Delia's Shadow (34 page)

He stood and stared at the gaping hole in the floor, imagining the suffering of each victim who’d died in the room below. Ethan allowed his little boy to sleep here, the child that meant the world to him, as if the bedroom were any other little boy’s room. The thought made Gabe recoil in horror.

What Ethan might be doing in place of coming home to his family, the secrets yet to be uncovered, tied Gabe’s shoulders in painful knots.

Two things he knew for certain. First, he needed at least a few hours sleep before going to the fairgrounds that evening. Tracking a killer when he couldn’t keep his eyes open was courting disaster. Second, Ethan’s threat still held and stopping him was all important, now more than ever.

The one advantage he and Jack had gained was that now they had pictures of Ethan Brennan: a grim and unsmiling wedding photo with Maddy, and a portrait with his wife and son Maddy said was only a year old. How much Ethan resembled the photograph of the uncle who took away a normal little boy and returned him changed was uncanny.

After all the time he’d spent working with Isadora and the talks they’d had, Gabe couldn’t shake the thought of hauntings and spirits possessing another body. He wanted to talk to Dora, but there was no time.

And he wouldn’t leave Andy and Maddy Brennan at Ethan’s mercy nor let them stay in this house while his men recovered what was left of lime-eaten clothing and bone. That wasn’t in question. Each time he looked at Andy curled up on the sofa with his mother, the need to protect the little boy hit him harder.

Finding a safe place to send them wasn’t as easy. Captain Parker volunteered a solution, offering his cabin near Santa Cruz. Convincing Maddy she needed to go wasn’t hard at all.

By the time all the arrangements were made and the Brennans were on their way with four armed officers, the majority of his squad had arrived and set to work. Gabe checked the time again. It was past noon.

All his plans called for being in place at the Pan Pacific before six that evening. If he were to get any sleep at all, he’d have to forgo seeing Delia before he left. He borrowed a page from Jack’s notebook, scribbled a note, and dispatched one of his men to deliver it. Jack sent a note for Sadie as well. He’d promised that if work kept him away, he’d find a way to let Delia know he was all right. A note was the best he could do for now, but she’d understand. Catching Ethan and bringing him to justice was as important to her as it was to him.

Gabe and his father climbed into the back of a squad car for the drive to his rooming house. He pulled his battered fedora over his eyes and promptly fell asleep, and into dreams of a life with Delia, one without Ethan’s shadow hanging over them.

A dream was all he had for now. He wouldn’t allow it to stay that way.

Delia

I breathed easier once Officer Baker delivered notes from Gabe and Jack. That they hadn’t caught Ethan was a disappointment, but knowing Gabe was all right let me unclench my teeth. Worrying took up large portions of my day and crept into my sleep at night, leaving me restless and unsettled when I woke. Putting on a cheerful face grew harder as the search for Ethan continued to cast a pall over my life.

The same was true of Sadie. She kept to herself when not tending to Mama Esther and the bright, chatty gossip so much a part of her had vanished. We rarely spoke of the strain and fear openly, but neither of us truly relaxed unless Gabe and Jack were with us. The day was something to be gotten through, endured, until time came for their evening visit.

This day was longest of all; the second in a row we wouldn’t see Gabe and Jack. That this evening the two of them were hunting Ethan had us both on tenterhooks.

Dusk finally settled into the corners of the yard, the low angle of the sun lengthening shadows from the fence and shrubs. I drew the drapes over the parlor window and turned away, my fanciful imagination transforming tendrils of gloom into monsters that clawed their way toward the front steps.

Winds off the East Bay hills kept the fog confined outside the Golden Gate, leaving the darkening sky clear and sprinkled with stars. Firework displays all over the city would be visible from the upstairs windows, including the array planned for the Pan Pacific celebration. The newspaper proclaimed the program outlined by fair officials to be truly spectacular.

I wasn’t sure I could watch. Ethan’s threat to kill people during the display took the luster off the fireworks for me. I hurried back to the kitchen to help Annie with supper and making sure the men guarding the house were fed.

At first, I thought the sensation of ghosts leaving the house idle fancy as well. The constant itch on the back of my neck and the pressure in my chest eased, sliding away so gradually that their absence took me by surprise. I guessed what their leaving meant. Relief would come later, once I was sure. Keeping Sadie company while she fed Esther came first.

Supper with Esther hadn’t been easy since my return home and grew more difficult daily. Her mind frequently wandered and she lost the thread of conversation, or she relived events from her past, speaking to Sadie and I as if we were people from that long ago time. Sadie’s distress grew apace with each incident, harsh evidence of her mother’s decline she couldn’t deny.

Sadie needed me. Best friends didn’t abandon each other in times of need or they were poor friends indeed. And even if none of that were true, I owed Esther Larkin for giving me a home and a good life. I struggled to hide my distraction with vanishing ghosts and steer around the shoals of Esther’s fading mind. Each moment we had left was precious, no matter how difficult.

Esther spoke little, taking each bite Sadie offered without comment or complaint. She rarely looked away from my face, her eyes bright. I couldn’t interpret the expression on her face, but I knew Esther heard ghosts clearly and suspected that she saw more than I imagined.

Little surprised me anymore when it came to spirits and hauntings. That Esther would know when ghosts began to fill her house least of all.

“That’s enough.” Esther waved away the fork in Sadie’s hand, suddenly grumpy and out of sorts. “They’re making too much noise and I’m tired. How can I sleep when they all carry on so loudly?”

“Who’s making noise, Mama Esther?” Fearing I already knew the answer didn’t stop me from asking. I took her cold hand, holding it lightly. She bruised so easily. “I can’t hear anyone.”

She scowled and shook her head, becoming loud and agitated. “You’re not trying, Delia Ann. That girl who follows you, she brought the strangers here. Tell her to make them stay quiet.”

“Mama, don’t shout at Dee.” Sadie’s voice was firm, but her eyes glistened with tears. More and more, she became the parent and Esther the child. “There’s nothing she can do about the ghosts. Dora explained that to you.”

Esther yanked her hand away. “Piffle. She can talk to that girl and make her take all these people away again. I shouldn’t have to listen to them wailing over what to do.”

The pulse inside that told me Aileen was near strengthened. My heart sped up to match, but the ghost hid from me and didn’t appear. Aileen’s ghost was afraid. Not the fear of being sent away by Annie or Isadora, that I knew and recognized. This was new, different. Aileen’s terror churned inside my chest, scrabbled over my skin like a nest of spiders. I shut her out as best I could and fought not to drown.

“Esther, the girl who follows me isn’t here. I can’t ask her to help.” I smoothed her hair back with a shaking hand. She glared at me, angry for reasons I couldn’t understand. “And I can’t hear the ghosts. I need you to tell me what they’re saying.”

She pressed her lips into a thin, tight line and peered over my shoulder for what seemed like an eternity. I thought she’d forgotten to answer. “Your girl’s distracted, watching over her boy. She won’t come out and talk to Teddy. He tried to ask the strangers to go, but all they can talk about is the jackal. He hid their bones.”

The jackal; she meant Ethan. I understood now, Aileen’s ghost was afraid for Jack. Sadie knew as well. She sucked in a sharp breath and turned her back, staying close but unable to watch.

Questioning Esther bothered me, but I’d no one else to ask. “And the strangers are lost and don’t know where they are. Is that why they’re upset, Mama Esther?”

“No, no, not because they’re lost. They’d learned to rest until your girl stirred them up.” She screwed her eyes tight shut and shook her head. “But the jackal came back. He’s hunting tonight and now they don’t know what to do.”

Sadie knelt by the bed and took her mother’s other hand. As hard as this was for me, listening to her mother convey messages from ghosts was infinitely worse for her. The rest of the world saw Sadie as a curly-haired gossip without an ounce of real character. They didn’t know her or the courage lurking behind the flighty facade. “Mama, ask Teddy if he knows who the jackal is hunting.”

Esther sighed and sank back on the pillows, limp and exhausted, all the fire she’d shown reduced to embers. “Teddy says the strangers fight and argue, but don’t really say anything. I don’t think they know.”

I gathered the dirty dishes and cups, and carried the tray down to the kitchen. Sadie’s voice followed me down the stairs, a child trying to soothe her mother to sleep and ease Esther’s fear of the unknown.

Fear of what Esther didn’t know grew as she lost more of who she was, who she’d been. She spent more and more time talking to Teddy’s ghost, reliving a life with him I still wasn’t certain was real. Forgetting everything would be kinder than this half existence, but there were certain kinds of mercy I couldn’t bring myself to pray for. Not now, not yet.

The muffled snap and crackle of firecrackers came from the street, a first salvo from young boys in the neighborhood. Soon, too soon, the staged displays at the fairgrounds would start. Gabe would run out of time then.

Time enough to catch a killer; that I could pray for.

CHAPTER 18

Gabe

Strings of colored bulbs looped over teeming walkways, lighting up the faces of the crowd in blues, golds, and reds. Gabe studied the face of each man on his right, old and young, short and tall, confident that Jack did the same to his left. They’d both memorized the photographs of Ethan and the description given by his wife. Neither of them was willing to dismiss anyone they encountered out of hand based on either of those things.

Ethan was too smart, too confident in his ability to outsmart the police, for Gabe to take anything for granted. Assuming they knew what he looked like was a mistake.

Full darkness and the start of the fireworks display were only minutes away. Families, young couples, and lone men and women strolled the walkways, crowded the lawns and benches. Fourth of July was the highlight of the summer season and the sheer number of people in attendance at the Pan Pacific staggered Gabe.

He tried not to despair and hold on to faith in his men. Finding Ethan was difficult, he’d known that while making his plans, but Gabe refused to think of the task as impossible. He wasn’t ready to admit defeat.

And he’d had misgivings and argued against the idea, but allowing his father to join the men patrolling the fairgrounds felt like the right decision. Partnered up with Captain Parker, the two older men stood the best chance of recognizing Ethan, even after thirty years. They’d known Ethan at seventeen and while age certainly altered faces, Gabe would take what advantages fate handed out.

Jack tugged off his cloth cap and raked fingers through his unruly mass of curls. He left the cap off, slapping the hat against his thigh with each step. “Ethan’s laughing at us. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was watching us right now.”

“Let him laugh.” Gabe angled his way through the crowd, sidestepping excited children and their slow-moving parents. The main promenade was well lit, but the more night and darkness settled in, the more difficult it became to search for Ethan and avoid stepping on a child. “I want him cocky and making mistakes.”

“He hasn’t made any yet.” Jack’s mouth twisted and he stuffed his cap into a coat pocket. “How much longer?”

The clock tower ahead was bathed in spotlights, a landmark for people trying to find their way around the grounds. He’d avoided watching the hands slide around, counting down the hours and minutes until the first skyrocket was launched. How little time they had left was a surprise. He smothered a flicker of panic. Ethan wouldn’t win. “About fifteen minutes. Try and remember we’re not the only ones looking. Dad and Parker, or one of the other patrols may have Ethan right now. We wouldn’t hear immediately.”

“Always the optimist, Lieutenant.” Jack’s shoulders were hunched, but he flashed a grin. “Do they issue that cheery outlook with the badge and promotion certificate?”

Gabe relaxed, the knot in his stomach untying a fraction. If Jack was joking life wasn’t totally dire. “I’m not allowed to reveal that information to the lower ranks, Sergeant. Work hard and you’ll find out for yourself.”

They continued down the Avenue of the Nations toward the Marina and around to the livestock exhibits. Once the sun went down, crowds thinned and eventually vanished in this section of the grounds. Interest in farm animals waned as families with young children went home. Activities in the Fun Zone were a bigger draw most nights, but this wasn’t most nights. People still milled about along the Marina, biding their time until the fireworks started. Not until they got to the farm exhibit buildings did Gabe and Jack find themselves almost alone.

That the area was isolated and not as well lit made this the perfect place for Ethan to make his play and carry out his threat. It was also the reason he and Jack had walked through the barns and down the pathways between livestock pens multiple times that day. He’d come through the area so often, Gabe was on speaking terms with the longhorn bull.

Twice he caught sight of his men, both uniformed and plainclothes officers patrolling in pairs as ordered. The same unrelenting tension that lodged between his shoulders, refusing to budge, showed on their faces. Holding to optimism grew more difficult. Time was running short.