The Darkness of Shadows (22 page)

We put everything back in its proper place, and shut the door behind us.

We pulled into my driveway and shut the engine off.

“Want to stay for a while?” I said.

She nodded. The betrayal Val was feeling echoed within me.

Mrs. Guerrero lied, and Lieutenant Guerrero swore to it. There was a technicality here, a loophole that covered this. It’s not a lie if no one asks you about it—Mrs. G’s private life was exactly that, hers and private. But I had asked her about it, and now it affected Val and me.

“Mom’s got a MOAS bigger than you and me put together,” Val said.

A MOAS—mother of all secrets.

“We’ve been lied to our entire lives.” She stalked to the fridge. “I need a drink.”

I followed close behind. “I won’t let you drink yourself stupid over—”

She slammed the fridge door, a Coke in either hand, and returned to the table.

“I can’t believe you’d—”

“How the hell am I supposed to know what would trigger a relapse for you?”

Her head was bowed. “Because you know me better than anyone else.”

I popped the sodas open and slid one in her direction.

She took a long drink. “What the hell are we going to do?”

“I have to talk to your mom,” I said.

“We both do.”

Miguel and Rita Guerrero were my saviors. They were everything parents should be. I trusted them, loved them. They were also pretenders. How could I have been so stupid? My heart ached like somebody drop-kicked it off the edge of the Empire State Building.

Val’s cell phone screamed for attention. The conversation was brief and in Spanish.

“If you don’t stop grinding your teeth, you’re going to need some major dental work,” I said.

“Got to take care of something. Please stay put until I get back. Then we’ll go to Mom’s.”

“You need to be extra careful. God knows what other mythical creatures abound.”

“Pfft, I’ll be fine. See you in a few.”

Confrontation isn’t in my wheelhouse. I understand surreptitious parts of people’s lives, and they’re not anyone’s business but for those people to tend and protect. But I needed Mrs. Guerrero to help me understand—maybe then I could look past the lies.

“Child, come in!” Mrs. Guerrero said. “Come sit with me. You sounded terribly upset on the telephone. I will make some tea and we will talk.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“What is wrong?” She put fragile cups at her place and mine.

“I went into your library.”

Her eyes widened. “You were in my bedroom?”

“How’s that make you feel? Violated? Betrayed?” So much for holding my temper.

“How dare—”

“I needed answers.”

“Why did you not come to me?”

“I wanted the truth,” I said.

She pulled together her battle plan as she raised one finger in my direction.

“First, you must tell me what you know.”

The tone was as normal as I could manage. “You’re one of them, a Healer, like my mom. My father’s a Necromancer. And I think Val’s a Protector. I’m not sure what I am.”

She pinched the bridge of her nose. “Oh my Lord.”

“And this was none of my business?” I said.

“I—”

“You’re a liar.”

“Watch your tone, young lady.”

“‘Always tell the truth,’ that’s what you and Lieutenant Guerrero taught me. Unless it doesn’t fit into your lifestyle, of course—”

“We were protecting you!”

“Could you have healed me?” I hadn’t even known that’s what was bothering me until I said it. “Fixed my knee? Made the scar on my face disappear?” Rage and hurt began boiling over.

“It is … complicated.”

“What does that mean? You didn’t feel like it, so you let me suffer?”

“I do not appreciate—”

“ENOUGH!” I slammed my hand on the table, making the delicate teacups jump with fright. “I don’t appreciate being lied to by someone I consider to be my—I have a right to know!”

We waited until the cups stopped rattling.

“What you have said is true,” she said. “I am a Healer, as was your mother. But in order for me to have helped with your injuries, I needed to touch you. You would not allow it. You never slept. I tried—”

“If you’d told me the truth, maybe I would have! I could’ve had a chance …”

She reached across the table but stopped as I became more defiant.

“You slept with my father,” I said.

Mrs. Guerrero had prosecuted gang members, rapists, murderers. I’d never seen her look shaken—until now.

“Did you or didn’t you?”

Taking a sip of tea bought her some time.

“We were very young.” There was a long pause. “Our first year of college. I thought I was in love, but … His ideas were groundbreaking. Blending the gifts of a Necromancer and a Healer was unheard of. His methods—”

“I lived his methods.”

“He became obsessed. Abusive. I could not—”

“You lost your mind.” It wasn’t accusatory.

Her shoulders folded inward.

“You and my mom were friends.”

She chose her words with care. “It is true.”

More silence.

“That’s all you’re going to say?” I flexed my fingers, trying to disperse the anger flowing through me.

Mrs. Guerrero began rubbing her temples. “We were extremely close. Much like you and Valerie. We were going to change the world of healing with our ideas.” She shook her head. “Karen made choices with deference to William. Ones I could not abide by.”

“She was sick, right? Schizophrenic? Bipolar?”

Mrs. Guerrero shook her head. “We thought when she had you, she would change. But she was not equipped to have children.”

“You mean she was a selfish bitch who never cared about me?”

“Natalie—”

“People don’t change, they just hide who they are to fit in. That quote you have on your desk? The one that says, ‘The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don’t do anything about it’? You knew what they were capable of. You did nothing.”

“We never thought she—he—we never thought they would put their theories into practice.”

“Did you warn her about my father?”

“Miguel and I tried. Karen would have none of it. She said I was covetous of her relationship with William. His darkness drove her to drugs and alcohol. It was the only way she could cope.”

“And abusing me.” I should’ve been feeling something, but I was as anesthetized by the story as my mother was by her “coping mechanisms.”

“Why do you keep those yearbooks and pictures?”

“To remind me of what not to become.”

Lies and secrets—my life was so full of them I couldn’t tolerate the added weight of the truth. The words became too much too bear, crushing me, pushing me closer to the precipice.

“Please let me tell Valerie what you have learned.” Tears glittered but didn’t fall yet.

“What you tell Val is your concern, not mine. But if you don’t tell her the truth, you’ll lose more than your secrets.” I stood up.

“Where are you going? We are not through discussing this—”

“Yeah,” I said, “we’re done.”

When I left, it was raining leaves. I clicked and crunched my way through the puddles of nature’s fallen. This was the last time I’d come here—to the house I’d considered home and the people I’d once considered family.

I guess they were never really mine.

V
al’s ring tone made itself known. I pulled over to the side of the road.

“Hey,” I said. “I really need a friend right now.”

“Nat, it’s me, Tina.” She was whispering.

“What do you want? Why do you have your sister’s phone?”

Silence.

“I’ve got stuff to do. Bye,” I said.

“Wait!” the whisper said. “We’re in trouble. We need your help.”

“Who?”

“Me and Val. We’re with Mr. Young—”

“If this is your idea of a joke, it’s not funny.”

“No, I’m serious! We’re at Mr. Young’s house. Your father’s here.”

My heart stopped. “I’m calling the police. Hang on.”

“He said you have to come alone … no police—”

A real scream flowed over the line, then silence.

I dialed Val’s number—it went straight to voice mail. Crap! I tried once more, same thing.

Tina calling me, no police … sounded hinky, but I couldn’t reach Val. Something must be wrong. I turned around and headed for Upper Montclair. I had no plan as to what I was going to do. Do I knock on the door and say, “Hey, do you have my best friend and her snarky little sister in there? Please let them go?”

My mind kept telling me to call the police, but Tina’s scared whispers told me no.

I pulled into the driveway and parked next to Val’s car. This was not good. I couldn’t sneak around to check things out, so I went for the direct approach, the front door. I had my pistol down to my side, the safety off, and was about to ring the bell, but the door was ajar.

This is the part in the movie where Val and I yell at the stupid girl to turn around and run like hell.

Yeah, well, in I walked, my cane announcing my arrival.

I stopped and listened. Faint voices were down the next hall.

“Look, she’s here. Just like I told you she would be.” Tina’s voice was calm, nothing like the flurried conversation of minutes ago. “I did my part. You need to keep her away from my family.”

Silence answered.

“Well?” Tina said.

“You’re right,” my father said. “We made a deal and you delivered. Even gave me a bonus.”

“What are you talking about?” Tina’s voice was getting higher.

“Your sister followed you here.”

“She wasn’t part of the deal,” Tina said.

My father laughed. “You can go or your sister can. Which will it be?”

Tina hustled out of the room and straight into me. I shouldered her into the wall. Her eyes, stained with hate, met mine.

“This is all because of you!” she said.

Where’ve I heard that before?

“Call the police,” I said.

She shoved me back and hurried towards her freedom.

“Natalie, we’re waiting for you,” my father said. His impatient words stoked my growing fear.

I started to sweat. I wanted to run, but couldn’t. Val was in trouble. Walter too. I hoped some scathingly brilliant idea would come to me.