Acheron Highway: A Jonathan Shade Novel (24 page)

“Coming from the Underworld, how long would it take for someone to arrive?”

“I have no idea.
 
Time operates differently in other dimensions.”

“So I’ve been told.”

“When and where shall we make the attempt?”

“Wednesday afternoon at the Royal Gorge.”

“That’s down past the Springs.”

“Yes, it is.
 
Have you ever been?”

“No.”

“Then you’ll have a wonderful time checking out the nation’s highest suspension bridge.”

“I’m not much for sightseeing, Mr. Shade.
 
And the forecast is calling for snow for the next few days.”

“Layer up,” I said.

She glared at Mike.

He raised his hands.
 
“Don’t look at me.”

“Can you have Vanessa hold the snow back until Thursday?”

“Shade is right.
 
Just dress in layers.”

“Fine.”

“We’ll pick you up at ten in the morning.”

“I’ll try to contain my excitement.”

Try eating a cheeseburger,
I thought.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

The eleven o’clock class was in session at the dojo, so there weren’t any parking spots in the lot, and I had to park on a side street.
 
I sat in the car for a few minutes to make a few phone calls.
 
My insurance company told me my car was indeed totaled, which sucked.
 
I didn’t want to buy a new car.
 
They also told me my rates were going up.
 
Oh, the many joys of living life on the edge.

When I stepped out of the car, the wind cut into me like a thousand swords, and I considered getting back into the nice, warm rental.
 
Instead, I put on my tough-guy face and shouldered my way through the cold air to the 7-Eleven on the corner.
 
I bought a cup of coffee that tasted old and nasty but at least warmed me up a touch; then I stepped outside and walked the rest of the way to the dojo since I was meeting Kelly for lunch.

Inside the dojo, I was surprised to see Brand standing in the center of the mats, allowing a woman to punch him repeatedly.
 
He saw me come in.
 
He nodded and made a show of clenching a fist as if he planned to punch the woman, but he opened his hand and kept it out of play.
 
The look on his face amused me.
 
I knew he wanted to hit back.
 
Kelly stood on the side of the mat with the rest of the women in the class.
 
Her eyes met mine, and she made a quick eye move toward Brand as if to say,
Can you believe this?
 
When she smiled, it reached her eyes, and that was a nice thing to see.

OK, I thought, he was trying and it was making Kelly happy, so Brand could stay.
 
He’d need to understand that I was the only one who was allowed to crack bad jokes, but that could wait.

I nodded to Kelly then went into her office and sat down.
 
A glance at the clock told me there were another twenty minutes of class time.
 
I closed my eyes, but before I could drift off for a quick power nap, my phone rang.

I looked at it and saw it was Walter.

“What’s up, Walter?”

“Zach Banner is up.”

“Say what?”

“Zach Banner just got home.”

“He’s dead.
 
Skeleton.
 
Buried.”

“Looks mighty healthy to me.
 
I damn near had a heart attack when I went out to get my paper and saw him pull into his driveway and get out of his car.”

My mind raced.
 
Walter kept talking, saying something about Zach waving to him, but I was wondering about the skeleton in Zach’s backyard.
 
Was that someone else?
 
I made a note to call O’Malley to see if they were able to verify the identity of the corpse, though I suspected that since we’d found the body on Friday and it was just Monday, they wouldn’t have had time.

“Well?” Walter said and I got the impression he’d said it more than once.

“Well what?”

“You
gonna
get your ass over here, or do I go talk to the son of a bitch myself?”

“Stay home, Walter.
 
I’ll cruise over and have a chat with Zach.
 
I have to let you go.
 
I have another call coming in.”

I switched to the other caller, Miranda.

“Hey, good
lookin
’,” I said.

Her voice held an edge of panic when she spoke.
 
“I just got a phone call from Zach.”

“Interesting.
 
What did Dead Boy want?”

“Oh my god, I thought he’d been liquefied.”

“Me too.
 
Stay calm and talk to me.
 
What did he say?”

The words came at me fast as bullets.
 
“I didn’t talk to him.
 
I let it go to voice mail.
 
He just said he missed me and wanted to get together, and my whole body is shaking right now and I just want to hide.”

“Guess he doesn’t know he lost your heart.”
 
I spoke slowly to try to use my voice as a tether to keep her from flying away.

“What do I do?
 
What if he shows up?”
 
She sounded on the verge of tears.

“If he calls back, do what you just did.
 
Let it go to voice mail.
 
I’m going to go talk to the guy and see what’s up.
 
If he shows up at your door, pretend you’re not home and don’t answer.”

“You’re taking this in stride, but I’m freaking out here.
 
He was dead, Jonathan.
 
How could he come back?”

“It might have been someone else in that grave,” I said.

“Or nothing can kill him and he’ll keep coming at me like the Terminator!
 
I can’t deal with this!
 
I want my fucking life back!”

“Calm down, Miranda.
 
I’m on my way over to Zach’s place.
 
I’ll keep you posted.
 
For now, I want you to breathe.”

“Breathe?
 
What the hell are you talking about?
 
I need to—”

“Take a deep breath.”

She rambled for a moment then stopped as if my words had finally registered.
 
She took a deep breath.

“Again.
 
Deep breath...hold it...let it out.”

We went through this a few more times until she seemed more settled.

“I’m sorry,” she said.
 
“I feel like I’m trapped in a horror movie and the monster is outside, clawing to get in, and the hero is too far away to save me.”

“You’re fully capable of saving yourself,” I said.

“I’m scared.”

“It’s all right to be scared.
 
That tells you you’re still alive.”
 
I kept talking as I stepped out of Kelly’s office.
 
I gave Kelly a salute as I left the dojo.
 
She glanced at the clock then back to me and mimed eating.
 
I shook my head and pointed to my phone to let her know lunch was off.
 
I suppose I could have asked her to come along or to have her go sit with Miranda while I talked to Zach, but she still had fifteen minutes of class, and I suspected I wouldn’t need her for this.
 
I knew Miranda still needed me, though.
 
“How are you feeling?” I asked.

Focusing on the conversation at hand kept me from really feeling the cold wind.
 
Miranda kept going over things, and I kept doing my best to calm her down.
 
By the time she was OK to hang up, I was already in the car and halfway to Zach’s place.
 
She knew she could call me if she needed me and that I was going to do what I could to make everything all right.

#

Walter met me in his driveway.

“Nice car,” he said.

“Very funny.
 
Is Zach still home?”

“I’m serious.
 
I like this car.”
 
He walked around it and kept nodding with appreciation.
 
“I may have to buy one of these.
 
What kind of gas mileage does it get?”

I couldn’t wait to give it back and get a real car, but maybe in forty years, I’d see things more like Walter.
 
Yeah, like I would live another forty years.
 
Keep dreaming.

I zipped my coat higher and danced from foot to foot, trying to keep warm.

“You
gotta
pee?” Walter asked.

“No, I’m freezing.”

“This isn’t cold.
 
I spent a winter in Alaska.
 
Now
that
is cold.”

“Zach?”

“Oh yeah, he’s still home.”

I nodded and started down the sidewalk.

“Want me to come with you?”

“I got this,” I said.

Walter went back to admiring the car.

As I approached the door, I wished Esther weren’t so mad at me.
 
It would be nice to have a heads-up, but I rang the bell like a normal person and waited.
 
The door opened and Zach Banner stared at me as though I were a Mormon missionary wanting to sing the praises of Jesus in America.

“Help you?” he said.
 
He wasn’t a bad-looking guy, but his eyes were dead.
 
I instantly felt I couldn’t trust him.

“I hope so,” I said.
 
“I just need a few minutes of your time.
 
Can I come inside?”

“No.
 
What do you want?”

“I want to talk to you about Miranda Hammond.”

“Who are you?”

“The guy who’s dating her,” I said.

“Sorry to hear that.
 
Have fun with the psycho bitch.”

He started to close the door, but I put my foot in the gap to keep it from closing.
 
“Have a heart,” I said.

The hesitation before he responded told me he realized I knew a little more about the situation than he first thought.
 
“Oh,” he said.
 
“I do.”

“Guess you haven’t checked your cabinet since you got home.”

He gave me an odd look.
 
Now the suspicion elevated his breathing, and he glanced toward the basement door but didn’t budge from where he stood blocking the doorway.
 
“Move your foot or I’ll break it,” he said.

I pulled my fingers free of my right glove, folded them into a fist, and placed my hand on the doorjamb.
 
As I spoke, I moved my hand down so the fingers of the glove covered the bolt retainer.
 
“No problem.
 
Go check on the heart.
 
I’ll wait here.”

“What heart?”

“You know.”

I moved my foot, and he shoved the door closed.
 
Of course, the fingers of my glove kept the door from latching.
 
I pulled my hand free, waited a moment, then pushed the door open.

Zach Banner punched me in the face.

“Nice try, asshole,” he said and went for another punch, but I blocked it.

The first punch stung more than usual thanks to the cold.
 
I made a note not to piss off Esther.
 
She could have warned me had she been here.
 
Oh well.

I blocked another punch then pushed my way into the house and punched Zach in the nose.
 
He went down.
 
Blood streamed from his nostrils, and he cupped his nose.

I crouched just out of his reach.
 
“Tip your head back,” I said, knowing it would make him suffer longer..

He kept an eye on me but tilted his head back.

I gave him a smile.
 
“I’m not going to hit you again if you behave.
 
Want me to get you a tissue?”

“Don’t have any.”