The Light, the Dark and the Ugly (21 page)

Ted joined him on the floor. "She does, too."

Travis raised his eyebrows. "No, she doesn't. I appreciate you saying that, though."

Ted put his arm around Travis' shoulder. "When we find her, and we will find her, she's gonna see that you literally left Earth to rescue her. There's no way she doesn't drop the L bomb after that."

Travis let his head bump against the wall behind him a few times. "I don't care if she says it." He looked into Ted's eyes. "I don't even care if she feels it. I'm gonna find her. Or I'm gonna die trying."

Chapter 33

Jennifer had a strong sense of deja vu as she and Dhiraj drove to the Midwest. On both the revenge trip up north to Deputy Daly's and their current endeavor, they were alone on a long stretch of highway. At the end of each mission, she'd wanted someone to suffer for what they'd done. Then again, there were many differences, too. This time, she and Dhiraj were romantically involved and he was in on the planning from square one. The unfortunate difference was that after the trip, there'd be nobody to come home to.

Instead of driving straight through, they decided to make the trip in two days. Jennifer was against stopping at a motel, but a few sleep-deprived swerves of the wheel on her part made Dhiraj put his foot down. She disguised herself before checking in, even though the clerk at the front looked far too old to have an Internet connection.

The inside of the motel room looked as dingy as she felt. As long as they were safe, she supposed, it wouldn't matter if they shared a room with the roaches.

She pulled at her shirt, which wasn't getting any fresher after two days of wear. "I hope I haven't been stinking up the car."

Dhiraj rolled his eyes and brought in the only bag they had. "Jen, you smell better than most perfumes. I'm surprised you aren't bottling that up and making a fortune."

Jennifer laughed. She couldn't believe that Dhiraj still had a sense of humor after all of this. Would she be able to cope as well as he had with the death of a parent?

She patted the spot on the bedspread beside her, and Dhiraj didn't hesitate. "I've got something serious to ask you. And I don't want you to take it the wrong way."

Dhiraj stroked at his chin. "Look, if you need my help bottling up your aroma, you know I'd be happy to help."

Jennifer smiled and shook her head. "Dhiraj."

"Sorry, sorry. Entrepreneurial humor is my defense mechanism."

Jennifer nodded. "Believe me, I know." She put her hand on his leg. "Can I ask you something? How'd you recover after you lost your mom?"

Dhiraj had a look like he knew this was coming. His grin went from goofy to restrained. "It's definitely weird. At first, it was a lot of pain. It faded after a while, but every so often you wake up in the morning and forget." His eyes darted away from hers. "You think that you can't wait to tell your mom about something. Then you remember, and it's like finding out all over again."

She felt ashamed for making Dhiraj relive those memories, but aside from a few moments of discomfort, he seemed peaceful.

"Does it get better?" she asked.

Dhiraj let out a deep breath. "A little bit. But some of the pain will never go away."

Jen felt her breath catch in her throat, and Dhiraj took her hand. She thought she might cry again, but the tears didn't come this time. Instead, they just sat there in silence, each one comforting the other.

The next day, they made good time into the Chicago suburbs. They hadn't spoken again about her father. She resolved to do her mourning after the mission was complete, and she focused on the road with heightened intensity. After a quick lunch, they pulled into the parking lot of the retirement home where Adam's mom lived. Jennifer didn't expect the giddy look on Dhiraj's face. "What're you so happy about?"

Dhiraj chuckled. "Sorry. It's just that I love old people."

Jennifer didn't know how to react. Of course, she'd loved her grandparents and enjoyed watching older actors and actresses killing it on screen. But she didn't know anyone who liked old people in general.

"Aren't most people kind of skeeved out by these places?"

Dhiraj opened the driver's side door. "As you've probably found out by this point, I'm not most people."

Jennifer followed suit and they walked up to the building's front door. "So what do you like about 'em so much?"

Dhiraj listed out the reasons as if they were practiced. "1. The stories. They can tell you so much more than any book can. 2. The wisdom. I've gotten a million ideas from talking to retired businesspeople." They stepped through the automatic sliding doors and into the lobby. "3. Old people don't take crap. They say what they mean. It's the end of the line, so there's no beating around the bush."

Jennifer took a long look at her boyfriend. "You really are something."

Dhiraj's eyebrows danced. "I know." He spoke to the receptionist up front. "Hi, miss. Two visitors to see Mrs. Crammond. Our grandparents are family friends and she's not expecting us."

Within minutes, they were led into Mrs. Crammond's room. It was bright and colorful, seemingly trying to fight off the sadness of the place. She moved slowly and with the help of a walker, but her smile further lit up the room.

"My, my, I haven't had guests in quite a while." She looked around as if she couldn't remember how to respond to company. "Can I get you anything?"

Dhiraj smiled. "Thank you, Mrs. Crammond, but we're fine." He took her hand and helped her to sit down across from them. "We're doing a report on your son in school. Can we ask you a few questions?"

Jennifer's stomach churned. She wasn't sure exactly how an elderly stranger would respond to a request to talk about her purportedly dead son. But Mrs. Crammond didn't even hesitate as she started in on the story.

"Oh, Adam. The joy of our lives. It was hard for so many years to think about the accident, but my husband and I resolved to remember the good times." She winked at Jennifer. "Never would've gotten through it otherwise."

Jennifer nodded, wondering if Mrs. Crammond could detect her loss as well.

Adam's mother continued. "When Adam moved to Chicago, we were worried the big city would crush him." Her smile turned devilish. "We didn't expect it to be so literal."

Dhiraj laughed hard. Tears actually came to his eyes and Mrs. Crammond joined in.

Jennifer smiled politely.

Weirdos.

Mrs. Crammond coughed a few times to end her laughter. "It was just one of those freak things, I guess."

Jennifer leaned forward. "Mrs. Crammond, did you ever see your son do anything strange? Something you couldn't explain?"

Mrs. Crammond took her time, seeming to go through and index all the memories she still retained. Jennifer couldn't read the look on the woman's face when she caught her eye.

"You know, there was one time I thought I saw him hovering off the ground." When she squinted in an attempt to remember, the wrinkles became even more pronounced on her face. "It was the strangest thing. I never asked him about it. I was three sheets to the wind at the time, so I figured it was just that fourth glass of wine I'd had."

Mrs. Crammond guffawed at her own joke and Dhiraj laughed just as loud. With her story done, she offered to let them look through a box of Adam's old stuff. Aside from a classic baseball card that Dhiraj suggested she pawn off, the box contained nothing of interest.

They thanked Mrs. Crammond for their time, and they were about to go when she grabbed Jennifer's sleeve. The teen tried to hide her nervousness as she turned back toward the old woman.

Mrs. Crammond's face was as relaxed as Jennifer had seen. "Thank you. Thank you for keeping my son's name alive."

Jennifer had a hard time shaking the encounter.

Dhiraj looked like he was trying to get a read on her as they opened the doors to the van. "What?"

Jennifer chewed on her lip. "We just lied to an old woman."

Dhiraj took her hand above the gearshift and shut the door behind him. "Trust me when I say our visit was the best time she's had in years." He locked his fingers with hers. "We may have lied, but it was much better than the truth."

Jennifer knew Dhiraj was right. Nobody wanted to hear that their son was a homicidal supervillain bent on taking over the country.

She nodded and shut her door as well. "So, what do we do now?"

The click of a gun in the backseat kept Dhiraj from answering. Jennifer looked up to the rear-view mirror and saw that a man she didn't recognize sat there with his weapon drawn.

He breathed heavily, as if he'd been holding his breath since they'd entered. "How about you turn on the car and drive?"

Chapter 34

Ted ate his lunch alone in the room. Even though he was technically among allies and friends at this point, he couldn't help but feel like he'd gone from one prison to another to a third since he'd gone through that portal. He immediately felt guilty for the thought, as there was no way of knowing what kind of conditions Natalie was in. Or if she was still alive at all.

I heard her. She has to be okay.

There was a knock on the door. When Ted opened it, Erica stood there holding her lunch tray. She bit her lip.

"Hey. I couldn't find you in the mess hall."

Ted's stomach flipped. Since his argument with Erica, they hadn't had a moment alone. He wasn't sure if he was ready to have this conversation.

Ted let too much time go by and sniffled a few times to cover his tracks. "Sorry. I just wanted to be – do you wanna sit with me?"

She nodded, though there were a few beats of hesitation before she approached. She allowed a foot of space between them as she sat down.

Ted let himself look at her face. She was beauty personified. But he knew that hadn't been her only face. Her only life. He realized the war meant secrets needed to be kept, but why'd they need to stay secret from him?

"Erica–"

"Ny name was Cora." Erica looked straight into his eyes. "I met William when I was 14. I didn't know much about him, but back then, if you had the slightest hint of a crush, you considered marriage."

Ted placed his lunch tray down on the bed and gave Erica his full attention.

She sighed, like speaking about this took a great deal of effort. "The day before our wedding, the dark souls killed him and took over. When I got to the altar, he tried to slice my throat."

Ted didn't know how to respond. After all, this wasn't exactly your typical jilted lover story. Even though he didn't like the thought of Erica marrying someone else, he opted to remain silent and listen.

"He ran and I chased him down." Ted could tell Erica was re-living every moment of the confrontation. "He was about to kill me when I stabbed us both through the heart with a sword. Then something strange happened."

Ted gave her a sideways glance. "Stranger than you having to hunt down your newly-evil fiancé?"

She let out a snort of a laugh. "If you can believe it."

Ted took Erica's hand. It was warm, and soft, and his.

She sighed. "Nobody was sure what happened, but I didn't die. I ended up here on the Realm of Souls. It changed me, and I became a light soul."

Ted saw pain behind Erica's eyes. "I can't imagine what that must've been like for you. I'm sorry."

Erica made a look like his compassion wasn't the story's intent. "Thanks. So, long story short, I'd been a protector for hundreds of years without incident, but then came my mission with you."

Ted nodded. "Uh huh."

Erica let Ted's hand go. "And it was very confusing. You looked like a guy I'd planned to spend the rest of my life with. And the human Erica had all of her feelings about you, too."

Ted looked away, but Erica took his face in her hands and brought it back. "But all those things faded away, and I fell in love with you. Not with the person the old Erica thought you were or for what you looked like. I fell in love with
you
, Ted."

Ted wanted to let it all go, and in truth, a lot of the weight on his shoulders lifted. Years earlier, if Erica LaPlante had been staring directly into his eyes, he probably would've had a panic attack. Now, he needed to make sure he could trust her for the rest of time.

Ted put a hand on her face as well. "I love you, too. But we can't have any more secrets between us."

Erica smiled. "I promise. No more secrets."

She closed her eyes and leaned her face in toward his. He was about to do the same, when he felt the words blast out of his mouth like bullets.

"Natalie and I shared the same bed!"

Erica's eyes shot open with confusion. Ted didn't know why the words had to come out right then, but there was no holding them back now.

He inched away from Erica on the bed to fully turn toward her. "We hugged, and held each other. We slept in the same bed." He sighed. "I just didn't want there to be any secrets."

Erica patted Ted on the knee. "Thanks for your honesty. But I don't mind."

Ted tried to determine if this was some kind of secret girl-speak, but from what he could tell, she was telling the truth.

He shifted uncomfortably. "Really?"

Erica nodded. "Ted, the two of you were alone in a scary place. You didn't know if you were going to survive or if we'd ever be able to come find you. I don't fault you or her for needing some comfort." She put her hand behind his neck. "Now, if you don't let me kiss you, I'm gonna explode."

With that, Erica pounced on him. Ted wasn't sure what happened to the lunch trays, but it didn't take long for them to be on the ground. Their lips connected and all the worries in Ted's mind seemed to evaporate. Erica's body was warm and she smelled familiar and sexy. Her hands moved down his spine and pulled his lower back toward her. He followed suit and wrapped his arms around her, all the while their lips pressed against each other.

After kissing for about 10 straight minutes, Erica pulled back and grinned. "Ted Finley, I'm never letting you out of my sight again."