The Damned Summer (The Ruin Trilogy) (26 page)

"Wolves travel in
packs,"
Snider thought
to himself, eyeing Jake for a moment. "That's quite the coincidence,
Jake."

"Not really," Frank
interjected. "In my haste to get out to Margaret, I shooed Lloyd into the
house and probably didn't pay attention to the screen door latching. Sometimes
it won't catch without a little extra push. He was probably out the door as
soon as he heard me take off."

"And with Frank's house
right on the edge of town," Jake added. "The dog would have been out
in the country in no time, crossing paths with another dog and getting into
it."

"More likely a coyote,"
Snider said. "Lloyd's not that big of a dog, he's lucky he survived."

"You'd be surprised,"
Frank replied. "Lloyd's a lot tougher than he looks."

The detective gave Frank a brief
smile, getting up. "Well, I guess that covers my last question. Take care
Frank."

"You as well, detective,
Frank smiled back. "By the way, did you ever find the knife Johnny used,
the switchblade?"

"No," the detective
replied. "We're guessing he chucked it somewhere out in the cornfield
before he died. Since there will be no trial, locating it isn't essential. But
we are still looking."

Frank gave a fake smile and
nodded his head.

Snider turned to the door, now
standing face to face with Jake. "So, what brings you out here? You and
Frank old friends or something?"

"He tried to save my mom,
the least I can do is come out and visit him from time to time." The look
in Jake's eyes was just a little too hard for the detective's liking, but since
that wasn't a good enough reason for him to take the kid's face to the floor,
all he could do was nod. "Keep your nose clean, kid."

"Back at ya, officer,"
Jake smiled slightly.

"Detective," he
corrected with a growl. "Detective Snider."

Jake gave him a nod and a shrug,
turning away, taking Snider's seat.

"
Punk,"
Snider
thought to himself, walking out of the room, heat was nearly visible as it
dissipated from his face.  

Jake rubbed his still cold arm. “Hey old
timer.”

"That was pretty good ad-lib for such a
young punk," Frank replied. "I'm impressed."

Jake shrugged. "I've been bullshitting
cops ever since I was a kid."

Frank laughed. "You're still a
kid!"

"Yeah, I guess," Jake replied,
grabbing a nearby wheelchair. "How about we go for a spin outside?"

"Great idea," Frank said with a
smile.

Jake went out the back door, pushing Frank
down the sidewalk. It would have been easier to go out the front, but Jake
didn't want to walk past Drew's grandma again. He also didn't want Frank to see
that he was riding his old bike. For some reason, Frank had been adamant about
him scrapping the bike, saying it was nothing but a death trap, that it made
any other motorcycle look safe.

"The frame has got two hairline cracks
in it up by the front forks," Frank had told him a week ago. "The
brake lines could go at any time. The engine block is ready to crack or throw a
rod. Hell, the damn wheels could even fall off, the mounts are so worn. You
scrap that thing and use the money to buy a dirt bike or something." He
had glared at Jake with one squinted eye, which meant he was dead serious.
"Don't keep it or sell it to someone else. It'll kill the next person that
rides it, you got it?"

"Oh yeah," Jake lied through his
teeth. "I looked at it the other day. Nothing left to do with that old
relic but junk it."

It did need a lot of work, but the more Jake
looked at it, the more he liked it. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, it
was bad-ass but at the same time classic, which was a rare thing. An it was an
old Indian, which you never saw on the road, making it one unique ride.
Besides, now that he had a job, he needed a vehicle to get him there. Anything
that needed fixed, he'd be able to do, and it wasn't anywhere near as bad as
Frank was saying anyway. 

The leaves were starting to change and it was
almost chilly enough for a jacket.

“Are you cold?” Jake asked.

“Naw, feels good,” Frank replied. “How are
things going at your new home?”

“Better than I thought they would be,” Jake
replied. “I can’t say Steve likes me, but he treats me decent enough.”

“That’s the most you can expect, since you
got his daughter pregnant.”

“I can’t argue with you there.”

“I need you to do me a favor,” Frank said out
of nowhere.

“Name it.”

Frank pulled out an envelope. “When your
child turns thirteen I want you to give her this letter. It's for her eyes and
her eyes alone.” He pushed it towards Jake.

Jake took it. “That’s kind of a strange request.”

“Just let it be, Jake. Just do as I ask, and
let it be.”

They looked at one another for a moment, and
then Jake stuck the letter in his back pocket. “Okay.”

He wasn’t sure why he agreed to it, it just
seemed like the right thing to do. He wanted to ask more but at that moment
Steve and Sarah pulled into the parking lot in the SUV.

“Aren’t I Mr. Popular,” Frank said with a
smile.

“Sure are,” Jake replied. “I better go help
Sarah get out of the car. I’ll be right back.” He took off at a jog. Any more
thoughts about the letter fell from Jake’s mind.

As soon as Sarah opened her door, Lloyd
jumped down and ran full tilt towards Frank. He covered the distance in less
than three seconds and jumped right onto Frank’s lap.

Frank replied with a hearty laugh, giving his
old friend a rough shake on the head.

He watched Sarah get out of the SUV; she was
starting to show, but not much. She didn’t need any help getting out of the
car, but Jake helped her anyway. He looked down at Lloyd.

“I’m not getting out of here, buddy,” Frank
said with a tear in his eye.

Lloyd let out a quiet whine, resting his chin
on Frank’s chest.

“I’m sorry that this is all getting put on
your shoulders, but you’re all that’s left for that baby,” he said, watching
them approach.

“I won’t be around for that, and I never
found a replacement partner for you.” He gave Lloyd another good ruffle on the
head. “I let you down boy.”

Lloyd let out a long exhale through his nose.

“This is too much for one little dog to
handle.”

Lloyd replied with a big yawn.

“Yeah, you’re Mr. Tough guy, that’s for
sure,” Frank said as he rubbed Lloyd’s chest. “You take care of yourself.”

Lloyd licked Frank’s nose.

“I gave Jake a letter for the baby for when
she turns thirteen, I think he’ll honor my request, but I can’t be certain.”

Lloyd looked at him and then turned towards
the others.

"The demon is coming today to end me. As
soon as you guys leave, I'll go back and take a nap and that will be the last
time." Frank whispered as the others got closer.

Lloyd let out a low growl.

"We've never tried it like this before,
do you think it will work?"

Lloyd let out a loud sneeze.

“Hey Frank,” Sarah said as they walked up to him.

“Hey yourself, good looking,” Frank said with a
smile that he didn't truly feel.

Fear gripped him as he wondered how much of a chance
the baby in Sarah’s belly had of being corrupted by the demons. There was no
way he could explain the peril that awaited the child to any of them. They
would just think he was insane, and probably not come see him anymore. All he
could do was hope the letter would be enough to guide her in the right
direction, and that Lloyd could handle the job on his own of protecting her.

He forced himself to relax as he made small talk. It
wasn’t all that impossible, once he considered where he used to be and how he
got back on the right side. If he could do it on his own, so could this child.
He had to believe that.

They spoke of how the town was rebuilding itself
after the twister. They didn't speak of Johnny and how he had been blamed for
the death of his father and the injuries that led to Margaret's demise, as well
as the speculation that he had killed Jack on the way to the Simmons farm,
since his body was found in a water filled ditch a few days after the tornado
with obvious trauma from an unknown blunt object. Any real evidence had been
rinsed away days before by the rain water.

There were also theories of a man that had been
stabbed in the parking lot of the carnival, and then ran over also being the
victim of Johnny, but there wasn't enough evidence of that supposition either.

They did speak of the tragedy of Drew and Jenny,
which Jake kept silent about. There was also mention of Kara, and how she was
in counseling for the trauma and rape she had been victim to at the hands of
Johnny. Things weren't going well for her recovery, but there was still hope.
She was lucky she survived that night at all, nearly dying of alcohol poisoning
that resulted in a stomach pumping and a lot of hard work on both the EMT personnel
as well as the hospital staff.

"Once again the demon covered his tracks
perfectly,"
Frank thought to
himself.

Frank thanked them for coming to visit him, as Steve
and Sarah climbed back into the SUV; mentioning he was going to go take a nap.
Lloyd and Frank shared a glance that was all that was needed for the coming
storm, and then the small dog curled up in the back seat of the SUV, closing
his eyes with a sigh. Jake wheeled Frank back to his room.

"Anything else I can do before I take
off?" Jake asked.

"I'm ready for a nap, so if you could help me
into my bed, I'd appreciate it."

"No problem."

Jake was fully aware of Frank's damaged leg, and was
quite cautious as he sat him down.

"There ya be," Jake said, sitting Frank
down.

Frank held onto the young man for a moment.
"You make sure you take care of your girls."

"Of course," Jake replied, slightly
confused.

"Lloyd can help you more than you could ever
imagine."

"Okay," Jake said, guessing Frank was in
some serious need of shut eye. "I'll see you soon."

"Goodbye, Jake," Frank replied, already
drifting off to sleep.

Jake nodded his head, leaving the room in silence,
wanting to get the hell out of this death house as quick as possible. To get
back to the bike, he had to leave the same way he had come, which meant he
might have to cross paths with Drew's demented grandmother, which was the last
thing he wanted. Luckily for him, the hallway was empty as he made a beeline to
the exit. In a nearby room, there seemed to be an emergency that some nurses
were working on to revive a patient that could quite likely be Drew's grandma
by the close proximity of where she had been previously. Jake didn't make the
effort to look in the room, he just got the hell out of there, it's not like he
could make a difference either way, at least that's what he told himself.

Frank drifted off into sleep, knowing full well the
demon was waiting for him.

Frank opened his eyes, knowing he was in dreamland.
The fiend sat on the chair next to his bed.

"Are you going to try and delay the inevitable
yet again, or can we finally finish this?" The monster had changed his
form to the truck driver with the farm implementation ball cap for some unknown
reason.

"No, you're right, this needs to end right here
and now," Frank replied.

"Are you sure? You're not going to try and
blink out at the last minute again because you don't have that little rat dog
of yours to back you up. Without him, you don't have a chance against me."

"That's a somewhat bold statement," Frank
replied, pulling back the sheets, getting ready to get up. "I've always
been able to hold my own in a fight. Take a look at what I did to your boy,
Jack."

"There is a big difference between that washed
up soldier and a hound of hell like me, old man."

"That's true," Frank replied. "But
I've got to say I'm surprised you don't know the rules better than this, after
all, you've been doing this a lot longer than me."

"What are you talking about?"

The fiend's question was answered by the clicking of
nails on the linoleum behind him. Turning back, the demon saw Lloyd walking
into the room.

"What the hell?" the monster asked.

"Just because we're sleeping in different
places, doesn't mean he can't show up for the fight," Frank explained.

"No fucking way!" the monster growled as
his claws and fangs started to show.

Lloyd replied by showing his own teeth and going
full speed at the monster.

The demon's growl came from the very bowels of hell
as it moved toward Lloyd, fully intending to rip the dog to shreds, completely
forgetting about Frank, who hit the monster from behind like a linebacker,
sprawling them both to the floor.