28. Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Clay
The receptionist walked out of the door Justin was solely focused on, giving us a smile. “They’re ready.”
She went back into the room, so I took Justin’s hand and we followed. The door closed behind us without anyone touching it. Whatever was about to happen was probably going to blow my mind, but I wouldn’t let anything happen to Justin.
“Welcome. I was instructed to reach out to you, Justin. Ezgart has informed you of your task, and I’m here to facilitate your communication with the other side. Please sit down.”
The lady dishing out the instructions was scary as hell. She looked like the receptionist, the color of their skin and hair being the only difference.
Justin and I sat next to each other, and then EZ and the white woman sat in the other two chairs at the table. The hounds were sitting on either side of EZ, his constant sentinels.
The lights dimmed and the woman placed her hands on the table. ““Everyone, close your eyes and join hands on top of the table to form a never-ending circle.”
I was already holding Justin’s hand, so we put them on the table as instructed. EZ grabbed my other hand while the white woman took his other one before taking the hand of Madame Stella.
“My spirit guide is here, along with some guests. Please come forward.”
I glanced around the room, but I didn’t see anyone, not that I knew what to look for, anyway.
A muffled sound echoed in the room, drawing my attention toward a wall where a piece of purple fabric dropped to the floor, revealing a large mirror.
The yellow cloth and the green cloth on either side of the mirror dropped, showing two more large mirrors.
They were all framed with gold and looked quite old.
“Welcome. I am Stella, your facilitator. Please come forward and introduce yourselves.” The medium was studying the mirrors, and I almost swallowed my fucking tongue when someone appeared within the frame.
I quickly looked across the room to see if someone was standing there making a reflection or if there was a device projecting the image onto the mirror. There was nothing.
“I am Astral, the liaison between the human and spirit worlds. I am EZ’s handler. I’m here to adjudicate the case of Ramon Blanco.” My eyes had to be double their normal size, I was sure. When I turned to Justin, he looked like he was in shock.
A figure stepped into the mirror on the right. “Hey, gang. It’s me, Ramon.” There, staring at us from the glass, was the image I’d seen in the pictures Justin had shown me from his research. Ramon Blanco.
“Ho-ly shit,” Justin mumbled under his breath, just loud enough for me to hear it.
The third mirror filled with shadows, shapes that shifted in a way I couldn’t understand. No one spoke for a moment until EZ cleared his throat. “That’s the management team.”
“Thank you for coming. Astral, will you lead this rare meeting between the planes?” Madame Stella asked.
The being in the middle mirror grinned. Like EZ, he was very good looking. I had to wonder if he was projecting a human-like appearance so he didn’t freak us out. For that matter, did EZ do the same? Did they really have horns or wings or hooves they were hiding?
“Thank you, priestess. Justin Watkins, you were charged with determining if there was anything redeemable about Ramon Blanco that would sway the decision of his punishment, which would be destruction of his spirit. Did your investigation produce any positive results?”
I turned to look at Justin, seeing him freeze. “Darlin’, just tell them what you found out from Mary Jane.” I squeezed his hand in support.
Justin cleared his throat and turned his gaze to meet mine.
“I spoke to Ramon’s son, Nico, who said Ramon wasn’t around much when he and his sisters were growing up.
I found out Marcy, one of Ramon’s girlfriends, knew about the other women, yet she still had multiple children with Ramon, as did some of the other girlfriends.
“Obviously, he had enough charm to maintain his relationships with those women, and all of his children knew each other. It seemed, according to Nico, that they all got along, but I didn’t have the time to try to find all of them and question them, nor did I have the desire.”
EZ chuckled next to me. “That just sounds like a manwhore, not someone redeemable.”
“Hey, I was a good guy. More importantly, Kid, did you find out who killed me?” Ramon stared at Justin, who swallowed hard.
“I have no proof, but it was told to me that Tino Gallo killed you and Johnny DeLuca. Sonny Russo killed Tino to avenge you.”
I turned to Ramon’s mirror and saw a look of anger on his face. “That son of a bitch. I’ll find him in Hell.”
Astral whistled loudly. “That’s inconsequential to our purpose here. I ask again. Did you find anything that would redeem the spirit of Ramon Blanco. The management team has better things to do.”
I squeezed Justin’s hand again. “Go ahead, darlin’.”
Justin sat up straighter and stared at Ramon’s image instead of me.
“Look, if this is a nightmare, I want to know it right damn now. Ramon Blanco possessed me and took over my actions, making me do things that I wouldn’t ordinarily do.
But in all of that, I found the man I love, and I don’t want to wake to find he was only a figment of my imagination. ”
I leaned closer and kissed his temple. “I’m not a figment of your imagination. I’m here with you right now.”
“So, you found nothing redeeming about Ramon Blanco?” Astral asked.
“I didn’t say that. I think it’s unfair that I had to be inconvenienced and the fate of his spirit rests on my shoulders.
Don’t you people have other means to find out these things yourself?
It’s unfair to ask a human to make these kinds of judgment calls for the eternal spirit of another.
” Justin was trembling with anger and I had to stifle my smile. He was quite the spitfire.
“Yeah, what the kid said,” Ramon piped up.
One of EZ’s hell hounds growled, so Ramon abruptly shut his mouth, which was pretty funny to witness. I was ready to get on with things myself.
“I found out from Tino’s ex-wife that Ramon was a good friend to many.
He would do anything he could for the people in his orbit, and he was well respected for his compassion.
The business Ramon conducted might have been dirty and required illegal activities to achieve success, but I believe MJ when she said that there wasn’t a more compassionate person than Ramon.
He took care of a number of people in his neighborhood and I find that redeemable in anyone. ”
The mirror with the shapes went dark, so all eyes turned to Astral, including EZ. “Got what you need, boss?”
“Yes, EZ. You may return to base. Thank you, human Justin. We appreciate your input. Blanco, do you have anything to say to the human who saved you from destruction? We’ll discuss next steps after this.” Astral’s mirror also went dark.
“Is that the farmer? You two do the deed yet?” Ramon asked.
My cheeks heated, and I was sure Justin’s did as well, but he whispered, “Yes. We have. Why did Madame Stella contact Kirk Dunston to reach out to me?”
Ramon actually laughed. “If the farmer didn’t come through, I was giving Dunston a second shot at ya.
Thank you for everything, Kid. I know it was all unfair to you and you didn’t get much of a choice in the matter, but after the hounds chased me back, you continued to check into things, and I appreciate that. You’re an incredible man.”
“Nico works for Marco at the restaurant, but I don’t think he’s in the family like you worried. He’s a good guy, Ramon. Gina is lovely, too. I’m sorry I didn’t get to meet Ana or any of the others, but I think you can be very proud of your children,” Justin added before the third mirror went dark.
EZ let go of my hand and Justin released Madame Stella’s. We all stood from the table, and Justin stared at Madame Stella. “I hope we never meet again.”
The two women giggled before Madame Stella spoke. “I understand. You got the closure you came for. Have a wonderful life with your soulmate. Hunter gives his blessing.”
I stopped and turned around. “Hunter?”
The woman gave me a mysterious smile and turned to take the hand of the other woman, the two of them leaving through yet another door. I hoped I would wake up soon.
Jerking awake, I looked out my bedroom window to see the sun was just rising. A sharp pain shot through my head as I sat up and reached to turn on the light. When I glanced behind me, the bed was empty. “Justin! Fuck, that hurts.” I had no idea what the hell was going on.
I hopped up from bed and pulled on a pair of sleep pants I found on the floor.
The house was cool since it was fall, and I liked to turn down the thermostat overnight, so the temperature tracked, but I had to figure out if all that shit floating through my brain had been a dream. How long had I been asleep?
Rushing down the hall, I saw the light on in the kitchen as pans rattled and the scent of bacon filtered through the air.
When I rounded the corner, there stood the love of my life at the kitchen counter whisking a yellow mixture as he danced a little to a song in his head. Then I noticed the earbuds.
I walked over to my gorgeous man and kissed under his ear, gently removing the ear bud and whispering, “Why didn’t you wake me? What day is it. How did we get home?”
He jumped a bit and spun, smiling at me. “Good morning, Clay. I didn’t wake you because I thought you needed the sleep. You don’t have anything that needs to be done immediately, and Miss Pansy said there was nothing pressing that she needed. Don’t you remember what happened last night?”
I assessed how I felt and determined I must have had a few drinks—more than a few drinks. My head was foggy and I had a raging headache. Based on previous experiences and the faint memory of walking into a tavern in New Orleans, I might have had a panic attack and decided to drink it away.