Chapter 8
-
Al made no attempt to hide his relief when FBI Special Agent Arlo Lassiter
stepped in to limit the amount of questions he was allowed to answer. Matthew broke free and ran to his mother, standing beside
the blonde reporter Carole Lindsey and one step ahead of Samuel Lovich. Al stared at them in mute horror; wondering how such
obviously flesh and blood people could simply step out of his nightmare and be real? Then as Loraine smiled and bent over
to reassure their son, who was shaking her hand and forearm in a vain attempt to draw her attention genuinely to what he was
saying, it suddenly struck he that he was as vulnerable to death and age and loss as the old man he’d unwittingly watched
expire! Samuel Lovich’s acquisition of power and money in his unholy merger with that woman’s grandfather had
placed him above the realm of casual prosecution and either she or her Twin had been killing with impunity, and unless he
intervened in some dramatic, if unfathomable fashion, his own son would be sucked into their vortex of horror and revulsion!
' But what? How? When?'
A
coldness stabbed into his heart, then embedded him in its icy grip of immobility as the pretty blonde tossed her hair in a
‘careless’ manner as signal to the unkempt man with greasy black hair behind one of the shoulder mounted cameras,
It had to be her friend ‘Derrick’ somebody, Where they still garnering film for their ‘documentary’
if such a preconceived expose` could be called by so unassuming a label? She ran up to him
breathlessly, hurt filling her eyes as he kept a cautious eye on where she held the hand held microphone. No doubt there was
a second one, hidden even as they hid ‘wires’ on undercover cops willing to take the chance for a major pull down
of a predator. At the same time he was watching over shoulder as Brady “Doc’ Morales sent out his team with badges
hung around their necks for east access.
“
Get me three . I don’t are which three. We need them for the evening newsto replace the footage we’re shutting
off now. “
Then he disappeared
in the direction of Arlo Lassiter and the Coast Guard ship’s captain who was being fawn upon like royalty, or a rising
band leader at the very least, replacing the aristocracy of money mere Al lost interest and didn’t
bother to follow them through the mixed crowd. When he looked down, Carole Lindsey was looking directly in his face. Luckily
her back was to the camera because want and need filled her eyes as she stared at his face, giving him the feeling he’d
once had seeing a monarch of the forest, a thirty point Buck who’d come and gone and left only the shocked disbelief
of his own senses behind for a seven year old boy. he wasn’t that stag, and he’d done nothing worthy of the awe
in her eyes, and as soon as she realized he wasn’t the vision she laid over the rough outer shape, she’d fall
away in disgust, with hurting words and cutting comments, just as Loraine had.
His lips tightened into a sudden grimace which she mistook as a smile.
“ How can an’na one mae age, who makes his living by his wits, be so dim?
“
“ I don’t
know, Al. “ Her voice hesitated as she recognized the flow of intimacy between
them, then he reached out and touched her arm to steady her as a late arrival to the scene blundered into them, laying out
coils of black cable while a harried man held up a light meter to make adjustments for the camera as yet swung into place
as the fully toothed defender of the Public’s Right to Know.
But when he looked back at her, there was a chasm between them she knew she could never survive, and she slipped her
reporter’s cloak of invincibility around her shoulders as they straightened, and she was careful to moderate and enunciate
all her words since the next few minutes would undoubtedly be included in tonight’s clip at the very least, and certainly
at the heart of their documentary on the Ashbury.
“
There was some shocking news while you were away, Allen Hoag. “
“ Aye? Was there now? “ Profanity
would be edited out, and this was her moment. he didn’t begrudge her that.
“ Harold Devlon was found dead last night of natural causes, but not before he made
public DNA tests that prove William Devlon isn’t his son, just as last week William Devlon proved the twins his
wife gave birth too aren’t of his blood! Both of them have disowned Loraine Lovich’s son whom her husband
claims isn’t even of his blood. So he’s suing for control of the Company as a birthright for the unborn
child of his recently married wife and long time lover, Miss Hanna` Oshi. What do you say to that, Lieutenant Hoag?
“
Al
smiled inwardly in the deepest happiness he’d felt in a long time. So the old bastard had done one kind and good
thing in his entire life! Cut the Lad free of the sickness of the next generations! Outwardly, he simply looked at the cameras
and deepened his smile.
“ I
think you said it all, if ye said a mouthful. Excuse mae. “
When Carole saw that Derrick was still filming as the burly fourteen year old ran to his father’s side, to be
picked up bodily as Al kissed him chastely on the cheek, she struck her companion’s arm painfully and spoiled the shot
by jerking the camera jerk when his arm flinched, but he steadied it back immediately with a cautious twist to the zoom lens
as the beautiful Devlon woman turned to her suave, discrete parent, but he simply broke his forearm free of her grasp, leaving
her terribly alone in the center of so many people as her one time lover took their son and walked away in one direction and
her husband turned his back on her, walking in the other direction. Then suddenly a mass of pink edged
by green leaped into view, almost giving him a black eye as his head struck forward in surprise and he had to pull the heavy
machine from his shoulder.
A florid and partially
dressed man in a soiled white toga that barely covered his kneecaps positioned himself again, benignly forgiving Derrick for
having ruined the first pose.
“ I am Caesar! I am the one you wish to speak too to resolve the complex Mysteries
of Galaxy and Divinity so recently enacted in the Haight! “
“
Will you go away, you lunatic? You’re ruining my shot! “
By the time he could find them, the main players were too far spaced to be contained even in a parting shot, and he
cursed the trembling man until he reached down with short, pudgy fingers to wrap himself against the cold of the air on the
docks and the vile contempt of the angered photographer.
“
Who was that? What was he saying to you? “ Carole asked,
suddenly tired beyond her years.
Putting his precious
lens into their boxes, in their worn places within the heavy bag he carried on one slumping shoulder, Derrick Addams answered
in a disgruntled monotone, without even looking up.
“
Who knows? Who cares? Where next? “
“ Burlingame. We can’t beat the traffic, but we can beat HIM there! “
“ Him, who? “ He demanded in annoyance.
If it wasn’t anyone of importance, he was going back to his studio and developing what he’d already shot!
“ Allen
MacKendrie Hoag. “
He
snorted so deep in his throat in disgust that he almost had difficultly catching his next breath.
“ You don’t give up, do you? That black lawyer who got kidnapped
by that dying Chinaman! The angle about the kid that nobody wants anymore, the Coast Guard guy who saw it all happen! I talked
with one of the crew members; he’ll sell me his reel if I find anything on it I like. Dammit, Carole get your head out
of your... “
The
tears in her eyes made him stop, ashamed of himself. Then after an awkward moment while they both looked away, checking out
different angle of the sky and the clouds and the birds displaced by so many people and cars suddenly converging on this usually
empty space, her voice became alive, active again and her slender fingers gripped his arm in excitement.
“ What does he think he has on it? “
“ Let’s get it and see! “ Derrick replied
happily, hugging her in relief. He didn’t know how to deal with her when she went and acted like a woman on him, but
a reporter on the scent of a hot lead, this he understood! And all was immediately forgiven, at least, on his part.
*
Al Hoag
found it difficult to speak, even after he stood alone with Georgiana Rowan at the side of the little red car. She touched
his arm, startling him violently.
“
Do you think she’ll let Matthew come with you tonight? “
“ I think so. She’s never lied tae mae; a’ least no that I’ve found out.
I’m sorry, what were ye trying tae say, Sweetheart? “
“ I was
asking about the meeting? With John Martins? That’s also on for tonight. Are you alright, Al? “
She asked finally, in a sense of desperation. He seemed to be miles away from where he was standing, though he was
close enough to feel the return of his body warmth.
“ I will be. “ He promised, reaching out slowly
for her hand. “ He called me ‘MacKendrie Hoag’. That terrible mun. There’s on’na
one o’ther per’son who does that, Lass. “
“ Can we see John Martins and Zee first? Any delay will only make you look as guilty
as hell, Al. “ She warned, with a sadness in her voice that touched him,
even across the gulf between himself and the living, and she began to tremble violently as he gathered her in his arms.
“ I can make no promises, when I can no be sure I’ll keep them. But I love ye, Georgie.
Wid what’ ever is left tae mae, o’ what we build tae’ gather when the storm clouds disperse, und I will
love ye wid a clean heart, Woman. “
“
I can wait for that, Al. “
She promised. “ For that, I can wait. “
*
The
restaurant wasn’t one that Al would have picked for such a meeting, although Ghirardelli Square was an attractive
and commercially feasible spot for the rest of the man’s planned activities. He was to be served up as an hors’deouvres
at best. A tasty little lump to be swallowed in a single gulp and then on with the more important business of the night.
“ Over the teeth und through the gums, look out tummy, ‘cause here Al comes!
“
“ I beg
your pardon? “ Georgiana queried, as he handed the keys to the parking attendant.
She hated to admit how lost she’d been in her own world since they’d stopped talking in the car. He just smiled
in response and took her arm.
Without
realizing it she straightened and walked a little prouder, her face and figure reflecting the natural pride she look in herself.
The cobalt blue dress was a gift from sent from Hanna Oshi, and it fit as though it had been made cut and sewn specially for
her measurements, with beading identical to a hundred year old Ojibwa blanket she had admired in the quiet woman’s presence.
It made her feel as royal and as regal as a queen. Even Zee hurt himself a little as he stood too soon before he was completely
out from under the rounded table where they’d been seated with their cocktails. But for once she felt no rise of concern
for him. In turning their back on their son, he had closed that chapter of their life together, however uncertain she was
about what the next few days would bring.
Al, on the other hands, was still too preoccupied with his telephoned conversation with Doug McDowell to seek out or
even notice his ex-partner’s belated attempts to seek out his wife’s attentions to himself. He had called Cho
Lin to try and make a formal appointment to speak with him but the quiet spoken Master Poet remained ‘regretfully unavailable’.
Doug’s voice had glowed from the inside out. As if he refused to allow any further doom and gloom to rain on
his parade!
“ I’m
going to get married, Al! Imagine that! An old bachelor like me! “
“ Does she watch a lot o’ Medical shows on TV? Wid QUINCY wid
Jack Clugman a’ her favorite? “
“ Yeah! How did you know? “
“ A lucky guess. “
“ She’s got a brain, Al! “ McDowell had said happily at last
ending the long and uncertain silence over the phone. “ A body and a brain. When I was looking
at all, I always looked for one or the other, but this time, Love found me. “
There was such awe in his voice that Al found a measure of envy, even though at the moment he had to recognize he couldn’t
give what he didn’t have.
“
I’m happy fer ye, Dougie. “
“ I’d like you to be Best Man. Then we’re moving to Hong Kong.
“
“ Are ye
sure? “
“
Sure I’m sure. Who else would I ask? “
“ Are you sure about leaving America? “
“ I can’t speak for you, Bud. But I’ve seen enough dead bodies to last twelve
lifetimes. Suzie and I are opening a clinic where we’ve guaranteed her Uncle that one-forth of the patients are going
to the poor, and we won’t charge anything but the most nominal, and then only it they’re too proud to accept the
free care! I feel reborn! “
“
I envy ye. “
They were both a little shocked, and paused.
“
I’d envy me if I wasn’t me too, Al. “
“ The hell ye say. “ The Scots man agreed
reverently as he hung up.
He noticed the
questioning look in his companion’s eyes, her full face as near to him as life itself. As dear to him as Mary MacKendrie’s’
and he began to dismantle the wall of pain that kept them separate from grief and the inevitable diminishment of her place
in his life. He needed to make room for another love, one as true as the bond she shared with Egan MacKendrie, and he knew
in his heart that it was what she would have asked him to do if she were still alive. Better to learn from your mistakes while
there’s time, then to die alone in pain and loneliness, the way he’d been doing on the inside for the last eighteen
years!
At the risk of smudging her lipstick,
he leaned forward and pressed his lips lightly against hers. her lips parted and the tips of their tongues touched and flicked
apart, a light sparkling in her eyes that made her the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen in the world.
For that instant in fact, she was the only woman in the world!
Police Commissioner John Martin’s handshake was too firm, a practiced grip, his wife Ursula’s smile too
speculative and his former partner’s looks at his ex-wife’s face were an almost comical mixture of want and the
‘lost puppy’ look learned so long ago when they had all more hair and less experience in life! And he laughed,
drawing in several frowns.
It only deepened
his smile and his contempt as he realized now of the four people seated there staring at him and the First Nation’s
woman at his side could do anything to harm them any longer.
“ I’m no a police’ mun an’na longer. “ He
reminded them and the volley of propositions and terms began. When he left, Ursula deliberately stepped on his foot as he
helped her on with the white Mink stole she had craved so long.
“ Why did you waste our time if you knew you were going to say ‘no’,
Al? “
Ursula Martins
hissed.
“ Because
ye look so beautiful when yer angry? “ He teased, feeling and smelling
the musky scents of her humanity, awakening a need in him that he’d almost forgotten over the last two weeks.
“ You killed him! I’ll prove it yet! “
“ Ye can’ nae prove something that is ’nae true? “
He tried to coax her, but her eyes only hardened until they glittered with the false fire of diamonds.
“ Everyone in prison claims they were framed! They were innocent! You’ll
fit right in! “
He
couldn’t move as she broke of his grim on her wrist, and he sensed rather than saw the quiet man who got up and followed
after her as smoothly as a shadow. Nor did he think to call to her and warn her. There were too many things which were still
yet unanswered. How could he know if the man following her wasn’t there to protect her as much as to do her harm?
Suddenly his own vulnerability and the physical demands of the evening crushed against him with the weight of his own
morality.
“ Do you
want to dance, Al? “
“
Do ye mind if we go home instead, Georgie? “
“ No, not all. But where’s home, Al? “
“ I wish I had a gud answer tae that. “ He said
at last, allowing her to coax him into going home with her and sleeping in Lonnie’s room. It stunk of sweat and stale
gym socks but he couldn’t sleep anyhow, and he lay for the longest time staring at the ceiling and trying to sort out
the tangles knots and skeins in his own life.
They were nearly across the toll bridge into Oakland when he remembered. His face paled and her glanced over at Georgiana’s
hands. They were clinched on the steering wheel as she stared straight ahead into the thick layers of fog and salt coating
the side of the night empty passage.
“
Can I bring the boy tae yer house? “
Tears leaped into her eyes and she pilled over on the side of the narrow metal bridge. A car wheeled past them angrily
honking its horn then the silence of the salt flats overwhelmed them.
“ I was afraid when you remembered, you wouldn’t want too, Al. “
“ Lonnie und Matthew hae grown up together, like brothers. It’s no the same when they’ve
going tae be locked up in the same house, each possessive o’ one o’ the parents, but we’ll work it out,
Georgie. I give ye mae word, if it in an’na way depends on mae, I’ll put ye und the boys first! “
The moonlight which diffused the fog so evenly managed to sparkle in her teardrops as she leaned forward to accept
his kiss.
“ Don’t
even bother to take me home and drop me off, Al. I’d just be worried sick about you! But would you mind driving? “
Se asked with a nervous laugh as the weight of the fog angled the sound of a fog horn so that it approached them companionably
from the side of their car. “ Any one dumb enough to stop on a bridge in the middle of a fog bank
shouldn’t be behind the wheel! “
Al laughed as he made his way to the center of the car seat, allowing Georgie to vacate the warmed body cavity formed
under the steering wheel without having to risk leaving a car door open in the thickening mists. Then the years and the tiredness
fell from his shoulders as he gunned the purring engine slightly, simply by the pressure of excitement added to the soles
of his feet.
“
We’ve come this far, let’s take a shortcut. “
Georgia just nodded, wrapping the thickened coat around her midsection rather than zippering it shut to close in the
body heat. She was overwhelmed by how much she’d given up in the last 48-hours, her marriage, her son’s future
into the hands of clinical strangers, and now the power over her own life into the hands of another macho, ‘let’s
go gett’m boy!’ man! Was it even the right thing to do? Was there any way to get her life back if she even wanted
too? She closed her eyes and laid her head on the back of the front seat and pretended to doze. She feared if she spoke at
all, it would all come pouring out!
Despite
the last hour, the courtyards and the fist six tiers of Master Cho Lin’s estate were fully lit and functioning, with
people scurrying about as if their lives depeneded on it! The portly master Poet leapt to his feet at the burly Scot’s
explosive entrance, his jaw hung slack for the several seconds it took for the burly Scot to reach the balding man and the
shockingly beautiful Chinese girl thrown to Cho Lin’s feet. Sue’ne began to sob all the more fiercely as her uncle
raised himself to his fullest height from the edge of his chair where he had been rebuking her violently in their own language.
The man struggling between the two armed guards could tell the gist of what was being said, but what was left to her pride
was held intact because he couldn’t know how foul and descriptive words were that he used!
“ An honorable man would not have forced his way in here when I made it clear you weren’t
welcomed, MacKendrie Hoag! “
The
portly man shouted even as the other closed the distance between them with giant steps. He was near enough to hear the softest
whisper.
“ An
honorable man wud nay hae had tae close the doors in the fur’st place! Who is the Beast here? That dead mun und all
his fairy tales, o’ ye? Release him! “
The two armed servants holding Douglas McDowell did so instinctively and his weight carried him forward another two
staggering steps. What happened next was so quick, no one was entirely sure what happened. Cho Lin withdrew the tiny silver
dagger he kept with him at all time in self defense and had seized the unresisting girl’s hair, holding her upright
by the clot of long, black stands clinched between his fingers. Al had time to notice they were a violist’s fingers,
long and supple and quick, and this his own flesh bled with pain and heat as he intercepted the twin thrusts meant to cut
into the facial tissue and maim the girl’s looks for life!
Cho Lin pulled back. He sat back abruptly in the chair he had abandoned, and with such force Al Hoag knew he must have
shoved the man backwards into it, but he had no memory of the action, only its inevitable response.
“ They weren’t fairytales, MacKendrie Hoag! Most of my family died while he fanned himself
and played MAJONG with his whores! He’s dead and I’m supposed to just stand here while my own sister’s daughter
challenges me? Spits in my face and says she’s going to taken them to a place of safety as if they were human? As if
our own flesh and blood hadn’t died in agony? I will not tolerate it! “
Al winced as a chilled hand seized his ankle. He offered his hand but it seemed important to the tear stained figure
standing upright that she do it without another’s help. She looked so fragile, so birdlike and tender!
“ Were I following Buddha, as you have always instructed me, to keep me free of foreign
influence, or were I following the Christ as Brother John has told me about in our meetings together, Uncle.
“ Sue’ne said with the utmost respect, her eyes downcast but alive with revolution.
“ I would still have to follow my heart, and the man you have given me permission to marry. “
“ I take back my permission! “ He snapped angrily,
in a vain attempt to reclaim his dignity, but the words clearly had no force of conviction behind them, he didn’t even
expect her to believe them, he simply felt better for saying them.
“ These are but young girls. Innocent as untrammeled snow, as unwanted as you have made me
feel in your house tonight, after all of the years of love you freely showed me... “
“ Sue’ne!
“ He pleaded.
But she shocked everyone by holding up her hand to silence him. Had the most deafening explosion suddenly stood still
in time and place, there could have been no greater awe or fear seize the closed in room as Cho Lin responded to the simple
maiden’s instinctive gesture!
The sound of footsteps
and heavy breathing thrust itself on the unnatural silence and Al found that his head could move, though the rest of him was
immobile with shock. Doug McDowell had walked to the tear stained woman’s face, making her reed thin body all the more
slight and vulnerable in comparison.
“
I ask your permission now to leave, Uncle? “ She asked humbly as the portly
man on the ornately carved chair gave a convulsive shiver.
“
You have my permission and my blessing. Wire me as soon as you know where you’ll be living as a married couple.
“
Doug was about to gush his thanks
when his fiancé’s slender fingertips touched his in warning, and bowing, they backed out, keeping their faces
turned toward the questioning man seated on the raised dais.
Al’s
heart leaped into his throat as the portly master poet seemed to notice he was still standing there.
“ You have made a terrible enemy here tonight, MacKendrie Hoag! Come here no more unless you
wish death! “
An impulse buried too deeply in him made him snap sharply into salute, whereupon he wheeled and walked out of the room
with a dignity evening the grieving man behind him had to admire.
“ Find the body of Tara Tige! I will not let him rest in some quiet grave after all that he
has cost me! “
Cho
Lin’s voice was so harsh with emotion it was difficult to understand, but the servants used the harsh tones as an excuse
to disperse. To try and gather their wits and exchange whispers to see if anyone could piece together a meaningful narrative
of the terrible ordeal they’d all just shared?
*
Because the hour was so close to two o’clock in the morning, Loraine had half hoped the burly Scot had changed
his mind. She could tell her son was trying to hide his own fears about that, no matter how loud he shouted at her and Orin
before he can out to the shadowed hallway to his room. Her father’s presence was everywhere, his scent embedded in the
very wall paper and the leather furnishings. Taking over this abandoned seaside estate was only one of six her lawyers had
insisted she execute before daylight, but it was almost as satisfying and starting the shredding process of his personal files
which she’d overseen this afternoon at DevCorp. As soon as the major employees realized they would be ‘downsized’
and out on the street in three weeks unless they immediately switched allegiance to her and Orin, who were intent on keeping
the socio-political and corporate entity intact while he sold it off in chunks to the highest bidder to leave him the
free to play on his private Pacific Rim Island with his new son and his oversized toys! Copies of files he never dreamed were
available at the touch of a computer screen or the delicate purr of a microfiche motor came to light in a sickening
display of corporate one-upmanship. And she filed away the names of the guilty employees who’d been the quickest and
most eager to divulge her father’s secrets; for they would do the same to her in a heartbeat!
Her anger against the Scot had ben helpless, as she felt now, watching him carry the sleeping youth over his shoulder.
Two servants followed with several suitcases, the rest would wait until he had a permanent address. None of her threats had
any validity, and he’d called her on them, one by one. All that she had left was her son’s natural affection for
her and the depth of the love she was still convinced the scarred warrior carried for her in his heart.
“ Allen? help me! “ She had pleaded, but he’d
already gone and the slam of the massive door must have overcome the softness, even in her own mind!
She was dead certain of his love for her, no matter how angrily he mocked her tonight when he wrongly thought she’d
changed her mind about allowing the boy to grow up in his house rather than her own, since Sam was gone too. She had to be!
It was all that she had left that would bleed blood and not ink if she cut it! She heard her Twin’s
stealthy approach and smelled his body odor and expensive cologne even before the blur of white in the window told her he
was slowly walking up behind her.
Then the
slurred opening of a side door as Sam Lovich came to stand beside her, watching the man place the sleeping boy in the back
seat of the car. Their breath rose as he and the woman talked, and then all but one of the sleepy-eyed servants retreated
back to the warmth of the massive house thought a side door into the kitchen. She could feel his disapproval,
but since he’d made it clear the only thing they would share in the future was a business relationship, she crossed
her arms and tried to project a more solid conviction than she was truly feeling on the inside.
“ Where’s Poppo, Sissy? “ Orin
asked her in a little boy’s voice, fighting off the man’s silence from beside her
Samuel Lovich straightened slow,
eying the skimpily clad figure in disgust. From
the wreath of green, strong scented leaves on his head, to the lengthy black Nurses cape
on his shoulders, to the gold leaf sandals wedged against the puffy flesh of his feet.
“ He died this morning, Orin! “ Loraine
said coldly. Then she glanced at her expensive diamond and sterling silver wrist watch, thinking to herself that he had died
yesterday morning if she were to give her twin an exact answer. “ Now, if you’ll excuse us,
we have work to do! “
“
Died? As in dead? “ He questioned, unable to fathom the icy
venom in her voice.
“
Dead, as in doornail! Dead as in, we’re finally shed of the old bastard and I have work to do, if you don’t
mind! “
“
But where is he, if he’s dead, Sissy? Where do people go when they die? “
Loraine leaned her forward against
the chill glass as even the red taillights blinked out of view in the heavy sea fog. She knew the other two men were there,
she simply didn’t care. She couldn’t have felt more alone if no one else had been standing in the room.
When the trim, gray haired mobster made no attempt to claim her away from him, Orin Devlon risked her wrath by sidling
up to the tear stained figure standing at the window so forlornly.
“ But we were always going to do this, together! Like we planned! The coffee plantation in
the Amazon! Puerto Angeles, and the Gay Rights Hub! Rio! “Carnival in Columbia”, Sissy! “
He pleaded, trying to force her to stop being so cold and distant to him. But she only pulled away. moving away from
both of them as she approached the back of the massive desk which had been her fathers while he was still in residence in
hits California mansion.
She
pulled further and further away from him emotionally for every step he took toward the strangely emptied and barren desk.
His hands drooped to his sides and he looked in askance at the expensively dressed man remaining at the darkly colored window,
but saw only a stranger wearing a familiar face. A face he’d kissed and stroked in defiance of convention but most especially
the twisted old man who didn’t want him to have anyone to love him! But a face that looked straight through him now
as if he were the one who was dead, and not their grandfather! It was terribly disconcerting to a mind trapped between
reality and strong willed fantasy.
“
Either you deal with him Loraine, or I will! “
Sam Lovich said quietly, but the threat hung palatably on the air between them, then he turned on his heel and walked
out of the lushly decorated office, leaving it as still and as breathless as in an empty vacuum of space,
or a new grave.
Loraine turned in the
high leather chair which had seemed the epitome of power just the moment before, and she looked out the window at the deepening
skyline of century old Oak, Cypress and Eucalyptus, wondering if the tinted glass was vacuum sealed it seemed so remote and
cold, and dark and still?
“
You stink, Orin! You’d better grap a toothbrush and start scrubbing on those kneecaps, because I don’t
think the dirt is going to come off any other way! It may be ingrown! You’re disgusting! “
As his heart beat inside him with
a new excitement, Orin’s wish for invisibility was granted, and after speaking to him in such an unkind manner, his
sister simply stood yup and walked past him, as if he weren’t even there! His only regret was that there was but a single
blue pill left...and there were two of them! No, he decided with a new cunning. It had to be someone at the center of the
wheel, someone whose death would involve all of them in the shame and indignity they just heaped on him!
Orin’s mind seized upon the cunning that keeps the starving predator on the trail of a wounded prey long after
all conscious reason for the chase has fled. He wasn’t even sure of his reasoning powers, but the only person who knew
all of them, including that damn Scot was Amanda MacKendrie! He’d kill Amada MacKendrie, take her body to one of the
warehouses used by the Mother Lode Coffee Company then wait for the police to find her there, without being involved in any
manner by tipping them off too soon. Then they’d all be blamed and then Sissy would be taken to prison and he would
be free to rule this empire by himself, as it was meant to be!
Caesar was a man! Hail the mighty conqueror! Just one more...and he was done!
*
Unable to formulate a new plan of action while his mind was so dazed by the shocking news of his grandfather’s
death and his sister’s wicked cruelty toward him now that she’d won what he coveted, had to wait two days until
he found his intended victim at an intersection, poised on her bike. He finally thrust himself in Amanda’s way, weary
of waiting to catch her alone on a side street.
“ I am about to unveil to you, my Magnificence! “
He said dramatically, throwing off the long black Nurse’s cape he’d purchased yesterday at the Medical
Supply Store, without being able to try it on for size.
A
few tourists snapped pictures, but the theatrical little man didn’t seem to notice as he pose, one knee coyly bent in
front of the other to reveal his charming little derrière. Amanda glanced sideways down Ashbury, hoping that she wouldn’t
see anybody she knew! This was so embarrassing!
She
looked him up and down, from the soles of the gold women’s sandals on his pudgy feet and the painted toenails like drops
of scarlet blood across the top of his foot, to the dimples in his knees from the two mounds of fat colliding, exaggerated
by the purple embroidery at the end of his Roman style, sleeveless toga! The last time she’d seen anyone wear anything
remotely similar was at a Frat party on campus!
“ You’re Loraine’s twin, aren’t you? “
She spoke in a low voice, hoping that he’d go away quicker if she responded to him and then hastened away so
he wouldn’t be offended at being ignored. But the overweight man pursed his lips in annoyance and struck another theatrical
pose, increasing her discomfort diametrically.
“
Do I have breasts? Do I have a high pitched, nasal whine? Do I make other people endure my PMS once
a month? Do I? Huh? “
He demanded in unassailable logic.
“ Yes, to all of the above! “ A young
man answered as he hurried past them.
Orin
must have thought she said it, for he began to trembled and he slapped her so hard, that mockery and disdainful derision at
his appearance gave way to fear.
“
I hate you! You silly bitch! “ He demanded, near to tears, as he
looked around for the cape he’d thrown off his shoulders with such élan
She just stood there, seeing the truth of his intent and nature as he struggled between saneness and insanity,
“ Peace! Love! Flower Power! Power to the people! “
Nothing he shouted at her could force her to respond to him, even though his voice grew higher pitched with each failed
attempt.
“ You need
some new slogans, mister! “ Mocked a voice from a man sprawled in the doorway
behind them, but Orin couldn’t look away from the pale figure facing him. When he bent over to retrieve the discarded
cloak from the littered sidewalk which he had thrown off with such style and élan, it merely earned him a satirical
‘wolf whistle’ from the drunk seated against the doorway behind them. Shattering the last of his confidence in
him self and his ability to strike fear in the hearts of lesser mortals.
Wading it up in a bundle, he pressed it close to his heaving chest, wishing her dead with all of his malice and spite.
But at that moment, the long limbed man in white trousers began to run toward them with clear intent, and so he fled in the
opposite direction as quickly as his pudgy legs would carry him. The circlet of fresh Laurel leaves flew off as he caught
the edge of the brick building to impel himself into the alley, but he didn’t take the time to retrieve it.
Even after Trace ran up and seized her in his arms, giving her a little shake, Amanda was just standing there, staring.
Then she began to shake so violently that even he moved as he held her near. The look of venomous hatred had brought her so
near the Face of death that she couldn’t even speak!
“ Hey! Come on! Lighten up. It was just some old guy ‘flashing’ you, it happens
to the best of us. “
It took a few seconds of his touch and words to ease the terrible insights into the cause of the explosion last week!
“ I’ve
got to talk with my Uncle Al! “
She
couldn’t stop her teeth from chattering, but even as the tall young man rubbed his hands on her back briskly and surrounded
her with his love, she was already working through the numbing fear of vulnerability.
“ We can call him from my place. My roommate just moved in with his newest girlfriend, we
should have at least three days of peace before she realizes what a slob he is and kicks him back out again? “
Amanda laid her cheek against his chest and laughed, against her will.
Trace grew quiet, breathing in the fragrance of her freshly washed hair and the musky scent of her body as she began
to relax under his gentling touch.
“
Then you can help me study for my exams on Protozoa and ectoplasm. They’re very family orientated too. “
He added in a soft tone, kissing the hair that clung in wisps at the edge of her hairline.
“ You just made that up, Trace! Kammaya’maya Omol’lau Tracer!
“
“ Then
you deserve pizza and a beer just for getting my name right! And so much more, Mandy? “
He questioned, seeing the look of wonder and doubt in her eyes.
“ First the books, then the looks! “ She
teased, but she lifted her face the rest of the way to give him full access to her waiting lips.
“ First the books, then the looks! “ Mocked
the ex-Dead Head as he cradled the inexpensive bottle of Thunderbird wine to his cheek, in subconscious mimicry of
the tender couple before they drifted away on Ashbury Street.
Too late Orin Devlon remembered he hadn’t delivered the message of death yet, and rather than risk enduring additional
shame, it become the single driving focus of his being.
-
-
End Chapter 8
