“Well gosh, make sure to invite me to the wedding, you sap.”
“Hey!”
“I mean, don’t get me wrong, she’s cute and I’d do her, but I’d check under the bed and keep a bat handy, if you know what I mean.”
I scowled at him. “Dave, you’re such a pig.” He laughed with satisfaction.
“A bat and a body condom...” murmured Jen softly in my lap.
I looked down and saw that her eyes were half-open. She still looked like death, but I enjoyed a surge of relief while Dave laughed at her follow up. I said to Jen, “Hey, welcome back to the world! You had us worried, kiddo.”
“Naw, no problem. Take more’n a li’l’ bullet t’keep me down.”
“Okay, Rambo.”
The knot in my gut started releasing. I refrained from hugging her, but I did bend over and kiss her on the head. Her eyes closed and she relaxed back asleep. I wanted to weep, but there was nothing behind my eyes but sand.
We dropped into silence for a minute, and I tried to be a stone—without feelings or remorse. It wasn’t that hard, since I was dead tired and my skull was about to explode from the resurrection of my previous headache. When Spring offered, I gladly accepted her help and a soothing, cool wash of endorphins flowed through me, taking away my pain and some of my anxiety. Some, but not all. I couldn’t believe how I’d let down my uncle.
“Dave, Wendigota still has my uncle Mark, and he’s in there with all of Smith’s guards. We have to help him.”
Dave scowled in thought. “What was he doing there anyway, Finn?”
I thought about what Smith had said about Mark. Was it possible that my uncle was actually working with that whack job? Mark had mentioned him once, but just in passing. If he wasn’t with Smith, then what the hell was he doing there?
“I don’t know, Dave, maybe he was trying to rescue me.”
“By himself, without the cops? How would he even know you were taken? Wasn’t he out of town?”
I nodded. “Yeah, he was... Shit.”
I leaned my head back against the dirty bricks of the building and a new happy thought popped up. “I am so hosed, Dave. My parents are probably freaking out. They have no idea where I am and I escaped police custody by mind-fucking a guard.”
“Now there’s some really unpleasant imagery,” muttered Dave.
“Detective Hunter is going to be pissed,” I added.
“Yep, you are hosed, my friend.” Dave laughed. “I’m glad I’m not you.”
Colette appeared in front of us. “I have obtained an automobile.”
Both Dave and I shouted in surprise at her appearance. Colette scowled. “Be silent! We don’t know where those guards are.”
“Jesus, girl, don’t sneak up on us like that!” said Dave.
Colette scowled even more fiercely at Dave and then simply turned and walked away.
Dave looked at me. “Did I say something?”
I got up awkwardly with Jen. “You said ‘Jesus,’ Dave.”
“I thought she was religious. I figured she’d like people saying ‘Jesus.’”
I just ignored him. I didn’t have to even look at Dave to know there would be a grin on his face.
Colette had procured an ancient delivery van. Once upon a time, there had been lettering on its side, but it had been painted over with white. Dave rode shotgun, and I climbed into the cold bare steel back with Jen and leaned back against one of the empty storage racks mounted to the side. It wasn’t comfortable, but it was better than being shot at or rotting in a cage. Once we were in, Colette wasted no time in getting us out of there.
After we’d cleared the immediate area without any sign of pursuit, Dave leaned over to the front storage bin of the engine cowling and grabbed the gun that Colette had placed there.
“I’ll take this. Now give me back my bear before you contaminate it with your stink.”
Colette just glanced at him and said, “Keep the safety on or I will throw you out of this automobile.”
“I’d like to see you try, Mata Hari. Come on, cough up my bear.” She handed it back.
I started feeling a bit light headed.
Tank’s empty
,
dude,
reminded Spring.
I relayed the message. “I’m starving. I need to get some food or I’m going to pass out. Jen lost a lot of blood, so she needs a lot of fluids.”
Colette leaned around her seat and looked at me. “I am soree, but they took all my things, Finn. I do not have the money.”
“That’s okay, Dave’ll pay. I happen to know he’s got at least 200 bucks cash on him.”
“Hey!”
“Relax, you big baby. It’s not like it’s yours or anything.”
“Remind me not to come rescue you again.”
I ignored whatever else followed, used my sight to dive into Jen again, and did what I could to help her with the little bit I still had.
Dave woke me with a poke in the arm and a large white sack of heaven from a burger joint. The van was parked somewhere, my butt and legs were numb, and I needed one arm to hold on to Jen, still asleep in my lap, but I plowed through my feast in record time.
Three large hamburgers, fries and a liter of Coke later, I leaned against the back wall in contentment.
“Thank you, Dave. I love you, and I want to have your children.”
“Hey, I already offered you my sisters, but you didn’t want them.”
He placed a half dozen bottles of water next to me. “This is for Sleeping Beauty.”
I managed to get Jen to drink a few mouthfuls before she fell back asleep.
“So what’s the plan?” I asked.
Dave took a swallow of his huge Coke and nodded at Colette. “Well, el stinko Stabby McStabber here wants to go to one of her safe houses, but I’d rather be dropped into a pit of greased vipers.”
Spring’s glee brightened my day.
Stabby McStabber! That’s brilliant!
I laughed with her.
“This is not funny, Finn.” Colette scowled at me and then at Dave. “Where are we going to find clothes, or an ‘otel when we are all covered in the blood?”
“I say we just stop by a gang of kids, and Finn can hoodoo them to give you their clothes,” suggested Dave.
I recalled what it had felt like to be coerced by Smith and shuddered. “That is so not going to happen, Dave. I’m never going to do that to a person again.”
Dave shrugged. “You have a better idea?”
All I wanted to do was go home and see my parents. “Oh my God, my parents are going to be freaking out. We’ve got to go home, Dave.”
Well, we were kind of busy
,
Finn.
“
Non
,” said Colette. “You must not go home. You will endanger your parents. These people, they are killers.”
“Colette, they’re in danger already. My uncle’s under the control of Wendigota, and he knows where they live. He’s going to do everything he can to get my Caduceus and will look for me there first. I’ve got to warn them!” I hadn’t yet had time to properly mourn the loss of my phone, but this started me down that road. Those bastards had stolen my phone! I felt naked and helpless without it. How I could worry about a stupid phone at a time like this was beyond me.
“Dave, give me your phone.”
“What is it with you guys and taking my stuff?”
“Dave, they took my phone, and I need to warn my parents.”
Dave frowned but tossed me the phone.
“David! Have you heard from Finn?” My mother’s voice sounded hopeful but weary.
“Hi, Mom, it’s me.”
“Oh my God, Finn! Are you alright? What happened to you?”
“It’s a long story, Mom, but I need to tell you something important.”
“Why didn’t you call us? Do you know how worried we’ve been since Detective Hunter told us you left the hospital?”
“I’m sorry Mom, but that’s not important right now.”
“It will be when your father has his say.”
“Mom! Listen! You and dad are in danger. You need to leave the house, just go somewhere else and don’t tell anyone where you are going.”
“Tell her not to use ze credit cards,” said Colette.
“And Colette says you shouldn’t use your credit cards...” Oops, shouldn’t have said that.
Way to think on your feet there
,
Finn.
“Colette! What are you doing with that psychopath? She’s a murderer and should be put behind bars!”
Tell your mom, she already was—twice—and it didn’t stick. We need to just put her down.
“Mom, calm down, everything’s okay. I’m not in any danger right now, but you are.”
I heard a deep breath through the phone. “Alright Finn, tell me what you’re talking about.”
So, I told her. I concluded with, “Mom, I don’t know what kind of resources this Smith may have had, but if Mark gets access to them, it’s going to be bad. He has several shards from the Delacroix. He won’t stop until he has my Caduceus, and kidnapping you is the surest way to get to me.”
“Finn, your dad’s not here, I’ll have to wait for him to get home.”
“Okay, but call him, and get out of there as soon as you can.”
“What about you?”
I paused to think about it. “I’m on my way back. Can we meet at the Grease Burger—I mean the Mighty Burger, where I used to work? I’ll be there in about four hours.”
“Finn, we need to go to the police with this. We’ll meet you at the police station instead.”
“No, Mom! Look, Uncle Mark has the snake totem, all of my memories, and all of this Smith guy’s memories. He’s going to know how to use it as a source of power. From what Colette tells me, Smith was running an international assassination ring or something. He was collecting hoodoo power sources. Since Mark has the snake totem, I have no doubt that he’s already taken over the whole organization. We can’t risk letting him just walk into the station, shoot it up, or hoodoo everyone into believing he’s a Federal Marshal or something.”
A few silent moments later, she replied, “Okay, we’ll do it your way. Just don’t get yourself killed.”
“I’ll be careful, Mom. You be careful, too. I love you.”
“You too, sweetheart.”
“I will. Oh, if you need me, call me at this number. It’s Dave’s cell. Smith took mine. Bye.”
I hung up and handed the phone back to Dave. His nearly invisible blond eyebrows were reaching for the sky.
“What?” I asked.
“That’s it? You call your mom, tell her your uncle is possessed by a demon who wants you dead, and she agrees to leave the house? Finn, your family isn’t human. If I’d dodged my police protection and called home the next day, I wouldn’t get a word past ‘Hi.’”
“Well, after everything that’s happened this summer, I think my family is a bit more credulous about weirdness.”
“I haven’t told my parents a damned thing, and if they knew, they’d thank me for it. Old people aren’t flexible like we are. They like a very boring ordinary life.”
“Dave, your parents are what, forty-five? That’s not old.”
“Ha, you’d never know it from talking to them.”
“Well, my mom is a rock. Nothing shakes her. You should have seen her handle it...”
Dave’s phone rang. “Hello... Heya Pip! Just a second, I’ll get him.”
He handed me the phone again. Pip was his nickname for my sister Holly.
“Hey, Holly, what’s up?”
“Finn, what did you tell Mom? She’s totally freaked out. Are you alright?”
“I’m fine. What’s she doing?”
“She’s just sitting on the couch with her head in her hands and shaking all over.”
“Oh, crap.”
Holly’s voice was now accusing. “What did you tell her, Finn?”
“Listen, Holly, some really bad stuff is happening. I ran into a very bad man who took the Caduceus from me. As a result, the shadow’s loose, and it has infected Uncle Mark. I got the Caduceus back and escaped, but I’m afraid that the shadow is going to come after you guys to coerce me to give it up. You’ve got to get out of there.”
“What am I supposed to do, Finn?”
“Call Dad, and get him home, so you guys can get out of there. Meanwhile, just sit with Mom, be there for her.”
“Okay Finn, I’ll try.”
“I know you will, Holly. I love you. I’ll meet you at the Grease Burger in about four hours.”
“Okay Finn, bye.” She hung up, leaving me stricken with guilt and fear. My mom didn’t deserve this, and dumping it on Holly was criminal.
Dave looked at me over the seat. I immediately braced for impact from some verbal snark, but he said, “Shit, Finn, is your mom going to be okay?”
I tried to look confident and nodded. “Yeah, she’ll be just fine.”
She will be, Finn, she will be.
God, I hope so.
I looked over at Colette. She was talking softly and swiftly into her phone in her smooth, flowing French. I could barely hear her from the back.
I Looked in on Jen. She seemed to be healing nicely, but we would need to get some food in her to keep it going.
When Colette finished her call, we had a knock-down, drag-out about where we were going. Colette insisted that we drive to her family’s safe house in New York, and I insisted we were going to get my parents before we did anything else. Dave agreed with me, and made it exceedingly clear that Colette was welcome to go her own way. In the end, she agreed to drive us back to Newark. I assumed she didn’t want to let the Caduceus out of her sight.
I needed to think about something other than the danger I’d put my family in. After casting about mentally, I asked over the noise and rattle of the van, “Colette, when we were in the cage, Smith kept shooting at me and missing. Every time he shot at me, the whole world seemed to jump around me. Do you know anything about that?
“Euu...
non
.”
Yeah right,
said Spring with a mental snort of derision. I had to agree.
“Let me rephrase that. I know it was you, and I’m pretty sure it saved my life. Now tell me what you did.”
I couldn’t see her reaction from the back of the van, but just as I was about to prod her again, she said, “I bent the light, so he could not see where we were.”
“You can do that?” asked Dave with enthusiasm.
“
Oui,
it takes some practice, but it is not hard to do.”
“So, how do you do it?” I asked.
“Of course, there are different ways, but me, I use water.”