CHAPTER 16. YOU CAN’T ALWAYS GET WHAT YOU WANT
Gil was sitting in his easy chair, feet propped up on the footrest, a pizza box open across his lap. On the muted big screen TV, Vincent Price was speaking silently to group of frightened people.
It was six thirty in the morning and we’d gotten back to Gil’s penthouse only about twenty minutes ago. Outside, the sun was just creeping over the horizon.
“Where did you get a pizza at six AM?”
He took a bite and smiled with his mouth full. “A pizza place is always open somewhere. Want a slice? It’s Hawaiian, everybody’s favorite.”
I grabbed a piece and sat down on the couch. On screen, a fair-haired woman was screaming, hands pressed to her horrified face like Macaulay Culkin in Home Alone. I pulled my boots off and rested my feet on the coffee table. I was very tired.
We had waited at Callowleigh’s main entrance with Dawkins until the police arrived. Soon after the cops had hauled him away–on a charge of trespassing and vandalism, by the way–a team of men arrived from the payroll of Ms. Eleanor Robbes-Grillet. Armed with banker’s boxes and heavy wooden crates, we worked with her team to pack up as many dangerous grimoires as we could find. It turned out to be quite a few. Sufficiently comfortable with the fact that, at the very least, we’d gotten the worst of the worst into the safe hands of the guardians (also known as the city’s librarians), we headed back to Gil’s penthouse in search of food and sleep.
And here we sat. I didn’t care that the movie was on mute. I didn’t care about anything at the moment. Onscreen, Vincent Price continued terrorizing his guests in what I recognized as The House on Haunted Hill. My eyes were pointed in the general direction of the TV, but I wasn’t watching.
Thoughts were tumbling through my head, but I was so tired that nothing seemed to make sense. Should I be feeling fear over the disappearance of Y Ddraig Goch? Sadness over Fehr’s long and lonely life? Peace that he’d finally left this world? Who knew. I turned to Gil, hoping his veteran’s wisdom could clear up the confusion I was feeling.
Instead, I found myself asking, “Why are you afraid of ghosts?”
The question had been bothering me since the moment we’d crossed Callowleigh’s threshold. Gil, a man I would generally describe as walking the Earth without fear, had been reduced to frozen terror on more than one occasion that evening. It didn’t make sense and the question had been gnawing at me all night. Sea monsters, demons, satanic rituals, and snakes. None of it bothered him.
But ghosts did.
He looked up at the screen vacantly. After a moment he sighed. “You know that you were hired as a replacement for a man named Parker, right?”
I nodded.
He took a slow bite of pizza, his jaw working over the doughy crust in silence. “And you know that he was killed on the job, right?”
Again, I nodded.
Gil dropped his remaining crust into the shell of the box and grabbed a fresh piece. He spoke, but he still stared straight ahead at the muted television.
“Before Parker was a man named Grayson. He was killed on the job, as well. Even Grayson wasn’t the first. Did you know that?”
I shook my head.
He nodded soberly. “I’ve been doing this for a long time. A long, long time. Fighting monsters, trying to make a difference. I’ve seen a lot of people die, both good and bad. I’ve buried too many friends and family. Far too many, really.” He looked at me, his eyes glassy. “Any man who has done what I’ve done and lived the life I’ve lived would be crazy not to fear ghosts. Ghosts are spirits of the dead that remain after death because of ‘unfinished business,’ right?” He shrugged. “Everybody knows that. But it’s never good stuff. It’s always because of horrible, sad stories. Like Fehr’s story. That’s... that’s normal, I’m sorry to say. And everyday I dread seeing the ghost of someone I love. It would break my heart if... if someone I loved was cursed with such a fate.”
Someone like your wife, I thought. The idea made even my heart ache.
“I hope you never fear ghosts,” he said. “It is a terrible thing. Really.” He took a bite of pizza, his jaw moving slowly.
I opened my mouth to speak, hoping to offer some condolence, some comfort. Hell, even some genuine thanks for his honesty and care.
I opened my mouth to speak, and as I did, the door behind me opened. I heard footsteps and turned.
A thin, pale, and freckled young man was stumbling through the doorway, lipstick on his cheek and neck. It was Finch, the third and final Zero.
“Where the hell have you been, young man?” Gil said, turning. “I’ve been worried sick!”
“Shhhh,” Finch said, raising a finger to his lips.
Gil smiled. “Wine?”
Finch shook his head. “Gin.” He smiled, a display of emotion uncharacteristic of our stoic partner. “And I met a woman,” he said gesturing at his disheveled appearance. “As you can see.”
Gil smiled again. “Any date that gets you home at six AM can’t have been that bad.”
“Truth.” Finch nodded. “You can tell me about your slow evening at the library later, I need sleep.” He bowed dramatically. “Gentlemen, I bid you a good evening.” He walked down the hallway and closed his door softly behind him.
Gil turned to me. “It’s good to be home again, isn’t it?”
“Yes, it is.” I missed my own bed, but there was something about being with Finch and Gil. I’d only known the men for a short while, but it felt right. It felt like... family.
“I have to go to sleep,” I said. “I’m exhausted.” I stood and began walking towards one of the multitude of guest rooms.
“Oh, one last thing,” Gil said. “While I was waiting for my pizza, I pulled a couple of favors and figured out who hired Jane Julius to steal the Ddraig Goch. Turns out I still got a little pull left in this town.”
I groaned, and cracked my neck. “Oh yeah? Who was it?”
“Some guy named Roach,” Gil said, shrugging. “I never heard of ‘im. How bout you?”
He glanced over his shoulder at me. “No,” I said. “Doesn’t ring a bell.”
It was the first time I’d lied to Gil.
I walked to bed, feeling that old dread forming in the pit of my stomach once again. Nothing’s easy, I thought. I had so hoped Y Ddraig Goch was gone. Wrong again. It was only a matter of time before the damn thing resurfaced. Well, shit. And I had really been looking forward to a good night’s sleep.
Unfortunately, you can’t always get what you want.
THE END