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The Tessarae Inn |
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The Son Also Rises
CHAPTER 24 Todd looked out over the sea of faces crammed into St. James. Half of the people there were probably reporters and the other half were equally divided between people who took pleasure in watching other people’s suffering and plainclothes police officers. In this vast sea there were maybe ten people who cared about her in one way or another. Dorian, Kelly, Cassie and Starr huddled together on the front pew to his left. Viki, Kevin, and Jessica sat up rod straight in the pew to his right. Max had slipped next to Jessica and had been openly crying through the eulogy, the hymns and the scripture and the testimonials. Dorian, Kelly, Cassie and Viki had all said moving things about her. Oddly enough the most heartbreaking testimonial had come from Blair’s secretary at Moon Jumping, Dee Grant. Now it was his turn. He cleared his throat then said, “I loved Blair and she loved me. I will always love her. She gave me the stars and the moon.” He nodded to Dee who walked up onto the altar as the organist slipped into place. “She didn’t particularly like this song. May not have even heard it. I don’t particularly like it but I heard it yesterday and I thought of her. That’s the way it was with us. Nothing ever seemed predictable or right but somehow we fit as if we were the missing piece of each other. It is my eulogy to her.” Todd stepped down from the altar and walked toward the front pew. Dee began to sing: “If I could make a wish I think
I’d pass/Can’t think of anything I need/ No sleep, No lights, no sound/
Can’t think of anything I need.” He slipped next to Starr, who was holding onto Dorian for dear life. As soon as he sat down Starr flung herself into his arms. “All I need to think of you is the air that I breathe.
My heart belongs to you” Starr was crying. He pulled her onto his lap and held her tight. “All I need to love you is the air that I breathe. I’m just living to love you” “I’m so sad, daddy. I tried so hard but I’m so sad.” “I know.” “Peace came upon me and it breathes in me.” “I want to go home. I don’t want to do this, daddy.” “We have to say goodbye to your mother, Starr.” “I don’t want her to be dead.” “Don’t you sleep silent angel. Please don’t you
sleep.” “I know, Starr. I know.” “ All I do is think about you. Just can’t live without you. You know I love you.” Todd kissed Starr on the cheek and let her cry. She had to cry for both of them now because he could say the words but he couldn’t let himself feel it anymore. “I dream about you. Forever. I love you.” As the final strains of the song drifted away, Andrew stepped to the altar and offered one last prayer then thanked everyone for coming. Starr looked up at him with tears in her eyes. “Is it over?” “Yes.” “I want to go home. Maybe mommy is there by now.” He dropped his head for a second then looked her in the eye. “You can go home now but remember what I told you about Dorian. Do you think you can do this for me?” She nodded her head. “I love you, Starr. Always remember that.”
“Uncle Todd, that was the most beautiful thing I ever heard.” He nodded his head and stepped back from Jessica’s embrace. “Starr is going to need her cousins…all of them. Why don’t you go talk to her? Maybe you can spend some time with her.” “I’ll do whatever I can do.” Todd could see Bo watching him. He walked over to him. “Do you have any word on Sean?” “No, but we have picked up an interesting bit of information. It seems a man, who entered this country illegally, has been working for the limo company that often drove Blair around.” “I am sure there are a lot of people who are in this country illegally.” “He claimed to have been from England but our information is revealing that it is more likely that he was from Ireland. And how is this for a connection? It seems now that your son--the one who was supposed to be the product of an illicit affair with an English woman may also in fact be from Ireland. Is any of this ringing a bell, Todd? And the kicker may be that there is a connection to the Men of 21. Now, who would have ever seen that coming?” “I just, in effect, buried my wife. There could not be an actual interment because you haven’t found the body yet.” Bo rocked his head then stepped back. “Your son is still missing, Todd. I have to stay focused on that. I’m going to need you to come with me to the station and answer a few questions.” “Bo, darling, it was so nice of you to come pay your respects to Blair," Dorian said as she moved next to Bo. "You know what it is like to lose someone precious and the best condolences are from family.” “I’m not family, Dorian.” “Close enough. Your brother was married to Todd’s sister and is the father of her daughters and your father was married to Blair…Where is Asa by the way?” “Dorian, I am awfully sorry about what happened to Blair. I know you loved her and--” Dorian flung herself into Bo’s arms and he patted her lightly on the back and made soothing sounds. “I swear, Bo. I haven’t even been able to tell Addie about it. I just can’t bring myself to do it. I start weeping uncontrollably whenever I think about it.” “I know that is going to be hard for you, Dorian.” “Maybe you can come with me, Bo. You know as a shoulder to lean on.” “Well….ummm. See, Dorian, I’ve got to keep working on Blair’s case. I think you understand that.” She nodded and Bo pushed her back gently. Dorian borrowed his handkerchief and dabbed at her tears. Bo glanced away from her then suddenly he stepped back and rotated his head from side to side rapidly. “Where is Todd? I need to talk to him.” “Well, he was standing right here a second ago.”
Todd gave Dorian credit. She could be a hell of a distraction when she put her mind to it. The clock was ticking though. Bo made the connection much faster than he ever expected him to. Of course, he was wrong about The Men of 21 being involved but from there it was only a hop, skip and a jump to August Moon. In the end, The Men of 21 cost him his life and saved it too. It was his luck--his fate to be found by Ethan who considered anyone shot by The Men of 21 to be as close to a guaranteed ally as possible. And it was The Men of 21 who gave him a ticket out of Ireland, too. Was it fate, luck or happenstance that the man who tried to set up Cameron was one of the men who shot him. He traded information for his freedom but the question now is whether he’d ever really gotten out of there. Blair was dead and nothing would ever be right again. He slipped into Andrew’s office and made sure he was alone. He opened the door to the back storage area and found the package he had left there earlier. He slipped off his leather jacket and put on the trench coat. He reached into the pocket of the coat and pulled out a pair of eyeglasses with clear lenses. He smoothed his hair back and pulled it into ponytail then secured it with a rubber band. He slipped on the eyeglasses. He glanced in the mirror. Good enough. His goal was camouflage not transformation. Too many people tried to hide themselves by dressing as if in costume. He just wanted to look ordinary—to blend in with the ten or fifteen plainclothes cops lurking around the sanctuary. He pulled up the collar on the coat and walked out of Andrew’s office where he had supposedly gone to “compose himself” and out of the front door. No one tried to stop him. No one noticed him. Ethan was standing next to a tree puffing on a cigar. He nodded when he saw him then dropped the cigar and ground it out with his foot. Ethan walked to the nondescript car parked at the curb and started the engine. Todd slipped into the passenger seat and Ethan pulled out into traffic then drove west on Crenshaw. “Gun’s in the compartment there,” said Ethan. He glanced out of the side window. He hated guns but he had learned to use one in Ireland. Had to. Ethan had been a patient and an expert teacher. He inhaled deeply but then reached into the glove compartment and pulled out the gun and the extra clips sitting next to it. He slipped them into his pocket. “Are you okay? How did things go in there?” “The way things go when you have to bury your wife. Are you sure the information is correct?” “No guarantees but I do know her and combined with what your wife’s cousin told you it makes sense.” Nothing about this made sense. Blair was dead and there is no way any of it should have happened. He’d analyzed everything a hundred times and it should not have happened. But it did. Blair was dead and the only thing he could feel about it was anger and a thirst for revenge. He couldn’t remember what it felt like when she touched him. He couldn’t remember the sound of her voice. He reminded himself that she smelled like honey and jasmine but he couldn’t remember it. And he couldn’t remember her face. Whenever he tried to see Blair’s face, he saw the color orange instead. It spread through his consciousness until it blotted out everything else and left him numb. “This is probably going to get bloody, Todd. Got to prepare yourself for that.” “Prepare myself? I’m looking forward to it.” Ethan grunted. Todd turned his head and looked out at the landscape whipping past him. Turn. Turn. Turn. For everything there is a season. There is a time to live and a time to die.
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