Demon's Stand

by Dahlen, K. J.

“And time is running out for everyone,” Shiloh whispered. “Especially me, I’m the only one who knows where the book is and how to get to it.”

  “We’re keeping watch of the house from the woods and our guys are watching over the town. We are also doing our own intel,” Lucifer told Charlie. “We can be ready on a moment’s notice.” He nodded at Demon’s camera. “We have a score to settle with those two men.”

  Charlie shook his head. “You can’t let your own prejudices influence this case. There’s so much more to this than what you feel at stake.”

  Lucifer leaned forward. “What I feel? You have no clue what I feel. Those bastards were responsible for an ambush that killed eight men in my crew. They told the rebels about us following the Sheik and a day later, my men were killed and the four of us that were left, were taken hostage for four months. They tortured us every fucking day of those four months leaving us broken and bloody. Don’t you dare tell me my feelings don’t count. You have no fucking clue what my feelings are.”

  Charlie didn’t say a word. He just hoped Lucifer and his men wouldn’t screw things up too badly.

  Chapter Fourteen

  “Don’t worry. We won’t let anything happen to you,” Charlie reassured her.

  Shiloh stepped out of his embrace. “You may not have a choice in the matter.”

  “We always have a choice,” Demon reminded her. “I think we should keep track of what Simon’s up to. If he’s taking Mischa’s threat at face value, he’ll be up to something.”

  Charlie agreed. “Let me make a phone call and see what I can find out.” He turned away from them.

  Shiloh went to sit beside Demon. She picked up the file Charlie brought in earlier. “What else did you find in here?” she asked while paging through the file and came across the info Charlie assembled about her family. She dropped the file and read the two page report.

  She looked at Demon with tears in her eyes. Then she turned back to the report. Charlie found out that her parents had met at college and married right after they graduated. Then her dad’s parents died in a car accident right after she was born. Her mother’s parents had died five years before she met Mike and the only living relative she had was Donna, her mom’s younger sister.

  Mike loved antiques and opened a business with a college friend, Simon Pratt. They began small and managed to build up their clientele with honest business practices.

  Shiloh sighed. “There isn’t much here to tell anyone what kind of man my father was.”

  “On the contrary,” Demon told her. “The fact that your father came to the police in the first place tells us he was a man of character. He died protecting you and your mother.”

  Shiloh sighed. He was right. Her father had tried to do the right thing and was murdered for it. Now it was up to her to right the wrong.

  Charlie came back over and was scowling. “It seems Simon is taking Mischa’s threat seriously. He’s begun liquidating his assets.”

  “Which means he’s got plans to move on,” Demon suggested. “We may have less time than we think.”

  “I don’t think Simon will want to leave without his green book and jewels,” Shiloh said.

  “Well, which one do you think will knock on the door first? Thomas or Richy? Demon asked his uncle.

  “What are you going to do if it’s Richy?” Charlie asked.

  “Keep him as far away from Shiloh as possible,” Demon vowed. “If he is the leak, I don’t want him anywhere near her.”

  “We don’t know anything for sure at this point,” Charlie reminded him. “But it’s a pretty good bet.”

  “If it’s true, I might have to hurt the man.” Demon seethed. “A good man died that night in New York.”

  “To prove it we have to find the green book,” Shiloh added. Her headache was back and her temples were throbbing. She lifted her hands and rubbed the spot around her eyes. “I think I need to lay down for a while.”

  “I don’t think that’s such a good idea.” Charlie looked unsure.

  “Why not?” she asked.

  “You took a good blow to your head, you might have a concussion. We need to watch you for a while. I think you need to stay awake.”

  Shiloh groaned. “I guess I’ll have to settle for a shower then.” She got up and walked to her bedroom. A few minutes later hot water was running down her back. She stood there and let the water release the tension in her shoulders. She tipped her head against the shower stall and let the water cascade over her body. Closing her eyes, she could see pictures of the past flipping through her mind. They were like pieces of film cutting in and out. Shiloh didn’t dare open her eyes, she didn’t want the pictures to stop. She saw someone with strong hands lift her up in the air. She was just a child but she looked at him with all the love a child had for a father. He lifted her out of his chair and when he sat down, she was sitting on his lap.

  Then she was standing in another room, playing with gold coins. She watched as her as a child lifted her head and looked around. There were statues of all kinds and boxes and bags on the shelves surrounding her. The little girl heard her name being called and she looked up to find her mother holding her hand out. The little girl got up to join her mother and watched as her mother closed the door behind her. She watched in awe, as the door seemed to disappear from sight.

  Shiloh gasped out loud. “Oh my god… the vault, hidden in plain sight. How cleaver is that?”

  Shiloh shut the water off and quickly dried and dressed. She combed out her wet hair and went in search of Charlie and Demon. Lucifer and his men were gone. She found them in the living room talking to another man. Stopping short, she looked from Charlie to Demon and back to Charlie. “Who is this?”

  “This is Richy Hall, an old friend from New York,” Demon replied.

  “Oh yeah, Richy,” Shiloh greeted him. “Demon’s told me so much about you. I’m so glad to finally meet you.” She held out her hand. When Richy took her hand, she gave him a fake smile. “Have you made any progress on the smuggling ring?” Shiloh then went to sit next to Charlie.

  “No actually we haven’t,” Richy told them. “That’s why I came here to Whiskey Bend. I was hoping Demon would have something for me.”

  Shiloh noticed her laptop and the files weren’t in sight. Instead, there was a pizza box and a couple of empty cans of beer sitting on the coffee table. She glanced at Richy and decided she could barely stand to be in the same room with him. She glanced at his hands but there were no injuries on either of them.

  “So you’re the daughter of Mike and Dana Corbin,” Richy stated.

  “So I’m told.” Shiloh nodded. “I can’t really remember anything, so my identity is still up in the air.”

  “What do you mean you can’t remember anything?” Richy asked worriedly.

  “When Charlie brought me here a couple of days ago, I guess I was hoping being here again would jog my memories. I haven’t been here since my aunt took me away as a four-year-old, but unfortunately, that isn’t working. Whatever blocked my memory of the night my parents died is still in place. The doctors told me I might never regain the memories of my childhood.”

  “Wow, what a bummer,” Richy said. “That would really suck.”

  Shiloh shrugged. “I’m not really sure I would want to remember the night my parents died. If I saw what happened, I don’t think I could bear to remember it.”

  Richy nodded. “I can understand that.” He paused and then got up. “Well, buddy maybe we can get together tonight before I leave for New York. I have to get back to the big city.”

  Demon reached for his hand. “Call me, maybe we’ll get a slice and a beer before you go back.”

  Richy nodded and called out, “Later man.”

  They all watched as he left the house.

  Shiloh got up and went to the window. She watched as Richy walked out to his car and drove away. Then she looked at Charlie and Demon. “He’s gone.”

  “I don’t think you convinced him you don�
�t remember anything.” Demon shook his head.

  “What do you mean?” Shiloh asked.

  “I told him this morning you were beginning to remember things. He asked what but I didn’t exactly have time to tell him everything.”

  “He wasn’t the guy here earlier anyway. I didn’t see any bite marks on his hands,” Shiloh said.

  “No but that doesn’t mean he didn’t have someone else break in and do the dirty work for him.” Demon frowned.

  “The same could be said about his uncle,” Shiloh reminded him.

  “You seemed to be in a hurry when you came in earlier. What was that all about?” Charlie asked.

  “I think I remembered where the safe room is,” Shiloh told them in a hushed voice.

  Demon and Charlie both stood up.

  “You did?” Demon asked.

  “I was in the shower and I was letting the hot water run over my back. I thought it might help with the tension. Anyway, I began seeing pictures in my head. I was seeing me and my dad in his office, then I saw me sitting in the safe room. Next I saw my mother locking the safe.”

  “And where is the safe?” Charlie asked.

  “It’s in the basement.” Shiloh told them. At their expression of surprise, Shiloh grinned. “I know we’ve already looked there but my father was a sneaky kind of guy. He liked hiding things in plain sight.” She turned to go to the basement, then turned back to them and said, “Are you coming?”

  Shiloh led the way to the basement. When they turned the corner, she motioned toward the wall. “Tada, here it is. My dad’s safe room.”

  Charlie’s eyebrows rose while Demon frowned. All they saw was a wall.

  Shiloh watched them for a few minutes, then took mercy on them. She walked over to the wall and pushed a hidden button. One of the panels of the wall snapped open and she was able to pull it back to reveal a floor to ceiling heavy metal door behind.

  “Well I’ll be…” Charlie whispered as the door to the safe was revealed.

  “No wonder we couldn’t find it.” Demon stared at the metal. He stepped up to the door and studied the lock. Without a combination, they wouldn’t be able to get inside the safe but knowing where the safe was located was a big step toward the end. “You wouldn’t happen to remember the combination, would you?”

  Shiloh thought about giving them the combination but decided to hold that information for a while. “Sorry.” She shrugged.

  “It doesn’t matter,” Charlie told her. “At least we know the safe is real.”

  Shiloh glanced at him and shook her head. “We both know it does matter very much. But I just can’t remember right now.”

  Demon turned to her and said, “Hey girl, I think you’re doing great. For someone who had no clue about her family three days ago, you’ve come a long way.”

  “But we’re running out of time, or at least Simon is.” Shiloh sighed. “He’s bound to start getting a little desperate any time now.”

  “And we don’t know who’s working with him.” Charlie looked concerned. “Because someone broke in here earlier and it wasn’t him.”

  “That reminds me I’m going to do a little checking on Richy. I never would have believed he might be responsible for Pete’s death but now I’m not so sure.” Demon said. “I’m pretty sure the rest of the task force didn’t know it either.”

  “That might explain why every raid has been just a few minutes too late to catch the ring in action, and why the DEA has been too late by minutes as well,” Charlie added. “I’m going to give Thomas a call and see what he thinks of this new information.”

  Demon put his call in to the task force while Charlie called Thomas. When Charlie finished that call, he placed another call to one of guys he worked with.

  While Charlie and Demon were otherwise occupied, Shiloh wandered around the basement. Her memories were coming back although there weren’t that many. How many memories could a four-year-old have?

  She went to her father’s office and began looking around. She was trying to remember the place her father worked in at home. She sat down in his chair and swung it around. She could remember doing that as a child but that was all she could remember. On the left corner of the desk top was a picture. Shiloh picked it up and looked at it. It was a picture of her parents and her. Everyone had a smile on their face. Her parents were gazing into each other’s eyes and she was cradled between them. Tears welled in her eyes as she thought about how little she could remember from her childhood. She let her finger trace the outline of her parents and wished she had the chance to have gotten to know them better.

  Behind her father’s desk was floor to ceiling bookshelves lined with all sorts of books. She got up and stepped toward the shelves. Looking over the titles, she realized her parents had a passion for reading. Some of the books were non-fiction but most of them were fiction. Her parents had an eclectic taste that ranged from thrillers to romance, and paranormal to children’s books. The children’s books she assumed were hers but it was nice to know they included her in their world too.

  One title stuck out, it was a copy of Moby Dick. She didn’t know why this particular book stuck out to her but she reached for it anyway. Taking it off the shelf, she carried it back to the desk and after she sat down, she opened the book.

  “Oh my god…” Shiloh whispered as she saw what was inside. The whole inside of the book had been hollowed out. Instead of pages, she found 2 small wire bound notebooks. Taking one of the notebooks out Shiloh opened the cover. Inside the book were dates and times and initials. Page after page were all the same. Shiloh put the first book down on the desk and opened the second book. Someone had filled this book with notes. She thought the handwriting looked familiar but she couldn’t be sure.

  To whoever finds these books, my name is Michael Corbin and I own Corbin/Pratt Import/Export. I have been noticing something unexplainable happening at the shop. I am beginning to suspect my partner Simon Pratt is up to something illegal. I found a small notebook laying on the floor the other day. As I was on my way out the door, I put it in my pocket and forgot about it.

  When I saw Simon the next day, he seemed frantic and he said something that made me think something was going on. I know I should have given him the notebook back but I needed to know what was going on. If there was something in the book that was illegal, I was going to the police. When I realized what the book actually was, I was horrified. Simon had taken my trust and friendship and used the shop to bring in contraband and who knows what. He took my dream and turned it into a nightmare.

  I don’t know yet what I’m going to do about this but I can’t allow it to go on.

  Michael Corbin

  Shiloh felt the tears building in her eyes again. She looked toward the door and saw Charlie standing there. Wordlessly, she picked up both books and handed them to him. She knew her father would want her to bring this to the right person.

  Charlie sat down on the other side of the desk and began reading through the notebooks. When he was finished, he looked up at Shiloh. “Where did you find these?”

  Shiloh picked up the book and showed him the hollowed-out center. “Is this the green book everyone has been looking for?” she asked.

  “I doubt it. This is something entirely different.” He glanced at the notebook. “I wonder when he found this?”

  “Does this mean he suspected Simon before we thought?”

  Charlie shrugged. “I don’t know. This could be connected to the ring or not.”

  Demon appeared in the doorway. “What’s going on?”

  Charlie handed him the books. ‘We might have a small piece of the pie.”

  Demon looked at the books. He frowned when he saw the notebooks. “This isn’t the green book we’ve been looking for.”

  “I know but this might be the trial run for the smuggling ring,” Charlie told him.

  “What do you mean?” Shiloh asked.

  “Did you notice the dates in the first book?” He nodded to the first no
tebook. “I think what Simon was doing was a trial run to see what he could get away with.”

  “We’ll have to check this information with what we have to be sure.” Demon nodded.

  Charlie turned to look at Shiloh. “I was able to find out some information. Thomas is on his way to Whiskey Bend and should be here in a few hours. He said he wanted to speak to you. I’d like him to have a look at this book, maybe he can tell us what it really is.”

  Shiloh nodded.

  Charlie turned to look at Demon. “I found out that Simon is transferring all his accounts to an off-shore bank. I also found out he’s had Leroy Younger working for him for some time.”

  “What does that mean and who is Leroy Younger?” Shiloh asked.

  “It means that Simon is planning his getaway, probably to a country with no extradition,” Charlie explained.

  “Leroy Younger is a petty thief turned Private Investigator,” Demon added. “A rather nasty dude really. I ran into him once. He was harassing a young woman he claimed was a wanted person. The young woman was scared to death and insisting he had the wrong woman. Turned out she was right, she wasn’t the woman he thought she was. He ended up blaming her for not being who he thought she was.”

  “Maybe the flash drive I found belonged to this Leroy Younger,” Shiloh suggested.

  “If it is, then Simon has known where you and Donna lived most of your life.” Charlie said. “I can’t imagine Simon putting up with Leroy’s behavior all these years. Leroy wasn’t a pleasant sort of person twenty years ago and I can only imagine he’s even worse now. If that’s true, I wonder why he chose now to make his move against her?”

  “Tell you what, when we finally have him in cuffs, you can ask him,” Demon told Charlie.

  “Don’t worry, I will.” Charlie glared at the younger man.

  Demon scoffed. “Then you’d better hope you find him before my crew does, because there won’t be much left of him when they get through with him. There will be even less of Simon Pratt, if Lucifer and Jinx find him first.” He shrugged. “Just sayin…”