C.O.T.V.H. (Book 2): Judgment

by Palmer, Dustin J.

  "Soooooo . . .” Jake said, shoving his hands in his pockets shifting from foot to foot. “You and Buck are done huh?"

  "Yeah,” she said sadly.

  “Well . . . what happened?” Jake asked.

  She gave him an annoyed look then sighed, “I guess everyone has been wondering, huh?” She sighed again wrapping her arms over her chest protectively. “Remember a few weeks back when we had that big get together for the fourth of July?"

  "Yeah, of course. Most of you guys headed out to the lake. I was stuck watching fireworks from my Grandpa’s barred kitchen windows. He won’t even go out after dark on the fourth of July."

  "Well Buck disappeared that night. A couple of days ago I found out where he went. He was with this cheerleader from San Angelo High. They spent the night together in her tent."

  "What?!" Jake said, genuinely shocked. "How did you find out?"

  "I found a letter she'd written him in his jacket pocket. He wrapped it around me one night when we were at the movies and I accidentally came across it. She thanked him for an amazing night, mentioned a few things she’d like to do to him next time and left her number. When I confronted him with it he confessed. I thought he was being a gentleman. What a joke."

  "Amber, I’m sorry, but what did you see in this guy? Sure, he has his moments but overall he's just a selfish ass! He always has been."

  "Yeah but you don't know the real Buck! He's really a nice guy he's just . . . it's complicated."

  "Well then uncomplicate it. None of us could figure why you were with him."

  "He was so sweet to me. It's just his dad that makes him into such a jerk and since his mom left, it has been really hard on him."

  "If you say so," Jake said, shaking his head. “My mom is gone too; it didn’t turn me into a prick.”

  “Yeah, you’ve got two great role models too. Your dad and grandpa are two of the finest men I’ve ever known,” she said defensively. “Buck doesn’t have anyone but his psychopath father!”

  Jake crossed his arms over his chest. “He nearly got us killed that night at The Station!.”

  “Do you know why he did what he did that night, Jake?” Amber asked giving him an angry look.

  “To show off. To prove he’s a badass.” Jake returned her stare. “Just like he always does, Amber. I know you liked the guy, you probably loved him, but sometimes love can blind you to the truth.”

  “When Buck saw that kid coming toward you, his only thought was of protecting you. Of protecting Chris and Donnie.” Amber bit her bottom lip. “He wasn’t on some macho trip, he did the first thing he could think of to keep all of you from getting hurt. Was it right? Probably not, considering how things turned out. But his intentions were noble.”

  She looked Jake in the eye. “Let me ask you something, if he’s such a selfish ‘ass’, why did he help you that day Ortega came after you? He could have just walked on by and no one would have ever known. Instead he came to your rescue. Love isn’t the only thing that’s blinding, Jake. Sometimes hate can be just as powerful.”

  “Amber . . . I don’t hate Buck. I did once I guess, but . . . the guy just tends to grow on you after a while. I’m not saying he’s an evil person, I’m not even saying he’s a bad guy. I’m just saying that I don’t see how someone like you could end up with someone like him.”

  “Why am I the one thrust up on a pedestal?” Amber said defensively. “What makes me so great?”

  “Are you kidding me?!” Jake exclaimed. “You’re amazing, you’re kind, you’re thoughtful . . . every time Ortega pushed me to my limits it was you that encouraged me to keep moving forward. You’re the soul of this team, Amber. It’s heart. Without you, we’re nothing.”

  "Yeah well I don’t know about that.” She looked away.

  Man this did not go at all like I’d imagined. The others have been gone less than five minutes and here we are arguing over Buck! Jake shook his head. This is all wrong. It’s not hate that’s blinding me, it’s jealousy. Buck’s been a better friend to me than I have been to him. Amber’s right . . . I’m the one that’s the ass.

  “Amber . . .” Jake reached out for her hand. She hesitantly accepted it. “I cannot tell you how much your friendship means to me. If you want to be with Buck, then be with him. I just want you to be happy and I don’t want to see you get hurt. I care about you. You’re one of my best friends. I would do anything for you. And as for how I reacted . . . you’re right, I have been too hard on him, judged him too harshly. I’m sorry for that. I really am.”

  She squeezed his hand. “I appreciate that. I really do. And I feel the same way about you, Jake. It’s just been hard. I cared about Buck. I still care about him. But he shouldn’t have done what he did. He betrayed my trust. I can’t forgive him for that; someday maybe I will, but I’ll never be able to forget what he did.”

  “I understand.” Jake nodded.

  “Anyway,” she sighed then smiled. “Did you want to spend the whole night talking about Buck? Or did you want to clean our weapons?"

  "Well," Jake said going out on a limb. "If you would like to get a bite to eat . . . you know, just the two of us, we can?"

  "Why Jacob Bishop. Are you asking me out?"

  "Well . . . yeah . . .” he stammered. “I mean I know you may not be ready yet and if you want to just go as friends we can. It’s just, I mean . . ." he rambled on.

  Amber smiled. "It’s alright Jacob. Let’s get something to eat. What do you feel like?"

  "Why are you calling me Jacob?" He laughed uncomfortably.

  "Why can't I call you Jacob?"

  "I don't know, it's just everyone's always called me Jake. The only person that calls me Jacob is Mr. Orwell, oh and my dad, usually only when I’m in trouble though.”

  "Well I want to call you Jacob," she smiled.

  The hotel restaurant was packed full with rowdy, half-drunk hunters/soldiers, so they settled on getting a couple of chicken fried steaks to go and ended up eating on the tiny table in Jake's room. "So who did you end up bunking with?" she asked opening her Styrofoam container.

  "Who else?" He said, ripping open the plastic silverware. "Your ex."

  "Is he really that bad?"

  "Honestly I’m not trying to harp on him anymore.” Jake laughed uncomfortably. “But yes!”

  To his surprise Amber laughed.

  “Donnie, Chris and I had to play rock paper scissors to see who shared a room with him. I lost. Paper failed me yet again!" She laughed again.

  “I've always wondered, why did Donnie let you guys date? Or for that matter why did Billy?"

  "What's Donnie going to do?” She smirked. “I mean seriously? Just because he's my big brother doesn't mean he gets to tell me what to do. And Grandpa is just a big softie, I bat my eyes at him and he rolls over for me. Now Grandma, she’s a different story. She's always hated Buck. She says, Li nan yon kòz pèdi.”

  “Man that sounds bad, what does it mean?”

  Amber looked up at the ceiling trying to find the right words, “Basically . . . translated it means - he’s a lost a cause or he’s in a desperate situation. Something like that.” She shrugged.

  “Wow! I’m genuinely impressed. I had no idea you spoke Haitian.”

  “Well there’s a lot you don’t know about me.” She smiled. “And it’s not Haitian, it’s Creole.”

  “I thought Creole was like, you know, something people in Louisiana spoke.”

  “It is silly. But what we speak is Haitian Creole.”

  “Wow, you are just full of information. So what does Sandra say about me? Am I a lost cause?”

  Amber laughed. “You want to hear something really funny?"

  "What?" Jake asked sipping from his Dr. Pepper.

  "Grandma always said I should date a nicer guy. Word for word this is what she said, ‘Cheri, why don't you date that Jake Bishop boy? He's such a nice young man.’"

  "Well Sandra's right. Why don't you date that nice young man with the stunning good looks
, impeccable taste in fine wines, and friends that turn into giant apes? Not to mention his thorough knowledge of the Star Wars universe! Now that’s got to be a major turn on!”

  Amber nearly spit out her Dr. Pepper. She wiped her mouth with a napkin then still laughing said, "Well, he's never shown any interest until now."

  "Well, I am now."

  She grinned but didn’t meet his eyes. "Just eat your steak, stud. We'll talk about it if we both survive tomorrow."

  Tomorrow? Wow, there for a minute I actually forgot about the hunt! Again, Jake sipped from his Dr. Pepper. "Are you scared?"

  "Are you?"

  "Yeah a little," Jake admitted.

  "Me too. I'm surprised that you are. Having seen them up close so many times."

  "Yeah well, to be honest I think seeing one up close makes me more afraid. And the one when I was a kid wasn’t even a Maker. He was just some guy that was friends with my dad. He couldn’t help what they turned him into."

  “What about Georgia?” she asked. “You never talk about it, but we’ve all heard the stories.”

  “What have you heard?” Jake asked.

  “Something about some big Maker with a fur coat, Macron? Or something like that.”

  “Macro was his name. Big sucker. Taller than my dad even and that coat . . . I could be wrong, but I’m pretty sure that coat was made up of pelts. Pelts from Mr. Orwell and Chef’s friends.” He swallowed remembering the fear he’d felt that night. “Mr. Orwell said he’s the one that took out Chef’s tongue.”

  Amber put her hand up to her mouth in shock “He did that to Chef? That’s terrible. I thought you know . . . I thought nothing could hurt them. The way they tore up those vamps the night you guys went out . . . I know Chef got pretty beat up, but I didn’t think they could actually kill one of them.”

  “If only that was the case.”

  “Why don’t they help us?” Amber asked cutting into her steak and chewing a bite. “Their strength and speed would give us a huge advantage on this hunt.”

  “It’s a long, drawn out story.” Jake sighed.

  “Well, tell me.” Amber leaned back in her chair.

  So for the next half hour Jake filled her in on everything he’d learned from Mr. Orwell about the Watchers, their treaty, Chef’s banishment, his true identity; everything but Tiberius.

  When he was done Amber just looked at him then shook her head. “That’s one crazy story, Jake.”

  They chewed in silence for a few minutes until Amber broke it with a surprising question. "Do you still wonder about your Mom?"

  Jake was silent for several long seconds as he thought it over.

  "I'm sorry,” she said. “I shouldn't have asked that."

  "No it's okay." he swallowed a big bite. “It’s just . . . I haven't talked about her in such a long time. Dad won’t even discuss what happened. But yeah, I still wonder about her, if she's still out there. I know it sounds cold but I like to think of her being dead. The alternative is too terrible too even contemplate. I can't think about her being one of them, feeding on innocent children in their beds." Jake lowered his eyes to the table then cleared his throat.

  " I see what you’re saying. Sometimes I wish I could see my dad just one more time. It’s hard only knowing his face from pictures. But the idea of him possibly being a monster would just be too much."

  "What happened with your dad? If you don't mind me asking. Donnie never talks about it."

  Amber took a deep breath and played with her mashed potatoes with her fork. "Yeah he's never been able to, not even with me," she sighed. "Long story short, Dad was on a hunt with your dad and Ben, and Turner. They'd cleared the entire house and everything looked fine. But . . . one of them was hiding in the attic. From what Grandma told me it reached through the ceiling and . . .” she grimaced, “and it cut dad’s head off. John killed it, but it was too late. Dad was dead. Anyway, John and the others torched the house but . . . they couldn’t find Dad’s head. It was just gone.”

  "I’m so sorry Amber. That’s terrible.”

  “It’s okay Jacob. Really. Like I said, I was so little I don’t even remember him. Donnie though, Dad was Donnie’s hero.”

  “You know, that’s why my dad quit hunting. Why he tried to get me and my mom out. I'd always heard that he was pretty torn up by Terry's death. I had no idea that he was right there."

  "Yeah him and Dad were best friends. Kind of like you and Donnie. Strange how that worked out." She sipped from her Dr. Pepper making a loud slurping sound.

  "So what happened to your Mom?" Jake asked.

  Amber pulled the lid off her cup and began crunching on the ice. "She . . . um well, she didn't take Dad's death very well. She began drinking. A lot. And when I was five years old, she dropped Donnie and me at Grandma and Grandpa's house one summer morning. I haven't seen her since. I don't know if she's alive or dead."

  "That’s terrible. Amber I’m so sorry. I had no idea."

  "It's okay." She shrugged her shoulders. "I guess we both know what it's like to wonder about our moms."

  "That's for sure," Jake said, looking down at his now empty container.

  "You know something Jacob. I wouldn’t tell this to just anyone, but I wish my Grandpa would quit hunting. It took everything Grandma had to keep him from actually hunting this trip. I know it will be hard for him being left behind, but it’s time he hung it up."

  "Yeah I feel the same way about my grandpa. I know he’s only here as an advisor, but I wish he could retire some place nice and not have to sleep with a gun under his pillow. But to be completely honest, I'd feel a thousand times worse about this trip if I knew Billy and him weren't here making sure everything worked out to our best interest. Nothing against the Judge, but I don't trust these guys like I trust Billy."

  "Me either. I don't think they'd purposefully try to get anyone hurt, but they wouldn't be too upset if a lot of our guys didn't make it home." They both sat in silence thinking about everything they had talked about.

  I can trust her. Jake thought, fighting a silent debate within himself. I know I can. She won’t tell anyone. But what if she does? He sighed. "Amber can I tell you something?"

  "Sure Jacob. You can tell me anything."

  "Will you promise never to tell anyone? Even your Grandma and Grandpa? Even Donnie and the others?"

  "Now you've really got me intrigued." She leaned forward on her elbows.

  "I'm absolutely serious, Amber. I've kept this secret for a long time. I don't even know why I'm considering telling you now. If anyone found out about this, it could be really bad."

  "Okay Jacob. I promise."

  Taking a deep breath Jake told her about meeting Tiberius and the nights he'd spent talking to him. About what Mr. Orwell had told him about why Tiberius was locked away. Through it all, she stayed absolutely quiet waiting for him to finish. When he was done, she just stared at him, looking as beautiful as ever. Jake couldn't help himself, “You are so beautiful do you know that?"

  She smiled shyly and looked down at her food. "Jake . . ."

  "I'm serious. I've always wanted to tell you that."

  "Then why didn't you ever say anything?"

  "Well you were always with Buck and to be honest I was too nervous and afraid to tell you."

  "Well I'm not with Buck anymore," she smiled sadly. "Why didn't you ever tell your family about Tiberius?” she asked, changing the subject back. “Did you think they would be upset?"

  "No," Jake said, thinking it over. "I don't know. It just didn't seem right. He saved my life after all. I just don't think they would understand, and if Judge or Hernandez found out . . . how long would it be before they took Tiberius for themselves? What type of sick experiments would they do on him? He may be a Maker, but he saved my life. I owe him at least that much."

  "Hmm," she said, thinking it all over. “I see your point. But do you think being locked up in your grandfather's dungeon is any better?"

  “I don’t know.” Jake shrugg
ed. “Man it feels really good to get that out!”

  "Well thanks for dinner," she said, closing her Styrofoam container.

  "No problem," Jake said, dropping the fork and knife to his own container.

  “And thanks for your trust. I promise I’ll never tell anyone.” She smiled.

  The lock on the door turned and Buck suddenly walked in. He looked at them, his eyes filled with rage.

  "Hi Buck," Amber said.

  Without saying a word he turned and walked out of the room slamming the door behind him. "Well that was . . . awkward," she said, rising to her feet.

  "Yeah just a bit," Jake said, blowing out his breath.

  “I should go Jake,” Amber said uncomfortably. “This isn’t right.”

  “Amber, we’re just talking,” Jake said gently.

  “I know . . . but I should really go. You two are friends and . . . it’s just . . . I like you Jake, I do. It’s just confusing right now.”

  "Okay.” He smiled. “It’s okay, really. Want me to walk you back to your room?"

  "That would be nice. But . . . let’s take the long way. I really enjoy talking with you." Together they walked down the hall and out into the courtyard, then around the pool. Soon Jake’s hand was intertwined with hers. But all too soon, it was over, they were back at her room. "Damn I forgot my key," she said, digging in her pockets. Sighing she knocked on the door three times. Diana in a long blue T-shirt opened the door. She looked at both of them still holding hands and her eyes grew wide. A smile reached her lips. "Well hello you two!"

  Amber rolled her eyes, "Thank you Diana!" she said, pushing past her.

  Jake turned to walk away, feeling more than a little sad that their night was over. He walked a few steps before Amber came back out.

  "Jacob!" she called out.

  "Yeah." He turned loving the sound of his name on her lips.

  "Thanks again." She kissed him on the cheek.

  "Uh. No problem at all!" he stammered.

  She laughed and touched his chest with her hands. "I'll see you tomorrow. Get a good night's sleep, okay?"