MJ 6B: Case of the Curse Pt 2

Stairs led to a small platform with a bed, and underneath a curtain blocked out a large space.

"Nice digs."

"Nikolas," she cooed shutting the door behind her, "I would love to talk about why you never joined the church, but I sense your friend is impatient. You have come to talk about the Bain family, have you not?"

I perched on the edge of the couch and folded my arms, well aware this left a gap showing my gun.

Nikolas frowned and leaned against the kitchen bar-style counter. "Yes we have. Let me bring you up to speed; Ellie went missing and she took the family curse and jewels with her. Her father hired Miss Jackson here to find her. She contacted me and let me know she was taking off and Kraven was helping her. He turned on her and she killed him at this little cabin-"

"In Riverwoods, I know it well."

I shifted, letting my jacket fall loose as a bad feeling rose in me. "Do you now?" I remembered the altar, the blood. It was beyond sadistic, even in my world.

"She killed him and the next anyone heard of her she had sent the jewels to a fence Marly knows, and she's due to collect her money tomorrow."

I sighed, feeling he'd missed some big details. "In the meantime Bain hired a PI to follow us, killed JuJu, and has someone gunning for Nikolas here. Then he made an appointment with you, why?"

She crossed the room and bent to a small humidor, the only wood besides the floor in the place, and came back with a long black cigarette holder and Newport on the end. Fake class, faux flash.

She gave me a level look, fighting the way women always did; in their minds. I'd been there, done that, gotten the bullet holes, and stared back. For a moment in time it was wild west on the dusty street, it was two men with rapiers in the courtyard, it was proper folk with pistols at dawn.

Her face crumbled; I'd won, and I smiled. Funny how when women squared off a winner was always obvious, but with men you could ever tell.

"You have to protect me from him. I will tell you everything if you can protect me."

Shit, I thought. Win one face off and the damsel in distress routine comes out. I hated being the white knight. "I can get you out of town, but only if what you have to say is what I want to hear."

"Drink!" she called, voice wavering on the edge of tears.

Nikolas went around to the liquor stored on the counter and pulled something that looked like sherry into 3 glasses and brought us each one. I took a sip and grimaced when I realized I was correct; I hated sherry.

Georgette drank it like water. Impressive.

"I have known so many secrets. Bain came to me when his daughter was born and told me of the curse. He thought I knew about such things. I told him I could make a dark bargain to rid him of the curse, but it required a sacrifice."

"A human sacrifice?"

She turned her dark, liquid eyes to me sharply. "That is murder! I do not commit murder, it is- it is- it's savagery!"

"No one is accusing you of anything," yeah right, I thought and nearly muttered. "Just calm down and go on."

"A sacrifice like a goat, and money, what Bain held most dear in this life. He bought a cabin in Riverwoods, very private back then, built the altar just as I said, and brought the money, twice as much as I asked. He agreed to burn the sum I instructed and said the rest was for me. I asked where was the goat and he showed me his wife.

"He had already killed her and he said he would kill me if I told, and I believed him. He said it was my fault, after all, I had consulted with the Dark Lord and told him the curse would continue as long as there was a female child."

Nikolas choked on his sherry. "So he wants to kill Ellie? But that makes no sense, he is fanatical about continuing his line."

Georgette nodded. "He called me because one week ago he discovered something. He has another child, grown, from a time before his marriage. A son. Never before has the first child been male, and he decided to end this curse and kill his daughter. I refused, I told him it was madness!

"Bain said he had been practicing the Dark Arts without me, that he had been studying. I...I don't know what he meant but I have seen his little girl and the look in her eyes. I fear he is evil, and his teacher even more so. He said he didn't need me, but if I didn't help he would kill me, and I know he means it."

"What is he expecting you to do?"

"Anoint his line while he kills his daughter and then bless his son. Pray to the Dark Lord to turn the curse into a dark blessing."

"She's pregnant!" Nikolas cried, face devoid of color.

"You don't even know what role that unborn child is to play. Can't you see they are mad? You have to help me!"

"I can't fucking believe this," I said to myself. "You know the only way to prove this is to find the brother, this son who mysteriously showed up."

"I have a phone number. Bain said he might call from it."

I pulled out my phone and thought of who I could trust to keep Georgette safe. I considered shooting her myself when the only name that came to mind was Finn.

He answered on the third ring, very business-like. "I found Georgette. There's a brother, Bain wants to kill Ellie as a sacrifice to turn around this curse and leave everything to his son. They'll kill georgette and I promised her I'd keep her safe. What can you do?"

There was a long pause.

"I can have a car and two drivers there in twenty minutes. Tell her to pack light, but she'll be going out of town."

"Twenty minutes? We're in Humboldt Park."

"I know where. Where are you going?"

"Recon, verify this brother."

"Do nothing without me," Finn growled.

"Your men will be here in twenty, got it." I simply hung up.

Perhaps the less he knew, the better off Finn would be. He was much like a cat in that way. The only question in my mind was: in dealing with him, would good luck rub off, or would I just get the claws?

***

Nikolas insisted on waiting for the men to arrive and not leaving Georgette alone. Intellectually I could understand but in my heart I knew it also meant Finn was driving over from his gorgeous brownstone on LSD. Though it was Saturday night was dawning and it was a warm October. The countdown to Halloween was on and traffic would be a bitch. I prayed for a jam blocking him.

The car was a simple newer-model caprice in black and pulled up. Two men emerged like cartoon goons stuffed into suits. One stood by the car and the other came to the bell.

Packing light for Georgette meant 3 suitcases and she'd changed to an honest to goodness flowing gown and mink stole. We bundled her off with Nikolas' assurances that she would be okay, and Finn was to be trusted.

I'd used the waiting time to borrow her computer and Intellius gave me the name and address of the number. Edward Blake, and he lived in the northern burbs too.

We walked to my car in silence and I pulled out with no sign of Finn behind me. Perhaps the traffic gods had smiled on me.

We hit a drive through of a McDonald's just up the way and got some food in our systems, still not talking. He was nervous and so was I.

Highwood was our destination. It was a small town nestled between chic villages of mansions, but Highwood homes were smaller. Much of the population spoke Spanish and many worked for the nearby big houses.

We found the small house on the wrong side of the tracks nestled between a dry cleaner's and a closed barber shop.

I parked far enough away that we could run to the car but it wouldn't clue anyone like Finn into our exact destination.

When we got out I insisted Nikolas take a gun. "Safety is here, and you guard the trigger like this," I showed him. "Always guard the trigger but if you do have to shoot, aim for the middle of the chest and squeeze, don't yank the trigger. Got it?"

"I think so."

"I'll move first. Keep the gun up, trigger guarded but I'll point left, you right. Keep it under you coat until we're on property and away from the street."

"Got it."

I lead the way. Closer to downtown people were walking but the block we were on was quiet. I slowly opened the plain chain-link gate testing for a squeak and we slipped inside.

We walked to the back and I scanned for signs of a dog and a burglar system. There was a system, and it wasn't activated, meaning he was at home and like most people had it off. I could cut it but Brinks would just call, so instead I cut the phone line hoping he might be one of the few people in the end of the century not to have a cell phone. No dog.

We went to the backdoor and I saw there was a kitchen light on but no movement. Thick curtains closed off the basement but light shone through and there was movement.

I crept up the stairs and tested the kitchen door. It was unlocked. I waved Nikolas up and whispered "When I go in the basement door you go in here, cover the stairwell. If he runs shot at his feet. If nothing, wait for me to call you."

He nodded and took position.

The basement door had 3 deadbolts. I considered my ability to pick all 3 without alerting Edward Blake but there was no way. I found a rock near a window well and walked back down the steps to the basement door and smashed the window open.

There was shouting and a scuffle as I reached and began flipping deadbolts. Something swiped my hand as I got the last I bit my lip, jerking my hand out to find a deep knife slice.

My gun had the silencer on so shot through the door and heard a yelp. I opened it, threw it wide, and stormed in.

I was stunned. It was an average basement from a home built in the 20's and remodeled in the 50's. Awkward remnant counters and cabinets, a washer, dryer, mechanical room, what looked like a bathroom, and hanging on the walls were implements of torture. In the middle was a bondage table, new and shiny, and on it was a very pretty brunette I took to be Eleanor Bain. She was bloodied, brutalized, and there were obvious signs of rape.

I saw red. My first shot had hit Blake in the shoulder. He looked disturbingly like a younger version of his father; tall, slim, darkly handsome features under long black hair. However his face was twisted into rage.

I didn't think, just squeezed the trigger twice. Once to his mid chest and once to his head. He had time to gasp and then he was dead on the floor, had his face blown away and one blue eye staring glassily up.

"Nikolas get down here!"

I'd dealt with enough terrified victims back in my days on the Chicago PD to know the gag was the last to go. I untied her feet from the leather restraints and she tried to kick me, screaming behind the gag.

I heard the sound of retching and Nikolas was doubled over by the body. Fuck, her blood was everywhere, his vomit, I was going to have to torch the place.

"That's Nikolas Meyers, I'm Marly Jackson. I'm a PI and I'm here to help you." She screamed like I'd threatened to sing Pat Boone. If only in real life knocking someone out worked like it did in the movies, I thought, and untied her left hand.

She reached for the gag and I clamped my hands over her screaming mouth ad yelled at Nikolas to get his as over there.

Suddenly he was there, smothering her, weeping, and I untangled myself and made my way around to her right hand.

They were embracing, weeping into the tangle of long hair, and in that moment I knew he truly loved her, and at long last his soul was just as broken as hers. A very human twinge of regret struck me and I averted my eyes, set on finding a blanket for her.

I found a large bath sheet in the bathroom and brought it. "Cover up, Ellie, it will help a little."

I left them and closed the door. No neighbors or wailing sirens, a good sign.

"Let's move upstairs, get out of this room."

Nikolas mutely nodded and swept Ellie into his arms. She was tall but painfully thin, and he barely struggled with her weight, following me up. I collected his gun from where it dropped at the base of the stairs and stuffed it in my pants.

The kitchen was decorated in poor bachelor chic, nothing matching, everything scarred and screaming salvation army. I found glasses and poured them waters, which Ellie gulped.

"Here's what is going to happen. No police. Your attacker is dead, our DNA is all over the place, so we're going to torch it. But first, as quickly as possible, Ellie you have to start from the beginning and tell me what happened."

She sat in a chair and Nikolas stood, pressed to her side. She hugged him like he was a life preserver and sniffled. Underneath the swelling, cuts, and yellow and purple bruises she was strikingly beautiful and her eyes wee deeply haunted.

"I had a fight with Nikolas and JuJu invited a new man to our ceremony. I'm a vampire," she said as casually as one admitted being protestant. I swung a chair around and sat on it backwards, nodding.

"We did the ceremony but then this guy Edward said he was my brother. He said he'd poked a hole in the condom and wanted me pregnant. My father believes there is a curse on us and it will continue as long as there is a female child born."

"What exactly is the curse?" I asked.

She squeezed Nikolas' hand. "The jewel in the center of the necklace was a gift from the estate of Catherine the Great to my family years ago. It came with a curse; we must add to it with every generation, one ruby for each firstborn, never failing, and as long as we possess it our family will have success. But whenever the first child is born and it is female, the women in the family will due a horrible death. If a male is firstborn it ends the curse."

"But your father is only child, isn't he?" I raised a brow.

She shook her head. "I had an aunt, she died when she was a teenager, just when my mother got pregnant. I-I think my f-father k-killed her."

I nodded and exchanged a worried glance with Nikolas. His sanity was shredding but enough was there he returned my look which cabled INSANE FAMILY, SELF-FULFILLINH PROPHECY loud and clear.

"So Edward bragged he could make a male child. He said my father was going to kill me. My father killed my-" she broke then, sobbing. I found paper towels and cursed the DNA flowing everywhere. Two rooms to wipe, this was not going to be easy.

"You have to keep going. I know it's tough, but Ellie, you have to."

"He killed my mother when I was born! He had this cabin and he did things there, bad things. He took me there all the time as a kid and he- he hurt me, said to clear the sin."

"So Edward drops this bomb and?"

"I decided to run. I was angry, broke into the store and took the necklace my father loves so much. When I saw he'd put a new setting in, I knew Edward was telling the truth." She drew in a long breath of air and asked for more water.

I poured it and slammed it down on the table. "Finish the story so we can get the fuck out of dodge."

"Kraven, he's my- was my friend. He said he'd help me fence it and get out of town. B-but when I went to his place I saw a number he'd written, and I knew he was working for my father. So I asked him to come to the cabin with me."

That would have been when Bain called me. Made sense; his daughter had gone missing and the one man she'd turn to for help, and ostensibly a fix, was in her father's pocket. Given the time of Kraven's death, or what I estimated, this was when Bain had brought me in. He'd lost his inside man.

"I just wanted a fix, but Kraven wanted me to do things. I'd told him what my father had done and he wanted to act it out. I lost it, and I- k-k-k..."

Nikolas squeezed her. "We know, you don't have to say it."

"He told me about this fence, so I sent her the necklace."

"She's a friend of a friend. It's okay," I said hastily, warning Nikolas with my eyes not to mention that her father had the necklace once more.

"I got to thinking the curse was real, I was so strung out. I went looking for a fix and JuJu agreed to meet me Friday night. When I showed up she was dead and Edward was there. He- he said he'd met with our father and had an agreement. He brought me here and he...he..."

"We know," Nikolas said again. "You don't have to say any more."

"He took the baby. That and more, oh, god!" she began sobbing again and I stood, gathering things.

"I'm going to find a coat or something for her. Stay with her."

In the front closet I found a trench coat and brought it back. "Put this on. Nikolas, get the car, pull it into the alleyway three houses down from here. I'll be out in ten. If you hear sirens just go without me. Take her here." I pulled my notebook and pen from my suit jacket and jotted an address. "Give him my name. He's a doctor, a good one, and he won't report this. Then get your money and disappear."

He forced her to her feet and bundled her in the coat. "Bain has to die."

"Yes, yes he does." I was sickened. Bain was a psychotic pervert who had killed his own wife, raped his daughter, condoned his own son getting his half-sister pregnant, and then planned to murder her. I generally didn't kill for pleasure but I was willing to make an exception.

"Promise me you'll kill him, please!" Ellie snatched my hand when I went to grab to towel.

"Promise me when this is over you'll go into rehab, and both of you into therapy. Swear it and he's dead."

I was rewarded with two solemn nods and then they left.

I found ammonia and any surface we'd touched in the kitchen I sprayed. I took the towel and glasses down to the basement. I pulled out my gloves, snapped them on, and any bloodied instrument was thrown the table.

I found gas canisters and other flammable canisters. I'd never been good at chemistry but if I accidentally made napalm it would only help.

I soaked the table and then led a trail towards the water heater and furnace. I led another trail to the kitchen and turned the gas oven and stovetop on high.

Another couple of minutes passed until I heard my car rumble past then I lit a match, dropped it to the table, and ran out the back.

I cleared the back fence as the bondage table went up in a whoosh and sprinted for the car. Jumping in I wished I could stay to make sure it all went up, but at least the most damning was burning.

"Where to?"

I gave Nikolas directions to the good doctor, pulled out a pack, passed cigarettes all around, lit one, and pondered how best to commit premeditated murder.

Finally, Finn would come in handy.

***

Finn gave me one glance and shut whatever wisecrack he'd been ready to make. His home was quite posh and here he dressed better than I was used to. I realized he wore the cheap t-shits and jeans for me. In the midst of all the ugliness I smiled.

"This is in no way shape or form a come on but you look like you need a shower and a strong drink. You know the way, I'll bring you a drink, no hanky-panky."

I nodded and pulled off my guns, holster, and jacket in the hall. I was numb on the outside but it was a thin shell covering rage, disgust, and revulsion. I worried I'd crack and couldn't think of anything but getting the filth off me.

I turned the shower on high and stepped in. Finn parted the curtain but only his hand came through, handing me an ornate highball glass filled with Jamesons. I mumbled thanks and shotgunned it, and stood under the water until it ran out and I was wrinkled.

I emerged to find a fluffy white bathrobe waiting and wrapped it around me, a sinfully soft towel in my hair.

It was late, past midnight. The doctor had taken a while then getting the wounded couple to the airport and making sure we weren't followed. I'd borrowed a car for that, stealing it, hotwiring it, and had returned it to where I had found it.

"We found Ellie. She's safe, and I can't say any more." I announced when I emerged into the living room. Finn had a fire going and knelt beside it.

He glanced up, his shaggy hair loose, and the look was questioning and surprisingly innocent.