The Edge Of The Cemetery (15 page)

Of course she was right…why couldn't it all be true? A blush rose up my cheeks and I shot a contemptuous glare her way.

Phil said, “If Aaron was this priest-ghost killer-longaevus, he was pretty damn strong overall. Maybe Gilles just couldn't penetrate his thoughts. Maybe, drug induced or not, Aaron was able to resist. And Vokkel said he ran away, obviously leaving his journal behind. We know when a demon is converged, the host mind and soul basically dies, so once Gilles got into Aaron for good, he lost all of Aaron's memories. He'd need the journal.”

Eric said, “I'm still confused. How did Gilles find the kid in the first place?”

“I think it's the same way GG found me. She was my mother's ghost friend, so maybe it's a familial connection? And Gilles is connected to Calvin through his father…hell, in a way, he sort of is his father.” I snapped my fingers. “The kid said as much on his walk with you.” I looked at Billy and she nodded. “So, I think we should assume he knows exactly what Gilles was in his last life.”

Billy looked downright glum. “And if he does, and he's this powerful, that's going to make him all the more dangerous and determined to get Gilles converged.” She was looking at me. “Do you think he can do the convergence now? I mean, he failed the first time.”

I thought about my conversations with Calvin. He'd asked, or maybe implied, more than once that he wanted one of us to do it. I shook my head. “No, I don't think so.”

Phil looked between Billy and me. “Well, I wouldn't worry about it. I mean, he's seen what you two can do, and he knows the last thing you would do would be to converge that bastard back to human form, so he's screwed on that one!”

Carol's phone dinged and she looked down at it and said, “We need to table this for now. Calvin just opened his door, and might be coming down.”

I stood up and Phil said, “Where are you headed?”

“I'm going to see Julie Vokkel,” I answered casually.

Billy's head snapped around so fast I thought she might have given herself whiplash. “Why?” she demanded.

“Because I think she knows something about all of this. Like we said earlier, she wouldn't want those journals for herself, so what if it was Edgar that told her to find them? She might know where he is,” I replied in the same casual tone, which was clearly ticking her off. I had a second motive for seeing Julie, but I kept that to myself.

“She's not going to tell you anything; she probably won't even let you in,” Billy hissed. So much for her new,
pleasant
attitude.

“Maybe not, but I'm still going over there.” This time I was firm. I could see an argument brewing in her eyes and I wasn't in the mood, even though I'd more or less provoked it. I decided to escape while I could, and put my cup in the sink and headed up for a shower.

When I came back from the bathroom, Phil was in our room gathering his own toiletries and fresh clothes so he could hit the shower next.

He whistled when I entered and said, “Man, you really pissed her off.”

“I know.” I sat on my bed. “What are you up to today?”

“Well, I need to talk to Aris. I got to thinking, if Edgar's plan of revenge includes releasing a bunch of horrible demons, wouldn't it make sense that this chamber/vault place is nearby? Especially if he plans on using these newly released demons to kill you and Billy. He'd want them to be
near
you and Billy, right?”

“I suppose that's plausible…ah hell,” I sighed, “anything is plausible at this point.”

“So, I'm hoping he might have some ideas on where it might be located.” He smiled weakly. “One other thing, which I didn't focus on earlier. It was part of Boyd's translation…it said, '
He shall release the imprisoned souls and give them new life.
' ”

I wasn't sure where he was headed and looked at him expectantly.

“They'd need people to converge these newly freed demons into.” His eyebrows rose. “What are we missing right now?”

“Holy shit!” I whispered. “You think Edgar has our missing ghost killers?” The thought was unfathomable. Edgar was strong, but as a rule, we were stronger, and I couldn't see how he could be going around capturing our people. I was shaking my head furiously. “No way, Phil; he couldn't overtake our guys like that. Besides, a convergence needs to happen with a weak-minded person, someone who can't mentally fight back. All our missing guys aren't like that. And besides they're all mid-level, they'd be able to resist.”

“Yeah, well, Vokkel's notes said that Aaron had become a drug addict…opiates, right? And Gilles managed to converge with Aaron, who was a powerful ghost killer and a longaevus, and I think he was able to do that because of Aaron's diminished condition due to years of drug addiction. What if that's how Edgar is capturing our guys and holding them, by drugging them?”

I rubbed my temples. This conversation was causing
me
to want an opiate or two. “So you think it's possible that Edgar is going around drugging GKs, kidnapping them, and holding them hostage for the awakening of his demon army? Wouldn't that contradict his plans to use the demons to kill us? I mean, they'd want to be converged right away, they wouldn't be in the mood to go around haunting and possessing after being locked up for more than a hundred years.”

Phil held his hands out in surrender. “Hey man, maybe he plans on having them converged after they kill you guys. Or maybe he's gonna do it right away and send the demon/human's after you. Hell,” he said in exasperation, “I don't know, it's just a theory. Aris is always saying there's no such thing as coincidence, so….”

He was right. It really couldn't be a coincidence that our guys were suddenly off the radar at the same time Edgar was trying to fulfill some crazy prophecy and exact his revenge.

“Why didn't you mention this earlier?” I asked.

“Honestly, because I knew I'd get the exact same reaction from them as you just gave me.” He arched an eyebrow.

“Right, sorry. I think you need to tell Aris and Pete at the very least.”

He agreed with me and said, “But there is a silver lining.” He waggled his eyebrows. “You guys don't think Calvin is strong enough to perform the convergence, right?” I nodded. “So Edgar is missing a very integral piece of his plan, and I don't think he knows it.” Phil smiled. “So regardless, we've got that much in our favor.”

It would have been nice if he was right.

Vokkel's house is in Pacific Heights, not far from my apartment. It's an impressive and rather stunning Second Empire Victorian, with a slate mansard roof, double door entrance, and central tower that rises above the main structure. The rich Charleston Green paint (so dark it was almost black) compliments the rich greens of the ivy covered brick wall enclosure. I had only been inside once, and I was there against my will, more or less. It was in my early days as a ghost killer and I'd just learned about Vokkel. Stupidity and curiosity spurred me to stake out his house, and I was caught red-handed by Edgar. He used his unusual ability to “persuade” people, and without really knowing what was happening, I found myself inside the house. I'd managed to regain my senses and get the hell out of there before anything bad happened, but it still scared me.

As I approached the gate, a man wearing a crisp black suit, matching tie, and stark white shirt stepped forward. His broad, muscular physique strained against the fabric. We were the same height, and I caught my reflection in his mirrored sunglasses.

I smiled and he brusquely asked, “Can I help you?”

“I'm here to see Julie Vokkel.”

“Is Ms. Vokkel expecting you?”

“No, tell her it's George Sinclair. I'm a friend of her daughter's.”

He stepped away from the gate and spoke into his cuff. That's when I noticed the earpiece with the curly cord running into his collar, and the shoulder holster and gun under his jacket. Julie's security was very Hollywoodesque, and I smiled at the absurdity of it. When he returned, he scowled at me, but he also unlocked the gate and waved me toward the front door.

At the door I was greeted by another guard wearing the same ensemble, sans the mirrored glasses. I was yet again waved forward. The entry hall hadn't changed since my last visit; same dark wall color, dark wood trim, polished marble floors, and disturbing painting by Wilhelmina Wilkinson hanging in the stairwell. I stared at it—I couldn't seem to stop myself, it was mesmerizing to a certain, creepy, extent. The painting was six feet by four feet, its largesse making it all the more imposing. The edges were dark and faded inward to lighter shades of blues, like a twilight sky. In the center was a grey mist, a ghostlike form that had just received its death stab from the yellowish, more human shape standing off to its side.

The guard, who had been watching me from a few feet away, cleared his throat, startling me out of my reverie. Julie stood in the doorway of one of the rooms that flanked the main hall, her expression of amusement aimed at me. Mockingly, she said, “I'm thinking of giving it to Aunt Justine. I noticed she has the companion piece in her living room.” Justine's piece was a fifth of the size and housed in an alcove off her living room. I'd never really understood why she kept it there. It was equally disturbing. Perhaps she needed to be reminded of what we were and the dangers we faced.

I turned to her and curtly said, “We need to talk.”

Her eyebrows arched curiously. “Tisk, tisk,” she wagged an index finger at me. “Such bad manners. Did you pick those up from my daughter?”

I didn't respond. Instead we stared at each other, uncomfortably, until she finally conceded and directed me into the room behind her. It was a large study with floor-to-ceiling bookcases on one end, a desk off to one side, and two leather wing-back chairs by the window. She waved me towards one of the chairs, and sat in the other.

“I see you've come empty-handed. I've held off on contacting the police as I said I would, but I'm growing quite impatient.”

“We already told you that we don't have his stuff,” I said, rather obnoxiously. “Why do you want it anyway? What's in these papers that's so important?” I didn't know if she had any idea what her father's papers contained, but it certainly wasn't out of the realm of possibility that she was in on this mess with Edgar.

I did know one thing though…Julie Vokkel considered herself an elite socialite, and based on what I knew of that persona, she was probably accustomed to being spoken to with the sort of reverence many wealthy people expected. Apparently my insubordinate attitude wasn't quite cutting it and she stiffened, her pretty face contorting into something like a sneer.

“That is none of your concern. What should concern you is the police arriving at your home with a search warrant and tearing it apart. Furthermore, I'll insure they do the same to Aunt Justine's house.” It was a silly threat. I had no doubt she'd
try
and sic the cops on me, but I didn't think she'd do that to Justine. Besides all of that, she had no evidence.

I waved my hand in dismissal. “Julie, you've got no proof we took them, so don't try and threaten me with that sort of crap. Back to my original question…why do you want his papers?” She didn't answer, so I waved my hand again and continued. “Well whatever, I'm not here about a bunch of stupid papers anyway, I'm here about Edgar. He's trying to kill us and he's involved in the deaths of at least two other people. Not to mention, he's suspected of kidnapping several people.” I still wasn't sure about Phil's theory on the kidnappings, but she didn't know that. “He's very dangerous. In fact, I'm pretty sure he's the reason you've got armed guards here, because you're scared of him.”

Her eyes narrowed, disdain and condescension tainting her response. “The guards are here because someone broke into this house once before, and who's to say they won't do it again?” She didn't deny knowing where Edgar was.

“Bullshit,” I said vehemently, but quietly. I didn't want the guard rushing in at the sound of raised voices.

She angled her head, her tone a bit odd. “Why would Edgar want to kill either of you?”

“You know why.”

She wagged her finger again. “No George, I don't know why.”

She was playing with me, perhaps to see if I'd admit to helping kill Vokkel. She was also ticking me off quite a bit. But there was something else there, and I no longer thought she was working with Edgar. But I did think she'd been in contact with him.

“Here's what I think, Julie. He thinks we killed his mentor, and he wants revenge. He plans on doing that by releasing a torrent of really bad demons and having them kill us.” My jaw tightened. “But he can't do it on his own…he needs something in your father's papers. That's why you're looking for them, isn't it?” She looked at me blandly, which only fueled my anger. “I'm pretty sure you don't give a flying f—” I stopped myself before that particularly vulgar word escaped my lips. Taking a breath, I continued. “Look, I doubt you care about Vokkel's papers, so there's no reason, other than Edgar, that you came looking for them. But you need to understand something…Edgar doesn't just want to unleash these demons, he wants to turn them back into humans, to converge them with living, breathing, innocent people. Do you know what happens to the person that receives the demon's mind and soul?
Their
mind and soul dies, meaning they essentially die.”

I adjusted my tone to something gentler. “I saw the way you looked at Justine.” I was grasping at straws now…they'd been estranged for years, but I'd sensed some affection toward Justine the other night, and she'd asked Justine about Billy's wellbeing. “You still care about her, and I think you even care about Billy a little, at least enough to not want to see her tortured and killed by Edgar. He's hell bent on revenge and he's crazy. He'll do anything to get what he wants, and he wants Billy and me dead. And I wouldn't put it past him to kill Justine just for fun.”

Her expression began to change and her hand slowly rose to her throat, as if to hold back a rising sob. I tried to wait her out, but when I couldn't take the silence any longer, I leaned forward and gently asked, “What is it?”

There was fear in her eyes when she said, “A few weeks ago Edgar contacted me. He said he wanted Father's research papers, and more specifically his journals. You are correct….” She shrugged lightly. “I don't care about Father's work, so I agreed to give them to him.

“I told him I'd instruct the attorneys to package them up and send them on. However, when they arrived here, the safe was empty, and they were adamant I come to San Francisco and verify that nothing else was missing from the house. After I arrived and confirmed they were gone, I contacted Edgar.” She looked down at her hands, then up at me. “He became very upset. He said you, Billy, and the Watchers had stolen them, and if I didn't locate the papers and get them to him, he'd kill Aunt Justine, Billy, and anyone else I cared about. He knew who my friends and lovers were, and as you said, he is quite insane. I believed him. He said I had forty-eight hours to get the papers back and if I didn't, he'd begin to kill my family and friends one at a time, then he'd come for me. Again, I believed him.”

“What day was that?”

“The morning after I arrived, the twenty-eighth.”

That would mean the forty-eight hour clock had expired two days ago. I wondered why he hadn't acted. Suddenly it occurred to me…Calvin had come to us three nights ago, and we believed he was there to find the journals, and now, I thought, it was probably Edgar that sent him.

“Do you know where Edgar is now?” She shook her head. “How does he contact you?”

“He called my cell phone.” I assumed Edgar probably called from the same number Calvin was texting, but I'd get to that in a minute.

“Julie, did your father ever talk to you about his work?”

“Occasionally. I didn't visit that often, once or twice a year and for short periods of time. But he spoke with Edgar about it frequently.”

“So Edgar knows what's in the journals?”

“Yes and no. Father never let anyone see those, so whatever Edgar knows, he was told, but he would never have read them.”

“Your father didn't trust him?”

“Oh, he did, to an extent, but Father liked to have secrets as well. The journals contained those secrets.”

That was interesting, but I let it go. “Did he ever mention a chamber filled with demons, or a young boy? Well, he's a teenager now.”

She shook her head. “He never mentioned a boy or a teenager, but the chamber of demons part is familiar.” She paused to concentrate, then snapped her fingers. “He told me this story once, about a priest or something who'd created this chamber.” She frowned. “I'm sorry, that was a long time ago. I can't remember how it went…and to be honest, I didn't pay that much attention.”

I smiled. “That's okay. Do you recall if he ever said where this chamber is?”

“No, but I seem to remember the story had to do with this city, so I assumed it was here somewhere.”

I nodded, and decided to move on to motive number two. “Julie, a few weeks ago,” I hesitated, “you were in Paris, with a man. Was he Billy's father?” She stared at me in surprise and I smiled again. “You're very popular on the European paparazzi circuit. They snapped a picture of the two of you meeting in Paris. Billy has enough of his physical traits…it wasn't hard to figure out who he was.”

A small amount of embarrassment crept up her cheeks, then she nodded.

“Does he know about Billy?”

She nodded again. Her face paled and she looked like she was going to cry.

I said, “Tell me.”

She took a deep breath. “I knew what and who Andrew was and why Father wanted us together…it was a business arrangement.” She smiled demurely. “But I never expected to fall in love with him.”

The idea that Julie was capable of being in love almost shocked me, but she'd softened up in the last few minutes, so I decided to give her the benefit of the doubt.

“Father and Andrew crossed paths during Father's years at the school in Switzerland. Andrew is not only a ghost killer but a longaevus, and he wasn't averse to doing work for either side, as long as it wasn't too ugly and the price was right. When Father wanted to test his hypothesis regarding the creation of the ultimate ghost killer, he called Andrew and paid the two of us to be together. Unexpectedly, we fell in love, and since we both knew what Father wanted with our child, we hid from him.

“Andrew and I stayed together until Billy was two, then one day he disappeared. I couldn't believe he'd leave us willingly and assumed that Father had caught up with him and probably killed him. I was broke and alone and needed help, but I knew what Father wanted and I knew that Andrew didn't want our child anywhere near him. That's the reason I came back to Aunt Justine. I couldn't turn Billy over to my father…at least not in the beginning.” She batted her eyelashes quickly in an attempt to stave off the tears that were forming.

“I tried to be a mother to Billy, but…,” she paused, “I wasn't cut out for it and had begun to spend more and more time with my friends… drinking, drugs, the whole privileged world of the twenty-something rich girl.” Her face was a jumble of embarrassment and shame. “I more or less left Billy to Aunt Justine. She and I had begun to fight constantly, and it was easier to be away than it was to be home. When Billy began to show signs of her abilities, Edgar came to me. He said that Andrew was not dead, that he left because Father paid him a great deal of money to disappear. He said that I had two choices…turn the child over willingly and Father would pay handsomely for her, or Father would simply take her and I'd never see her or his money again. I was devastated at the news of Andrew's betrayal, and shortly after Edgar's proclamation, Aunt Justine and I had a horrible, vicious argument, which spurred me to act irrationally, vengefully. I went to my father and turned Billy over to him.” She looked up at me. Her shame had turned to anguish and tears were streaming down her face.

“Um, I don't mean to be….” I wasn't sure how to ask the next question. “Have you two been in contact for a while?”

She smiled again. “No, we haven't. That was the first time I've seen him since we parted thirty some-odd years ago.”

“Why now? I mean, did he look you up, or the other way around?”

“He found me. He'd heard of Father's death and decided it was safe to make contact. It turns out that he left us because Father had found us and threatened to kill Billy and me if he didn't leave us.” She angled her head and smiled. “There's no need to beat around the bush, George…I can see it in your eyes. You want to know if he wants to see his daughter, and you want to know if that's a good idea…,” another slight smile, “letting Billy know about him. Am I correct?”