13 Black SUV Returns Home
Two days and almost a dozen reaps later, reaching the end of their journey to San Francisco, with Grace as his navigator, John pulled into the garage of a major hotel in downtown San Francisco. Reggie had made reservations for two rooms. He hadn't expected it to be this upscale. He drove down into an underground garage and he saw two men jump at the sight of their SUV. John knew San Francisco leaned toward green concerns and this big SUV might be a carbon spewing gas guzzler, but…still. He saw two more men appear and confer, heads close together and eyes on them. Clearly the topic seemed this SUV…and them?
A young man gave him a ticket in exchange for the keys. They unloaded, turned down offers to carry their few bags, and made their way to the garage elevators. Once in the lobby George led the way from the garage elevators. John couldn't help but notice the stares that followed them inside.
Once he got past the looks, which made him feel like he was underdressed, he noticed the marble. An aspiring hotel used it on the floor, but the spare no expense places put it on the walls. Joy leaned closer. "John, we were told to check into this particular hotel? By whom?"
John said, "Yes. This one. Rube passed it along as a special comment from upstairs management."
Joy frowned at that answer. "Don't you mean downstairs management?"
He ignored Joy and looked for confirmation to Reggie. "Reggie, what's the name of this place? I missed it on the way in."
Reggie said, "It's not important. I'll check us in. Why don't you all wait over there? Whose credit card are we going to use? Forget it." She pointed toward an array of oversize easy chairs, spread around a spartan looking modern hood fireplace well away but within sight of the front desk. The sleek metal exhaust hung suspended from the high ceiling. George didn't care and didn't argue. She walked over and plopped into one of the chairs. Grace and Joy fell into their own soft chairs. John went with Reggie up to the front desk, the counter top made out of the same marble as the floor, and the walls. Did Italy have any left?
He asked Reggie, "What's the name under?"
"We put it under Millie Hagen. Seemed the best option. It's the name on her driver's license. I didn't think using some dead girl's name was a good idea. You got so excited in your detective mode when she did that sort of thing."
There was no one else waiting in line. A young woman smiled pleasantly drawing them to her. "May I help you?" They moved down along the counter until they faced her. She stood immobile, attached to her computer screen, probably just beneath the counter and out of sight.
Reggie said, "We have two rooms under the name Millie Hagen."
"OK. Just a moment, please. Let me find your reservation." She tapped a few keys into her computer and scrolled through the screen. "Two rooms. How many people will be staying?"
"Ahh, five."
"Just a moment." She looked back to her screen and tapped a few more keys. "Here it is." Her smile faltered. She squinted a tad leaning in to read something. "Just a moment, please." She picked up a phone. "Mr. Kendricks. This is Sally at the front desk. I'm sorry to disturb you, but there's a note on this reservation to notify you immediately when the party checks in. It doesn't say anything else." She listened. "Yes, sir. Yes. It's under Millie Hagen. Yes, sir." She hung up and smiled again. "Mr. Kendricks will be out to see you in a few moments." Whatever her normal check in routine was, she didn't know what to do in this notify Mr. Kendricks situation. She did her best to keep a smile going waiting for Mr. Kendricks to show with the answers.
Reggie looked at him. John leaned a little over the counter towards the young woman and asked, "I'm sorry, but who is Mr. Kendricks?"
The young woman, who's name tag confirmed her name was Sally, said, "Mr. Kendricks is the general manager for the hotel."
A man walked just short of a trot from somewhere to their right. "Ms. Hagen?" He walked up to Reggie, stopped abruptly, and smiling took her hand. "I'm so glad to meet you." The smile lessened. He turned to John and shook his hand. "And you sir are?"
"I'm John Merryweather. And this is Reggie Lass."
Whatever train of thought guided the man was knocked off track. "Lass? You did say Lass? Reggie?"
The man looked like he bit into a lemon. John recognized the likely cause. Obviously they were told to check into this hotel for some reason. "Are you perhaps expecting another Lass?"
The man's face lightened a bit. He looked John over closely. "You're John Merryweather, you said? Yes. We were expecting…" He leaned closer and said just above a whisper, "Georgia Lass?" He looked back at Reggie. He had shaken her hand and if he were a reaper he would know she wasn't one, the ultimate secret handshake.
John turned and pointed in the general direction of the sitting trio around the lobby fireplace. George was watching matters unfold. She took his pointing her out as her cue. She stood and walked towards Mr. Kendricks. Mr. Kendricks turned his entire attention towards George, back on track, and his real talent for a faux genuine smile blazed forth. He stepped forward managing to bow and extend his hand and make it all look natural. "Ms. Lass, Georgia Lass?"
Grace and Joy followed close behind. George met his hand with her own, but didn't bow. She allowed a smile. "You can call me George."
"Yes, of course. As you wish…George." Mr. Kendricks looked up around, raised his arm. A young man came forward with a luggage cart. "We've been expecting you." Mr. Kendricks demeanor shifted as he issued orders. "Please convey their bags." His smile returned as his focus shifted back to George. "We've arranged our best accommodations for you…and your party." The young man loaded their bags onto the cart and moved to the side waiting. Mr. Kendricks turned to the now pale young woman behind the counter. "Sally. The key cards…five…to the Presidential Suite. Please." Apparently there would be no signatures required and no credit card.
Mr. Kendricks took the key cards and led the procession to the elevator bank. It was a bit tight but they all managed to fit into one elevator - marble on the floor and walls matching that in the lobby. Mr. Kendricks waved his own key card over the reader and pushed the button for the top floor. He kept up a steady patter unlayering all the perks available to them, each grander sounding than the last as they rose through the floors to the very top of the building. The elevator doors opened. Instead of a normal hallway there was a foyer and on the other side large double doors, dark wood. He walked to the doors. John looked to either side. There was only the one set of these double doors. Down a short passage looked to be access doors for maintenance, or maybe a side entrance. They would have the floor to themselves.
Mr. Kendricks opened the doors wide with a flourish and led the way into an atrium area with white marble on the floor and walls and this then opened to the biggest room in a hotel John had ever seen including in the movies. The ceiling was double normal height easily. John walked in and took in the immensity. And he could see a hallway leading to more rooms on the left and to the right he could see other rooms, a dining room, a kitchen type area, and maybe office space or an entertainment room, probably both were there. He looked over to see Joy holding back a scowl. Grace and Reggie were suppressing, as he was, awe. Was this the local reaper community or the doing of upstairs management? They were told to check into this particular hotel. George just looked subdued, maybe tired. She had a few reaps last night and on the way during the day.
The young man tending the baggage cart pulled the cart in and placed their bags in a neat row in the atrium. He left without a glance back. No tips? Guilt, a bit. He would have to fix that later. These people couldn't all be reapers. Mr. Kendricks was a likely candidate.
Mr. Kendricks directed his comments first and foremost to George. She absorbed it all without reacting. John stepped forward seizing his attention. "Mr. Kendricks. This all looks spectacular. But it's been a long drive to get here. Could we have the cards and we'd like to discuss dinner options among ourselves?"
"Of course, sir." Mr. Kendricks smiled and bowed. He handed over the key cards together and placed his name card next to a lamp on a small table - small but solid topped with marble matching the floor and walls. "Please, if you have any questions or problems please call me directly at any time. And of course any of the staff will be at your service. Just call the front desk. And as far as dining options, let me assure you we will provide you with the best of anything you might like to enjoy in any of our restaurants, or room service, for the duration of your stay in our city. Just call. And, of course, there will be no charge."
George raised her hand waist high. He immediately turned, body and soul, his full attention to her. She asked, "Taylor?"
"Would you like to talk to him now, Ms. Lass?"
"George. Just call me George. If you could provide his number, I will call him to arrange something convenient."
"Ms…George, I'm sorry, he was notified upon your arrival. I believe he is in the lobby ready to meet at your convenience."
George glanced about taking in the accommodations and could see there was a hallway and doors to rooms off from this meeting living room area. "Please send him up."
Mr. Kendricks couldn't resist a final bow which he delivered with a flourish. "As you wish…George." He backed out and closed the door.
Grace spun in place in a circle. "This…is…spare-no-expense wow."
George said, "It looks like we've got plenty of room, so…just take any bedroom you like. We can meet with Taylor out here. You all can relax for a while and then we can get dinner and…sleep."
Reggie tossed the question out, "Should we eat in or go out?"
John said, "Why don't we eat in tonight - take advantage of what this place has to offer, rest up, and go out tomorrow. You all have been exploring options right?"
George burst out with, "Son of a Bitch."
They all turned to George. She sat down on a side chair, looked up at him. "I've got a reap."
Joy smiled, "No rest for the…"
Reggie said, "Mom."
"Well, look at this place. Don't saints tend toward…"
"Mom. That is enough."
"Just saying…" Joy picked up her bag and headed down the hall.
George didn't have a map handy. Rube's call came through. She briefed him and mentioned Taylor was on his way up. He confirmed with her a few details for the reap, which was a few hours off. They had time to meet with this Taylor and get dinner. She disconnected and walked towards the wall of window and its spectacular view.
There was a knock at the door. Grace and Reggie picked up their own bags and headed down the hallway after Joy. John went to the door to let in, he hoped, Taylor. He opened to find a slightly less than average height fortyish man dressed down and casual. His jacket was a dark blue cotton polyester mix windbreaker - something from a suburban discount department store. He would go unnoticed on the street below, but was out of place in this hotel. A mugger would look for someone richer, a woman someone younger, or some evidence of money, and he would not offer competition to most men.
He said, "Hi. You must be John. I'm Taylor. I'm looking for Georgia Lass."
"You're at the right place. Did you have trouble finding us from the elevator?"
He glanced back through the door and smiled. "No, not at all."
John stepped back from the door and Taylor walked through.
Taylor looked around. "Impressive. A bit much for two. Rube mentioned more were coming with you all."
John asked, "Actually it works out. The others are settling in."
Taylor looked around and not seeing anyone else came back to John.
John asked, "Taylor, is this your doing…or?"
He put both hands up. "Not mine. I and others got word you would be checking in here, but…no…not me." He chuckled. His once over of the huge reception area done he noticed George standing in a sunken well next to a fireplace in the center. She had been checking out the view from the floor to ceiling window and stepped into view from behind the floating chimney piping which looked of the same genus if not the same species as the one in the lobby.
George climbed the few low steps toward him. "Hi. You can call me George." They shook hands. She said, "Why don't we sit down here. She pointed back toward the three sleek leather couches set around the fireplace. Pick something you like. We just got here, so…"
"I'm sorry for coming so soon after your arrival, but…given the circumstances I wanted to brief you as soon as possible."
"We understand. Let's sit down."
John stepped down into the well. They each took seats on one of couches arranged on three sides of a low table or shelf. The shelf was built around the fireplace, which had a low fire already going. Looked to be natural gas fueled. The exhaust chimney was a lean modern metal structure that was suspended from the ceiling. The whole was positioned in front of the tall wide window with a view of some bridge - John wasn't sure which one. The fourth side floor was level and flush with the window giving them a spectacular view of San Francisco as late afternoon gave way to first twilight.
George said, "Rube and you go back to Seattle. I just talked to him and he said hi."
"Yes. I worked with him up there…back in the late twenties. Can't forget that he…" He seem to falter. He seemed prone to keep secrets and a low profile.
George noticed too. "We know about his daughter. John here is a her great grandson."
He smiled. "Really? Funny how things turn out. Wouldn't have guessed it at the time. Not a pretty episode that. No, it was not. We may be looking at a replay here. You know how that ended?"
"John may not know all the details."
He didn't think George did either, but… Distant doors closed. They heard voices coming towards them from down the hall. The three emerged caught sight of Taylor and stopped.
John stood as did Taylor and George. John said, "This is Taylor. Taylor, this is my sister, Grace, my fiancee, Reggie Lass, and my future mother-in-law, Joy Lass. Sister and mother to George here." He pointed to Reggie and Joy in turn.
Taylor looked off balance. He caught up to the situation and stepped forward. "Ladies. I'm glad to meet you." He looked back at him and then George with a question in his eyes.
George nodded. "They're in the know. All of them."
Taylor shook his head. "Rube said something about something unusual going on up there in Seattle, but I'm not used to the idea…" He shook his head again.
Grace asked, "There's a bar over there. Anyone want something to drink?" She walked over to explore. Reggie joined her. Joy sat down across from Taylor and next to John. She watched George for a moment and looked Taylor up and then down. Her eyes were a bit narrowed. His future mother-in-law was brewing something bitter. He sincerely hoped that after they married Joy would not be living with them. The happy thought emerged that with his need to live with reapers that should never be a problem.
Joy asked, "So…Mr?…Taylor?…how long have you been dead?"
Taylor looked from Joy to him to George and back to Joy. He clearly wasn't used to the living seeing him for what he was and asking such direct questions.
George said, "The proper term is undead. And Taylor was about to explain some needed background regarding our trip here." She returned her attention to Taylor.
He picked up on the cue and cleared his throat. "Well." He looked at Joy again, and then Grace and Reggie who were taking seats. They placed several bottles of water on the low table. "Well."
George helped him out. "It's OK Taylor. You can talk freely."
"Dead undead same difference. Ms. Lass, I died back in the 1750's. You all…when you bother to remember it at all…call it the French and Indian Wars or some such. It was on…"
George broke in, "Taylor, you don't need to go…"
"It's OK. It's just been awhile…and I'm sure Ms. Lass is curious." He smiled. "My end was on what we thought of as the Pennsylvania frontier. No big battle, not even a skirmish. Just one of thousands of happenings between us who were moving onto their land, and the local inhabitants who objected. Wasn't really…didn't rise to a skirmish, though. We were all sick, dying matter of fact. And we couldn't fight. A war party of young warriors came upon us. Killed my wife, my children…I got a tomahawk…I think they did it more out of mercy than any desire to kill." He pulled his finger down through the middle of his forehead. "Split my head clean open. It was quick. All my family passed over…and I'm waiting to get my turn to join them…someday. I became a reaper and saw those young warriors meet their own ends not long after. They picked up our blankets and guns, pots and pans…anything of value including our scalps…and they in turn caught the disease we were already dying from when they put us all out of our misery. Six of one half dozen of another. Me and mine were all on our way out." He studied the fire. No one spoke for some time. Curiosity gave way to a sense of decorum perhaps. Leaving the old man to his memories.
George decided to move things back on track and what John hoped would be a happier topic. She said, "You mentioned you and Rube knew each other in Seattle."
"Yes…as I was saying. Back in…I think it was 1927, yes it was autumn of 1927. Rube had just come out to Seattle. His wife and daughter had also just come out to live with his cousin I believe it was after his funeral back…near New York way. We all thought that was odd."
Joy asked, "What was odd?"
Taylor took a breath and gathered himself. John guessed talking in front of the living was stressful for him, about these reaper matters. "We…reapers…are never placed near those we lived among." He looked at the faces arrayed around him. "It was unusual for Rube to be placed within walking distance of his wife and daughter. It was asking for trouble. And then…it happened again with you, Ms. Lass, just some 11 years ago." He looked at George. "A number of us…having been watching these events unfold."
"Please call me George."
"OK. George. Very odd. Something going on. Anyway. Where was I? There were a lot of strange things happening in Seattle back then and maybe now…. You know that Charles…Charles Seamore?"
George decided to help him. "Yes, Seamore was Rube's boss back then. When he passed into his lights he left Rube the Waffle Haus."
Joy's eyes lit up and she smiled. "You mean Mr. Sofer owns it? I thought he liked waffles."
Taylor continued, "Ahh, yes. Let's see. I heard that Marsha was back. That's unusual, too, very unusual pattern that doesn't point to the ultimate goal."
John didn't want to go there. She appeared when Maria was taken. And Marsha for sure had a few screws loose…more evidence that upstairs management was not infallible. But he asked, "What's unusual? You mean that she came back out of the Dark?"
"Yes. I was there that night when she was taken back in 1927. I didn't go with Rube…and Penny and Charles to the graveyard, but…"
Reggie asked, "The graveyard?"
"Yes, you see, she deliberately didn't reap some poor guy and he was buried with his soul locked inside his body." Taylor shuddered and put a hand to his forehead.
Joy studied Taylor. A lot of this must be new for her. Reapers didn't freely talk around her and she avoided them more often than not, since she more often than not didn't hide her disdain for the lot of them. If Reggie wasn't here she for sure would not have willingly remained this close to George for so long. But perhaps she was curious too. Joy asked, "Locked inside his body?"
Taylor continued, "Think of the reap order as a transfer of a key to unlock and detach the soul from the body. It's given to one and only one reaper and there's only one key. That reaper has to find that person, before they die is better, and use it to loosen the soul's attachment to the body. Then, when that person dies the soul is free to leave the body. Marsha didn't use the key. The poor man died and his soul was trapped and he was buried six feet under that way." He shuddered. "Imagine your self, your ghost, locked inside a corpse. You can feel no pain, or cold, or heat, but you cannot move. It's blackest dark and you are imprisoned until with time your corpse rots away enough losing its integrity and by then you've pretty much lost your sanity."
John hadn't heard these details. He knew Marsha had committed some serious reaper sin, but Rube was not inclined to talk about it. And John didn't see the need to push the matter. It was sensitive for all involved. He supposed like Maria's fate was a touchy subject for George and him. "What happened? Did he get out?"
"Well, he did. Eventually. It was part of a plot by Marsha to expose reapers to the outside world. You see, she didn't believe she was really dead. And she thought Rube and Penny and maybe others had kidnapped her and brought her all the way over from New York to Seattle. At least some of the time she thought that. Penny told me once she kinda went back and forth. You know she died in childbirth of some fever. Anyway, she had this plot. She didn't reap the poor man. Then after he was buried she told Charles. He was furious. They went out later that night to dig him up. It was Rube and another two guys took turns digging. I wasn't there. Anyway, while they were digging away two newspaper reporters and a policeman showed up to see what they were up to. She had told them there were these people, who claimed to be grim reapers, robbing graves or some such. I was never clear about that part of it. Anyway, the policeman was a reaper and he and Charles had arranged a fake document ordering the grave to be exhumed." He chuckled and took a long drink from a bottle. "Charles was one step ahead of her. The reporters decided she was crazy and left. They got the poor man reaped. And I heard she refused to touch the corpse at first. But it was Rube that talked her into it. Penny calmed the man down and got him over to the other side. All returned home. I saw Charles' face when he walked into the house that night. I suspect Charles knew that she had crossed one too many lines with that little trick. Later that night we all heard some wild caterwauling coming from Penny and Marsha's room. Everybody rushed out onto the second floor hall balcony and we saw Marsha and Penny scrambling down the stairs, and right behind them was the Dark. God that thing scares the crap out of me. If Conrad saw it I don't think he would be…anyway it waited…"
John asked, "What do you mean it waited? The ones…the ones I saw were not inclined to wait." He looked over at George. She had no expression at all on her face. She was all business now.
"I mean that it cornered the two, Penny and Marsha, downstairs and just hovered. They screamed. Nobody could sleep through that. Once everybody, every reaper was up and out and watching, then, then it took Marsha and was gone. It was a lesson for all of us. One I never forgot."
John looked around. Everyone was now looking into the fire. He knew the fire couldn't keep the Dark away, but it was comforting nonetheless.
Taylor stirred first and got back onto his story. "You know about Pauline?"
George nodded. Taylor smiled and continued. "She was ghosted by a Chinese reaper in Seattle back when she was a little girl…ahh…back when Charles first came out to Seattle after the Civil War. He found her in the streets and contrary to our ways he took her in and raised her. Now, I wasn't there, but it's believed that Ice." He stopped and looked around. George nodded again. He continued, "Ice showed up and warned that reaper, the one who done it, up close and personal not to do something like that again. She also gave Charles the OK to raise Pauline, which he did. That happened back… Don't know the exact date." He pondered something. "Pauline was about 70 when Rube showed up. Anyway, Rube shows up in 1927 and starts visiting his wife and daughter. And that Chinese reaper, actually there was another one. Yes, you know they transferred some other Chinese reaper, from China, over to Seattle. He was misbehaving there and he started right off misbehaving here too." Taylor studied the flames and seemed to drift a bit. John was sure that if you have been around for a few hundred years an extra 10 or 30 minutes didn't seem long. He waited for Taylor to get to the connection to them and coming here to deal with Conrad.
Joy was new to reapers. "So we've got two Chinese reapers in Seattle, and they are misbehaving…"
George threw a look towards her mother, who picked up on it. Taylor didn't notice. Or didn't let on he noticed. He continued, "Yes, this new guy wanted a cut of all opportunity benefits. That was bad enough, but one of them took Rube's daughter. His name was Mr. Jung, I think."
John helped him out. "And Rube's daughter was Rosie who was my and Grace's great grandmother."
"Yes, Rosie. The Chinese, who was just transferred, he was Mr. Tong, he called a meeting with Charles and reapers gathered from around Seattle in the backyard of Seamore's house. That Jung showed up with Rosie by the hand and walked right into the meeting." He sat up, eyes wide seeing into the past. He became more animated reliving the scene. "We all knew he had ghosted Pauline years before so the implied threat was obvious. That's when Ice showed up. She appeared right in the middle. Ice cold eyes. Long snow white hair. She says to Penny, to take Rosie inside the house. That Chinese reaper, Tong, he was hundreds of years old, he kept his cool but we could all see it on his face that he knew it was over for him. When Ice showed up, well, retribution was about to be delivered, not some slap on the hand - not this time. Tong was smooth, he tried to shift blame over to Rube, claimed he caught Rube haunting his family, trying to make contact with them, which was all true." He stopped, smiled, and looked around at Rube's two descendants and George's family all gathered here. He looked perplexed. "It's not usually condoned at all, but…anyway…Ice walked up to Jung. Actually there were three."
George jumped in. "Jeremiah Xie. We know him well. He's still working Seattle."
"Yes, good man, he was new and escaped what…anyhow…Ice walked up to Jung and damn if that fool didn't try to cut her throat with a long knife he had hidden. Damned fool." Taylor chuckled as the memories came back. He pulled one memory up and it was attached to others. They tumbled out. "Ice caught his wrist, broke it, then broke his arm and took that big knife away."
Joy broke in, "This Ice sounds like a real life of the party. Do you know Lucifer, Taylor?" John guessed she was bored with this story and wanted answers to other questions percolating closer to home. Everyone turned to Joy. She just would not let go. John would like to hear Taylor finish what happened given how close it was to his own origins. But Lucifer…
Taylor was patient. "Well, I never met him, but I know of him. I can tell you that Ice and he do not get along. Actually I heard that from another reaper who was there when Seamore first met both Henry and Ice way back in the Civil War."
These reapers tended to keep a lot to themselves but if you got one of them talking…well…let him talk. He looked over at George and she looked curious too. John noticed the present tense on that Ice and Lucifer not getting along.
Joy again. "Who's Henry?"
Taylor looked off balance but recovered. "Ahh, Henry, that's the name he goes by these times, but he used to be called The Shaman, he's the oldest reaper over here. When he shifted over to European culture way back he took the name Henry and dressed like a white man. Ice at that time was still a shaman and, well, she never changed her name when she made the move. I heard the Indian reapers always called her Ice too, or The Ice Shaman." He stopped perhaps anticipating another of Joy's interruptions. But Joy was looking into the fire. He continued, "When Seamore died in the Civil War he was called into a meeting of a several big time reapers…just before an early big battle and thousands were going to be dying in a very short span of time, makes reaping difficult. Lucifer and Ice were there. Seamore told me that Ice was looking upset about something and that scared the crap out of him when he first saw her." He leaned closer to the fire. "I heard from someone who got it from Henry why she was so pissed." He chuckled again and leaned back. "Ice and Lucifer don't get along. She met him for the first time in that hut around that fire and she was ready to dust his butt right there. Lucifer apparently likes his table setting just so. Ice, well Ice, maybe she saw a table and chairs for the first time long after Columbus stirred things up over here, and for her that was just yesterday. Anyhow, Henry was keeping the peace. She's much older than Lucifer and it all worked out. After a few battles he got sent back over there again. It's probably good for him, too. You do not want to get on her bad side." He reached over and picked up his bottle, drank from it and continued, "Let's see. Well, back to…Rosie…and Ice…oh yes. Well, after she broke his arm the fool stood up and argued with her. Something about he didn't actually ghost Rosie so like what did he do wrong? Very sly, but she didn't buy it, not for a second."
Grace spoke up, "I'm sorry to interrupt. Rosie wasn't ghosted, but I know for a fact she could talk to ghosts and hear them."
Taylor, "Yes, but ghosts couldn't touch her, could they?" He looked toward John and then around to the others. "Let me warn you all, you all that haven't been ghosted. If you spend time touching reapers and getting exposed up close, well, think of it like radiation, you know, atomic radiation, you might not be getting the full dose like in ghosting but if you walk with a reaper and they push out their field to include you, you know so you can't be noticed, well you're going to get some after effect from that. Even very low doses over time add up. It manifests in various ways, but you will start hearing ghosts and you'll start seeing things normal living can't see. More importantly your fate or destiny may get affected too."
Joy's mouth opened. "What?"
Taylor looked her way. "I'm sorry?" He noticed her shock. "Well, Ms. Lass, you want to get close to Death, it don't come free. You will pay a price." He turned to George. "And I suspect…you…George, deliver a pretty big dose of that radiation, so to speak." He looked back to Joy. "Your daughter here is not your average reaper. She's probably radiating off the charts. Ask any ghost. You know they can see stuff about us reapers that we reapers can't. That's how come they can avoid us."
Joy's face took on a pale cast, mouth open. Grace and Reggie looked at each other and back to Taylor.
Taylor seemed oblivious to the sudden flurry of cross looks he had stirred up. That would explain a lot. Taylor resumed his story looking into the fire, "Well, let's see, anyway Ice. Ice is not one to talk a lot. Jung crossed one too many lines. His trick with Rosie, I think, really pissed her off and anyway I should think trying to cut her like that could be construed as downright disrespectful." He chuckled and smiled broadly. "She took that big knife and sliced his belly open from stem to stern." He laughed and took another drink. He was animated again. His hands remembered and showed what he saw way back in 1927. "Then, then she reached inside and took hold of his innards and with her other hand she grabbed Jung by the throat and threw him twenty feet. I know because if I hadn't moved he would have hit me. Got blood splatter on my shoes and pants. I had to get new shoes." He looked down at his shoes. "Shoes don't last long - the good ones don't - they get used up fast. Then she walked over and dusted him. She turned around and dusted Tong too. She wiped the blood off that knife and gave it to Rube and told him to keep it to remind him to make better choices in the future. Then she walked inside the house. I heard she left with Rosie by the hand and took her home. My guess…Grace…is that Rosie's exposure to Jung and then to a reaper as powerful as Ice, that did it right there. She was lucky she just heard ghosts. Probably could see something of them too. Anyway, Ice, I haven't seen her since." He sat back and took another drink.
Grace looked Joy's way watching her. Joy was turned inward focused on the fire, but her brow was furrowed, some new toxin likely brewing. Kinda scary. It reminded him of the warehouse and the aftermath, when she got pushed too far. Grace turned back to Taylor. "Why do they call her Ice, and is she really a Neanderthal?"
"Yes, she is mostly Neanderthal blood I heard, and some form of ice or snow is what they call themselves and others used to call them those who knew them back when they still walked the Earth, that's what they called them. They lived in times and places when there was a lot of cold stuff about."
"How did she get…over here?"
"She was born and died here. Probably some of her ancestors walked over during the last Ice Age, or maybe they boated along the ice shelf. You know it was solid ice from Norway to Iceland all the way over to Greenland and the ocean level was hundreds of feet lower than it is today. Their line mostly died out when things warmed up and so many people moved in. They got absorbed into the new people - intermarried - diluted away. Same end, they're gone." He smiled at Grace. "If you see her ask her, or ask Henry. He would know. He's even older, much older, and he reaped her."
George probably her exhaustion overtaking her curiosity asked, "And, Taylor, I understand Conrad works for you."
Taylor shifted gears. "Yes. Yes he does." He looked into the fire. And then over at George. "Understand now. He's not a bad ill tempered young man at all. He's extremely idealistic. But…he should never ever have been made into a reaper." They all waited. He continued, "He had a very hard death…and in my opinion…I've talked to him at length…you know he died just a few months ago. It takes sometimes a few years for a young reaper to fully realize that they are not one of the living, to shift their self identity from one of the living to seeing themselves as a grim reaper."
John winced inwardly. That last could be something to set Joy off.
George asked, "What's his hard death got to do with his recent behavior?" He knew her death was one of the quicker ways to transition.
"Well, you can push someone just so far. Then any healing to be done needs to happen on the other side of the lights. Conrad was tortured over several weeks by an extremely sadistic bastard, who by the way is still at work. He's back in Ohio. Anyway. Conrad, when he can sleep, has nightmares…every night he wakes up. He drinks, used to drink heavily to try and forget, to try and sleep. I believe that this revelation…or obsession of his comes right out of his bad ending. That's just my opinion. He thinks it's straight from the Almighty. He sees himself as coming right out of the Old Testament. You know. God tells Noah to build the ark type of thing. You see, he believes he's been chosen as the first reaper with this new vision for how the world is to be remade. He believes that if reapers refuse to let unnatural deaths happen, then the world will become a happy peaceful place in which the only deaths will be from natural causes. In his new world there will be no accidental deaths, no murders, no suicides. Reapers will become the protectors of the living from all that bad. And as mankind's protectors they can and should prevent each and every one."
Grace asked, "But…didn't Marsha…"
"She didn't reap her assigned man. She didn't do anything to stop his death however that occurred. So when he died his soul was trapped. What Conrad is doing is interrupting the cause of death so they do not die. If it's a murder he goes to the location and prevents the perpetrator from carrying the murder out. If someone is about to be hit by a bus. He makes sure the bus misses. It never happens so no reap is necessary. The person lives. He's getting better at it. And he has a few followers - young reapers like him who don't know any better. Already we're seeing chaos growing as people who are supposed to die are not. Other seemingly unrelated appointments don't happen, or people with no appointment die. Sand in the system's gears. Things are getting more and more out of balance."
Joy spoke in a low voice. "And what's wrong with removing all that pain from the world? I wish someone had pushed my daughter out of the way." She studied the fire. "That's how I want to go. In my own bed, very old, and surrounded by my…still living family."
If George caught the barb she didn't let on.
Taylor said, "I don't mean to touch on a sore spot, but you may be the perfect choice to come talk to Conrad."
They turned to look at George. She checked each in turn and smiled towards Taylor. "Yes. It still gives me nightmares." Her smile turned to a frown. "The guilt weighs on me. Eleven years ago when I was just a few weeks into being a reaper, I did something like what Conrad is doing, once, and I didn't do it for such lofty reasons as seem to motivate him. I prevented some random man from meeting his appointment." She looked into the fire. "I thought it was too late for me, but if I could save someone else - even one." She paused for long moments. "Our minds cannot encompass the enormity of destiny, who lives and who dies, and when. That man did not die. What I did not know is that he had to die so that hundreds maybe thousands could avoid deaths that Fate did not have scheduled, that his action or non-action brought about." She looked up to see puzzled looks on several faces. "Do you remember that exercise belt that malfunctioned killing hundreds of people the day of its product launch?"
Taylor did not move. Grace nodded and then Reggie. Reggie said, "I remember that now. It hit all the news channels."
"Well. If I had let one certain man die, if I hadn't interfered, if he had made his scheduled appointment, then all those innocent people who were not fated to die during those next few days, well, many of them would be walking around today. There's a balance that's decided by a higher power, and we reapers cannot interfere. We do not have the same free will as the living and we're not meant to make those decisions. We just make sure the souls get to where they should go."
A quiet fell on the room. They all looked into the soft steady flames. The twilight outside had given way to full on dark. Their faces were islands of soft flickering light, ghost like to John, and all facing around the fireplace.
George broke the silence. "When and where?"
Taylor responded, "That's up to you. Announce a time and place and the local reapers will gather."
Reggie asked, "Are you saying that Conrad and his supporters will just show up…to their own execution?"
Taylor answered, "I believe, well…" He nodded towards George.
"I am to offer him a choice. He…and the others…can still choose another path than this one they're on now."
Reggie looked skeptical. "He's aware of the two options and if he doesn't want to change, then…why would he show up? I mean…he says no…and you…dust him?"
George looked like she was pondering something. Finally she said, "Death can find him at anytime anywhere. If he does not come…then it's over. He must come to make his choice in front of the community…as an example…and I suspect, I hope, if he faces Death perhaps…he will change course."
Joy said, "The Dark thing. I've seen that for sure."
Grace said, "I haven't."
Reggie said, "I have. I've seen it up close and too personal and it scared me. And I knew it wasn't there for me."
Taylor looked shocked. "You've seen it?" Rube hadn't given him the complete story.
John said, "Three of us have. Grace has not."
Grace frowned. She wanted very much to see it. And that worried him.
Taylor said, "You know you're arriving in that big black SUV caused a stir."
John asked, "Really? Why is that?"
Taylor looked toward George. "You dusted the two reapers who owned and drove it around this town. They were two of the oldest in these parts. Another two reapers, Pinky and Jeremy, saw you do the dusting up close, and reported back to everyone here within minutes. There were some doubters, but the SUV was gone, Paul and Joan were gone, so when you drove in this afternoon in that SUV, well, it got noticed."
"I heard that Paul and Joan were well liked here."
He chuckled. "The last few decades those two were just getting darker, pushing boundaries that shouldn't even be approached. A lot of us were waiting for…the reaction. Yes, George, you're well liked in this town just for that good deed. And when you drove their SUV like that it hammered the point home. You did indeed dust them." He laughed louder. "You know you're like that girl in the movie that killed the evil witch and then wore her magic slippers. Just the sight of those slippers and all knew…what did the good witch say…you must be a powerful witch indeed to wear those slippers, or, in this case, drive that SUV."
Everyone laughed except Joy.
George asked "How are Pinky and Jeremy doing?"
"Well." He laughed. "When I went to inform Conrad and his followers you would be coming, Pinky was there contemplating joining. I mentioned it was you who was coming and she fell over herself abandoning the cause. She does not want to see you again."
George smiled and said, "I'll be sure to give her a hug when I see her. It's heart warming to know I've inspired such affection." She asked, "Taylor, would you care to join us for dinner? I have a reap later tonight but we have some time to discuss this further."
John asked, "Why don't we invite Conrad and his people to dinner tonight or maybe tomorrow? Just talk this out."
George considered that. "That's a good idea, John." She turned to Taylor.
"I like it too. Maybe you could talk some sense into him and his friends. They're all newly transitioned, too young, and they still haven't separated from life yet. None of them are bad or deserve a bad end, in my opinion. But they all do need to get set on a proper course." He paused. "But tonight won't work. I know he has a reap early this morning. He will be researching that to prevent it from happening. He won't stop unless he is stopped. But maybe tomorrow night. I'll ask him. As for me, I would love to join you. I've never eaten in this particular hotel. Top tier I hear."
Reggie and Grace walked over to what appeared to be a house book of menus. They would get room service. John could see a semi open room with a large dining table and beyond that what looked to be a kitchen with a full sized refrigerator. He bet it was fully stocked. He was glad Mr. Kendricks was paying.