Better Than Before
Chapter 20

It seemed like days before the girls got off of work and we were back in the flat. True to her word, Terry took out the beer, ordered some pizza and turned on Supernatural. They had been sitting on the couch watching the show for about two hours by the time Holmes returned.

"Where have you been?!" We shouted in unison, then looked at one another funny.

"Watching the girls!" I replied, still staring at him like he had grown another head.

Holmes huffed in annoyance. "You were supposed to be following me!"

"Yeah, well, I lost you when you crossed into Memphis."

"Dear fellow, I'd imagine I'm hard to lose."

"You kept walking, even after I told you their shift was over."

"You said you would take a walk with me!"

"Yes! To Philadelphia! Where the hell did you end up?"

"El Paso, Texas."

"Did you ever stop to wonder where I was?"

"No, but I did think something was off when I didn't hear your walking stick anymore..."

"Unbelievable!"

"Shhhhhhhhh!" Terry shushed.

Holmes and I looked over at the girls and saw they were perfectly awake, watching the TV with wide eyes.

"It's a fake show!" Holmes shouted.

"But it's Castiel!"

Holmes remained quiet for the duration of the episode, much to my surprise. It took me until the credits to realize he was probably thinking about how to tell Kenzie the latest news.

Once the credits stopped rolling, Holmes cleared his throat. "Would you ladies mind giving me your attention, please? I'm afraid this is of the upmost importance."

Terry rolled her eyes. "I promised Scotch a Supernatural marathon... As in absolutely no interruptions."

"Terry, please."

The desperation in Holmes' voice must've caught Terry's attention, for she turned to look at him, then turned the TV off. "What's the matter, Holmes?"

"I'm afraid I must break some bad news to Mackenzie."

Kenzie turned to acknowledge Holmes at that moment. "Hmm?"

"Perhaps you should have some alcohol first." I offered.

Holmes clapped his hands. "Yes! Wonderful idea! Something hard, though!"

Kenzie and Terry turned to look at one another. "What?"

"No hard liquor, then?" Holmes asked, sounding somewhat nervous.

"I have an early shift later..," Kenzie looked back and forth between Holmes and I, then sighed. "Okay, what the bloody hell is going on?"

"Nothing."

"Bullshit!" Kenzie shouted.

"Scotch is right... You two are acting awfully funny... And you said it has something to do with Kenzie. So spit it out already."

Holmes looked over at me. "Well?"

I sighed. "Go for it."

Holmes turned to look at Kenzie. "Kenzie, my dear... I regret to inform you that I know what your father is doing."

Kenzie raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"Well... Remember when you saw Moriarty outside of the warehouse the Irish mob took Terry?"

"Yeah..?"

"And you remember what Terry told us they were talking about?"

"Yes."

"Okay... Well... I saw Moriarty earlier... Outside of the Diner," When Kenzie remained silent and continued staring at Holmes, he sighed. "With your father."

"What..?"

"Kenzie, I'm afraid Moriarty is your father's ghost guardian."

"But... But that's not possible. I would've seen him!"

I made my way over to Kenzie and sat down next to her, putting my arm around her shoulders. "My dearest Mackenzie... Please calm down... Don't freak out. I thought the same as you when Holmes first told me... But, the truth is, we couldn't have seen him, especially if he didn't want us to. Which he obviously didn't. Think of it this way... Your father has avoided you for a very long time, especially after Andrew's death. That was because of Moriarty. Once I started letting you see me, Moriarty was also able to see me. And, as you can tell, he doesn't like me very much, and that rubbed off on your dad."

"But... You said Moriarty tried to keep you from going into the warehouse that night." Terry stated.

"Yes, that's because, as Kenzie's father's need to stay away from her comes from Moriarty, Moriarty has a fondness of Kenzie that stems from her father." Holmes replied.

"So it's kind of like a double negative... The need for avoidance and the fondness cancel each other out. Kenzie's dad doesn't know how to feel." I continued.

Terry sighed. "What will we do?"

"Well... There's not much we can do." Holmes stated.

"Yes, there is."

We turned to look at Kenzie when she spoke.

"How so?" Terry asked.

Kenzie looked up at everyone. "We find my da... And we take him down."

Holmes rushed over to Kenzie and knelt down in front of her. "My dear... He'll go to prison for treason."

"Good."

"You'll never see him again." I commented.

Kenzie shrugged her shoulders. "Then I'll see him just as much as I do now."

Holmes and I looked at one another, then Holmes clapped his hands together and swiftly stood up. "Then let's get to work! The game is afoot!"