Crossroads

by Alexie Aaron [Aaron, Alexie]

  “We’re here to talk to you,” Whit said.

  “Why not step into the PEEPs office. There are way too many people milling around inside the house to have any privacy.”

  Whit narrowed his eyes. What was Mia up to? She was way too cooperative.

  Inside she offered coffee, and when the group declined, she sat down. “What’s up, Whit?”

  “For this meeting, I’d like you to refer to me as Special Agent Martin.”

  “Special Agent,” Mia said, staring coldly into his eyes.

  “We went to the location you gave us.”

  “And?”

  “We found a still-smoldering burned-out shell of a fallout shelter. Above it, in the ruins of the factory is what looks to be a funeral pyre.”

  “I assure you, when I gave you the coordinates, the fallout shelter was actively used. There was a coffin box. I assumed there was a coffin inside. Did you find any remains?”

  “Forensics are sifting through the rubble.”

  Mia waited.

  “Did you warn Gaspar Franco and his team that we were coming?” Whit asked.

  “I did not warn Gaspar Franco and his team that you were coming,” Mia answered.

  Whit looked at her and narrowed his eyes.

  “Where were you this afternoon?”

  “With Stephen Murphy. I can call him in if you want to speak with him.”

  “What were you and Stephen Murphy doing this afternoon?”

  “First, we went to the graveyard, and then we trained. I’ve been on maternity leave and quite out of shape.” She turned to the others and explained, “I’m part of a paranormal research team. My position is as a sensitive, and I back up Murphy with security.”

  “What does a sensitive do?” Agent Adams asked.

  “I try to communicate with ghosts. I understand with this group you’re in that you deal with the paranormal too. Do you have a sensitive on staff?”

  “Not to my knowledge,” Agent Adams answered.

  “Where is Gaspar Franco?” Whit asked.

  “I don’t know, Special Agent,” Mia said honestly. “Why are you asking me?”

  “I think you warned Gaspar and his team. I don’t know why you’re helping these terrorists escape. Helping terrorists is treason, Mia.”

  “I would assume so, but since I’ve never helped terrorists, I’m confused why you’re here speaking to me?”

  “I can have you sent where you’ll never see your family,” Whit warned her.

  “Why would you do that? Are you still mad that we broke up?”

  Whit slammed his hand down on the table. “That has nothing to do with this.”

  “Special Agent, I think it does. I’m going to politely ask you to leave. Contact my lawyer, Alan Jefferies, if you want to speak further. Or send your inquiries through John Ryan or Sheriff Braverman. My husband gave the government all that information we found when we were investigating the haunting of the Glynn home. PEEPs have been cooperative. I don’t mind sitting here and answering questions if I feel it’s for the good of all, but if you came here with an agenda to hurt me for the past, I’m afraid I’ll have to object.”

  “You’re a freak. You hide behind your little amateur ghost-hunting group, but I can see that you’re dangerous,” Whit spat.

  “For the record of the other agents here,” Mia said. “Special Agent Martin requested help from our little amateur ghost-hunting group. We stepped up and helped him twice without getting any recognition.”

  “Alright, out,” Whitney ordered the other three. “What I have to say is off the record.”

  The agents picked up their stuff and walked out.

  Mia waited.

  “I know you did something. What in fuck’s sake would make you help a lowlife drug dealer like Gaspar Franco?”

  “Since I did no such thing,” Mia said, referencing the destruction of the fallout shelter to ease her conscience, “I can’t answer that.”

  “You’re on our radar, Mia. One false move and your freedom is forfeit.”

  “Since we are talking off the record...”

  “Go on.”

  “Are you aware that you’ve just threatened me?”

  “Yes.”

  “Why?” Mia asked. “I’m no one to you. You have your little career and your meager social life. Why are you so fixated on me? Take up with Lisa Lane-Cordoba. I’m sure she’s more your type of woman. She, like you, blames me for her own inadequacies.”

  “She’s a flake. I dated her in high school.”

  “Sorry, I didn’t know.” Mia sat there a minute and filed that away. She turned and locked eyes with Whit. “I blame myself for letting you into my life. I was in a bad space. I was rebounding because of Burt. I loved you. I’ll admit to that. But I couldn’t exist in a relationship with a narcissist. I moved on. You don’t have to try to ruin me to prove to yourself that you’re the better person. I know who I am, and I don’t have to prove anything to you. I’m a mother of five children. I’m happily married to a genius who donates a lot of his work to help others. I have family and friends. I’m not the dog you let hang around and then toss stones at when it suited you. Leave here. Let one of your agents finish this informal interview.”

  “What happened after the hurricane that so changed you?” Whit said. “You were nice to me when you needed a ride back to port.”

  “I haven’t changed. Your attitude towards me has. Whit, get some help. Talk to someone. Get grief counseling. We went through hell in the hollow. Don’t let it destroy you. And for the record, we all lost Sherry. I lost her, Tom lost her, and you lost her. I can’t see a knotted rope without the terror revisiting me. But I have the knowledge that she got what she wanted in the end. Her painting is still in the MoMA. Don’t you dare blame me for her death when it was her own fault.”

  “Tom said it was mine.”

  “Maybe a little. I warned you. Take your win, which is all those shell companies and bank accounts. Go after the money. Ted and Jake brought down the Cynosura with information like that. Be a hero and not a villain. Leave Paula and Noah alone. They were victims of Demetrio’s greed. I know you’re faced with leaders who blame everyone else but not themselves. Whit, you’re not that man. You were too conflicted to deal with any shade of gray when we were together. I miss that Whit.”

  “Are you finished?” Whit said.

  “Lecture over. Class dismissed.”

  “Mia, I was serious about you being watched,” Whit said, his voice taking on a different tone.

  “There are still Cynosura in the government. It’s only a matter of time before they decide that destroying my home wasn’t enough revenge.”

  “We’ve been sent photos of the incident in Chicago.”

  “You mean the movie? I wonder when it’s going to come out,” Mia mused. “It was way over budget. The editing must be a nightmare.”

  Whit sighed. He had tried all his tricks. He couldn’t manipulate Mia into revealing anything. “I’m going to have to be very clever in writing my report.”

  “Call John Ryan, he’s an expert at it. Or Tom.”

  “Did you know that Tom wanted to ask you out in middle school?” Whit asked.

  “No.”

  “I wouldn’t let my best friend date a freak.”

  “Don’t let his mother know that,” Mia said. “She’ll kill you.”

  Whit walked out, and Mia slumped in the chair and put her head on the table. The monitors came to life. Mia turned her head to see the big brown eyeball scrutinizing her.

  “He never makes it easy.”

  “Ted took you away from him, didn’t he?”

  “Oh yes. Ted kept pointing things out I couldn’t see because I was love blind. Between you and I, Whit was all package and no substance. The kind of guy all young women fall for at one time or another.”

  “Why Ted?”

  “You know, I’ve never asked myself that question. I’ve
never said, I love Ted but… Just that I love Ted. I know you know what I mean. I really should be annoyed that you’re crushing on my husband, but I do understand how wonderful it is to love him. He’s got you, me, and Cid wrapped around his little...”

  “Hey, it’s not that small,” Ted objected from the doorway. “Come on, the night’s young and there are baked beans to eat.”

  Mia purred. She stood up. “Thanks for being here, Jake. It wasn’t so scary knowing you were listening in.”

  “You’re welcome, Mia. Martins, enjoy your evening.”

  Mia and Ted walked out of the office. Jake busied himself with a few things and pretended that Murphy wasn’t standing in the door of the garage listening to every word that was said.

  Chapter Twenty-six

  The last of the big trees was loaded onto the trailer. As demanded by the forest service contract, the parts of the tree not transported to the lumbermill were chipped. The noise had kept the eagles away from their nests. Fortunately, this too had passed, and once again, the preserve was free of men.

  The giant trees, whose mighty roots kept the thieves from looting the treasure, were dying. The once strong fibers were brittle and had lost their reason for being. The old ones looked at the situation and feared what was to come.

  They moved towards the place of prophesy and memorized the image of the entity who was promised to take them and their gold away, take the community where it was needed, to do what they did best.

  If their savior did not come, then they would have to take up the tooth and the claw and strip the land of the thieves. Having done so, they would break the bond, and it would become Hell on Earth.

  ~

  Mia started in early, working on her voice-overs. The twins’ feedings were becoming more predictable, and she was enjoying having the early hours to get her PEEPs work finished.

  “Incoming, a young woman on a bicycle,” Jake announced.

  “You sound like Radar O’Reilly on Mash,” Mia observed.

  “You’re the first one to notice.”

  “I’m sure the nerds were watching Star Something when the reruns were on,” Mia said.

  A light knock on the door preceded it opening, and a medium height, ash blonde stepped in. Her brown eyes focused on the blonde who was getting to her feet. “Hello, I’m Stephanie Gilbert. Forgive me for interrupting your Sunday. I’m the…”

  “Girl who fell in the river.”

  “Pushed in the river,” Stephanie corrected.

  “I’m Mia Martin, and I think we were done in by the same truck.”

  “You’re the lady who gave birth in the graveyard.”

  Mia laughed. “I’d rather be known for something else, but that will do for now. Can I get you a water, coffee?”

  “Water would be fabulous. I underestimated how steep that hill out of town was.”

  “I used to pedal it when I was a girl. I can’t even walk it now,” Mia admitted.

  “You’re from around here?”

  “I grew up in one of the brownstones off Main, and then I built a house on the peninsula of the lake.”

  “Mia Cooper,” Stephanie said, her nose crinkling as she smiled. “The girl that screams in graveyards.”

  “That’s the other thing I’m known for,” Mia grumbled.

  “At least it’s the same graveyard,” Stephanie said.

  “The same spot pretty much.”

  “What are the odds on that?”

  The screen flashed a very large number to one.

  “Holy Macaroni!”

  “Jake is listening in. Jake, Stephanie is here. Notify Enos please.”

  Stephanie chugged the water down as she looked around the office. “I’d kill for a setup like this.”

  “My husband likes it. He fixed your camera. I had to stop him; he was going to improve it.”

  “How do you improve a camera?”

  The screen flashed with dozens of improvements Ted had put in a file.

  “It’s like having an intuitive Alexa.”

  Mia giggled nervously. Stephanie had just made an enemy of Jake.

  Enos walked into the office from the garage entrance. He was wearing a PEEPs T-shirt that hugged his body like a third date. “Hello, my name is Enos Ahlberg,” he said, reaching out a hand.

  “Stephanie Gilbert. We met in the water I believe. Thank you for saving me.”

  “I just helped. My friend Stephen saved you.”

  “That’s right. I never saw him. Just you and Mr. Hicks.”

  Mia got up. “I’ll get the camera. Why don’t you two get acquainted,” Mia said, walking out of the office and over to where Ted kept his inventions.

  “I was wondering if you had any more news on whether they caught the man who pushed you?” Enos asked.

  Stephanie, momentarily lost in Enos’s blue eyes, jerked. “Na… no.”

  “That is too bad.”

  “I don’t think it was a contract hit or anything.”

  Enos tilted his head in confusion.

  A little professor appeared on the main screen. “She means that she doesn’t think people were trying to kill her on purpose.”

  “It seemed like a crime of opportunity,” Stephanie said.

  “Oh! I’m sorry. English isn’t my first language. I’m not familiar with many slang words.”

  “Where are you from?” Stephanie asked.

  “Denmark. I am here interning with PEEPs.”

  “I didn’t realize that PEEPs is international. You really should put that on your website. Your web manager is slipping.”

  Mia, who had caught the last sentence, looked around and grabbed the ocular headed Stephanie’s way. She glared at the screen and mouthed, “Stop it!”

  “Here’s your camera. We were able to download your pictures, but the photo stick was too corrupted to be used again. Ted put them on this,” Mia said, handing her the flash drive.

  “Thank you and thank your husband. I was going to go back up there today, but the hill tired me out, and I’ll need to get another photo stick anyway.”

  “I could drive you. Mia says I’m a good driver,” Enos offered.

  “He is. Why do you want to go back up there, may I ask?” Mia questioned.

  “I got a strange feeling when I was there. I do an environmental blog called Earth Angel. I was up there checking on the lumber operation. I got a shot of a guy knocking an eagle’s nest down out of the tree. Now there were no eggs or eaglets, but they do reuse the nests.”

  “Do you think the lumberjack followed you and pushed you off the bridge?” Enos asked.

  “No, it was a very strange looking man. He was dressed funny and seemed all gray. Either he had rolled in the mud or he wasn’t of this world. Last thing we need in Big Bear Lake is an alien.”

  Marvin appeared on the monitor behind Stephanie, aiming his Illudium Q-36 Explosive Space Modulator at her head.

  Mia leaned over and clicked off the screen.

  “Here’s a thought: why don’t we loan you a camera, and Enos can take you back up there from here? He’s a great guy to have around to back you up,” Mia professed.

  “I’m sure he is,” Stephanie said. “But I’m a solo act. I don’t need anyone around me dulling my vibe.”

  Mia cringed inwardly, remembering the woman who she had last heard the word vibe from. “I’m going to act like a mother hen here and tell you that you should never investigate alone. It doesn’t matter if it’s not a haunted house. There are old wells from an old village up there you could have fallen into.”

  “Okay, you would think I would have learned my lesson with the last time. My mother’s nickname for me is Reckless.”

  “Bathroom’s through there,” Mia said, reading Stephanie’s mind.

  Enos got up, and Mia tossed him the keys to the rental. “I don’t think we’ll need it for a few hours. Keep in touch.”

  Enos looked at Mia and smiled shyly. She whis
pered, “Unless it’s an emergency, protect the nest.”

  “I will.”

  Mia waited until the couple had pulled out of the drive before confronting Jake. “What in St. Elmo’s Fire were you doing!”

  “You heard her insult me.”

  “Not intentionally. My poor ghost in the machine, I would hug you if I could, but you’ve got to pull it together. You can’t attack a corporeal, even if it makes you feel good. Especially a blogger. I don’t want to lose you.”

  “What?” Jake asked.

  Mia put her hand on her heart. What had she just blurted out? She flipped the lock on the office door and closed the door from the garage. She sat down in Ted’s chair and turned on the center monitor and spoke from her heart. “You’re part of my family. You’re the first to defend me when Hicks has his panties in a twist. You are so important to us. I can’t imagine how we’d continue without you.”

  “Um.”

  “Whit’s right. They are watching me, us, PEEPs. If you would have injured that blogger, we would have been in big trouble. It’s a different world out there. People are mean. Nothing makes sense. There is no honor in the government. You saw how they attacked us without checking once to make sure they had their facts correct. If you are different, you’re at risk, and boy, you’re as different as it gets.”

  “Says the pot calling the kettle black.”

  “I’m speaking from experience. Somewhere, there is someone keeping track of PEEPs involvement. We may only be functioning because they can use us from time to time.”

  “Why did you let Gaspar go?”

  “I wanted to stop the circle of death with the Franco family. Otherwise, Paula and Noah would not be safe. My hope is that Gaspar will take this second chance and do something good with it. If not, he’s someone else’s problem.”

  “You should have discussed your actions with everyone involved.”

  “I know.”

  “For the record, you did the right thing.”

  “I think I scared Murphy.”

  “How?”

  “When a woman is faced with an extreme situation, we lack the height and muscle to command respect. This is why we have to be scary. I reached down inside and brought out the thing I had to become to get through what Lucifer did to me. Not exactly stuff ladies of Murphy’s generation do.”