Demon Walk (Lacey Fitzpatrick and Sam Firecloud Mystery Book 6)

by Melissa Bowersock

Lacey put a hand on his arm. “Be careful,” she said.

  “I will.”

  He walked to the sidewalk and stared across the street. Lacey saw him raise a hand and wave.

  “She’s okay,” he said when he returned. “Still standing.”

  “Good,” Sam said. He took another swallow of water and pushed himself to his feet. Lacey stood with him.

  “I’ll go get the car and bring it over here,” she said. “Then I’ll bring Ed’s truck.” She arched an eyebrow at both men. “You guys stay here.”

  She thought Sam might argue. He seemed about to say something, but didn’t. Finally he nodded. “Okay. Just be careful.”

  “Don’t worry about that,” she muttered.

  Once she’d checked on Pilar and then brought the two vehicles over one by one, Lacey insisted Sam sit in her car. She and Ed leaned against the side and the three of them took stock.

  “Obviously,” Sam said, “we’re not done yet.” He glanced meaningfully at Lacey.

  “Yeah, I get that,” she said. She crossed her arms over her chest. “So what do we need to do? How do we get rid of him for good?”

  Sam stared down at the ground. No answers seemed forthcoming.

  “It sounds like Pilar’s done everything she knows and it wasn’t enough,” Lacey said. “We’ve taken away everything that he’s used to gain power, but he’s still here.” She shook her head. “What’s left? How do you kill someone who’s already dead?”

  Sam raised his eyes to her. His look hardened. “I don’t know,” he said grimly. “I honestly don’t know.”

  ~~~

  TWENTY

  Lacey did a lot of pacing that weekend. She’d sit at the computer for a half hour or so, researching ghosts, demons, ancient legends and superstitions, then she’d vault to her feet and pace. She’d walk a pattern—dining room to living room to kitchen, back to dining room—then sit and search again. Evil, magic, witchcraft, exorcisms. Then she’d pace some more.

  Nothing lit up in her mind, nothing brought that ah ha moment when it all became clear. She racked her brain for more topics, different ways of coming at the same problem, but nothing worked.

  Nothing worked.

  Her frustration mounted. How could they come so far and still have the same problem? They found the priest’s body, they identified Reyes and his sources of psychic power, they released his victims, yet they still had him to contend with. It was as if they’d done nothing at all.

  All their work to this point for nothing. It was maddening.

  Several times she almost called Sam, but he’d have the kids and she knew venting to him would solve nothing more than passing her frustration to him. She was sure he had his own.

  That was the scary part. Always before, Sam had the answers. He knew, or intuited, how to deal with the spirits they encountered. He knew what was necessary to break their hold on the physical world, to nudge them along on their spiritual journey toward wholeness, toward redemption.

  But not this time.

  She stared at her laptop, or out the window. There had to be a way to fight Reyes. Evil couldn’t win.

  Could it?

  Monday morning, she called the director and reported their progress—and their brick wall.

  “So you don’t think you can get rid of him?” Swayze asked.

  “We’re still working on it,” Lacey said. She couldn’t admit defeat. Not yet. “Sam’s working on it. We’ll do all we can.”

  “I don’t have to tell you how… disturbing it would be to know he’s still there, still able to prey on people. If he’s still powerful enough to attack…”

  “Yes, sir, I know,” she said. “I promise you, we’re not giving up. We’ll figure out a way.” She hoped her words didn’t sound as hollow as they felt to her.

  “I hope so,” Swayze said. “Perhaps Father David…” he offered.

  “We’ll see,” she said. “If we need him, we’ll definitely call. We’ll keep working on it.”

  “All right.” Swayze sighed. “Thanks, Lacey. Keep me posted.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  She keyed off the call and tossed the phone down glumly.

  What else? What else?

  No answers came.

  Later that afternoon, her phone chimed. She checked the screen: Sam. Hope soared in her. Maybe he’d thought of something.

  “Hi,” she said, feeling more cheerful than she had all day.

  “Hi. What are you doing?”

  She sighed. “Not much. Thinking, researching, wishing, hoping. Not necessarily in that order.”

  “So you need a break,” he said. “How about you come over here to my place? I just picked up some Chinese take-out.”

  “Really?” She sat up.

  “Yeah. Come on over.” He paused. “I called in the cavalry.”

  “The cavalry?” She had no idea what he was talking about.

  “Yeah. Come on. Get your butt over here before the fried rice gets cold.”

  She was already grabbing her car keys. “Be there in twenty.”

  She pulled up next to the truck and parked. The drapes were pulled across the front window, giving her no clue as to who—or what—the cavalry might be. She knocked lightly on the door.

  “Come on in,” Sam’s voice called from inside.

  She pushed the door open and walked in. Sam was in the kitchen, but he wasn’t alone. A small figure stood behind him.

  She recognized that gray hair, pulled back into the traditional Navajo bun. She recognized that faded plaid flannel shirt. And she recognized that sun-browned face, skin like leather except where it crinkled around his eyes.

  “Ben!” She ran to hug Sam’s grandfather. The old man grinned happily and hugged her back. He felt small and frail inside the flannel shirt.

  “Lacey,” he said in his soft airy voice. “Good to see you.”

  “It’s great to see you, too,” she said, still dumbfounded. “I just can’t believe you’re here. I didn’t think anything would get you off the reservation.”

  He smiled and tapped his temple. “Sam needs my ideas,” he said.

  Lacey turned to Sam. “This is the cavalry?” she asked.

  “Yup.” He arched an eyebrow at her. “Didn’t think they had a Navajo regiment, did you?”

  She couldn’t help but laugh. This was too crazy, but maybe just what they needed. After all, Ben had helped them with the shapeshifter witch on the reservation some months ago.

  “Okay, what can I do?” she asked, noting Sam had dumped cartons of food into bowls.

  “Why don’t you grab plates and silverware?” he said. “We’ll eat in the living room.”

  They settled around the coffee table, much as Sam did with his kids. She liked the informality. Sam took a side chair and let Lacey and Ben share the couch.

  There was something surreal about watching the eighty-four-year-old Navajo eating Chinese food.

  “So, what?” she asked Sam. “You drove over and got him? He didn’t fly.” She felt certain of that.

  “Yeah, I drove over yesterday, drove back today. I was getting absolutely nowhere on my own. I knew I needed help.”

  Lacey nodded, watching Ben inspect his sweet and sour chicken. He was such a gentle old soul. He took the chicken in his front teeth and chewed carefully, then smiled at the sweet taste and speared another piece with his fork.

  “So Sam told you what we’re up against?” she asked.

  Ben pointed his fork at her full plate. “Eat first,” he said.

  She rolled her eyes playfully at Sam. “Okay, if you insist.”

  But she already felt more hopeful, and besides, the food tasted great.

  By the time they’d cleared their plates and taken seconds—thirds, in Sam’s case—and finished that, she felt pleasantly stuffed. She set her plate down and flopped back against the sofa cushions, moaning happily.

  “Been skipping lunch?” Sam asked.

  He knew her all too well. When she was worrying a prob
lem like this one, she rarely took a proper break for food.

  “Maybe,” she admitted.

  He nodded, knowing exactly what that meant. “You can give it a rest now. Ben’s got ideas.”

  She turned toward the old one and watched him chase the last grains of fried rice around his plate with his fork.

  He took his time. He finally wrangled the last wayward grain onto his fork and ate it, smiling contentedly at Lacey.

  “You Fireclouds do this on purpose, don’t you?” she fumed.

  “Patience is a virtue,” Sam said.

  “Yeah, I know.” She crossed her arms. “Okay, you let me know when you’re ready to talk.”

  Both Sam and Ben set their finally empty plates on the table. Lacey pointedly ignored them.

  “I told Ben about all we’ve done,” Sam started. “All the progress we’ve made, and the stalemate we’ve got now.”

  Lacey sat up with interest.

  “He’s got some ideas,” Sam finished. He motioned to his grandfather to take the floor.

  Ben turned to Lacey and put his hand out toward her, fingers pointing upward, flat palm facing her. “Put your hand against mine,” he said in his halting English. Lacey did so. “Now push.”

  She exerted mild pressure against his hand, just enough so he had to press back to keep his hand where it was. He held the balance for a moment, then suddenly pulled his hand away. Lacey’s hand flailed in the empty air.

  Ben grinned at her. “See?”

  She crinkled her brow, frowning at him. “See what?”

  “When you have resistance, you push against it. When resistance is gone…”

  She was reminded of the old Zen Buddhist koan, what is the sound of one hand clapping? But she still wasn’t clear on the application to Reyes.

  “So you’re saying we don’t go up against him? We don’t… confront him? Try to banish him?”

  Ben nodded. “We don’t fight him,” he said.

  Lacey glanced at Sam. He seemed to be okay with this, but she still wasn’t sure she was getting it.

  “Okay, what am I missing?” she asked. “If we don’t fight him, he’s free to go on terrorizing the neighborhood, even if it is in a diminished way.”

  Ben smiled at her and said something in Navajo, something she had no clue about.

  That’s helpful, she thought. She turned to Sam for a translation.

  “Power and love cannot occupy the same space,” he said.

  Lacey blinked at him. Were they both being obtuse on purpose? Or had they both lost their minds?

  “What?” she said. “We love him to death?”

  “He brings power,” Ben said. “We bring love.”

  Lacey stared at the old man. “How do we do that?” she asked.

  He tapped his gray head, sat back against the cushions and smiled.

  Lacey switched to Sam again. “He’s working on it, right?” she offered hopefully.

  “Yeah.” Sam chuckled. “Not exactly what you were expecting, huh?”

  “That’s an understatement,” she muttered.

  “We’re gonna hammer it out tonight. I’m hoping we can organize it for tomorrow or the next day. We’ll just have to play it by ear.”

  “Yeah, but—” She was interrupted by the soft snoring from the corner of the couch. Ben, arms crossed, head down, slept peacefully.

  Sam touched her arm. “He’s tired,” he said. “Come on.” He got up and pulled Lacey with him. They went into the kitchen.

  “Does he know what Reyes can do?” she hissed. “What he tried to do to you?”

  “He does,” Sam said in a quiet voice. “I told him.”

  “I don’t mean to downplay Ben’s wisdom,” she said, “but I just want to be really sure he understands what’s at stake. If we try something and it doesn’t work—”

  Sam silenced her with a kiss. He folded her into his arms and held her tightly, his mouth moving gently over hers.

  When he pulled back, it took Lacey a minute to get her bearings.

  “Are you trying to shut me up?” she asked, only half joking.

  “I’m trying to tell you to not worry,” he said. He cupped the side of her face in one hand. “We’re going to do this. It’ll be all right.”

  She wanted to believe him; she really did. But she couldn’t throw all in, not yet. Instead, she agreed to go along—for now.

  “Okay,” she said. “I’m with you. But I’m still nervous.”

  He kissed her again. “Wanna spend the night? Maybe we could do something about those nerves.” The look in his eyes made her heart flutter.

  A sudden arrested snort from the living room broke the silence. Lacey slapped a hand over her mouth to stifle a laugh.

  “Maybe not while you’ve got company,” she said.

  He angled his head at her. “Having the kids here never stopped you.”

  “Yeah, well…” She glanced toward the doorway. “This is a little different.” She leaned up and kissed him. “When this is all over, we’ll celebrate,” she said.

  He imprisoned her in his arms. “Promise?”

  She smiled. “Oh, yeah. Promise.”

  “Okay,” he said. “I’ll hold you to it.”

  ~~~

  TWENTY-ONE

  Tuesday was a nerve-racking day. She stared at her phone, sat next to it, carried it with her as she paced. She knew better than to call Sam; he would call when he and Ben were ready. But the silence was killing her.

  She made a trip to the gym and worked out; no call.

  She forced herself to eat lunch; no call.

  She tried to read a book and threw it down in disgust.

  No call.

  Finally, at a quarter to six, it rang. She grabbed it.

  “Sam?”

  “I think we’ve got it,” he said. “Can you meet us over at Ed and Christine’s? Say about seven?”

  “Sure. But is Ed—?”

  “He wants to help. So does Christine. We’ll hash it out there, okay?”

  “Okay.” She sighed, knowing she wouldn’t get any more than that from him now. Damned stoic Fireclouds.

  “See you then.”

  And he was gone.

  She parked in front of the apartment building right behind Sam’s truck. She’d been to the door of his ex’s apartment before, but had never gone in. She shouldn’t be nervous; she and Christine had met many times, and there had never been any issues. She crossed her fingers as she knocked on the door.

  “Lacey,” Ed said, pulling open the door. “Come on in.” He gave her a quick hug.

  “Lacey!” Kenzie ran to her for a welcome hug. Lacey stroked the shining black head. The girl was such a love bug.

  “We’re in here,” Ed said, motioning toward the living room. Lacey followed, Kenzie stuck to her side.

  The living room was primarily white and light blue with comfy overstuffed chairs and couch. It was a very welcoming space. Briefly Lacey wondered about the possibility of having a home like this, a home she and Sam could share. Could they ever do that? She nodded or waved to Christine, Daniel, Ben and Sam, and took the chair Sam vacated for her. He sat next to her on the arm, close enough to touch. Kenzie squirmed into the chair with her.

  She knew better than to prompt the discussion.

  “Okay, what we’re doing here,” Sam said, “is planning a ritual, a ceremony. Ben’s working out the process, and he and Pilar will take point. The rest of us—we four”—he nodded to Lacey, Ed and Christine—“will bring all the loving energy we can manage. Together, we think the six of us can overpower Reyes.”

  Lacey glanced around nervously. She worried for the men. Sam and Ed both knew all too well the power of Reyes. Sam said Ben did, too. She and Christine and Pilar, she thought, were probably safe… but could they bank on that? Just because Reyes had never attacked a woman before, did that mean he couldn’t change his tactics?

  “And what exactly is the best way for us to do that?” she asked hesitantly.

  Sam l
ooked at Ben. “We’ve talked about singing, chanting, praying, using imagery and visualizations. Whatever we can do to fill our hearts, our minds, our souls, with love.” He glanced around the room. “I know this is difficult. If I tell you not to think of a tiger, that’s all you’re going to think about. So if I tell you not to think about fear, it’s hard to get away from it. But just remember: love and power cannot exist in the same place. It’s important that we fill ourselves up with love, that we don’t succumb to fear. We have to be ready for whatever Reyes throws at us, but we have to fill ourselves up with love so there’s no room for anything else.”

  Lacey tried her best to project confidence, but she didn’t feel it inside. What if she faltered and couldn’t stay strong? What if she wavered, and her weakness imperiled all of them?

  Sam put his hand on her shoulder, pulling her out of her fearful musings. He smiled at her.

  “Ben and I have no doubt we can do this,” he finished.

  “Dad,” Kenzie said, “I want to help, too. I love a lot of people.” Lacey put her arm around the girl and hugged her.

  “Me, too, Dad,” Daniel said. “I can help, too.”

  Lacey looked up at Sam. He wouldn’t possibly consider this? But he was looking very thoughtful.

  “Yes, you can,” he said finally. “You can both help us a lot. You’ll stay here, but you’ll also think about nothing but love, fill yourselves up with love for all of us, for our family. That will help us out tremendously. Think you can do that?”

  Daniel groaned, no doubt recognizing the fact that he and his sister would be safely away from the danger. Kenzie watched her brother, uncertainty in her eyes.

  Sam angled his head at his son, one dark eyebrow arched. “Daniel? You with us on this?”

  Daniel scowled, but noted his father’s insistence. He glanced at his sister and shrugged. “Yeah. We can do that.”

  Kenzie laughed, a sound of nervous relief. She glanced up at Lacey, and Lacey hugged her again.

  “All right,” Sam said. “Ben and I have talked about some visualizations we can use during the ceremony…”

  ~~~

  TWENTY-TWO