A Phoenix Is Forever

by Ashlyn Chase

Luca smiled. “I guess he knows you take a direct approach.”

  “The thing about bullies is you need to stand up to them. But you have to do it right. Don’t let him get under your skin, no matter how hard he tries. Got it? It’s almost easier for a woman, because of our smaller size. If a woman loses her temper and punches him, no one will worry. People would doubt she could really harm him as long as a weapon isn’t involved. They’d be wrong, but they wouldn’t be as concerned.”

  Luca was about to reply when the dispatcher announced suspicious activity coming from the abandoned Green Park Zoo.

  “Let’s go.” Mary Beth sped up, and even though it was out of their usual area, she got them there in under ten minutes. They were the second car to arrive, so she consulted with the Hyde Park unit.

  The first officer on the scene motioned for Luca to go around behind the main building to the right, Mary Beth to the left, and he would enter through the front.

  Luca nodded in agreement and, crouching down, ran to the back of the building that had housed an interactive zoo until the owners moved locations.

  He radioed that everything was clear from the outside. Mary Beth responded all clear from her end. He told her he was going in and would meet her inside. Opening the back door, Luca cringed when it made a squeak and groaning sound from the rusted-out hinges.

  Slipping inside, he didn’t have to wait for his eyes to adjust to the light. His phoenix abilities gave him great eyesight in the darkness. Being able to avoid using a flashlight and possibly alerting a perp to his presence came in handy. He made his way down a dark hallway toward a door at the end.

  Remembering trips to this zoo when he was a kid, he knew there was an open area in the main hall where some of the animals had been kept, including a huge lion’s cage. Opening the door, he stopped for a moment and thought he heard a child crying.

  Shit! Could this be where they had taken Mandy? He felt his phone buzzing in his pocket. He’d put it on silent back in the car. He would answer it later. Right now, he needed to stay focused. The area was a bit like a maze with barrels and bales of hay stacked in places. It was hard to discern which direction the crying was coming from.

  He made one turn and found himself at a dead end, looking into a glass enclosure. A huge painting of a wolf snarled back at him. The image was so detailed, Luca almost thought it would come to life. Turning back the way he’d come, he took a left and walked down another hall in the maze. In the almost pitch-black, Luca’s instincts kicked into high gear. Hearing scuffling sounds behind him, he turned around and felt a hard object smash into his skull.

  That was the last thing he felt, saw, or heard…

  * * *

  I knew this would happen. I just knew it.

  Dawn paced back and forth in the ER waiting room at Boston General. Luca’s mother, Gabriella, was sitting beside his father, Antonio.

  Gabriella patted the seat beside her. “Come, Dawn. Sit down. You’re going to wear a path in the rug.”

  She gave her a weak smile, then lowered herself into the chair beside the kindly woman. “Thank you for calling me, Mrs. Fierro.”

  “Gabriella, please. I know how much you care about Luca.”

  “I wish they would let us in to see him,” Antonio muttered, running his hands through his salt-and-pepper hair. “They’re taking too long. If they aren’t out in five minutes, I’m going in.”

  “Antonio, be patient. They had to stop the bleeding and stitch up a nasty gash. The nurse told us they were just doing a CT scan to make sure everything is okay. I’m sure the doctor will be out soon.”

  Antonio snorted. “I could tell if everything is okay. Just give me a flashlight and a chance to ask him a few questions. If he says the president is George Bush, we know he has more than a slight concussion.”

  Dawn didn’t dare tell the Fierros about her vision earlier. They might not forgive her for not letting them know in advance.

  She’d frantically tried texting Luca, even calling him. She’d felt an overwhelming sense of impending danger, and she had seen him covered in blood again. Luckily, she hadn’t fainted, but she hadn’t been able to stop Luca from getting hurt.

  He’d been dispatched to the abandoned Green Park Zoo with his training officer. She was there in the ER, talking to Luca’s parents when Dawn arrived. Police were now in the process of combing the zoo, looking for clues as to who had been there and why they’d attacked Luca.

  Dawn already knew the answer to that. Ice. He’d taken Mandy there, and he had probably moved her again after Luca and the other officers showed up.

  She hoped Mandy was unharmed. Hoped the blood she saw on Luca was just because of his head wound and not something worse that was looming. She’d have to try holding the unicorn again tomorrow when she was feeling calmer.

  She doubted Luca’s parents would let him go home with her tonight. They would insist on taking him back to their house where they could keep watch on him overnight. Concussion victims needed to be woken up periodically just in case they’d lapsed into a coma.

  Dawn was feeling frustrated to no end. This was the second scare she’d had at Boston General today. First when she went to her Gran’s room and saw another woman in her bed, and now this.

  She glanced at her watch. It was 10:30 p.m. Annette would be sound asleep by now. She would stop by in the morning to visit her before she went to the Youth Community Center. Life marched on, no matter what curveballs got thrown at you. She was committed to her volunteer work at the center, and besides, she was positive Luca wouldn’t want her to shirk her responsibilities just to pace and wring her hands over him.

  “How is your grandmother doing, dear?” Gabriella was such a caring woman. She’d sent a container of biscotti over with Luca for the nurses and a gift for Annette, a warm flannel nightgown and robe. Dawn had taken it in to Annette a few days ago, and her grandmother had insisted on writing a thank-you card to Gabriella. Fortunately, the gift shop had plenty of them.

  “She’s doing much better, thank you for asking. They moved her to the rehab floor today, and she’s progressing really well.”

  “That is such good news. All this must be stressful for you…first your grandmother, and now Luca.”

  “I’m okay. I’m just worried. I wish I could snap my fingers and make it all better.”

  Gabriella laid her hand on Dawn’s. “They’re both going to be fine. I know it.”

  “Hey, there’s the man of the hour now,” Antonio said. He rushed up to greet his son’s doctor. Both Dawn and Gabriella shot out of their chairs as well.

  “Your son was lucky. He has a concussion and a broken nose, but the CT scan showed no serious brain injury.”

  “Can we see him?”

  “Yes. Follow me. I’ll go over his discharge orders with all of you.”

  As Dawn trailed behind, she was glad she didn’t have to defend her need to go in with them. She wanted to see her love as badly as his parents did.

  Luca’s head was wrapped in a thick bandage, and his eyes sported purple circles. The discolorations made his eyes look even bluer. Dawn wanted to run up and hug him, but she stayed back a little, knowing his parents were anxious to talk to him.

  After a few moments, Gabriella moved aside, and Luca called out to Dawn. She ran up to him and leaned down, placing a gentle kiss on his lips, then gingerly laid her hand on the side of his face. “I’m so sorry you were hurt.”

  “It’s okay, babe. I’m fine. Just a little banged up.”

  Then she did what she’d promised herself she wouldn’t do. She started blubbering. Everyone tried to make her feel better. Gabriella insisted Dawn come home with them and spend the night.

  “We don’t want you alone and worrying,” Gabriella said, hugging her.

  “Thank you so much. I would love to stay over.” Dawn wiped her tears, wondering what she’d done to deserve
such good people in her life.

  Maybe good karma wasn’t about only good stuff happening. Maybe it was about having people around you for support when the bad stuff happened. She’d have to ask Lynda about that next time she saw her. For tonight, she would curl up beside Luca and watch him sleep. There was nowhere else she wanted to be.

  * * *

  The next morning, Gabriella made them all a big breakfast, and other than his bandaged head and black eyes, Luca was back to his usual self. He ate well and cracked jokes with his dad. But when the topic came around to his injury, Antonio had a few things to say.

  “I’m sorry, Son. This job’s just too dangerous.”

  “Dad, being a firefighter is just as dangerous as being a cop.”

  “When you go into a burning building, you are with your brothers. Even the ones who aren’t biologically related are like family. They have your back.”

  “Mary Beth did have my back. She called the paramedics, and I’m fine.”

  “Why do they keep putting a rookie into these dangerous situations?” Gabriella asked, wiping her hands on a tea towel and throwing it over her shoulder as she leaned against the kitchen sink. “You just started. Why do you have to be the one always going to these places?”

  “I’m on duty. When you’re on duty, you have to go where the dispatcher sends you. I’m a cop now. Not a cadet. I respond to calls like any other cop.”

  “I don’t think so. I heard about this sergeant of yours. Butts. I heard stories about him,” Antonio said. “He tased you on purpose at the precinct. I think he’s the one putting you into these situations. Maybe I’ll go down there and have a little chat with this SOB.” He pounded his fist on the table.

  “Dad, you can’t do that.”

  “If this guy has it in for my son, I have to do something. Would you rather I talk to the commissioner?”

  “Shit no. Who told you he had it in for me?”

  “I hear things. I have friends in a lot of places, okay?”

  Luca glanced at Gabriella. “Mom, tell Dad not to go beat up Sergeant Butts, please.”

  Gabriella shrugged. “I’m not sure I want to stop him.”

  Luca turned to Dawn, his eyes begging her for help. “Can you talk some sense into these two?”

  “I just want you to be happy and safe in your job,” she said, laying her hand over his.

  “And why does this Butts man have to single you out?” Gabriella waved her hand in the air.

  “It’s hazing. They do it to all the newbies.”

  “I doubt that,” Antonio said. “I hear he doesn’t like firefighters. Fierros are legendary in Boston, and all of us are firefighters, except you.”

  “Look, I’m going to be home for a few extra days, but when I go back, I’ll have a talk with Mary Beth and Joe and ask if Butts is acting out of character. I really think he’s an ass to everyone, not just me. But if I’m being singled out, I trust them to tell me. They’re good people.”

  “Well, I don’t want the next place I see you to be a morgue. So if this guy doesn’t change, he’s toast.” Antonio pounded his fist again. “Capisce?”

  “Capisce, Dad.” Luca turned back to Dawn. “Can you help me back downstairs? I want to lie down for a bit.”

  “Okay.” Dawn wrapped her arm around his waist and was surprised at how heavily he leaned on her as they made their way back down to his room in the finished basement.

  “Help me break out of here,” he whispered with a tired smile.

  “No way. Your parents are just worried about you. And so am I. I texted you so many times yesterday and even tried calling but you didn’t answer.”

  “I couldn’t. I was in that maze, trying to find whoever was crying in there.”

  “I had a vision of Mandy being held there.” She helped Luca back into bed and cuddled beside him.

  “I had a weird feeling she was there too. I heard weeping as soon as we got there. My paranormal hearing helped, but I couldn’t look like I knew exactly where she was by making a beeline for her.”

  “I know it was Ice who hit you with the shovel. I just know it. I hate that prick.”

  “It was a shovel?”

  “Yeah, that’s what Officer Gulliver said. Ice probably didn’t want to shoot you, because the noise would attract your partner—but he’s always armed. I’m worried about you.”

  “You’re worried about me? I’m the one worried about you. I don’t want you going back home alone. It’s too dangerous. They probably know we’re onto them.”

  “They only suspect I’m onto them.”

  “Yeah, but they probably figured out that you’re working with the cops.”

  “I’m not working with the cops. I’m working for Jack Richardson.”

  “Even so, Ice might come looking for you. He knows you have visions.”

  “Or maybe that’s why he’s staying away. He would have already come looking for me after I paid Carla that little visit. Maybe he’s just trying to lie low.”

  “Promise me you’ll be careful.”

  “I will. I have to go to the hospital to check on Gran and then over to the community center.”

  “Okay, but keep in touch with me. Are you going to come back here tonight?”

  “Do you think your parents will let me stay?”

  “Are you kidding? You’re already part of the family. The only thing is that you’ll have to sleep in one of my brothers’ rooms.”

  “They let me stay in here with you last night.”

  Luca laughed. “That’s because I was zonked out on painkillers. Tonight is another story, though.” He waggled his eyebrows at her and leaned in for a long, hot kiss.

  “Dawn, do you want a ride to the hospital?” Gabriella’s voice floated down the stairs.

  Luca groaned in frustration. “See, my mom has this supersensory radar thing. I swear she knew we were getting close.”

  Dawn giggled. “I’ll be right up, Gabriella,” she called out.

  “Promise me you’ll be careful.” He gave her one more fierce kiss.

  “I promise. Promise me you’ll get well soon. I’ll miss you in my arms at night.”

  “I promise.”

  Dawn kissed him back just as fiercely and then, grabbing her jacket and purse, went upstairs.

  Gabriella insisted on meeting Annette, and the two women got along as though they were long-lost friends. Dawn announced she had to get to the community center, but Gabriella stayed to chat a bit longer with Annette. It felt good. All of it. Luca’s family was actually accepting her. It was wonderful being part of a big, noisy, loving family. Weird, but wonderful.

  When Dawn arrived at the Youth Community Center, Tansy gave her a big hug and asked her how Annette was doing.

  More good karma. Dawn helped out with a group meeting with some of the kids who’d started getting together to talk about their issues at home. A parent in jail was something Dawn could relate to. She was setting up the chairs for the meeting when she spied a girl talking to Rita. The girl looked kind of tough. Dawn knew the type… Hell, she was the type. The girl nodded at Rita and then went off to talk to a group of older kids.

  Dawn made her way over to Rita, who’d gone back to reading her book. “Hey, Rita, how are you doing?”

  “Hi, Dawn.” The teenager smiled, but she looked a little nervous.

  “So who was that girl you were talking to? I’ve never seen her around here.”

  Rita’s eyes skittered away. “Um…she goes to my school. Her name’s Joanie. She’s okay. She was just saying hi.”

  “Hi, huh?” Dawn sat down across from Rita. “Look, I know it’s great to make new friends, especially with kids who seem a lot cooler than you.”

  “Hey! I’m cool,” she said with a sardonic smile.

  “Yes, you are. Much cooler than some kids who hav
e ulterior motives.” Dawn made a mental note of talking to Tansy about Joanie.

  Rita stiffened and looked a little hurt. “I don’t have many friends, and she was being nice.”

  “I’m sorry, Rita. I may have been wrong. I hope so. I could be projecting, because I was kind of tough at that age. I turned my life around, but not all the tough kids in the world do that. Just know you’re really special. You’ve got straight A’s, and you’re a good kid. You help out here on weekends. You’ve got a good future ahead of you. Just be aware is all I’m saying.”

  “I understand.” Rita tipped her head. “Were you really like Joanie?”

  “Oh, much worse. You don’t want to know how I was. But just remember where you want to be in ten years and who you want to be. Don’t forget that. Keep that dream in your head, and you’ll keep shining like the star you are.”

  Rita grinned. “Thanks, Dawn. You’re pretty cool, even when you’re being corny.”

  Dawn clutched her chest. “You wound me!” Then she chuckled. “Just remember to send us a postcard from all the amazing places you’ll be travelling to when you’re all grown up.” Suddenly, she had a flash of Rita at a podium, grinning and waving. Red, white, and blue balloons were released and fell all around her. She was celebrating some kind of political win!

  Dawn gave Rita a tight hug. She felt the good karma glowing around her.

  Chapter 14

  It was time.

  She’d been putting it off for too long. Taking a vacation day, Dawn decided to visit her mom. So much had happened since she had last seen her five weeks ago. She was overdue for a visit. And if she was going to get a handle on her karma, she needed to talk to her mom and make sure she was doing okay.

  Her mom had left a phone message last night while Dawn was at the Fierros’. Dawn didn’t answer it. Didn’t want to be reminded of who she was and where she’d come from. Didn’t want to think about the fact that Lissie was her mother. She’d told Luca about her, but his parents had no idea that Dawn’s mom was a drug addict and was doing five years at Framingham for trafficking and possession. But at least she was getting treatment, albeit minimal and forced. But she seemed to be trying. Finally.