The Shadows Fall: Chapter 34

"Hi, Jessica, can I eat with you?"


Devon stood by her, holding his tray.  She smiled, "Sure.  Hi Devon.  Good morning."


"Hi.  What d'ya get?"

"Muffin.  Fruit.  What about you?"

"Cereal, eggs, bacon, grits, sausage, toast and there are some pieces of fruit somewhere in here."  His eyes sparkled when he talked.  She liked that.  His face was smooth and deep brown, and his eyes were lighter brown than expected.  His muscular shoulders flexed in his tight fitting shirt.


It would be an understatement to say he's attractive.   "That's enough to feed a horse or a small army..."


"Of birds."


She laughed, "What?"


"Birds eat 500 times their weight.  You knew that, right?"


"No, but I do now."  They started to eat breakfast and talk.  She learned about his love for music; he learned about her children.  The conversation did not lag, and they tossed their trash out and went to the game room together.


"Checkers?"  she asked.


"Chess, but I can do checkers."


"I can do chess."


"Let's do both."  They sat across from each other, playing the games, and spent quite a large part of the morning together.


In the middle of their third chess match, a voice called out, "Jessica!"


It was Sister Rebecca Katherine.  She was there for Jess' next session with Dr. Levin.  "Oh, right here," she waved.  She walked to Sister Rebecca Katherine's side and took her hand.  Jessica loved Sister Rebecca Katherine.  She was a motherly, lovely older lady who had taken Jessica under her wing many times over the years.  "I'm ready, Sister."


The two walked off, hand in hand.  Devon watched Jessica go.  Then, extracting a notebook from this pocket, he wrote, "Likes checkers, has two children, one and five, is beautiful."


After a grueling session, Jessica went to her room to lie down.  A knock at her door brought her out of a sound sleep, and she went to it, opening it impatiently.  "What?"


It was Devon.  How he had gotten there she could not fathom.  "You?  How did you get over here?"


"I snuck here.  I wanted to check on you.  Are you all right?  You know I worry a lot."


She didn't want to hurt his feelings. "Well, okay, you just, you woke me."  She walked toward her bed.  He stayed outside the room.


"Rules.  No male client shall be in the room of a female client."


"Yeah, I'm familiar."


"You've been here before?"


"Yes, I've been here before.  More than twice.  I don't want to talk about that."


"Do you want to talk about anything?"


"Not really.  I had a hard session, okay?  I just feel..."


"Like a walk, no talking.  I'll just sing."


She smiled in spite of herself.  "What song?"  She crossed her arms over her chest.


"I take requests," he said, putting out his elbow.  She took it, and they headed for the garden.


As promised, he asked her nothing else.  He walked beside her in silence, and she finally spoke first.  "I thought you said you'd sing?"


"I will, if you want me to."


"Okay, I want you to."


"What song do you want?"


She strolled along, holding onto his elbow.  "You choose."


"All the things I've done before this, they don't mean a thing.  And all the words spoken before this won't be said again.  Suddenly so much of me has no need to pretend.  'Cause there's nothing like the truth, to bring it back to you.  And everyone I've met before this, ain't seen me with you, Angel, my angel..."  his melodic, sweet voice went through her from the moment he started singing to the moment he stopped when he saw her staring.  "What?"  he said, smiling.


He was about ten years younger than her, and the more she looked at him, the more she realized how beautiful he really was.  Coffee skin, flawless, perfect physique, and a warmth that drew her to him.  "Nothing, I'm just....you're quite good."


"Want to here an encore?"


"Sure."


He started being playful, "You must have been a beautiful baby, you must have been a wonderful child..."


She laughed.  For the first time since Ford's death, she put her head back and really laughed.  Coming down from it, she frowned, sitting on the bench nearby.  He said, "What's the matter?"


"It's just hard, that's all."


"It is."


"You know, huh?"


"I do.  Maybe not like you."  He waited.  "Jess, what's it like?"


"You mean the DID?"


"Yeah."


"It's like...it's like being separated from yourself, but you don't know you are.  It's like living in blurbs, or in sections.  It's really hard to say, and I've never tried until now."


"Do you remember what you do when you're the other one?"


"There are other ones, and no, I don't."


"Other ones?"


"I have at least three alters."


"I see."


"You don't.  But that's okay, I don't either. I've been working at it for years.  Tess is the strongest one.  She makes the most appearances."


"Do you remember what she does?"


"No.  I know what people tell me she does, but I can't access that unless in deep therapy.  I was integrated before, and when things get really tough, it sometimes rears its head again."


"Like now?"


"Yeah.  I recently....I lost someone."


"I'm sorry," he said, taking her hand.  She let him hold it and she held his back.  His skin was warm.


"Thanks.  It's just hard, that's all."


"You know, that nun seems to really have a thing for you."


She smiled, "Who, Sister Rebecca Katherine?"


"Yeah, Sister Rebecca Katherine of the lengthy names..."


They both laughed, and she felt grateful somehow.  They started to return to the building, and went to their separate rooms on opposite sides of the convent.  In her room, she went to the bed and threw herself there, thinking of the day and of Devon.  In his room, he pulled out his untraceable cell phone and made a call.


"I've made contact.  No dice.  She can't remember what she does when she's not herself.  I'll call in a few days with more."


***


Hank made his way into the lobby of the The Sun, and at the desk, presented himself as expected by Mr. Manning.  The secretary at the main desk dialed Todd's office, knowing he may have left for the day.


"Mr. Manning?  Are you in for a Mr. Hank?"


Todd almost dropped the phone.  He looked to Blair, who was there at the office with him.  They had decided to work late and have a nice dinner at The Sun, overlooking the city and the penthouse across the way.  Both felt like reliving the old days.  "Sure, I'm in."  He hung up the phone with a crash.


"What's up?"


"My bartender spy.  I guess he's a lot more stupid than I thought.  He literally found me and came here.  He's just about signed his death warrant doing that."


"What do you mean?"


"What if they follow him?  What if he is seen?"


She said, "I didn't think of that.  Clearly, neither did he, Todd."


The door opened and Todd's assistant, Ramon, brought Hank in.  Todd stood and pointed a finger at him.  "You just made a huge mistake."


"Why, because I found out you lied to me?  That you're not 'Sam' from the bar."


"Would you have said yes faster if I admitted I was undercover?"


"No, probably not, but this means that it's worth more to me.  You're practically a billionaire."


"No, about 89 mil, but who's counting."


"Anyway, I came to report in."


"I don't care that you know who I am, but you can get yourself killed this way.  If anyone finds out that you came here, you can be in trouble.  Make certain that you're not followed when you leave here and don't meet with me again unless I set it up.  For your own safety."


"Okay, okay," Hank said.  "I get it."


"I'm making this worth your while, and putting a kick me sign on yourself doesn't change that."


The man finally noticed Blair, sitting in a sofa close to the windows, taking everything in.  He said, "Hey lady, didn't notice you,"  he turned back to Todd, "that your woman?"


Blair rolled her eyes and Todd said, "that's my wife, Mrs. Manning."


Hank nodded to her.  "Todd, maybe I should go check the cave and make sure there's a large enough club so that you can knock me out and drag me home later."  Blair was sarcastic.


Todd thought about it and then chimed in, "Good idea."


Blair crossed her arms over her belly, resting them there, and huffed.  "Chauvanists."


"Hank, back to the report.  What have you got for me?"


He handed Todd a large clasp envelope with a tape and a list inside.  "The rooms are bugged.  Tonight I heard Rudy on the phone getting orders from someone.  He said she was a woman and was nuts.  She asked him to remove all the bugs and turn off the cameras.  Then, I went and searched the rooms and the closet.  That list there tells what I found.  I also left you a key to the back room Loading Zone door.  That way you can get in if you need to."  he He put his hand out, "Check please?"


"You've done pretty good here, Hank."  Todd sat down to get his checkbook out, and wrote it to cash.  "This ought to be payment in full for this help you've provided."


He wrote the check, and Hank said, "So, when do I get my job at Capricorn, or, am I done with your requests?  Something else I can do."


Todd handed the check to Hank and was entranced in reading the list.  "You found these things in the closet?"


"Yeah, why?  Just some old costumes."


"I guess it would seem that way."  Making it into an airplane, he shot the list to Blair.


She opened it, and reading it, covered her mouth.  "Oh my God."


Todd spoke, "Hank, you've been really helpful to us.  I really appreciate it."


Blair said, "Come to Capricorn for an interview Wednesday."


"You probably should attend work until then as not to attract attention or cause suspicion.  However, coming here was not a good idea.  If you need to get in touch with me, call this line."  He handed Hank his private cell number.


"All right.  See yous later."  Hank headed out the door.  "Nice digs," he said before closing the office door behind him.


Blair and Todd looked at each other.  "Gaslighting me," Todd said.


"The whole time?  When do you think they started?"


"I'm not sure.  The beginning, at the wedding, or a few months ago, no telling.  Any way along the line.  But, there are clues in this to who is heading this whole operation.  Why would anyone dress like The Grim Reaper without inside information?"


"That's right.  Only a few people know about that.  John, Natalie..."


"Ray, Starr, you, me, Zeus..."


"Maybe someone in the police station?"  she asked.


"Maybe.  Or maybe someone in Statesville,"  he answered. 
 
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