“How did you locate Jenny?”
“Some of the non-aligned ghosts around this area knew of her mother and saw the newspaper article. Once I’d narrowed the general area you were operating from, it was relatively easy. I would ask that you extend my apologies to young Jennifer, although she seemed more excited than scared.”
I chuckled at the idea of Jenny peppering him with questions. “It’s her way. She doesn’t … well maybe that’s the wrong word … she chooses not to see the danger. Let’s put the small talk aside. You didn’t come straight to me, why?”
“This visit is not authorized by the Lord Justice.”
“I’d gathered that.”
“You have three serious problems, Mr. Ross. One is immediate, another is just on the horizon, and the final one looms in the distance. Which would you like to discuss first?”
For a change, someone was offering me a choice. It was about the only thing I could find enjoyable about this. “The immediate one first, please.”
“The ghost you are working with, Hodges. Do you know what he’s doing?”
I relaxed. “Don’s just exploring the territory for me and meeting with … what did you call them? Non-aligned ghosts? Yeah that was it. I’m looking for anyone who died under odd circumstances where there’s a reward that can be collected.”
Vincent shook his head. “According to the ghosts I have spoken with, he is trying to set up his own energy gathering network, with promises that you’ll use your powers to help cross them.”
“Hmmm, I didn’t ask him to do that. Don’s always been one to make certain he’s getting a little something for himself. I won’t hold that against him.”
“Do not be so quick to dismiss this. He’s meeting with a Skinwalker.”
“What? How do you know?”
“One of the men in my unit still wears his spyglass. He is an expert tracker. On my orders, he has been keeping an eye on your Mr. Hodges. Three days ago, he reported back to me that your friend met with a female Skinwalker who allowed him to possess the body she was using several times, as if she were instructing him. That is why I did not wish for him to be privy to our conversation.”
“You can’t be serious!”
“I regrettably am most serious, Mr. Ross.”
I regarded him skeptically, “You think he’s going to try to take me over? He has to know it won’t work. I’ve already stopped a much more powerful spirit who tried that same shit!”
“I cannot say what his intentions are, but I know that he is not what he seems and yet has a place in your inner circle. You need to be wary of him.”
“Do you have any other proof?”
“None that will convince you, you’re obviously not willing to listen to me on this subject.” He gave me a particular kind of look; one I knew very well from my time in the Army. It was a look of superiority. Being a grunt, we’d catch it all the time from the officers. I hated that look.
Compounding his smug arrogance was the fact that I knew he was a lawyer, so by definition Vincent was full of himself twice over.
“Quit talking to me like I’m an idiot! I get your drift and I’ll keep an eye on Don, but unlike you, he hasn’t tried to kill me yet. You, on the other hand, have tried twice; so forgive me if I don’t take your word over someone I fought beside when he was still alive.”
The Union Colonel nodded. “Very well, I have repeatedly underestimated you, Mr. Ross, and I apologize for doing so again.”
I nodded.
“Mr. Hodges is yours to deal with as you see fit. The Lord Justice is your next problem.”
The thudding noise in my good ear was my heart beating louder. “I was afraid you were going to say that.”
“He has no intention of honoring the accords you’ve reached. Already, he plots how he can use a Ferryman to his advantage.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
“There was a time when I idolized Justice Taney. In law school, I studied his cases and respected the man.”
“Even after the Dred Scott case?”
“I did not agree with it, but I understood why it was necessary to come out that way. Nonetheless, it is that decision and the legacy of it that has twisted his soul. He is not the same man he was when he lived.”
“So why do you serve him?”
“For the first few decades, I was fooled. After I learned his true nature, it was too late; I discovered that I was little more than a slave. Taney has my anchor under his control and I am nowhere near strong enough to take it from him. For that, I need your assistance.”
That was a bombshell. Apparently issues with slavery carried over to the afterlife. “Well if I need to be suspicious of ghosts, why should I believe you? How do I know you’re not trying to stir something up between me and Taney, so that you can take his place? This could all be some elaborate ruse on your part, or even his part, to see how I’ll react.”
He’s either a good actor, or what I said genuinely stung him.
“I swear on the grave of my daughter what I am telling you is the truth! I give you my word as an officer in the United States Army. Other than my scout, my men and Lord Justice believe that I am in Erie visiting my daughter’s grave. Taney is plotting against you. He will test you soon, to see if you are capable of being an anvil, against which he shall pound his adversaries. Should you turn into a worthy ally, he plans to take a more active role in the unending battle for control of Washington. If that fails, he will attempt to feed you to the beast of Baltimore, which is of course your final problem.”
That set off the alarm bells, “What do you know about the spirit in Baltimore?”
“Darren showed me the footage of his visit to the graveyard. The creature knows of you and I think I know why. You share the bloodline.”
“What?”
“The beast is William Henry Poe, brother of your ancestor, Edgar Allan Poe.”
Give Colonel Vincent some credit; he knew how to drop some heavy-duty bombshells.
“No shit!”
“I do not lie. Your family has a long history in both worlds. The Great Cleansing began with William’s death, when he became a ghost. From all that I can piece together, the brothers began their crusade in earnest at that point and were a team until the early 1840’s. At some point William either went insane or was corrupted; I do not really know which, and the brothers fought. Edgar eventually caught up with his brother in Baltimore, and bound William’s soul to that soil, where he has waited for over a hundred and fifty years. It seems that Edgar was not strong enough to vanquish his brother and the act of binding William was ultimately fatal to Edgar.”
“William thinks I can free him?”
“He is bound by blood and power,” Vincent answers somberly. “You have the same blood, and it appears, much the same power.”
“But Darren was also a Poe descendant; why didn’t he use him?”
“Watch Porter’s moving pictures again. Poe attempted to possess him, but your relative was not a strong enough vessel to hold such a spirit. The sickness was Porter’s body rebelling against the control. That is why Skinwalkers limit the power they accumulate. If they gather too much power, they burn out the bodies they inhabit. A strong Skinwalker needs a very strong body - Darren was not powerful enough to contain Poe’s spirit. You on the other hand…”
Vincent didn’t have to finish it. I was much more powerful than Darren ever was. Hell, the fact that we were having this conversation was proof enough, but since the topic of Darren had come up. “How did Darren die and why did you finish his ghost off?”
“I was no party to Darren’s demise. I genuinely liked the man. One of the other officers spoke to General Reynolds before I could. The General took that Lieutenant and several other ghosts over my protest to attack Darren. At one point there was a burst of energy and only Darren and General Reynolds survived that confrontation. The other four ghosts were destroyed and Darren died less than an hour later.”
Whatever Darren did, it must have cost
him dearly. Still, it must have been impressive. “And that’s why Taney doesn’t want to outright fight with me? He’s going to test me to see what I’m capable of?”
“Correct. He is wary of you, but knows that he’s in a unique situation, but I am getting ahead of myself. Darren, as you well know, did not cross and seemed to have difficulty adjusting. He became increasingly manic and the Lord Justice ordered that we take him into custody and observe him. Darren became certain that ‘Ross’ was coming. How he knew, I cannot say. My guess is the same way that the spirit of William Poe knows that you are coming. Either way, we kept Darren starved of energy because he was a threat. He spoke of merging with you and enacting his revenge on us all. When you arrived, I think he actually tried to possess you, but only having a rudimentary understanding of the technique and being greatly weakened, he failed. I did what I thought was necessary.”
Again my skeptical side reared its ugly head, “A lot of this isn’t adding up, Vincent. Taney was obviously blaming Reynolds for our ‘bad blood,’ now you’re laying Darren’s death and what happened afterwards on both Reynolds and Taney. How does that explain Karla?”
“I heard Porter’s last words to you as well. Upon reporting to General Reynolds and Justice Taney, it was decided that Miss Thompson should be located and whatever information she held recovered. I was assigned the task as punishment for what they considered as a failure when you first arrived.”
“That doesn’t excuse the way she was treated!”
“No, it does not. Mr. Ross, you were a soldier. There is a vast difference between the soldier of the present day and those that served under me in the War Between the States. The Articles of War in my time could fit in the pocket of your jacket, while your Code of Military Justice is the size of Mister Webster’s dictionary. Things that are considered atrocities in the present day, like looting, were simply tolerated then as a method to keep your forces equipped and on the move. My new command consisted of soldiers who represented the worst my era had to offer – from craven cowards to bloodthirsty madmen. They took liberties with Miss Thompson and enjoyed tormenting her, especially when I was away delivering my reports to the General. The General visited the property several weeks before you arrived and instructed the men that they were to use any and all means to extract the information from her. She was greatly wronged and I am truly sorry for my part in it.”
“And yet, you turned a blind eye to it!”
“I am bound to serve the Lord Justice’s orders for as long as he controls my focus. His orders included obedience to General Reynolds.”
“Did he have the same hold over the General?”
“No.”
“What are Taney’s orders concerning me?”
“To not engage you at this juncture. However, he did not say that I cannot approach you. Justice Taney is a careful and deliberate person. He will consider the best course of action several times before acting, but mark my words, he will act.”
Our conversation lasted long into the afternoon, causing me to miss the rest of my classes, but I didn’t care. Arriving home, I sat on my bed and tried to sort what Colonel Strong Vincent said and how much I was going to believe. Given that he’d twice tried to kill me, I wasn’t exactly about to offer him the title of “Mike’s new best friend,” but even if he was dealing in half-truths, it worried me. My inherent distrust of officers and lawyers didn’t make it any easier.
I wasn’t a great thinker. My brain usually got all tied up in knots when I thought too much. Clarity, when it comes, was often during physical exertion, so I went out to the garage and went after the heavy bag with a vengeance. Don wandered through the wall after about twenty minutes.
“Mike? You’re home a little early. Any problems?”
“No. Just couldn’t get into higher learning today. What’s new and exciting?” Maybe it was just my imagination, but Don did look brighter, though the garage wasn’t exactly well lit to begin with despite the ball of ‘spook juice’ floating in the corner.
“Not really. Most of the places I visited in Virginia were under the thumb of the folks at Arlington National Cemetery. I’ll keep looking. How about you?”
With the adrenaline pumping and my temper flaring, I wasn’t thinking things through. I should’ve followed through with the half-formed plan of getting Elsbeth to meet up with Vincent’s scout and verify the truth about Don. I shouldn’t have said anything without a handful of iron in my hand and my sword at my side.
Instead of “oh not much” what came out of my mouth was, “What are you doing with that female Skinwalker?”
Not one of my smartest moves.
The expression on Don’s face was all the confirmation I needed. He was guilty and now we both knew it. Like a hockey player I shed my workout gloves as he leapt over and started draining the ball of ghost energy. “I didn’t want it to be this way Mikey.”
“What the hell’s going on Don?” I closed quickly while he was glowing brighter. He gestured and several hand weights zipped towards me. I dodged a couple, but a little two pounder hit me smack in the gut, knocking the wind out of me. Don was already on top of me with his long reach. I was immediately on the defensive as we exchanged blows. He was fast, strong, and ‘juiced,’ but I wasn’t a slouch either. He used jabs to keep the distance and sent a couple of knee level kicks at my reconstructed leg.
No, he hadn’t given any thought about how to fight me. My leg protested against the blows, but I stepped through the pain to keep him from getting that much force behind his leg. We traded what must have been a dozen punches at close range. After the flurry of blows, he tried to push me away – probably to set up a kick. I grabbed and swept his leg pulling us both to the ground.
Our grunts, groans, and shouted obscenities mixed as we rolled around on the unforgiving concrete. My hand closed on a Phillips head screwdriver and I jammed it into his side. He yelped in pain and I pulled it out to give him the same “tenderizing” treatment that I’d given Charlie Snowden, when I saw Don’s right hand with something in it, filling the corner of my eye. I barely recognized the five pound barbell that close, but knew that it was going to hurt.
What must have been an hour later, I came to. I was groggy and my head throbbed. I couldn’t see the ball of energy anymore. Don must’ve taken it and run. I’d deal with him later. Right now, I needed to get inside and get cleaned up.
Once inside, I walked straight into the kitchen instead of the bathroom. Okay, maybe I wasn’t thinking clearly. Man, my head was throbbing; add another concussion to my list of injuries.
Imagine my confusion when I picked up the phone and dialed a number. What the hell was I doing? A female voice answered.
“Cassie, Mike caught wind of us. I had to ‘walk him.”
“You dumbshit! The deal isn’t finalized. Damn it to hell! Can’t you do anything right? Shit! Shit! Shit!” the female voice yelled.
“I’m sorry Cassie. What do I do?”
God, did I really sound that pathetic?
“Okay, make sure to keep him wearing your anchor and with all that extra energy you should be able to hold onto him. Meet me in Baltimore as fast as you can. I’ll start heading there now to finish the negotiations with Poe. Understood?”
“I won’t let you down, sweetie.”
Her tone changed from petulant and demanding to silky sweet in an instant. Though I didn’t recognize the voice, I knew the tone. Don was talking to his wife, Sonya Hodges.
“I know you won’t, Don. That’s what I’ve always loved about you. You’re so determined.”
I’d been Skinwalked! Don was going to take me to Baltimore!
As Don took me into the bathroom and I got a good look at the bruise, complete with a reverse five shaped impression on my left temple, I did what freed me from Dutch Shultz. I pooled all my anger, pain, and betrayal and forced it through my veins like it was some kind of drug.
My own voice answered me. “Nice try Mikey, but it’s not enough. Not with me wearing
my dog tags on your body, juiced with all this energy. Oh I’m sure if you kept it up for a day or two, you’d break free. Problem is, that’ll be too late.”
A damp cool rag wiped at my face. It reminded me of the sponge baths I’d gotten in the hospital. I wasn’t in control! I tried again…and again. Don laughed at me.
“I guess you have a right to know. Cassandra isn’t just her stage name. It’s the real name of the Skinwalker that’s been driving Sonya all these years, Cassandra Von Eckel. Remember how I said she was always into that occult shit? She was preparing me to be a Skinwalker – dying in Iraq just accelerated her plan for me; it’s how I got so powerful so soon after death. When she heard rumors about a ferryman through the Body Market in Philly, she wanted to have a look-see. She came up here and discovered it was you, of all people. Don’t that beat all! Well, since ‘Recon’ is my middle name, she sent me up here to figure out everything I could.”
Don’s explanation wasn’t really that much comfort. It did, however, give me the reason that Sonya always rubbed me the wrong way. All those questions he’d been asking me…the bastard was pumping me for information about myself.
“Man, you’re pissed aren’t you? Want to know something funny? Who do you think killed that Snowden fella? That’s right Mikey! Cassie wanted to see how good you were and I convinced old Charlie there that he needed to kill you. Funny, it wasn’t really that hard. I was standing on the other side of the wall at that hotel, listening to that S.O.B. beg for help.”
Talk about kicking a man while he’s down! Don sent Snowden after me like some kind of damn test.
“Oh don’t be such a whiny bitch, Mike. Anyway, as soon as you told me about the thing in Baltimore, Cassie did some recon of her own while we were in Atlantic City. Man, you wouldn’t believe how ticked off she was when I told her I’d lost you.”
The angry fog lifted long enough for me to realize that in Atlantic City, the guy in the lobby getting yelled at on his cell phone was Don.
“Oh you saw that! I’ll admit it, I’m whipped, but I got someone, Mike. Look at you! You’re such a loser! That Candy chick is hot for you and you manage to screw it up every time. All those plans I was helping you make and you never saw a thing! Way I see it – I’m doing you a favor. You wouldn’t have lasted very long in our world – you’re too weak and way too stupid.”
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