Black Forest, Denver Cereal Volume 5 (36 page)

“
Why?” Ava
asked.

“
She wanted to see where
you were,” Seth stroked Ava’s shoulder. “They do care for
you.”

Ava sighed.

“
Your sister wants you to
call her,” Seth said.

“
Control me,” Ava croaked.
“That’s what she wants.”

Seth put his finger over her lips.

“
Save your voice,” he
said.

She nodded.

“
Lizzie wants to have
breakfast at Watercourse,” Seth said. “Are you up for that? You can
see the apartment after breakfast.”

Ava nodded.

“
I have to meet with
Homeland at noon,” Seth said. “It will probably take all afternoon
and maybe more. We’re meeting to finish a map to find Saint Jude.
Would you like to come?”

Ava shook her head.

“
What would you like?”
Seth asked.

Ava threw herself at him. He held her at
bay.

“
We can stop at any time,
any time,” Seth said. “Give the signal and we stop.”

“
Signal?”

He tapped the bed.

“
It is wrestling after
all,” he said. “Try it.”

She tapped the bed. As it if it was their
first time, they began carefully, slowly, respectfully and ended in
a fervent explosion of joy.

~~~~~~~~
Sunday mid-day — 11:05 A.M

Valerie sat on the main living room couch
waiting for Delphie. Delphie, Charlie, Mike, and Jacob were leaving
for the Federal Building the moment Mike and Charlie returned from
Mass.

Valerie was going with them. Her mind was
made up. She steeled herself for their complaints and arguments.
Those psychics were used to pushing her aside all of her life with
their ‘you don’t have any powers’ talk. If she’d learned anything
from Katy, it was that she, Valerie, was more powerful than anyone
thought. Her hand went to the growing baby girl in her belly.
Together, she and the baby were going to find this Saint Jude.

“
Are you ready to go?”
Delphie asked as she came in from the garden.

Surprised, Valerie turned to look at
Delphie.

“
I need to shower.”
Delphie jogged up the stairs to the apartment she and Sam were
sharing.

Certain Delphie’s attitude was a trick,
Valerie crossed her arms.

“
What’s with you?” Jacob
asked as he came into the living room from the kitchen.

“
I’m going with you,”
Valerie said.

Jacob opened his mouth to speak.

“
Before you say anything,”
Valerie stood up to make her point. “You need me. I mean think
about it. Noelle, Nash and Katy made that light. Who has the
combination of Noelle and Nash
and
Katy’s capacities? You? I don’t think
so.”

Jacob opened his mouth to speak again.

“
I do, that’s who,”
Valerie said. “If Delphie and I work together, I bet we can find
where the turd is holding up. But you need me. You can’t do it
yourself. Can you?”

On cue, Jacob opened his mouth.

“
No, that’s right,”
Valerie said. “You can’t. If you could, you already would have. And
Katy can’t do it by herself. Noelle, Nash and Katy just made a
light. That will be important when we go to get the asshole but you
have to find him first. That’s where I come in. You need
me.”

Mike came in through the door from the
driveway.

“
Charlie’s in the car,”
Mike said.

“
And don’t
you
tell me I shouldn’t
go,” Valerie said. “If anyone should go, it should be me. And I’m
not working right now. I won’t overtax myself or hurt the baby. The
baby and I want to do this because who knows? This guy could have
been looking for us all along. I have the DNA. The baby has the
DNA. The guy takes people with our DNA and tests them against that
horrible creature that only Jake can fight. And I’ll give you that.
Only Jake can fight that thing. Well, and the dragon, but you’re
not a dragon and I’m not a dragon and…”

Valerie took a deep breath and Jacob opened
his mouth to speak.

“
Don’t you argue with me,
Jacob Marlowe. You know I’m right,” Valerie said. “Plus Mom always,
always, always said, ‘Valerie you’re…’”

“
The brightest light in
this world,” Jacob and Valerie said in unison.

“
Right,” Valerie said. “Oh
good, there’s Delphie.”

Picking up her Dior handbag, Valerie walked
toward the door. She kissed Mike ‘hello’. He helped her with her
coat and she went out to the driveway.

“
What was that?” Mike
asked.

“
Valerie’s going with us,”
Jacob laughed.

“
I thought we already
decided we needed her,” Mike said.

He nodded to Delphie.

“
Did you tell her?”
Delphie asked.

Mike and Jacob shook their heads. Scowling,
Delphie flicked them on the forehead.

“
Ow,” Mike
said.

“
You were supposed to tell
her,” Delphie said.

“
She figured it out,”
Jacob rubbed his forehead.

“
Are you coming?” Valerie
yelled from the driveway.

Delphie and Mike trotted out the door
leaving Jacob to lock it.

“
Brightest and bossiest
light in the world,” Jacob muttered.

“
I heard that!” Valerie
yelled from the back seat of Mike’s SUV.

Laughing, he joined Valerie in the back
seat.

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED & FORTY-FOUR

Reveal

Sunday mid-day — 11:20 A.M

Seth pulled into the no-parking zone in
front of the busy Children’s Museum parking lot. Parents were
dropping their children off in front of him. Seth stuck his Denver
Police Department card in the window of his blue sedan and got out.
Over the general mayhem of children and parents, he raised a hand
in greeting to the DPD officer. He stopped short to avoid running
over a jubilant three year old trailing her father.

“
Need some help, sir?” the
officer asked.

“
Just looking for
someone,” Seth said.

“
You need anything,
Detective O’Malley, you let me know,” the officer said.

“
How often do you work
here?” Seth asked.

“
Couple of days a week,”
the officer said. “Puts diapers on the baby.”

“
Ever see an old guy,
homeless? Shaggy grey hair. Black eyes. Looks like he should smell
but his clothing is clean.”

“
Lives over there?” The
officer pointed toward some bushes near the river.

“
Yeah, has a camp just off
the river over there,” Seth said.

“
Guy looks like a crazy or
a drunk but if you talk to him he’s sharp, sharper than I am,” the
officer said. “Told me once he lived out because he always wanted
to be Huck Finn as a kid.”

“
Mike,” Seth
said.

“
Tunnel Rat Mike,” the
officer said. “Well, that’s what it says over there.”

“
Where?”

“
His memorial,” the
officer said. “Sorry Detective, the guy expired last
summer.”

His fear confirmed Seth let out a
breath.

“
Want me to show you the
memorial?” the officer asked.

“
I don’t want to get you
in trouble,” Seth said. “A good side job is hard to
find.”

“
Ain’t that the truth?”
the officer said. “It’s over there.”

Seth’s eyes followed the man’s arm to the
bushes next to the river.

“
Where his old camp was?”
Seth asked.

“
Not exactly,” the officer
said. “This is more on the walkway so people can see it and leave
their respects. Someone leaves a half empty beer there every week
or so.”

“
Grolsch?”

“
Flip top,” the officer
nodded.

“
His favorite beer,” Seth
said.

“
Sorry man, was he a
friend?”

“
Old friend,” Seth said.
“Thanks for your help. I’ll go look.”

Seth moved across the sidewalk toward the
South Platte River. He swerved around excited children and their
parents. Walking to the edge of the cement, he took the dirt ramp
down to the path along the river. Reviewing what the officer said,
Seth shook his head. Huck Finn, indeed.

Seth looked back to see if anyone could see
him. Lower than the Museum complex above, Seth was well
covered.

“
Out of the way!” a male
voice yelled.

Seth jumped out of the path of a racing
cyclist. He waited a moment until the biker disappeared down the
path and stepped into the brush. The warm summer day retreated into
the cool shadow of the bushes and the river. He moved along the
edge of the river until he found the spot that Tunnel Rat Mike
loved.

Stepping through a thin gap in the brush, he
entered a small clearing. As his eyes adjusted to the deep cool
shadow, he bent down to what remained of Mike’s possessions – a
tightly rolled sleeping bag and an airtight steel munitions
container. Looking up, his heart stood still.

A cheap Saint Jude medallion on a steel
chain hung from a broken tree limb. Overwhelmed, Seth closed his
eyes and said a silent prayer for his friend. Blowing out a breath,
Seth controlled his sorrow. This scene was set up for Seth. Saint
Jude would have known he’d come looking for Tunnel Rat Mike. Seth
smirked. But Saint Jude did not really know Tunnel Rat Mike.

The munitions container had to be booby
trapped. The sleeping bag too. Seth looked toward the path and back
to the water. Climbing out of the hollow, he walked back to the
Museum parking lot to find the officer.

“
I need some help,” Seth
said. “Can you get a couple of uniforms down here?”

“
Detective O’Malley
requests back up at the Children’s Museum. I repeat; Detective
O’Malley requests back up.” The officer called in. Turning to Seth,
he said, “That’ll bring them.”

Four police cruisers wailed into the
Children’s Museum parking lot. The officers jumped from their
vehicles and ran over to where Seth was standing.

“
I only need…”

Police Cruisers continues to roll into the
Children’s Museum parking lot.

“
We’re going to have a
riot,” Seth said.

The officer smiled. Seth raised his hand and
the officers followed him to the trail. Seth set up four officers
at one end of the path and four others at the other end of the
path.

“
No one gets through,”
Seth said. “Period.”

He waved five officers to him. Standing on
the ridge overlooking the dirt path, he set the men up in a tight
line.

“
Sir, are we protecting
you?” an officer asked.

“
You are covering my
actions,” Seth said. “Remember at Sand Creek? He was watching. He’s
here… somewhere… watching. I need you to create an effective
cover.”

“
If he’s here, sir, why
aren’t we going to get him?” the officer asked.

“
He’s not physically
here,” Seth said. “And I don’t have time to wait for the electronic
surveillance guys to find the camera.”

“
Yes sir,” the officer
said.

“
The rest of you surround
me,” Seth said.

The remaining officers surrounded Seth in a
tight circle. Under his command, the circle followed the railroad
ties which held back dirt and created the path.

“
Stop,” Seth
said.

He nudged the officers in front of him out
of the way.

“
I need a knife,” Seth
said.

The officer standing next to him held out a
Petzel Spatha knife. He opened the small knife with a 3 inch blade
using one hand. Seth took the knife from the young man and stuck it
in between the railroad ties. They heard a ‘click’ and a fourteen
inch piece of railroad tie popped open. Seth tugged at the wood
until a tidy compartment appeared. Putting on latex gloves, he
reached into the compartment and pulled out an insulated metal box
the size of a large cereal box. There was a metal lock on the top.
He indicated for two of the officers to hold the box and took out
his keys. Using a small key from his keychain, he opened the box
and smiled.

No, Saint Jude didn’t know Tunnel Rat Mike
at all. Seth closed the box and the compartment.

“
I need to get this out of
here,” Seth said. “Saint Jude will kill for the contents of this
box. He’s already killed to keep it silent.”

“
I’ll take the box,” a
tall officer near him said.

“
I’ll cover him,” his
partner said.

“
Get it to my blue sedan,”
Seth said. “I’m right behind you. Let’s go.”

Running as a group, the men surrounded Seth.
They collected officers as they passed. The officers reached the
parking lot and got the box into the trunk of Seth’s sedan.

“
I’m late for a meeting
with Homeland,” Seth turned to the officer moonlighting at the
Museum. “Have you ever been to Tunnel Rat Mike’s lair?”

The officer nodded.

“
Can you get CSU there?”
Seth asked. “Saint Jude killed Tunnel Rat Mike and booby trapped
the site. They need to be super careful.”

“
I’ll take care of it,”
the officer said. “There are enough guys here. We’ll get it done.
They’ll want to talk to you.”