Black Forest, Denver Cereal Volume 5 (51 page)

“
No mercy!” Delphie yelled
over the roar of hairspray and fire. “They will kill anyone in
their path if we give them a chance.”

One at a time, the creatures burned. The air
reeked of burned hairspray and seared flesh. The cement floor was
littered with smoldering carcasses of the creatures’ offspring.
While the boys stomped on them, Honey ran over them with her
wheelchair.

Unable to stop herself, Honey began to
giggle. Charlie shouted and the boys began to cheer. Sissy squealed
and danced around when she lit one on fire. Pete’s children shouted
out the number of creatures they’d burned. Emboldened by the other
children, Noelle ran up to a black male creature. When it growled
at her, she screamed and ran away. Teddy torched it.

“
Is that it?” Sandy
asked.

Panting hard, Sandy surveyed the scene.

“
There’s one by you,
Honey!” Sandy yelled.

Honey leaned over and burned the creature.
She hooted and everyone cheered.

“
Quiet down!” Valerie
yelled. “Quiet! We have to see if they’re all gone!”

For a moment, the basement was silent. There
was no movement on the floor. No movement in the air around
them.

“
Mommy!” Katy
screamed.

A black male creature flew above her head.
Jill used her mental energy to swat the creature away from her
daughter. Katy held out her arms. While Jacob gawked at her, Jill
took Katy from Jacob.

Sandy, Aden and Charlie caught a skulking
serpent in their flaming streams. The last baby monster screeched
and fell to the ground.

“
Is that it?” Sandy
asked.

Everyone looked around. Delphie ran to Saint
Jude. Pulling on his hair, she lifted his head from the pool of
blood where it was resting in.

Nothing.

Catching movement out the corner of her eye,
Valerie spun in place. Valerie and MJ blasted the last of the
creatures as it passed overhead. The burning carcass hit the wall
and slid to the floor.

“
Henry James is dead,”
Delphie said into the silence.

“
Can we play with these
for a while?” Nash asked.

“
Put them out,” Sandy
said.

She held out her arms. Nash dropped the
hairspray to hug her. Noelle grabbed on then Sissy joined in.
Charlie wrapped around all of them. Noelle grabbed Teddy’s shirt
collar to include him in the hug.

“
My team just texted.
They’re here. I’ll go let them in,” MJ said.

Wearing digital fatigues, skull hats pulled
down on their heads and dark glasses, Alex Hargreaves and the rest
of their team entered the salon. Captain Andrew ‘Trece’ Ramirez and
Captain Christopher ‘White Boy’ Blanco took control of the entrance
to the salon with their sheer bulk. The rest of the team came down
the stairs. When Alex’s team had control of the scene, they let the
Denver Police into review the aftermath. When Attorney General
Alvin arrived to ‘supervise the interrogation’, Alex led him down
into the basement then immediately escorted him to the nearest
toilet for him to throw up. Alex convinced the Denver Police to let
the witnesses go home once they promised not to talk about the
night. By the time Crime Scene Investigation teams arrived, the
weary warriors were on their way back to the Castle.

~~~~~~~~

Tuesday night — 10:40 P.M.

“
I’m sorry, Amelie,” Ferg
said. “I’m so sorry.”

“
I’m kind of busy. The CDC
landed at DIA and are on their way here,” Ava said. Nelson hooked a
Bluetooth head piece over her ear so she could keep working. “Isn’t
there someone else?”

Ava was reviewing the analysis of the Denver
toxin sample and comparing it with the analysis of samples found in
other incidents. Bob had taken the call. He’d tried to take a
message but Ferg was insistent on talking to Amelie.

“
No,” Ferg said. “We need
you to identify Saint Jude.”

“
Bring him over,” Ava
said.

“
I wish it was that
simple,” Ferg said.

“
How complicated is it?”
Ava asked.

”
Weelllll…”

“
I can’t go anywhere,” Ava
said. “I’ve got gels running. We’re video conferencing with the
team in Geneva in an hour. The London First Responders Forensic
Team and the UN techs are calling at two. The Israelis sent someone
who’s going to be here with the scientists from Geneva in the
morning. I have to get this stuff done. Seth and the other guys’
lives are on the line.”

“
Yes I know
but…”

“
Seth always says that
Saint Jude shouldn’t control what we do,” Ava said. “Saint Jude
took enough from me. If I delay…”

“
I know, I know,” Ferg
said. “Did you see the press conference?”

“
Was it in my
lab?”

“
No, but…”

“
Then what do you
think?”

“
Your father had a press
conference,” Ferg said. “His office took over the entire
investigation. He says Seth screwed up and that’s why Saint Jude
went free.”

Seething, Ava had no response.

“
You still
there?”

“
I am.”

“
Homeland Security has
control of the crime scene,” Ferg said. “I guess the first cops who
showed up were a little… zealous. Is Homeland there?”

“
Max is here,” Ava said.
“He’s working with Bob.”

“
Good,” Ferg said. “We can
say Homeland Security has taken control there.”

“
I don’t think he’s DHS,”
Ava said. “He’s more like… Intelligence or CIA or…
something.”

“
Good,” Ferg said. “It’ll
keep your father away. But…”

“
You still need me to
identify the body,” Ava said.

“
DHS won’t release the
body to the Attorney General’s office until there’s confirmation
that it’s actually Saint Jude,” Ferg said. “And you’re our only
hope.”

“
Yeah, like I’m Obi-Wan
Kenobi.”

With her attention still on her work, the
words just came out of Ava’s mouth. Ferguson was a superior
officer. She held her breath in case she’d offended him. Ferg
laughed.

“
They have it set up
electronically,” Ferg said. “It’s very high tech but they said you
could see it via Skype. You know that Internet thing?”

“
Nelson?” Ava
asked.

Her bodybuilding technician looked up.

“
I need to get on Skype,”
Ava said.

He nodded and started working on her
laptop.

“
He’s working on it,” Ava
said. “While we wait… Um… You wouldn’t happen to know…”

“
Seth’s holding his own,”
Ferg said. “A couple of the guys have spiked a fever. The docs
think it’s some kind of allergic reaction. But Seth? He’s hanging
in there. Julie Ann got there about an hour ago. So both of his
kids are there.”

“
And?”

“
No one knows, Amelie,”
Ferg said. “I think everyone’s hoping you’ll pull a miracle out of
your… uh…”

“
Mickey Mouse Hat?” Ava
asked.

“
I was thinking Jedi
robes.”

Ava laughed for the first time today.

“
All set,” Nelson
said.

“
Nelson has Skype up on my
laptop,” Ava said. “We’re DPD Backup Lab. All one word. You can go
ahead.”

The tones rang as a call came in from
‘SuperSpook’. Nelson clicked the video call button. Captain Troy
Olivas, one of Alex’s team, came on the screen.

“
Hi Ava,” Troy said.
“We’re going to show you a body and you’ll let us know if that’s
him. Okay? Don’t hesitate to tell us if it’s too much. We’re on
your side here. We agree there’s no reason to do this tonight but
there are forces beyond our control that…”

“
Got it,” Ava
said.

“
Get this over with,”
Alex’s voice came from behind the webcam.

“
Ok, here you go,” Troy
said.

He moved the laptop so she could see the
figure on a stretcher.

“
It’s dark,” Ava said. “I
can’t really tell.”

“
Light,” Alex’s voice
ordered.

A couple of flashlight beams shone on a
man’s face. The webcam moved over his face and neck. Ava
blinked.

“
I’m sorry,” Ava said. “I
can’t tell. He seems kind of… flattened. Can I see his
eyes?”

As blue glove covered fingers appeared to
pry open the man’s eyes, Ava gasped. She turned away from the
computer to throw up in the sink. Her entire body began to shake.
She hadn’t remembered that Ferg was still on the headset until she
heard his voice on the scene.

“
That’s enough,” Ferg
said. “I don’t care who wants this body identified. We can’t do it,
at least not tonight.”

“
No.” Ava took a stack of
paper towels from Bob to wipe her chin. “No, it’s all right.
Really.”

“
Is that him?” Troy
asked.

Troy’s handsome face appeared again on the
screen. Ava nodded.

“
Great,” Troy
said.

“
Get him the fuck out of
here,” Ferg’s voice buzzed over the laptop speakers. The phone made
a click in her ear as Ferg hung up. “I’m serious. Get him that
piece of trash out of here.”

Ava was about to click off the laptop when
Alex Hargreaves face appeared. She looked so much like Max that Ava
felt a warm familiarity. It was as if she’s spent they had spent
the evening together.

“
Amelie?” Alex asked. “You
okay?”

Ava shook her head.

“
These people take so much
from us.” Alex gave Ava a soft smile. “They block us from doing
what’s important to us. They create chaos in our minds and
hearts.”

“
Chaos? Yes, that’s how I
feel.”

“
Don’t let him. You have
to fight it,” Alex said. “It’s my understanding that you’re leading
a team to find an anti-toxin for the First Responders Toxin. Is
there anyone else who can do that?”

Ava shook her head.

“
Then get to work,” Alex
said. “You’ll feel better. When we’re done here, we’ll bring you
some coffee. Valerie Lipson, you know her, the actress? She makes
the best brownies. I’ll call and see if she can make you some.
Chocolate helps. A lot.”

Ava nodded.

“
You are more than this,”
Alex said. “More than this asshole. More than your trauma. Right
now, you have to force yourself to be that.”

Ava nodded.

“
Go throw up again,” Alex
smiled. “Then, get back to work. You’ll see. You’ll feel
better.”

Ava gave her a smile.

“
See you in a few hours,”
Alex waved and the screen went dark.

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED & FIFTY-THREE

Promises

Tuesday night — 11:40 P.M.

“
Are you sure you’re
okay?” MJ asked Honey again.

She was lying in his arms on their bed. His
traumatic brain injury kept MJ from remembering the one thing he
wanted to know most of all – if she and the baby were all right.
After returning home, he’d helped her take a bath, made sure she’d
eaten enough for a small army, and then carried her to bed. His
horror of losing her had enhanced his usual generous care.

“
I’m sure.” Honey smiled
at him. “I promise, I would tell you.”

“
And the baby?”

“
She’s fine,” Honey
said.

“
She?” MJ said. “You said
we were having a boy!”

Honey laughed.

“
You don’t know if the
baby’s a boy or a girl?” MJ asked.

“
I don’t know,” Honey
said. “I was playing with you.”

“
Phew,” MJ exaggerated
wiping his forehead.

“
Phew?”

“
I was worried you were
going to name the baby Roger,” MJ laughed.

Honey turned to giggle into his chest.

“
I’m so glad you’re safe,”
MJ said. “I heard you really stood up to that thing. What you did
is one of the reasons the creature’s dead. Your courage
strengthened everyone to fight that thing.”

“
You heard that from who?”
Honey asked. “We weren’t supposed to talk about it to
anyone!”

“
Lets say a little Sissy
bird,” MJ said. “I asked her and she had to answer a direct
question. It’s really my fault”

“
Of course it’s your
fault!” Honey said.

MJ laughed.

“
We all helped,” Honey
said. “It was all of us. Valerie, Nash and Noelle were amazing. You
should have seen how brave Valerie was. She attacked that thing
with a vengeance. She was a real superhero. And Sandy saved Charlie
with Rachel. It was an amazing night.”

“
I’m sorry you had to do
it,” MJ said.

“
I’m not,” Honey said.
“I’m honored that I was able to help at all.”

“
But you’re okay,
right?”

“
I’m okay,” Honey said.
“So’s the baby.”

“
Let’s find out tomorrow.”
He pulled her closer to him and kissed her forehead.

“
Find out what?” Honey
teased.

MJ laughed.

“
I’m taking tomorrow off.
I’ll see if they can fit us in for an ultrasound,” Honey
said.