Oblivion (39 page)

Lindsay frowned. “What’s going on? I thought you weren’t going to risk salvation for any of you?”

“They’re not going to kill him; just rough him up a little.”

Lindsay smiled and watched Matt suddenly fly backward into a tree trunk, pinned there and jerking around as he was pummeled by an unseen force.

“It doesn’t look like he’s going anywhere until Bob gets here. I’m so glad this is over, Jace. We did it. Everybody will know the truth now about what they did to you.”

Jace shrugged. “I don’t care about any of that anymore, Lindsay. I realized it didn’t mean as much to me as you and my family when it comes right down to it.”

“When are you leaving tomorrow?” she asked with a lump in her throat, trying not to cry.

“First thing in the morning,” he said and his hand slid through hers, waving and linking within hers. “I did what I came to do, Lindsay. I have to go back. You have to go on with your life now.”

Lindsay looked up at him and tears filled her gaze. “I’m never going to love anybody like I do you, Jace. Don’t ask me to.”

He leaned down and his ghostly lips slid against hers, making her feel a cool sensation. He drew away and regarded her with love in his gaze.

“I’m never going to love anybody like that either, Lindsay,” he promised and watched as Sal and Artie and the others tormented Matt, smiling slightly.

They stood watching Matt fighting against his invisible assailants as the deputy Sheriff finally arrived, lights flashing. Kids took off running in every direction then. Cars took off quickly as the party ended abruptly.

Jace and Lindsay watched Gary Wilson’s car pull in as a fleet of teenagers left The Point. He was speaking with Bob and the pair started walking towards Lindsay. Jace grinned as he saw Matt was now shrieking and going down on his knees, looking like a nut as he fought off the ghosts.

Bob and the Sheriff led him away sobbing. The deputy put him in the back of the SUV and left. Gary approached her and they stood at the bomb fire, watching it burn.

“They’ll be out here searching for Cameron come morning. I put a bug in Dan’s ear a couple month’s back. He’ll think this was the work of the drug dealers. You got nothing to worry about, Lindsay,” he was telling her to alleviate her worry.

“I know, Sheriff,” she said as she looked up at Jace, a soft smile curving her lips. “I’m not worried about anything anymore.”

Jace walked her to the truck, and he leaned inside the window, smiling at her in a way that nailed him as the cutest boy in the world, hands down. She felt a pang of sadness knowing he would leave tomorrow.

Tonight they would spend those last moments together. He reached out and his hand touched her cheek, making her shiver.

“I’ll be there in a little while. The Newbies all need a pep talk before we leave in the morning,” he told her. “We have to get our story together for Raymond.”

“Don’t take forever,” she warned and smiled. “I want to enjoy every minute until you leave.”

Jace looked at her and smiled. “I’ll be right behind you.”

Chapter Twenty-Two

Lindsay pulled away from The Point, waving at Jace, and taking his word for it all his ghost buddies were standing there. He said he’d catch up with her at her place later. She turned onto the mountain road. During the descent she realized the brakes went out on the truck.

Panic set in as she realized she couldn’t stop, slamming her foot on the brake pedal repeatedly. She was whispering a prayer as the truck increased in speed. She bit her lip and stifled a sob as she futilely pumped the brakes again and again. The truck began to go even faster as the downward momentum picked up.

Lindsay was crying by then, knowing she was going to crash the truck. It was going too fast now. She couldn’t make the curve at the bottom of the hill as fast as she was going. A sense of calm seemed to fill her as she recalled Jace’s words about death.

She thought about a lot of things those last minutes the truck sped up in a downward plunge to the bottom. She thought about Jace; how wonderful it was to have him in her life. She thought about every moment shared in those last moments. Her family’s faces made tears fill her gaze.

She thought about everything she was going to miss, clinging to the image of Jace in her mind. Lance and Marnie’s baby, college, her future, everything she ever wanted flashed before her eyes. The descent grew faster. She saw trees in a blur out the corner of her eye as the old truck picked up speed and careened downhill.

Lindsay braced herself for the impact that was quick to come as the truck reached the bottom of the hill. In slow motion, she saw the tree ahead in the truck’s path. The truck hit the tree dead on across the sharp turn off the mountain road. She felt burning pain as she was propelled forward into the windshield, felt numbness, and then a floating sensation.

~ ~ ~

Jace ran to the bottom of the hill and stared at the sight of his truck smashed into the tree with a cry of denial. The truck was crushed and smoking. Metal and broken glass was everywhere on the road. He fell to his knees, staring at the sight of the wreckage in horror.

He didn’t need to go any closer to know Lindsay was dead. He hung his head and sobbed in grief, still there when the sirens alerted him the fire trucks, ambulance, and other emergency vehicles arrived at the scene.

He hardly felt it as vehicles ran through him, paramedics and firemen walked over him. He couldn’t move. All he could think about was Merrick’s warnings, telling him not to come back, telling him he couldn’t help those he loved. Now it was too late.

She was gone.

~ ~ ~

Lindsay groaned as she raised her head, feeling dazed as she realized she lay on a sidewalk. It was as dark as pitch and she could hardly see her hand in front of her face. She moved and realized she must have survived the accident somehow. Nothing felt broken as she slowly got up, stumbling slightly.

“Whoa there, Little Lady, take it easy,” a voice warned her. She felt a strong grip on her arm and looked up. A black man of medium build held her arm to steady her. He was grinning at her now, his brown eyes scanning her face for signs she heard him. “I saw ya come in when I was on my way home. Figures I’d find one of you guys. Lucky me.”

“Where am I?” she asked groggily and regarded the black man with growing awareness as she took in the dark fatigues and the fact he was armed to the teeth. “I think I need to use the phone.”

“Oh, not that crap again,” the man grumbled and led her off the walkway and began leading her away at a brisk walk. “First thing outta anybody’s mouth when they wake up down here is always wantin’ to use the dang phone! Ain’t no phones here, Baby Doll.”

Lindsay looked at him with growing awareness now. From Jace’s description, she would have known him anywhere. A sense of sadness and excitement combined to know where she was. She had to be sure.

“Where am I” she asked as she followed him down the road, a sense of elation filling her with every step she took.

“First, the name’s Merrick,” he told her as he looked up and down the road, looking around warily. “We gotta get off the street before them spooks come lookin’ for ya. What’s your name, little gal?”

“It’s Lindsay Morgan,” she replied as she tried to keep up with his long-legged stride.

He stopped and grinned down at her then. “Welcome to Oblivion, Lindsay Morgan.”

~ ~ ~

Jace couldn’t stay for the funeral. He couldn’t stand to see the grief of Lindsay’s parents and Lance in the days following the accident. He gazed in surreal disbelief as he stood on the street corner in Little Bend across from the packed funeral home.

She died on impact; he learned, relieved she felt no pain. Further examination of the truck found the brake line was cut. Wilson ordered a full investigation after that, firing Dooley as soon as he went back on the job. Retirement didn’t seem to be in the cards at that point.

Jace watched Deborah Morgan collapse in Jack’s arms when Gary Wilson arrived to inform her that her daughter was dead that night. The pain of watching them all suffer her loss was nothing next to his.

“We going or what, Boss?” Sal asked sadly and his eyes filled with compassion. “You can’t do anything for her anymore.”

Jace nodded and was miserable to leave, knowing if he hadn’t come at all Lindsay would still be alive. Going back was even harder now, but there was no reason to stay. He led the ghosts to the ripple out at his old farmhouse. It was still there.

He concentrated on it until it opened, reminding everyone to stay together and hold each other’s hands. He looked back at the world before he stepped through the opening with a devastated expression. It seemed unchanged even though Lindsay was no longer in it.

The group of Newbies made it to the end and wound up on the street in front of Deadhead’s Lounge. Jace swore under his breath as he sealed the opening and glared at the group of ghosts who acted like tourists now.

“Trust me, you don’t want to go in there,” he told them and ushered them down the road. “We gotta hurry up. We’re gonna have demons all over this place in minutes.”

Jace lead the group down the fifteen city blocks, following behind them and looking around warily for signs of pursuit. He was relieved when they got to Merrick’s warehouse. He punched in the code and heard the buzzer. The door opened and his group of Newbies all rushed inside, looking around in wonder.

Merrick must be out on patrols
, he thought in relief. He also realized they were going to need a lot more uniforms for the new group. He got them to sit in the warehouse and wait as he went up the stairs to Merrick’s apartment. He wondered where Daphne was. She was probably freaking out he was four days late getting back.

He opened up the door and called out to Merrick. No answer. He called for Daphne. No answer. He frowned and walked in flipping on the lights. He opened the door to the spare bedroom and it was empty.

Sighing and still feeling the pain of Lindsay’s death, he went out to the fire escape to think before Merrick arrived and played twenty questions with him. He sat down and stared over the dark city, seeing demons flitting across the street, seeing deadheads chasing each other. His heart felt like it was fractured in two.

He felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up, thinking it would be Daphne.

Jace stared into the blue eyes that made him weak since the eighth grade, saw her smile of welcome. Without asking how or why she was there, he grabbed her and pulled her into his arms. He buried his face in her neck, smelling her, feeling her body warm and real against his. When he could finally raise his head, he regarded her with a sad expression.

“Cameron cut the brake line in the truck that night,” he offered and wanted to apologize to her for dragging her into all this.

“Then he did me a favor,” Lindsay whispered with little regret as she looked up at him. “I remember everything before I hit that tree, Jace. I never wanted anything as much as you at that moment. Nothing seemed worth having without you there with me.”

“This isn’t what I wanted for you, Lindsay,” he protested and her finger came up and silenced his words.

“Remember when you said that everything happens as it’s supposed to?” she asked with her heart in her eyes. “Maybe this is our second chance to be together, Jace. For however long were here. It’s better than a lifetime without you,” she told him breathlessly and raised an eyebrow. “Besides, Merrick says I’m a natural born demon slayer with real potential. We’ve been working on my shooting while we waited for you to get back.”

Jace laughed and held her close as she regaled him of all she learned in the last four days. She even made friends with Murdoch. Daphne left to go stay with Drea. She thought it was for the best when she learned who Lindsay was from Merrick.

“Welcome to Oblivion, Lindsay,” he whispered as he held her tightly and lifted her off her feet, kissing her finally and praying neither of them ever passed on. He could live with the pitfalls of surviving in this place, the gritty realities of everyday life here, anything, with her by his side.

~ ~ ~

Marnie opened the pack of pictures on the kitchen table. Nobody else seemed willing to in the weeks after Lindsay’s death. They all hesitated to look to see how happy she was that day she graduated. None wanted to face the reality of what happened later that night.

She flipped through them, getting misty-eyed to see those of Lindsay with her parents when something caught her eye. She stared at the photograph and held it up to the light, frowning at the defect in the picture.

Her eyes grew wide as she made out the arm around Lindsay’s shoulder in the photo, nearly transparent. She would have thought it merely a trick of the light until the shape standing next to her was seen.

Tears filled her eyes as she saw the outline of Jace standing next to her in the photos. She scrambled and looked at every picture now, holding them up to the light to see he was in every one. She looked at Lance. He was sitting in the living room watching TV.

They were moving to Georgia in the morning. Boxes and bins filled the apartment. She wondered if she should show them to him. He took Lindsay’s death the hardest. Showing him the pictures wouldn’t make him feel better right now. Only time could do that.

Marnie relaxed to know that she wasn’t losing her mind that day the ghost tossed the adoption brochure in the trash, making her decision to keep the baby. The paternity test results came back, answering the question they all feared to know. The baby was Jason Turner’s. Marnie was content to know a mistake turned out to be a godsend.

The horror of what Cameron and Matt did to Jace was all over the news. She could hardly believe him capable of Jace’s grisly murder, or cutting Lindsay’s brake line that night. Matt Lauder confessed to everything.

Matt was charged with both murders and awaiting trial. Sheriff Wilson decided not to retire and fired Dan Dooley for misconduct. Everyone was relieved when Cameron’s body was found in the woods. He’d been shot multiple times in a suspected drug killing.

Marnie never believed anything good could ever happen to girls like her. She never believed in fate or miracles until she saw the brochure fly across the room. Seeing Jace standing next to Lindsay in the pictures encouraged her belief that he was there that day, guiding her to make the right choice to keep her baby. She believed everything happened for a reason now, inspired by what she saw with her own eyes.