was silent for a moment. He seemed to be studying his friend. “Ronan, you know this sounds totally crazy. I can’t put this in a police report.”
“I know, that, Kevin. I’m just telling you what happened. I swear to you that the voice coming out of Mark’s mouth was Jacobson’s. Same goes for the words. When he was threatening Greeley, he called him the one that got away. Mark wouldn’t have used that term. He called Tennyson my precious psychic. Jacobson called Ten that the night at the Beach Inn before I killed him. He made it very clear that the people on his kill list are the people who did him wrong. Me, you, Greeley, Jace, and Tennyson.”
“If he wasn’t already dead, I’d kill him myself.” Fitzgibbon shook his head and turned to Tennyson. “Is this really possible, Ten? Is the spirit of Rod Jacobson really possessing Mark Abruzzi?”
“That’s what I want to find out by trying to channel his spirit. I’ve held off on doing that because you all insisted I wait until Ronan was stronger.” If it had been up to Ten, he would have done it the night they’d gotten the lock of hair from Mark’s bedroom.
“You’ve got the hair, Ten?” Ronan shivered in the warm room. “Where is it? It’s not in our house, right?” Ronan’s tired eyes went wide. His voice betrayed his fear.
Ten had never seen Ronan look so freaked out in all the time they’d known each other. It was unnerving to see Ronan looking so worried. “No, it’s at the shop under lock and key, wrapped up in a set of rosary beads.”
“You have a set of rosary beads?” Ronan looked stunned.
“No, I called Carson and Cole on our way back from the Abruzzi house an
d had them go out and buy a cheap set of beads and get them blessed by a priest over at Saint James Parrish. They got some holy water too for good measure. Even though we talk to spirits, Ronan, we know what the ramifications are here. If this is a true possession, if Rod Jacobson has actually taken control of Mark Abruzzi, the only way to save his soul is through the Rite of Exorcism.”
“You’re serious about this?” Fitzgibbon asked. “You actually think this seventeen-year-old boy is picking up where Rod Jacobson left off because he’s being possessed by the spirit of a dead serial killer and not because this is what he’s choosing to do out of his own free will?”
“It’s what Ronan and I both think, Kevin, but we’re not going to have any answers until we try to channel Rod Jacobson’s spirit and ask the man himself.” Tennyson had a feeling he knew exactly what Ronan’s answer was going to be: a firm fuck, no.
“Do you think he’ll even want to talk to us?” Fitzgibbon asked.
“It’s my plan to get four of the five people on his kill list in the room when we do it, so I don’t think he’ll want to talk. I know he will.” Tennyson was positive Jacobson would show up.
Ronan yawned. “I don’t like it, but I agree with Ten. He’ll show up. I want to be there too.”
Ten shook his head. “You were the one person on the kill list I didn’t want to be there.”
“Wait!” Fitzgibbon was almost shouting. “So that means that you want Greeley in the room when you try to channel the spirit of the man who tried to kill him twice? No! No fucking way, Tennyson! This spirit is trying to possess and control a boy his own age. What’s to say he won’t try to do the same thing to my boy? He’s hurt my son twice. I’m not giving him the chance to do it again.” Fitzgibbon’s entire body was tense with obvious anger. His green eyes were burning with it.
“I don’t mean to upset you, Cap, but you realize that as a spirit, Jacobson has no boundaries, right? He can go anywhere he wants, anytime he wants. He could be in this room with us right now.” Tennyson paused for a minute to let his words sink in. “He isn’t here at the moment. I don’t sense him. I put a protection spell on this room and on our entire house, so Greeley is safe there. It’s part of the reason I asked you to move in with us.”