Itsy-Bitsy Spider Read online

  I’m not really sure yet, he snapped, still perturbed by her comments it seemed.

  Good. She had pricked his ego.

  Playing God is one thing. But it gets a little lonely. I was hoping I could find, you know, other people like you. It’s lonely up here. I’d like to share my accomplishments.

  She nodded. Did you have anything to do with what Carlos did?

  Carlos? Carlos? … Hmm. I don’t think I know that name. Then he chuckled. Your ex-boss? No, that was all his actions. But I should kill him—not a nice man at all.

  Almost with relief she tucked that tidbit away. At least Carlos had been Carlos when he’d stolen and cheated everyone. She didn’t have to feel sorry for the slime ball. Kirk was an entirely different ball of wax. They had a lot to talk about when this was over.

  So you used that same connection to me from way back when. But why didn’t you step in and watch over me all these years? Why just in the last few months?

  Well, it’s an interesting thing. Once you connected with the killer I had worked on—Paul Grogan, the man who wanted that lady’s lake property so bad it was worth killing for—your energetic connection to him was like an instant slap across my face. And I remembered all about you. You were just such a mess for so long. I knew it would take you years to recover. But there you were, all of a sudden, recovered. And that was fun because then I could take a step into your life any time, check out what you were up to.

  In the far distance she could hear a vehicle racing toward them. But it didn’t feel right. It didn’t feel like the vehicle she wanted it to be. It wasn’t Kirk …

  Oh, this should be fun, David said.

  Why’s that? Queenie asked with dread.

  Maggie called, “Reese? How are you, honey? I got Daddy to come back and get you.”

  Reese lay curled up in a ball on the floor. Queenie had completely nestled him into a cocoon of healing, loving energy. Lavender hues curled up deep inside. Another layer on top of that she recognized as being Stefan’s.

  And maybe another layer, but she didn’t understand who it was.

  Stefan whispered in her ear, It’s Dr. Maddy’s energy.

  And that reminded her. She raised her head and asked David, Did you have something to do with that man who was poisoned? His little girl—Kirsten, I think her name was—came in to talk to me. Her mother was with her.

  Yes, David said. Brian Callahan. A coworker at his job was poisoning him—with a little help from me. Brian was promoted over him, so he fed him arsenic every day in his homemade fancy brownies at work. Then, when Brian was too sick, this caring worker sent a special health product to the wife to feed her husband. She loved him so much that she’d do anything for him. His voice petered out. I’m not sure what’s happening with that case. I’ll have to go revisit it.

  So why then are they coming to me? she cried out, puzzled.

  You know? I was wondering that same thing. It’s almost as if, now that our connection has been reopened, you’re reconnecting with all my victims. It’s really gratifying, he said.

  Maggie’s voice came closer and closer. “Reese? Answer me please. Reese?”

  “Maggie, leave him,” her husband called out. “He’s a waste of time anyway.”

  Just behind them came another vehicle. Surely that was Kirk. In the distance she finally heard sirens too.

  Oh, now this is really going to be fun. I wonder what I can make happen here? David cried out in joy.

  She froze. You don’t need to do anything here. You’ve already done enough, she snapped.

  Yes, but you don’t understand. This isn’t finished, is it? This is just my chessboard pieces moving to different places on the board.

  Queenie could feel Stefan ever silent behind her. Maggie stepped into the cave, her gaze going around the room. She ran back to the car, crying out, “He’s not here. I told you that we shouldn’t have left him.”

  “It’s good if the little bugger ran off,” the man snapped. “I told you that I didn’t want him in the first place.”

  But Maggie wasn’t listening. She sobbed quietly, calling out in a broken voice, “Reese? Mommy’s here. Reese?”

  But Reese couldn’t even begin to answer. He was not only sound asleep but Queenie suspected in a much heavier state on the floor. What she didn’t know was why Maggie hadn’t seen him. Her flashlight had shone directly on him. So Stefan must have had something to do with that.

  Now why didn’t she see him? David asked pensively, curiosity underlying his tone. Oh, I do like a good mystery.

  Queenie heard raised voices outside as other vehicles arrived. Among them, Maggie screamed and cried, “You’ve got to help me find him. He’s just a little boy.”

  Kirk called out, “Reese, where are you?”

  The father yelled, “Hey, what the hell is going on here? Who called you into this?”

  Kirk turned to him, his voice loud. “He’s my son. And you and I will have a talk at the police station very soon.”

  Maggie gasped, and her husband started to bluster.

  Queenie was afraid to step away and leave Reese alone. She reached out for Kirk. Come inside, she whispered. She could feel a sense of shock, that sense of awareness, her connection to Kirk reborn. But she was also afraid David would figure it out. She heard Kirk call back, “Keep them here. I’ll take a look inside.” He stepped into the small space, swearing as he saw where Reese had been hidden. “Stefan?”

  And then it was as if a three-way conference call had opened up. Stefan said out loud for Kirk’s benefit, “I’m here with Reese and Queenie.”

  Kirk froze and said, “Where is he? I can’t see him.”

  “I’ve been using the masking energy,” Stefan said. “I didn’t want the adoptive parents to get hold of him.” Stephan addressed Queenie. “We have to let him go.”

  She protested.

  Kirk cried out, “Don’t you understand? Your body is collapsed in the car. People will think I’ve killed you. Right now there’s no life force left in your physical presence. I understand you’re here to protect Reese, but you have to let him go. Let me pick him up and carry him outside. We’ll get him to the hospital. We’ll get him any attention he needs.”

  Stefan’s warm caressing voice said, “Queenie, it’s time.”

  She shook her head. “Don’t you understand that so much danger is still here?”

  But already Stefan’s masking energy had been pulled away.

  Kirk cried out, “Reese.” He crouched down beside the little boy and picked him up. Nestling him close against his chest, he carried him outside to cries from Maggie and several of the cops.

  Queenie, still attached to Reese, trailed out into the night. But she could also sense David close by. She nudged Stefan and realized he understood.

  You’ll have to put that umbrella defense system of yours back in place, Stefan said, his voice low but urgent.

  She shook her head. I don’t know what you’re talking about.

  Yes, what are you talking about? David asked. Interesting to have a three-way conversation here. Fascinating actually. I’d give you my name but you’d probably recognize it, so I certainly can’t tell you that. You can just call me God, he said in a complacent voice.

  My name is Stefan, Stefan said quietly. Queenie, go back to your body.

  She struggled against the idea.

  David laughed. Go on. Go on. It’s not like I can’t get to your son anytime I want to.

  The trouble was, that was the truth. He’d never be stopped. He’d never be punished.

  Why don’t you come to my place and say that, she said. You’re nothing but a coward. Look at you. You won’t go physically anywhere. You’re using your abilities to harm and to torment people. You’ve already connected with my son so much that I wonder if that connection goes in reverse.

  She could feel Stefan behind her, willing her to try something. She just didn’t know what.

  You need to return to your body so I have access to your
son, and David snapped his fingers.

  But it didn’t do any good. She stood there, strong in her ethereal body. That doesn’t work for me, she said calmly. Nobody will ever hurt my son again. You’ve already done more than enough damage. And, as you’ve said, you are connected to him. She reached out a hand and placed it on Reese’s chest. Then she felt Stefan grab hold of her hand, and then Stefan hung on to Dr. Maddy, who reached around and placed her hand on top of Queenie’s over Reese’s chest.

  She whispered to Kirk, Stay where you are. Keep everyone else back.

  And then, completely bolstered and fulfilled by Stefan and Maddy, she poured as much energy as she collectively could into her son’s heart chakra. Then finding his tiny connection to her own body, she followed it back, searching for and finding that tiny energetic connection to David. As soon as she did, she smiled and zipped as fast forward as she could. She’d used this technique many times with criminals, finding little bits and pieces of their energy, tracking them backward. It was one of the reasons why she’d been so successful in closing cases. And likely the final secret Stefan had asked about. Then she pulled in all her years of experience, all the years she had of pain and grief and torment at knowing her son had been taken from her and not knowing by whom or why.

  She could hear David calling out, You can’t do that. I’m too strong for you. He kept putting up blocks, putting up barriers, and she blasted through them, flicking them away as if they were nothing but Styrofoam. Because on her side was the might of right and love and vengeance all in one. She knew she had to stay positive. She knew she had to say it all with love.

  She followed that energy all the way back into town. The trees, the highways, the cars, the houses, everything whipping past in a blur. She didn’t even know where she was. But, when she hovered over the hospital, she knew. She knew exactly who it was.

  She whispered to Kirk. It’s Dr. David Hutchinson.

  The doctor who’d coached her through some of the worst times in her life, who had held her hand while she had bawled over the loss of her son. Who’d been available anytime she needed someone to talk to. Anytime she needed her sanity back from the craziness of the work she did.

  A man who’d seen her at her most vulnerable …

  A man who had taken advantage of her darkest moments for his own entertainment …

  Shuddering, but knowing he had to be stopped, she dove ever forward, down through the building, through the floors, through the layers. His energy was ever present as she came to where he stood on the ward. He froze when he saw Queenie approach in her ethereal form. Shock and fear were both evident on his face. She reached out, picked up his hand and slapped it against his heart.

  He cried out, clutching at his chest with both hands, but she had to make sure the crash cart couldn’t bring him back. She kept her hand atop his chest, pouring energy in, more than his heart could ever possibly handle, funneling it forward, through it, around her, wrapping up his heart in so much combined energy until the damned thing exploded in her fingers.

  Slowly the life force drained beneath her as the medical teams raced to him, crash cart coming, voices crying, as they tried to revive him. But she already knew it was too late. She had watched as his life force faded out of his toes. Right beside him on the hospital ward was something that should not have been here, but of course it was. A small spider. She smiled, leaned down and, with a scoop of energy, picked him up and carried him back with her through the towns, through the tunnels, through the mountains and the meadows and the roads until she slammed back into the vehicle where her body lay.

  She sat inside Kirk’s car, her eyes open, her body humming with energy she’d never felt before, a sense of connectedness she’d never experienced, had never performed. She was one with the vehicle. She was one with the air. She was one with the spider in her hand.

  She opened the door, her body feeling odd because it was one with the grass; it was one with the rocks. It was the door. The physical world had become so solid that it was almost foreign feeling. Compared to being as light as air when in ethereal form, this human existence was like walking through molasses, trying to get an awkward and heavy body to do what she commanded it to do.

  Carefully she moved from the vehicle to stand in the night. She walked to where her son lay in Kirk’s arms. But Reese wasn’t awake. Not only wasn’t he awake but it seemed as if he were in a coma. She reached down and gently placed the spider on his cheek and whispered out loud, “Reese, wake up. It’s Mommy.”

  Kirk watched her intently.

  The little boy opened his eyes. He stared up at her and whispered, “Hi, Mommy.”

  Queenie wrapped her arms around her son, around her lover and around the spider that had made everything so very possible. They all were as connected to each other as she was to both of them.

  And still a pinkish-lavender energy surrounded them all.

  She bowed her head and let the tears fall. It really would be okay now. She felt Kirk drop his head to rest against hers, the three of them tight in a world of their own.

  “I don’t know what the hell happened to us,” he whispered, “but you know I’ve always loved you, right?”

  She lifted her head ever so slowly, stared into his beautiful silver-blue eyes and opened the connecting door between them. This time she didn’t just open it but she removed the door so he could feel her the same way he always had felt her before.

  His gaze widened, and he smiled. “At least now you can see I mean what I say,” he said gently.

  She smiled, kissed him gently on the cheek, and then leaned down, kissed her son on his cheek. “I do indeed.”

  The only energy coming from Kirk was love. And she’d take all coming her way. She’d had a rough few years. But, as she gazed at her son, she knew it would all be okay from now on.

  *

  Overwhelmed, exhausted and seriously emotional, Kirk stood by Queenie and Reese throughout the following hours of chaos. They had to deal with the adoptive parents, the police, the paramedics who’d been called. A shift to the police station, listening to Maggie try to explain. And then Kirk’s meeting with his own sister … God, that had been painful.

  “That child was mine, God damn you, Katherine,” he yelled.

  Queenie had stared in silent accusation as his sister broke down.

  Katherine had been terrified and bawling the whole time.

  Kirk found it hard to forgive her—even though he understood the damn doctor had a big hand in her actions, but she’d been the willing raw material. And, according to Stefan, people couldn’t be forced to do something they didn’t want to do. David had amplified the negative thoughts those people already harbored so they took action.

  So was she responsible or David?

  Both, Kirk decided.

  The one thing he knew for sure was that his bitch of a sister appeared calmer, sadder—was that because David’s influence was gone? Or because she’d confessed to her crimes? She’d dropped off the letter to make sure Queenie left the apartment. She’d changed the access to the bank account. But the money was still there. All Katherine’s actions had been directed against Queenie. That didn’t make it any better in his eyes. Katherine had still caused a world of hurt in Kirk’s life.

  But Kirk realized he was hardly innocent himself. David had taken Kirk’s own pain and had amplified it, taking his need for a change and amplifying it, all so Kirk had walked away from Queenie and had stayed away.

  When he thought about how David had manipulated Kirk’s, Queenie’s and Reese’s lives, innocents who’d done nothing wrong—to suffer at David’s hands on a whim—Kirk’s anger even now coiled deep inside him.

  And, in the background of all this turmoil, according to Queenie, was Stefan and Maddy, stepping in and out of the chaos.

  The one nonnegotiable determinant in all of this was that Queenie would not in any way let go of Reese, and Reese wouldn’t let go of her.

  He kept studying his son, seeing Queenie
in his eyes; yet Kirk’s nose was on that little face, as was the same hair, the same shape of his face but Queenie’s mouth.

  As a reality check, tonight had been a big one. All those years Queenie had suffered were the years he’d lost himself. The years Reese had suffered, … all so unnecessary.

  With his sister’s confession, the police had allowed Reese to stay with Queenie. Good thing as Kirk knew he’d have World War III on his hand if anyone tried to separate them.

  “Can we go home soon?”

  He glanced down at Queenie, her arms strained as she carried Reese. He must be dead weight in her arms. His son had crashed, the night’s events too much for the little guy, his head on her shoulders. “Yes, the rest can be dealt with tomorrow.”

  “Or the next day,” she whispered. “It will be days, maybe weeks, before I come back here.”

  He reached over and gently disentangled Reese. Queenie stopped him, still not able to let her son go. Kirk waited, his gaze compassionate, understanding, but unrelenting. Finally she eased Reese into his father’s arms, but what really broke his heart was when she whispered, “Thank you.”

  Chapter 20

  Tuesday, Morning …

  Queenie woke up the next morning, bolting out of bed to stand in the middle of a strange room. She spun around as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes.

  Reese.

  They’d found her son. She raced to the second bedroom, finally remembering where she was. Last night Kirk had taken the two of them to his place. She’d struggled with Reese being in a separate bedroom, but Kirk had been adamant.

  “The door is open. He’s a strong young man, and, if he cries out, we’ll hear him.”

  Finally she’d relented. Now she stood in the doorway of her son’s room, tears in her eyes. It was really true. She had him back. She’d been so numb last night, then so very angry. With no way to release it, she had tossed and turned all night.