Firebird Alex (The Sedumen Chronicles Book 1)

by Orren Merton

  “I just knew it!” she returned, her whole face glowing with excitement. “I’m so happy for you! I don’t know Jake too well, but I know Josh, and he’s such a great kid! I’m sure that Jake is too. I hope you guys have a lot of fun together!”

  “Thanks,” I said, trying to crinkle my face in a super excited almost-giggle. I was so not cut out for girl talk.

  “So…speaking of guys, I remember you talking with someone…someone special?”

  Debbie threw me a knowing grin. “Very special. I’m pretty crazy about Dirk…and I think he’s got it bad for me!”

  “That’s so great!” I tried to bounce a bit. I hoped I didn’t look as dorky as I felt. “What’s Dirk like?”

  “Oooh, he’s really attentive and smart, that’s what initially attracted me to him when he started talking with me at Starbucks,” Debbie said. “But the fact that he’s really tall and muscular, with smoldering brown eyes and an enticingly deep voice didn’t hurt either!”

  “Sounds great! Could you point him out to me around B’nai David sometime?”

  “Oh, he doesn’t go here,” she shook her head. “Actually, I have a policy of not dating in the congregation. I know too many details of the members, you know?”

  “Oh sure,” I nodded. “So does he go to one of the other synagogues around here?”

  “Actually, he’s not from around here at all, or even Jewish. He lives somewhere in Los Angeles County and comes down here for business all the time. He just happened to be getting a latte at the Starbucks over on Culver when I was. He was early to a meeting in some offices in Irvine. I had time too, and we just started chatting.”

  “That’s so cool!” I gushed. “I hardly ever go up to L.A. Is he from a nice part?”

  “He always comes to my place. I think he might live around Burbank or something; I’m not sure.”

  “So you’ve never seen his place?”

  “Nope. Which is fine with me. I hate driving in L.A.! We do stuff around OC.”

  “Sounds like a real gentleman,” I prodded.

  “Oh, he is,” Debbie agreed. “He describes his place as a total bachelor pad, messy and horribly furnished. But his outfits always look so well put together, I think he’s probably exaggerating.”

  “Smart and a good dresser?” I raised my eyebrows. “Sounds like the whole package!”

  “He is,” she agreed enthusiastically. “He’s even good with computers and can fix mine when it goes all funky on me!”

  “Okay, that’s something Jake can do too,” I quipped.

  Debbie grinned. “And speaking of Jake…” she said as she looked past me.

  “Finished?” she asked in a louder tone of voice than we had been talking.

  “Yup,” Jake said as he put the crate down on the counter and stood next to me. “Couldn’t find it. I’m sure he left it somewhere else, and my brother doesn’t remember. I’m sorry.”

  “Oh please,” Debbie curled her lips and shook her head. “Don’t apologize, it hasn’t been any trouble on my part. Besides, I enjoyed the conversation with your new lady-friend,” she winked.

  “You were talking about me, weren’t you?” Jake shot me an ear-to-ear grin that couldn’t help but draw a similar smile out of me.

  “Only good stuff, I promise,” I tapped him on the nose with my finger.

  “Well, you two have a great afternoon,” Debbie said as she returned the lost and found crate to the supply cabinet. “And if I see Josh’s comb I’ll be sure and put it aside for him.”

  “That would be awesome, thanks,” Jake said.

  “Bye Debbie, and thanks for the chat!” I smiled.

  “Any time, girlfriend,” she waved as we left.

  31

  Back in Jake’s Subaru, I gave him the play-by-play of my entire conversation with Debbie. He snickered as we drove out of the Congregation B’nai David parking lot.

  “What?” I asked.

  “Nothing…” he smiled impishly.

  “What is it?” I demanded, grinning myself.

  “Just the thought of you acting all giddy over girl talk. Not quite the ‘Lady Firebird’ kinda thing, is it?”

  “The Lady Firebird is capable of being whatever she needs to be to get the job done,” I said, pretending to be offended.

  Jake laughed. “Forgive me, my lady.”

  “All is forgiven, if you don’t mind driving me back to the Kelleys’ place. All my stuff is still there.”

  “Sure,” he said. “But what do you mean by ‘still there?’ I know them pretty well, and if they said you can stay, they meant it. They weren’t just being nice.”

  “They are super great,” I agreed. “But I really don’t want to be a pest. I guess tonight I’ll go to Mom’s condo…” I added, with no enthusiasm.

  Jake shook his head. “Why don’t you ask if you can stay another night? I’ll bet it’s an open-ended invitation.”

  “But I have a place, don’t I?” I surprised myself with the phrasing. Of course I had a place. Why was I asking Jake?

  “But it’s….” Jake sighed, and I could tell he was trying to find a way to express something.

  “I don’t think you should be alone,” he said. “There’s so much going on right now. And for all we know, there’s someone after you. If that guy figured out who you or your mom was, he’ll know where you live. But he won’t know who the Kelleys are.”

  He had a point.

  “But I don’t want to endanger the Kelleys, either,” I said. “And Jake, my mom’s condo…it’s mine now. I have to go back eventually…even if it’s kinda…”

  “Lonely?” Jake offered.

  “Almost like a tomb.” There. I said it. Cleaning it out helped, but I still shuddered at the idea of going back. I couldn’t stay away forever, though. The Lady Firebird faces her fears.

  “Please don’t go back right now,” Jake pleaded as we pulled onto the Kelleys’ street. “I don’t want you to stay alone in a tomb ever, but especially not now. Stay with the Kelleys. Stay in a motel if you have to. But don’t go back there yet. Let’s wait until this is over, okay?”

  “Okay,” I nodded as Jake turned off the car.

  “Thanks,” he said, as if I was doing a favor for him. But we both knew that I was doing it at least as much for me.

  We walked inside, and Jake went straight to the living room couch while I opened the sliding door in the kitchen to let Bonnie back in. She ran right to Jake like they were old friends. He laughed and picked her up and played with her as I walked over and sat next to him. He put down Bonnie and reached over and took my hand. We just smiled at each other, hand in hand for a while, when he took out his phone and held it out to me.

  “We should probably called Detective Godinez and let him know what Debbie told you,” he suggested.

  “Good idea,” I agreed.

  Jake dialed the detective’s number and tapped the speakerphone on.

  “Jake,” he answered. “How can I help you?”

  “I interviewed Deborah Steinberg, the school secretary at Congregation B’nai David.” I told the detective. “We thought we should let you know what we learned.”

  “Great,” Detective Godinez said. “Let’s have it.”

  I told the detective everything Debbie said to me about her boyfriend Dirk.

  “Interesting,” Detective Godinez said after I’d finished. “I got a similar description from the administrative assistant to the membership director at Our Savior. Not quite the same wording and a slightly different name, but similar enough.”

  “So do you think this is the same guy?” Jake asked.

  “As I gather more information, I’ll let you know. Thank you, guys. I’ll let you know when we find anything concrete.”

  “Thanks detective,” I said.

  “Yeah, thanks,” Jake added.

  “Don’t hesitate to call me again if you need to. Bye now.”

  He disconnected the call.

  “Not bad for only one day after your retu
rn,” Jake said.

  “Thanks,” I said. “But Detective Godinez will still need to question Debbie himself. I wish I got more today.”

  “You did get more,” Jake teased as he slid closer to me on the couch. “You got a boyfriend.”

  He took me in his arms and leaned in close. I leaned in too and parted my lips…

  Both of us were startled by the sound of Bonnie barking. A moment later we heard keys being placed in the front door lock. We smiled at each other and leaned back right before the door swung open and Linda came in with Emma and Rachel.

  Bonnie ran over to jump on everyone.

  “Hi Jake!” Rachel beamed as she ran over to me and gave me a hug.

  “Hey you,” Jake smiled.

  “Hiya, stranger,” Linda beamed as she and Emma strolled up to Jake. He stood up and embraced Linda.

  “Hey Mrs. Kelley. Hi Emma. Nice to see you again.”

  “So are you staying for dinner tonight, Jake?” Linda asked.

  Jake turned to me.

  I raised my eyebrows to indicate I thought it was a great idea.

  “I would love to Mrs. Kelley. Thanks!”

  “The pleasure’s all mine, Jake. Well, maybe not all mine…” Linda added, giving me a knowing wink.

  32

  The Kelleys let me sleep over that night, just as Jake said they would. Jake stayed long into the evening. We all hung out in the living room, Rachel and Emma playing games while Steve and Linda read and Jake and I chatted. I texted with Jillian again, who wanted to have a three-way group chat with Jake and me. I asked her about her life, what she was doing up in Berkeley, what was important to her. She seemed like such a kind, driven girl, devoted to helping all kinds of people, from fellow gay and lesbian young people to the poor and needy of any age. She knew that she had a mind for math and could go into accounting or science and make a ton of money like her dad, but she was going to be a social worker instead. And she made it very clear that she wanted me to stay in her room until I felt completely comfortable going back to my mom’s condo. I couldn’t imagine staying for too long when I had my own place to go, but I was incredibly touched by her offer. I could see why Jake adored her.

  All the Kelleys, not just Jillian, made sure I felt comfortable staying with them. I’m not sure if they realized it, but it really made my transition from Sediin to home so much easier. I’d spent three months—well, three months to me—surrounded by others. There were so many others that sometimes I wanted privacy, but it also meant that I never felt alone. I was finally in a good place with my mother’s sacrifice—I think knowing for a fact that her soul was safe helped a lot—but that didn’t mean that I felt like being alone in an empty condo filled with painful memories.

  Jake still didn’t have classes for a while, and before he left for the evening he offered to come by the next day, take me to lunch, and plan what we’d do next to try and track this Seduman down. That sounded great to me, and when he left I spent a little while surfing the web, looking to see if there were any more victims and searching for the name “Dirk” just to see what came up.

  Jake came over at about noon. I welcomed him with a warm hug and an even warmer kiss. I could already tell I was going to have to watch myself; I could easily spend all day kissing him and be in Heaven…but we had things to do.

  He suggested getting lunch at a sandwich shop nearby that I’d never been to, which sounded good to me. I ordered a turkey sandwich while Jake got a huge pastrami sub. I didn’t think there was enough room in that thin frame of his to put away all that food, but somehow he managed.

  We tried to come up with a plan for where to investigate next. I told Jake I felt that to save lives, we had to find this Seduman before he murdered again, and before Detective Godinez did. I know that Godinez was trying to keep me safe, but I was just as worried about him and any officers he brought with him to arrest this guy.

  Jake suggested that we go to Our Savior in Long Beach. I wasn’t sure how much we’d find out that Detective Godinez didn’t already learn from the membership services assistant, but Jake pointed out that Godinez wasn’t telling us everything, so what we learn would still be new to us. I told Jake that my dad said he’d see what he could find out about this Seduman himself; maybe I should let him know what we’d found. I may have returned less than two days ago, but that was nearly two months on Sediin. Jake thought that was a good idea, and our afternoon plans were made. It wasn’t much, but it felt like at least we were doing something, and not just sitting around.

  We finished our sandwiches and returned to Jake’s Subaru. He turned onto the 405 North freeway heading to Long Beach, when my phone started chirping. I pulled it out of my pocket and saw that it was Linda Kelley calling. I held the phone between us and turned to Jake with a questioning glance. He shrugged; he didn’t know why she’d be calling either. I turned back to the phone while Jake turned back to the highway. I tapped the phone to answer the call and then again to activate the speakerphone.

  “Hello?” I said.

  “Hi…” Linda answered hesitantly.

  I immediately turned back to Jake in alarm.

  Jake shared my alarm. He turned on his right turn signal to get off the freeway.

  “Do you need something, Linda?” I asked.

  Jake took the Brookhurst South exit and started looking for somewhere to pull over.

  “Could you…could you pick up the girls today…” I could hear her voice breaking. She sounded scared.

  “What’s wrong?” I nearly shouted. “Linda? Are you okay?”

  Jake turned into a gas station and pulled over behind the station office.

  “I…”

  We heard the sound of Linda’s phone being moved around.

  “What a truly special occasion…” a deep, raspy male voice said.

  I immediately felt sick.

  “I never thought I’d speak to a female Seduman,” the voice continued. “You and I, two of a kind…so much in common my dear…”

  When Zedek called me ‘dear one’ it made m,e feel loved and important. When this creep called me ‘dear’ it made me want to throw up.

  “You tried to kill me!” I spat.

  “That’s true; but in my defense, I ordered you killed before I knew you were a Seduman. May I apologize over dinner?”

  Jake squeezed his hands on the steering wheel and tightened his jaw.

  “Where’s Linda?” I demanded.

  “We can talk about that over dinner, too,” he replied, his arrogant smugness making me more nauseous with every word.

  “Don’t you dare touch her!” I shouted.

  “You really don’t know what you’re doing, do you?” he taunted me. “But it’s all right. Nobody expects you to sit at the grown ups’ table. My associate said that you were quite a pretty young thing, too…”

  Jake started sticking his middle finger about two inches from the phone, silently but angrily flipping off the bastard on the other end of the call.

  I could feel my hair and eyes getting hot. I breathed slowly, trying to keep control.

  “What do you want?” I asked, my throat dry, dreading the answer.

  “The ascendance of the House of Raum. But that’s more of a long-term goal. For today, we can start with dinner.”

  “No!” My eyes were still closed, but I could feel my hair close to igniting. I tried harder to calm myself. I disengaged the seatbelt, just in case.

  “You do realize that together we could produce an entire army of Seduman who could—”

  “Never!” I shouted. I felt my hair ignite. I immediately opened my eyes and jerked my head away from the headrest so as not to burn up the car. I grabbed the door handle and in one motion shoved open the door and twisted myself out of the car so that I was facing it, still holding the phone away from my face. My eyes and hair were openly on fire in the middle of the day, but I was far too pissed off to be self-conscious.

  “Release Linda this instant!”

  “You ca
n throw as many tantrums as you wish, Alexandra. That’s not going to happen.”

  Hearing him use my name made me almost as nauseous as the idea of him touching me.

  “I am Lady Firebird!” I said.

  “Lady Firebird?” He repeated dismissively. “How old are you, twelve? You get that from a video game? Or the Renaissance Faire? Your favorite comic book?”

  Jake had walked around the car and was now standing next to me, his hand on my back but far enough away not to get burned.

  “You will stop murdering innocent people! You will release Linda Kelley now! And your Sedu will release the rumam of those you’ve already murdered!”

  The Seduman from the House of Raum burst into a cruel laugh. “You really don’t know what you’re dealing with, do you?”

  “You don’t know what you’re dealing with!” I retorted.

  “Fair enough,” he said. “I don’t. You clearly mean something to your House. I have a nice thing going here, building up my House with fresh rumam, and even if you’re just a petulant brat there’s no need for me to antagonize another Sedu House. So I’m willing to make you and your House a deal. You may want to write this down, Alex. This is the part that’s important, and you don’t want to miss any of it because you’re too busy being puerile.”

  “Go on,” I fumed. I was seriously considering taking back my not-killing-anyone policy.

  “I will move my operation to another state, out of your way. I just have a few loose ends to tie up, and I’ll be out of here in a day or two. If you don’t try to interfere or locate me in any way, when I leave I’ll release Linda. If you or anyone else gets in my way or tries anything…she’s Sedu food.”

  I felt furious. Helpless. Insulted. And the worst part was, part of me believed him. I did feel over my head.

  “Did you catch all that?”

  I heard you, you piece of shit, I thought. But I knew I wouldn’t get anywhere by saying that. I had to be the bigger person, to not resort to name-calling.

  “How do I know I can trust you?”

  “You don’t,” he said. “But you have no choice. This isn’t a negotiation. I don’t want anything you have. Well…nothing you’re willing to give me…”