The Eye of the Moon (54 page)

‘Thank you, Bull. Your position as High Priest is assured. We shall celebrate our victory with a party this coming evening.’

‘Thank you, sir,’ said Bull, bowing his head as a mark of respect.

From behind him Jessica called out to Bull in her sexiest voice. ‘Hey, soldier, whatcha got planned for the next half hour?’

Bull looked the alluring figure of Jessica up and down. ‘Well, me an’ the guys were gonna go shower. Get all this blood off, y’know?’

‘You know what?’ said Jessica, looking across at the Bull’s three companions. ‘I could use a shower too. Mind if I join you guys?’

There was an immediate and boisterous chorus of approving noises from the four soldiers, and they quickly began to head for the door.

While Jessica and the soldiers had been flirting, Rameses Gaius had taken the opportunity to remove his useless green eye and replace it with the much more aesthetically pleasing blue stone, the Eye of the Moon. As soon as it found its rightful home in his eye socket it began to glow a little in the centre. Gaius felt complete again.

From behind his desk he smiled contentedly as he watched his only daughter turn on the charm with the Shadow Company guys. Bull, in particular, seemed particularly taken with her, just as he had hoped. He nodded approvingly as the Shadow Company leader took Jessica by the hand and barked an order at one of his men. ‘Razor, open the door. Ladies first.’

Razor did as instructed and opened the door, allowing Jessica to walk out through it, wiggling her hips for the four soldiers’ benefit. As they began to file out after her, Gaius shouted after them.

‘One thing I gotta know,’ he called, looking back down at the head of the Bourbon Kid on his desk. ‘Why has he got the word “
CUNT
” tattooed across his forehead?’

The night sky was still overcast, and the rain continued to fall in occasional drizzle, but the sea was tranquil, making a gently soothing sound as its small waves rippled up against the promenade. The carnage of yet another Halloween filled with bloodshed and death was over. Beth strolled along the deserted pathway gazing up at the sky as she went. This long walk home was such a gut-wrenching disappointment each year, and to make matters worse her feet were beginning to hurt. Her shoes had been soaked through in the storm, and her feet were now throbbing slightly where they had chafed against the damp leather.

She looked up to see if there were any stars visible in the night sky. The clouds were beginning to part and the blue moon was beginning to shine through once more. The faint light touched her face, as if that were the only part of the earth to feel the moon’s rays.

Where are you, JD? Whatever happened to you on that long-ago night?
It was a question she had asked herself a million times over the years.
I’d give anything to see you again, even just for five minutes. Just to know what happened to you. Wherever you are, I hope your soul is at peace.

As the clouds departed and the moon shone down fully upon her she heard a noise come from behind. It was the sound of a shoe scuffing on the ground. It was followed almost immediately by the sound of a voice.

‘Your mother too, huh?’

Beth’s heart skipped a beat. She turned around to see a dark figure standing on the promenade in the moonlight, just
a few feet in front of her. He wore a black leather jacket, with a black T-shirt underneath and a pair of scruffy blue jeans. His face had the look of a kind and passionate soul, and showed a smile that could melt a girl’s heart.

Scarcely daring to breathe, Beth approached and stared deep into the eyes of this man, and saw within them the face of the boy she once knew.

‘Jack?’ she blurted out. ‘
Jack Daniels?
’

‘I’m sorry I’m late.’

‘Where have you been?’

‘I got lost along the way.’ His eyes searched hers, and he allowed himself a genuine smile for the first time in a very long while. ‘Plus I been waitin’ for you to work out my name. So, you ready for that date now, or what?’

Beth was beaming a wide smile back at him when she suddenly remembered the terrible scar across the right side of her face, inflicted on her by her stepmother eighteen years earlier. Instinctively, she put her hand up to cover it, but as she did so she realized that to do so was pointless. He’d probably already noticed it. In fact, he must have done.

‘I’ve got this scar,’ she mumbled, looking down at her aching feet, feeling shamed and embarrassed by her disfigurement.

JD reached forward with one hand and lifted her chin up. She waited nervously for his reaction, not daring to look at his face in case it revealed disappointment. His reaction was to lean in and kiss her softly on the lips. She pressed her lips warmly back against his. The feeling was every bit as wonderful as the first kiss they had shared all those years before. When eventually he pulled away again she looked him in the eyes and smiled back at him. And then, with five words, he laid all her fears to rest.

‘Babe, we’ve all got scars.’

Sanchez, having closed up for the night, was reflecting on another shitty day. True, he’d survived another visit from the Bourbon Kid, but Jessica had gone from him again, maybe for good this time. As he sat on a stool on the customer’s side of the bar in the Tapioca, flicking through the pages of
The Book of Death,
he couldn’t help but feel a little down.

No doubt over the next few days the local kids would once again be running around the streets with toy guns, pretending to be the Bourbon Kid or one of the local cops. The thought of kids idolizing known murderers and corrupt policemen really bugged him. When would
he
ever get to be a hero? Probably never, and yet the scummy community of Santa Mondega would be nothing without him providing a reasonably safe place for people where people could drink and socialize. His hard work, day in and day out, was simply taken for granted. Maybe he should go on a killing spree of his own, and at least earn some notoriety?

Sipping on a glass of warm beer, he tried to console himself with the belief that eventually his time would come. One day, someone like Jessica would appreciate the kindness that lay deep in his heart.
^*
Sanchez hid his good points well, and women, in particular, seemed oblivious to what a great guy he was. He pictured Jessica’s beautiful face in his mind once more, and decided it would be best to finish his beer and then head off to bed.

To depress him further,
The Book of Death
hadn’t provided him with any of the answers he was looking for.
There was nothing in it about Jessica or the Eye of the Moon or the Bourbon Kid, just a list of names of dead people. Flicking through it one last time, he eventually stopped at a blank page near the end. He stared sightlessly at the yellowing parchment and pondered what to do with his life from here on. No Jessica to look after, fewer customers to serve. Was it all really worth the effort?

As he sat luxuriating in his self-pity, his cell phone rang. It managed only two rings before he pulled it from the pocket of his sweatpants and answered it.

‘Yo. Sanchez here.’

‘Hey Sanchez, it’s Rick. Rick from the Olé Au Lait.’

‘Hey, man. Bit late for a social call, ain’t it?’

‘Got news for you, Sanchez. That Jessica woman you were askin’ me ‘bout the other day? I got the info you were wantin’.’

Sanchez sat up straighter on his stool. ‘Yeah? You really found out who put the missing-person ad in the paper?’

‘Not exactly, buddy, but she came in here earlier with some big guy. They looked like a couple. I got his name, if you’re interested?’

‘Hold on, I gotta get a pen.’ Sanchez put his beer and the cell phone down on the bar beside
The Book of Death,
which was still open at the page he’d turned to. There was a black ballpoint just on a shelf of glasses at the back of the bar. He reached over the counter at full stretch and picked it up between the tips of two fingers. Then, sitting back on his stool, he scribbled across one of the blank pages of
The Book of Death
to see if the pen was in working order. He was relieved to find that it was. He picked up the phone and said ‘’Kay. Go on,’

‘The guy’s name is Rameses Gaius. Big fuckin’ dude he is too, man.’

‘Rameses Gaius?’ Sanchez thought hard. It wasn’t a name he recognized, but some quick research on the Internet might throw up something on him. First things first, though. Wedging the phone under his ample chin, he used the ballpoint to write
the name down on the blank page of the book in front of him to make sure he didn’t forget it. ‘Thanks, Rick. Anythin’ else I oughta know?’

‘Yeah. That woman, Jessica? Her last name is Xavier, apparently.’

In all the time that Sanchez had known Jessica he had never managed to find out her last name, so again with an Internet search in mind he wrote her full name beneath that of Rameses Gaius in
The Book of Death.

Rameses Gaius

Jessica Xavier

‘Thanks again, Rick. Guess I owe you that bottle of liquor?’

‘Damn straight you do, Sanchez,’ Rick replied sharply.

‘What’ll it be, then?’

‘Jack Daniel’s. I’ll come by an’ pick it up tomorrow.’

‘Okay. Let me write that down so’s I don’t forget,’ said Sanchez. He scribbled the ‘J’ down on the page beneath the names of Rameses Gaius and Jessica Xavier. Then he had a thought. Jack Daniel’s was expensive stuff; maybe a compromise could be reached?

‘Rick? You sure you wouldn’t prefer a bottle of Jim Beam?’

THE END
(
maybe …
)