Oblivion (11 page)

“I thought you said you didn’t know it happened,” Lindsay said and did the math. Marnie got pregnant in late December, but Jace only rushed to help her in mid-March. It didn’t sound right. It was obvious Marnie didn’t go to Jace until she had to.

“You must have misunderstood me. I didn’t know about what happened last summer. This thing with them was all recent to me as far as I knew.”

Lindsay just caught Cameron in a lie. She clearly heard him say he hadn’t known about it until Marnie told him in February, yet he now said Jace confessed back in December. She ignored the warnings in her head to run. She had to calm down.

“No, he wasn’t perfect, but I won’t listen to people put him down to me, Cam. He’s not here to defend himself. You forget he was my best friend too.”

Cam looked away and got up from his chair. He had an obvious sneer on his face. “Jesus, Lindsay, you got it bad for Jace even now, don’t ya? Doesn’t matter what he did, you would forgive it?”

“I loved Jace, Cam. Don’t try and tell me who he was,” she argued as she grabbed her book bag and purse. “I knew him better than you did.”

“I’m sorry, hey, don’t go,” Cam said and turned with a sad look on his face that didn’t match his cold eyes. “We’re all messed up right now, Lindsay. This thing with Jace and Marnie, and my dad is on my ass to get this scholarship. I wasn’t thinking. I’m sorry. You of all people don’t need this crap right now.”

Lindsay relaxed her guard, but already heard enough to make her aware of some sense Cam was not sorry at all. Sheriff Wilson’s words echoed in her head about his lack of emotion. Fear gnawed at her insides as she made for the door.

“We’re all going up to The Point tonight, Lindsay. You should come with us. It would do you good. Everybody is gonna be there.”

She stiffened and forced a smile. “Not tonight, Cam, but I appreciate the offer.”

His sudden look of anger alerted her. She felt tense all over.

“Come on, Lindsay. Just for a couple hours. I’ll have you home by your curfew, I promise.”

Lindsay thought about Sheriff Wilson’s words and knew she owed it to Jace to get to the bottom of what happened that morning weeks ago. She had an opportunity to get close to Cam now.

 Insidious fear clawed at her insides to think Cam was capable of such a coldblooded murder. Her breathing grew steadier. She forced a calm she was far from feeling. The urge to run was strong.

“Why not, it might be fun,” she said and saw him grin in response.

“I’ll pick ya up at eight.”

“Alright, but I don’t want to talk about this anymore, Cam. I’m trying to put this all behind me now,” she warned and her hand trembled on the knob. “Just don’t put him down to me.”

“No problem, Lindsay. Not a word, I swear.”

~ ~ ~

Lindsay sat in the car and trembled as she started the station wagon, feeling such sudden panic and horror. It was that moment she knew Cam did it. She felt it, like Sheriff Wilson had. What she saw in his eyes, such emptiness; she knew he killed the man she loved. Why? It didn’t matter why anymore. Cam had always been in Jace’s shadow, with sports, with girls, their friends. Now Jace was gone and he acted as if he’d never been here.

She drove home and didn’t quit shaking until she got inside. Sara was babysitting and her mom was at work. She reached for the vodka bottle under the sink and sat on the kitchen floor, hot tears streaming down her face.

Jace hadn’t even seen it coming when Cam led him to slaughter. Her heart hurt as she drank from the bottle, grimacing at the taste as it burned down her throat. Her sobs grew fewer and the bottle was soon empty.

She closed her eyes, trying to keep her nerves steady. The thought of being anywhere near Cam made her feel sick. Her blue eyes grew fierce. Jace deserved to be avenged. His only crime in Cam’s eyes was having everything he didn’t. It hit her suddenly; his interest in her since Jace’s death. A wave of disgust washed over her. Obviously the scholarship wasn’t the only thing he expected.

Lindsay staggered to her feet and glanced at the clock on the microwave. It was nearly six. She went into the bedroom, glad for the liquid courage as she opened her closet to pick out something to wear. How did one accessorize for an evening out with a killer?

Chapter Seven

Jace stood in the lot behind the warehouse as Merrick flipped on the flood lights, showing targets at the far end of the lot. He was tired of target shooting. Drea arrived and mumbled something in Spanish as she rolled in on a motorcycle, seeing him and shaking her head.

“You still here, Newbie?” she said with a brittle laugh. “We had bets you’d run or get caught by a demon by now.”

Jace knew Drea had an issue with new people, according to Merrick. She trusted no one, not even Merrick. “Nope. Still here holding my soul; but thanks for betting on me. Appreciate the confidence.”

“I bet against you,” she muttered with a scornful laugh and went to talk to Merrick privately.

“Thanks,” Jace whispered with a scowl as he aimed and fired the semi-automatic 45 mm and went down the line of targets, striking each one successfully. Merrick said he was a natural with a gun. He had to have something to do day in and day out.

Merrick made him take the guns apart and clean them and put them back together blindfolded. He was mistaken thinking it was a gangbanger thing. Merrick did two tours in Viet Nam before he turned to the streets. He was learning a lot about the man.

Drea looked upset, unlike the unflappable former nun turned avenging demon-killer.  She was normally as hard as nails. Seeing her coming apart at the seams was enough to give him pause. She left soon after, not sparing him a glance as she sped by on the Harley.

Merrick approached with a worried look. “We got a problem, Kid. I need to step out tonight. We got four Newbie’s all came in at the same time and got nabbed by deadheads. We’re going in to bust them out.”

“I’ll go along, you need help,” Jace offered but the black man shook his head.

“You ain’t been trained to fight deadheads yet,” Merrick replied and folded his arms across his chest, shaking his head. “They don’t drop like demons. They dead too, Kid.”

“How do you stop them then?”

Merrick grinned then. “We can stun them. A couple rounds to the head usually do the trick. Enough time to get away, or in this case, rescue a bunch a Newbie’s lookin’ for a phone to call home like you did. It ain’t usually pretty, Kid. They like to torture them, wait till they heal, and start over.”

Jace swallowed hard, getting a visual, but he was determined to learn all he could. Time was running out. He died three weeks before and he was in a hurry to get back to Lindsay.

“You babying me now, Merrick?” Jace asked with a cocky grin. “This is the perfect opportunity to train me and you know it.”

“I got my hands full tonight, Kid,” he argued. “I can’t be at your back and do what needs to be done. Then we got demons waiting for us on our way out. You go it’s at your own risk.”

“Why was Drea so upset?” Jace asked.

Merrick looked away. “The guy who killed her is one of the Newbie’s. She ain’t going with me.”

Jace looked outraged. “Why bother saving his ass at all?”

“We don’t discriminate down here. Besides, the other three don’t have anything to do with it.”

“You need me then if you’re short Drea tonight.”

 “Crazy damn cracker,” he muttered and sighed. “Fine, go get suited up and grab as many guns as you can carry. We leave when the others get here.”

Jace went back inside and suited up, wearing the bulletproof vest as Merrick warned him. They couldn’t die, but like the deadheads, they would be stunned if shot. Getting stunned with a demon on your tail was kissing your soul goodbye.

He loaded a couple automatic rifles and pistols and grabbed a couple of grenades as an afterthought. Merrick joined him and did the same. The alarm went off at the garage door and a close-circuit TV showed three dark-clad men, all dangerous-looking.

The largest was Murdoch, bald and terrifying. He never had much to say and Jace hadn’t heard him use a full sentence yet. The second was McNeil, a boisterous Irishman who had the reddest hair he’d ever seen.

The third was a young man closer to Jace’s age. His eyes revealed he was far older. He was the oldest of them all. Merrick said he’d been in Oblivion centuries and said most deferred to him for that reason. Jace had no reason to dislike him, but something about the guy bothered him.

Raymond barely looked at him as he approached Merrick. “You ready? They grabbed the Newbie’s an hour ago. We’re wasting time.”

“The kid’s going with us tonight,” Merrick said and Raymond frowned, his young face filled with irritation.

“He’s not ready, Merrick,” Raymond argued and looked at Jace with a scowl.

“I’m ready,” Jace snapped boldly.

“Ready are you?” Raymond asked pleasantly but his pale blue eyes were cold. “You’ve been here a couple weeks Newbie. You’re ready when I say you are. Tonight’s not the night to initiate you in this. We have a dozen demons circling the deadhead’s hideout right now wanting a piece of the action. You’ll be in the way.”

“He’s a crack shot, Raymond,” Merrick defended Jace. “He can stun them when we get in. Without Drea, we need him, like it or not.”

Raymond gazed at Jace without a bit of warmth. “If one of us loses a soul because of you, Newbie; I’ll hand you to the demons myself, is that clear?”

Jace knew from Merrick, Raymond was the leader because of his age, a seniority thing that went back to the Civil War. Jace wondered why Raymond was still here, reasoning the former young Yankee officer had some serious issues in his past like Merrick. Eventually they would all move to the next level, whether it was upstairs or down. That was another thing he learned from Merrick.

Those who stopped over in Oblivion weren’t all waiting to get into Heaven. Some deserved far worse than here. Drea’s assailant would be protected under their system, one that didn’t recognize what happened in the real world. The thought of Cameron showing up down here made him rail at the unfairness of it.

“I won’t get in the way,” Jace said and ignored the guy as he continued to load as many guns over his shoulder as he could hold.

“Drea had to go cool off,” Merrick told Raymond. “She wants a piece of the guy coming in.”

“It doesn’t work like that, Merrick,” Raymond said without emotion, his eyes hard as granite. “If that was the case, I would have handed every confederate bastard who landed here over to the demons when I got here. That was in her human life. She needs to let it go.”

Jace held his tongue, wanting to know how anyone could really do that. If Cameron was in front of him right now, none of these men would stop him from exacting his vengeance. He felt for Drea.

“Just so you know; she wants no part in training the guy.”

“She’ll do as she’s told, Merrick. Look at it like another foot soldier down here, no more. We all have to stay one step ahead of the demons, like it or not.”

“This is the guy who took her out!” Jace finally snapped. He could take it no more. “So what if he’s already dead? What does it matter? She’s here because of him and you would expect her to train the guy?”

Raymond smiled coldly. “When you’re here long enough, Newbie, you’ll realize we have no choice. The alternative is giving him to the demons. I’m not about to jeopardize my chance to get out of here one day by doing that.”

“You said you’d do it to me if I got in your way,” Jace reminded him with a raised eyebrow.

“Merrick, inform the Newbie how he’s to address me in the future. I’ll consider this disrespect part of his ignorance, but next time, I’ll handle it,” Raymond said in a menacing tone.

~ ~ ~

Merrick saw the undercurrent between Jace and their leader and sighed. “Jace, load up the van and be quick about it. We leave in ten.”

When Jace walked away, Merrick looked at Raymond with an amused look. “Why you let a Newbie get under your skin, Raymond? He’s right, by the way. I’ll take the guy. Drea don’t need to train the guy who raped and killed her.” 

“We all have to put aside our mortal issues down here, Merrick,” Raymond reminded him coolly. “If it’ll make you happy, McNeal or Murdoch can train the guy.”

“Fine, just keep him away from Drea.”

Raymond looked unmoved. “If Drea can’t get beyond this, Merrick, she isn’t any good to us.”

“I’ll talk to her, but you know how she is,” Merrick said tightly.

“Our little nun forgets her vows when it’s convenient,” Raymond observed smugly.

Merrick bit off what he might have said. Raymond took the rejection by Drea a little too personally. She wasn’t interested in men anymore now than when she was a nun.

Raymond didn’t even think like a human to not see that. She would never recover from what happened to her. Instead Raymond went out of his way to be vindictive. He couldn’t see keeping the Newbie who wronged Drea in their ranks was asking for trouble, even if it amused him to do so.

Merrick saw a bad moon on the rise where no moon existed anymore.  He had his hands full with Jace. Now he’d have to keep his eyes on the Newbie who hurt Drea. And Drea herself, in case she gave into the rage he’d seen in her eyes
. Never a dull moment in Oblivion
, he thought sourly.

~ ~ ~ 

Lindsay regretted agreeing to go out with Cam the minute he picked her up. His eyes were so dilated she wondered what he was on tonight. Funny how she had never noticed his drug use prior to Jace dying? He was on something a little more than just marijuana tonight.

“Cam, can you slow down?” she asked as he took the curves on Cutter’s Pass over eighty, the Mustang roaring.

His expression was teasing. “Oh come on, you don’t want to see what this baby can do?”

“I’d like to live if you don’t mind,” she said tightly, her imaginary brake engaged even if the real one wasn’t.

Cam laughed at that, his handsome face giddy and flushed. She was in panic and told herself to calm down. He kept putting his hand on her knee too and she kept moving away. Obviously he thought her agreement to go tonight was a date.