I explain how things went down with Paco and the funeral home, and how I saw shit that he would not believe in there. That we saw Lucy, but we couldn’t save her. How Garrett is still there, trapped now too, and Paco refused to help. Frank tries hard not to say “I told ya so” but I can see it, I can feel it.
I ask him if he’s told the girls about the warrants yet, and he says no. So I ask him to step back inside with me so we can sort some things out.
I get them all back together in the parlor and tell them that for safety we’re gonna do a couple things different for right now.
I’m going to do a couple things and then head to the ranch house to stay for tonight and tomorrow during the day.
Julie and Frank are going to meet me there in about two hours, and then they’ll be back here for the night.
Piper and Leslie are going to hang at the Mercy Hospital waiting room, to be there for the girls that are still recovering, until I call and tell them it’s safe to come back.
Everyone says they’re clear on the plan, and we all go in separate directions getting things together. I head upstairs and pack, but not much, as I don’t plan on being out there long.
I know what my next step is, and I don’t want to do it, but if we’re gonna make it through this it has to be done.
***
I leave the Charger in the driveway. I want Frank to drive it back to the house to keep up the appearance of normality, and I don’t want it getting blocked in.
Walking into the ranch house tonight it feels like a prison. I walk into Jules’ bedroom, or the one that was his until he moved back to Chicago in ’95. It still feels like him in here.
I pick up a picture from the dresser of Jules with me when I was a little girl. Before I knew what he was. Long before he made me what I am. Am I doing the right thing?
I sit down on the edge of his bed and dial the number. It only rings once before I hear him, and I shudder deep down inside.
“Veronica?”
“Yes.”
“What is it you need, child?” I can’t tell over the phone if it’s compassion or contempt in his voice.
“I’m at the end of my rope. The town that I’ve called home for the better part of seventy years is now not a safe place for me to be. I have the police, hit men, spirits, and even the Council of Elders is after me. Almost all of the people I care about, protect, or count on are hurt, or missing. I’m really at my wits end and that’s why I’m talking to you. I need you, Jules. I have no one left to turn to. I really doubt I’d live if I try to load up and run, and I am too invested in those who’re missing to do that anyway.”
There’s a long breathless silence on the other end of the line, and I fear he may just be done with me.
“Stay where you are until tomorrow night. Pick me up at the airport at ten, and be ready to explain how things got so out of hand.”
The call ends. I don’t know if I’ve done the right thing or not, but I don’t see any other hope I have.
I flip the phone back open and scroll down through my phone book to find a runner. Jessica will do. She wouldn’t usually be the best idea for a job like this, she’s a bit of a junkie, but people won’t tie her to me, and my best people are either hurt or too busy.
She answers and is all too happy to pull another job for me. I pay her too well. I tell her to sit on the airport and watch it, from now until tomorrow night. My only explanation to her it that I have something important coming in, and I want to make sure it’s not going to be a problem.
“Can I share some of it?” She thinks I’m moving product, that’s great.
“You can have your usual salary. What you spend it on is up to you as always.”
***
While reclining in the living room with my eleventh rum and Coke, I hear the familiar sound of a VW engine pulling up my driveway. I look out the front window to see Julie pulling in and evidently Frank is riding with her. I believe that’s got to be a first.
I watch as Julie looks confused as where to park and Frank explains to her that since I left the Charger out I expect her to park in the garage. I can’t help but smile. He knows so well how I think.
They walk into the house and I call them into the living room. Frank heads for the bar, and I’m not surprised. Julie can see right away that there’s something wrong, but she seems afraid to ask.
“Frank, get your drink and come over here and sit down. I want to talk to the two of you.”
Julie sits on the couch with her back to the front window. I love the girl’s innocence. Even with people trying to kill us she can turn her back to the world.
Frank walks over and takes the chair next to mine and hikes his leg up. They’re both looking at me expectantly. I don’t know if the news I’m giving them is good or bad. I don’t want to tell them that I think it could make things any worse, but I have to be honest.
“I know that I’ve told you both about Jules before. He’s the one who found me, raised me, and gave me the disease that seems to be my asset and enemy these days.”
They both nod, like they are both reluctant to make any judgment yet, wait to see where story time with V will lead them.
“Well, he used to live here. Here, in fact, in this house. He moved to Chicago years ago, but he left me this place, along with several other things here and there that have helped me navigate my life, and become what I have been for as long as you’ve known me.”
I take another drink of my Coke-colored rum, hating that I have to talk about this.
“I feel that I’ve reached a point where there isn’t anything left that I can do to put things back together for all of us. So rather than let it get any worse, as I’m sure I’m talented enough to do, I’ve called Jules and asked him to help. He’ll be coming in by plane tomorrow night, God help us all.” I say it quickly and down another drink.
“If that was supposed to be a pep talk, boss…” Frank trails off, but Julie picks up for him.
“Yeah, I don’t feel your pep there at all. What’s the downside to this? If he’s like your father, won’t he do anything he can to help you out?”
“The truth is, I’m not sure how he’ll take this, or what will happen. He may swoop in and save the day. He may just kill me for embarrassing him with the Council. I really don’t know.”
I stand and wobble a little, making my way to the bar for a refill. Frank and Julie both notice my condition and now the almost healed claw marks on my back.
Frank speaks up first. “V, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you like this.”
“Drunk?” I ask him with a little laugh.
“Well, yeah. Drunk… and hurt too.” I know he’s worried about me, but what he doesn’t see is that this is the bottom; it can only go up from here.
“My body purges alcohol so quickly it’s hard for me to get drunk, but I can do it if I’m determined. I don’t think I own enough booze to get sloppy though. I’m just trying to take the edge off.”
Julie finally decides to chime in. “What about your back, those… scratches?”
I turn around to see two seriously shaken children scared that their parent has completely lost their mind.
“Those were from the spirits I failed to rescue Lucy from.” I say it as level as I can. Maybe it’s time to stop drinking for the night. As an afterthought I add, “Oh, and lost Garrett too.”
Yeah, I’m cutting myself off right there. I make the decision a moment before I see the sun coming up.
“Julie, I need you to get the black steamer trunk with the leather straps from the basement, and make sure that the clothes in it are going to be ready to wear tomorrow night when I wake up.”
She nods but continues to stare at me for a moment, until I wave her off.
“Frank, I’d like you to take her back to the Jefferson House in the afternoon. We need to keep up appearances, so take the Charger, please.”
I notice again that I feel a little dizzy and light headed.
“I think I sh
ould lie down.”
I get as far as the hallway before I turn to Frank and give him more honesty than I probably should.
“On the bright side, this is all going to be over very soon, one way or the other.” I give a smile that he doesn’t return and then, “Be ready tomorrow night in case I need to call you.”
He nods to me and I head down the hall to my room, fall into bed and am promptly unconscious.
CHAPTER 19
“THAT’S IT, THAT’S EVERYTHING. That’s how I got in this mess that has spiraled completely out of control.” I look down at my floor, my face red, and tears flowing down it. It seems so much worse when I have to relive it.
Jules looks down at his drink as he pushes back deep into the dark brown oversized chair. He leans the glass to the side and shakes it slightly, clinking the ice cubes together. Pondering everything he now knows about the situation. I’ve told him everything, and what I didn’t say I know he saw firsthand from my memory. I’m on pins and needles.
He is still my hero and savior, at least until he tells me that I’m not worth the time or effort anymore. I hope that there is still something left in him that cares about me.
He stands and walks slowly back over to the window. He looks out for a few moments before turning and retrieving the knife from its case on the table.
Looking back over to me, he motions me to join him. My body reacts before I can even think about what he wants.
He looks into my eyes. I know that he can see much more than my soul with that gaze, and I squirm a little under its weight.
“I gave you this when you were sixteen, to protect yourself from the things that come after sixteen year old girls.” He raises his hand to my cheek and his thumb touches my lips. Instinctively, my body reacts and my fangs are bared.
“I gave you these to protect you from the things that any normal girl shouldn’t have to encounter. Nightmares and monsters.” He lets his hand drop from my face and I immediately miss it.
“What you’re facing now, whatever it is that has set out to destroy you; it is more than I’ve prepared you for. I gave you nothing to protect you from it. The fact that you have done as well as you have is a testament to the things I didn’t give you. Your choice in people to surround yourself with, your natural charm, your razor-sharp intellect and the speed at which it moves, these are why you are still alive.” His words melt into me, they spill over me like a wave. How could I have waited so painfully long to call on him for help? How could I have forgotten how good he is to me?
He walks across the room to the bar and pours himself another drink. His attitude has shifted. He’s protective and proud, and I can tell. I can’t help but blush a little as I look over at him lifting his glass to his lips.
“To be honest, I don’t see many things that I would have done differently; based on the information you had at the time. I do think this Molder should have come to your attention sooner if you were running your affairs as tightly as I taught you.”
He looks at me and I really must be a mess. Blood on my torn dress and makeup running tear streaked all over my face. It’s a scary thing to be in his gaze and know my imperfections.
“Why don’t you go get cleaned up and change clothes? Then we can discuss how to fix your problems.”
I can’t help but laugh through my tears. I walk over and hug him. Holding onto him is the safest I’ve felt in so long. I’m not in control but everything is going to be right again soon.
***
The soft hum of the Japanese engine purrs into the driveway of the Jefferson House, as Frank pulls the flat black car he’d been relegated to slowly into the garage. He turns the car off and slides out of the seat and walks out of the garage muttering to himself about drinking from guys who weigh less, and how rare it is to find a good guy named Buck.
He crosses the backyard slowly, looking off to the hedge line at the rear of the property. He saw some guys hanging around over by the corner on his way in, and with all that’s been going on lately, he’s a little on edge.
He talks to Julie in the kitchen briefly, small talk about if she should make food or not, and heads upstairs to see if he can get a better look from the upstairs windows out at the back of the property.
He stands silently, like a cat about to pounce, staring out of the only southern facing third floor window. Even at four in the morning on a moonless night he can still see more than he wants to.
From here he can easily observe the front of the old disused bottling plant, about a block away, and intently focus on two people who must think they are hidden from view looking at the house though a camera. They must have a good lens, he thinks as he turns away and pulls the curtains shut.
He could swear that one of those guys looks like that Carl guy Lewis had arrested for his late night shovel exploits. This could really be bad if he was right.
He makes a mental note to call V, when he has a better idea of who they are and what they’re doing, but first he has to make sure that Julie knows to lay low, and be careful.
When he gets back to the kitchen Julie isn’t there. He calls for her, but gets no reply. This is a bad sign.
He draws his pistol and creeps slowly down the hall, looking above, in, and around everything. The black cat nudges at his feet and he pushes it back toward the kitchen.
Coming into the front parlor he gets even more nervous, as he sees the new front door standing open just a crack.
He paces quickly over to it, looking side to side and checks the porch. Again he calls for Julie, this time more softly. Still nothing.
He thinks about how stupid he’s going to feel if she went up the front stairs to look for him when he came down the back. And he starts up the stairs. His crew had been in today and laid all new carpeting on the first floor and up the front staircase. It was a light tan textured plush, and was so thick he couldn’t even hear his footsteps as he crept up the stairs.
The basement door in the hallway opens slowly, making no sound. Frank still heading up the stairs can’t even see it. She creeps out the door and into the hallway, keeping close to the wall next to the stairs.
There’s a banging on the porch outside the front door, as a flower pot falls over in the breeze, but it’s enough to spook Frank and draw his attention to the door.
She steps out from the wall as he’s looking at the door and raises the gun. He never sees it coming.
Frank feels like a hammer hit him in the center of his chest. Then there’s the deafening crack of a .45 at close range. He’s knocked back into the wall as an electric wave of pain that rushes though him all the way to his fingertips and toes.
Julie drops the gun as she begins crying in jagged sobs and apologizing. “Frank, I’m so sorry. I would never hurt you. You have to believe me. I love you, Frank. I’m so sorry.”
Looking down at the hole in his chest, now poring blood like an open tap onto the new light carpeting, he manages to say, “This… this is why we can’t have nice things.”
He drops to one knee, and then falls backward down the stairs.
He can hear splashing sounds distantly, somewhere off in another part of the house; then they get closer. He struggles to open his eyes and then to regain focus.
She’s carrying blue plastic jugs of kerosene around, dumping them out and spattering the walls. The smell is overpowering. He tries to sit up and everything gets a little dimmer.
She takes no notice of him moving as she continues with her work, soaking the building with more than enough kerosene to jumpstart hell.
Julie comes closer, finally, to where he’s laying on the floor with another jug in her hand, and stands looking down at him, her face red and covered in tears. He tries to speak, but only gets out one word.
“Don’t.”
She cries convulsively as she dumps the jug over her head. He tries to reach her but she’s still almost ten feet away and he can’t even lift his hand now. He’s freezing cold and everything seems very dim and far away.
In between breaths she softly says, “I’m sorry, Frank, for all of this. I really am.”
Holding a box of matches up in her hand she manages to say, though her sobs, “Goodbye.”
She strikes a match and the house explodes in flames. Julie becomes a blinding column of light for the last moments Frank sees her. Then everything goes black.
***
Lewis is the first to arrive on the scene, with two cruisers, sirens blaring, behind him. He gets out of his car on the street and is surprised at how completely the house is engulfed. The heat from the blaze is already melting the power lines as he tells the uniformed officers to push back the crowd that’s starting to gather on the street.
From inside the house he hears screaming and then gunfire. It doesn’t seem possible to him that anyone could be alive in there. But it sounds like someone is having a firefight.
There’s more screaming from inside. It’s definitely a woman, and it’s obvious she’s in a great deal of pain.
He looks at the one of the uniformed officers and asks, “How long on the fire department?”
“Fire and rescue are on their way, sir. They say about ten minutes.” He answers Lewis and then runs to stop a group of kids with camera phones from getting close enough to get hurt.
Windows on the third floor start to blow out, and he decides he’s not going to wait ten minutes. Not when he might be able to save whoever that was screaming. He runs up the driveway and sees Frank’s car parked in the garage. Now it is just too much for him.
Across the backyard he sees the water hose. He gets to as fast as he can and soaks down his trench coat. He drapes it over his head and pulls it together in the front over his nose and mouth.
Ducking down as much as he can, he walks up and into the open backdoor.
This was definitely arson. He didn’t need to wait for a report to tell him that, everything is on fire.
The screaming was coming from upstairs but the back staircase had collapsed. He’d only been in this place once before but he was fairly certain if there was nothing blocking his way he could make it to the front stairs.