Chapter Thirteen "What's going on in this town?"Joan asked Gene Hurst,"Delores Santez, the one who was shot in the WCC last night, is the aunt of the girl who was shot at in the hospital today!" "I thought you were being sarcastic when you made that crack about someone wanting the old woman dead,"Dorothy said, pushing Gene aside. "I was. Are Jade and Maria awake yet?" "No." "Damn,"Joan knelt to examine the places on the floor where the bullets had hit. "What?" Standing, Joan brushed off her trousers, left behind by her ex, who'd left in such a hurry he'd even forgotten his toothbrush,"What if that bullet wasn't meant for Marsha?" "You don't actually believe that someone was shooting to kill Delores Santez, do you?" "No. I think that they were aiming for Jade." "Oh come on Joan!" "I'm serious,"Joan paused,"Did you come to see for a reason." "Yeah. They found the girl who was kidnapped. Actually, she found us. She passed out in the lobby, trying to get help. They're saying that she was beaten badly, and probably sexually assaulted." "God,"Joan put her face in her hands. "And the girl came around, your good friend, Jade Mackenna. She says the girl is living with her." "This is getting stranger all the time." Joan was completely serious, the look on her face told Dorothy that she wasn't in the mood for joking around. Dorothy, being her usual thoughtless self, ignored Joan's expression. "And kinkier." "Shut up. How can you take this so lightly?" "Sorry." "Is Jade talking?" "No, she's shock or something, but here's my theory; everyone in Jade's family is going to die. Well, her extended family, and then a few friends, eventually everyone who's every looked at anyone who's ever known that Jade Mackenna existed." "Stop it!" "I think that she's cursed, honestly. This is happening to everyone she knows." "Not everyone,"Joan said pensively,"Just people who live in that house." Dorothy smacked her hand to her forehead,"The dreams, Joan, those I can handle. But haunted houses?" "Maybe,"Joan shook her head,"God, this is insane. Where are Jade and Maria?" "Downstairs in a couple of examination rooms." "Which ones Dot?" "Ask Gene." She walked away mumbling about haunted houses. Joan found her way down to the room where Jade Mackenna was recovering from the attack. She did so without the help of Hurst, an incompetent fool if ever there was one. "Jade?" "Where are Nina and Maria?" "Why don't you tell me what happened?" "Where are they?" "Maria's next door, and Nina is being treated somewhere. Now tell me what happened, exactly." "Fine,"Jade glared at her, and lightly fingered the bandage on her left arm,"Nina and I-" "Nina what?" "Nina Smith. She moved in with me last Monday, I think. Has it really only been five days? Anyway, the day after my mother's funeral, which I didn't attend, she moved in, as a favor to Marsha Dunkirk. Whatever day that was, Nina moved in." "I got that much." "Nina and I were visiting my aunt with Maria. She went in first, then she came out and sat on that green couch just outside the door. Nina and I were only there a few minutes. Nina left the room a few seconds before me, less than a minute. Then I left too. God, she was only alone a few seconds." "Go on, please." "I looked to left because that was where the couch was, Maria wasn't there, neither was Nina. I heard Nina scream, then a door slammed and when I opened it a bullet went by me and I dropped to the floor. Then another bullet hit the floor just in front of me. Then I suppose I must have fainted." "They've found Nina." "Is she all right?" "I was told that she had been assaulted both physically and sexually." "Raped?"Jade croaked in disbelief. "Basically,"Joan stared at the floor. Jade jumped off the table. "I have to see Maria, where is she?" "She's in a room, recovering, like you ought to be." "From what?" "Until she wakes up to tell us, we won't know." Jade kicked a stool, swearing. "I want out of here. Now." "I know." "At least let me make a few phone calls." "To who?" "I have to tell Marsha-" "She'll be alerted by an officer." "Martin, and Mark-" "What are their last names?" "They're twins, I don't know. I have to at least call Alex." "Alex who?" "Alex Claiborne." Joan consented. She found a phone for Jade and sat in the room as she made the call. "Mr. Claiborne, is Alex home? I have to talk with him...Yes, this is Jade...No, I'm at Weston Memorial...Lola is fine, but-...I'll tell her. Mr. Clai-...I'm sorry, Keith, can you please get Alex?...He's not there? When will he be back?...I'll call back then...Okay...Yes...I understand. Good-bye Mister, I mean, Keith." "Done?" Jade started to dial Martin and Mark's apartment, but realized she didn't know their number. She considered briefly calling information, then remembered that you had to have their last name to get a phone number. "I suppose." "Couldn't find a ride home?" "Yeah." "Look. I'll drive you home. We can check up on Delores, Maria and Nina, then we'll talk in the car." Joan offered, opening the door. They walked to the nearest Nurse's Station to inquire. Maria was still unconscious, Nina was "unavailable", and Delores had taken a pill to aid her sleep. Jade followed Joan down to the garage and was strangely surprised to find that Joan didn't drive a squad car, but a shiny, black, new Dodge Ram "My pride and joy,"Joan said, revving the engine. Jade just nodded. She was pissed at the world and she didn't feel like discussing it. Joan dropped her off at her house, once full of life, now desolate and empty. Chapter Fourteen "This sucks!"Nina said, crawling out of her lumpy bed. She was locked in a cell-like room. Having spent three hours in the hospital, then another six cooped up this cage, she was getting angry. Nina pulled on her jeans and top, filthy as they were and began to pace the room like a panther confined in a zoo; she grew angrier with every step. "Damn you Mark? Where are you?"she cried, standing at the window. Mark ought to have been there now, he was picking her up, or busting her out, which ever method worked to get her out. "Bev?"asked a male voice from the hallway. "Wrong room buddy!" Nina returned to window. After an hour of pacing restlessly she decided she'd had enough. Never a patient person, but very resourceful, Nina wrapped a pillow case around her fist and smashed the bar-less window. "Thank God for minimum security,"she said, grabbing the backpack Marsha had so thoughtfully provided. She climbed out of the broken window and stood on the ledge. Nina thanked God that she wasn't afraid of heights because she was four stories up. She reached to her left to attach herself to the drainpipe. The bricks scratched her cheek as she inched toward the pipe. Her fingertips brushed the cold metal. "Oh Jesus!" If only it hadn't rained all day. If only she was wearing shoes with traction that was less worn. Maybe then she wouldn't have lost her footing only to find herself dangling from the tiny, slick ledge. Her fingers began to slip. "Oh God!" She began to wish she'd spent more time in the gym like Marsha had prescribed. "Hey! Hey up there! What do you think you're doing?" Nina glanced down at a handsome orderly. As her eyes strayed from him, she noticed that less than four feet to her right there was a big pile of grass inside a tall wooden bin. Praying to God that she'd survive somehow, Nina swung her weight as hard as she could to the right and let go. The pile wasn't so big after all. She landed on her feet and the shock knocked her to her stomach. She climbed to her feet and pulled herself out of the bin, which wasn't as tall as it had seemed from the fourth story ledge. A white hot flame raced up leg as she tried to take a step. She dropped to the ground, letting got of the bag. She glanced up to see the orderly running full speed at her. Another was yelling about how he was going to find help. Gritting her teeth she dove for the backpack and rolled to her feet. She took a step and felt another stab in her leg. The orderly had caught up to her. She fell again and closed her eyes. "Doctor! Get a doctor!"he called. Nina waited quietly on the ground. He bent to check her vital signs. Nina bit her lip and brought her right arm up, catching the poor boy in the groin. He fell to his knees in the soft grass, moaning. She was on her feet again before he could stand up straight. Punching him in the face caused blood to spurt from his cracked nose, but that was nothing compared to what he began to cough up after she kicked him in the chest. He crumpled to the grass, crying. His leg was vulnerable, propped up by a small rock. She knelt on his chest and smiled sweetly. Her injured leg felt better already. He began to mumble. Nina frowned. "Sorry handsome, we could had wonderful times together,"she whispered seductively into his ear. Then she stood and surveyed the scene. There was a group of orderlies and other officials approaching quickly, but she could out run them. She hopped into the air easily, and came down on his shin, feeling rather satisfied at the crack that sounded. She ran to the wall, about ten feet high, and by the time Handsome's associates arrived she was over the top and running down the street at full pace. Chapter Fifteen Joan was behind the wheel of her truck, headed north on I-5. She could have skipped the exit to her brother's house, and went straight on to Canada; she could have turned around and driven to Mexico. Instead, she pulled off at the first chance she got and got out of her truck. The death of her sister was finally sinking in. When she returned to her parent's house to have Les do her excess laundry, Julia wouldn't be there to tell her about her lately exploits in the drama club, or about how she had been award the lead in the play because of her extraordinary acting ability and the fact that she made extravagant donations to the director's bank account. Julia would never stop by on her way home from rehearsal, she would never again ask Joan how to ask that cute guy in her Chemistry class to the dance, nor would she stand on the stage singing Beetles' songs instead of giving her election speech, and probably most devastating to Joan was the fact that Joan would never again hold her youngest sibling in her arms and comfort her when anything went wrong in Julia's always imperfect life. Trying to control her tears, Joan tried to imagine how awful it would be to have her entire family vanish in less than two weeks. She couldn't, and didn't really want to. Jade had been through too much and the loss was inconceivable. Joan decided that the pain hadn't fully set in for Jade, she was still in denial; when the implications of the recent events occurred to Jade, Joan feared that she wouldn't be able to handle it and would end up either like her mother, suicidal, or like her friend, Nina, in a mental asylum. Nina had fainted in the lobby, but awoke soon after as she was being treated for the superficial injuries the beating had given her. After dropping Jade at her house, Joan had returned to the hospital and listened to girl ramble incoherently for twenty minutes before a doctor recommended that she be transferred to the local mental health facility so that she could be treated for the psychological damage. In truth, Joan was glad the girl would be safely tucked away until she was well, mostly because it would make Jade a little less upset if- Jade! Joan thought, jumping back into her truck, No one told Jade where Nina's been taken. She roared away, getting back onto the freeway and sped toward Weston. Jade was still sitting her driveway when Martin showed up. "Jade?"he asked, crawling out of his car, a fuel efficient Geo Metro. "Martin!"she threw herself into his arms. "What happened to you?" Jade explained as quickly as she could, but she was cold and tired, she'd been sitting in the driveway almost an hour. "Does Mark know?" "I don't think so, unless Marsha called him." "I have to tell him. She would wait for me to tell him." "I'm coming with you." "No, this is for his ears only." "Why are you acting this way?"Jade spat, backing away from the guy she thought cared about her. His eyes softened,"I really am sorry. But his girlfriend has been assaulted, that isn't the kind of news you want to have-" "Just go." "Jade." "Something happened to Maria too Martin. And Lola got shot last night. Either of them could die! Die, meaning dead! Martin, don't you understand? Nina's going to be fine, she'll be upset, but she'll live! Maria hasn't even regained consciousness yet and Lola-" Martin grabbed her by the shoulder and kissed her. "Jade, I love you." "No you don't." "I do." Jade shook her head and turned her back to him. "You don't. And if you did it wouldn't matter, you're practically married." She pretended to be upset with him, but even with the thought of her aunt and cousin dying, Jade found herself ecstatic. "Ever heard of a thing called divorce?" "No,"Jade pouted. "C'mon Jade, this is my brother's girlfriend." She mocked him,"Come on Martin. This is my cousin, this is my aunt, this was my mother, my father and my brother!" Sobered, he opened the car door,"I'll call you." "Yeah." He ran his hand down the side of her face, but she retained her cold stare and her angry stance. Martin drove off and Jade was alone again, sitting on the pavement, wishing that those sharp little pebbles would stop poking her butt. I'm not just going to sit here, she thought, standing, And wait for someone to come by and kill me. Jade entered the garage with the secret code that opened the door and got into her mother's little red Mazda Miata. She was at Alex's house in five minutes. Bryan and Helen's mothers were standing in the Claiborne's front drive, arguing with Alex who was trying to get up the walk into his house; there were no other cars around. "Alex?" "Jade?" Helen's mother stormed over,"Where are they?" "Who?" "Helen!" "Bryan!" Jade scrambled away from the distraught mothers of her best friends. "What do you mean, I haven't seen them in days!" "Neither have we,"Mrs. Brooks, Bryan's mother put her frail arm around Jade's shoulder. "Jade, I'm sorry we attacked you like that. I heard about your mother, I'm sorry." "Yeah,"Mrs. Galloway, Helen's mother said coldly,"And your father and brother too. And last night your aunt got shot, didn't she?" Jade nodded. "And some girl who was staying with you, didn't she get attacked this morning?" "Stop it Karen, leave her alone." "No Irma. I also heard about your cousin, she's comatose in the hospital, isn't she?" "How did you find out about all of this?" "I have my sources." "Mrs. Galloway,"Alex began, stepping up to defend Jade,"We haven't seen them since they confessed that they were cheating on Jade together. I suspect they probably ran away together." Karen Galloway turned on Alex,"Shut up you fat little fool! Here her entire family, everyone around her, is dropping like flies and yet she's still completely unharmed! Don't you see, you could be next." Alex laughed, something only he could get away with in a situation like this. He grabbed Jade's arm and held it out,"I wouldn't say she's completely unharmed, must have several stitches here." "Karen, leave it alone. Alex is probably right, they've been sneaking around a lot lately, we both admit that much." "Irma, listen to yourself!" Jade grabbed Alex and they jumped into her car and sped away. "What's gotten into them?"she asked, when they were a safe three miles away,"Why does Mrs. Galloway think I've done something to them?" "Face it Jade, the whole town sees you as being something of a Pariah." "Because of circumstances beyond my control?" "Maybe you ought to take control, the answer to these strange occurrences are probably right under that detective's nose." "What are you talking about Alex?" "She's not spending enough time,"he paused, then continued, pointedly,"Serving you. Doing what you say. Sure, she's got family problems, who doesn't- That reminds me, I have a family event to attend. Would you be so kind as to drop me off at WCC, Mother is waiting for me." Jade thought that Alex was behaving strangely, but didn't comment on it, afraid to jinx him as well. She let him out of the car without entering the parking lot, and roared away, arriving seconds later in the hospital parking lot. "Can you tell me what room Maria Santez is in, please?"Jade asked at the first desk she came to. "She's under lock and key." "Why?" "What do I look like, a cop? Ask one of them why don'tcha? Jade made her way to the security wing and asked to see her cousin. "Who's yer cousin?"an officer by the name of Hurst drawled, bored. "Maria Santez." "Sorry, no one's allowed in there. She's busy." "With what?" "A detective." "Joan Treece?" Officer Hurst allowed her enter after all. Jade rushed to her cousin and hugged her. "Maria, are you all right?" "Oh Jade, it was awful." "Tell us,"Joan coaxed, sitting back. "Nina came out of Lola's room and then this guy, he was dressed all in black grabbed her. I was sitting on the couch and I tried to help her but I got hit, again and again. Then he shoved me into an open door across the hall and I hit my head. When I came to, Detective Treece was here." "There wasn't that much time." Jade said, sitting heavily on the table next to Maria, who aside from a few bruises was fine; she ran her fingers through her hair,"There wasn't." "You think I'm lying?"Maria asked, replacing her victim expression with her street stare. "How long did you leave them alone, ten seconds, more?" "No, maybe....I guess it was about fifteen or twenty seconds." "That isn't enough time,"Joan smack her fist against her thigh. "Why?"Maria asked, her victim expression returning. "How long you say the episode with the guy took, Maria? Less than fifteen seconds, up to twenty?" Maria hesitated, deep in thought. She bent her head,"I think there were two guys." "Two?"Joan asked, rising quickly,"Two large burly guys?" "They might have been." "What difference does it make?"Jade said, picking lint from the sweat shirt she'd found in the front of her mother's car. "If my dreams are right this time, those could be the same two guys that were at the car." "Ms. Treece,"Maria said, fidgeting,"There were two guys, but only one was big. The other was shorter, and skinny, but also really strong." "Wiry?" "Yes. And the other was tall. The shorter one was beating me while the other dragged Nina away." "Finally, we're getting somewhere!" "No. This is even worse. It keeps getting further and further away from what I thought was happening. Two big guys & a red haired lady. A black hairdo woman, now a big guy and a little guy. There are no constants, not their sex, no their hair color, and not their builds." "So, maybe they have a gang?" "Jade, don't you see? These could be completely unrelated incidents just as easily as they are a group! Sure, it's more than unlikely, but it could happen! We're getting nowhere." "Giving up?" "No,"Joan fished in her pockets for he keys,"I just don't know where to head next." "I do,"Maria spoke up. "Let's get Maria home, unless you have to stay?" "No." Joan told Jade she needed to go to her family, but she'd be in touch very soon. Jade and Maria drove home much slower than Jade had come.