“Ted and I crawled out of the Night of the Living Dead during the midnight showing.”
“You were children…”
“Sally, we were adults, and we had machetes under our jackets.”
“Cid, how can I have a normal life when I’m far from normal?” she asked.
“With a little help. But normal is boring. Trust me.”
“Did I hurt you? I’ve hurt people before.”
“No. I need to learn what to do and not do. Let me help you, Sally.”
Sally began to cry - not tears of hysteria or tears of sorrow, but the stream of tears moving away from her eyes at an alarming rate were tears of relief. She clung to Cid. “I need my medication, and then I’m going to sleep. The adrenaline surge has left me exhausted.”
Cid went out and found Sally’s purse. He brought it back to her with a bottle of water. “I’ll take over the kitchen until you can manage.”
“Please stay with me until I sleep.”
“You couldn’t pull me away with a 10x10.”
After Sally fell asleep, Cid picked up the laundry and carried it into the carriage house. He started a load and pulled out the book and began to read. It didn’t take him long to catch up to where Sally had stopped. He changed over the loads and pulled a beer out of the refrigerator. He texted Jesse that Sally needed some peace and quiet and that Cid was on laundry duty.
I’ve got you covered. You owe me a story. J
Chapter Sixteen
Kiki slammed down a booklet.
Alan looked over. “Out with it.”
“How can this be an evil man? There are dozens of testimonials on how he helped his neighbors, his community and his country. Why would he want to hide these?”
“I can’t find any faults except that he never mentions a woman in his life. It’s almost unheard of that a bachelor would become a statesman.”
“Constance Atwater Princeton, his widowed aunt, took over most of the entertaining. Before you waste your time, her husband died in Europe trying to save a family trapped during an avalanche prior to Arnold starting off his illustrious career.”
“I found evidence that there may have been and still is a woman in Arnold’s life. Look at these photos.”
Kiki stared at the newsprint photo and saw Arnold cutting the ribbon on a mall. There was a group of dignitaries. Amongst them was a beautiful woman with black Spanish lace on her head. “Another widow?” Kiki questioned.
“Here’s another photo,” Alan said.
Arnold was dancing with a child who had braces on her legs. There was a dark beauty looking on from the crowd.
“Notice, in both photos, everyone is listed but the lady.”
“Wait!” Kiki said and thumbed through one of the booklets she had read. “I didn’t think anything of it, but here is a picture of Arnold dockside launching a ship. She’s in the crowd watching.”
Alan pushed a copy of a Washington gossip column in front of Kiki and tapped the picture beside it. “The writer doesn’t mention the woman. It’s as if she didn’t register in anyone’s mind, just on film.”
“Who is she, and how does she fit into this?” Kiki asked. “She could be a dark magic practitioner. She could have summoned the heritage demon for August Atwater.”
“By why stick around?” Alan mused.
“She could be controlling the heritage demon. Cid said, if it hasn’t taken any Atwater souls to Hell and increased its coffers with gold, then there is a possibility that the demon is somehow a slave to Atwater.”
“You met with the Atwater family lawyer in my building. I’m having security pull footage of everyone who was in the building at the time,” Alan insisted.
“Why?”
“I want to see if the heritage demon was around when you agreed to take this job. And if so, does it show up on film? More importantly, was this woman with it?”
“Call Cid too,” Kiki said. “Keep him in the loop.”
Alan raised an eyebrow.
“Don’t say a word,” Kiki said, putting her finger to his lips. “Let’s get back to work. I still have Arnold’s state legislator years to finish. I’m taking pictures of the lady every time I see her.”
Alan nodded and started in on the next stack of periodicals.
~
Cid made sure the contractors were fed before he folded the laundry and walked back into the trailer. He glanced in and saw Sally was still sleeping. He put away the bedding and his clothes. He put Sally’s clothes on the counter. He decided to sit down and finish reading the book in the trailer. He brewed himself some tea and sat down and opened the book.
There’s no other way of saying this but the drinks were laced with something. The world was a blur. Jon was the first to sink in his chair. I saw Arnold raise his hand, and two hooded figures came out from behind the carved screen. They carried his body up the circular steps. I tried to get up to save him, but I found my legs would not hold me.
“Why are you doing this?” I asked.
“I’m sorry, but you have to be sacrificed. It’s for the good of this country. It’s for the good of my family,” Arnold said. “I don’t have the power to stop my grandfather on my own. I have put my trust in my lover Miss Gee.”
“I have a family. Me mam and da are needing the wage I send them.”
“They will be compensated, Daniel Sullivan,” Miss Gee said as she caressed the side of my face.
The cloaked acolytes returned. They rolled back the rug, and Miss Gee took out several black candles that had been stored in the room. She started to speak in a strange
