Death Whispers (Death Series, Book 1) (51 page)

We piled out of the car, stiff from being crammed
together. I did a secret scan of Jade, making sure she looked okay.
The cemetery had been a true threat. A threat to our freedom and in
the end, a threat to our lives.

Garcia and Gale seemed amused by our breaking and
entering of the old dump station. I thought for sure they'd be mad,
but Garcia thought it was a clever contingency plan.

“You kids were thinking ahead after all,” he
said, looking around him at the inside of our hideaway.

“
This
is totally
not
safe,” Bobbi Gale said, staring at all the smashed metal pieces
from various cars making an uneven metal ceiling above our heads.

John replied, “It's been this way for ten
years.”

“It'll be okay,” Jonesy agreed, his idea of
true peril on a different level than the rest of us.

It was cramped with all the bodies in there but we
pulled up milk crates and other things we collected for “chairs,”
and sat down.

John lit the propane lamp. A total throw-back but
it worked.

“Where did you guys find this old thing?”
Garcia flicked the lamp.

“My mom's old camping gear,” Jonesy said.

“Better not use it for long in this enclosed
space,” Gale said. “It can get pretty toxic.”

“We know,” John said. “We'll have to
eventually replace it with LED when we get the big bucks.”

“Try pulsing your parents again guys, maybe the
pulses will work here,” Garcia said.

“No...we know they don't work in here,” I
swung my pulse around, “too much metal or something.”

We went outside to pulse our parents (and aunt),
letting them know we were hanging at the ice cream shop. I felt bad
about the deception.

After settling back into the cavern-of-cars I told
the story from the beginning,

Jonesy filled in the gaps, “... and then the
helicopter just stopped working and crashed,” he said. “And Soph
and I almost got chopped!” Jonesy finished, doing a judo-chop to
his hand, the smacking sound echoing in the space.

The cops were thoughtful. “That doesn’t ring
true to me,” Gale said, looking at Garcia. “The Graysheets take
all that time to acquire Caleb and blow it with a state of the art
helicopter dying?” She shook her head, disbelieving.

“Tell us again exactly what you did, Jonesy,”
Garcia said.

Jonesy repeated what he had done, grabbing Sophie,
then the chopper stopping.

“And our pulses didn't work either,” John
said.

“My car died about the time I heard the crash,”
Garcia added. “In fact, it began working about the time I saw you
kids.”

“It was idling when we saw you,” Sophie said.

Garcia nodded. “Yeah, just at that moment I
finally got it started. I was getting worried about how we'd get out
of there.” He and Gale looked at each other.

Something occurred to me. “John, you must have
been holding back huge.”

“Oh yeah, it was all I could do when Parker
started his bullshit,” John said.

“
He
turned out to be a monkey's ass,” Jonesy said.

The cops laughed. “You guys sure have a way with
colorful wording,” Gale said.

“Yeah, Parker is a disappointment,” Garcia
agreed.

“Ya think?” Jonesy said, disgusted.

Gale changed the subject, “I have a first aid
kit to take care of you two,” she said, looking over at Tiff and
Bry, holding up a small box with a red and white cross emblazoned on
the front.

“I'll live,” Bry said, his face telling a
different tale.

“Come on Bry,” Tiff said. “The parents
aren't gonna buy us continuing to get beat up.”

Sighing, Bry went over to where Gale was, heaving
himself down on a crate.

“I got in a couple of good ones,” Bry said.

“He was an adult, a bad one. You're lucky he
didn't clean your clock,” Garcia said.

All of us looked at him. “Sorry: a thorough job
of beating the snot out of someone,” he clarified.

“Eloquent, Raul,” Gale laughed.

“So now what? It's obvious they want me. They
put spy crap in my house so they know I can raise zombies, that I'm a
full-on five-point,” I said.

“I think what really needs to be addressed,
Caleb, is what you did out there to the government guy,” Gale said,
dabbing antiseptic at the corner of Bry's eye. “That's not part of
any five-point I've heard of,” she said trailing off, gazing at me
around Bry, everyone's eyes on me.

Gale got back to working on Bry's face, talking as
she patched him up, “The scientists have theorized about that
possibility, but they've never had any proof.”

“You mean Caleb suckin' the life out of bad-ass,
then juicing his zombie up?” Jonesy asked.

Garcia chuckled. “Yes, I think that's what
Officer Gale was getting at.”

“That will make you even more of a threat,”
she said.

“Does that mean you're a six-point?” Jade
asked, through the veil of her hair.

She was cuddled up next to me, more on my crate
than hers. I leaned closer, then put that hair that hid her eyes
behind her ear, running a finger down the outside edge of her lobe.
She rewarded me with a tiny shiver.

“Doubt it. I can't be a 'first' anything,” I
said with certainty.

“I'm
AFTD, Caleb, and I know there is not one documented case of
Life-Transference,” Gale said. “Not one.”

“Did that guy die?” Sophie asked.

“I don't know, but he deserved it,” Jonesy
said.

The cops were silent.

“Yeah he did. He had a gun pointed at sis,”
Bry said.

Bry looked at me. “Thanks for taking care of
her, Caleb,” he said.

“It almost wasn't enough,” I said, feeling
guilty.

Bry stood up and came over and clapped me on the
shoulder. “But it was.”

Garcia interrupted with, “I guess your best
protection is your father, Caleb.”

“Why?” I asked.

“His fame,” he continued, “his son
disappearing would be an inexplicable problem.”

“Didn't seem to give them pause tonight,” John
said.

“Our source tells us they want to do
experimentation, that they're not ready to take you forever,”
Garcia said.

Disquiet fell over the group.

“Comforting,” Jade said.

“Those dicks don't get to have Caleb,” Jonesy
said.

“Yeah, what he said,” Bry agreed.

Of course I agreed.

“How
did Parker go from being like Caleb to working with them?” Sophie
asked.

“We don't know what's happened this last ten
years to form him.”

“... shape him,” Gale finished, nodding to
Garcia.

“What was his family life like?” I asked

“It was bad. Sort of the opposite of yours.
There was no one to advocate for Jeffrey Parker,” Gale said.

“So, he's a tragic figure, now?” Sophie asked,
arms crossed over her chest. “I don't know if I buy that. Doesn't
he have a responsibility to choose the right thing now?

“Who knows? Maybe they brainwashed him,”
Jonesy said.

“It doesn't matter. Caleb's AFTD, so is Tiff; he
was going to hurt his own kind. He's shit, I don't care what way you
color it, he's made his choice.” Bry fumed.

We looked at each other over the hissing light of
the lantern.

Finally, Garcia said, “We need to get these guys
at their own game.”

Gale nodded in agreement.

“You called them 'Graysheets,' what does that
mean?” I asked.

“We don't actually know their real name, it's
just a nickname Officer Gale and I gave them,” Garcia said.

“What does it mean, though?” Jade asked,
leaning in against me.

“It means that they don't understand black and
white, right and wrong.”

“Gray,” John said.

“Right,” Garcia pointed at John.

“Sheets?” Tiff asked.

“I got it!” Jonesy said. “They cover things
up!” he air-pumped his fist with enthusiasm, breaking off to yawn.

“Don't tell me you're tired?” Bry asked.

“Nope. Just needed some O2 baby,” Jonesy said.

I looked at my watch, which hadn't been affected
by the whole electrical fall-out at the graveyard, couldn't see. I
moved toward the lantern, sticking my wrist under the light, a fine
fissure layered the crystal like ice. Damn, my watch got nailed in
the fight. I couldn't really see the time.

“Ah-man, that sucks donkey dicks,” Jonesy
said.

I laughed, couldn't help it, John leaned in.
“Maybe a jeweler could fix it?”

“Right, like anyone even has these anymore.”

Everyone gathered around, Garcia, the tallest of
us said, “My dad had one of those! Is it a winder?”

“It was,” I said.

Garcia picked up my wrist, moving it beside his
ear. “It's ticking, buddy.”

“It is!?”

“Yes,” he smiled.

Gale said, “I think I've patched up these guys
as good as they're going to get.”

We gave a critical stare at Bry. Tiff wasn't so
bad, she could explain that away.

“You look like a pile of gnomes jumped you...”
Jonesy said.

“... on your face,” John finished.

“Gnomes are creepers,” Tiff said.

I looked at her in surprise. She, the Unflappable
Tiff, was scared of gnomes.

“Scared?” Jonesy said.

“No!”

“They make good prizes on Call of Duty,” Bry
said.

Sophie and Jade rolled their eyes. I guess they
weren’t big into pulse games.

“Let's get you guys home,” Garcia said.

“What's the plan?” I asked.

“You're going to speak with your dad,” Garcia
responded.

“He's going to be righteously pissed,” Jonesy
said.

“Yeah. He'll be mad because I was screwing
around in cemeteries,” I said, dreading the whole thing.

“You're AFTD, that's like telling you not to
swim if you had gills,” Gale said.

“You're not the kid of a 'famous scientist',”
I said with airquotes.

“Are you complaining? Seriously, I thought your
dad is cool?” Sophie asked.

“He is,” I sighed. “I just haven't been what
my parents expected, I think.”

“But you're hell on zombies!” Jonesy said.
Yeah, that was my value, raising zombies.

Garcia slung an arm around my shoulders, “You've
got a smart dad...”

…
y
our
clever father.
..
Parker's words whispered through my mind...

I came back to what Garcia was saying, “...
he'll think of a way to keep you safe.”

Gale added, “A talent of your magnitude could
help many people, Caleb.”

I looked at her, letting my face ask the question.

Jade said, “AFTDs have pretty good success
finding murder victims and stuff.”

“What stuff?” Jonesy asked.

Gale answered, “Traumatic death.”

“Can Caleb just, automatically find victims?
He's got an unheard of six-point ability...” John said.

“We recruit people that test as sensitive to
traumatic death,” Gale said.

“I read in some AFTD blog that you can be a
one-point and sense traumatic-death,” Tiff said.

“
Can
you
?”
I asked her.

“
I
can sense the dead,” her voice said,
duh.

“
All
AFTDs can, the difference
,
is some are sensitive to the
cause
of death, not just its plane of existence,” Gale said.

“Useful to cops, bad for crime,” John pointed
out.

“I bet violent crime is down,” Bry said.

“
We're
seeing progress. As you know, AFTD is a rare ability, not all have
the traumatic death aspect.” Garcia shrugged,
them
are the breaks.

Gale looked at her pulse. “Almost one, let's
go.”

“Right,” Garcia said.

We moved through the newly expanded tunnel,
exiting through the freezer, breathing in the cool night air with a
sky filled with stars tossed like diamonds on black velvet, nestled
in the cloth of their sanctuary.

“I am glad to be alive,” Jade said, her fierce
eyes the color of the ocean at night.

I looked down at her. “I wouldn't let anything
happen to you.”

She smiled. “I know. It was scary and we
survived it.”

“Yeah, it was,” Sophie said.

As we moved up to the parked cars, Gale said,
“I'll take the girls home.” A sense of dread spread through my
gut. I didn't want Jade out of my sight. I wanted to see her safely
inside her house with my own eyes.

I tried for casual. “I told her aunt I'd walk
her home.”

Jade
gave me a sharp look,
what?

“Take Tiff and Bry home,” I suggested.

“... and me and the Jonester live by each
other,” John added.

Nice
move John.

“Okay,” Gale said slowly, knowing something
was up but not able to put her finger on it, the logic of my
suggestions clear. “Weller kids, Jonesy, John... follow me,”

That left me, Jade and Sophie with Garcia.

Jonesy turned around and waved to Sophie. “See
ya, Soph!”

She waved back, looking pleased that Jonesy had
singled her out. Jonesy had the hots for Sophie. Onyx ran over to the
cruiser, hopping in the front seat (traitor).

We got in the back, Jade and I touching hip to toe
when I leaned forward, as far as the plexiglass would allow, and
asked, “What about McGraw?”

Garcia
was silent for a heartbeat, and I thought,
can't
take back the pause, pal.