The Shadow Watcher

  Holding the guns gave me an awesome sense of power - not awesome in a cool way, but awesome in that grand ‘larger than life’ way. The intricacy of all the parts, working together to perform one split-second action with the potential for devastation, was strangely beautiful. I was never a big fan of guns, but I do have to admit that shooting at the range was kind of fun. The fact that I enjoyed it kind of scared me.

  After a couple of hours and a couple hundred rounds each, it was clear that Jay was a better shot than me with the rifles, but I was handling the Marquet Special rather well.

  “All right ladies,” Michael shouted, so we could hear him over our protective headgear, “time to pack it in.”

  We helped load the gun cases back in the Hummer, and I wondered, “What happens if you get pulled over with all this stuff?”

  “I don’t get pulled over,” Michael answered definitively.

  That wasn’t good enough for Jay. “But what if...”

  “We outrun them,” Kristoff smiled, and shut the cargo door.

  “Ummm, you know, I don’t really think that’s such a great idea,” Jayden commented as we got in.

  “Them catching Kristoff or me at all is not a good idea,” Michael looked at Kristoff. “Imagine that mess,” he remarked, and they both shook their heads. Then he flipped open a cover that was blended in with the dashboard, under which was a neon green button. “We push that and we’re gone, fifty miles in five minutes.” Neither of us had a response to that. He started the engine to drive us back to Mom’s. “Don’t forget to buckle up.”

  ***

  Michael’s team was already assembled at Mom’s house when we arrived.

  Alec opened the discussion, “It was the Travelers. However, they think you were just looking into Morrison’s past, they didn’t see that you found a connection to Bailey, or how close you were to finding the Brotherhood of Asclepius. None of it appears to have been of interest to them.”

  “I was close to finding the BOAs?” Jay asked.

  Kristoff nodded. “Almost there.”

  “So, it wasn’t the BOAs, and they don’t know we’re on to them?” Jay asked.

  “No, but they are watching you, too,” Alec warned. Jay gulped.

  “I’m really more concerned with the Society and the Travelers who are coming after us,” Michael interjected. “The BOAs are still working on theories as of now - they don’t know anything. We’ll continue to monitor them, but the Travelers are the immediate problem.”

  Alec sighed as he continued, “And they have confirmed that you were looking into connections pertaining to Mr. Marquet.”

  “But they already knew who Dad was, right?” I asked.

  “Yes. But if they know your friend is looking into your father’s past, they will suspect you know more than you do.” Kristoff warned.

  Mom cleared her throat, “So, what you’re getting at is while the computer situation isn’t good, it could be worse?”

  “Yes, Mam,” Alec, Annika and Kristoff responded in unison.

  She continued, “And there’s nothing we can do about it anyway?”

  And the chorus replied, “Yes, Mam.”

  “Then I think we should just move forward with our plan, and we’ll face whatever challenges this might present as they come.” That was basically directed at Jayden, telling her to quit freaking out. “Agreed?”

  We all joined in, “Agreed.”

  CHAPTER 18

  09/27/2006

  The Worst Date Ever

  After I got home, I started unpacking again, trying to find something to wear to go out with Bailey. He didn’t say where we were going, so I didn’t know if I should go dressy, or casual, or dressed-up casual.

  Luckily, Jayden arrived a few minutes later, and she quickly settled the matter. “Pants, for sure,” she declared while rifling through my closet, “if you don’t plan on going back to his place. If you wear a skirt, he’ll get the wrong idea.”

  Sadly, I agreed with her assessment. “Okay, so jeans then?”

  “No,” she plucked two hangars from the rod, “your ass-pants.” She presented a pair of form fitting black slacks, what she referred to as my “ass-pants” because they happened to show off my assets. A second later, she plucked out a dark purple cowl neck blouse. “And this, with the strappy heels. Conservative, but still sexy.”

  “That’ll work,” I grabbed the hangars and took them with me into the bathroom. “Keep an ear out for the door, will you?”

  “No prob.” She settled on the couch with the TV remote, as I shut the door.

  My shower was brief, but refreshing. Afterward, I brushed my hair, got dressed and did my make-up. I kept it toned down with nude shades on my eyes and just gloss on the lips. When the reflection looking back at me met with my approval, I grabbed a couple of Pepsis, and joined Jay on the couch. She was watching Psycho; it was just at the beginning of the shower scene.

  “So glad you didn’t have this on before, or I might not have showered.”

  “That would’ve been one way to get Bailey to bring you home early.” We both laughed, and sat back to watch the movie.

  A knock at the door came promptly at seven; Jay went to open it, while I scrambled to find my heels. “Wait,” I warned her. “Check the peephole.”

  She put her eye to the glass, “It’s the one who shows his face in public with you.”

  “Shhh! Let him in.”

  She opened the door, and he looked surprised to see her there. “Jayden, how nice to see you. I didn’t expect you to be here.”

  “Oh, I’m spending the night here and flying out with Sam tomorrow. After we make sure Mama Marion’s okay, I’m thinking about taking a train back. There’s a dig at an ancient Native American site that I’d like to observe for a few days.”

  “Yes, she’s hoping to prove a theory that the tribes in Utah used grasses imported from Colorado in their basket weaving.” Divide and conquer, that was the plan. “But don’t get her started or we’ll never get out of here.”

  “No, don’t mind me. Artemis and I are going to watch some more old black and white horror flicks.” She made a shooing gesture with both hands at us, “You two get out of here.”

  I picked up my purse and headed for the door. “Don’t wait up,” I said, jerking my head at her when Bailey wasn’t looking.

  She remembered to play the nag. “Don’t forget, curfew is eleven! We have to be off early.”

  “Yeah, we do. I forgot to tell you, Bail, we got on an earlier flight.” I chattered away as we went out the door. I listened for Jay to engage the deadbolt before we went down the stairs.

  ***

  Once we were on the road, I decided to ask, “So where are we going?” He hadn’t mentioned where we would be dining.

  “Oh, a little place that’s out of the way.”

  That was less descriptive than I was looking for, but all he would reveal.

  Changing the subject, he asked, “How is your Mom? Have you spoken with her?”

  “Yes, well, briefly this morning. Then they whisked her away for some more tests. She was asleep both times I called back, and so I finally gave up and decided to let her sleep. I’ll see her tomorrow.”

  “I’m sorry, Sam. I know how worried you must be.”

  I sniffed a couple of times, and pretended to wipe away a tear, “She’ll be fine. She has to be.”

  We rode the rest of the way in silence. When I realized we were headed toward the mountains, my throat went dry and my palms started sweating. To my relief, we turned east and away from Route 39. Then I figured out where we were going.

  “You’re taking me to The Enchantment Inn, aren’t you?” It’s a pretty little B&B nestled in the foothills, with a view over the San Gabriel Valley and a five star-restaurant.

  He glanced at me quickly, with a sheepish grin, “You got me, Sherlock.”

  “What’s the occasion?”

  He took my hand, keeping just his left on the wheel, “I wanted to
take your mind off of things for a little while, at least a couple of hours, before you have to go take care of your Mom.” He squeezed my hand reassuringly and continued, “I want you to know how important you are to me, Sam.”

  The grinding of my emotional gears was almost audible as they shifted; I was afraid the conversation was headed for the moving in together talk again, and I really wasn’t in the mood for it. “Bail, you’re important to me too.” Yes, that was the best I could come up with.

  His expression was wistful, not scheming, and I caught myself trying to convince me that I was crazy. After all, how could anyone as wonderful as Bailey possibly be plotting against me with his high school buddy, Raymond Morrison?

  We drove the rest of the way up the little winding road without speaking, which didn’t bother me. The road was full of twists and curves, like the one up the canyon to the Mansion in the Mountain, but it wasn’t nearly as long.

  Bailey parked the car on the gravel lot. The Inn truly looked enchanted, built as a natural extension of the hillside; it was reminiscent of a Thomas Kinkade cottage scene, with the added magic of colorful, yet tasteful, L.E.D. lighting.

  I reached for the door handle, and he reached for my hand. “Sam, wait,” his eyes were troubled. “There is something I need to tell you. I’m afraid to tell you.”

  “Whatever it is, Bailey, you can tell me.”

  He took a deep breath, “I haven’t been completely honest with you, Sam.” His voice quavered.

  “About what, Bail?” I was not surprised, but feigned it as best as I could. “You’re not married, are you?”

  The right corner of his mouth turned upward, for about a half a second. “No. It’s about the man that attacked you, Raymond Morrison.”

  He paused until I nodded for him to continue.

  “Ray and I grew up a couple of blocks away from each other. We were best friends.”

  I gasped. “But how?” He decided to wait until just before a romantic dinner to bring this up? “Why didn’t you tell me right away?”

  “I wasn’t sure it was the same guy. I mean ... I guess I hoped it wasn’t him, but after looking at the picture, and confirming some information with Detective Ramirez I knew it was him.”

  “But you grew up in Pennsylvania?”

  “Yes, and I thought moving to the West Coast would finally liberate me from Ray for good. Apparently he found me and - I am so sorry for this - as a result, he became infatuated with you.”

  “Why?” I was totally lost. It wasn’t at all what I’d expected from that night.

  “It’s a long story, goes back to High School, maybe earlier. Ray always felt, I don’t know how to put it....”

  “Jealous of you?”

  He ran his hand through his hair, “Yeah, I guess that’s it. It’s really hard for me to talk about it, but this isn’t the first time he’s targeted a victim because of her involvement with me.”

  “Hence the third strike?”

  “Provided he doesn’t get off on an insanity plea and do time in the asylum instead, like the last time. Sam, I’m so sorry that I put you in danger.”

  He seemed genuine. I couldn’t believe that it was an act. “You had no way of knowing he would follow you. It’s not your fault.”

  “That’s what Tim said. And it’s nice to hear you say that, but it doesn’t make me feel any less responsible.”

  I put my hand to his cheek. “You aren’t responsible for his actions, or insecurities for that matter.”

  He took my hand and pressed his lips to my palm. “I don’t know what I would ever do if something happened to you.”

  There was something off, something he was still leaving out. “Bailey, what did he do before?”

  “Nathaly was my prom date senior year, and first girlfriend, probably my first love. He drove her mad.” He took a deep breath before going on. “He stalked her, left gifts, stole her underwear. He killed her cat, and left its gutted corpse on the porch for her to find. It was the day that the firecrackers went off under her car that she finally shut herself away in her mind, and never spoke again.”

  “How terrible,” I empathized.

  “When she looks at something, it’s like she doesn’t see it, like it isn’t there. She looked through me every time I went to visit.” There were tears in his eyes. “I never had a reason to suspect Ray at the time. It wasn’t until a couple of years later, when I started dating again. I was in college, and Kari was the first girl who distracted me from Nathaly. She made me feel alive again. I guess I had been in a sort of catatonic state of my own.”

  He was looking down and through the floor of the car; he was far away, wherever this Kari was. “What happened to her, Bail?”

  “He broke into her dorm room the first night we went out and tagged up the walls - whore, slut, bitch, stuff like that. Big, red letters. Two weeks later, we met up at a party at one of the frat houses, somehow we got separated, someone told her I left and someone else told me she did. So she did leave, and I followed not long behind her.

  “It was fortunate that I did, soon I heard screams and as I ran toward them, I heard a struggle. I shouted for help repeatedly, and came upon them in the brush. He was on top of her and had ripped her blouse off....”

  “You don’t have to say anymore.”

  “But I do. That night, he ran off, and I never saw his face. Then, on the three month anniversary of our first date, Kari died. More accurately, she fell out of her window, trying to escape her assailant. They managed to collect some DNA from under her fingernails, but as Ray was not in any database, it wasn’t linked to him.”

  “Then how do you know?”

  “After graduation, I had an internship in New York over the summer, and well, Amber was an intern at one of the fashion mags. I didn’t even get to know her well enough to remember which one before....” He shuddered. “We went to the same coffee house, so we’d hung out there several times before we actually went out on a date. I went to pick her up for the second date, and found her door ajar, and blood ... the blood was everywhere. I didn’t go in, and was later upset that I hadn’t. The police told me there was nothing I could have done, but I don’t know.”

  “Bailey, I’m so sorry,” I didn’t know what else to say.

  “But Amber’s murder was where he slipped up. He took off his bloody gloves before he left, and left a fingerprint on the doorknob as he fled.

  “He had been arrested for auto theft, and did time right after Kari’s death. The police literally arrested him six hours after she died. There was no connection between her death and Morrison whatsoever, he had stolen the car out of state the night before.

  “He served a year, and was out on parole. I never knew about any of it. He left behind that one fingerprint, and everything finally came together. They matched his DNA with that under Kari’s nails, and when he saw me at the trial he asked, ‘When was the last time you went to see Nathaly? She told me she misses you.’”

  “Bailey, I don’t even know what to say. I’m so sorry.” I shook my head, “I’m sorry for being angry with you for being over-protective.” I kissed him on the forehead, and pulled his head to my breast.

  We sat like that for several minutes; I stroked his hair as he wept. How could I have doubted him? I held him, rocked him, shushed him, until his body stopped heaving and my doubts about him were swept into the dustiest corner of my mind.

  He attempted a weak smile, “I’m sorry, Sam. I know we came all the way here, but I’m afraid I’ve lost my appetite.”

  “Yeah, me too.”

  “Do you mind if I just take you home tonight, Babe? You need to be up early, and you should be focusing on your mother, not me and my problems of the distant past.”

  “Bailey, those problems aren’t so distant if Morrison is here now, are they?”

  “No. I suppose not.” He kissed me gently. “I don’t know what I would have done if....”

  I kissed him again, cutting him off. “They have him now; he
won’t be able to hurt anyone else.”

  ***

  Clutching my left hand to his chest, Bailey would not release it the whole way back to my studio. He occasionally raised it to his lips, pressing them to my knuckles.

  He pulled up in front of my building, and we sat there, with his lips pressed again to my knuckles, for maybe fifteen minutes. Then, there was an unspoken understanding that it was time for us to part, and he leaned in to press his lips to mine. It was a soft, tender kiss that begged for the forgiveness that my heart had already given.

  He cradled my cheek in his palm, and pulled back, looking me in the eyes. “I really hope your mom is going to be okay.” He leaned his forehead against mine. “I will send all of my positive energy with you. Call me when you can?”

  “I will,” I promised. Then I gave him another quick peck on the cheek, and opened the car door.

  He pulled back on my hand as I set my right foot on the ground, “I love you, Sam.”

  I squeezed his hand back, and tried to smile. “I know.” I got out and shut the door behind me.

  Back in my studio, I flipped the light on for a second, just to confirm that Jay was still there. She’d unfolded the sofa into the queen size bed to accommodate us both for the night and was already off in the Land of Nod. I flipped the light off, and turned the deadbolt before joining her.

  CHAPTER 19

  09/28/2006

  Road Trip

  Artemis’ purring in my ear brought me back to the realm of consciousness, rescuing me, after too few hours of sleep, from my nightmares. I didn’t remember getting in bed, or falling asleep. I did remember dreaming about Raymond Morrison, and Bailey’s previous girlfriends.

  Turning over, I was immensely relieved to see Jayden looking back at me, blinking the sleep from her eyes, “Good morning.”

  She just blinked.

  “Yes. No speak until coffee. I understand.” I decided to share Bailey’s story later, after we gathered with Mom and Michael, to avoid having too many discussions about it.