by Natasha Deen
“Should you even be here?” I asked.
“What’s wrong with you?” Nell leaned forward. “My dad’s a doctor. Maybe he can help.”
Gregory shook his head. “There’s nothing wrong with me but a lifetime of decisions, some good, some not so good. I’ve got all the medication I need and I’ll be fine until I go back. But right now, you need information, and so do I. Lucien is here, and we have to stop him.” He grimaced and clutched his stomach. “Do you have a photo of the reporters?”
“No, but I’m sure there are pictures of them online,” I said.
Nell pulled out her phone and searched. “Got it.”
“Air drop it to me,” said Gregory. “I have an app on my phone that can run facial recognition.” He turned his cell our way. “This is what Lucien looked like when your dad and I knew him.”
“Wow, he’s hot,” said Nell. She gave me an apologetic smile. “I expected him to look like a bad guy. Sheen of sweat. Bristly moustache. Chomping on a cigar.”
She wasn’t wrong. Lucien was broad-shouldered and red-haired with a thick beard and intense blue eyes. He looked like he belonged back in time, commanding a Viking ship, not murdering my father.
“You said the operation went sideways, and Lucien blamed Dad—” I said.
“Got the photo, thanks,” said Gregory. “Let me run it through the software. It should take a few minutes.”
“What happened? How did the operation go sideways?” I asked. “And don’t tell me this is about national security. I know how to keep a secret.”
“I know you do,” he smiled. “You’ve been keeping a big one your entire life.” He jerked his thumb. “And those jokers in the news are about to out your secret to the world.”
My panic must have shown on my face because he said, “Don’t worry. When your mom left and you started showing your abilities, your dad and I had a long talk about how to best protect and raise you. I know how to keep them off your trail.”
“You knew about me? You knew my mom?”
He nodded. “She was a sweet lady, and she loved your dad.” He pointed at me. “She loved you, too.”
“But she left.”
“She was unhinged by the end. Her powers were too strong, and she couldn’t see reality anymore. All she saw was the fracture of past, present, and future. It’s an amazing ability, to exist in many points of time, but it proved too much for your mom. She almost hurt you.”
My entire life, the only thing I’d known about my mom was that she was Indian and we shared skin colour. Now, I shared something else with her—the ability to jump in time. Would it drive me insane in the same way it did her? “Almost?”
“Hank came home, found her clutching a knife in one hand, you in the other. She was babbling about having to bleed some of your power. That you were too strong. You could overpower her and be a danger to the world.”
Nell took my hand and squeezed.
“Your dad talked her off the ledge, but they both knew she was the real danger. No matter how much she loved you, she had to leave you.” He wiped the sweat from his forehead. “You started manifesting your powers soon after.”
“My mother’s dead.”
“I know.”
“I don’t understand,” said Nell. “If you and Mr. Johnson were such good friends, why didn’t he ever talk about you to Maggie?”
“Same reason Maggie’s mom left. To protect Maggie.”
“The operation,” I said.
He nodded.
“What happened?”
“You know your dad,” said Gregory. “He was a good man, but he had strong opinions, and he wasn’t above doing what he thought was necessary.” He smiled. “Something you and he have in common. He was fearless, wading into any fight if he thought it was the right thing to do.”
I thought about the argument he’d had with Principal Larry at the Tin Shack, and nodded.
“Lucien, according to our commanding officers, was a bad guy.” Gregory chuckled. “Funny, how we decide who’s good and bad. Lucien crossed a few lines, but there were parts of him we all understood. He had a vision for his country, for his people. I’ve seen our government do worse.” Gregory closed his eyes and I gave him a couple of minutes to catch his strength.
“We rolled out the operation and, at first, it went like clockwork. But just before the kill shot, we were told to hold off, to wait. But Hank thought there was a danger in delaying, so he moved on Lucien.” Gregory pointed to himself. “With me and the rest of the guys following. Hank was a leader and we trusted him. There was a firefight, a lot of bullets. Lucien got away, but his wife and kid…” He passed his hand over his face. “Life went on for your dad and mom. Then you were born. When you were two, we got word Lucien was moving on the team, exacting revenge. We went underground, and your dad went deep underground. New identification, cut all ties to everyone he knew. He and I had a way of communicating, and as time went on and Lucien didn’t surface, we got lax.”
All the moving we did when I was a kid, I’d always assumed it was because of my power, because we were making sure no one could track my secret. Now, I was left wondering how much of my dad’s past had played a factor. “Lucien’s here, avenging his family.”
“Revenging his family is more like it,” said Gregory. “Your dad was a charmer. He got into the wife’s head. Even if she’d lived, she would’ve left Lucien. I don’t know how much of your dad’s murder was motivated by Lucien’s wife and kid dying, and how much of it was because they’d left him long before their hearts stopped beating, and their abandonment of Lucien was because of your dad.”
His phone beeped. He turned it to us.
Lucien and Savour, side by side. The check points on their faces blipping, the text at the bottom leaving no doubt. They were the same person.
“Are you sure?” I asked. “Carl’s the one with the psychic protection.”
“Science doesn’t lie,” he said.
“But he had a sister—” God, I was gullible. He’d been feeding me lines, and I’d believed every word.
“Do you think he and Carl are working together?” asked Nell.
“Doubt it. Lucien doesn’t trust anyone. He’s probably manipulating Carl, and the guy doesn’t even know it.”
“Now what?” I asked. “How do we stop him before he hurts someone else?”
Nancy came into the room. “Catch me up.”
We did. “We need evidence.” She gestured to Gregory’s phone. “None of this will help. Gregory starts giving up classified information by talking about black ops, and he’s in jail and we still won’t be any farther along in the investigation. I doubt national security will allow us to bring any of this to light.”
“We get him the old-fashioned way,” said Gregory.
“Not that old-fashioned,” said Nancy. “We bring him in alive.”
“How do we do that?” asked Nell.
“Police work, collect evidence,” she said.
“What about getting a confession?” I asked. “He wants me to do an interview—”
“No way, kid,” said Nancy. “You’re not going into the belly of the beast.”
“I won’t go anywhere private,” I said. “I’ll meet him at the Tin Shack, talk to him—”
“You’re your dad’s child,” said Gregory. “Take charge and take initiative. But Lucien is a bad, bad man. You can’t trick him into confessing,” he said to Nancy. “He’s fast and he’s deadly.”
“We’re running low on time,” said Gregory. “And he’s going to be getting desperate.” He looked over at Nancy. “I appreciate your thoughts, but the time for talk is over. I came to tell you who killed Hank, and I came to take out his killer.”
“Gregory—”
He bent over, coughing and retching. Gregory grabbed a tissue and held it to his mouth, but drops of bl
ood spattered the napkin.
“You can barely stand,” I said. “You can’t take down a guy who eluded an entire black ops team.”
“I don’t need to fight with him hand-to-hand,” he said. “I just need camouflage and—”
“Stop.” Nancy held up her hand. “Just stop. Whatever you’re about to say, don’t.”
“Don’t tell me you disagree,” he said. “I see it on your face. If you could get away with it—”
“It’s about doing what’s right,” she said. “And this conversation is over.” She looked at me. “Take him home.”
“No one’s taking me anywhere—” He broke down in a fit of coughing.
“Come on.” I put my hand on his shoulder and felt the connection between us. “Let’s get you home.”
For a second, I thought he’d argue. Then he clutched his stomach and nodded. “For now.”
“Take my SUV,” said Nancy, handing me her keys and hitting the remote car starter. “It started snowing and the roads are bad.”
“I hope that Claxton’s not shut down again,” said Gregory. He walked out the main entrance and stepped into a crowd of reporters. Deputy Andrews came out and cleared a path for us.
As we walked to the SUV, I searched the crowd for Savour, but came up empty.
“He’s not here,” said Gregory. “He would’ve seen me and known to stay away.”
“Why doesn’t that make me feel better?”
“Because, if he’s not monitoring you, it’s because he has all the information he needs. The danger is greatest now.”
I helped him into the passenger seat.
“Thanks.” He grimaced as he settled into the seat.
“What’s wrong with you?” I asked. “Is it cancer?”
He smiled. “No, it’s something with a long, complicated name that science can’t cure.”
I caught the hint. He didn’t want to talk about it. “Did you know my mother’s family?” I eased the vehicle from the curb, checking to make sure no reporters were in the way.
He snorted. “Her family is a bunch of lunatics. The smartest thing your dad ever did was to keep you away from them. They were a mean bunch, especially your grandmother. When Hank met your mom, she was beaten down. No exaggeration, he saved her life.”
“What was her name?”
“He never said?”
I shook my head. “Dad never talked about her.”
Gregory sighed. “I understand that, but it must have been hard for you.”
“Her name?”
“Sundari, but everyone called her Sunny.”
Sundari. I rolled the name in my mind. Sunny.
“She didn’t cross over peacefully,” I said. I wasn’t sure why I was telling him this, maybe because he was a bridge to my dad and my history. Maybe it was nice to talk to someone who knew my history but with whom I didn’t have history.
“You sense she died a violent death?”
“She comes to me.”
He jerked in his seat and turned wide eyes my way. “You talk to her?”
“Not exactly. She’s a warning voice when I am in danger.” I blinked at the flashing light in the sideview mirror. Someone’s high beams. I adjusted the rearview so I wasn’t blinded.
Gregory leaned forward and opened the glove compartment. “Are there tissues here?”
“Try the middle console.” The flashing happened again. I glanced in the rearview. Nothing was there. Frowning, I telepathically called Serge.
He appeared in the backseat. “What’s up?”
Were you experimenting? I was seeing lights.
“No. Where are they?”
I looked around. They’re gone.
“Winter lightning?”
Maybe, but I thought they were headlights.
“I’m staying. Savour might be following and using the headlights to mess with you.”
“She doesn’t talk to you—” Gregory gulped. “She doesn’t—I’m sorry—can you pull over? Pull over!”
The car skidded to a stop on the shoulder, and he launched himself out of the vehicle. A second later, I heard retching.
“I don’t miss that.”
“Tell me about it,” I muttered.
“We got some interesting stuff on Amber and her mom.”
What kind of stuff?
“Someone put a lot of money into her account. A lot. When you’re done with him, meet Craig and me back at the house.”
Hold on. I called him back. Which her?
“Mrs. Sinclair.”
I blinked. What?
“She got a job with your dad because she said she needed money, and no one would hire her. But she had three deposits in the last week, ten grand each time. The last one happened on the night Amber and Larry died.”
Who put thirty grand in her account, and why?
Serge smiled. “You’ll never believe it.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
“I should have you arrested for trespassing.” Mrs. Sinclair took a long drag of her cigarette. “Then I should have you charged with hacking my bank account.”
“Go ahead,” I said.
She snorted and took another pull of the cigarette. “With Nancy as the lead investigator in the case? Bet she’ll sweep it under the rug.”
“I think she’ll be more interested in how you got thirty thousand dollars and who gave it to you.” I’d made Nell and Craig stay home, but brought Serge as backup. I was ambushing Mrs. Sinclair. I didn’t need her to feel overwhelmed by the number of people crashing her house.
Her place was startlingly clean. Maybe everyone grieves in their own way and her method was to declutter. Dad would’ve gotten a kick out of me scrubbing the house as a way to grieve him. I could almost hear his voice, “Geez, why didn’t I think of dying sooner? Hey, my girl, you missed a spot.”
“I don’t have to tell you anything.”
“You don’t,” I said. “I already know it was Principal Larry.”
“So why are you here?”
“Why did he give you the money?”
She smirked. “From the generosity of his heart.” She ground out the cigarette.
“I don’t remember her smoking,” Serge said.
Neither did I. “When did that start up?” I pointed to the ashtray.
“There are a lot of things you give up when you’re a parent.” She rubbed her eyes. “I don’t need to give them up anymore.”
There was no good place to go with that. “Why did he give you the money?”
“Get out of my house.”
“I know he tried to hide the source of the deposit,” I told her. “But I know it was him.”
She watched me. “And how do you know any of this?”
“I have my connections.”
Serge smiled.
She said nothing.
“Don’t you want to know who killed Amber?”
“I already know.” She turned her contemptuous gaze on me. “You did. With your nosing around. Just like you’re doing now. Digging up things that should stay buried.”
“Mrs. Sinclair, someone murdered your daughter—”
“And you think Larry’s pity donation is connected to it? Don’t be stupid.”
“A teacher doesn’t have thirty thousand dollars to just drop on someone else.”
“Maybe he likes to save.” She ground out the cigarette. “The money showed up in my account, okay? I don’t know how or why, but I don’t care. I need out of this town, and it’ll help.”
“If the money was from his family,” I said. “There’s no way they’d be happy about the way he spent it.”
She stood. “Get out of my house. Next time, I’m calling the cops.”
✦ ✦ ✦
“Have you lost your mind?”
/>
I turned down the volume of the hands-free phone app in the SUV.
“No, Nancy, but—”
“You have information on Amber and Larry’s murders, and your solution was to go to May Sinclair instead of me?”
“I thought—”
“No, you didn’t,” she interrupted. “And I’m disappointed.”
Ouch.
“You’re not a dumb kid, Maggie. Why would you do such a foolhardy thing?”
“It’s just Mrs. Sinclair and—”
“Get your butt home,” she said. “And don’t go near May, again.”
“But—”
“I don’t want to hear it. Do you even realize you’re opening up the department to a lawsuit, not to mention opening me up to a personal lawsuit?”
“No,” I said, contrite. “I didn’t.”
“May Sinclair’s a lot of things, and vengeful is on the top of the list. No one crosses her and gets away with it. You know she’s suing the church. Did you know she’s suing the reverend’s estate?”
“I didn’t know he had an estate.” I looked over at Serge.
He shrugged. “I didn’t know either. Not like he and I ever talked.”
“Stay away from May,” said Nancy. “Get home and—”
“And what, play video games? Lucien is stalking my family, a soul-eater might have my mom and dad, and you want me to stay home and do homework?” I didn’t add the other stuff, that Lucien was coming for her, too.
“I know, kid,” she sighed. “And we have eyes on Savour. He won’t get near you. Maggie, you need to be smart about this. Don’t let grief cloud your decisions.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“Go home,” she said again, her voice soft. “I’ll talk to May. We’ll figure it out. I promise.”
I nodded, then realized she couldn’t see me. “Got it.” I signed off and turned to Serge. “Did you know the reverend had money?”
“It makes sense. Look at how he dressed.”
“You never knew your grandparents, right?”
Serge nodded. “It was just the reverend and my mother.”
“So, if they came from money—”