Memory Lapse: A Slater Vance Novel (9 page)

The sun was rising when
Slater pulled into the church parking lot. The street in front of the church
was littered with police cars and a fire truck. The smell of burned wood filled
the morning air. Slater picked his way through the torrent of people, which had
gathered to witness the aftermath of the fire. He saw Bridge standing up front,
next to one of the altars, talking to his brother, who was surprisingly wearing
his bathrobe. Slater assumed he hadn’t wanted to take the time to dress before
hurrying to the church.

With a quick glance
around, Slater took in the broken stained-glass window where the fire-bomb had
been thrown into the church. There were still pieces of the glass clinging to
the frame. Because of having grown up in this church, Slater knew the window
had once depicted Jesus being baptized by John the Baptist. One of the
still-clinging glass shards was of the dove flying over them. It saddened him a
little to see the window the church had been named after destroyed. He saw
several rows of the ancient pews burned and destroyed. Soot covered a large
section of one wall. But more than the fire was the water damage from the fire
truck’s hoses; everything was soaked.

When he spied his brother
coming towards him, Tucker excused
himself
and walked
towards him.

“These early morning
situations are becoming a pain, Tuck,” Slater said with mock anger.

“I told Bridge not to
bother you. But he listens as well as you do. What did they teach you in that
school of yours anyway?” Tucker asked smiling.

“That we work better as a
team,” he said, smiling back, “Why are you in your bathrobe? It’s very
un-priestly.”

Slater was surprised to
see a flush rise on his brother’s face.

“What?” Slater asked
perplexed.

Tucker rubbed a hand over
his stubble-covered face, “I… uh… I was sleeping in the shelter in case Honey
needed something. I obviously couldn’t take her to my house and I couldn’t
leave her alone. So I brought in an air mattress and slept in the shelter.”

“Damn it, Tuck. This has
gone far enough! I don’t want to sound like a broken record, but the girl has
to go. Look what’s happened here. You could have been seriously hurt… again.
I’ll not stand by and let this happen, you can count on that,” Slater said
harshly.

“Slate, please refrain from
that type of language here, please. We’ve had this discussion before and you
know where I stand. I can’t put a defenseless woman out on the street. Where is
your compassion… your charity?” Tucker asked tersely.

Slater balled his fists
at his side and clenched his jaw so
tight,
he thought
his teeth would shatter.

With his lips drawn into
a grim line, Slater said, “Fine… I can’t believe I’m going to say this, I must
be losing my ever-loving mind,” Slater turned away from his brother and ran a
hand through his hair. “Fine, she can stay at my house… just until you find
something else. Agreed?”

“Really?
You’d do that? I… don’t know what to
say,” Tucker paused as a thought crossed his mind. “You’ll be nice to her,
right?”

“I’ll try to be affable,
but I make no promises. But I’m not a nanny or a nursemaid. You’ll need to have
someone come by and help her with… her needs,” Slater said with distaste.

Clasping his brother’s
shoulders, Tucker said earnestly, “Thanks, Slate. I know how hard this is for
you. I promise I’ll keep looking for a place for her.”

◊◊◊

While the brothers had
thought the situation settled, they hadn’t accounted for Honey
Luscious’s
reaction to their decision.

“No,
absolutely not!
No offense, but I don’t know you. Besides, I wouldn’t want to inconvenience you
in that way,” she said, adding the last sentence to soften her earlier words.

From behind her, Slater
saw Tucker give him a pleading look.

“It won’t be an
inconvenience. No one will know where you are and you’ll be safer… as well as
my brother. I insist you come and stay. I’m hardly there during the day and am
gone several nights a week as well. Tuck is making arrangements for someone to
stop by several times a day to assist you with whatever you need. Then once he
has found appropriate accommodations, we’ll move you there. It’ll be better for
everyone,” he said calmly.

From his peripheral, he
saw his brother grinning at him. Man, he’d give anything to punch him… hard.

She met his gaze with
thoughtful contemplation before giving a nod of her head. “Okay.”

Tucker borrowed a set of
crutches from the shelter, and together, they helped her to Slater’s SUV, which
he’d brought around to park in front of the church. By this time, all the
police cars and people had long since dispersed, leaving the street practically
deserted.

They placed her in the
backseat of the vehicle due to the awkwardness of her casted leg. Through the
open window, Tucker took her hand and they bowed their heads together in a
brief prayer.

Slater stepped up into
the SUV and began to buckle his seatbelt when she said, “Oh, I forgot my
suitcase, sorry.”

Slater rolled his eyes at
the complications of this situation. “No problem, I’ll just run in and get it.”

Tucker held up a hand.
“No, I’ll go.”

With a shake of his head,
Slater said, “No, stay and talk with her. I’ll be right back.”

With a quick jaunt,
Slater slipped back into the church and shook his head once more at the
senseless devastation done to the beautiful old building. Grabbing the
suitcase, he headed back to the street. As he opened the church’s door, he saw
a bald man grab his brother and slam him up against the SUV, yelling at him.

“Where’s Honey Luscious?
I heard she was here. They told me at the hospital she’d been released here. So
I’m only going to ask you one more time… where is she?”

Slater set the case down
and moved swiftly and quietly like a panther towards the men. While Slater was
sure Tucker had seen him coming, he gave no indication to the attacker. He’d
gotten to about five feet from the men, when the man, Slater assumed was
Zagoria
, spotted him approaching in the reflection of the
SUV’s black-tinted window. He immediately released Tucker and turned around. He
took one second calculating his chances then immediately turned and ran to his
left where a car was idling on the side street of the church. The car’s tires
screeched as the car hit the main road and disappeared from sight.

Slater grabbed a pen from
his pocket and jotted down the partial license plate number. Turning back to
his brother, he gave him
a
once-over, looking for any
more physical damage, but didn’t see any. He let out a sigh of relief.

“Wow, you got here just
in time. Thank heavens I’d come to this side of the vehicle or he’d have gotten
his hands on Honey,” Tucker said.

“So, he didn’t see her?”
Slater asked.

“No, but if
Zagoria
had gone to the other side where her window was
opened, he would have.”

“Okay, I’ll call Bridge
and let him know about
Zagoria
and give him what I
got. You take care. If he shows up again… run, then call the police
immediately.”

Slater moved back up the
steps and grabbed the suitcase, giving his brother a playful punch as he passed
him the sidewalk.

“Thanks for everything,
Slater. I appreciate it,” Tucker said sincerely.

“Don’t forget you owe me…
and big!” Slater murmured as he moved on towards the SUV.

Honey was silent for the
entire trip to Slater’s house. During the drive, Slater called Bridge and
filled him in on what happened. Bridge told him he’d let him know when Zeke
Zagoria
was picked up. Once he parked in front of his
ranch-style brick house, Slater grabbed the suitcase and crutches from the back
before stepping around to assist Honey from the SUV.

◊◊◊

Honey was panting by the
time she lumbered up the three steps leading to the front door. Instead of
unlocking the door with a key, Slater pointed a remote control at the door and
a responding click told her the door was unlocked. She watched as he hesitated
before opening the door. She wondered what his hesitation meant. Was he
regretting letting her stay here already? She hated being dependent on anyone.

Once inside his house,
Honey was surprised to find it tastefully decorated. She assumed it would be a
typical bachelor pad, complete with a bookcase made of masonry blocks and wood
planks. Instead, there were elegant bookcases made of cherry-stained wood and a
couch and loveseat covered in a soft floral pattern.

Clearing his throat
uncomfortably, Slater said, “Welcome to my humble abode.”

“Your home is beautiful,
Slater. Thanks for letting me stay here. If I wasn’t worried about the Father
getting hurt, I wouldn’t have imposed on your hospitality. Please don’t think
you have to entertain me or anything. I’ll try to stay out of your way as much
as possible. I don’t want to be an imposition.”

Awkwardly, Slater
shuffled his feet, and again cleared his throat. “Umm, let me show you to your
room.”

Stepping around her, he
walked slowly for her benefit and led her to a large bedroom, or suite really,
as it had its own bathroom attached. Slater set her suitcase on the dresser.

“Please feel free to make
yourself at home. There’s phones situated around the house, feel free to use
them. The television remote is a little complicated, but I’ll write down the
instructions so you can use that, as well. I don’t know what toiletries you’ll
need, but if you make a list, I’ll have my assistant get them. I need to go out
for a while, but should be home in time for dinner. I’ll stop and pick up
something on my way back. Anything you don’t like?”

Slowly she shook her
head, “Anything will be fine. Thanks, Slater. I’m good, please go and do what
you need to do.”

With a nod of his head,
he moved towards the door, and turning, he said, “I’ll write my cell phone
number down before I leave in case you need to reach me, “ he turned, but once
more stopped. “Did
Zagoria
seem familiar to you at
all?”

“No, not at all,” she
said.

“Okay, I’ll be back.”

Honey let out a huge sigh
when he left the room.
Zagoria
had scared the
daylights out of her. She’d been so afraid for the Father. Exhausted from the
events of the day, Honey shuffled awkwardly towards the bed and sat down
wearily. From her position, she had a clear view into Slater’s magnificent
garden. Unable to resist, she struggled to her feet and stumbled to the window
to get a better look.

With interesting uses of
shrubs and trees, the garden had an intricate maze. The garden had eight rows
of precisely groomed shrubs positioned in a starburst pattern, all leading to a
center ring of willow trees. In the center of the ring was a huge fountain.
Even with the window closed, she could hear the water as it splashed into its
base. It was magical. She wondered if Slater had designed the garden or if he’d
bought the house because of it.

Stepping back to the bed,
she stretched out and shut her weary eyes. How had her life become so out of
control? She was so lost and alone. What she’d told Slater was the truth; she
hadn’t recognized
Zagoria
at all. However, seeing him
attack Tucker had sparked something. She wasn’t sure what it was, but something
in the violence of the attack seemed… familiar.

Chapter 7

With renewed vigor,
Slater set about solving the case of Honey Luscious. He figured the sooner he
solved her mystery, the sooner he could send her on her way. Heading south, he
drove to Honey’s last known address. While Bridge had gone to the address, he’d
only determined she didn’t live there any longer. But Slater knew people like
the actual Honey Luscious generally always go back to what they know – and that
includes the places they know. If the real Honey Luscious had indeed left the
employ of Zeke
Zagoria
, she’d need the security and
financial assurance of known clients.

Driving down through the
low-rent district, he found the address and slowed to take a long look. The
front door of the small house was standing open, and an old black man sat on a
couch placed on the porch, watching people as they drove up and down the
street. There were a couple of old bikes lying in the yard with no grass. What
ragged screens covered the windows had gaping holes. Overall, the place was
depressing. He couldn’t imagine the person he knew as Honey Luscious living
here. He continued on down the street until the road intersected with a busier
thoroughfare.

After finding a secure
parking spot, Slater locked his vehicle and glanced up and down the string of
storefronts, which lined both sides of the street. Starting on the side he was
parked, he began the ‘meet and greet’ part of his investigation. Going from
store to store, he asked the employees and owners if they knew of a Honey
Luscious or Zeke
Zagoria
.