Between Faith and Fear

by J. A. Dennam

  “You aren’t going anywhere near Lesico.” End of subject.

  Mac piped in with a thought. “We could always send Crystal.”

  Melanie’s hand thunked to the table. “Oh, sure, she’s reliable.”

  “I’ll go with her,” he added, at the same time catching DJ’s little toy car before it sailed off the table. “If Bennett can convince her to play, I’ll make sure she stays on track.”

  Austin bestowed his ex-employee with a thoughtful look. “They don’t know she’s been taken by us. She could pop in there and no one would be the wiser.”

  Derek considered the idea. “Her tracking device was removed. That would raise some questions.”

  “IGP is headless and floundering,” Danny said through another bite of apple. “They won’t even notice until they’re able to reorganize.”

  But Melanie joined Derek as devil’s advocate. “Okay, so we give her a dose to smooth her out and we send her in. What’s her motivation to come back to us?”

  Derek answered that easily. “Rena. She’s our best shot at a cure. We just need to convince Crystal it’s in her best interest to pitch for our team. Her only chance to beat the clock.”

  It could work, but only if Crystal were truly trustworthy. Melanie reached deep down and searched for a reason to believe it. The woman had, after all, saved DJ from Rafferty. But to what end? What’s to say she wouldn’t have killed him if it meant saving herself? There was only one way to find out. “I’ll talk to her.”

  Derek shot her a look. “No, I’ll talk to her.” When she opened her mouth to argue, he explained. “We’re the same. We share the same motivation, the same risks, the same abilities. Until this drug is completely out of our system... we’re still ghosts.”

  It was nearing the four o’clock hour when Derek took his turn in the basement of the old Cahill house where his little sister now lived with Austin. Kept in surprisingly good condition for a mid-nineteenth century colonial, the basement was lined with brick and stone, free of cobwebs and completely cleaned out as if to preserve the historical significance of the place. Perfect for a makeshift prison... which it was rumored to have been for a few unfortunate Bennetts, anyway.

  And, since the house was separate from the salvage yard and offices, no one would hear their prisoner’s screams when work resumed Monday morning.

  Things were moving fast. It was his hope that Crystal would offer little resistance. She’d been a confusing person to figure out from the start. At first, he only saw her a handful of times on the training grounds at IGP until suddenly she was all over the place. Now he knew why. She’d been kept in her own little prison until Sophie convinced her to embrace her inner ghost. They shared more than just the drug and the abilities made possible by it, they shared the same reluctant beginning. Perhaps they could share the same end.

  Mac preceded him down the steps in order to ensure their male prisoners remained ignorant of Derek’s continued existence. They’d been separated from Crystal, but kept close enough in order for her to hear the sounds of their suffering.

  “She’s in the room at the far corner,” Mac said, pointing the way.

  The tension between them crackled more now than ever. Though Derek knew Mac had only been a friend to Mel, there was just something about another man horning in on his family that went against the grain. “She good enough to talk?” he asked.

  “Barely,” Mac answered, his expression unreadable.

  “And Rafferty and River won’t be able to hear us?”

  Mac confirmed it with a nod. “They’re still blindfolded from their trip here and I got ‘em listening to loud grunge rock through earphones. Rafferty’s about to implode.”

  Well, that was something. Until they could deem them no longer useful, the men would be kept alive. Just barely.

  But, as soon as Derek saw Crystal, his sympathy soared. The pixie-haired woman tied wrists-to-ankles on the steel chair in the corner of the deepest, darkest bowels of the house was clearly suffering the worst kind of anxiety. The restraints were for her own protection as much as for theirs.

  “Derek...” she panted, her head lolling between her shoulders, “you have to get me out of here. This is going to kill me.”

  Derek swiped a hand over his face as he sank to the floor with his back to the stone wall. For the love of God, he could feel her pain. “It’ll feel that way for a long time before it actually does.”

  Crystal’s heavily applied makeup had turned into a haunting mess that now streaked down her cheeks in garish fashion. “You’ve had a dose since we left IGP.”

  He nodded slightly. “Yes, I have.”

  “I need it. Please. I’ll do anything.”

  The begging was hard to hear. It was something Derek would have severed his own tongue to avoid. “It’s called Nexifen.”

  Her frost-colored eyes showed eerily bright through the raccoon mask. “You know what it is?”

  Derek fed off the desperation in her voice. It was what he needed from her. “It’ll kill us both eventually. Our bodies will continue to require more until withdrawal is eminent.”

  She watched the floor for a long time. “You’re lying.”

  “Crystal, look at me.” When she did, he repeated what he’d said the day before. Back when he’d had Rafferty’s throat beneath the blade of a scalpel. “Have you ever met a retired ghost?”

  She scoffed, dismissed the notion. “Again with that.”

  “Think about it. Rafferty’s time is almost up. His dosage is down to every six hours. He has maybe a few months on the drug and he knows it. There is no retirement, Crystal.”

  “Why should I believe you?”

  The truth was sometimes the hardest pill to swallow, but he rammed it down her throat without mercy. “Sophie put you on it to gain Rena’s cooperation. They both knew it would eventually kill you if she didn’t produce the sample and allow Sophie to complete the cure. That woman took you from your family and used you as a bargaining chip. Gambled with your life. Rena loved you. Moved hell and earth for you. And you chose Sophie.”

  “Rena abandoned me!” she yelled in her demon voice, thrashing against her bonds. “She got herself arrested because she was lovesick over some guy! He wasn’t even a part of this!”

  He remained calm on his side of the dimly lit room. “She fractured. Sophie overestimated her stability. Pushed her too far.”

  “That’s no excuse! If she really cared about me she wouldn’t have risked her freedom like that!”

  He voiced what he’d suspected for a long time. “Something tells me Sophie had a hand in Rena’s condition. I know for a fact she controlled her psychological state while she was in prison in order to move her from one section to another.”

  “Bullshit! Sophie had no authority inside that prison!”

  “She had an inside guy. I worked with him to break her out.”

  The news seemed to shock her into a momentary lull. Then, “I know Sophie wasn’t expecting her to be lucid, but...”

  “In my quest for information about Nexifen, I found the vial of medication reserved to bring Rena around.” Derek held her frazzled gaze. “I stole it. Learned how to administer it. Figured if I were right about her, she’d make a powerful ally.”

  Crystal broke eye contact, ran her tongue nervously over her bottom lip.

  Derek attempted to stand without making a show of his pain, but to no avail. He ended up on his feet, hunched over with a hand to his chest. As he recovered he leaned against his knees, caught his breath. “You want to know the first lucid thing she said to me when that medication took effect in her prison cell?” The silence was her assent. “It was your name. Of course, I had no clue who Elsa was. I didn’t find out until last night.”

  The bare bulb overhead threw his shadow across the brick floor as he began to pace in front of her. “You’ve already begun to turn against IGP, Crystal. You saved DJ from Rafferty and it was your voice I heard in that storage unit. You helped Ty save my life and you spr
ead the word around IGP that I was dead. Rena’s our only chance at severing the cord. She can help us, but only if you get your head out of your ass.” He walked toward her, held out her dose. “You need to want to reclaim your life. Don’t let Sophie or IGP take it from you. Work with us on this.”

  Fresh black tears coursed down her cheeks as she stared at the large white pill in his palm. At first, confusion halted her speech. Then, she closed her eyes and reopened them. It came out a whisper. “What do you want me to do?”

  Epilogue

  Two days later:

  Melanie lifted DJ from his playpen just as the back door opened. She looked at the clock. 7:30 p.m. Herb and Mary had taken their time coming home and the wait had been excruciating for all of them.

  “Hello! Who’s here?”

  She sucked in a fortifying breath, released it slowly then met the couple in the kitchen. “It’s me,” she said with a nervous smile.

  Mary, her shoulder-length gray hair in dire need of a comb, unhooked her purse from her arm and placed it on the counter. “Oh, Melanie!” A hand went over her heart just before she encompassed mother and child in a sturdy embrace. “We worried when we got Danny’s message that you all wouldn’t be coming to the cottage.”

  Grandpa Herb peered accusingly through thick glasses and released the handle of his rolling suitcase. “It’s not like you to renege on plans like that,” he griped, removing his brimmed hat to reveal a thick head of wavy hair. “I thought you were looking forward to it.”

  Accustomed to his surly mood, Melanie leaned up and kissed the old man on the cheek. “I was. Something came up and we couldn’t make it.”

  “Was it your car?” he asked, showing his teeth while DJ made a grab for the glasses. “I noticed it’s not in the driveway.”

  “Well... not exactly.”

  Mary relieved Melanie of her load. “How’s my little pumpkin?” she crooned, planting loud kisses on the baby’s exposed neck areas. “I missed you so much!”

  DJ giggled and tucked his chin to make it challenging.

  While grandma sat down with him at the small kitchen table, Melanie helped Herb bring the rest of the luggage inside.

  “I was going to teach my grandson how to fish.” Herb produced a tiny fishing pole with a dangly plastic worm on the end.

  Melanie reared back before taking it in the eye. “Oh... uh...”

  He cringed and set it safely in the corner when the back door opened again. “Danny! Where did you come from?”

  Finally! Melanie released a sigh of relief now that she had backup.

  Danny winked at her as she handled her parents with expertise. “The garage.” Kisses ensued. “Did you have a good time at the lake?”

  Herb harrumphed, indicated the baby on Mary’s lap. “Fell a bit short without Shorty, here.”

  “Melanie had a good excuse,” Danny explained, relieving the man of his tackle box.

  Mary blew bangs from her forehead and sent her only daughter of nine children an exhausted smile. “Of course she did, dear. How are things holding up at Cahill Salvage?”

  “Busy.”

  Herb harrumphed in disapproval. “Only because my doctors forced me to retire.”

  The house had been awakened in a way only Herb and Mary’s presence could manage. The quiet, abandoned feel was gone and animation was restored. More lights came on, car keys were put away and the elders settled back into home life. Melanie noticed Danny’s brief look of apprehension as she steered her father toward the empty chair by Mary. “How is your heart lately, Pop?”

  But Herb refused to sit, veered left and headed straight for the small radio on the window’s ledge. “Better now that I’m home.”

  Mary tsked. “Oh, stop. That lake cottage was the best investment we’ve made since your bypass.” Then she leaned toward the girls and shielded her lips from Herb’s view. “I actually caught him smiling while he fed the ducks on the shore.”

  Herb squinted at the numbered dial. “I had gas.”

  Mary bestowed her husband with a look of annoyance. “That only works with newborns, you old fool.”

  DJ pointed toward the family room. “Dada!”

  “Yes, Pumpkin, that’s your dada,” Mary crooned.

  But half of them knew the toddler wasn’t pointing at pictures this time. Danny threw a clandestine look over her shoulder as she opened the refrigerator.

  Melanie busied herself by retrieving two glasses from the cabinet. “Um... speaking of Derek--” she began, but Danny interrupted.

  “Pop, maybe you should sit down.”

  Mary looked up gratefully when her daughter brought the drinks to the table. “You made tea?”

  Rock music filled the air. “Somebody’s been messing with my radio,” Herb groused. Music was replaced with static noise as he searched for the right channel.

  “Wait a minute!” Mary pointed at Melanie’s left hand. “What is that on your finger? Herb, that looks like your mother’s ring.”

  Melanie felt the color creep into her cheeks. “It... it is.”

  Mary’s look softened to cushion her words. “She gave that to Derek.”

  “I know.” Just those few seconds of doubt made her fidget with tension. “There’s something we need to tell you, but--”

  Herb was suddenly behind her. “Don’t tell me you got engaged to someone when we were gone.”

  It was then Melanie noticed the radio had fallen silent. The kitchen clock ticked loudly. “Well... actually, I did.”

  “Then, whoever the cheapskate is, he needs to buy you his own ring. That one belonged to our son and some day it’ll belong to DJ.”

  Danny to the rescue. “Pop, please,” she said as she took him by the shoulders and successfully lowered him to the chair. “What we need to tell you has everything to do with Derek and how Melanie got that ring. But I need you to take a few deep breaths and channel your inner calm.”

  Mary patted his knee. “Yes, dear, you know Melanie has a good explanation for why she’s wearing that ring. She’d never disrespect Derek’s memory like that.” Her brown eyes turned confidently toward Melanie. “Would you?”

  “Of course not,” Melanie stammered, deciding now was the time for the big reveal. “But... he isn’t a memory anymore. He’s alive. He’s here. He’s real.” She held up her hand. “And he’s the one who put this ring on my finger.”

  There, she said it. Thank God. What a relief. She clung to Danny’s hand when it was offered.

  The clock ticked louder than before.

  Danny angled her head. “Pop?”

  “Oh!” Mary’s outburst made the girls jump. “I think I know what’s going on!” The woman leaned over and whispered in Herb’s ear.

  Herb looked over his thick pair of glasses. “Did you have another ‘experience’?” said with quoted fingers.

  Melanie blinked. “What?”

  “Another ‘mysterious text’ or ‘visit’ in your sleep? Because every time the wind blows, you think it’s our son trying to communicate.”

  She felt her face heat up. Jeez, she should have known that’s where they’d take this. But it did bring up an interesting question. If Derek had been alive the whole time, how could she explain those past experiences she’d believed were supernatural?

  “Maybe she wants to move in with us,” Mary guessed, completely enchanted with the possibility. “We’d love to have you, you know that.”

  What? “Uh... no, that isn’t what--”

  “She and DJ can have Danny’s room,” Mary said brightly, giving Herb another pat on the knee, “You know, since her marriage seems to be holding steady.”

  Danny’s shoulders slumped. “Mom.”

  Mary turned toward her daughter with guilty eyes. “We were keeping it for you in case... well. You did marry a Cahill. You can understand, right?”

  “I thought you liked Austin!”

  Herb leaned into the table, shifted uncomfortably. “Sure, he turned out alright, but you know what they say. Mar
ry the man, marry the family.”

  Danny planted a firm look on Melanie. “You getting all this?”

  Melanie hid her laugh then sobered immediately as Danny moved in for another attempt at shock and awe.

  “Okay.” Danny held her palms out and squared her shoulders. “You two need to really listen to us, because this is extremely important.”

  “Of course, dear,” Mary said through a polite smile.

  Herb scowled. “You look serious. Are you pregnant?”

  Melanie opened her mouth. Danny drove an elbow into her arm. “This has nothing to do with me. This is about Derek.”

  The elders blinked at them once again. “Okay... we’re listening.”

  Big breath. Danny hesitated just long enough to scoop DJ out of Mary’s lap. Melanie nodded her approval. Safety first.

  “He’s alive.”

  Mary’s eyes went left, then right. “Yes, we know. His spirit is very much alive.”

  Danny tried again. “He’s physically here. In this house.”

  “Yes, he’s everywhere in this house.”

  “Ugh!” Danny was striking out just as badly.

  Melanie grabbed for DJ and used her son as a sort of human shield.

  “Melanie, dear, we understand why you want to live here,” Mary said kindly. “Not only do you get to surround yourself with his pictures, his spirit is all over. By the pond he loved to swim in, in the garage where he re-built that car...”

  “In the basement where he trained for his climbing excursions...” Herb added with a thoughtful nod.

  “How about right beside you?” Derek broke in smoothly.

  Both Herb and Mary jumped, craned their necks toward the family room from where the voice came. They finally noticed the visible pair of legs occupying the high-backed chair by the hearth. In the closed glass doors over the firebox was Derek’s full-bodied image, a faded reflection of a man who’d been with them only in spirit for two long years.

  DJ pointed a finger. “Dada!”

  The elders slowly stood, their faces deathly pale. Derek rose from the chair and turned toward them. Though his expression was calm, emotion swirled in his eyes.