The Truth of Yesterday

by Josh Aterovis

  “But...”

  “Get out! Get out! Get out!” he screamed.

  The door we'd come through earlier-had it really just been a matter of minutes?-swung open and Fenton Black stepped into the hall. It only took a moment for his gaze to fall on the two of his. His eyes swept over Jake with a look of annoyance. His expression when he took me in was harder to read. There was definitely surprise there, and recognition; the other emotion was less definitive, but I didn't need to know what it was to know it was dangerous.

  “Go,” Jake hissed.

  I didn't need to be told again. I was on my feet and racing down the hall before the word was off his lips. I heard Black yelling angrily behind me, but he wasn't pursuing. It only took a few more seconds for his words to sink in for me to realize he wouldn't need to chase me. He had the entire security staff at his beck and call. I risked a glance back to see him screaming into a small walkie-talkie.

  I started looking frantically for an exit. I spotted one up ahead just as a door to my left burst open and a burly security guard blinked at me in surprise. For a guy his size, his reflexes were quick; he made a lunge for me. Luckily, I was quicker. For once, size was on my side. I slipped under his arm and bolted down the hall. Another guard, shorter and thinner than the first guy, came around a corner in front of me, but fortunately, the exit was between him and me. I slammed into the exit door with my full weight and was very gratified to feel it fly open in front of me. Some small part of my brain had been worried that it might be locked. I didn't take the time to breathe a sigh of relief, however. The chase was still on.

  I sprinted across the parking lot and ducked behind a car. I tried to control my breathing as the door exploded open again and the guards raced through it. They had been joined by one more. They all three stopped just outside the door and looked around. I stayed very still, trying not to make any sounds.

  “Should we look for him?” the shorter one asked.

  “He's gone by now,” the tall one said. “Why'd we want him anyway? Was he a gate-crasher?”

  “I don't know. All I know is that Mr. Black wanted us to catch him,” the burly guy responded.

  Shorty snorted. “Well I guess we know why Black wanted him, a pretty boy like that.”

  “Yeah, we shoulda just let him go even if we had caught him,” Stretch said with a snicker. “Poor kid. He probably just didn't want to play with Mr. Black.”

  Burly elbowed him in the side. “Why don't you both shut up?” He lifted his radio to his mouth and reported that they'd lost me. A burst of static mixed with curses was their response. Mr. Black was not happy.

  Neither was I. I might have just escaped from an immediate danger, but I knew Black had recognized me. I was still very much at risk. Probably even more so now. I waited until the guards retreated into the building, tails between their legs. I quickly dug out my cell phone and dialed Micah's number.

  “Where are you?” he demanded as soon as he answered. “I looked around and you and Jake were both gone, and now I can't find Black anywhere either.”

  “I'm the parking lot behind the hotel,” I said.

  “What are you doing there?”

  “It's a long story. Go get the car as quickly as you can and come pick me up.”

  “Killian, what happened?”

  “I'll tell you when you pick me up. For now, let's just say I'm in big trouble.”

  Chapter 26

  I stayed hidden, crouching behind a bright red Firebird, until I saw Micah's car come around the corner. It was a tense wait, as I expected the security guards to return with reinforcements at any moment. I tried to remember if they carried guns or not. As soon as Micah appeared, I ran to the passenger side, yanked the door open, and leaped in.

  “Go,” I shouted before the door was even pulled shut.

  “Go where? What's going on?” Micah demanded.

  “Just drive. I'll tell you when we get away from here.”

  I slumped down in the seat as he finally drove off. He was silent until we were well away from the hotel, then, “Killian, what the hell is going on?”

  “I may have messed things up a bit,” I said carefully.

  “Messed them up how? You said you were in trouble, what kind of trouble?”

  “Ok, well, Jake saw us at the Ball, and apparently he's seen me following him a few times. Apparently, I'm not as good at this whole detective thing as I thought.”

  “So he saw you? How did that get you into trouble? Did he confront you?”

  “Yeah, you could say that, in the hall that runs behind the ballroom. We had a huge argument. He ripped into me, told me I'd been a lousy friend and that I had no right to care about him now when I didn't care about him before.”

  “Ouch.”

  “Yeah, and the worst part is, he's right.”

  “Killian...”

  “No, he is. I wasn't there for him as much as I should have been. I even knew he'd been having a hard time back in California. We talked a couple times right after he got back. I knew that and I wasn't there for him. I was too caught up in my own problems. I was a lousy friend.”

  “Ok, so maybe you could have been a better friend. What's done is done. How did that get you in trouble?”

  “Well, it seems Jake is dating Fenton Black, or at least he's Black's kept boy.”

  “Oh. Oh! So that's where all his money is coming from. And the gifts and clothes. How did he get tangled up with Fenton Black?”

  “That I don't know. But while we were arguing, Black came looking for Jake.”

  “Shit!”

  “My thoughts exactly. I didn't know what to do but Jake told me to run so I did. Black called security and they chased me, but I managed to get away from them in the parking lot. Not that they tried that hard once they were out of Black's sight.”

  “So Black now knows that you know who he is, and he knows that you know Jake, or at least that you were talking with him. To him, that will probably imply that you're investigating him, which makes you a very real threat.”

  “Like I said, I'm in trouble.”

  “Trouble? Killian, trouble doesn't begin to cover it. You're in danger, serious danger.”

  “Yeah, I know. I just need to figure out what to do next. Should I go to the police?”

  “Are you listening to me? You're in big-time serious danger!”

  “Yeah, I got that, Micah. I don't really need you to tell me.”

  “Then act like you understand what that means.”

  “And how is that? How am I supposed to act, scared? Well I am, but I can't let that interfere with the investigation. I feel like I'm right on the edge of figuring this whole thing out.”

  “You should be scared. This is a very dangerous man. He's killed before and I seriously doubt he'll hesitate to have you killed.”

  “Then we have to stop him before he gets a chance.”

  “How are we supposed to do that? You're not superman.”

  “I never said I was. Do you think I should go to the police?”

  “And tell them what? That Fenton Black is a bad, bad man? I'm sure they'll jump right on that.”

  “I can tell them he runs a prostitution ring.”

  “Why should they believe you? Just because you say so?”

  “I have contacts in the police department.” At least I hoped I did. Hank Kaplan had helped out a lot in Caleb Cohen case as few months ago.

  “Even then, they'd have to investigate on their own. You could be dead long before they found out anything concrete. This guy is smart. He knows how to hide his tracks. He's gotten away with worse than this in the past.”

  “So I'll have to think of something else. Just stop yelling at me.”

  We fell into a heavy, tension-filled silence. I could tell Micah was terrified for me. I could feel the fear rolling off of him like a physical wave. I tried to force my mind to go over everything I had learned tonight, from Micah and from Jake. I knew there was something in there I was missing and that it
was important.

  “Where are we going?” Micah asked after a few minutes of driving.

  I thought about it for a minute. “The bed and breakfast. I'd be safest there, I think. I don't want to go home. It would take him less than five minutes to find out where I live. And I can't go back with you, Jake knows we're dating and he might tell Black. It would take him longer to find out that Steve is Adam's partner and that he owns a B&B, and even if he found out, he wouldn't know what room I was in and he couldn't very well just bust in and start breaking into rooms.”

  “I don't know if I'd put anything past him, but you're probably right, the bed and breakfast would be the safest place for tonight.”

  “You should stay there too. You wouldn't be safe at your apartment.”

  “I think I'll sleep at the office tonight, if I sleep at all. I want to get back to work on this story. It occurred to me earlier tonight that Black quite possibly could be involved with the whole county council scandal. It would be right up his alley and, as I said, he already has most of the officials in his pocket. At the very least, he would have had to know about it, even if he wasn't directly involved.”

  Several things fell into place in my mind. I fell quiet again as I began to drop the puzzle pieces into place in my head. After a few minutes, I began to talk out my thoughts. “You said that Neal, who we now know is really Fenton Black, never met any of his escorts, but what if he did.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “What if he did meet with one of them? Or maybe that person just found out his identity by mistake?”

  “What's your point?”

  “What if that someone was Paul?”

  It didn't take him long to make the same connection I was making. “And what if he somehow found out about the illegal activity and that was who he was writing the letters to.”

  “Then Paul would have ended up dead.”

  “Only one problem.”

  “What's that?”

  “This wasn't a professional hit. It wasn't Black's style at all. Paul was strangled and the apartment was trashed. Whoever killed Paul did it in a fit of anger or panic and then systematically tore the place apart looking for something.”

  “Or that's what they wanted you to think.”

  “You think it was just a cover?”

  “Maybe. I need to talk to the detective in charge of the investigation.”

  I dug out my cell phone, looked up and number, and quickly dialed it.

  “Who are you calling?” Micah asked.

  “Chris.”

  The phone was answered by a young sounding boy. I tried to remember Chris' little brother's name.

  “Kevin,” I said as it came to me. “This is Killian Kendall. Is Chris there?”

  “Yeah, hang on.”

  He set the phone down with a clunk and I heard him yell, “Chris, it's your boyfriend.”

  A few seconds later, Chris was on the line. “Hello?”

  “Chris, it's Killian.”

  “Hey, what's up?”

  “A lot, but I'll have to fill you in later. Were you able to get me an appointment with the detective in charge of Paul's murder investigation?”

  “Well, yes and no. I talked to him. His name is Owen Evans. My dad says he's a good cop. He said he would be willing to talk to you, but that he was really busy right now with another case.”

  “Can you call him back in the morning and tell him it's urgent that I speak to him immediately? I may know something that could solve this case for him.”

  “I doubt he could resist that. What's going on? What did you find out?”

  “I can't really go into it now. I'd rather tell you in person.”

  “Ok, but you're killing me here.”

  “Poor choice of words. Look, try your best to get me in with him tomorrow afternoon. I'll drive up there in the morning.”

  “You're pretty confident you'll get in to see him, aren't you?”

  “Just determined.”

  “Ok, then I'll see you tomorrow. And I expect a full briefing.”

  “I promise.”

  We hung up and Micah looked over at me. “I wish I could go with you to DC, but I know you'll be safer there than here.”

  “It's ok. You have your job to do and I have mine.”

  “I just...” He took a shaky breath. “I couldn't bear to lose you.”

  I reached over and took his hand. “I'll be ok, Micah. I'm not going anywhere.”

  “I wish I knew that for sure.” He bit down on his lip and stared straight ahead. A few minutes later, we pulled into the circular drive in front of Amalie's House. Micah walked me in and waited while I called Adam and Kane at home and told them I thought it would be better if they came and stayed at the B&B. Of course, Adam demanded to know why. I told him I couldn't go into details, but it was possible they could be in danger at the house because of one of my cases. That sent Steve and Adam in almost identical panic attacks. By the time Adam and Kane arrived, and I got everyone calmed down enough to go to bed-Adam and Steve armed with a small pistol that I didn't even know Steve owned-it was almost 1 AM.

  I tossed and turned fitfully in my room. My mind refused to shut off. I was still full of energy, even though I was dead tired. I turned the case over and over in my mind, looking at it from every possible angle I could think of. Once that bone was gnawed on as much as I could gnaw, I moved on to what Jake had said. Once again, I was filled with guilt for the way I had neglected him. And the worse part was he wasn't the only friend I had been neglecting. I couldn't remember the last time I'd talked to Will.

  After what seemed like an eternity, but my clock said was only about an hour, I finally fell into an uneasy sleep filled with strange, foreboding dreams about which, upon awakening a short time later, I found I couldn't remember anything. They just left me with a very unsettled feeling.

  I was lying awake in the dark when I suddenly felt another presence in the room. I sat up with a jolt to find Seth standing at the foot of my bed.

  “My God, you scared the hell out of me,” I snapped.

  “You're in grave danger,” he said with an intensity I'd never heard before in his voice.

  “Tell me something I don't know.”

  “You have to be careful, Killian. I helped once before; I won't be allowed to help again. You're on your own this time.”

  “Do you know what's going to happen?”

  “No, I've told you before, I'm not omniscient. All I know is that you've set certain events into motion; and by doing so, you've put yourself in danger. There are many ways this could go. More than one of those ways ends with you being either hurt or killed. The choices you make from here on out will be crucial to the outcome.”

  “Isn't that true of everything? Every choice we make has an effect, like a stone being dropped into a pond. No matter how tiny the pebble or how huge the boulder, there is some effect.”

  “I don't have time to get existential with you. Just be very careful.”

  “I will. I promise.”

  “Good. I...I don't want to lose you.”

  A shiver went down my spine at his words that so eerily echoed Micah's from earlier. “I don't understand.”

  “You don't understand what?”

  “How can you lose me? Won't I be with you no matter what?”

  “Oh, Killian. You can't understand and I can't explain. I gave up so much to be able to come back...and all for you.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I can't explain it. It's against the rules.”

  “Fuck the rules! What do you mean?”

  “I can't, Killian. I can't.”

  “I don't understand.”

  “I love you,” he said and vanished, leaving his final words echoing behind him.

  “Great. Just what I needed,” I hissed into the empty room. “One more thing to worry over.”

  I flopped back onto the bed and tried to will myself back to sleep. That never works. Once again, I gave my mind full rei
gn and allowed it to wander where it wanted. I thought about Seth and our brief friendship while he was still alive. I'd known him longer as a ghost then I had ever known him as a living, breathing person. I'd never really thought about what it meant that he could come speak to me whenever he wanted. He'd talked about the rules before, but always in vague terms, never anything concrete. I knew so little about what made it possible to see and talk to him. I'm sure it must have been made easier by my Gifts. Thinking about my Gifts made me think about Judy's promise to find me a teacher. While I wasn't necessarily eager to deal with all that, in some ways I was looking forward to finally understanding it all a little better. I wondered who my teacher would be.