The Eyes Tell No Lies (4 page)

Cris knew he was going to have to put his fears aside and ask her out before his chance
with her was gone. She didn’t cause him to go running scared just at the thought
of commitment. He was going to do it soon before his vacation was over.
The sound of the tea
kettle whistling snapped him out of the trance he was in.

Christoph
added an extra
scoop
of instant coffee into his mug making it just the way he loved it
:
strong, bla
ck, and bold. He turned toward
the view outside of the kitchen window with his cup in hand. As he took a sip of
the strong coffee
,
he gazed out at the beach view. No matter which window he looked out of
,
he could see the the ocean
,
but he didn’t live there for the beach view like the other tenants. His apartment
w
as
within walking distance of the police station. Hey
,
he was practical
,
he wanted to make sure he could get to work within a few minutes if his car didn’t
start.

Cris
caught a whiff of himself as he placed the mug with the rest of the dirty dishes
in the dishwash
er
.
Damn
,
I need a shower
,
as he made his way up the stairs to his bathroom.

Cris
turned on the water as hot as his body could stand it. He stripped out of his clothes
and immediately placed them in the laundry basket behind his bathroom door. Surprisingly
,
he was a perfectionist
and
control freak when it came to keeping things neat and orderly
,
d
espite living in what was known as the ultimate bachelor
’
s bat cave
,
as his friends on the force called his apartment.

Steam poured out from
behind the shower curtain as Cris
stepped into the shower.
He quickly soaped up his
washcloth
, washed himself and his hair before walking closer to the showerhead. As he was
rinsing
himself off
,
painful memories of his sister invaded his
mind
.

T
rying to redirect the pain he was feeling
,
he
slammed his hands against the tile hard enough
that
a throbbing pain shot up his arm.
Cris
leaned forward until his head rested on the cool tile, water continued to cascade
down the back of his head and body.
H
e stood under the showerhead until the water began to turn lukewarm long after the
pain in his arm and hand had subsided.

‘
Get dre
ssed, she is waiting for you, Cris,
and remember
,
the eyes tell all
,’
a
voice whispered against his ear as the temperature in the bathroom suddenly dropped.

Cris
quickly turned around
,
his eyes opened wide in shock
.
H
e knew that voice, but it couldn’t be real
,
could it
?
It was just a figment of his imagination.

Damn
,
I need to get out of this house
,
h
e thought as he shut off the water and climbed out of the shower.

His cell phone rang just as he was slipping his shirt over his head. The ring tone
gave him a sense of urgency
,
it was the one
he
programmed for
Lynn
,
the police dispatcher
,
for emergencies. Lynn was a sweet older lady who became a police dispatcher after
she retired from the force over twenty-one years ago.

“Lynn,”
Cris
answered with a bit of panic in his voice.
Lynn had never called
Cris
on his personal time unless she thought it was a true emergency.

His mind quickly drifted back to the first time Lynn had hooked him up with a caller
that would only talk to him. The caller was a young boy whose family he had helped
out of a domestic case a week earlier. The kid’s father was an alcoholic who only
stumbled home when he ran out of money to take out his anger on his family. By the
time he got there
,
the kid
’
s father was already on top of his mother pounding out his frustration on her.
Cris
had quickly detained the father upon entering the home and whisked the kid, his younger
sister, and mother to
Heart of a Lion
,
a
nonprofit shelter his mother and father had started after his father was clean and
sober for over five years, and went through family counseling.

Cris’s
father was an alcoholic for many years until one day his mother took him and his
sister
,
Grace,
to a women's shelter over a hundred miles away
,
s
ince it was the only women's shelter close
ye
t far enough from their home. Having his family leave him
was a
w
a
ke
-up call for
Cris
's father and he quickly got help.
He went through a twelve-step program from there
, and
he had his sponsor set up family counseling with his wife and children.

When Chane
,
Cris
’s father
,
realized what he did to them and the pain
h
e caused them during his alcoholism
,
and how they had no place to turn to
,
h
e started the
Heart of a Lion
along with his wife
,
Daya
,
and a few of their close friends.

Anyone could
utilize
the shelter
and its services,
whether it was a woman, a woman and her children, a man,
or
a man and his children. Heart of a Lion firmly believed women weren’t the only ones
suffering from abuse. They opened their doors to anyone in need, but the women
and
their children were housed separately
from the men and their children
.

“Sorry to bother you on your
vacation, Christoph
, but a woman called for help and said she would only let you in. I
would have sent someone else
if I didn’t hear the fear in her voice
,
” Lynn said.

“No problem
,
Lynn
,
I needed to get out of the house. What is the address
?
”
Cris
asked
as he slipped on his shoes, grabbed his gun, badge, and cuffs.

Christoph
was already in his car and pulling
away from the curb
by the time Lynn finished giving him the address and everything else she knew.

****

Christoph
checked the address on the paper twice before stepping out of the car. As he approached
the home
,
the memory of the bad news he had delivered
Arie almost a year ago invaded his mind
.
She was the only wom
a
n who made h
is heart skip a beat and consumed his thoughts. He couldn’t help but think about
what they could have become now
i
f he hadn’t signed up for that undercover assignment a few weeks before they met.
The assignment took a little over six months to complete
;
he had ripped apart an underground trafficking rin
g
.
He would have called her as soon as he got back
if he had her number but he didn’t
,
so instead he decided to head over there.
However
,
b
ef
ore he could make it back to Ari
,
his partner was shot
. He went
after the men who shot Derrick
and then
soon after that
his sister was murdered
.
The sound of glass shattering caught his attention
,
causing him to pick up his pace. When he heard what sounded like a woman’s muffled
screams
,
he quickly alternated between banging on the door and ringing
the door
bell. Seconds to him felt like hours
and he couldn’t wait any longer. Cris
drew his gun and was about to kick down the door when it quickly flew open.

“Step
outside qu
ickly, Ms. De’Laross,” Cris
said as he tried to move around
Arie
to peek into the room.

“What are you doing here, Detective Crow?”
Arie
asked as she glared at him with a hint of confusion on her face.

She would remember that voice for the rest of life
,
she had heard it in her dreams right before waking up in a cold sweat. Now she was
finally able to put a face with the name of the detective who informed her of her
parents
’
death
s
. Her eyes fixated on his deep
,
chocolate brown
,
almond shaped eyes. His
body was built like a runner’s body,
muscled but not
too big
, he was sleek,
just the way she liked
a man’s body
. He had deep Cherokee features with a dark olive tone skin and a dimple in his left
cheek.
Arie
knew if she w
ere
to walk up to him
,
she would be able to fit under his
chin
perfectly
,
making him somewhere around six f
oo
t two. A spark of electricity shot through her when their eyes connected. She couldn’t
take her eyes off him
,
it was
as if
he had a spell put on her and she just couldn’t gaze away.

Quit looking at him like that
,
Arie
thought as she fought to tear h
er
gaze away.

Cris
was dazed for a few moments
,
unable to
speak
.
S
he was just as he remembered her. Jet-black hair flowing down h
er back with strong, high cheek
bones that reminded him of his beautiful ancestors. Full lips that instantly pulled
you in and if that wasn’t enough
,
light
brown eyes with green
specks
in them that seemed to draw him in
as if
he was prey.
Eyes that looked familiar.
Smooth dark caramel skin that had him wishing he had
the
courage to reach out and caress her face just once.

“I got a call from dispatch saying you needed an officer here and would only let me
in,”
Cris
finally answered.

“I never called dispatch
,
Detective Crow,”
Arie
said with a raised eyebrow.

“Either way I have to check your home now
,
so
please
step
aside and stay right here,” Cris
said as he step
ped
around her and into her home.

Normally she would have protested
,
but she didn’t have the energy at the moment so she let him by.

Wow
,
somebody likes sail boats
,
Cris
thought five minutes later as he walked back to the front of the house.

“All clear
,
you can
come in now,” Cris
called out to
Arie
as he
walked toward
the door.

“I could have told you that
,
now how about you leave my damn house
,
”
Arie
said
.
S
he knew he was doing his job
,
but she was still pissed. She hated when
people
just stepped in and took over for her without listening.

“How could you when you cannot even see
,
and what is with the glasses?
Plus
,
there is still the matter of the phone call.”
Cris
knew the signs
. He
wasn’t leaving until everything
got
sorted out.

“One
,
the glasses are from my eye surgery
,
and two
,
I can see again. Three
,
I repeat
,
I never called dispatch or anyone else today
,
and four
,
none of this is your
damn
business
,”
Arie
said as she slammed the door, crossed her arms in front of her body, and stared at
Cris
with a death stare.

Cris
ignored her and made his way over to the laptop on the living
room table.
He hated when people tried to protect their abusers
,
especially when someone was trying to help them. He didn’t want to outright confront
her about it and have her clos
e
up any
more than she already was.

“Hey, what are you doing with my laptop?
Just because you
’
re a cop does not mean you can barge your way into my home and act like you live here,”
Arie
said as she made her way toward him.

“I am about to prove you called dispatch a few minutes ago and then you are going
to stop lying to me,”
Cris
said as he logged into his account to look for the report of the call Lynn had sent
to him.

When
he found
the report
,
he reached into his pocket, pulled out his cell phone, and began to dial the number
from the report.

“Hello
,
”
Arie
answered her ringing phone.

“If you didn’t call
, then
why is
your number in the report?” Cris
asked as he stared at her.

“There is no way my number is in the report
,
”
Arie
said.

“Let’s listen to the call since you st
ill insist it wasn’t you,” Cris
said as
Arie
sat down next to him trying to peek over at the computer as he pressed play.

Cris
grew angry as the report played, someone was playing a joke on him
,
and he didn’t find it funny.

“Did you have
anything to do with this?” Cris
growled out as he stood and began to pace when the call was over.

“No
,
I have no clue what you are talking about
,
”
Arie
answered.

“My sister
,
that is my sister
’s
voice,”
Cris
hotly said as he balled his hands into a fist, tight enough to cut off his circulation.

“I don’t see what the problem is
,
maybe your sister is playing a trick on you, but I don’t see why she would send you
to my house,”
Arie
said with a shrug of her shoulders.

“You don’t
get it! My sister is dead!” Cris
yelled out as he punched the wall closes
t
to him.

‘
Here I am
,
Cristo
.
’
They both jumped as
Grace
’s voice echoed throughout the house. Newspapers began to drop out of thin air until
they covered the entire floor.

“What the hell is going on?”
t
hey both asked at the same time
,
with confusion and utter disbelief written on both their faces.

Arie
leaned down and picked up the closes
t
paper to her, looked at it and then picked up another. All of the papers had one
thing in common
:
on the front page was the Daytime killer.
Cris
did the same thing as
Arie
on the other side of the room.

‘Arie,
I know you believe in ghost
s
, help me help my brother believe
,’
t
he same voice from the night of the hospital whispered into
Arie’s
ear.

Arie
nodded her head as if to answer the sprit, ghost or whatever it was. She had always
believed in something beyond the living word
,
especially since she had been seeing ghost
s
since she was little.
Arie
had never told anyone about her
ability
to see ghost
s because
she knew they would think she was crazy. When she lost her eyesight
,
she could hear them but couldn’t see them. The spirits
’
voices were the only actual comfort she had in the dark all alone
,
whenever her father was away. Without a doubt in her mind
,
she knew it was
Cris’s
sister talking to her and for some reason she had brought them together. She also
knew
Grace hadn’t crossed over to the afterlife
because her spirit was restless. When someone’s spirit was restless
,
it usually meant they had to finish something before they could move on.

Cris
didn’t know what to think at first
,
he could pretend he didn’t hear
Grace
talking to him, but now that
Arie
had heard her as well, he couldn’t. He didn’t believe in ghost
s
or spirits
,
let alone hear them. But how could he continue to ignore what he knew was possible
all alon
g
. He didn’t want to believe in his famil
y’
s ancestral powers so he fought it like hell
,
even as a child.
Cris
didn’t know what to believe right now
,
he was at a crossroads
.
O
n one hand he believed and on the other he just couldn’t.

‘
You have to learn to accept who you truly are
,’
Grace whispered to Cris
.

Arie
turned to
Cris
and said when he sat on the couch
,
“Your sister needs our help.”

“Don’t tell
me you believe in that, too,” Cris
said as he looked at her.

Just as the final words left his mouth,
the blinds started to move up and down on their own
,
w
hile the doors began to open and slam shut
. Cris
quickly threw his hands up and unconsciously yelled
stop
in his head.

“How about this
,
you ask me a question only your sister would know and if I am right
,
you help
me bring peace to her spirit,” Arie
shot back at him with her arms folded in front of her
.
S
he hated when people didn’t see what was right in front of them or chose to ignore
it.

“What did you use
d
to sing when mom and dad use
d
to argue
?” Cris
asked the only question he knew
Grace
would only have the answer to.

‘
I use to go to your room and sing
“
Family Portrait
”
by
P
ink to try to block everything out
,’
Arie repeat word for word what Grace
said.

“What did Grace call her teddy bear I won her from the fair, when only the two of
us was around?” Cris asked. He knew Arie wouldn’t get this.

“It wasn’t a teddy bear it was a brown horse with a star between its eyes. I called
it Dancing Star when everyone else was around and Star Gazer when it was just the
two of us.”
Again Arie repeated each and every word Grace spoke back to Cris.

“Okay enough, I believe you both now,” Cris said, he couldn’t take it anymore hearing
Grace’s answers come through Arie. It was stirring up emotions he couldn’t or didn’t
want to deal with.

“How about you tell me why you finally decided to get the surgery? The last time
we talked you said you didn’t know whether you
were
going through it or not,” Cris said, needing to change the subject quickly.

“You
—
before you left to go on your case you told me life was about seizing the moments,
especially when you are scared. The only reason I was hesitant about the surgery
was because I was scared and those parting words from you was the push I needed
,
” Arie said.