“Yes,” Brenda said, “of course.” Carter nodded in agreement.
“Well, this is a textbook Cold Case file. We continually have to fight to keep the case open another day… another week… another year. Sure they found his body, strangled and left for dead in the field, but whoever did it… made damn sure they would not get caught. It was listed as an unsolved homicide, and they gave up on actively pursuing the case. So we kept after the police, and they would reopen it with a new detective, but it would always lead to nowhere. To this day we are no better off than we were the night he was murdered.”
“Oh my God,” said Brenda.
“That’s terrible,” said Carter.
Wendy wiped a tear from her eye. “Even talking about it now after 15 years is as painful as it was back then. The pain refuses to subside… and I miss him so… much.”
Brenda moved in closer to Wendy and put her hand on her knee. “Well… you are so brave to take on the responsibilities of raising your family, and especially under such circumstances. You’re damn right about some people having more good luck or more bad luck than others. I hope to hell that it balances out a little better for you in the future.”
“God willing. I’m not counting on it, but it can’t get much worse than what I was dealt. That’s why I kind of overlook the behavior of my boys. I know something is not quite right with them, but I am encouraging them and hoping the pendulum swings steadier than it has in the past. I don’t think it will do any good if I highlight or harp on some of the bizarre things that they do.”
“Bizarre? Like what?” Brenda asked.
“Oh… where do we begin? Uhm… things like the other night… when Willy was standing outside at the end of the yard in the dark at… what was it midnight?”
“Sure was,” said Brenda.
“Billy is more reserved than Willy. They may be twins, and twins may act very much alike and feel and sense similarly, but I think these two kinda broke the mold. Billy seems to be the instigator, but Willy is more of the evil twin. Did I just say that outloud?”
“Evil twin? Wow!” said Brenda
“Yeah, but you have no idea. There’s just something about him that gives me… his own mother… an uneasy feeling. That shouldn’t be, but he’s always saying things out of the ordinary and pretending to be someone he’s not.”
“Who does he pretend to be?” Brenda asked.
“He keeps claiming to be Maudie.”
“Maudie? That’s certainly a peculiar name. What does he say about Maudie?”
“Well, it’s hard to get any concrete answers out of him. Billy claims ignorance, but I’m not exactly sure he’s the perfect angel, either. Willy never doles out a straight answer. It seems like he wants to stay five steps ahead of you and around a corner.”
“I love that expression of hers,” said Carl through a chuckle.
“I know one thing for sure,” Wendy continued, “Willy really wanted to come to Colorado, and he was actually responsible for leading us not only to Boulder, but to this house. He kept pushing for this house. Passed it a couple of times, and he had a tantrum every time. It was so odd, but that was just the beginning. You guys… the house… actually called us. It’s like this house wanted us here. These are four- year-old boys we’re talking about!”
Carter and Brenda looked at each other. They were confused because the house was never officially listed for rent, but they did not want to get into that with the Blankenships, even though Wendy had just spilled her guts. They knew one thing… they were both going to keep a watchful eye on Billy, and two eyes on Willy.
After the storms raged in and around the mountains, spitting out a fury of Mother Nature’s fluids, the midnight skies calmed to a dull roar and the drenching rain subsided to a light mist. Carter and Brenda decided that it would be a good time to hit the hay. They prepared themselves for bed to the dual snoring sounds of Carl and Wendy. It had been a long day for everyone, but Carter and Brenda were wired. That made sleep hard to come by, so they didn’t even try until now.
“Maybe you can try to get some answers tonight,” Brenda said.
“Get some answers? Are you talking about Angie and Charlie?”
“Yes, who do you think I was talking about?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe the smartass fairy?”
“Carter… seriously, though, I think tonight would be a real good opportunity because we are extra exhausted and would have a better chance of reaching that realm. On top of that, we relayed the message to Angie to reach out to Charlie, and we have Charlie making a point of it to reach out to you. The tables are set.”
“Now that you mention that, it sounds like a pretty good combo.”
“Damn right it is. Now enough of this chatter. It’s going on one o’clock in the morning. It’s prime time for what we’re doing.”
Brenda prepped Carter for bed, going so far as tucking him in. She went over all the instructions of what she will say and what he needs to do, and the process began. They could not afford to fail this time. Time was of the essence, and the more time that got past them, the harder it would be to successfully get the answers they wanted.
Carter was lying back on top of the bed sheets and his head was propped up on his fat cotton pillow. Having gone through the same steps he had gone through the first time, it seemed a bit easier for Carter to reach this stage. He knew it was happening, and it even seemed natural this time. Then there was a long silence. All that could be heard was the ticking of the alarm clock for several minutes as the realms were taking shape.
Carter felt different. This time around he was not visited by Charlie. His friend did not come down and sit on his bed. He knew that because he was looking down at his own body as he lay sleeping in his bed, and Charlie was not sitting next to him. Carter was almost disappointed. He saw Brenda next to him in bed, but she appeared to be asleep as well. Then he saw her eyes open and look at him. She thought that she was being sneaky. She was not taking everything into account.
As the new scene unfolded, Angie was still nowhere to be seen. Neither was Charlie. This new scene wasn’t doing anybody any good. Carter continued to look down at his body, and Brenda continued to open and close her eyes while lying next to him. She may have been just making sure he was properly transcending.
Carter then felt another lift. His spirits were lifted when he went high enough to see other entities. It wasn’t just himself anymore. He was now part of a bigger spirit world. He saw other people that he didn’t recognize, but then he began to see somebody heading straight for him. He stayed still where he was, continuing to keep an eye on his body, while trying to process what was happening with this approaching spirit off in the distance.
Charlie was the approaching spirit, and Carter was so very happy to see him. Charlie did not stop immediately in front of Carter upon his initial approach. It almost seemed as if Charlie had come all this way and did not even recognize him. He swirled around Carter, without initially acknowledging him. Carter tried like hell to make eye contact with his friend, but Charlie was not having it. Finally he connected with Carter and his spirit was pulled in to the same zone. Carter now had Charlie’s attention. He was relieved to have been able to connect with Charlie again, and he had a slew of items to touch upon before hanging up.
“Charlie?”
“Yes… Carter.”
“How are you doing?”
“Been better, but good, I guess.”
“So good to see you again.”
“So good to see you.”
“Charlie, we found Cynthia and she said that we missed the funeral.” Carter could see Charlie looking down and shaking his head. “Why are you shaking your head?”
He waited for an answer, but got none. “Charlie, are you shaking your head because of Cynthia?”
Charlie shook his head again, but Carter was not getting a straight answer as to what the meaning was behind the head shakes. Charlie was right next to him and had been giving him straight verbal replies to his questions, but suddenly answers were as hard to come by as a teenager’s reply on a good day.
Carter was actually beginning to get panicky because he felt a loose connection between he and Charlie. Carter had been locked in the entire time he was communicating with Charlie the first time, but it almost seemed as if there was a loose wire this time around. There was no guarantee of ever connecting again, so he needed to ride it as long as humanly possible.
“Charlie, can you hear me?”
There was no answer, so Carter repeated the question, and then a third time.
“I can hear you,” said Charlie.
“Good… good. I want to know a little more about Cynthia and Trevor… and the robbery… and I want to know if you have had any communication with a woman named Angie. I asked that she seek you out and I need to know if she ever made contact with you. It’s very important.”
Charlie hesitated, but continued to swirl and waft in the vicinity of Carter, who waited during this lull to see that Brenda was trying to shake him awake. He did not want her to do this because he thought that it might break the connection to this realm. He needed answers, but she continued to shake him vigorously. He was trying to wave Brenda off with two hands without Charlie seeing, and at the same time get a reply from Charlie. He didn’t want Charlie to think he was in cahoots with a third party in his pursuit of answers. It may have been no issue at all, but Carter wanted to cover all bases and not screw anything up if at all possible.
“There was a robbery,” said Charlie. “There was a gun. It was a loud noise, and even though I saw the gun and heard the gun go off, I was not convinced that the noise came from the gun. I still believe the noise to be… I don’t know… you always hear people describe them as fireworks. Yeah, it really did sound like fireworks. Then I felt something on the back of my head and put my hand there. When I looked at my hand, it was covered with blood.”
Carter could see Charlie and it looked like he was in his entire capsule, bullet free, and it looked like the words he spoke were coming out of his mouth in timely fashion, not like those old karate movies where the words and mouth movements were not in sync. He was getting some answers, and he kept looking down to see Brenda in a near panic, as if he was dead and she was trying to shake him back to life. He needed to keep on keeping on. He also needed to be patient, and his patience paid off as Charlie continued speaking.
“I began running toward the guy to knock the gun out of his hand, but he moved away and I fell face first to the ground, where I again heard fireworks. I don’t think I saw the guy again, but for the split second that I got a glimpse of him, I thought he resembled a friend from high school, Trevor Greenfield. I can’t say for sure that it was him, but it certainly looked like him. That’s the last thing I remember.”
Carter learned some invaluable tips about the murder, but he also needed him to touch upon Angie, before Brenda shook him awake. He wished that he could shoot down a sign, but he didn’t know how. That north to south communication was still territory that he had trouble cracking.
“Charlie… anything on Angie? I asked Angie to connect with you to find something out, and I need to know if she communicated anything to you. Did she Charlie? Did Angie make contact with you and give you a message about Brenda and I?”
Carter saw Charlie getting uncomfortable, or so it seemed. He didn’t know where the hell they were. It was highly unusual, but Carter didn’t feel weird about it. They were not positioned in the corner of the bedroom, even though they could view Brenda lying in bed from their positioning. It seemed like they were above the roof of the house, but he could not see a roof. It was transparent, and he knew that he was part of another realm. There was a misty fog slowly swirling through the environment. He could see the whisks of clouds drifting by, but he did notice that he could not see other people.
He and Charlie were suspended in air with the ability to see through buildings. Although Carter did his best to block Charlie from Brenda, he knew it was a futile effort. That really didn’t matter, though, because all Carter needed were answers. He seemed to be getting answers to some things, but any information having to do with Angie seemed to be unattainable. For some reason unbeknownst to him, he could not get an answer about Angie to save his life.
“Is that Brenda?” Charlie asked with a head nod down to where she lay on the bed.
Carter, who was somewhat embarrassed by the fact that he had been trying to hide her, admitted, “Yes… yes that’s her. That’s Brenda.”
“Oh, I thought it might be. She’s a good girl; a keeper. Keep an eye on Cynthia for me.” He then smirked and winked at Carter. It was after that wink that Carter saw Charlie pulling away slowly as if he had just taken a gulp of helium and liftoff was beginning. Carter started to panic. This was his best chance for answers, and he saw it slipping away by the nanosecond, and the distance would soon be too great. “Charlie,” he yelled out, “what about Angie? Tell me what Angie said.”
“Oh my God, Carter. She told me… ”
He did not get the answer he wanted the most, and it was an answer that continued to elude him. Everything had been going smoothly, and then the untimely disconnection.
Carter just watched as 10 feet became 15 feet, which became 20 feet, and the beat went on, further distancing himself with each passing second. He felt a tug on his foot, and then a tug on both feet. He looked down at his feet, and just beyond them, he could see Brenda shaking him vigorously with both of her hands on his shoulders, until the merger was complete. Carter looked up at Brenda, who had a look of panic on her face.
“Holy shit, Carter! I thought you were gone.”
“Brenda, everything was going as planned, and you brought me out of it just as I was getting the answers we had been searching for forever. What the hell did you shake me for?”
“I was scared. I thought you stopped breathing. I looked at your stomach and it wasn’t moving up and down. Then I grabbed your wrist to check your pulse, and you felt dead. Sorry, but I was worried!”
“Brenda, I connected with Charlie.”
“You what? What did he say? Did he connect with Angie?”
“He was getting to that, and then I was pulled back here. I was trying to get that information out of him, but I never did.”
“Did you get anything out of him?”
“Yes, but nothing that we didn’t already know. I mean, he did discuss how the botched robbery went down and how the guy with the gun resembled Trevor, but he wasn’t sure. He then told me to keep an eye on Cynthia, and he winked at me.”
“He winked at you after saying that.”
“Yes.”
“Hmm,” said Brenda. “I wonder what he meant by that. Nothing on Angie, though?”
“No. I came so close to the one thing we were after, and you shook me down.”
“Carter, sorry, but I thought I lost you, and I hope for damn sure that you would do the same for me if my life was pitted against an answer to something important!”
“You’re right, Brenda. There may be another time, but there will never be another Brenda.” Carter gave her a wry look.
“There has to be another time. It doesn’t appear that Angie is going anywhere too soon. We’ll try for Charlie or Angie again tonight. My money is on Charlie. That’s the horse I’m betting on.”
Carter made a funny face at Brenda, then kissed her on her lips. “Thanks for caring more about my life than yours.”
Brenda
lightly pushed him away, then turned her body from him while snagging a healthy portion of the covers and plopping herself down to sleep on her side. “Good night, Carter.”
“Good night, Mary Ellen.”
Swat.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
At about noon on the day following the second connection with Charlie, there was a loud rap on the front door. This house never got visitors, so Carter at first thought the noise was something other than a person hitting the house with their fist. It did get his attention, though, and he listened for a second round. That second pounding confirmed for Carter that it was indeed somebody requesting a presence at the front door from someone, anyone, within the confines of this old white house.
Carter opened the front door and stared at a heavy police officer. His visor spilled down over his eyes and he was wielding a baton, squinting from the sun rays burning his retinas.
“Can I help you, officer?”
“You Carter Spence?”
“Yes, that’s me. Something wrong?”
“I thought that name sounded familiar.”
Carter moved his head so that he could get a better look at the officer without the sun disguising his identity.
“I’m Officer Barney,” said the cop.
At the very moment that he said it, Carter recognized him as the officer who had questioned them about the Angie accident.
“May I come in?”
“Uh, yeah sure. Come on in.”
Carter turned and led the officer into the living room so they could sit and chat, but not before he briefly stumbled on the small area rug which served as a welcome mat. He was a bit confused, but could only assume that Officer Barney had some information for them about Angie.
Desert Son Trilogy: Desert Son, Wayward Soul, Spiritual Intervention (Books 1-3) Page 35