by H. P. Bayne
No, Flynn thought again. Sully, no.
Uncertain whether Flynn would hear, Sully sent his own thought out in reply. I need you to show me. We need to find Kayleigh, Dad. Please, I know you’re with her. Please, show me where you are.
No further words came from Flynn, nothing to suggest he’d heard, and for a moment everything stayed as it was, just Flynn lost in this black, empty void.
Then light filtered through. Just a little at first, then more, until it became clear they were standing inside a room.
It was warmly lit, flames dancing within a stonework fireplace. Wood panelling completed the wall, and Sully followed it to one corner of the sitting room where a group of people stood around a tall Scotch pine.
Lowell, Kindra and Kayleigh.
The adults fought with a long rope of Christmas lights while Kayleigh knelt to try to unwind an entanglement of garland from inside a box on the floor.
Kindra turned, saying something to Kayleigh. The two shared a smile. It wasn’t much, but at least Kayleigh wasn’t afraid or upset. Small blessings. He didn’t want his niece having to deal with post-traumatic stress as a result of all of this.
She was okay, for the time being anyway. What he couldn’t yet tell was where they were. He sent the question to his dad, hoping he’d be able to better show him.
Flynn pulled back, until he was looking at the scene not from within the room but from outside. Snow blew past him, partially obscuring the scene behind the window, and for the first time, Sully noticed Aiden. The little boy was not inside the cabin, but out, standing atop the snow, his eyes fixed on the back of the man who’d killed him. Flynn caught his hand, and Sully heard the thought father passed to son.
It’s okay, Aidy. He can’t hurt you anymore.
Tiny fingers squeezed Flynn’s hand, sending a rush of warmth through Flynn. Sully had always wondered what it was like for them, his dad and Aiden, caught here together for the past two years. They weren’t happy, that was clear. But they weren’t miserable either. Together, they’d found a small kind of peace. It wasn’t enough, not by a long shot, but it would sustain them until Sully could get them what they needed to cross over.
The two spirits moved back farther, taking Sully with them and showing him the exterior of a small stone house set into a wooded area. Still, Sully was at a loss, nothing here descriptive enough to allow him to identify a location.
Then Flynn turned. Aiden’s hand still in his, he shot forward, moving past trees at inhumanly fast speeds until, seconds later, he emerged on the other side.
A large, three-storey mansion stood before them, rising like a great, black shadow from within the swirling snow.
And Sully knew it. Knew it without having to look closer.
He’d been here before, many times over the years. He and Dez had run around on the expansive lawns, had played hide and seek in the corridors and numerous rooms, had even once tried swimming in the pond—to disastrous, leech-related consequences.
There was a time they’d had fun here, Dez because he adored everything about the property and the people who lived there, Sully because the place was big enough he could easily avoid the owners, save at mealtime.
Put into perspective, he even recognized the small house in the woods.
Consciousness plucked at Sully. He didn’t have the sensation of having been under long—not nearly as long as he had at Lockwood—and he suspected Lachlan had administered a dose even smaller than the smallest Sully had ever been given.
Just as well. Sully had the answer he needed.
He took a moment to send out one last thought. Thanks, Dad. Don’t worry. We’re coming to get her.
He heard a thought returned to him. Be careful, son. Please. Be careful.
Sully opened his eyes, finding a group of faces hovering around him, peering down. Next to him, Pax had settled in and was lying with his back nuzzled up against his side. The dog sat up as Sully did.
Raiya held her hunk of palo santo at the ready, gaze fixed on him only until his eyes must have revealed he wasn’t a threat. She lowered the block of wood as a smile formed.
Marc had reached the same conclusion. “It’s all right,” he said. “It’s him.”
Dez pressed forward. “Sully? Did you see Dad? Did he tell you anything?”
Sully reached out, grasped a handful of Dez’s shirt as he nodded his response.
“I know where Kayleigh is.”
19
Dez was halfway down the stairs, moving too fast for safety, when his phone rang.
His first thought was of Kayleigh and the possibility Lowell was calling to let him speak to her.
Instead, he spotted his mom’s number.
He barked out a curse. “It’s Mom,” he told Eva by way of explanation. “We don’t have time for this.”
“You haven’t checked in with her in a while,” Eva said. “She’ll want to know you’re safe.”
“What am I supposed to tell her? I can’t tell her the truth. She’ll freak out.”
Eva held out her hand. “Let me talk to her. Go wait in Lachlan’s office while I’m on the phone. I’d rather she doesn’t hear you flipping out in the background.”
Dez handed Eva his handset, a wave of gratitude forming a smile on his face. Eva met it and walked off into the sitting room. “Hi, Mom.”
Dez didn’t stay to listen, instead tugging Sully and Lachlan into the office while Marc, Raiya and Pax trailed behind.
“I don’t get it,” Dez said. “I mean, we drove out to Lowell’s estate. He wasn’t there.”
“You’re sure?” Sully asked. “I’m thinking he wouldn’t have buzzed you through under the circumstances.”
“No, we were buzzed through. His housekeeper was still there. She let us in, even let us look around the house.”
“Only he wasn’t at the house,” Sully said. “They were at the groundskeeper’s cottage.”
When they’d been kids, Dez and Sully had avoided the cottage. At the time, an actual groundskeeper had lived there, and the man hated children with a passion. It wasn’t unusual for him to chase them off with a stick. Dez hadn’t been any more sold on the place once Sully told him a woman was haunting the place. Looking back, Dez wouldn’t have been surprised to learn the groundskeeper had killed his wife and buried her in the woods.
“I didn’t even think to check there,” Dez said. “And when this is over, I want the housekeeper charged as an accessory.”
“It might be she doesn’t know what’s going on,” Lachlan said. “In fact, if I were Lowell, I’d make damn sure she didn’t. The fewer people who know what he’s doing, the better.”
“Lachlan’s right,” Sully said. “It would have been pretty easy for Lowell to park somewhere off the road and walk to the cottage. Before the snow really started coming down, he could have driven partway in there if he was in his SUV. His housekeeper wouldn’t have even had to know he was on the property.”
“She’ll have gone back to her own home by now,” Dez said. “No one will be there to buzz us through, and the fence isn’t scalable. We’ll have to take some stuff with us to let us through.”
“I don’t think that’ll be a problem,” Sully said. “I seem to have ways now of getting us into locked places.”
“Ned’s still hanging around you, I take it?”
Sully nodded. “And I don’t get the impression he’s going anywhere.”
Dez managed a smile. “I’ve never been grateful for the presence of a violent ghost before. When this is over, I’d like to throw Ned a party.”
Sully grinned. “I get the sense you’d come to regret that decision.”
Dez hadn’t asked the question on the top of his mind, had counted on the likelihood he already knew the answer based on Sully’s emotional state and behaviour since he’d reemerged from the drug-induced vision. Sully adored Kayleigh; if she was frightened or hurt, Sully would be a basket case.
Even so….
Dez tugged Sully off i
nto a corner of the room. “Kayleigh’s okay, right? I mean, all things considered, is she—”
Sully cut in, landing hands on Dez’s arms to stop both his statement and his dark thoughts. “She’s fine, D. They were decorating a tree. It’s obvious we’re the target here, not her. She’s a pawn, that’s it. They know her value rests with her being okay. Obviously, the longer this continues, the more suspicious she’s going to get, and that will eventually get her pretty upset. But she won’t be there with them that long. We’re going to get her out, tonight.”
“Damn straight,” Dez said.
Eva entered the room, phone held out toward Dez and Sully, hand over the mouthpiece. “I’ve just lied to your mom, and I feel like a piece of scum.”
Dez eyed the phone like it was about to rear up and bite him. “Is that still her?”
Eva glanced down at the phone, then back up at Dez. “She said Paul wants to speak with us.”
Dez took the phone and waved Lachlan over just as a muffled voice sounded from the earpiece. Dez put the device onto speaker mode, allowing them all to hear what Paul had to say.
“We’re all here now, Paul,” Eva said. “How’s it going there?”
Paul didn’t beat around the bush. “Something’s up, isn’t it?”
Dez focused on keeping his voice level. “Why do you think something’s up?”
“It’s getting late, and you’re not here yet. You were supposed to pick up Kayleigh and come out here.”
Dez exchanged a look with Eva, then Lachlan. “Uhh….”
Lachlan seized the phone and the conversational reins. “Is Mara with you?”
“She’s gone to have a warm soak in the tub at Eva’s insistence. I’m on the opposite side of the cabin. What’s going on?”
Lachlan held Dez’s eye as he answered Paul’s question. “The pieces are moving on this, Paul, and they’re moving fast. We won’t be there for a while. We’ve got too much to deal with here.”
“I’m going to ask again: What’s going on?”
“You mentioned you thought you could get your father to turn evidence against the Circle if he thought it would save himself. How likely is that to happen on a fairly quick basis?”
“That depends,” Paul said. “How close is he to needing to save himself?”
Lachlan headed to a nearby chair and sat, requiring Dez, Eva and Sully to move and hover around him to stay part of the conversation. “I’d say pretty damn close. After everything with Forbes—”
“How’s he doing? Any word?”
“He came through surgery, and the list you provided means we can ensure the right people are guarding him.”
“But something else happened, didn’t it?”
“The chief and the head of Major Crimes were here a little while ago. We had to give them something to keep busy with, given Forbes’s shooting. If things go the way I’m expecting they should, they’re going to be hauling in and interviewing the cops on your list. They’ve got five interview rooms, plus a soft room set up for videotaped questioning, so it’s possible for them to do six at once. Worst case scenario, if all the cops are brought in at the same time, and if all exercise their right to remain silent, Major Crimes will be looking for somewhere else to turn their attention to get answers.”
“You really think they won’t talk?” Sully asked. “If their futures are on the line, why wouldn’t they? I mean, how strong is this code in the Circle?”
“Pretty strong,” Paul said. “But I’d say people’s personal codes might well be stronger. What I said about my father holds true for anyone. If people sense the world is burning around them, they’ll look for an escape route. A police officer’s been shot. I can’t imagine any of Forbes’s colleagues—Circle members or not—will want to risk being implicated in it. My guess is at least one of them will start singing in order to distance him or herself from the chance of being blamed for something.”
“Given that, might your father be inclined to come forward?” Lachlan asked.
“I’d have to talk to him.”
Dez leaned in a bit, ensuring his voice would be heard. “Not in person, though, right? It’s not safe, especially now. I don’t want you risking it.”
“I appreciate the sentiment,” Paul said. “But as awful a person as my father is on multiple levels, he wouldn’t actually hurt me.”
“I used to say the same about Lowell,” Dez said. “Life has taught me otherwise.”
“Maybe wait on talking to him for now,” Lachlan said. “Let’s let the police investigation play out a bit while we go our own way. I’ve got an eight a.m. deadline, and I’m planning on using all of it if necessary. Anyway, I’m counting on the man in charge of Major Crimes getting on the horn to us sooner if they start drawing blanks.”
“So what’s the plan in the meantime? Why don’t you all come here? Mara’s on pins and needles. She wants her family here, and I’m running out of things to say to calm her down.”
“We can’t,” Dez said. “Not yet.”
“Why not? What aren’t you telling me?”
Dez exchanged a look with Eva, waited until he got the quick nod. “Lowell has Kayleigh. He and Kindra picked her up from school.”
“Oh, dear God. I’m so sorry, Desmond.”
Dez ignored the fact Paul’s tone was the sort you’d hear from someone who’d just been informed of a death. “We think we know where he’s keeping her. We’re getting our shit together here and then we’re heading out. I’m not sure how things are going to play out yet, but we’ve got some pretty serious strength on our side, so I’m hopeful. Just take care of Mom in the meantime, okay?”
“What am I supposed to tell her?”
Eva fielded that one. “The same thing I did. That we got held up by the weather and will head out your way tomorrow.” She shrugged as she met Dez’s eye, the expression on her face suggesting she was looking for some absolution. “It’s not completely untrue.”
Dez shook his head and smiled.
“Listen,” Paul said. “I know I don’t have to tell you this, but be careful. From what we’ve learned of Lowell, he’ll do whatever he thinks he has to do to stay in control, to stay safe. He’ll go after anyone he feels is standing between him and salvation.”
“You’re right,” Dez said. “You don’t have to tell us.”
Dez joined Sully, Eva and Lachlan in the home’s entrance hall as Marc and Raiya prepared to take their leave.
“I don’t like this,” Marc said. “I’d still like to help.”
Sully stepped forward, wrapping first Marc, then Raiya in a hug. “You have helped,” he said. “More than you know.”
“We’ve already involved too many people,” Dez said. “Lachlan, Eva and I are police-trained, and Sully’s—well, he’s Sully.”
“I can’t see the future,” Raiya said. “But common sense dictates the night could get really tense really fast.” She placed hands on Sully’s face, holding his eye. “Bear something in mind, Sully, and hold onto it. You are strong because of you, not because of who you used to be. You don’t need a past life to pull you through. You are more than capable of handling the world around you. You’re not the child you once were. You have control now, over your own situation and over the world around you if need be. You are very powerful, and you can choose to use that power for good. But you need to stay in control to do that. Stay you, Sully, and everything will turn out the way it’s supposed to.”
Sully, head still within Raiya’s gentle grasp, nodded but he didn’t say anything. Based on the rigid pose to Sully’s shoulders, Dez guessed he was battling emotion. He landed a hand on Sully’s back, and his suspicions were confirmed by the feel of a slight quake to the muscles there.
Raiya gave Sully one last hug, then turned to Dez, holding out a chunk of wood.
“What’s this?” Dez asked as he accepted the item.
“Palo santo, the same piece Mariel’s cross came from,” Raiya said. “If you feel like Sully is losing himse
lf, touch him with this. The cross is powerful, but not as powerful as Sully himself—not ordinarily, anyway. The cross’s power grows when it’s near the tree—or in this case, the wood—from which it came.”
“It doesn’t matter I’m not a witch?” Dez asked. “I don’t have any sort of power.”
“You have the strongest power of all.”
“Don’t say it,” Lachlan cut in. “Please, don’t say it.”
“Don’t say what?”
Lachlan rolled his eyes and sighed heavily. “She’s going to say you love your brother, and that’s more powerful than anything else. And now that I’ve said it out loud, I need to go and puke.”
Raiya chuckled. “Not quite the way I planned on saying it, but accurate.” She drew Dez, then Eva into her embrace. “Take care of yourselves. You and your daughter are in my thoughts. I will hold you there until I know everything is okay.”
“Thanks, Raiya,” Dez said, then accepted the hug from Marc that followed.
“That goes for me too,” Marc said. “Please, call me when you have news. I doubt very much I’ll get any sleep tonight anyway.”
“We’ll let you know,” Sully said. “Thanks so much for everything. Both of you.”
Sully held the door open, and they waited until Marc and Raiya had driven off before sealing themselves back inside the house.
‘We still don’t have a plan,” Lachlan said. “We need to formulate something.”
“Fine,” Dez said. “But let’s do it in the SUV. I want my little girl back, and I’m not wasting another second.”
20
As the city fell away around them, Dez came to the realization a plan might not be entirely viable.
It was hard to plan when he didn’t have a solid grasp on the abilities of one of the key members of the group.
Sully sat in the backseat, gazing out the window, alternating between scratching Pax—pacing the hatch as before—and fingering the wooden cross around his neck. Dez could tell a war was raging inside Sully’s brain, one Dez wasn’t and couldn’t be a part of—especially now. Dez had his own battle to fight. When this was over, when they had Kayleigh back safe with them and Lowell and Kindra behind bars where they belonged, he could sit Sully down and figure out where his head was at, then pound reality into it if need be. But not now.