The Star Group (16 page)

But Sal was thinking. “They ain't never going to believe me.”

Talk about a walking time bomb.

His mumbling would light his own fuse.

A preposterous idea came into my head.

Energy came with it. Filling my whole body.

I turned to Teri. “We cannot sit here. You have to get in to see Shena.”

Teri did not follow. “Why?”

“You have to heal her.”

Teri drew back. “I can't do that. I couldn't help her face. The girl is practically dead. Daniel, don't ask me to do that.”

I took Teri’s hands. “We don't know how these powers work. Maybe they're stronger at times of crisis. I feel something incredible right now. It could be genuine intuition. All I know for sure is that there is something inside you that can make Shena better. But you've got to want to heal her more than you have ever wanted anything in your whole life.”

Teri shook her head. “I can't.”

I pleaded. “You have to try.”

Teri wept. “No! You don't understand, I can't!”

“Why not?” I asked.

Teri looked down at her hands. “Because I'm afraid.”

“I understand,” I said, although I didn't know what she meant. “But if you don't go now, the police will be here. And they won't let us go so easily. You might not see Shena for hours and by then it could be too late.” Leaning closer, I squeezed her hands. “Go to her, Teri. You're the only hope she's got.”

A long moment followed, thick with turmoil and despair. Yet perhaps a ray finally shone from a distant star on out miserable group. A silent sigh seemed to pass through the air. Finally Teri looked up at me. Then she slowly nodded and stood. Stepping over to Sal, she gave him a brief hug and walked away. She did not say a word; we could only watch her go.

The police came for us five minutes later, specifically a plainclothesman and two uniformed cronies. Lieutenant David Madden was the name of the detective. His backup remained un-introduced. Lieutenant Madden was approximately fifty, with red skin and bad liver splotches. He looked like an ex-drunk who had sobered up on volcanic water. His gray eyes were hard and intimidating. He sat next to Sal after a quick hello and took out a notepad. He licked the tip of his pencil with his tongue, probably to sharpen it. His hair was mostly white, his expensive sports coat a deep blue.

“What are your full names?” he asked.

We gave him our names. Lieutenant Madden wrote in shorthand.

“The name of the injured girl is Shena Adams?”

“Yes,” I said.

“I understand she's in bad shape?”

Gale was soft. “They don't expect her to make it.”

“That's a real shame.” He was brisk but there was pain in his voice. But not for long, not as he stared at Sal. “Who shot her?”

Sal hesitated. “I did,” he whispered so softly it was heard to hear.

“What did you shoot her with?” Lieutenant Madden asked.

“A revolver,” Sal mumbled. “A three-fifty-seven.”

“Your gun?”

“Yes.”

“Where’s that gun right now?”

“I don't know.” Sal looked at me. “Didn't you take it?”

“No,” I said.

Sal shrugged, he was out of it. “I must have dropped it in the cave.”

“Which cave is that?” Lieutenant Madden asked.

Sal just shook his head. Gale spoke.

“It's in the mountains behind Crystal Lake, on the way to Lake Arrowhead. We drove here from there with Shena. We didn't know if there was a closer hospital.”

“Is this the cave where Shena was shot?” Lieutenant Madden asked.

“Yes,” Gale said.

“Did either of you two witness the shooting?”

“No,” Gale and I said.

Lieutenant Madden put his hand on Sal's shoulder.

“Why did you shoot her, son?” he asked.

Sal was having trouble breathing. “She killed Jimmy. She murdered my friend.”

Lieutenant Madden frowned. “Who's Jimmy?”

“A friend from school,” I explained. “I found his body earlier in the day. It's still up in the mountains. Someone split open his skull. At first we thought that Shena must have done it. Jimmy and Shena had had a big fight earlier in the day.” I paused. “But now we don't know who killed Jimmy.”

Gale spoke quietly but with strength.

“Sal might have killed them both,” she said.

Her words did not have a desirable effect on Sal. For a moment he stared at Gale as if stricken. She had put an ice dagger through his chest. Then he leaped up and he was suddenly a fierce animal broken free of a wrangling leash.

“I did not kill Jimmy!” he screamed.

Both blue coats were on him in a second. They were trained men, they knew how to subdue a hostile suspect. But as they spun Sal and tried to pin his arms from behind, a most amazing thing happened. Sal threw them off – literally, the two cops went flying backward and skidded on the floor. Lieutenant Madden drew his gun and stepped forward, but Sal was already moving. He whirled and caught the detective with a hard fist on the chest. Lieutenant Madden was stunned – he stumbled backward.

Sal turned and ran up the long hall.

The older of the blue coats recovered to his knees and trained his revolver on Sal's back. “Stop or I'll shoot!” he shouted.

Sal did not stop. Maybe he could not.

The officer shot. But the bullet went into the ceiling. At the last instant Lieutenant Madden had yanked his fellow cop’s gun upward. Nice move. But the heroic gesture was wasted. The younger cop had drawn his gun as well and Lieutenant Madden had only two hands. This fresh-out-of-the-academy sharpshooter fired off a round in Sal's direction.

A splat of red appeared mid-back on Sal's white shirt.

Sal went down hard and sprawled on to the floor.

I shoved the cops aside and ran to Sal. He was facedown in a red puddle. He tried to raise his head up, but the wires in his spine had been shorted. I took his hand and the look of confusion and agony on his face broke my heart. His voice came out weak and choked with fluid. Blood seeped over his lips. The cop's bullet had exploded his lung.

“I didn't want to hurt anyone,” he gasped. “Love you guys.” He went down. “Love…”

He closed his eyes and lay still. Dead.

I looked up at the cops. “He was a wonderful person.” My hand sank in a river of red. “He was my friend.”

The police were confused. Things had not gone by the book. They could see the headlines already. Bad PR all around. The young cop was crying. Lieutenant Madden was trying to marshal his forces and send for a doctor at the same time. Of course there wasn’t a doctor in the entire clinic qualified to resurrect the dead. Gale stood leaning against a wall and stared off into the distance. I stepped in front of her. Her gaze was zombielike but I knew she saw me. Superficial looks did not impress me anymore.

“Lousy weekend, huh?” I said.

She blinked. “What?”

“You called me a spaceman. You asked if I loved you. You screwed my brains out. You were fun to go to Disneyland with. And yes, I did have a crush on you for four years.” I paused. “But I don't know you, Gale.”

I walked away. Felt her hard eyes on my back.

The cops had a lot on their hands. They let me go.

Somehow I knew what I would find.

In an intensive care unit that was strangely deserted – must have been the gunshots that scared everyone out of the hospital – I found Teri sitting in a chair beside Shena's sleeping form. Teri was not actually sitting – she had collapsed over Shena's chest. Pulling Teri upright, I had to shake her to get her eyes open. Her expression was worse than dazed, it was ashen. Her lips moved but I could not understand her words. I had to lean close.

“Sal?” she whispered.

She was not strong enough for the truth.

God knew what was wrong with her.

I forced a smile. “He's fine.”

She raised a ringer and wiped away a tear from my face.

And I had forgotten the blood on my hands.

Her eyes cleared, “He's gone.”

I shook my head. “No.”

She winced in pain and nodded. “I have to go.”

I caught her as she slumped to the side. “What's happened to you?”

Her dreamy smile caught me off-guard. She touched my chin. Her touch was so soft, it could have been an angel's caress. Her fingers were on fire, but it was a soothing heat.

“Oh, Daniel,” she said. “It wasn't your fault.”

It was too much to bear. “Teri?”

Her eyes closed. “You did not know.”

Then she died. In my arms, she was no more.

I picked her up and lay her on a nearby bed.

I returned to Shena and held her hand. Her side was heavily bandaged. She had a tube stuck down her throat and one up into her bladder, and a dozen wires draped around her head. But I knew any second she would open her eyes and be OK. Teri was an angel, she had not left without giving us a gift.

The scars on Shena's face were slightly better.

Teri had given understanding as well.

I had much to tell Shena.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

THE PRESENT MOMENT IS THE SAME endless nightmare. Only that is not precisely true. This, the longest of all nights, has finally finished. While I typed, the sun rose over the city. I am back in my bedroom, at my desk. My parents are away for the weekend. My computer is hooked up to the telephone line. My modem dumps this story across town into Shena's computer. I wonder if she is home yet. Or on her way over to my house. I had told her to turn on her computer the moment she got in. Not that it matters; her online service will store this file for future reference.

Yet I hope Shena is coming over.

There is a sound outside. It must be either Shena or Gale.

I will go see. I take the gun…

It is Gale. She now sits across the room from me, on my bed, where we made love one week ago. She tells me I am to keep typing and I do what she says. Not that I want to, but I feel I must obey her. A peculiar magnetism swarms over my head. Sal's gun rests beside my computer. Gale doesn't seem worried about it. Before leaving the hospital, I snuck it out of the garbage can. The police were in such disarray.

Gale tells me to write down everything as it is happening. I doubt she knows about my modem wire attached to the back of my computer. I feel no compulsion to tell her, but if she asks I am sure I will confess. It is not visible from her position on the bed, and it seems there are some limits to what she can do.

She smiles at me. She has cleaned herself up. Her pants are burgundy, new, her blouse is white and tight. She does not wear a bra and I can see the shape of her nipples through the material. Her smile is sly but also slightly sad. The latter makes me wonder but not much. A snake cares for its newborn, but if starving will consume them. Gale licks her lips in that sexy manner she has perfected.

But I no longer want to kiss her.

“Are you writing about me?” she asks.

“A few observations,” I say.

“You still want me. You still love me.”

“No,” I say.

Her eyes focus on me. “You'd better fix that. I don’t want that in the story.”

“I still love you,” I say.

She sits back and relaxes, “That's better.”

“May I ask questions?”

“Yes, Daniel. You may.”

“Who are you?”

She enjoys the question. She knows I suspect the answer. It heightens her pleasure but not mine. Even though she has forced me to talk about love, I feel only revulsion in her presence. Certain illusions die hard, but this one has a stake through its heart.

“I am the balance on the scale,” she says, “Five bright lights visit this world and I come to keep them in line. It only takes one of me, you know.”

“You are the other?”

Her eyes are cold. “Yes.”

“Have you always been able to dominate the will of others?”

“The ability was latent. Not fully manifest. I needed you and Mentor to activate it fully. I thank you for that. In a sense, I owe you.”

“How long have you known what you are?”

“For a year I have suspected.”

“Where are your adopted parents?”

“Dead.”

“When did they die?”

“Recently.”

“How did they die?”

“Very slowly.”

“You spoke to Shena before we went on the Matterhorn?”

She nods. “I touched her mind. Pushed her.”

“But if she had jumped, it would have messed up the Star Group?”

“You notice she did not jump.”

“But you could have made it so?”

“Maybe not then. But now... of course.”

“You knew I would gather the Star Group?”

“Yes. I knew you were the key.”

“That was the only reason you slept with me?”

“You were good. You have pleased me.”

“I am confused. What chance did we ever have against you?”

“You had every chance. But I slowly poisoned your apples before they could ripen.”

“You planted dissension in our group. You seduced Jimmy?”

She grins. “And Sal. And Shena, don't be shocked. I had them all trembling with their secret sins.”

“But Sal loved Teri, Shena and Jimmy loved each other. You could not destroy that love.” I pause. “It was you who rigged the battery to explode in Shena's face.”

“Yes. I killed Jimmy's battery, then used my car to jump it. My car battery is much larger. I switched the wires before I turned on my engine and gunned the accelerator. Shena had her face right over the battery.” Gale pauses. “I took good care of her on the way to the hospital. I made sure the acid was not wiped off.”

“Why did you have to destroy her face?”

“You said it yourself. All these acts weakened your group. Jimmy and Shena's love did not survive the scars; it does not matter what you say. Also, deep in your mind, on a subconscious level, I knew you would begin to associate Shena with the enemy if her face was scaled like a reptile's. When the moment of my attack started, you would be confused.”

“Did the group on Ortee know your true intentions?”

Gale hesitates. “No. They were fools.”

“But you're not sure about that?”

Her eyes flash with anger. She sits up sharply.

“You will not write that!”

“You are sure.”

She relaxes. “Better.”