Ghost Walk

by Melissa Bowersock

  “Lacey, I just can’t do this right now. I’ve got a real killer on my hands. I can’t go chasing after ghosts.” He motioned to the pile of papers. “Why don’t you leave this here and we’ll look at it when we can?”

  Lacey felt her heart fall to her feet. Where was Sam? She needed him, needed his stoic certainty. Without him, she just sounded like a nutcase. How could he leave her hanging out to dry like this?

  “Sir—”

  “No, Lacey. Not now.”

  “Sir!” Shirley burst through the door. “We’ve got confirmation from the officers on scene. One shooter, a student, ID’d as Mario Costanza. Two victims so far, both students. One Joe Herrera and one Daniel Firecloud. Both have been transported to…”

  The words faded into white noise as the buzzing in Lacey’s head grew louder. She watched, numb, as her vision began to disintegrate into disjointed flashes of light. She could feel herself slipping, sliding down in the chair, as boneless as a rag doll, but she could do absolutely nothing to stop herself.

  ~~~

  “Lacey? Lacey!”

  Shirley’s voice. A hand on her shoulder, shaking her gently. A couch beneath her, the leather cold against her bare arms.

  Her eyes fluttered open.

  “Here,” Shirley said. “Water. Sip it.”

  Lacey sipped from the tiny paper cup. Choked slightly. Pushed the cup away.

  “I’m okay,” she said. She struggled to sit up, and Shirley helped her with a hand behind her back.

  “Easy,” Shirley said.

  Lacey sat up and swung her legs over the edge of the couch, then leaned back against the cushion. Her vision swam and she sucked in a breath to try to clear it.

  “What school?” she asked.

  “What?”

  “What school? Was it Thomas—”

  “Thomas Starr King, yes. How did you know?”

  Lacey shook her head, then instantly regretted it. She clamped her jaws tight to quell the dizziness. “I have to go. What hospital?”

  “Lacey, you can’t drive now. Just rest for a while.”

  “No. I’m going.” She stiffened her arms against the seat and pushed herself to her feet. “What hospital?”

  Shirley exhaled heavily. “Lacey, you cannot drive. Wait just a second. Let me get my keys.” She disappeared, and Lacey stared around her at the captain’s office. The desk with all her papers on it. The chair, empty. The captain gone.

  She made her way to the door. Shirley already had her purse and keys.

  “All right, come on,” she said. She took Lacey’s arm. “We’ll go out the back.”

  As Lacey settled into the passenger seat of Shirley’s small sedan, she knew the older woman had been right. She was in no condition to drive. She buckled her seat belt and stared out the window as Shirley drove out of the parking lot. The entire world had a surreal feel to it, as if it were all just virtual reality, just a fantasy landscape unfolding onto a screen before her. Shirley stopped the car at a red light that Lacey hadn’t even seen. The sudden stop jolted her.

  “Daniel,” she said. “Is he all right?”

  Shirley grimaced as she pushed the gas and propelled them through the green-lighted intersection. “We don’t know. Both boys were shot. One is in critical condition. The other is serious. I don’t know which is which.”

  Lacey rubbed her eyes. “The shooter?”

  “Dead. Self-inflicted.”

  By the time Shirley pulled into the parking lot, Lacey felt half normal. Her vision still seemed extra bright, but she got out of the car and walked inside the hospital under her own steam, Shirley at her side.

  She glanced around, left and right. Waiting room to the far right. She started that way.

  “Lacey!”

  Kenzie was running to her, Roland in her arms. Lacey dropped to a knee and gathered the girl to her. Kenzie squeezed her tightly.

  “Are you okay?” Lacey asked, holding the child away so she could see her face.

  Kenzie nodded, her face serious. “Daniel got shot.”

  “I know, honey. That’s why I came.” She looked beyond Kenzie and saw Sam standing next to some couches, another couple sitting there. She got to her feet and took Kenzie’s hand. “Come on.”

  As she neared, the eyes of all three adults were on her. She released Kenzie and went unerringly to Sam.

  His eyes were red but dry, his face strained. She went to him and slid her arms around his waist. He stood like a stone for a heartbeat, then circled her body with his own arms.

  “Sam,” she whispered, her voice cracking. “Is he going to be all right?”

  “We think so,” he said in a low voice near her ear. “He’s in surgery now.”

  She squeezed her eyes shut and buried her face in his shirt. “My God,” she breathed. “How did it happen?”

  “We’re not sure; the details are sketchy. It seems the two boys had a running feud. The one boy, the thirteen-year-old, brought the gun to school to settle it.”

  “But Daniel? He wasn’t one of them?”

  “We don’t think so. We just don’t know yet.”

  She shivered involuntarily. “Where was he shot? Do you know?”

  “In the hand. It fractured some of the small bones in his hand. The surgery’s going to take a while.”

  She exhaled heavily. “My God,” she said again.

  “Come on,” he said. “Sit down.” He pulled her toward the couches.

  She had the presence of mind to realize the other couple was Daniel’s mom and stepdad. Sam led her to the couch, let her sink down onto it next to Kenzie, then did the introductions.

  “Lacey, this is Christine and Ed LaRosa. Lacey Fitzpatrick.”

  She smiled weakly and shook hands. “I’m so sorry,” she said.

  The pair nodded. Lacey could see that Christine had already cried her eyes out, although tears threatened again.

  “Daniel talked about you,” Christine said shakily. “He said you were nice.”

  Lacey nodded, not trusting her voice. She felt Sam settle next to her and liked the feel of his shoulder at her back. Kenzie took her hand in one of hers, gripped her mother’s hand with the other. They settled in to wait.

  Lacey wasn’t sure when she drifted off to sleep. Shirley had left some time ago, needing to get back to the office. Sam had assured her he’d get Lacey home. Now he prodded her awake, the arm around her shoulders nudging her.

  “What?” She sat up, saw the doctor coming toward them. All four adults stood, Kenzie still curled up asleep on the couch.

  “I’m Dr. Mackey,” the scrubbed man said. He shook hands all around. “Your boy is going to be fine. That hand will take a while to heal, and he’ll have a scar, but he’ll be fine. He’s in recovery now, should be in a room within a half hour or so.”

  “Can we see him?” Christine asked.

  “When he’s in his room,” Dr. Mackey said gently. “Someone will come get you.”

  More waiting. More sitting. Sam went and got coffee for everyone, a chocolate milk for Kenzie. She woke up and rambled around the waiting room, showing Roland to anyone who would listen.

  Lacey was shocked to see Captain Shaw walk in. The big man scanned the room, saw her and strode over. All business after brief introductions, he stood before the group, hands behind his back as if giving a press conference.

  “Here’s what we know,” he said, looking from person to person. “Witnesses say the thirteen-year-old—Mario Constanza—picked a fight with the Herrera boy, apparently not the first time. They got into a yelling and pushing match and then Costanza pulled out the gun. All the other kids scattered, but Daniel jumped in. He tried to calm Costanza, had his hands up when the kid fired the gun. The bullet went through his hand, then hit the Herrera boy in the chest. Luckily it missed his heart, but did some damage to a lung. He’s still in surgery.”

  Captain Shaw fixed them all with an intent stare. “Your boy saved the other kid’s life,” he said. “If he hadn’t deflected that
bullet, Herrera would be dead right now.”

  “Oh,” Christine said, sinking down to the couch. She buried her face in her hands and began to cry softly. Ed sat next to her and held her.

  “Thank you, Captain,” Lacey said, stepping up to him and offering her hand.

  He brushed that aside and gave her a fierce bear hug. Sam stood behind her and offered his own hand once Shaw had released Lacey.

  “Captain?” he said. “Thank you for telling us.” The men shook firmly.

  “Glad to deliver some good news,” he said. “Now I’ve got to go talk to Costanza’s parents. At the morgue.”

  Lacey touched his shoulder. “I’m sorry. Good luck.”

  Shaw nodded. Then he impaled Lacey with a stern look. “And I’ll talk to you later,” he growled.

  She smiled. “Yes, sir.”

  As Shaw walked away, Sam touched her arm. “What—oh, shit! Lacey, the meeting! I forgot about the meeting!”

  She laughed, her voice cracking as if unused to the practice. “Don’t worry about it,” she said. “You’ve had other things to think about.”

  Just then a tech approached the group. “For Daniel Firecloud?” she queried. They all gathered around. “Come with me, please.”

  Sam motioned for Christine and Ed, with Kenzie, to precede them, then took Lacey’s hand. “Let’s go see Daniel,” he said.

  “The hero.” She smiled.

  ~~~

  FOURTEEN

  Three weeks later, Sam and Lacey entered the large hall in the city complex and wound around the journalists and cameramen that crowded the back of the room. Lacey led Sam directly up the center aisle to the front of the room. Shirley stepped out from an open side door where she’d been waiting and motioned them to two seats marked Reserved in the front row. They smiled and nodded to Christine and Ed and Kenzie, and Lacey gave Daniel a big thumbs up.

  His hand was still wrapped but the bandage was much smaller than it had been. He now sported only a small splint on his wrist to support the muscles and tendons as they strengthened. He’d have full usage of the hand in the coming months.

  “It’s a good thing kids are made out of rubber,” Lacey whispered to Sam. “They bounce back so fast.”

  Sam nodded, smiling weakly. Lacey knew this had been hard on him. He’d been unable to save his parents and unable to save his son from injury, but seeing Daniel growing stronger, his laugh returning along with his smartass sense of humor, had freed Sam from most of the guilt. Good thing, she thought.

  The clock on the wall above the podium clicked over to four p.m. and Captain Shaw, along with a retinue of three other officers, strode out from the side door. The captain took his place behind the podium, tapping the mic, while the others fanned out to either side.

  “Ladies and gentlemen,” he said, his voice booming over the P.A. “Thank you for being here. We’ve come together here today to pay tribute to a brave young man who put his own safety at risk to come to the aid of a fellow classmate. You’ll all remember the shooting three weeks ago at Thomas Starr King Middle School in Silver Lake. That unfortunate day…”

  Lacey let the words wash over her, not keen to re-experience the shock, the fear, the dread of that day. While Shaw recounted the sequence of events, she searched for and found Sam’s hand, threaded her fingers in between his and squeezed. He looked down at her and squeezed back, the barest hint of a smile curving his mouth. His eyes glittered at her, though, and she smiled back.

  “And so it is with great pride and pleasure that I award Daniel Firecloud this Citizen’s Award of Valor. Come on up here, Daniel.”

  The room erupted into applause, and Daniel, glowing red with shy embarrassment, got up and approached the podium. Shaw moved up behind him and fastened the ribbon around his neck, the medal lying like a shield over his heart. Daniel looked down at the medal, took it in his bandaged hand and held it up for all to see.

  The entire room stood up and cheered. Lacey scrambled to her feet, wiping tears from her eyes, and clapped enthusiastically. As Daniel’s eyes scanned the room and finally rested on his dad and Lacey, both of them gave him a hearty thumbs up. He answered with his own, smiling widely.

  The photo session and subsequent interviews were going to take a while. Lacey snuck off sideways to where Shaw and Shirley and the other officers were standing as Daniel and his family smiled for pictures and answered all the usual questions.

  “How do you feel…?”

  “What was going through your mind…?”

  “What do you think of your son’s…?”

  Lacey nudged the captain. “Pretty cool stuff, sir.”

  He tried to keep a stern expression, but his eyes crinkled at the corners. “He’s a good kid. He deserves it.”

  “Yes, he is. And he does.”

  They watched for several minutes as the cameras flashed and the handheld microphones were shoved at one person after another. Even Kenzie was asked about her big brother’s bravery.

  “He still has to go to summer school,” she said with mild exasperation.

  The reporters loved it.

  “By the way,” Shaw said to Lacey in a low voice. “I’d like you and Sam to come to my office tomorrow morning. I’ve got something to show you.”

  “Oh?” she queried.

  “Yes. Come in about ten.”

  Lacey stared at him, trying to figure what it might be, trying to pull more out of him, but he wasn’t budging. He just smiled at her cryptically.

  Just then Sam called to her. “Lacey, come over here. Come on.”

  She only hesitated for a heartbeat. The cameras had stopped clicking and the reporters were thinning. She stepped up beside Sam and gave Daniel a hug.

  “Let’s see that chunk of hardware,” she said. As she took the medal in both hands and admired it, Daniel blushed again. “Nice,” she said. “Maybe you want to rethink that career choice now, maybe become a cop instead of going into construction. You’ve already got a head start.”

  “Maybe,” he laughed shyly. He glanced uneasily at his dad, but Sam just grinned.

  “Only thing is,” Lacey said, “you’ll still need math.”

  Daniel groaned, but everyone else just laughed.

  ~~~

  Lacey arrived at Shirley’s desk a few minutes early. She had hoped that Sam would be there waiting for her, but he wasn’t. He wouldn’t stiff her again—would he?

  “Have a seat,” Shirley said. “The captain will be right with you.” She smiled as she worked. “That was quite a deal yesterday. Seems like a nice family.”

  “They are,” Lacey said. She hadn’t gotten to know Christine and Ed well yet, but got good impressions from them. She kept glancing at the clock on the wall. It inched up to 9:55. No Sam.

  “You can go on in, if you want,” Shirley said. “I can send Sam in when he gets here.”

  Lacey almost stood up, but thought better of it. “No, I’ll wait,” she said. She crossed one leg over the other and had to remind herself not to bounce her foot with impatience. She watched the clock tick up to 9:57.

  Then a dark shape fell across the hammered glass on Shirley’s office door window. Lacey sat up as Sam opened the door and came in. He looked around uncertainly, saw her and smiled.

  She let out a long breath. Standing up, she waited for him to join her, then they headed into Shaw’s office together.

  The captain stood and welcomed them, shaking hands with both, motioning them to chairs. “Thanks for coming in, both of you,” he said. “I know it’s taking time away from your day, but I think you’ll be happy when you see what I’ve got to show you.”

  Lacey glanced at Sam, but he looked as clueless as she was.

  Shaw pulled a remote control from his desk drawer and punched it, turning on a flat screen TV that sat on the bookcase that spanned the side wall of the office. Both Lacey and Sam turned toward it as Shaw keyed up a DVD.

  “Just got this yesterday,” he said. “It’s bits and pieces, part body cam video and p
art news bytes. But I think you’ll find it interesting.”

  The video began with a shaking image. The light blue siding of a house, evergreen trees beside a door. The image settled and an arm reached out from behind the camera, ringing a doorbell. Lacey could hear a quiet voice behind the camera-wearer.

  The door opened. Marci. Lacey would recognize that face anywhere, now; she’d stared at it often enough. The woman’s eyes jumped from side to side, from one officer’s face to another. Lacey was glad there were two. Just in case.

  “Yes, what is it?” Marci asked.

  “Marsha Addison?” the first officer asked from behind the camera.

  “Yes.”

  “Ma’am, you’re under arrest for the murder of your husband, Douglas Addison. We’d like you to come with us, please.”

  Marci’s face flashed panic, then outrage, but then quietly crumbled. She couldn’t sustain the false innocence; this was too much of a surprise. Lacey could see it all playing out across her face. She felt sure if Marci had been charged immediately after Doug disappeared, she’d have had a good story, a good act prepared. But now, after three years, it was coming at her from out of the blue.

  Lacey couldn’t deny a perverse satisfaction.

  The video cut to something else. A shot inside an interrogation room, Marci at a table with an officer across from her, another standing off to the side.

  “You understand your rights as I’ve given them to you?” the officer asked.

  “Yes.” Marci’s voice, small, quiet. She didn’t look at the officer. She looked down at her hands clasped on the table top.

  “You don’t want to call your lawyer?” he asked.

  She shook her head. “No.” She lifted her head slowly, meeting the officer’s eyes. Tears brimmed from her eyes and slid down both cheeks. “I did it. It’s awful, but I did it. He was so… smug. So demeaning. I couldn’t stand it anymore. I just… snapped.”

  “What happened?” the officer asked.

  Her head dropped down again. The tears landed on the table top. “I stabbed him,” she whispered. “I just grabbed a knife… and started…” She sniffed and wiped her nose with the back of her hand. The officer signaled to his partner, and the second man moved out of view, then returned with a box of Kleenex. He set it down beside Marci’s arm, but she ignored it.