Three Rivers Chapter 5

Nearly five days after Adam Dorn's murder, his funeral was tomorrow. Alex stood at the front of the funeral home, waiting for Jeffrey to arrive. They planned to attend together. As members of Adam's former unit, they wanted to show their support for a fallen soldier. To the two of them, Adam was so much more than just a compatriot.

Alex stood at the entrance, staring at his feet. Standing there, beneath his dress-Berrett, beads of sweat formed across his forehead. The temperature was still near one-hundred at seven o'clock at night as the summer temperatures soared. It was ungodly, even biblical, the way the weather ravaged the country. While Three Rivers remained safe, Alex looked up and could see the smoke-filled haze from the summer wildfires.

Sue pulled up in front of the funeral home, parking her Jaguar within sight of the front door. She got out, fixed her hair, and carried her handbag as she headed toward Alex. She expected to see Jeffrey and Alex together and was perplexed by the sight of Alex standing there alone. Sue could feel the pain in Jeffrey when he heard about Adam's murder. She knew Alex was probably suffering as much, if not more. Alex and Adam were closer to one another in age. Their bond always seemed tighter at events and when they would host barbeques.

She walked up to Alex, putting her hands on his shoulders, offering him a hug. Sue knew Adam was a good kid.

"I'm so sorry," she said to him.

"Thanks," Alex looked at her, not having noticed her before.

The two made small talk about how hot the weather was and how strange everything seemed to be lately. Sue believed the heat waves brought out the worst in people. It was something she'd grown accustomed to, watching the world around her turn messy on more than one occasion. Unfortunately, it was happening again, and she felt helpless to do anything that mattered.

"So, where is he?" she asked, looking around for Jeffrey.

"The boss?" Alex questioned.

Alex knew more than he could tell her. It wasn't his place to share the secrets that Jeffrey kept from her. Alex knew how close they'd grown, even that they'd wound up in her bed just a week ago. As much as he didn't want to lie, his loyalties were with his friend and commander.

"I'm sure he's just putting the polish on his uniform," Alex replied.

Sue looked at him with an irritated scowl on her face. She knew Alex was covering for Jeffrey. She had already stopped by his place, and he hadn't been there in a couple of days. Sue hadn't seen Jeffrey since he learned that Adam had died. She hadn't seen him since Alex called him that night, the same night of the blast at the old Filling Station garage.

"You know," she told Alex, "He's been missing in action for days now. He hasn't been to work, he hasn't been home, and the last person that he talked to on the phone was you. You know where he is, don't you?"

A black suburban pulled up across the street from the funeral home. Jeffrey Mayes stepped out of the drivers' side. He straightened his uniform, squared his Berrett, and made his way toward the entrance. He saw Sue was talking to Alex as he approached. The two soldiers exchanged glances. Jeffrey knew Sue well. Sue was questioning Alex about where he had gone the past few days.

"C'mon, Alex, where's he been? And why is he not here?"

"Why's who not here?" Jeffrey asked, standing right behind Sue, admiring the slim-fitting black dress she wore.

Sue turned to Jeffrey, surprised and relieved to see him, to know he was alright. Until then, she had not seen him in his uniform. It was something that hung in his closet, over the top of a pair of dress boots. He was so private, so secretive that she only knew where it was because she watched him get into once to get some bedding for the sofa. It had been on one of those nights that they drank a little too much while he was comforting her and offering to put an old boyfriend into intensive care.

After enjoying a moment of relief, Sue flat hand slapped him across the chest, letting her fears and stress out onto him. She had been worried sick about him and what he was doing since he left in such a hurry. With everything that he told her, she was afraid he was hurt, or worse.

"I'm sorry," said Jeffrey. "I needed to get my head right. But, I should have called."

"You're damn right you should have called!" Sue exclaimed.

"Now that we're all here," Alex announced, maybe we should step inside.

Jeffrey agreed with Alex, even though he had hoped to talk privately with his youthful friend. The three went in together and took a spot in the pews toward the front. As they sat there, Alex on one side of him and Sue on the other, Sue held his hand. As hard as this was going to be to get through, it felt oddly comforting to Jeffrey.

When the visitation was over, after meeting with the Dorn family, Jeffrey and Alex rejoined Sue at the back of the room. Sue knew that the two of them needed time and voluntarily excluded herself from the threesome.

"I'm going to go," she announced. "You two need time, I'm sure."

Sue walked away with just those few words. Jeffrey hurried out the door to the funeral home, chasing Sue to her car.

"It's alright, you don't have to walk me," she told him.

Jeffrey caught up with Sue at her car. He didn't know what else to say to her, other than that he was sorry. She had become his best friend, someone that he could trust. Deep down, Jeffrey knew she'd become so much more. For once in his life, he was tongue-tied.

"I am sorry," he admitted.

Looking up at him, seeing the pain in his eyes, she held his hands in front of her. She wanted to comfort him, to make the pain all go away. But, she knew the kind of person he was inside. There was no way she could follow him down the path he was on, not that he would allow her to follow.

"Listen, I know what you're going to do, what you have to do, and it's alright," she said, putting a hand on his cheek.

Jeffrey started to speak, but Sue put a finger on his lips. He stood there, silent, looking into the eyes of "home." He felt Sue wrap her arms around him, standing on the tips of her toes as she craned her neck to kiss him. When she broke their kiss, she looked him in the eye.

"I know there's nothing I can say, nothing I can do to change your mind," she admitted. "You and Alex take care of yourselves."

Sue let go of Jeffrey, getting into her car. She started her engine up. Jeffrey looked at her, not sure what to think.

"Will I see you..." he started to ask.

Sue looked up at him from the seat of her Jaguar, a faked smile on her face. She knew that she would always be there for him. No matter what happened, Sue assured him she'd always be around.

"Just try to come in one piece, and maybe with a little less soot and ash if you can."

"Deal," he told her.

When Sue sped away, her tires squealing as she rocketed toward the river, Alex walked up behind him. They both stood there watching her drive away until her taillights disappeared as she mixed in with the downtown traffic. Alex put his hand on his boss's shoulder. He realized more than ever how close the two were becoming. The flirtatiousness that he bore witness to for nearly a year had finally gone somewhere.

"Well," said Alex, "It's about goddammed time."

"Sorry I didn't fill you in," sighed Jeffrey.

Alex laughed, patting his friend on the back. He was overjoyed. Seeing Sue and Jeffrey start to become something was the best news he heard in a while.

"I'm happy for you, boss. And for what it's worth, I see why there's always been an attraction," admitted Alex. "I mean, talk about an exit. The ladies got style."

"If you think the taillights were fun to watch, try watching her walk away in a thong," joked Jeffrey.

"Damn, can I?"

"No," said Jeffrey, "No way in hell."

Jeffrey started walking toward his suburban. Alex was waiting for him to tell the tale of his trip to Tangiers. He was the only one that knew he'd gone to meet Luco. Luco promised to guide him around the lot at Interpol, get him to the church where Joeseph Morris had stayed. Presuming that the mysterious trio from the filling station knew anything about Adams' murder, Jeffrey wanted to dig up whatever intel on them he could find.

"So, what did you get?" asked Alex.

"We struck out," he told Alex. "They're ghosts."

"Even the lawyer?"

Jeffrey pulled up a file on the new lawyer representing the Lassiter family. Harrison Burr was a legit attorney, started practicing five years after getting out of the military, and had a home in London. He was single, never married, and had no known family.

"So there's nothing to leverage with him," sighed Alex.

"That all depends," Jeffrey announced, pulling out a picture. "We found this at his home in London. The man in the picture is a much younger Harrison Burr. Look how attentive he is with the girl in the picture," he said.

"Who is she?"

Jeffrey took the photo back from Alex and tucked it into a plain manila file. He didn't know who the girl was, but he admitted that if they could find her, then maybe they'd have leverage on the lawyer.

"Do you think that they killed Adam? Did they have anything to do with his murder?" asked Alex.

Jeffrey didn't want to say what he thought. His gut told him one thing, the facts another. So far, he had not been able to tie the death of their comrade to Adam.

"It's looking less and less likely," admitted Jeffrey.

"Boss, we have to make this right," Alex said, frustrated.

Jeffrey put a hand on Alex's shoulder, trying to keep him from going off half-cocked. Things weren't going to be easy to prove, but he believed they'd find who killed their friend. Alex needed to have faith.

"We will figure this out," Jeffrey told Alex.

Jeffrey walked around the side of Suburban and climbed inside. As he started up his truck, Alex tapped on the window. Jeffrey rolled down the glass.

"Do you even have a plan?" asked Alex.

Jeffrey looked at Alex and knew the answer to his questions was simple. "The plan hasn't changed. We'll find who did this to our brother."

"And then what?"

The look on Alex's face was pleading. He needed to hear Jeffrey say the words. As much as he wanted to protect him, there was no protecting Alex from what was to happen when he did find who was responsible. Jeffrey gave Alex an intense and cold look.

"And then, I kill whoever it was," he announced before driving off.

Ten hours later, on the other side of town, sunlight struck Lila. She rolled around, not feeling well, as she opened her eyes. Finding herself in a strange apartment again made her let out a groan. Still, she carried something around inside of her. She still heard the voice inside her, raspy at times, witty at others, but always there.

"Why are you doing this to me?" she asked, getting the same old answer. All it ever said was that it was fun.

The voice rapidly became a part of her routine. While she didn't know what to believe at times, it would reassure her that she was not crazy and wasn't losing her mind. Lila had her misgivings. She didn't know why, but she believed it was telling the truth. Having that deep voice echoing in her ears made her feel crazy.

She still didn't understand why her parents were gone or why they had to die. They weren't going to be waiting for her to come home again. Lila pictured their death, picturing a man killing them, pushing the knives from the counter through their necks. She wondered if the cops had found them yet? Why couldn't she call the police?

"I told you why. If you call the police, since you lived there, you're going to be the first person they lock up. Do you want to be locked in a jail cell, locked up for the rest of your life?" the voice would ask her.

After a few days, Lila stopped asking. She was afraid its' answer was the truth. Lila was there when it happened. How could they not question her or at least think she'd be a suspect? Her prints were probably on the murder knives. Lila didn't want to spend the rest of her life locked up. So, waiting for the cops to come to her and playing ignorant seemed like a better plan than calling them. She wiped her eyes and tried to put the memory of her folks behind her.

"Where are we?"

"Don't worry. Just get up and get dressed," it said. "It's time we move along."

Lila looked down, seeing she was naked. She looked around for her clothing. Until a few weeks ago, she had only been with two men in her young life. Lila hated that whatever was inside her was turning her into a whore.

Finding her clothes, Lila got dressed and cleaned herself up the best she could. She ran out of the only door she could find. The house was a fallen-down brownstone building. The ramshackle abode was on the wrong side of town. The area was desolate, barely populated, and laden with trash. Nobody came there anymore, not city workers, the police, or even the busses. Few people were willing to stay in that neighborhood. Fewer were willing to pay to stay in one of the old buildings.

Lila ached all over her body. Her legs were like rubber, and her hips and thighs were sore from the beating she was taking. She felt a twinge of pain from inside her and worried that something was wrong.

"Nothings wrong, my dear. You had a lot of fun last night. Don't you remember?" asked the voice. "Now, hurry along. I don't think those rebellious young gentlemen over there are the type of people to be around, during the daylight."

Lila did exactly as the voice told her to, and ran down the street, headed toward the downtown area. She ran as hard as she could until she found a cab driver sitting at a gas station. Lila looked in her jacket. She was hoping to find some money to pay for a ride, yet there was nothing but her lipstick, three phone numbers, and a picture of her with some men she didn't recognize.

Looking at the picture, she started to tear up. She was performing acts on one of the men that she'd never tried before, while another man was pawing at her. She felt all the shame and guilt swelling inside her, wondering what she was becoming.

Lila walked up to the cab driver, thinking that he could take her to a bank. She could get some money to pay him there.

"Excuse me, are you on duty?" she asked the driver.

"Sure am," he smiled, looking her up and down, seeing what a disheveled mess the young girl was.

"I need a ride," she told him.

"Where to, kid?"

She thought to herself, where did it make sense to go? She couldn't just go home. What if the cops showed up there, with her parents' bodies still sitting in the kitchen? She had a few friends, but who did she trust to bring into this? Then, like a switch turning on, she remembered Hannah. Hannah and she had grown up together. They were inseparable for years. She could go to Hannah for help.

"I need to get to Well's Fargo, and then Yorkville," she told him.

The old driver looked at her, his scruffy beard and hair hiding his gangly smile. He knew where Yorkville was and it was a fifty-dollar fair just to get there. Lila didn't look to him like she had five dollars, much less fifty.

"That's an expensive cab trip. Do you have cash for that?"

Lila stuttered, "Well, I can get it from the bank."

Laughing, the driver looked at the little thing in front of him. She was such a mess. He saw the marks on her, recognized the signs of a party girl, and knew how to pray on the type. "Bust down" girls were a dime a dozen on this side of town. It was why he took the routes on this side of town a few times a week.

The driver walked a little closer, grabbing Lila's arm. He pulled her over to his cab, planning to have a good time with her. As he opened the door, Lila's adrenaline ran high. She looked in the reflection of the cab window, seeing someone else staring back at her.

The next thing she saw was like watching a movie. She watched as the man struggled to get the door opened, holding her wrist tightly. She struggled to get free of the lecherous pervert. Her struggles, to no avail, exhausted the already tired young girl. Lila nearly fell to the ground as she tried reaching in her jeans pocket.

She struggled to get her hand in her pocket, struggling to grab for something to protect herself with. Lila tried to scream but the laughter of the voice echoed in her head. Her mouth wasn't opening, like someone holding their hand over it. The sounds came out muffled.

The cab driver turned to Lila, the door to his cab finally coming open. As he faced her, Lila saw her arm swipe through the air, towards the old cab driver. Blood sprayed across her face, striking her skin like a warm shower. She stopped, looked at the old man as he leaned over, his insides spilling outward as the blood from his abdomen washed out onto the concrete.

A man ran from the gas station after seeing what had transpired. He looked down at the cab driver, seeing that he was gone already. Lila stood there, muttering gibberish to herself. Her hands trembled and her body shook. She felt a rush of heat overwhelm her and something pull her down to the concrete. Hysterically, she broke down in tears.

The attendant walked over to her, offering her a hand.

"You're in a lot of trouble young lady," the attendant told her.

A growling sound bellowed from Lila's mouth and her body stiffened. The attendant tried to take his hand away. Lila grabbed ahold of him, kissing him full on the mouth as he struggled to stop her. Then, she fell to the ground.

The attendant stood there, looking at the mess. He put his hands on his hips as he surveyed the carnage in front of him.

"Yes," he said, nobody there to listen. "This is all on camera."

The attendant looked around the lot, startled as he heard a sinister laugh. He wasn't yet aware of where the laugh was coming from. Little did he know, he was the one laughing.