Possession (19 page)

“Feel how soft, how delicate. These are violets, J. They’re purple. It’s a very beautiful color. As beautiful as the flower. If you see an aura that looks delicate, soft, and beautiful, call it purple.”

—was fading. It wasn’t pulsing as strongly or as brightly as it normally did.

She chanced a glance around, searching for Kiel, but the black death that was Conader was obliterating auras. Her body went completely numb as she watched a pale green brightness that was a living human being flare briefly, sparkle, and then was gone. A bubbly sigh followed its extinguishing.

“
Kiel, help me!
”

“
Sam!
”

Sam’s voice was weaker, gasping. His purple aura was lavender and fading. J kept crawling toward him, praying she could reach him and somehow drag him away to a spot where the Shredder would either overlook or ignore him. Deep down she didn’t think there was such a place. She held out no hope that anyone would survive this attack.

Behind her she heard the soft, syrupy crunch of flesh and bone. Someone was begging to be spared. It was hard to tell if it was a man or a woman. It didn’t matter. Nothing they said or did would help them now.

The lavender aura was so pale, it was almost white. It was barely the size of a halo. And when she finally found him, he was shivering.

She pulled him into her lap. His blood covered her hands. In fact, everywhere she touched him was bloody. Sam groaned in pain but he didn’t try to stop her.

J leaned over, placing her face closer to his. “Sam? Sam, please talk to me.”

“J, go.”

She had stopped being afraid long ago. The Shredder hadn’t attacked her. Yet. But she assumed it was only a matter of time before he either sought her out, or discovered his oversight. If she was going to die here, she wanted to be with the two men with whom she had grown close these past few days.

She softly shushed him when he struggled to push her away. Sam was dying. They both knew it. Still, he felt the need to protect her, even if it meant trying to convince her to flee. When in truth he didn’t really want her to go. He didn’t want to die alone, and she knew that. And she knew he was aware she had figured it out, too. Inexorably, the aura surrounding him dimmed further.

“J.”

“I’m here, Sam. I’m h-here.”

Her tears were falling, dripping onto him, but he probably didn’t feel them. One weak hand found hers that was gripping his shoulder, clasped it, and gave it a weak squeeze. She laced her fingers through his to help him hold on.

“K-Kiel.”

J sniffed and found the courage to look around. There was no other aura, no other sign of life. Somehow, she knew the Shredder was still in the garage. So was Kiel. The where was impossible to detect.

“He’s okay, Sam,” she said. “He’s facing down the Shredder. He’s keeping him away from us.”

She had no idea if what she was telling him was the truth, but she knew she had to give Sam some sort of comfort, no matter how slight. She couldn’t bear to think of him dying without hope.

Sam’s body shook violently. The aura faded to almost nothing. His breathing and his heartbeat slowed. J pressed his face to her bosom. He was past being able to talk but he hadn’t given up. She could sense him struggling to live.

“J!”

Suddenly Kiel was there with her. He bent over his brother and placed a hand on the man’s chest.

J glanced around the garage.

“He’s gone,” Kiel whispered. “This time for good, I think.”

“Why did he come back?”

“I don’t know. But I managed to distract him long enough for a couple of techs to escape. Reinforcements should be on their way.” His brightness hovered almost directly above the center of his brother’s body. “Sam.”

“He’s dying,” J whispered, then hiccupped.

Kiel patted her and Sam’s hands where they were clasped. “I know.” His voice sounded final.

“What happened, Kiel? What do you think happened?”

“I honestly don’t know. Sam called me over to look at where they’d been busting up the concrete, and just as I got there, Conader showed up and rammed a piece of rebar through the guy with the jackhammer. All I could think about was keeping him away from you because I thought Sam…” He choked, swallowed hard, and continued. “I thought Sam could take care of himself. Oh, God. Hold on, Sam. Help’s coming. Hold on, damn you!”

She continued to rock Sam, who continued to fight for his life. His breathing was labored, yet he seemed to have momentarily stopped his downward spiral. It was as though he was able to draw some small amount of strength from her. Just enough to allow him to keep a tenuous grip on existing. That, and maybe he was just too damn stubborn to die.

“What did he find?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t get the chance to find out.” Sam glanced over his shoulder, at the spot where the cement lay in chunks. He arose and went over to the site. J heard him tossing pieces of concrete across the floor.

He suddenly cried out. She saw his aura spark, flutter, then sputter like a car running out of gasoline.

“
J!
”

“Kiel?”

“Oh,
God
!
J!
J, I…”

His voice was filled with terror. His aura dimmed. J could feel his fear running through her, and she reached out to him.

“Kiel? What’s wrong?
Kiel?
”

J whipped her head around and frantically searched the area around her, looking for any sign that the Shredder had returned, but the blackness remained black. The iciness freezing her was not coming from an intruder.

“Kiel!”

A breath later he was back, crouching in front of her. He touched her cheeks with both hands as she watched his aura fading like a setting sun. Fading quickly. An almost nonexistent kiss touched her lips.

“Kiel?”

“I love you, J,” he whispered hurriedly. “I’ll always love you. Please, don’t forge—”

Before he could finish, he was gone, leaving her with nothing but silence. The hands were gone. The blazing aura was gone. Completely gone.

All sense of him had vanished, his aura extinguished.

Stunned, J reached out as far as she could, waving it from side to side, hoping she was wrong. Hoping she could touch him again, or snag his jacket or sleeve. Anything.

“Kiel! Kiel, answer me, dammit!
Kiel!
”

She screamed his name over and over as she willed him to answer.

She didn’t stop screaming until the police burst through the door leading from the stairwell, to face the carnage and its one lone blind survivor.

“Captain Redd?”

She spotted him when he entered the waiting room. He came straight over to where she was standing at the window. She liked looking out windows. Although she couldn’t see anything, she would play games with herself as she tried to spot the tiny, sometimes pinpoint spots of light floating here and there. The auras of people going about their business. It was something to keep her occupied while she waited for the time when visitors were allowed into the intensive care area.

“Miss Laurent, how are you doing?”

He spoke with genuine concern as he laid a hand on her arm. It was warm and calloused, and the contact felt good.

She nodded. “I’m fine, thanks. But I’m needing some answers, and there’s no one else I trust. Please?”

“Sure. Want to sit down?”

“No. I’m too wound up to sit.”

Miss Cassie had been by a while ago. Or was it hours ago? Damn her inability to distinguish time.

The woman had brought her some clean clothes, then clucked over her like a mother hen while J washed up and changed in the woman’s restroom. After getting her something to eat from the hospital cafeteria, Miss Cassie had taken the bloodied clothes back to the house, leaving J to wait it out to see Sam when the doctors and nurses finally determined the man could have visitors.

“What was it you wanted to ask me?”

She placed a hand over his to help steady her. In many ways, she was still in shock, still in denial. It would only be a matter of time—Minutes? Hours?—before her psyche and her body would step into that bitter pool of grief. She almost felt as if she was about to go tumbling into a deep, bottomless chasm.

She swallowed hard. “What was in the concrete that they busted up?”

She sensed his hesitation. Finally, after some deliberation, the captain answered. “Has anyone debriefed you?”

“No.”

From the time the second wave of police entered the garage to discover the aftermath of the slaughter till now, she had little memory and fewer details she could relate. And when it came down to the truth about Kiel’s disappearance, there was little chance she could tell them the truth. They wouldn’t believe her if she did. Maybe she should let them try to figure it out on their own.

“Let me get someone down here from the station house to take your statement.”

“Captain Redd.” She squeezed his hand as hard as she could. “Please. Tell me. What was underneath the concrete?”

He was breathing heavily. She could hear how fast his heart was beating. She was surprised when his other hand settled on top of hers.

“It was a body.”

J jerked at the revelation. She had known. She had already guessed it, but she had wanted him to confirm it. Still, the answer shocked her.

“Kiel’s?”

“We can’t say for certain until the lab reports—”

“
Dammit
, Captain! It was Kiel’s, and you know it! Why won’t you be upfront and tell me the truth?”

The tears were falling again. She thought she had cried all she could cry. She was wrong.

It had to have been Kiel’s body under that fresh slab. Why else would he have reacted the way he did? Why else would he have said what he’d said, or tried to say, before he blinked out of existence?

“I love you, J. I’ll always love you. Please, don’t forge—”

He was begging her not to forget him. J would swear her life on it.

“Yeah. I’m afraid you’re right. It was Kiel Stark’s body. He still had his shield in his pants pocket. But the lab will have to confirm it before we can make any sort of announcement. Miss Laurent, off the record, here, who killed all those people? Do you have any idea?”

If she lowered her head, she couldn’t see the man’s almost sky blue aura. And if she couldn’t see his aura, he couldn’t see her face.

“Some man. Kiel and Sam said his name was Conader.”

“Cracker Jack Conader?”

“I think so.”

“But the man’s dead! My God, he was the victim of a gangland killing, we thought.”

“He
was
killed, Captain.” She lifted her face. “It was his spirit that came back to get its revenge on those who had set him up and had him murdered.”

There. She had told him the truth. And if he chose to put her under a lie detector, it would continue to be the truth. Let the man think what he wanted about her, but at some point he would have to face the awful fact that there was more in this world than could be detected with five puny senses.

The man remained silent. Thinking, weighing his options, testing his gut response. His next comment surprised her.

“And Kiel? Was he dead, too?”

She must have given him a puzzled expression because he clarified himself.

“The coroner said the body had been somewhat preserved in the concrete, but he guessed the man had to have been dead at least three to four weeks. At first, I didn’t believe him. I mean, I spoke to Kiel today. I saw him yesterday. The man was
alive
, wasn’t he?”

Slowly, J shook her head. “No, Captain. He was dead. He’s been dead for the past month.”

“Then explain to me how…I mean…sweet Jesus, he was
dead
?”

This time the hands were removed from hers, and she sensed him backing away. There was a loud sigh.

“Then he must’ve been killed that night he was carried away during that sting operation. What about Sam? Did Sam suspect his brother was dead?”

J glanced around the room to see if anyone was listening in on their conversation. The room was empty save for her and the captain.

“He already knew. He tried to deny it at first. Then after a while he accepted it…sort of.”

“Sort of?”

“I’m guessing he was prepared for the day when Kiel wouldn’t show up. When he would really be dead dead. We didn’t get the chance to talk about it much.”

“Why was he able to come back from the dead in the first place?” the captain asked. “Did it have anything to do with Conader?”

This time she felt good knowing there was one puzzle piece she could fit in place for him. “Yes. Conader killed Kiel by accident. The Shredder was really after the two men who had been instrumental in his death. The ones who had kidnapped Kiel. That’s who Conader went after, those two men and all the people who had worked for him who’d gotten greedy and wanted it all for themselves. They found a way to get Conader’s formula for the drug he was manufacturing. Once they had that, they didn’t need Conader anymore, so they killed him. They never believed the man would come back to get his revenge.”

J sniffed and wiped the wetness from her cheeks. She needed a tissue badly, but had no idea where to find any. A moment later a box was shoved into her hands. She thanked him and blew her nose before continuing.

“But if Conader killed Kiel…”

“Kiel said the guy told him he’d killed him by mistake. Funny, isn’t it? A dead man apologizing to another dead man. Kiel told me the man had told him that killing him had been a mistake, so he was going to fix it. The next thing he knew, Kiel said he woke up, alive but dead. After that, Kiel knew his purpose was to find out where his body was. He was sure that once he found it, his existence on this earth, whatever kind of existence it was, would be over, and he could finally rest in peace.”

It felt like a cleansing of her soul, talking about her time with Kiel while letting the captain know the whole story. She could almost hear Kiel’s voice now, whispering to her, telling her everything as they lay together in her double bed, bodies pressed tightly to each other. His soul had needed cleansing, too.

Whether or not the captain believed her no longer mattered.

The room was quiet, even though she knew the man was standing a few feet away. She started to add the fact that Kiel had saved her life by facing down Conader, when someone stepped through the doorway.

“Miss Laurent? Visitation is open now, but the doctors have restricted Mr. Reese’s visitors.”

“I can’t see him?”

“Fifteen minutes only.”

Captain Redd stepped forward and took J’s elbow. “Miss Laurent is blind. I’m Sam’s precinct captain. May I escort Miss Laurent inside?”

“Are you family?”

“We’re all the family Sam has left,” J bluntly responded.

The woman—Nurse? Hospital staff?—paused. “The patient is restricted to one visitor at a time, but in this instance I’ll allow you to lead her in. But you’ll have to wait outside for your turn.”

“I’m okay with that,” the captain said.

“Follow me, please.”

They went down a long hallway and though two sets of double doors. J didn’t attempt to keep track of where they were going or how many steps she took from one landmark to another. Her body remained in a state of numbness. She hadn’t grieved, or had the chance to come to terms with the loss of Kiel. Worse, she had yet to face Sam’s death.

If she could run down the middle of a street while screaming at the top of her lungs, she would.

Captain Redd led her into the small room where Sam’s body was hooked up with wires and tubes, and machines that squeaked, and gasped, and rattled irritatingly. He placed her left hand on the railing, gave it a pat, and told her he’d be right outside. Then he left her alone.

Sam was being kept alive by artificial means. She didn’t need to see all the paraphernalia to know how damaged he was, or how close he was to death. She could see it for herself. Sam was holding on by the thinnest thread no stronger than a spider’s web. His aura barely circled his head. It no longer encompassed his body. Whatever had been Sam Reese was gone, yet the spirit continued to fight until the very end. Until it could no longer remain with the broken, mangled shell now being sustained with chemicals and a pump.

J reached over and found a hand. Grasping it, she leaned over the bed to kiss it. It was cold and unresponsive.

“Sam, I’m here. You’re not alone.”

She had no idea if he could hear her or if he was aware of her being there. Maybe he could. Either way,
she
needed to be with him. She needed to stay with him for as long as she was allowed. It was the only way she could live with herself and her conscience afterwards.

“Sam, you know I love Kiel. I’ll always love Kiel. I knew we wouldn’t have much time together, but I’m glad for the time we did have. I’m glad I got to know you, too. You were like a brother to me.”

She tried to focus on him and prayed she could get some sort of response. A spark. Anything that would let her know he was dying in peace.

She sensed nothing.

A pale, hazy, nearly nebulous ring of watery light settled over his forehead. J stared at it as it wavered. Then, like a whisper in the wind, it was gone. At that same instant, the machines around her went off, blaring their alarms.

Pounding feet entered the room at a run. She was pulled away from the bed as nurses and doctors tried to resuscitate Sam.

Pain unlike anything she had ever felt before in her life ripped through her. Gasping for breath, J hit the opposite wall with her back and slowly slid to the floor as scalding tears rolled down her face. She called out Sam’s name, but the others in the room couldn’t hear her over the noise of the alarms and the shouting back and forth.

Someone yelled to get clear. There was a buzz and clashing noise, a second of silence, and another order to try again. J held her hands over her face and sobbed.

At least she had been there for him. He hadn’t died alone. Kiel would be proud of her, knowing she had done at least that much for his brother. More importantly, she could live with herself.

It suddenly got very quiet. Someone went around to shut off the machines and their racket. A voice said, “Time of death, eight fifty-eight p.m.”

Slowly, one by one, people left the room. Something on wheels and carrying equipment was rolled out the door.

Someone came over and touched her on the shoulder.

“Miss? You’ll need to leave—”

“
No!
No! Please.” The tears came faster, nearly drowning her. She fought the heat and pressure squeezing the life from her. Finally, J managed to take a deep, shuddering breath. “Please. Let me say goodbye. Give me a moment, please. I promised…I promised his brother I would stay with him until…” She dragged her sleeve over her eyes. “Please, he was all I had left in this world.”

The woman paused to make her decision. “Listen. I need to leave the room for a bit. But when I come back, you’ll have to leave. Okay?”

J nodded and allowed the woman to help her to her feet and lead her back to the bed. Once her hands touched the mattress, the woman gave her hands a little pat and left the room. The world became utterly quiet.

Slowly, carefully, J searched the sheet and the still form beneath it, following the cloth until she reached the head. The wires were still attached to him. The tubes and everything had not been removed. She guessed they would get around to doing that when they came back.

Pulling back the sheet, she lowered it enough to where she could touch his face. It was still warm, and for a split second hope flared. Then her senses reminded her the heart no longer beat. Sam Reese was gone.