by Dan Glover
"No, Hank... in fact once that knife was destroyed, any hold that old brujo and his son had on him dissolved. Fletch is just another sad old man wondering where he is and what the hell happened over the last thirty years."
"You're saying he has no recollection of the crimes he committed?"
"None."
"So tell me how you knew about those marbles, Danners."
"I'm not sure what you mean, Bernice."
"Don't play dumb with me, Mr. There were enough peasants in that cemetery tonight to fight a small war and only five of us. I know I didn’t have a gun on me... I'm not sure about you, Danners, but even if both you and Liza were carrying, if those folk decided to attack us, we'd all be dead now instead of talking what if. So tell me how you knew about those marbles."
He didn’t want to answer. He couldn’t. Yeah, he dreamed it all. And as soon as he said so, everyone would start poking fun again, like they always did. Couldn’t people just let things be? Why should he explain anything to anyone? Hell, he'd already said way too much.
"I wish I could tell you that, Bernice. I can't. I just knew... that's all... it's how I work."
"Well I don’t know what you two get paid to solve these crimes but I'm pretty sure it ain't enough."
"We do okay, Bernice."
"So what happens to Fletch now, Danners? Any ideas?"
"I imagine he'll keep ministering to the church, at least as long as he's able. Could be his superiors may shunt him into retirement. Whatever happens, he'll die with a clear conscious."
"That's more than a lot of us can say... ain't it, Hank."
"You read my mind, Bernie. Now what say you and me get on out of here and let these fine people do whatever it is they plan on doing with the rest of the night."
Chapter 67—Going Home
(Running on Empty)
1
"Can we please go home now, DanDan?"
Christ, she was creeping. With just under half a gram left, she might have enough to keep the more arduous symptoms at bay for a few hours but by this time tomorrow, forget about it. She'd have to make him take her to Compton right when they got back into town but the man owed her.
Remember, Lizzi... you always have me to lean on. I know, Lissi... a thousand kisses deep.
"We ain't waiting on me, lover. Let's blow this pop stand. I don’t know about you, but I've had me enough bean burritos and strange meat tacos to last me at least a week or two."
"Thank God... are you packed already, DanBoy?"
"You know me by now, Liza... I never unpack. Get your bikinis together and we're out of this madhouse. On to new and better things."
It was good to be on the road again. Mexico was great, especially with Danners by his side, but the city of angels was calling out to her. She imagined it was shouting out to her partner too, most likely.
"Do you think Reilly will be okay?"
"I guess... as okay as a man can be without a job."
"That's pretty sick how they fired him like they did. He deserved better."
"You're preaching to the choir, Liza."
"Maybe we can throw some work his way. It was sort of our fault that he got shitcanned."
"I wouldn’t say that. We never asked him to come to Mexico. In fact, we specifically requested he work with us from the States on this one. Remember?"
"Yeah, I know, DanDan. But I can't help feeling bad. If he hadn’t accessed the FBI database from here, they never would've suspected a thing. And he did that to help us."
"Well, there'll most likely be a hearing when he gets back. Maybe if he says all the right things they'll rehire him. That boss of his seems like a world-class dick."
"Maybe we could testify on his behalf... no, I suppose that isn’t the best idea, is it."
"Probably not, lover of mine. But like you say, Liza... maybe we can hire him when we need his expertise. With what he knows, Reilly's skills ought to be in high demand. He'll land on his feet... right?"
"So what about Hank? Do you think he'll keep on with Bernice Cooper once they make it back to Los Angeles?"
"I have no idea, Liza. They sure hit it off, didn’t they?"
"So tell me more about Eduardo... was he there in the cemetery last night?"
"Yes and no... he's both everywhere and nowhere."
"How did he die? Do you know? You do, don’t you."
"He died protecting his friend, Alexandria. When he got off that school bus Eduardo happened to see Tortuga taking her to that church so he followed. Maybe he knew something was up or perhaps he was just being inquisitive... either way, when Fletch and the others noticed him peeking into one of the windows, they figured he was sticking his nose where it didn’t belong.
"With the authority of the Catholic Church backing him up, Fletch was untouchable. Even with dozens of children turning up missing, no one thought about poking around inside that old cemetery, or if they did, they didn’t bother digging too deeply. Those people snatched Eduardo, killed him, and buried him right along with Alexandria."
"Oh, DanDan..."
"I know. Honestly, Liza, you know I didn’t want to take this case. That's how I get. But now I'm glad we did... at least the kidnappings and murders are at an end."
2
"Are you sure, Danners? What if the something man had a son?"
"He didn’t. That was the part of my vision I couldn’t understand, at least not at first... remember how you got pissed when I told you I was supposed to have sex with Bernice Cooper?
"I didn’t get mad, DanDan... well, maybe a little. I thought you had a thing for her and it hurt me. I'm sorry. I know I don’t have any hold on you. You can sleep with whoever you want."
"Never, my love... there's only one person in the world I want to sleep with and she's right here."
"Oh, Danners... why hasn’t some cute young boy come along and scooped you up?"
"Probably because I'm already taken."
"So tell me more, DanDan. How do you know that Tortuga doesn’t have an heir apparent waiting in the wings?"
"Because in my vision we never consummated the act... me and Bernice. When we touched a spark flew between us and knocked me on my ass. When I woke I was back at that cantina and everyone was staring at me like I had a big booger hanging out my nose. Later, I realized that the vision was pointing out how Tortuga had no heir... he hadn’t anyone to whom to pass down his knowledge... and how the sacrifice couldn’t be complete until he did."
"Sacrifice? What sacrifice?"
"The brujos—all those who came before Tortuga... him included—each had to be willing end their own lives when their designated heir was ready to take their place. That was all part of the price they paid for the knowledge granted them by whatever demon inhabits that area around Santo Tomas... otherwise known as el Diablo."
"Jesus, DanDan... you almost sound like a true believer. Next thing, I imagine you'll be spouting bible verses and humming gospel tunes."
"I suppose so, Liza. A person can hardly believe in evil without counting the good too, right?"
"That's an interesting way of putting thing, Danners. So you're saying Santo Tomas is an inherently evil place?"
"No, not really. From the impressions I get of the place there's nothing out of the ordinary about Santo Tomas. No... it's the people."
"Like who? Tortuga? Father Fletch?"
"Sure, them and lots of others... all of them under the influence of some weird spell handed down from hundreds of years ago... willing to surrender the lives of their children in order to placate whatever demon they believed was prowling the nether regions of Santo Tomas."
"I remember Reilly mentioning the chupacabra... was that all part of the legend too, DanBoy?"
"Ah... possibly, or maybe not. Could be the chupacabra is something a lot like those children we saw in the cemetery last night... there and yet not there at the same time. Did you notice how if you looked directly at them, you couldn’t see those kids?"
"I did... that's why
I thought I was only seeing things at first. At least until Hank said something. Then I realized... well... that maybe there really were children there after all."
3
"That is a good way of putting things, Liza."
"What happened to Eduardo's marbles? Are they still lying where you left them?"
"I don’t really know. I guess so. Should we go back and see?"
"Fuck no, Danners. You'll never get me back to that place again. Jesus... I can still smell that crypt."
"I'm guessing Eduardo's marbles went back to whence they came... back to the soil and to the moil... the water washed them away and hopefully they're at peace, just as he is, finally, and the rest of those children. Thanks to you, Liza... you're the one who convinced me to take this case. I never wanted it... remember?"
"Lover... all I wanted to do once we got there was to run away. If you listened to me, we'd been home a week ago and you know it. Anyway... do me a favor?"
"You know I will."
"Take me shopping? And when we're finished, spend the night with me? I don’t want to be alone right now."
Marry me, Danners Forthright. Make me honest, my fondest. I'll kick if you'll go seismic. You'll see. The whole world is ours, wildflower.
"You know I will, lover."
Will what? Take me shopping? Yeah, I know. Spend the night. Sure he will. But don't press it, Liza. Boys don’t like aggressive girls. You'll never find a husband like that. Let them come to you. That's what ladies do.
"Shut up, mother."
"What was that, Liza?"
Jesus... those goddamned voices that came out when the appetite was upon her, like now... first Lissi and then mother... one of them full of love, the other hate. Or was it simply the absence that made the heart grow fonder? Who could say?
"Oh, nothing, DanDan. Just talking to myself. You know how I get. Isn't it strange?"
"What's that, sweetie?"
"How the water washed away those marbles and the fire took that knife."
She closed her eyes so the light didn’t cause that screeching sound inside her head like it did when things got really bad. Fingernails on a blackboard? Oh, that was pleasant in comparison. As always the swaying of the automobile caused a bit of motion sickness... not dissimilar to the feeling of shooting a syringe full of liquid forget all my troubles into her veins.
It didn’t seem right leaving Fletch like that, now no more than a child. Yet what else could they do with him? Oh, by the way, Danners... we're taking this old priest home to live with us. I'll keep him one week and you the next. Oh yeah... that'd work. Somehow it wouldn’t do taking him away from Santo Tomas, however. Even her partner agreed.
"They'll take care of him here, Liza... the peasants. They love him. And besides, something tells me he hasn’t long on this good earth anyway. Couldn’t you feel it too?"
Yes she did, in her own way. Like when her father drank himself to death one bourbon at a time. But he touches us, mother. Don't you ever talk like that about your daddy, Liza. He's a good man.
Christ, Danners, could you step on it, please? I'm not going to make it. Don't worry, Lizzi. We'll sleep together, that way he can't bother either of us. I'll watch out for you and you for me. Was her family really that fucked up? Or could she simply be trapped inside one of those heroin withdrawal dreams again? Was that why Lissi didn’t wake up that night?
4
They took turns. Funny how she just remembered that. Like sentries standing watch over a great treasure. Only the fortune they guarded was one another's virtue. How could you let us live like that, mother? We were your daughters. And you believed him over us.
Yep. Our little family secret... isn’t that what you called it? Laughing about the things he did to us, as if any of it was funny. That time I tried to tell you and you pinched my lips together so hard you left bruises all around my mouth. You taught us well, mother. And you wondered why I couldn’t wait to leave? Honestly? Even now, you call up begging me to come home. When will I see you again, Liza? It's been so long.
Never... I'll only come back to Seattle if a goddamned tidal wave washes my ass in that direction. A motherfucking tsunami. I'm happy here, mother. And that's something you simply can't understand, isn’t it. Or maybe you won't. Either way, I'm finished with you... with that life you forced upon us.
Maybe that's why I love you so much, Danners. Because I know how you suffered too. And yet even after all the horrendous things she did to you, you still want to impress your mother. Just like me. We're both still children.
Children.
Why do so many bad things happen to the most vulnerable among us? That cemetery in Mexico filled to brimming with the bodies of kids who died for nothing... simply to appease some make-believe god in contradistinction to el Diablo or Satan or Lucifer or whatever the fuck they wanted to call the evil brewing inside the darkness of men's hearts.
Those parents... no different than mine... than yours, DanDan. And now we take our leave of those dark lands of Mexico... the beaches going on forever... the cheap dope... go back to Los Angeles, the city of angels, where the days are sweet and the nights languid, as long as I'm able to spend them with you.
"Wake up, Liza... we're home."
Thank you for reading Baja Blues. If you enjoyed my story please consider leaving a review. I read each one and always learn something new from them. Thanks again.
When I die I hope no one who ever hurt me cries
and if they cry I hope their eyes fall out
and a million maggots that had made up their brains
crawl from the empty holes and devour the flesh
that covered the evil that passed itself off as a person
that I probably tried
to love.
Nikki Giovanni
Books by Dan Glover
Liza McNairy Series
Peppermint Soul
Baja Blues
Deadhead
Horror
Water and Stone
Philosophy
Lila’s Child: An Inquiry Into Quality
The Art of Caring: Zen Stories
The Mystery: Zen Stories
Apache Nation
The Lazy Way to 100,000 Twitter Followers
The Gathering of Lovers Series
Billy Austin
Lisa
Allison Johns
Tom Three Deer
Justine
Yelena
The Mermaid Series
Winter's Mermaid
Mermaid Spring
Summer's Mermaid
Mermaid Autumn
Short Stories
There Come a Bad Cloud: Tangled up Matter and Ghosts
Mi Vida Dinámica
About the Author
Dan Glover lives and writes in north-central Illinois. He has written 18 novels as well as numerous short stories. You can connect with him on Twitter @DanGlover1 and find out more about him on his website DanGlover.com