Chapter 65

I

Christine just looked at the house that Jacob had the car pull up to. It was huge. We’re staying here, she thought; Jacob doesn’t spare any expense for a vacation, does he?

They got out of the car, and Christine walked around the car to where Jacob stood. All he said was, “You like it?”

“It’s just us two, Jacob,” Christine said; “Who else are you expecting?”

“No one, Christine,” Jacob said, laughing. “Just us and fun in the sun for you; shade and shades for me.”

“I’m a redhead, I freckle instead of tan,” Christine teased. “You were married to one, you should know that by now.”

“I do, but it’s the lure of the ocean that does it for me,” Jacob said; “I grew up near Chicago. All we had were the Great Lakes. It’s not like the ocean.”

“I guess I’m a little jaded because I grew up not far from here in Virginia Beach,” Christine said. “I always had the ocean to lull me to sleep. Nice big house for a big family near the beach. Between my mother’s journalism career and my father’s consulting business that he ran from home, we could afford that big house. I was still a little girl when my father died. Maybe that’s why I’m always attracted to older men. My father was about 20 years older than my mother.”

“I didn’t know that, Christine,” said Jacob as he carried their things up the stairs and into the house. “You only said your father was a bit older. I didn’t know by how much.”

“People always look at me weird when I say that,” said Christine. “So I leave numbers out of it.”

Once inside the house, Christine gasped. It was beautifully laid out. It made her little house in Arlington look pathetic, and her attempts to decorate it even more so.

“Wow, Jacob, this place is gorgeous!” Christine said; “Where did you find this palace?”

“It’s my sister’s, actually,” Jacob said; “For many years, it was her vacation home. I’ll inherit it when she passes away. She’s terminally ill with lung cancer.”

“I’m so sorry, Jacob,” Christine said; “I had no idea.”

“I’ll be the only one of our siblings left. Our brother died years ago after the Occupation. He sided with my father against me when I was dating Jordan. We hadn’t spoken in 20 years. He didn’t know I was still alive. I preferred it that way. Miranda tried to get us together, but I would have none of it. He was willing to see me after Miranda explained I was still alive, but all I saw was him and our father against me and Jordan.”

Christine saw that it hurt for him to talk about his past, his rejection from his father and brother because he didn’t date a Jewish girl. She let the subject drop with, “I’m sorry, Jacob. I didn’t mean to bring up such a painful memory.”

He looked at Christine. She could do no wrong.

“Don’t worry about it, my dear,” he said. “Now, let’s check out the rest of this house. I haven’t been here in a long time. Since before Julia was born. She was conceived here, I’m pretty sure.”

Christine wondered about Julia. How she was getting along out of the hospital with that gap in her memory. Christine hoped that someday, Julia would be able to remember something about what happened.

===

As the families were preparing to leave the next day, Jeremiah managed to get Nik alone and talk to him about the phone call Jeremiah made to Lawrence Carr.

“Let’s get a bite to eat without the womenfolk chattering at us like monkeys,” Nik said. “They’re still going on about Julia’s new clothes and Sandrina’s engagement.”

“Sandy getting engaged is a pretty big deal, I’d say,” Jeremiah said as they headed to the lobby in the elevator. Exiting the car, they headed to the parking lot to get in Nik’s rental and drive to a local sandwich stop that Natasha had told him about.

“Tash told me this place has hoagies to die for,” Nik said. “It’s private so we can talk about this mystery man you spoke with.”


Mystery seemed to describe what Jeremiah found on one Lawrence Carr.

He had, indeed, been part of an early incarnation of DeepCon, and had run it during Christine Collins-Ross’ interim administration. When the new president came into office, Carr was booted from DeepCon for reasons that were “matters of national security.”

It was about that time he had written the article about whether DeepCon existed. It had been published, and Carr apparently had taken some heat from the government over it.

A few years later, Carr’s vehicle had been found wrecked on the side of a rural road in western  Virginia. No sign of Carr until he showed up at a local sheriff’s office claiming that the government was out to get him. The sheriff pretty much thought the man was crazy, so he didn’t do anything to help Carr other than have him transported to a local hospital. Once there, he was forgotten.

After ordering their sandwiches and taking a table in a private room after Nik mentioned that he was related to Natasha, he asked Jeremiah,

“So he wrecks his car, shows up some time after that at some country sheriff’s office and is never heard from again?”

“That’s what it looks like, but then I found this,” Jeremiah said as he slid a copy of what looked to Nik like hospital discharge papers toward him. “They kept him in the hospital for eight years! They had sent him to a mental institution because he wasn’t talking any sense. Then he goes to New York, tries to get a lawyer disbarred, and disappears again. No sign of him since.”

“So who did you talk to?” asked Nik.

“I’m willing to bet it wasn’t Lawrence Carr,” Jeremiah said. “But whoever he was, he knew a little too much about all of us for my liking. He threw in this cryptic phrase about how I should ask Julia who Miri’s father is.”

“As far as I know, Ryan was Miri’s father,” Nik said. “Maybe someone got a wild hair up their ass and thought that because Miri isn’t a redhead like her siblings, then she might not be Ryan’s child? We all had Kiera’s pea plant lecture about heredity. If the same parents had four children, they could get different cominations of genes. Maybe Miri didn’t get the redhead gene that would have given her red hair, but she could pass it along to her kids.”

“The whole idea is ridiculous,” said Jeremiah. “My main question is, what the hell happened to Lawrence Carr? And who the hell did I talk to yesterday?”

“I hate to bring this name up, but could it be A.R.M.?”

Jeremiah thought about that for a moment, then said, “It could be, but they’ve pretty much gone underground since Lincoln Marsh disappeared. Hell, they may not even still be in existence. But we have to act like they still are, because there are rogues out there who haven’t heard the war is over, so to speak.”

“You trace the number you called?” Nik asked.

“I did, and it’s registered to Lawrence Carr of McLean, Virginia,” Jeremiah said. “I thought about going to the address on the phone bill, but...”

“Let’s do it,” Nik said; “McLean’s not that far from here. Darren has his condo there.”

“And what do we tell Carr when we get there?” asked Jeremiah, “That we’re looking for someone who may no longer be alive, but people somewhere want us to think he is?”

“Let’s just see the neighborhood, Jere,” Nik said. “It’s still early. If there’s anything pressing, someone is bound to call us.”

“Well, let’s see what we can see, then,” Jeremiah said. They picked up what was left of their sandwiches and headed for the car.

===

II

She tossed and turned and had weird dreams. She didn’t recognize anyone in them. She kept hearing a strangely familiar voice say, “You’ve had your fun, now let me back in. You really thought you’d gotten rid of me, did you?”

“Sleep Chastity!”

“Never!” then there was that maniacal laugh. “That hocus pocus shit isn’t gonna work on me anymore! You and that joke of a therapist can’t kill me off! Your days are numbered. I will win this round and imprison you forever!”

“Never!”

“You think you’re strong enough to contain me? Not a chance!” said Chastity. “Lets see how your precious widdle family thinks of my performance as you, their sainted mother and partner.”

“They’ll see right through you! They’re not stupid!”

“Wanna bet, sister?”


Kathryn awoke with a start. Her gasping for breath woke Christian up. He was concerned.

“Kathryn! What is it?” he asked.

“Chastity,” Kathryn said, still trying to catch her breath. “She’s trying to come back and take over my life again!”

“We can fight her, Kathryn,” Christian said as he took her into his arms to calm her. “We can beat her into submission. Use the tools that Cameron taught you.”

“I need to see her, right away, Christian!” said Kathryn urgently. “Right now if I can!”

“Kathryn,” Christian said, “It’s 4:20am!”

“She told me to call her any time...” Kathryn said, still panicked, but starting to calm down.

Christian looked at her, then said, “Even in the middle of the night?”

Kathryn looked as if she were about to cry. “I’m scared to go back to sleep, Christian,” she said.

Christian got up and went over to get his secure phone from the bureau. He brought it to Kathryn and she dialed Cameron’s number from memory with shaky hands.

“Cameron Chang,” she said when answered.

“Cameron, it’s Kathryn Hope!” Kathryn gasped into the phone. “I need to see you right away!”

Cameron couldn’t mistake the fear in Kathryn’s voice. Something’s happened to her, she thought. I just know it.

“Kathryn, I can be at the office in twenty minutes,” she said; “I’ll meet you and Christian there. Don’t come alone.”

“Who will watch the girls?” Kathryn fretted.

Christian looked at Kathryn and wrote on a pad next to the bed and showed it to her. “I’ll have Maria look after them when they get up if we’re not back by then.” Maria was the cook the family employed. She lived in a house on the DeWitt property.

“Christian said that the cook will watch the girls,” Kathryn said. “We’ll be there in half an hour.”

“Good,” Cameron said; “And thanks for calling me now instead of waiting until morning. I’m guessing that Chastity is trying to re-emerge.”

“She’s invading my dreams...I’m scared to sleep.”

“I’ll see you and Christian in half an hour,” Cameron said.

“Okay.”

Kathryn closed out the call, and Christian brought her jeans and a tshirt to wear.

“We’ll get to the bottom of this, my dearest,” Christian said. “Chastity won’t come back to hurt us again.”

After calling Maria, Kathryn and Christian headed out the door to go to the clinic in the next town about 20 minutes away. Kathryn trembled the entire way.

===

They drove up to the house listed on Lawrence Carr’s secure cell bill. Something didn’t seem right to either Nik or Jeremiah.

“Man, this looks creepy as hell,” Nik said. “I’m not liking the feeling I’m getting here.”

“Need I remind you, Nik, that this was your idea?” asked Jeremiah; “But I know what you mean. We haven’t even gotten out of the car and I already have the creeps.”

They got out of the car and went up to the door of the house. Jeremiah was about to knock when he noticed that the door was open slightly.

“Looks like someone beat us here, Nik,” he said.

“Yeah,” Nik said; “and us without protection. My guns are locked in the gun safe at home. That’s not doing us any good here.”

“We should call the authorities, though,” Jeremiah said; “I don’t want to have to defend myself against a breaking and entering charge.”

He called the local authorities and within twenty minutes, three police cruisers showed up. After Jeremiah explained why they were there, the police knocked on the door. “Welfare check!” one officer yelled.

No answer from inside the house.

“You say you just spoke to the man yesterday, Mr. Donovan?” another officer asked.

“Yes,” Jeremiah replied, “over the phone. Something he said made me suspicious, so I looked up his cell phone records through the Freedom of Information Act. That’s how I got his address.”

“Sir,” a young officer said as he approached Jeremiah, Nik, and the two officers, “neighbors say the man who lived here left about three years ago, but didn’t take any of his belongings. Some kids jimmied the lock on the door, that’s why it’s open.”

“What did these kids find inside?” asked Nik.

“Whatever it was, the kids aren’t saying. Like they’re spooked or something.”

Great, thought Jeremiah; Lord knows what we’ll find in there.

“Let’s go inside and see if there’s anything going on,” the lead officer said. “Mr. Donovan, you and Mr. San Marco may accompany us if you wish.”

“I’d like to know who I talked to,” Jeremiah said. “Because I’m betting it’s not Lawrence Carr.”

The police entered first with Nik and Jeremiah bringing up the rear. The officers called out for Mr. Carr, but were not getting any response. Then, the young officer said something from near what Jeremiah guessed was a bathroom.

“I think we found something,” the officer said, his face white as a ghost.

The lead officer and Jeremiah entered the bathroom, and what they saw was a body, partially submerged in a bathtub full of water. The face was frozen in a half scream, the eyes wide with terror. There were no eyeballs in the sockets. The top of his forehead had been blown off by a shotgun blast.

Jeremiah stared at this ghastly sight for what seemed like an eternity, before he turned and vomited into the nearby sink.

===

III

“Sweet Jesus,” the lead officer said. “I’d seen plenty of shit during the Occupation, but nothing like this.”

He was pale as well. Jeremiah was still puking his guts up in the sink. When he was done, he looked up at Nik, who had never seen Jeremiah look as white as he did at that moment.

“Brother, you almost look white,” he said.

“Fuck you, Nik.”

“Sir, it’s true, you look as white as a ghost,” the lead officer said. “And I know you’re mixed.”

“That...” Jeremiah said, pointing behind him to the corpse in the bathtub, “was ritualistic murder. Whoever that poor bastard was, he was tortured before he died. Just like during the Occupation.”

“Is that Lawrence Carr?” asked Nik.

“At the moment, he’s John Doe,” said the lead officer. “We have no idea if he is the man who owns this house. He looks to have been dead quite some time.”

“Then, who the fuck did I talk to yesterday?” Jeremiah asked as he left the bathroom. “Because if that was Lawrence Carr, I certainly didn’t talk to him.”

“Remember what we talked about before we came over here, Jere?” Nik asked. “It seems like something that the Committee would have ordered for one of their underlings who didn’t do what he was told, or for Undesirables. This has Carl Parks written all over it.”

“I’d believe that if I didn’t know Carl Parks has been dead for 16 years,” Jeremiah said. “God, don’t tell me he had a protege as sick as he was.”

“We better give the police a statement and get the hell out of here,” Nik said; “I wish I hadn’t suggested coming over here now.”

“With all due respect, sir,” the lead officer said; “we’d have never known about this if you hadn’t been curious.”

“That,” Jeremiah said; “I’ll be seeing that horror in my dreams for years to come!”

About two hours later, Nik and Jeremiah were on their way back to the hotel. “Not a word to anyone about this, okay?” said Jeremiah. “I don’t need to be reminded of what I saw. It will creep even Julia out.”

“That’s mighty hard to do, Jere, and you know it. Not with as much carnage she’s caused,” Nik said; “But trust me, I’m not going to say anything to anyone about what happened today. All they have to know is that we went out for lunch and a movie.”

“And what movie do you propose we saw?” asked Jeremiah.

“I don’t know,” Nik said; “‘Circus of the Damned’?”

“I feel like we were just there,” Jeremiah said.

===

It didn’t take a psychotherapist to see that Kathryn Hope was paralyzed with fear.

She hadn’t stopped trembling since she and Christian got into the car and drove to Cameron Chang’s office.

“I don’t want her to come back,” Kathryn said with a shaky, scared voice; “It’s my life! Mine! She can’t have it anymore!”

“First, Kathryn, we need to calm down,” Cameron said in a soothing, motherlike voice. “Once you’re calm, tell me everything you saw in your dream.”

As Kathryn told Cameron what was in her dream, and what Chastity said, Cameron knew that the alter would try to make a full appearance soon. She could give Kathryn additional medication to keep Chastity suppressed, and increase the days Kathryn came to see her from two to four. Cameron knew that Kathryn had to coping skills to deal with keeping her alter at bay, but the trembling, fearful woman who sat before her was not thinking about her coping skills. She was concerned that her evil alter would take over permanently, denying Kathryn her family and the life she had built up since returning home from the clinic months before.

“Kathryn, I want you to come in to see me Monday through Thursday at your usual time,” Cameron said. “Starting tomorrow. I’m also going to give you a prescription for a powerful anti-psychotic that must be taken as directed without fail. I didn’t want to give this to you unless you needed it, but if Chastity is going to try and make an appearance, this will head her off. It’s not a cure all, that’s why I’m increasing your appointments with me from two to four.”

“I don’t want her to ruin everything for me, Cameron,” Kathryn said; “She already took my teenage years and denied me a chance to be Kelly’s mother. I’m not going to let her steal my life from me.”

“No one wants that, my dear,” Cameron said, tearing the prescription off the pad and handed it to Christian. “Get that filled as soon as the pharmacy opens,” she instructed. “Kathryn will need to take one as soon as you get it.”

Christian nodded, then he took Kathryn and headed back home. It was only 7am. The pharmacy nearest their home didn’t open for another hour. They’d be back by that time.


They pulled into the pharmacy parking lot right at 8am. Christian and Kathryn went inside and got the script filled, then bought a bottle of water to take the first dose.

As they left the pharmacy to go home, Kathryn felt a lot better. In the back of her head, she heard Chastity say, “You bitch! I’ll end you!”
Sleep Chastity! Kathryn thought; Sleep forever.

===

IV

The first days at Nags Head were heaven. It wasn’t terribly hot, and she and Jacob spent a lot of time outdoors, walking on the beach; talking on the patio where Jacob served her breakfast; laying in bed at night after making love. I could get used to this, Christine thought.

On the third day of their stay, they slept late. It had been raining, and spending time outside wasn’t an option. The piano in the living room, unused for many years (though it had been tuned recently), intrigued Christine. It’s been a long time since I played, she thought. I wonder if I still can.

She sat at the baby grand and fiddled with the keys while Jacob watched, amused. He hated piano lessons as a kid, and as soon as he could stop taking them, he did. Miranda, on the other hand, played quite well. Jacob couldn’t say he was surprised by the piano’s presence in the house. The house had Miranda’s touches everywhere. God, as much as I will miss my only sister, please take her and ease her pain, he prayed.

Christine played some long forgotten chords, then she remembered a tune that she used to play rather well. Soon, “Clare de Lune” issued forth from the instrument.  Jacob took notice and was impressed.

“How long have you played, Christine?” he asked.

“Regularly until I got married,” she said, “then I stopped for years. This is actually the first time I’ve played since then. I’m surprised that I still remember how.”

“You must have been very good at one time,” said Jacob.

“I guess,” Christine said. “My twin was better at everything than me.”

“You shouldn’t sell yourself short, Christine,” Jacob said; “Just because you’re an identical twin doesn’t meant that you can’t have your own life.”

“I know that, Jacob,” Christine said as she stood up from the piano. “I’ve had my own life for years now. After my marriage ended, it became a necessity.”

She followed Jacob into the kitchen where they prepared lunch. “I wish it wasn’t raining,” she said absentmindedly; “I hate it when it rains.”

Jacob saw her stare off into the distance, perhaps thinking about something she didn’t want to remember.


“Why do you have to leave, Beth?” Todd said; “I said I’d protect you. I’d give my life for you if it came to that.”

“He’s going to kill me, Todd,” Bethanie said; “and he’ll kill you, too. I want to protect you from all that.”

“Bethie, I’ve killed men like him before. Remember who I worked for instead of going to college right away,” said Todd softly. “I love you. I want you to stay and fight for your independence from that monster.”

“Todd...I can’t,” Bethanie said.

“You can,” Todd replied; “I know you can.”

“It’s not just you, Todd,” she said; “My family. My sisters and brothers and David. My grandmother. He’ll kill all of you to get to me.”

Todd saw that Beth grew pale with fear; she really believed her former husband would come after her. What the hell did he tell her to scare her so badly? Threaten her family? Inside he knew that if he let Bethanie get away, he’d never see her again. She held his heart in her hands, just as she had the first time he saw her when they were eleven years old. She was his first crush, his first love, the one who gave him her virginity when they were fourteen. He couldn’t let her get away again.

“Marry me, Bethie,” he said suddenly; “I can’t live without you. If I let you get away, I’ll never see you again.”

“Todd... I can’t!”

He looked at her for a moment and said, “Don’t you love me, Beth?”

Bethanie started to cry. “I do love you, Todd. How can you think I don’t?”

“I should have married you before, and not let that abusive bastard hurt you,” Todd said. “I was scared of what people would think of me marrying you. So I never asked.”

“Your mixed race status never mattered to me, Todd,” Bethanie said; “You disappeared into thin air to fight with the Disturbed Ones. You didn’t even say goodbye!”

“I knew that if I saw you one more time, I would have never had to courage to fight for what’s right,” Todd said; “I fought for you and me and all the others being persecuted for falling in love. I’ve regretted it ever since, and now look where it’s led us.”

Bethanie had to concede that Todd had a point. “If I agree to marry you, Todd, would you let me go so I can be safe?”

“I’d dive into a pool full of broken glass for you, Bethanie Lynn. You know that.”

“Then I will accept your proposal,” she said.



“Christine?”

She looked at Jacob with tears in her eyes. He took her into his arms as she sobbed against his chest. Her guilt was intense. She had denied the only man who truly loved her. She hated herself for hurting him. He only wanted to protect her. Instead, like a coward, she ran.

“It’s okay, Christine,” Jacob said softly, rubbing her back. “When you’re ready, tell me what has you so upset.”

She nodded against him. Jacob, I’m so sorry I dragged you into my hell, she thought.

===

Nik and Jeremiah returned to their respective hotels after their trip to McLean. They all would be leaving in the morning to return to Chicago.

Julia saw that something about Nik just wasn’t right, but didn’t say anything to him about. It’s his business what he and Jere did today, she thought.

She looked forward to going home and resuming her normal (if it could be called that) life. She’d go up to Northwestern the following Friday with Miri for Freshman Orientation. She’d get the kids back into a normal routine, and she could send her mother, stepfather and brothers home to Austin with Niki and Drake.

In short, life would get back to normal in no time.

Julia didn’t believe it, though.

===