by Mayer, Dale
"Of course. You never would pull that damn plug, would you?" Bitterness rolled as easily as the laughter had. "For years, I lay there, helpless, while you enjoyed my wealth, my hard work, my favorite whisky. God, I hated you, until I learned how to do this. Just look at what I've accomplished." Again, the disembodied laughter chilled the air. "There's no way you'd have attained even a fraction of my success."
Kevin watched the awareness on John's face change from incredulity to shocked certainty.
John hastened to explain. "Dear God, I always hoped you'd wake up to enjoy a normal life."
"Sure you did. That's why you sold my car collection and disbanded my businesses. What kind of life would I have now? Do you even have any of my money left?"
John started to explain. "Well, I have some, but with the economy and your care… A lot of it is gone."
"Like hell. You gambled it in high-risk investments and lost most of it."
John tried to protest, but to no avail.
"You should be a fucking millionaire many times over by now." Charles – rather Glen – grinned. "Now it's too late. You're going to spend the rest of your life a prisoner, just like you forced me to be!" His voice gained in volume, until in the end, he was almost shouting at his hapless brother.
"For what? Why should I be punished?" John threw up his hands. "I loved you. I spent hours at your bedside. I couldn't bear to let you go."
"For trying to kill me, you jealous, greedy, worthless son of a bitch."
"No, you can't know about that!" John whispered.
Kevin could only stare. Would the shocks never end? He'd never seen a family so full of pain, betrayal and murderous intent.
"I know." Bitterness oozed from Glen. "You ran me off the road, hoping to kill me. When that failed to complete the deed, you felt guilty and refused to let me go. Bastard. Do you have any idea what you sentenced me to? To hear and understand everything, but to have no way to communicate? No. You don't."
"You learned to do this." John gestured at his son. "For revenge?" It was clearly all too much for John to take in. He leaned forward, hiding his face in his hands. His shoulders sagged against the weight of the evidence facing him. "Dear God, what have I done?"
"That's a good question. Just what did you do?" Kevin queried forcefully.
"He's right. I was so jealous," John admitted, guilt and pain dominating in his face. "He had well…everything. Both of our parents doted on him. Even Marie may have been his… " John stopped at the snort erupting from Charles's mouth.
"It's true. Everyone loved you, Glen," he snapped. Then, just as suddenly, all the air seemed to whoosh out, to deflate him and he sagged forward. "I didn't mean to hurt you. We were both heading home from a dinner out. A rarity for us. But you'd bragged the whole time of all you had. Including Sandra. On the way home, you were in your fancy car ahead of me." He looked sorrowfully at the other two men. "What can I say? I gave in to a fit of jealous madness and ran him off the road." If possible, John sank even further. "I'm so sorry, Glen."
"A little too late, brother." Glen snickered.
Enough was enough.
"John, let's get you downtown for a statement."
John, beaten, nodded. "What about Glen? We don't even know all he's done."
"That's something we may never know." And it bothered Kevin terribly. How could he stop someone like Glen?
John must have had the same thought. He pulled out his cell phone and automatically dialed a number. "Yes, this is John Prescott. I need you to fulfill the requirements on the signed request form you've been holding for me. Yes, that's the one. Thank you. No, I won't be in to say good-bye."
"What? You think you can pull the plug now, you asshole! I need a little more time, first. Damn you." Charles raced out of the room, the surprise move giving him a head start.
Kevin raced after him, the officers and John at his heels, but Charles ran into his father's study, and opened the drawer on the right hand side. He scrambled to pull out the loaded gun as John walked in behind Kevin.
"Charles, don't do this! Things are bad enough. Put the gun down. Please, we'll get you some help. Please!"
Charles laughed. This time it almost sounded like Charles. "You idiot. Do you really think Glen can take over my mind without my permission? We've been working on this for years. I like what we do when we're together. I didn't at the beginning, but I grew to like the sense of power and control I felt when he was with me."
Kevin knew things had gone south in a big hurry. He had no idea how to stop what was going to happen next. But his muscles tensed, awaiting an opportunity.
"You know Glen doted on Marie when she was born." Charles shrugged indifferently. "Her death came so close to his new awareness and abilities that at first, he didn't understand what had happened. She'd come to him in confusion over her own death. It didn't take him long to figure out a way to keep her with him, at least temporarily, while he worked on a long term solution. Once he figured that out, there was no stopping him." Charles nodded mockingly to Kevin, then continued to explain.
""When I heard we were moving right after Daisy's funeral, Glen panicked. He was sure the connection would be broken without Daisy's body close by. He couldn't take the chance. And I…I couldn't leave her behind. So I broke into the funeral home after the staff left and stole her remains that night before the ceremony. With a quick burial and small private ceremony, no one noticed. Or should I say no one gave a damn. Except Glen and I."
His glared at his father. "Then I wrapped her up in my hockey bag and moved her here at the same time the family moved. You say you wanted a fresh start, but you moved within days of her funeral. That was too fast for Glen to find a way to stay connected, so we couldn't leave her behind. And we had no time to try to find a better solution." He wrinkled his nose. "Of course that new garden bed had just been planted, and it made for an easy place to keep her safe while he continued to practice." Charles laughed at his dumbfounded father. "You still don't understand all he's done, do you? He was molesting and killing kids before his accident. You actually did society a big favor by running him off the road back then."
Kevin's stomach heaved, as he remembered hearing that Glen had been a long-time resident of the area.
"Dear God, that's not possible. Not Glen." John prayed aloud at the monstrosity of that belief. "How could he hurt those children? They didn't do anything to him. They were so young."
"He liked them young or old. He wasn't all that fussy., Father." Charles's face deepened, darkened and he took on the look of Glen.
"I did many things you have no idea," Glen said, Charles's personality submerged. "I kept Daisy with me on this side. I used her love for her precious brother, your Charles, to keep her with me. Even she doesn't know all I did before her time."
"The cold cases on my desk." Kevin shook his head. "Wow, what a family."
Charles pointed the gun at his father. "You never did know Glen…or me, for that matter. I know him so much better than you ever could. I can't have you changing our system. Glen empowers me. Without Glen, what am I? Nothing."
The gun fired without warning. John fell backwards.
Kevin crouched, his own gun in hand. The second police officer who had been hiding behind the door, launched into the room, his gun up and ready. "Charles put the gun down."
Charles laughed and turned the gun on Kevin. "You can't beat me."
Kevin fired.
Twin pools of spurting red sprang from Charles's chest. Stunned horror filled his face. "No!" he cried out in disbelief, even as his body collapsed to the floor.
John had fallen face upward, one neat round hole in the center of his forehead. Dead. Kevin crouched down beside him, futilely checking for a pulse.
"He's gone, Sutherland. No one could have survived that shot." The other cop stood up again.
"I know." Kevin sighed heavily as he walked over to where Charles lay. His eyes were still open, but pain-filled and slightly glazed over. Yet, for the first
time, his face looked normal – younger and innocent, as if Glen's influence had finally left.
"Kevin, I didn't want to kill him," Charles gasped. "It was my uncle. All my life I watched myself doing things." He panted heavily, his chest gushing more blood. "But I could never stop myself. Daisy, everything I did was for…Daisy. I let him do terrible things, in order to keep her soul safe from him. He told me…" Charles gasped.
"Take it easy, Charles. It's not a concern right now. Help is on the way." Kevin tried to soothe the fatally shot man.
"Like hell," he coughed, bloody foam ringing his lips. "Take it easy on Mom. We won't ever know the truth about my sister now. Mom was drunk so much of the time… Please let Daisy be free…and safe from him…now." His fingers clenched spastically in Kevin's hand before falling back, limp, to the carpet.
Charles was dead.
"Sir, I've called the station. There's another ambulance on its way."
Kevin nodded, staring grimly at the sad remains of what had once been a family.
CHAPTER 27
"Why won't she wake up?" The pain and uncertainty from the last five days tore at Kevin. The regular doctors had more or less warned him that Alexis might never wake up. Stefan's specialist was out of town until tomorrow.
He couldn't live with that. To think Glen might have succeeded in ruining more lives was unacceptable.
In the last few days, he'd hardly left Alexis's side.
Sleeping in the chair had been an uncomfortable experience. He'd long since taken over the small hospital room, using the hooks for his jackets, spare clothing, even his holster, which hung within easy reach.
He'd spent the long hours talking to Alexis too. Speaking of anything that might tweak her interest – like Arnie being offered a second chance, if he met certain conditions. He spoke of the sad funerals for both John and Charles. He'd even told her that Daisy's remains had been place in a small plot just outside of town with daisies decorating the grave.
All to no avail. Alexis never moved an eyelash.
"She can't. I keep telling you that." Stefan sat comfortably on the single visitor's chair at Alexis's bedside.
Perched on the window ledge was Lissa, standing watch as always.
"Damn it." Frustrated, Kevin glared at his friend and mentor. It was always the same irritating conversation. According to Stefan, Kevin had to go in after her. Only, Kevin didn't know how. Which always precipitated the second ongoing conversation.
"Damn it, Stefan." Kevin was ready to tear his hair out. Instead, he satisfied himself with running his fingers through his hair in aggravation. "I don't know what to do."
"Yes, you do." Stefan was adamant.
Defeated, Kevin slumped down on the side of Alexis's bed, opposite Stefan. "Okay, let's go over this one more time."
"There's nothing to go over. You have to go in there after her."
Kevin shot him a disgusted look. "Do you really think that I haven't tried?"
"Try again. That's the vision blocking you. This time, come from a position of love and not fear. Go ahead, the bed is big enough."
Kevin eyed the potential space in disbelief. Deciding that he'd have to trust Stefan, he lay down carefully, turning on his side to wrap his arms around her. She seemed so defenseless and lost. His heart hurt if he thought about it for any length of time. He closed his eyes and slipped into her mind.
***
Alexis smiled in her frozen world. There was really nothing else to do. She'd been there forever, or at least it seemed that way. Day and night had melded and blended into one long stasis state. In truth, reality as she'd known it had long since faded away past the ice and cold. This condition had seeped into her consciousness. Caught and imprisoned, she just existed, happily unaware of ever being anything else. Loving the beauty of the fragile wonderland of snowflakes and ice patterns.
Alex?
Alexis hummed happily as she turned toward the sound. Hello, Daisy! How are you?
I'm fine… The little girl hesitated, watching Alexis curiously. How are you doing?
I'm doing good. I'm happy you came to visit me.
The child worried her bottom lip. Huh, Alex? How can you be so happy here?
Why wouldn't I be? Alexis didn't understand what the child meant, and didn't care, either.
Because now you're his prisoner.
I'm what? She laughed. Nonsense. I'm no one's prisoner.
Slowly, Daisy dipped her head her head. Yes, you are.
At first, Alexis let foggy confusion cloud her comprehension, but the longer she gazed at the slowly nodding child, fragments of her old world seeped in. Recognition and comprehension slowly slid back into her reality. Is this…what happened to you? she asked Daisy.
Daisy nodded, her curls bouncing, even as her eyes reflected windows of sadness.
Alexis couldn't believe what she'd so easily forgotten.
That's him. He keeps you in a fog for a while. It helps you to detach from those you left.
Fear spiked through Alexis, stopping her cold. Am I dead?
Daisy's eyes commiserated with Alexis's plight. But she didn't answer.
I can't be. No, she added more definitively. I'm not dead. Dying maybe, but not dead. At least not yet.
Daisy made a tiny, almost imperceptible shrug, but remained silent. The truth would be shown soon enough.
Alexis tried to focus. There had been visions of the other world dipping in and out of her mind for a while but they'd gradually faded off into the distance. Now she deliberately searched for those fragments, drawing them to the forefront.
Focused, she visualized those she loved as brightly and intensely as she could. Kevin.
Kevin… He was worth fighting for.
Damn right!
Alexis smiled. Her visualization was so strong, she could even hear his voice.
What the hell have you been doing? We've been calling for you for days. You never answered.
It was him! Dear heavens but it was good to hear Kevin's voice.
You scared the shit out of me, he said.
Kevin's gravelly tones shrank the emptiness in her world and lit up her heart. Damn, I thought I'd never hear your beloved voice again.
Beloved. I like the sound of that. But I'll only be happy when you're back, back where you belong. So come home, sweetheart, please!
Show me the way and I'd love to, Alexis muttered sarcastically.
That gave him pause. Can't you get home?
I can't 'see' where home is.
Why not? Kevin pressed her.
He's blocking me. I'm trying, but I only get vague sensations of my past. I can feel you, but it's different than everything else in my world here.
I should bloody well hope so. Kevin snorted. I hate to tell you, sweetheart, but that's your fear talking. He is dead.
Dead? He is not! His wasted body might be, but not that evil soul. Alexis knew that for truth, at a deep, elemental level. She could still feel his pulsing evil presence. There was no way this was leftover energy from his earthly sojourn.
Kevin rushed to reassure her. He is. They pulled the plug on his life support system days ago. In fact, I think Glen's funeral was yesterday.
But she'd have none of it. Instead, fear clawed at her throat. She had to make Kevin believe. He's got you fooled into thinking he's dead, but he's still here, she enunciated forcibly. Feel him yourself.
Kevin's energy flared in disbelief. It can't be..
Well, he is. Alexis could feel agitation wiping out her calm. The pervasive sense of evil smothered her newfound focus. Not good.
Wait. Kevin's energy distorted as he went deeper into his own consciousness.
Dread filled the yawning silence. She needed Kevin to believe her. They couldn't lose track of the asshole at this point. If Glen could go underground to such an extent, there was no knowing the damage he could inflict on the unsuspecting world.
He did say something about having a plan to continue his existence. But I didn't believe
him because he said he needed a little more time. As Kevin spoke, his voice oddly thinned out. I never really thought about it, with so much else happening.
Alexis thought on it furiously. What choices were available to a madman without a body? He must have found another host, an even weaker one this time – one that would allow him complete control. One he could overwhelm so inclusively that the person only existed to function on a physical level. And to do his bidding.
Hell.
I'm right, I know it. I think he tried it with me or…he's planning to later.
Who else would he have chosen? Who was he close enough to get his hooks into that strongly? For just a while.
We have to stop him. Alexis, come back.
You have to help me. I'm not strong enough to get free, and fight him alone. Once again, apprehension built. Only now there was the added dread of being left alone once again. Maybe forever.
Yes, you are strong enough. I've never seen anyone shine like you have. You are strong enough. You just have to beli-
His energy blinked out.
Kevin? Kevin, come back. What's wrong?
But he was gone.
She didn't know how, but she knew something bad had happened to him. His energy hadn't faded – it had vanished. Just winked out.
Or been vanquished.
Panic set in. The icy cage, instead of being a winter wonderland, instantly reverted to being a prison of isolation and cold. She had to get out. Kevin was in desperate trouble.
She had to help him.
Using everything she'd learned, she reconnected with the reality of the physical world. Stronger and faster, the puzzle pieces finally floated into place with her renewed purpose. But with every step of visible progress, she had to struggle harder and harder. She had to get to Kevin. Each second she could move forward brought her closer.
Until she came up against a blank wall of deep, thick, impenetrable ice.
No matter what she tried, she couldn't get through it.
Daisy's forlorn face peered at her from the other side. Before, when Alexis had been less aware of her imprisonment, she hadn't seen the density of the ice. Now she knew it was as impossible a barrier to cross as the Atlantic Ocean in a hurricane.