Ghost Mortem (Bordertown Chronicle Book 1)

  When her wrists were finally free, and we examined her more fully, she leaned forward and hugged me harder than I thought she’d have the strength to.

  “Thank you, thank you,” she sobbed. “Thank god for you.”

  “Here,” I said, pulling off my black hoodie. “Let’s get this on you. You need it more than I do. Okay, arms up. Easy does it.”

  “Can you walk?” my dad asked.

  “I don’t know,” she said.

  “Come on,” said my dad, learning in. “I gotcha.”

  My dad lifted Danny up, seemingly effortlessly into a bridal carry. Dad and I began slowly making our way back out of that central clearing, when I noticed Vikki wasn't following us.

  I turned to see Vikki examining a series of bones. That's when I realized what the potent odor was. It wasn't bat guano. It was the stench of old death.

  “Vikki what are you—”

  Vikki knelt down beside a clutter of bones.

  That's when I realized it wasn't a clutter at all, but some kind of…mini necropolis. Weirdly, it looked a bit like Bordertown, but made entirely of bones. And the skulls seemed to be houses.

  Vikki stopped the ray from her flashlight on one skull and then got closer.

  She picked it up, examined it, pulled it close, and began softly sobbing.

  “Oh god…Stephy…what happened to you? What did he do to you?”

  “How do you…um…I mean…how do you know that one's Stephanie?”

  Vikki showed me the skull and turned it outwards.

  “When we were girls I thought it'd be funny to hide under Stephy's bed and startle her. And I really must have, because when I jumped out with a wolf mask on, she turned and ran straight into the doorway.

  “She chipped her front tooth. Right here, see? It was her first adult tooth and she was so proud of it. And I was so jealous. But then when it broke…I felt so guilty. I said I'd put all my allowance towards fixing it. I told her I'd do anything to make it right. I felt so bad about it. So guilty. You know? Even back then, I…oh god, I loved Stephy so much! She was…sh-she w-was like my sister, you know?”

  I nodded. “I know.”

  “Doc came over and made a makeshift cap for her front tooth out of porcelain. He did such a good job too. When I asked how much, he said don't worry. We're kids. It's not our fault. Just don't act so meshuganah and watch where you're going.

  “Every now and then she'd break it on something and it'd fall out. It made me feel so guilty, but she'd always just smile at me with that half-broken front tooth and say 'it's okay. It's actually kind of cool.' Then she'd stick a pencil through it and hold it there and say through her teeth and start flapping her arms about and say 'see? Look, I'm a hummingbird! I'm a hummingbird!'”

  Vikki laughed, then started to cry.

  “I'd…I'd know that half-broken tooth anywhere. I'll probably see it until the day I die.”

  Vikki sobbed quietly to herself, holding the skull. I wanted to say something to her. Something to make it all better. We'd saved a girl. That was worth something, wasn't it? But Vikki's friend was still dead. All those memories of Stephy were now hers alone.

  All I could do was look on sadly. I peered around the bizarre mini-necropolis Porter had built. Why on Earth had the sheriff done all this?

  That's when I spotted something else on the walls. Something I hadn't noticed in the darkness. Now that I was seeing it, I still wasn't sure what to make of it.

  “Vikki…” I started.

  “I need to bag this,” Vikki said, looking emotionally exhausted.

  “Hold that thought,” I said. “Come take a look at this.”

  Vikki walked up beside me and looked over my shoulder. She was so close I thought she might even put an arm around me, maybe for comfort, or…something. But she didn't.

  “What…the…hell?” Vikki said.

  We found ourselves looking at a crude cave painting of a hooded figure with hundreds of eyes on his cloak, and a massive arm span. He seemed to be looming, towering over the crudely assembled bone city like some kind of psychopathic sentient scarecrow.

  The words in crude block letters all over the cave read 'DO YOU SEE?'

  Vikki fumbled with the skull and backpack, putting them down, and got her camera out. She took a few quick snap shots of the cave, the paintings, the torture room, the bones, and the backpack with Stephanie's skull on top of it.

  I, in turn, took a few snap shots of my own with my smart phone, reminding myself that I was part of the press after all. And right now, I was getting some seriously fucked-up crime scene access. I took photos of the cave painting, and the other things Vikki photographed, except in addition, I also took a snapshot of her getting taking those shots. I felt a little ashamed of myself really, getting the one close-up of her determined face as she worked. But this was a story about her, after all.

  Vikki looked so sad. So alone, and yet still so determined to do her job.

  I'm here, I wanted to say. You're not alone, you know.

  That look on her face haunted me almost as much as the messed-up display in that cave. I wanted everyone to see Vikki the way I saw her: Hard at work, soldiering on, even when her heart was on the verge of breaking.

  I wanted to say something reassuring. I wanted to tell her how much I idolized her. But the words didn't come.

  “We should get back to Jack and Danny,” she said.

  I nodded.

  Vikki picked up Stephanie's skull and backpack.

  “Evidence,” she said, as though she'd somehow had to justify taking it.

  I didn't argue. I simply followed as she led us back out of that hellish cavern.

  Chapter 44

  We caught up to my dad carrying Danny at the entrance of the mine. Moments later, the four of us were back out in the starlight.

  Once Danny finally saw the stars again, she gasped and then began to sob.

  “Shh…Danny, right?” said my dad. “You'll be all right.”

  “Put me down,” she sobbed.

  Dad did as she asked.

  Danny looked around in all directions.

  “What is it?” Vikki asked.

  “He's going to come back,” Danny said.

  “No,” Vikki replied, shaking her head emphatically. “We bugged his car. He's a hundred kilometers away from here right now. And pretty soon, we can be that far away from here too.”

  Danny nodded wordlessly, seeming to process this. As though perhaps the logical part of her brain were trying to convince the fight-or-flight part she was safe. I realized that was going to be a constant test for Danny from hereon out. And that wasn't going to be easy.

  “I thought I was dead,” she said.

  So did I, I thought. But that can't have been half as scary for me as it was for you.

  “Well you're safe now,” I said. “And we're going to get the son of a bitch who did this to you.”

  “He's a cop,” she said.

  “We know,” assented my father with a nod.

  “You know?” she said, suddenly looking betrayed.

  “Well no,” I said. “I mean…we just figured it out.”

  “Gavin figured it out,” said Vikki.

  “We weren't even sure until we found your backpack in the mines,” I said.

  Danny grabbed me and pulled me into a tight embrace.

  “Thank you. God, thank you, thank you.”

  “You're welcome, Danny,” I said, trying not to cry.

  Okay, so there were a few tears. But probably only because she was squeezing so tightly!

  “Oww,” she moaned, and then let go.

  “Are you okay?” I said.

  Danny nodded. “I think so. I don't know. I couldn't see what he was doing. He…he…cut me a lot. It was little cuts, but…god, I…I screamed and he…he just wouldn't stop.”

  We took our flashlights and began scanning over the parts of her body that showed under the hoodie I'd given her. Sure enough, there were carvings of eyes in her fl
esh, all of them quite fresh, and some of them oozing blood and puss.

  “We need to get you to a hospital,” said Vikki.

  Danny nodded.

  I offered one hand for her to take as we walked back to the cruiser.

  “Wait,” said Danny.

  “Sure,” I said. “What's up?”

  “You know what I could really go for right now?”

  Danny smiled, looking almost embarrassed.

  I felt a smile turn the corner of my own mouth.

  “You want a smoke, don't you?” I said.

  Danny nodded.

  “Of course,” I said.

  I got out my cigarette packet and took one out for her. Then one for myself. She took hers, and put it in her mouth. I put mine between my lips, lit hers, and then lit mine.

  “Do we really have time for this?” said Jack.

  “Dad, jeez! Give Danny some space. She's been through a lot. Just let the lady have a damn smoke.”

  I said this without malice, and my dad seemed to lighten up.

  “All right,” he said. “Better give me one too.”

  I lit one up for my dad.

  For the next five minutes, we enjoyed the sweet release you only understand when you get these nicotine cravings. Poor Danny, on top of all the other shit that monster put her through, was probably craving this for days. If not weeks.

  It's a weird thought, because Danny had just been through more than I think any of the rest of us could really process. It was probably more than she herself could process. But I think it was a good sign that she was still capable of jonesing for a cig.

  “Well, if I'm going to watch you guys smoke, I may as well take a statement here,” said Vikki. “If that's all right with you, Danny.”

  A part of me thought this was kind of a dick move on Vikki's part, because this is probably the calmest and safest Danny's felt in over a week. But then again, it probably was the best time, when the memories were freshest. Maybe if Danny gives a statement now, she can begin the forgetting process. If forgetting was an option.

  Danny tried to look strong and nodded.

  “Can I start with a description?” asked Vikki.

  “Okay…” Danny began. “Like I said, he was a cop. Or…he was…dressed like one. But he really seemed like one. He had a police radio that kept going off.”

  “But physically. What did he look like?”

  “Oh come on, Vikki,” I said. “We know it's Porter.”

  “Gavin, I know that…just, please…let me do my job.”

  Reluctantly, I nodded, and let Danny answer.

  “He was big. Like really big. Like Jabba the Hutt big. Not just fat but tall. He was bald on top. But not, um…not like you,” she said nodding to my father, “the hair was kind of…all wily on the sides, not shaved. And he had a mustache. Like a thick cop mustache. And he just had this…”

  Danny began to waver and then cried a little.

  “It's okay,” Vikki said. “Take your time.”

  “He just had this really crazy smile that made his eyes just…like he was possessed by a demon or something. And the more I screamed…the more I cried…the more fun he seemed to be having.”

  “Is this the man you're describing?” said Vikki, showing him a recent photograph of Porter on her phone.

  “Yes,” Danny replied, half covering her mouth, half-turning her head away. “Oh god, that's him.”

  “You're sure?” Vikki said.

  “Of course she's fucking sure,” I snapped. “We're all sure!”

  “Stop yelling at me,” said Vikki, and then she herself began to sob.

  Then I just felt like an ass.

  “Vikki…I'm sorry…” I said.

  “We're all a little on edge I think,” said my dad.

  “Yes,” said Danny. “I'm sure it's him. I don't think I'm ever going to forget his face.”

  “Thank you,” said Vikki.

  “Who is he?” Danny asked.

  “He's our sheriff,” said dad.

  “Pff…fuck,” said Danny as she exhaled smoke.

  “Yeah,” dad said with a nod.

  Danny finished her cigarette, blew out one final drag and flicked it outwards. My dad and I exchanged a nod, understanding it was time to put ours out too. I dropped mine to the ground and snuffed it out in the dirt with my foot.

  “We should probably get you to the hospital now. And you should call your mom,” my dad said.

  She nodded. “Can I—”

  “Here,” I said. “You can use mine.”

  Danny gathered up her backpack, sat in the car and dialed her mom. I sat down beside her while Vikki and my dad got in front.

  “Mom?” said Danny. “Hey…yeah…I know…I know…I'm sorry…I'm so sorry, mommy…”

  A tearful exchange took place. Danny's responses to her mom remained vague, and brief.

  “Wait,” Danny said, covering the phone, “which hospital are we going to?”

  “Saint Joseph's,” my dad said.

  “Saint Joseph's,” she echoed into the phone. “No…mom, I'm okay, really. Or…I'm going to be…I think…Please don't cry, mommy. You'll see me real soon. I promise…I know…I'm sorry…I'll see you really soon, okay? We're…how long until we get there?”

  “Forty-five minutes, give or take,” my dad said.

  “Forty-five minutes, okay? I know…I love you too.”

  Danny handed me back my phone, and we rode in silence for a little while.

  Chapter 45

  During the drive, we got a more complete story about what happened to Danny. This wasn't so much prompted by one of our two resident cops—even though Vikki had started taking extensive notes as Jack drove—so much as Danny feeling ready to tell the story on her own. She started where she and I had left off, back at the gas station where we'd first met.

  “After I took off…” she began. “You know, that night we first met. After I left the gas station, I just kind of got on my skateboard and rode into the night. I didn't really know where I was going.

  “See, I'd just been staying at various motels, slowly making my way down to the U.S. border. I'm not really sure what I'd planned to do once I got there. I mean…I don't have a passport or anything. I guess I just figured maybe I'd sneak by and maybe get a job at a diner somewhere or something.

  “But then when I met you, and…well…I saw you with your family, still at twenty three, and I could tell you guys fought and stuff, but…you guys really seem great together. And it kinda made me realize I miss my mom I guess. Maybe it's all that stuff you said about her worrying. So I was thinking maybe it was time to give her a call and apologize and head home. I just wanted to board a little more to clear my head.

  “Anyway, then I was on this dark stretch of highway, and I was starting to think, well, damn, this isn't a smart place for me to be alone. Like…what if I get hit by a car, or what if somebody tries to…tries to…”

  Danny stopped and sobbed for a while.

  Unsure of what to do, I gave her my hand to try to comfort her.

  Danny took it and squeezed hard.

  “I imagined all kinds of scenarios, but I couldn't have imagined what he…what he was…”

  “Shh…” I said. “Hey, it's okay if you don't want—”

  “No, I have to tell you this. I have to say it all now.”

  “Okay. I'm sorry. Go ahead.”

  “So…there I was, on a dark highway…and this police cruiser pulls up. And I'm thinking, well, that's lucky. Could have been anyone who pulled up and I'd probably have been more afraid. And he pulls up and he asks what I'm doing out there so late. So far away from home. So I told him I was on my way home. And that wasn't a lie either. That was true. By that point I'd really made up my mind to go home. I just didn't know what to say to my mom yet.

  “So I told him what I told you, Gavin. I said I was mad at my mom. And mad at my stepdad who didn't work and seemed to take it all out on mom and me. Not physically, of course. I mean…I hope
you don't think he's like…he's not, like, physically abusive or anything. He just…he has kind of a temper, that's all. He drinks and yells a lot. Sometimes he says stuff he doesn't mean and apologizes later, but…

  “Anyway, this cop nods like he understands and says 'let me give you a ride.' So I say 'okay, can I just call my mom real quick and tell her not to freak out when I come home in a police car?' And then he started to get…I don't know…real weird. Like he didn't want me calling my mom at all, and he tried to take my phone. So I told him to fuck off, and that's when he tried to grab me.

  “So I ducked out of his grasp and he starts following me while I back away. And so I start asking him if he can just forget it and I'll just skate home. But he keeps coming, saying stuff like 'just take it easy. Just trust me.' But I didn't…I didn't trust him at all, Gavin. And he got…he got more and more aggressive.

  “Eventually he grabs me and I drop my phone, and I start kicking and screaming. And I was so fucking scared by this point. I didn't know what was going on with him, but I wasn't sure if I was about to get beaten-up, or raped, or killed or what. And I was just flailing. I thought I'd be able to protect myself, but he…he was just so fucking big. I was scared, and nothing I did had any effect.”

  “Understandable,” I said. “He's like three times your size. Probably more actually.”

  “He's a fucking ogre,” Danny said. “And he just started laughing, and that's when I knew he wasn't right in the head. And I was so scared I just screamed and screamed. And so…and then…and then this truck comes from the distance. So I started screaming for help and he stopped. The truck driver stopped too, and he got out, and he…oh god…”

  “What?”

  “So…the truck driver asked what the hell was going on,” she sobbed. “He said let the girl go or he'd get on his radio and tell the police. And so the cop who grabbed me said he was the police. And the truck driver said something like he'd never heard of the B…the B.P.D.?”