Enchanted Suites, Bed and Breakfast
Boston, Massachusetts
MAY 21, 1986
It had been a strange couple of days in Boston and I was eager for some sleep as I lay in bed. Next thing I knew I was waking up with Dharma leaning over me removing the necklace. “What is going on?” “What are you doing in here?” I exclaimed sitting straight up on the bed still wearing my clothes from the night before.
“It is late, you overslept,” Dharma told me as she examined the necklace she had given me the night before. “You should not have been in so deep a sleep.” “Someone has tainted the necklace with a different spell,” she told me.
“What do you mean someone else, who could have done that?” I asked angry at myself for trusting this witch.
“You tell me who else came in contact with the necklace before you put it on?” Dharma asked placing the jewelry back in the wooden box on the dresser.
I thought about it for a moment, “I remember you giving me the necklace last night,” I began. “Then I remembered you leaving me alone in the front parlor.” “I opened the box, looked at the necklace, then closed it back and came up stairs to bed.”
“That was it?” Dharma glared.
“Yes, that was it,” I said not wanting her to know I checked in on Ed before settling in for the night.
“Well then tell me about your dream,” Dharma said her tone somehow conveyed that she knew I wasn’t going to tell her anything she wanted to hear.
I began to tell her how my dream was different this time. I was fully aware I was dreaming. Usually in my premonitions it is as if I am awake experiencing real life. Now it was like I was inside my body fully aware but not in control. There was something else different too I couldn’t see my own body. That doesn’t describe it correctly, I knew my body was there, I could feel it but I couldn’t see what I was wearing except for the gauntlets on my wrists. It was like there was another presence controlling my vision preventing me from seeing too much of the future. I felt strangely older too, more experienced beyond my years.
When the dream began I was carrying a large battle ax as I ran toward a group of soldiers. Just like my own clothing they were very nondescript to me. I began fighting, punching kicking and slicing the soldiers apart with the ax I swung. Turned out the soldiers weren’t people at all but robots. I could tell that I was enjoying cutting them up, that I was fighting for a cause greater than just myself.
I wasn’t alone either, there were four other people with me. All of them wearing bright colors that made them blurry in my vision. All I could tell was that there were three women and one younger boy, probably in his late teens. I could feel that we were a team. As we fought there was one of the dark haired women that I kept in sight. I felt as if I had a stronger connection to her than the others. I just wished that I could have seen her face to know who she was. On the battlefield she was a skilled fighter. She had powers too although I can’t remember clearly what those powers were now that I am awake. It was that woman who stopped the battle calling us together to talk. I have no idea what we talked about because I couldn’t hear anything that was being said.
I know it was a plan because after we were done talking we joined ranks to blast at one robot that caused a domino effect destroying all of them. After that the other dark haired woman picked up one of the robot’s severed heads. The one thing I could see clearly was the emblem on this woman’s chest. I drew it on a notepad for Dharma to see. I could tell that she recognized it but she was not forthcoming with any information.
In my dream there was another discussion that I was even involved in that I have no idea what I said, but when we were done I was running for the building. The others followed after me. The woman I felt the connection with was at my side as I ran. I could tell I was running full out and was impressed that she could keep up. We talked briefly as we ran before I spotted the emblem from the other woman’s uniform on the wall. Soon we reached another gathering of robots fighting a group of people wearing that same emblem again. Before we could join the fight another group arrived.
It was a battle royal that I somehow left behind. I was followed by the woman with the emblem. She attacked me and I fought back. It was a brutal fight, I couldn’t believe how hard I was hitting this woman. It was as if I knew she could take anything I could dish out. The fight when on for a long time before something suddenly changed. I clasped my fists together and swung them striking her across the face. There was a horrible cracking noise as she was sent sailing back across the sky again. I knew I had went too far. “That was when you woke me up,” I told Dharma.
“Arrrghhh,” Dharma sighed. “Whoever tainted the talisman changed the direction of its power,” she explained. “It was meant to enhance your gift to see beyond yourself to the people currently around you.” “Instead it seems to have shown you events from a more distant future.”
“Do you think that really was a premonition even thought it was so different?” I asked.
Dharma turned to leave my room carrying the wooden box, “Most likely, it could happen a year from now or a decade from now, who knows?”
I laid in the bed for a while, speechless as I remembered what I had one in the dream. I heard Ed finish up in the bathroom so I got up, showered and dressed in record time. I went down to the dining room to find the other three guest of the Bed and Breakfast waiting at the table. Tim Bascom what there as was Ed and a young woman I hadn’t met before. “Good Morning, I’m Steve,” I said reaching out my hand to shake hers.
“Eileen McCoy,” she replied shaking my hand as I took a seat at the table. From the moment I shook her hand I felt a connection between us. I didn’t know if it was the fact that she reminded me of the dark haired woman I fought with in my dream that was still fresh in my mind or something else. Looking back at that time period there were many people who gave me that feeling, Eileen, Janet, Gary and that little brat Dan at camp that summer. There would only be one person in my life who would completely catch me off guard back then, but that is a story yet to come. Now I know that feeling was a by product of my precognitive powers, indicating just how big of a part these people would play in me becoming Master Warrior.
At breakfast Ed seemed different, almost as if he had a hangover. “Miss McCoy is here to check up on us,” Ed said. “I would appear that our requests for information in San Diego woke up the sleeping lion.,”
“I am not here to check up on you at all, Mr. Bower,” Eileen replied defensively.
“Miss McCoy are you a police officer from San Diego who has been working our case?” I asked.
“Yes, when we got your request on the cold case it came to my attention,” she answered. “The last string of victims three years ago were friends of my brother.” “I looked over your research and caught the redeye here last night.” “I am only here to help find this killer.”
“As are we,” I said. “I guess you found out the same as us that this the only place in town with open rooms.”
“This place gives me bad dreams,” Tim Bascom added.
He wasn’t the only one I kept going over the premonition I had last night. I was sure I had killed that woman who was my friend, my teammate. I couldn’t understand how I could act like that, why I would use such force on a woman. It confused and depressed me, almost taking away my appetite until Dharma and Drusilla entered the room to serve us breakfast.
“I’m telling you that old man is still here, he tainted what I tried to do last night!” Dharma argued with her mother not expecting to see us all sitting at the table.
“Not in front of our guests, dear,” Drusilla says to stifle her daughter. The older woman carried a tray of pancakes, waffles, and toast that she offered each of us. While Dharma served us bacon, sausage, and eggs. The last one to enter the dining room was Darla carrying a hot pot of coffee and a cold pitcher of orange juice.
I was eager for the OJ and coffee to get me going after the night I had. Ed acted almost rudely to Darla as she tried to pour. “None for me!” he said shortly with her. I could sense a tension between them that I didn’t understand and didn’t dare ask him about it.
Ed and I left for the station while Eileen was getting changed. It felt wrong to me but in a way Ed was right she had not authority to be here. I was surprised that David hadn’t come to pick us up this morning.
By the time we got to the station I had made peace with my dream. If it was a premonition of things to come I knew that I could never treat a woman like that in a fight, ever! Detectives Clock and Steele were already hard at work on the case. They had been searching the old police paperwork that remain on the other unsolved cases from nine and eighteen years ago coming up with names of investigating cops. One of the cops, Paul Girard was still on the job as a squad Captain across town. Howard Douglas was killed in the line of duty not long after the nine year old case. The murders that took place eighteen years ago were not as easy to trace. Chief Sam Hale was the only one from the time still living the others Brian Stanton and James Barton were both dead, but they still had family in town.
Jeff and I were back on the street to track down the retired investigators and their surviving families. Captain Girard was our first stop. Jeff had heard about Girard through the police pipeline, he wasn’t an easy man to talk to by all accounts. Start with the toughest one I always say. Girard was a Captain in the tenth precinct and was well connected to the force making my presence all the harder to explain. Even within the ranks of the police force the formation of a Zeni-human squad was kept very quiet. Someone like Captain Girard might be angry that he wasn’t in the loop.
“Captain Girard, thank you for speaking with us,” Jeff said shaking the Captain’s hand. “I’m Detective Steele and this is Detective Roberts.”
“When I got the call I looked you two boys up,” Girard said shaking my hand. “Can’t seem to find a Detective Roberts on the Boston force.”
“I’m what you might call on loan from Philly, for this case,” I told him as we took seats in front of his desk. “I have a history with these kinds of case.” I told him trying to keep my background on the downlow.
“Yes the cold case that Douglas and I worked on nine years ago,” the Captain said reaching for some files in his desk drawer. “We really didn’t have much.” “There was no one with a grudge or reason for doing those women any harm.” “They were three sisters that lived in different parts of the Boston metro area.” “Not even close for that matter only really saw or spoke to each other on holidays.” I took the file from Girard hoping to see any small detail that would reveal the killer as a Zeni-human. But at first glance there were none. “You boys think this was a serial?” Girard asked.
“Higher ups believe that it is a serial that previous administrations tried to cover up,” Jeff explained. That suggestion changed Girard’s cooperative attitude completely.
“Are you accusing me of something?” Captain Girard exclaimed.
I tried to step back what Jeff had just done, “Not at all sir.” “I see in your case file that you had no idea about the previous murders with the same M.O.”
“Previous murders?” Captain Girard questioned.
“Yes, over the past seventy-five years there have been three women murdered in the same way every year in three different cities,” I explained. “We are going on that it is some kind of traveling cult.”
“Well those three women didn’t come into contact with any cult,” Girard grumbled.
“So there was no connection between them other than they were sisters?” Jeff asked. “Nothing that crossed all three of their paths on a regular basis?”
“The only thing these sister had in common was their cable company,” Captain Girard spouted at us sound on edge.
I flipped through his casefile again finding no mention of the cable company. “You didn’t put that in your reports,” I commented.
“Of course not, cable was a new thing back then, the whole city had the same company,” Girard explained. “Why would that even matter?”
“It is an opportunity for people to let strangers into their homes,” Jeff complied. “Most people have family photos displayed in their homes, did any of these women?” Detective Steele was catching on very quickly to my suspicious.
“How the hell should I know, that was a long time ago!” Girard shouts now clearly angry perhaps even feeling guilty. “Just take the file and go” “I’ve got my own squad to run!”
Back in the car Jeff asked me, “Do you really think it could be the same guy that Simpson said he saw working for the cable company?”
“Could be, public service appears to be the way the killer finds his victims.” “But there is one problem, this file says the three murders took place at the same time only miles apart,” I told him as we headed for our next destination. “Maybe it is some kind of cult,” I hated to admit. I picked up the radio to call back to the station to tell Ed what we had found out from Captain Girard.
“I think you guys should head back to the station,” Ed told us over the radio. “Officer McCoy has brought some very interesting information with her.”
“Oh, it is Officer McCoy now?” I commented.
“That is beside the point,” Ed replied. “Just get back here!” Jeff turned the car around at the next intersection and we were on our way back to the precinct.
“Will told me where you guys were staying,” Jeff said as we drove. “So anything odd happen?”
“What do you mean?” I asked trying to sound unaware.
“That house has a history,” Jeff explained. “It was built by a guy in the nineteen-twenties that was a rum runner.” “There was a raid and a shoot out with the Feds, a dozen people died.”
“That was over sixty years ago, why is anyone even telling that story?” I asked.
“In the nineteen-fifties the last of a string of serial murders took place in that house, police killed the guy at the scene,” Jeff told me.
These are all just a coincidence, nothing more, they happened thirty years apart,” I justified.
“In the sixties…” he began before I stopped him.
“I get the idea, every big city has a house like that.” “I’m not superstitious.” I told Jeff ending our talk about the history of the Bed and Breakfast.
Back at the precinct Eileen McCoy had admirably gotten over our ditching her at the house. She began showing us copies of evidence of the last group of murders two years ago in San Diego. “I was only on the force for about a year when my brother’s friend’s grandmother, mother and sister were murdered,” she explained. “The murders appeared rushed and sloppy, leaving behind what appeared to be a lot of evidence.” “But every time the Detectives on the case thought they had a lead the evidence would disappear.” “Files went missing, computers were tampered with and bodies were cremated without proper paperwork.”
“There was clearly someone working on the inside,” Ed suggests. “Not unlike what happened here seventy years ago.”
“It was clear to the Detectives on the case that whoever the mole was he had been on the inside for a while,” McCoy told us. “That is why they brought me into the case.” “As a newbie asking questions it was not unusual.”
This was the first time we had heard of the murders being from three generations. It made me wonder if this killer was the danger that loomed over the Triad. “That was an incredible break for you,” I commented wondering why this woman was chosen to help experienced officers.
“Not really, my father was one of those Detectives,” McCoy explained. “I had joined the police force using my mother’s maiden name to not be in his shadow, but when this happened that went out the window.” “We trace the mole back to the morgue, but before we could arrest him he was gone.”
“So you know who he was then?” Jeff asks.
“Unfortunately he also cleaned up after himself,” Eileen told us. “It would be about a month later that we learned he was using a false name.” “We had co-workers give a description of him to the sketch artist.” Eileen laid out several sketches on the table all of them very nondescript. Basically a middle aged man with long hair and an overgrown beard. “He was part time working at night, not many people even knew who he was when they saw him.”
“On that note, I got a call from the hospital, Mr.Simpson should be ready for another interview and sketch artist tomorrow morning,” Will told us. “Hopefully he will be able to give us a better description of our guy.”
“I’d like to look for your mole if there is one if you don’t mind,” Eileen requested.
“I’ve already cleared you with a visitor’s pass,” Will told her handing her the lanyard. “You have no idea how good it is to have all of this help on a case.”
“That is the one thing I am confused about, why are there only two detectives working this case?” Eileen asked. “And why are the two of you here when there haven’t even been murders in your city?”
“What say I go with Officer McCoy to the morgue and Ed can get out on the street with Jeff,” I volunteered. Hoping to first get a chance to call back to the Bed and Breakfast to talk to Drusilla or Dharma.
“I don’t know about that,” Ed said showing no enthusiasm to do any leg work.
“Come on, Ed I’ll show you the best place in town to get a tan,” the African American Jeff Steele said with a smile.
“I just need to make a call first,” I told Eileen slipping away into a private office. I called the Enchanted Suites and Darla answered the phone.
“Good Morning, Enchanted Suites, how may I help you?” she asked over the phone.
“Yeah, hello, it is Steve Roberts, I’m staying there,” I said, knowing that the youngest of the Triad had no idea about the witch’s problem. “Could I speak to Drusilla or Dharma?” I said trying to treat her professionally like an adult.
I couldn’t believe it the girl copped an attitude with me, “You mean my Mommie or Grammie?” “Neither one of them is here!” “Whatever it is you need I can handle for you!”
I was stumped, I didn’t know what to say to that, “No thank you, I will check back later.” “Have a nice day,” I said, trying to appease the girl.
“Same to you!” was the reply as she slammed down the phone.
The coroner’s office was in another part of town so Will gave me directions and a car. He also called ahead to let them know we were coming. By the time we got to the Morgue I had explained what I could about a Zeni-human squad and the importance of keeping it undercover to Eileen. She grasped the concept fairly well, but I don’t think she was a complete believer. Like most people she would have to see something extraordinary to accept the existence of Zeni-humans. I hoped I wouldn’t be the one to show it to her.
As we walked into the coroner’s office I got that familiar feeling at the back of my skull. I knew there was going to be trouble here, I just didn’t know when or what. I probably would have a better idea if my dream from the night before had not been tampered with by the witch. As we walked in, everything seemed in order. Neither Eileen or I had Boston PD badges to show so it was good that Will called ahead. The receptionist sent us straight to the Managing Coroner’s office.
“Yes, we were told you were coming, Howard Simon at your service,” He said greeting us. “I’ve pulled the files you need.” “Most of our night staff has worked here for years, completely trustworthy.”
“Most?” Eileen questioned as I took the files from the man.
“About two years ago we lost one, tragic accident really,” Dr. Simon told us. “We hired Shawn Donnelly in his place.” “Nice Irish boy, never been a problem.” I flipped through the files to find Shawn Donnelly’s, he would be where we started.
“Dr. Simon, there is no file here for a Shawn Donnelly,” I told the Coroner when I couldn’t find the name.
“Here let me look,” Eileen said taking the files from me.
“That is odd, but you are in luck I saw Shawn this morning,” Dr Simon told us. “He is covering for someone who needed the day off.”
“Where can we find him?” Eileen said putting the files back on the desk coming to the same conclusion I did.
“Storage room eight,” Dr Simon told us. “Take the elevator to SB2 and it is to the right.”
As we walked back to the elevator I asked Eileen, “Do you have a gun?”
“Yeah, why,” she replied reaching into her purse.
“Have it ready,” I told her. My danger sense was on high alert and I knew this wasn’t going to go well. We entered room eight, there appeared to be no one inside. Two of the walls were lined with cold storage lockers. On a gurney in the center of the room was a body under a sheet. We cautiously approached it with guns drawn and I reached out to pull back the sheet.
“Ahhh,” Eileen gasped backing away from what was under the sheet. It was a body that someone had carefully cut away all of the face and scalp leaving only bloody musculature. “That is gross!” Eileen said.
“This looks fresh not like it was done to kill this guy,” I said holding down my breakfast as I looked the corpse over. “Why would someone do this?” Eileen did not respond. I heard the sound the moment the gun was fired and it was almost like I felt the bullet coming at me. I dodged to the right hitting the floor and spinning around to hold my gun out. A man wearing the flesh he had carved from the corpse on the table over his head held Eileen by the neck, her gun in his hand.
“You move pretty fast for a big guy,” he said. Eileen had a look on her face of shock, he had caught her completely off guard. “Guess you get to watch her die first now,” he said moving the gun to Eileen’s temple. The look on her face changed to one of determination like I saw on Paddy’s face awhile back in that alley. I lowered my gun knowing I had no need to worry about this woman.
Officer McCoy brought the heel of her boot down hard on her attacker’s toes. As he jerked in pain she grabbed his wrist that held the gun with her left hand and gave him a right elbow to the gut doubling him over to the floor. Taking the gun she held it on the grotesquely masked man.
“Very impressive, Officer McCoy,” I said getting up from the floor.
“You’re not so bad yourself, how did you know that bullet was coming?” she asked.
“Good instincts,” I replied. We both stood there aiming at our guns at him, neither one of us wanting to pull off his leatherface mask.
Chivalry is not dead, I thought as I stepped forward. Holding my gun in my right hand I reached out my left arm. I should have put my gun away it was a distraction. As I reached out he caught me by surprise grabbing my arm to pull me forward off balance. He sprang up head butting me. I think he hurt himself more than me, but I fell backward into Eileen just the same. I managed to flip around not to fall on Eileen as we tumbled back onto the floor. The time it took for us to regroup was enough for him to get away out the door. He even took the bloody skin mask with him.
Eileen insisted that I go to the hospital to get checked out after the head butt. She seemed fairly upset because of the loudness of the hit. Like I said my attacker took the brunt of the injury it barely bruised me. By the time we got back to the precinct the others had put out an A.P.B. on Shawn Donnelly. As it turned out the human face mask was found a few blocks away on the sidewalk. It appeared to be another dead end. If not for the files that Clock and Steele had at the precinct everything would have been lost again. The suspect had managed to delete all of the coroner files on both himself and the victims.
After the tussle at the morgue, I realized I had gotten blood on my shirt and pants. I decided to go back to the Bed and Breakfast to get a change of clothes. Eileen and Ed had stayed behind to work the case. Eileen was still trying to wrap her head around the whole Zeni-human thing. Before I left Ed pulled me aside to ask, “While you’re there could you pack up my stuff and bring it back here?” “I found an open room at a Hotel not far from here.” “If you want we can bunk together.”
“No, I’m fine where I am, is there something wrong?” I asked. “You’ve been acting strange all day.”
“It is just that place gives me the creeps,” Ed replied, “I really don’t want to go back there.” “Get them to write me up a bill too, could you?”
When I got back to the house, I headed up to my room. After changing my clothes I went into Ed’s room through the adjoining door. He really hadn’t unpacked much so there wasn’t much packing to do. I guess I could understand how Ed felt but it seemed like something else was going on with him. It was a witch’s spell that brought us here, I could only hope that it wouldn’t prevent him from leaving of his own free will.
I headed back down stairs but no one seemed to be around the house, I got a little concerned having realized that the three women running the place where possible targets for the serial that was loose in the city. I sat Ed’s suitcases down next to the front desk before I walked into the kitchen. “Hello, is anyone here?” I called out. There was no response so I looked out the window over the sink to the back yard. I spotted Dharma out in the herb garden talking with a tall dark man. She sat on a cement bench as he stood over her.
As I walked across the lawn it seemed like he must have stood at least seven feet tall. He had dark curly hair and a goatee. As I got closer to the garden the man looked at me with his dark, deep set eyes. I soon realized he was not seven feet tall but he still had a couple of inches on me. His stature was imposing even to me as I approached. “Excuse me, Dharma I was wondering if I could talk to you?” I asked trying to be as polite as I possibly could.
“Yes, Mr. Roberts what is it?” she replied in her usual cheery style.
“I’m sorry, I don’t mean to interrupt anything,” I said as the large man glared as if to inspect me.
“No, not at all,” Dharma replied. “This is March Aries, he is Darla’s father.” “He was just leaving.” The man reached out his large hand toward me.
I took his hand to shake, it made mine seem small in comparison. “Nice to meet you,” I said shaking his hand. His grip was almost painful as he squeezed my hand. “March Aries, that is and unusual name,” I felt stupid the minute the words came out of my mouth.
“It’s Greek,” he said releasing me from his strong firm handshake that almost made my hand hurt.
“So am I, on my mother’s side but what I meant was that both of your names refer to the Gods of war from the Greek and Roman pantheons,” I told him a little intimidated by him.
“You are a warrior at heart, aren’t you?” It was a strange thing for him to say but everything about this trip to Boston had been strange. He stood there sizing me up for a few minutes more before saying, “Yes, I feel much better now, you will be safe with this man in the house.” He leaned over to give the seated Dharma a kiss on the cheek and then promptly walked off across the lawn.
“There was something you wished to talk to me about, Mr. Roberts,” Dharma asked turning my attention back to her and away from the man who just left.
“Yes, yes of course,” I stammered looking to her and then back up to see that March Aries was gone surprisingly quickly. “I believe the case I came here to work on might be the danger that you and your mother have feared.” “There is apparently a seventy-five year old serial killer on the loose in Boston, possibly Zeni-human.”
“Zeni-human?” she repeated. “I am sure he is nothing that you can’t handle.”
“His M.O. is that he murders three women of the same bloodline,” I explained. “It is possible that your family could be his next victims.”
“Don’t be silly we are completely safe in this house,” Dharma told me showing not a care in the world.
“I’ve heard stories about this house, it hasn’t had the best luck when it comes to safety,” I told her.
“That is why we are safe,” Dharma said standing up from the bench. “You see when we first came to this house, when my mother and father bought it, we cast a spell to turn the whole house into a talisman.” “It is kind of a two-sided coin talisman,” she explained. “All of the bad things that happened here in the past make it impossible for anything else bad to come to this house.”
“What does that even mean?” I asked as she walked away from me back to the house.
“It means opposites attract and sames repel to put it simply,” Dharma told me. “The only way evil could get back into this house is if one of us invited it in.”
“You really have that much faith in your magic after what has been happening of late?” I asked as we entered the kitchen.
“I will admit my mother’s spell has gone astray, but not so far off course to let a killer into our home,” she said as she rinsed off the herbs she had picked in the garden at the sink.
“Well if that is what you believe so be it,” I said. “Mr. Bower would like to check out.” “If you could make up his bill I could take back to him at the precinct.”
“Of course, it will take me only a minute to do,” Dharma replies as she dries her hands and heads for the front desk.
The girl Darla sat at the desk with her usual unhappy look on her face. “Whose bags are these?” she asks pointing at Ed’s stuff that I left at the side of the desk.
“Mr. Bower will be checking out,” the mother of the girl answered.
“Such a nice man, very helpful, it is ashame he is leaving so soon,” Darla says causing her mother to give her a glare.
Dharma slips Ed’s bill into an envelope handing it to me. I grab his suitcases to head back to the office. “Could you call me a cab?” I asked.
“Of course, Darla could you handle that please?” Dharma asked.
“Yes, mother!” the girl says in an angry tone as her mother returns to the kitchen. “So Mr. Roberts, you will still be saying with us tonight?”
“Yes,” I answered, giving the girl that strange gleam in her eye.
“Perhaps I will bring you some hot chocolate tonight,” she smiled.
“No, that won’t be necessary,” I told her as she picked up the phone to call me a cab.
I walked out front to the sidewalk carrying Ed’s bags. I spotted the cab pulling up to the curb and walked toward it. As I stepped closer the cab suddenly pulled away from the curb, the driver trying to hide his face. I could have sworn it was David, it was very strange. It wasn’t long before another cab showed up to take me back to the precinct.
At the precinct I learned there was a breakthrough in the case. Mr. Simpson was having some kind of unexpected breakdown from the drug withdraws, making it a priority for him to be questioned. Jeff and Will had gone to the hospital to question him. I gave Ed his things not asking anymore questions about his move. He opened the envelope with his bill. “Ten bucks that is it?” he exclaimed.
He showed me the bill that is what it said, “I guess so.”
“Hell, here you go,” Ed said pulling out his wallet and slipping a ten into the envelope to hand it back to me.
The three of us hung out at the station a little longer before Ed said, “Hey if you two want to head out that is fine.” “My hotel is only down the street so I can call if anything important breaks when they get back.”
Eileen and I took him up on his offer. While sharing a cab back to the Bed and Breakfast, Eileen reached over and grabbed my shirt. “Hey, let me have a look at the head,” she said. I leaned closer so she could see that the bruising was gone. I was too quick of a healer for my own good sometimes. “I can’t even see a mark on you now,” she said surprised.
“It is just the light in this cab,” I suggested. We sat quietly for most of the ride after that. Eileen was a very observant and good investigator I was sure she had some suspicious. I’m sure it was something she learned from her father. In a way she reminded me of Natalie, take no crap, daughter of a cop. “How come your father didn’t come along with you on this case?” I asked never expecting the answer I got.
Eileen looked over at me sadly. “You know how I panicked in the morgue?” she asked.
“Don’t be silly, you did great, I was the one who screwed up!” I replied.
“No, I panicked when he first grabbed me,” Eileen said looking away to the floor of the cab. “There was something I didn’t tell you about the case from back in San Diego.” “My Dad was working late one night alone when he discovered the morgue connection.” “He took it upon himself to go to the morgue to investigate.” “The bastard must have caught him off guard too.” “In the morning they found my Dad’s body in a locker, that bastard murder him.”
I could see how upset Eileen was telling the story. I reached over and put my arm around her shoulders. “I am so sorry,” I said holding her tightly. I suddenly got a flash of the dream I had from the night before, it was very disturbing, causing me to let go of her and return to my side of the car seat.
“No, I’m the one who is sorry,” she said wiping her eyes. “I didn’t want this to come out like this, the case is more important than my own tragedy,” Eileen insisted bravely. “I can’t let this become so personal.”
“In a way our job is all about taking things personally,” I told her. “If we can’t put our own feelings into this job, to care about the people we are trying to help, then what is the point of doing it at all?” I said trying to reassure her.
“Wow that was really wise, I don’t know if it is the right thing to do, but it does make me feel better,” Eileen said as we arrived back at the Enchanted Suites.
It was after dark as we pulled up, but still I noticed David Rodney’s cab parked around were I thought he stopped earlier when I was going back to the station. “Hey, what is the story with that guy?” I asked the driver pointing to the parked cab.
“Don’t know,” the driver said, “It isn’t one of our cars.”
I looked at the parked cab, the markings were identical to the one we rode in. “How can you tell that?” I asked.
“It’s got the wrong phone number on the side,” the cabbie said as I gave him a nice tip for his information. When we got out of the car I looked to see that he was right. The number on David’s cab was one digit different. I thought about it for a minute, we never did call David for a ride he just kinda showed up. When they did call for a cab it was the other company that showed up not David. I had to wonder if there was some kind of weird destiny thing going on with that too.
“What was that about?” Eileen asked as we walked up to the front of the house.
“I’m not sure but I don’t think it is good,” I told her. “Keep your gun handy.” We walked into the front hall, Dharma was on the phone.
“He just walked in the door, here I’ll let you talk to him,” she said to the person on the phone. “Mr. Roberts, the call is for you, it’s Mr. Bower.” Dharma handed me the phone.
“Hi, Ed what’s up?” I answered.
“We got the sketch from Simpson, it looks like David Rodney,” Ed replied eagerly.
“I feared as much, I think he is here,” I told him.
“Will and Jeff are on their way there,” Ed said before hanging up the phone.
“What is it?” Eileen asked.
“They got the sketch and it looks like the guy who owns that taxi out front,” I told her as I turned to Dharma. “Is David Rodney in this house?” I asked her.
“No, I forbid her from bringing him in here,” the angry mother replied.
“Forbid who?” Eileen asked taking out her gun.
“Darla, that is the name of the older man she had been running around with,” Dharma told us.
“You said one of you would have to invite evil into the house, does that include Darla?” I asked.
“Yes, of course, even though she has no memory of it she is still one of us,” Dharma answered.
“Where is Darla?” I asked picking up a solid glass paperweight from the desk.
“Upstairs in her room,” she told us.
“Is there anyone else in the house?” I asked next.
“Just Mr. Bascom,” Dharma answered almost whispering.
“Where is he?” I questioned. Dharma didn’t reply she just gazed up the stairs.
“Let’s go,” I motioned to Eileen as I headed for the stairs.
“Please don’t disturb them.” the Innkeeper requested, alarmed at the sight of Eileen’s gun.
“Find your mother and get out of the house!” I told her.
“What about your gun?” Eileen asked as she followed after me.
“I concentrate better without it,” I told her as we moved up the steps. “Remember how tricky this guy is, don’t let him catch you by surprise.” We were halfway down the hallway to Darla’s room when we heard Dharma scream from down stairs. I looked back to Eileen.
“I’ll go back you keep going for the girl, he will want to kill all of them,” Eileen said turning to hurry back down the stairs.
By now my danger sense was on full burn. When I heard the sounds of struggle in Darla’s room there was no more questions as I kicked open the door. It was David, he had the girl tied to the bed and gagged as she struggled to free herself. “Wow, did you screw up bringing us here,” I said as David turned to face me.
He held a bloody kitchen knife in his hand as he glared at me. “You weren’t supposed to be a cop!” he replied. I could see that Darla had several cuts on her arms and legs, nothing fatal. “But it was too late to change women again.” He looked to his watch as if waiting for the proper moment to strike the fatal blow.
I gripped the glass paperweight behind my back. Carefully assessing the situation, I knew he was faster than I might have thought before the encounter at the morgue. It would be me to act first this time. I made my move the instant he seemed to be ready to make his final stab. I threw the glass ball at his head, hitting him hard, knocking him away from Darla. His pain reaction seemed less than normal but more than like at the morgue. Before he could make another move, I lunged forward across the room doing a handspring on the floor flipping feet over head to drop kick him back against the wall. The knife dropped from his hand I caught it before it hit the bed. I was the one with the weapon now.
“Who the fuck are you?” David asked trying to focus. He picked up a lamp and threw it at me. I swatted the lamp out of the air with ease.
“I’m the guy who is ending your seventy-five year run!” I said.
“Steve get down here!” I heard Eileen shout from downstairs. The distraction was enough for David to jump through the window. He had balls I’ll give him that, I thought.
“Darla are you okay?” I asked turning back to the crying girl tied to the bed. I used the knife to cut her ropes. She couldn’t seem to speak, it was understandable. “Here take this,” I said handing her the knife, “in case he comes back.” I ran from the room leaping over the banister down to the first floor. I landed dead center of the front hall between Eileen and Dharma who was being held at knife point by David Rodney. No, this guy was different, he had a large bruised lump on his forehead. This was the guy from the morgue. There were two of them! “Shawn, I presume,” I said.
“You again?” he said. “Why can’t you two just let us do what needs to be done?”
“Killing innocent people?” Eileen shouted. She was holding it together much better this time, but the tone of her voice made me think she had no problem shooting this guy, almost eager too.
I could see the genuine fear in Dharma’s eyes she was going to be no help to us in this negotiation. “Look, your brother jumped out a window up stairs, you might consider standing down too,” I suggested.
“No, never we are running out of time!” Shawn shouted. I looked at the knife, I knew this guy was faster than the average person and I wasn’t sure I could stop him from cutting Dharma in time. This truly was a stalemate. I needed some shock and awe to distract him, something no one would expect to happen.
I turned away from him and walked back past Eileen, “Go ahead shoot him,” I said to Eileen’s surprise.
“What?” she questioned.
“There is no other option, shoot him!” I repeated coming to stand at the reception desk. “Our years of working together I know how good of a shot you are, shoot him between the eyes.” I think Eileen was catching on now.
“First I have to know did you kill my father in San Diego?” Eileen asked.
“If he was in our way, if he knew who we were, yes,” Shawn replied. “Shoot and I cut her!” “One of them is already dead, this will be two!” he grinned.
We were out of time, “Do it now!” I shouted and Eileen respond by lowering her gun. I on the other hand took action of a different kind. I grabbed another of the glass paperweights from the desk and launched it at the killer. This time it was his shoulder I was aiming for, hitting him just right to trigger the effect I desired. We all heard the pop as his arm was dislocated and it swung out his hand letting go of the knife as it flew against the wall to the floor. Again I went into my gymnastic routine across the hall floor. I still have no idea why I was doing that, too many action movies, maybe.
Shawn staggered back away from Dharma as I flipped into him giving him a kick to the throat. He hit the floor hard. I turned shouting to Eileen, “Cuff him, I need to find Drusilla!” I ran for the kitchen door confident that Eileen could handle cuffing our captive.
I stormed into the room finding Drusilla on the floor another man kneeling over her cutting into her chest with a kitchen knife. The slam of the door on the wall alerted the man of my arrival. When he turned to look at me, “Holy shit!” I exclaimed. “There are three of you!”
Before either of us could react, David entered the house through the back door. His face and hands covered in cuts from the glass of the window. He held a gun on me. “Yes there are, this is my brother Christian,” he told me. “He is the religious one of the group.” “He likes to use a knife to do his work.” “Me, I have no problem shooting you!” With that statement David Rodney fired two shots at me.
I reached for an iron frypan sitting on the stove and held it up deflecting the bullets. Years of training made it easy to redirect the bullets with accuracy. Both Christian and David were hit in the same shoulder as Shawn. The triple injury affected them much more severely than any injury caused to only one. Both fell unconscious to the floor.
Just then I turned to see that Dharma had come into the kitchen. I took her by the arms holding her back away to shield her from the scene. I knew there was no way Drusilla could have survived the wounds Christian had inflicted on her. “You really shouldn’t see it,” I said.
“I have seen my mother’s dead body thousands of times before, it has little effect on me now,” Dharma said bravely. This time must have been very different, when she caught one glimpse of the mother’s open chest cavity it was enough to dissuade her to look further.
“I am so sorry, I should have stayed here today to protect you from them,” I told her as police officers burst in the back door. “Cuff those two guys before you call an ambulance,” I told Will Clock as he came in behind the patrolmen. “Don’t let them out of your sight!” I walked with Dharma back into the front hall where Jeff Steele and some other officers were getting Eileen’s statement. Darla was standing on the stairs as I said, “I feel responsible for your mother’s death, you wanted my help and I wasn’t up to the task,” to Dharma.
“No, it wasn’t your or the Rodney brothers who killed Drusilla,” she said as she slid her hand to her belly. “It was me!”
“Then you know?” Dharma asked.
“Yes, I do and I am so sorry,” Darla says descending the staircase the rest of the way. The mother and daughter hugged as if all the disagreements they had over the last few years no longer matter.
“But how, Drusilla only discovered that Mr. Bascom was to be her father last night,” Dharma asks.
“What are they talking about?” Eileen ask me as she walks over next to me. I just shook my head as Tim Bascom emerges at the top of the stairs.
“I am not the father of the child just as it should be,” he stated.
The mother looks to the police leading the men out of the house to awaiting ambulances. “Please don’t tell me that awful man is the father of your child?” Dharma grumbles.
“No, we never got the chance because of all of the guests in the house,” Darla answers. “It was Mr. Bower.”
“What?” I exclaimed. “Is that why he checked out?”
“I used a potion on him, he has no memory of what happened between us, only shadows,” Darla explains. “I was trying to prove a point to you mother.”
“Potion?” Eileen questioned
“But Drusilla was sure that that Bascom was to be her next father,” Dharma says turning our attention back up the stairs to Tim Bascom.
“What is happening to him?” Eileen asked. As we looked to the steps the Brazilian man began to age before our eyes.
“My hex is fading as is Drusilla’s spell,” he told us from his perch. “The old witch’s spell would have meant the young man’s death in a plane crash as he returned home.” The young Tim Bascom’s face ages and wrinkles swiftly as his hair greys. “I sent him home yesterday and took his place to insure he did not become a slave to the Triad.” “The wound to the fabric of magic has been repaired and I must now be returned to my proper place.” Soon it is the old wizard I met days earlier who stands grinning down at us. “Good luck Steven Roberts!” he says looking right at me and then he is gone in a burst of light with a clap of thunder.
“What the hell was that?” Eileen asks in disbelief of what she has just witnessed.
“Magic, dear, magic,” Dharma says still hugging her daughter tightly.
As it turned out the triplets were in reality one man, or at least there was only one birth certificate and that was for David Rodney close to one hundred years ago. Long ago he murdered his twin sisters and mother discovering he could split off the other two personalities that warred inside his head. Funny thing was that all of them hated each other, each one blaming the other two for their failure. On May thirtieth they joined together becoming one very conflicted David Rodney. He would remain one person as long as he did not kill and eat the hearts of three women.