Chapter 25
“Did you really leave your front door unlocked and not even check to see who it was?” Camden asked.
Devon shrugged. “I heard your truck come in,” she explained, “and I’m pretty sure I know the sound of your vehicle, your voice, and your footsteps at this point.” She gave him a smirk, then asked, “Any luck?”
“Yeah, I got the statement.”
The relief on her face made him realize just how important it was to her as well. He smiled. “He did have a few more things to say though, and that was pretty interesting.”
“Oh?”
He filled her in on the axe and on the mother’s activities.
“I’m not sure the ghosts are malevolent,” she agreed.
“I’ve been trying to talk to them, asking why they’re here, what they want, and how can I help.
They just shimmer a little more, and I don’t know what that means.
But, in the whole time that I’ve been seeing them, I’ve never really felt that they were here to hurt me. ”
He had to agree with that. He picked up the phone and texted his boss to let him know that all was well. Then he told Devon, “You need to get some sleep because tomorrow is D-Day, beginning at midnight tonight, or is that sometime tomorrow?” He looked at her and winced.
“I’m afraid we start the countdown at midnight tonight,” she replied. “So, I won’t be sleeping at all. If somebody’s coming after me, I want my eyes wide open the whole time.”
*
No way Devon would sleep, so, with a cup of herbal tea in hand, she sat here beside Camden in the living room, staring out at the street around her. “You don’t think Jerry will come back over here, do you?”
He shook his head. “No, I wouldn’t think so,” he said, “unless he really thinks something’s happened, and somebody has found something that will convict him. There is absolutely no reason for him to.”
“On the other hand,” she added, glancing at him sideways, “he now knows that we’re the ones who talked to Mark. So, if Jerry has any suspicions at all, taking us out would eliminate the witnesses.”
“He must take out Mark too.”
She shrugged. “Wouldn’t that be a simple thing for Jerry?
He’s already killed six people that we know of.
For all you know, he’s continuing his killing spree ways because why not?
I mean, if you can get rid of people that easily, why wouldn’t you?
And it’s not as if he ever paid the price,” she added.
“I know what you’re saying, but I won’t head down that pathway just yet.
I did ask the receptionist at the retirement home to let me know if anything happened to Mark or if his condition changed,” Camden shared.
“Plus, my partner is now circling the retirement home. So, as long as we don’t get a phone call saying that something has happened to Mark, then we should be good to go.
And I did get the witness statement from him, and I have sent pictures to the captain.
So, no matter what Jerry does now, something is already in the works.
The wheels of justice, albeit way too late, are in motion.
Jerry can’t just make it stop because he wants to. ”
“That’s a good thing,” she muttered. “I can’t imagine how he might panic if he realizes he’s likely to get caught after all this time.”
“I know. I was thinking of that too,” he admitted, with a smile, “which is why the captain is fully aware. Plus Mark’s witness statement is in his email, so it’s not as if everybody can be wiped out to stop this.”
“Good,” she muttered. “I’m just thinking about everything Mark told us.”
“I know. Me too. I can’t get over the fact that, for some crazy reason, this home was a place where so many people died, and for what?
Likely because a teenage girl didn’t want anything to do with Jerry.
I mean, as I think about it now, it could have gone either way.
Either the father didn’t want him involved or the daughter didn’t want to be involved.
Either way, it wasn’t a good outcome for the family. ”
“But there was no need to kill everybody,” she whispered.
“If Jerry couldn’t escape in time, then he did that in order to preserve his own freedom.”
Just then, one of the twins could be heard on the stairs.
Devon snorted. “I didn’t get a chance to tell you about the conversation I had with Tabby today.”
“No,” he replied, eyeing her with concern. “Was it okay?”
“No. Not in any way in hell was it okay,” she stated, her voice rising.
“According to her, Tabitha had told the twins that I was a willing participant in all this because I felt I was to blame for her cancer. So, in order to make things better, I was willing to become this weird zombie host.” He just stared, and she nodded.
“I know. Tabitha was being totally selfish. She even lied to her children. But then you have to think that these kids were even younger back then, and that’s just where they are at. ”
He shook his head. “Nobody would believe that shit, not when seeing you do all you did for all three of them.”
She placed a finger to her lips, pointing to the stairs, listening to the footsteps come closer.
He sighed and added, “Hopefully, when this is all over, the twins will have a better understanding of how life really works and how life and death is supposed to work.”
“Yeah, but with those weird energies out back,” Devon noted, “I’m not sure about that.”
Just then Tabby stepped into the living room. She frowned and announced, “Toby and I want to talk to you.”
Devon looked at her and sighed. “Okay. What can I do for you?”
At that, Toby came around the corner, but he had more of a belligerent look on his face. “It’s supposed to happen tonight.”
Devon nodded. “Yes, after midnight.”
His eyes widened, and he asked, “You know?”
“Yes, I know.”
“So, you are okay with it?” Toby asked.
“No, I’m not okay with it at all,” she yelled. “Whatever it is, no how, no way. I have no intention of dying tonight so your mother can live as me.”
A half-sob broke through Toby’s chest. Tabby spoke first. “That’s okay.” She turned to Toby. “We talked about it, and, when I told him that you weren’t willing, that changed everything, so he’s pretty upset.”
“Of course he is,” Devon snapped. “As far as he’s concerned, this is the evening that you get your mother back.”
Toby nodded, his face lighting up. “So, you could still change your mind?”
“No, I won’t change my mind. I have lots of plans for my life, and it does not include letting your mother take it over.
” He just stared at her sullenly, and she nodded.
“I get it. You don’t believe me, and that’s fine.
You don’t have to believe me but you can’t do it without my permission. ” At least she hoped that was correct.
Beside her, Camden nodded. “That’s true,” he told the twins. “And it would just sign you up for a whole lot more ugliness that I don’t think you really want to sign up for.”
“Because it would be murder?” Toby asked.
“Exactly,” Camden confirmed. “It would be murder because you’re essentially killing Devon.”
“But nobody would know,” Toby declared, glaring at the two of them. “Nobody would know except for you guys, and you don’t have to tell anyone.”
Tabby looked at him in exasperation. “I already told you that Devon doesn’t want to.”
“Maybe she doesn’t want to, but it doesn’t matter. I want her to.”
“That’s because you want your mom back,” Devon stated. “And I get that, but that’s not what I want.”
“Why?” he asked. “Because you’re jealous?”
She stared at the red-faced young boy, seething with anger.
“You don’t even understand what jealousy really means, Toby,” she replied.
“I can understand your anger. I can understand your pain, and I can understand why you think this is a good idea. But it’s not a good idea for me, and I’m the one who ultimately decides. ”
“Not unless we fix it,” he declared, glaring at her.
“Yeah, and what will you do to fix it?” she asked.
He shrugged, but a smug look took over his face.
Devon glanced over at Tabby, who was frowning at him.
Tabby said, “That’s not cool, Toby. We aren’t doing that.”
“We could though,” he argued, glaring at her. “She doesn’t have to be conscious. We can do it while she’s unconscious.”
Tabby repeated, “We’re not doing that.”
“Why not?” he snapped at her. “You’re just changing your mind, and you’re being a traitor to Mom.”
“No, I’m not,” Tabby retorted, “but I’m starting to realize that what Mom promised is not a good thing.”
“Of course it’s a good thing. She’s coming back.”
“Yeah, and how?” she asked. “You do realize she’ll be a ghost, right?”
“No, she’ll be in her body,” he countered, pointing to Devon. “And that’s okay. I can get used to that,” he snapped, “as long as I know it’s her.”
“And how will you even know that?” Camden asked.
“I mean, you might want to think it’s her, but how will you ever really know?
What if it’s somebody else? Once you open that door, you let all kinds of people in.
So, we’ll have hell on earth here soon enough because of what you two are trying to do,” Camden explained.
“You may want to rethink your plans because the unintended consequences could be more than you bargained for.”
Tabby stared at him in horror. “What do you mean, other people?”
“This is serious business because you’re opening the door to the dead,” Camden pointed out, facing her directly. “How do you think that’ll go down? Have you thought about that? How many ghosts want to live again?”
She swallowed hard, looked over at Toby, and then back at the two of them. “Is it really that bad?”
It was obvious that she rather desperately wanted to be convinced to choose the side of right, but she was still torn and didn’t know who to trust. After all the years of dealing with her mother and all the lies her mother had told them, Tabby was completely tormented at the thought of doing it wrong.
Toby finally spoke up, now totally dejected. “It’s not happening now, right?”