by Gary Weston
Bernie sipped his coffee, trying to find the words. Poppy was a mature, intelligent young woman. He took her hand. 'I may have news for you.'
'Fred?'
'We think so. I have something here.' He took out his wallet and from that got a folded sheet of A4 paper and handed it to his niece.
With her hands shaking slightly, she unfolded the sheet. 'The hotel is empty. F. I don't understand.'
'First things first. Do you think that's Fred's handwriting?'
Poppy studied the paper. 'Yes. I always said his handwriting is the worst ever. No doubt about it. Where did you get this?'
'It was handed to Detective Morris. They were at that hotel last night. It was something of a standoff. A man in a Tactical uniform handed that note to Morris. Then he vanished.'
'You think it was him? You think it was Fred?'
'He had a visor over his face. But yes. I do. We all do. It was Fred.'
'I don't understand what this note means?'
'You'll see it all on the television news later. It was the Ferret saving the day again. Realising the significance of the message, my men went in and literally defused the situation. The bad guys they had assumed were in the building weren't. Fred was on the money, as usual.'
'He can do that and he can't send me a damn email?'
'Poppy. I don't know what to say. I wish to God I did. but at least...'
'Oh, yes. He's alive. He can't be bothered to contact me, but he can be out there solving major crimes. What am I to him? Nothing?'
'Hell, no, Poppy. You know you are everything to him. Never doubt that.'
Poppy wiped away her tears, tipped her head back and stared at the ceiling. 'So what is going on, Uncle Bernie?'
'I have a theory.'
'Go on.'
'Now I'm not saying this is what's going on, but it's the only thing that makes any sense.'
'I'm listening.'
'This thing going on with this gang. Targeting buildings worth millions and extorting money from their owners is a pretty big case. It's also a perfect case for the Ferret to apply himself to and help apprehend the bad guys.'
'Right. So you think he's sort of going undercover to get them?'
Bernie shrugged. 'Hmm. Not quite the way I was thinking, but I suppose that's a possibility.'
'So not that?'
'I don't think so. That's a serious crime, but at the end of the day, it's just a crime. If it were just that, I've no doubt Fred would be shoulder to shoulder with Morris and Crowe. Whatever it is he's into is huge. I have no idea what, but it is scarily big. Him saving the day yesterday was simply an aside for him. Time out from the big one.'
'Jeez. How bloody big is it what he's working on?'
Bernie shrugged. 'I don't know for sure. Like I said, just a theory. But before I tell you my theory, are you sure you can't think of anything?'
'No. How would I know of...oh.'
'Poppy?'
'No. Not that.'
'Tell me what you think, for God's sake.'
'No. You'll never believe it.'
'Try me.'
Chapter 14
Poppy said, 'It goes back to that witch case. Damn. I don't even want to think about it.'
'Morris and Crowe risked disciplinary action by not saying what happened that night. D I Andersen was livid, but those three detectives are his best team and he...we trust them completely.'
'Uncle Bernie. I'll tell you what happened. But you have to promise me you'll never repeat it.'
'But if it's a way to find Fred, I'm not sure I can do that.'
'Then forget it.'
Bernie had to know. 'Okay. I promise. Tell me.'
'Shannon Le'Vin. Remember her?'
'I never met her, but she was amazingly beautiful I heard. She was also a high priestess with a witches coven, I believe?'
Poppy nodded. 'I think I was a little in awe of her. I never met anyone like her. She had this self confidence that made her just glow. I went to her home to supposedly help her with her computer and also to learn a little about witchcraft, for a book I wanted to write. It was all a trap.'
Bernie was stunned. 'A trap? For you?'
'No. I was just the bait. She wanted Fred. She may have drugged me. I don't think she needed to. She was so powerful. I remember sitting with her at her computer, going over her new website, having fun. Then I was out of it. The next thing I remember was being naked, standing on a chair with a noose around my neck.'
Bernie was horrified.'My God. Why didn't you say anything?'
'Because...oh, Uncle Bernie. It's complicated.'
'Wait a moment.' He got up, opened a bottle of bourbon and poured two large measures. He placed one in front of his niece and sat back down. After a decent mouthful of booze, he said. 'I'm ready. Go on.'
Poppy sipped her neat bourbon, winced and took a deep breath. 'Fred filled in some of the gaps later. I was sort of aware of everything that was going on, but unable to move or speak. I could see Morris, Crowe and Fred. There was also that warlock. Felix Farnham. There was something else. It was...'She drained the glass and shuddered. 'I can only describe it as pure evil. Not human.'
'Not human?'
'This is where you'll just have to accept what I say. It happened.'
'Poppy. You were probably drugged up to your eyeballs. Hallucinating or something.'
Poppy collected the glasses, went over to the bottle and poured them both another drink. 'I knew you'd say that. It wasn't like that.'
'You said yourself you couldn't move or speak. Sounds like you were drugged to me.'
Poppy sat back down with her uncle. 'Fred wasn't drugged. Morris and Crowe weren't drugged. They saw and heard what I did.'
'Sorry. Go on.'
'I remember hearing...what do they call them? Incantations. From the witches. In front of me, this...thing appeared. Just from nothing. It was the most disgusting thing I have ever seen in my life. I could even smell it. It was huge, and its leg, one leg, was like a bird. It scratched the floor as he stomped around. He...it was summoned by the witches. They called him the Lord of Revenge and he was to do their bidding.'
Poppy stopped, sipped her drink and looked her uncle in the eyes. She needed to know he accepted what she knew was an incredible tale and wasn't thinking she was crazy. He held her stare; his kind blue eyes full of love and care for his niece. He believed her. She continued.
'This is where it starts to get weird.'
'Starts?'
'Weirder. Shannon Le'Vin and Fred go back a long, long way. Hundreds of years. Fred was a witch finder. He had Le'vin hung. It was all about revenge and making him suffer.'
'How? By watching you suffer?'
'Yes. It would have been easy for them to kill Fred, to kill all of us. She wanted more than that. This had been festering for centuries. She was using our love against us. Fred begged her to let me go. He said he would willingly take my place. And he did.'
Bernie put his hand up. He had to sit quietly and think about what Poppy was telling him. He had enough imagination to picture the scene in his mind, but it stretched what he could accept as the truth to the absolute limits. He had been in the police force for all his adult life. He knew lies from truth. This was the truth. He nodded for her to continue.
'That monster, the creature. He agreed. They got me down and Fred stood on the chair with that noose around his neck. Uncle Bernie. He would have given up his life so that I could live. The creature spoke. It said, Fred's heart was too pure and his love for me too strong. There was no place for him in hell.'
'It let Fred go?'
'Yes. Instead he took Le'Vin and Farnham. He took their hands in his and they vanished.'
'I never understood what happened to them. Prime suspects in the witch murders, and Morris and Crowe refusing to tell me and D I Andersen where they were.'
'Now you know why. All that was left were two small piles of ash. That thing had taken them straight to hell.'
Bernie got up and stare
d out of the window at his back garden. He would have to mow the lawns soon. It looked like rain. 'Hell's a good place for them. Poppy. Never doubt Fred. He would have gladly died to save you. There is no deeper love than that.'
'I know.' She got up and hugged her uncle. 'But could the witches still be after him? Is that what this is all about?'
'I suppose so. I must admit, I had been thinking it was something more down to Earth. Sort of.'
'I don't understand?'
Bernie looked Poppy in the eyes, wondering if he should say what was on his mind. They had gone too far, now. 'Just a theory. Who do we know who wouldn't think twice to involve the Ferret in one of her mad cases?'
'Oh, come on. My mother?'
'Hmm. Let's face it. It makes as much sense as revenge filled witches.'
'And just as dangerous. Whatever it is keeping him away from me, he had better get back to me soon. He needs to be here with me. Me and his baby.'
'Poppy?'
'I'm pregnant. I've just found out, and Fred doesn't know, yet.'
Chapter 15
The Chief had summoned Morris and Crowe to his office and could feel their discomfort. 'Nothing from the Scene of Crime team?'
'No, Sir,' said Morris. 'I must admit I'm at a loss as to the direction to take.' At the back of Morris's mind was knowing this conversation should be with D I Andersen, not the Chief. Something else was going on, he was sure.
'We might not get anything until they strike again, Sir,' offered Crowe, also wondering why he was standing in front of the Old Man.
'Possibly.' The Chief leaned back in his chair considering just how much to divulge. 'I had an interesting chat with my niece, yesterday. She told me what happened at the end of that witch case.'
Morris and Crowe shared a look. Were they in trouble?
Morris said, 'Sir. With respect...'
The Chief raised a hand. 'I probably owe you two my niece's life. For that I thank you.'
Crowe said, 'It was Ferret who saved the day. I never saw such guts.'
'I know that, also. Poppy was wondering if there were still repercussions from that case, coming back to haunt us. Is that why he is missing; maybe taking the danger away from his wife? Opinions?'
Morris gave his. 'Like Vince said. Ferret's courage isn't in question. I saw him with the noose around his neck, ready to die to save Poppy. But we saw things not of our world; we discovered there's an evil surrounding us we didn't know even existed. I think we got the slightest glimpse into another world; not an experience I ever want to repeat. Could that evil still want Ducket? I suppose we couldn't rule it out. What we experienced that night, well. Who could know?'
'But you don't think so?'
Morris found his thoughts being dragged back to a house full of evil, where a creature was called from the bottomless pit of hell. He had been transfixed to the spot, as the monster with the leg of a bird stomped around them, his claws, long and vicious, making teeth grinding scratching sounds on the bare floorboards.
He could still smell, even taste that fetid, rancid breath of the thing from another dimension as it strutted before him. He had fought evil every day of his life, but this was the stuff of nightmares, and remained only partially submerged in the darkest recesses of his mind. The Chief had asked for his honest opinions. Did he think evil like that could ever truly be destroyed?
'All that was left over from the witches were little piles of ashes. But something that lived centuries ago, I'm not sure what that means.'
Crowe said, 'I don't see it. That chicken legged freak took them home with him. They aren't coming back.'
'I hope so,' the Chief said, 'Which comes back to my original theory why Ducket's missing. Sandra.'
'Oh, God,' said Morris. 'No disrespect to your sister, Sir, but if she's back, some big bad shit is going down.'
The Chief agreed. 'Keep on your case. Forget about Fred. But if he or my sister makes a sudden appearance, they become your priority. Got that?'
'Yes, Sir,' said Morris. 'Anything else, Sir?'
'Yes. If you two ever hold back information about a case ever again, no matter how strange, you can look forward to issuing speeding tickets until the day you retire. Understood?'
'Yes, Sir,' said Morris and Crowe together.
'Glad we cleared that up. Now get the hell out of here.'
Chapter 16
'Are you absolutely sure?'
'Uncle Bernie. I'm not a kid. I've taken a pregnancy test.'
Debbie shot him a warning look. 'Of course she's sure.' She poured more gravy on her roast beef dinner and glanced at Poppy. 'Men,' she said with a sigh.
'I wish I had known before he disappeared,' said Poppy. 'If he had known he was going to be a dad, he'd never have gone.'
'I had a chat with Morris and Crowe today,' said Bernie. 'Everything out in the open. They can't see it being a witch thing.'
'Mom?'
'It has all the hallmarks. To be honest, it scares me. What can be so bad and big to make Fred go the way he has?'
Debbie pushed her empty plate away. She had an idea that whatever the cryptic conversation she was hearing between uncle and niece, it held veiled dark secrets she wasn't a part of. She gathered the plates, scraped the scraps into the waste disposal and loaded the dishwasher. Then she turned to face Bernie and Poppy, her back against the worktop, her arms folded and her expression fixed.
'Right. I want to know if I'm part of this family or not.'
'Debbie?'
'Don't you Debbie me, Bernie. I'm here listening you two talk about all kinds of weird stuff. What am I? Somebody who just lives here? That is not like being a part of a family.'
'What's your problem?' said Bernie, having suffered enough confusion with all that was going on. He didn't need any more.
'My problem? I hear talk of witches, demons, peculiar sisters...'
'Excuse me? My sister isn't...Okay. Not quite like the rest of us. She kills people with her bare hands. That doesn't make her a bad person.'
'Oh. So glad to hear that. Kills people, but really, really nice once you get to know her. And these witches?'
'Back to hell where they belong. Honestly. The witches are all gone.'
'Can you hear yourself? The witches are all gone? Either you include me, or I walk.'
'Debbie..'
'Bernie. Don't you Debbie me. Talk or I walk.'
Bernie's back was against the wall. 'There's no need to threaten me, Debbie. Please sit and we'll tell you how it is.'
'This had better be good.'
Bernie waved to a seat. 'Debbie. I need you. Please.'
Debbie looked into their imploring eyes and sighed. Then she sat, prepared to listen.
Chapter 17
'You have to keep this to yourself, right?'
'Bernie. I can keep a secret,' said Debbie.
'I know. Right. You'll find out soon enough, I suppose. Where to start. My sister Sandra, Poppy's mother, faked her own death, many years ago. She had a sail boat, went out in it, never came back.'
'She drowned? An accident?'
'No. She did it on purpose. Not dying, I mean. She let us all think she was dead. Left a note on the sail for us to find. Turns out she's a secret agent.'
'Your sister was a secret agent?'
'Is a secret agent. Still active. Goes around killing people. Only the bad ones, you understand.'
'She shoots bad people?'
'No. No. Of course not. She uses her bare hands. Very good at it, apparently. But she gets involved in some really strange things. Terrorists. Spies. The usual.'
'The usual. Right.'
'Usual for her. That's why we never see her. She's afraid some of the people she's been working against will get to her through us, her family, so she stays away from us. She has been known to work with Fred. She values his talent with computers.'
'So you are saying Fred is with your sister? That's a good thing, right? Can't you call Sandra and ask her about Fred?'
Poppy said
, 'Debbie. My mom isn't your regular mother. She's like a ghost. Turns up out of the blue, always bringing trouble with her. We can't just give her a phone call.'
'But at least if Fred's with your mother, he'll be safe. They'll look out for one another.'
Bernie said, 'We hope so, but if Fred can't or won't contact us, it means he wants to keep us well out of the picture. It's their way of protecting us.'
Poppy said, 'It also means whatever they're involved in is something big and dangerous.'
Debbie said, 'Oh, Poppy. I had no idea. But Fred's got his head screwed on. I'm sure he'll be fine. But what's all this talk about ghosts and demons?'
'Not ghosts. Witches.'
'What was I thinking? Witches. Not ghosts.'
Bernie said, 'No such things as ghosts.'
'Just witches and demons.'
'Quite a lot of witches around, apparently,' said Bernie.
Poppy said, 'Remember those witches found hung a few months back? It turns out Fred was a witch-finder in another life. The witch he had hung wanted revenge.'
'As insane as it all sounds, I kind of get that.'
'They used me as bait to get to Fred,' said Poppy. 'The witches summoned up some kind of demon. Fred told him...'
'A demon? Fred spoke to a demon?'
'Ugly. Big. Bad breath. One leg was the leg of a chicken.'
'Yuck.'
'Tell me about it. Anyway, Fred told him if he let me go, they could take him instead.'
'What a legend. He destroyed the demon?'
'No. Of course not.'
Debbie said, 'Silly me.'
Poppy said,'The demon took the witches with him to hell. That was the last we saw of them.'
'You did ask,' said Bernie.
'I'm beginning to wish I hadn't, now. So the witches are gone, right?'
'Absolutely,' said Bernie. 'We think so. Reasonably sure. Yes. Gone. Nothing to worry about.'
Debbie got up, her mind in a whirl with the revelations. 'Nothing to worry about. I'll bear that in mind.'
'Debbie?'
'Not now, Bernie. I'm off for a lie down.'