Descent (Devil Inside)

"So are you two on the same page," I asked. "Do you have a path forward?"

Ronnie looked at me, a little satisfied, but also a little angry. "You're a bastard, you know that? Shelly wasn't supposed to be a part of this."

I looked at her coolly. "I never said that. I just said I wouldn't hurt her. You've got your man. Maybe you have to share him with his daughter some, but you've got his daughter too. I don't see what you have to complain about."

She crossed her arms and stared at me, until Frank took her hand and said, "Ronnie. It will be okay. We'll work this out. And whatever else, Mona won't be a problem anymore."

Ronnie jerked upright at that. "So, Sir, what *does* happen to Mona now?"

I nudged Mona with both my mind and my foot until she stirred. "Up and at 'em, Mona," I said. "Time to end this."

She sat up groggily on the floor, looking around like she was looking for the demon. Shelly sat up as well and got up to move back to her father's lap. I stood over Mona and looked down.

"So here's how this is going to work going forward, Mona. Outside of the people in this room, nothing changes. You keep selling houses -- hell, you can keep fucking the boys at the country club if you want. But you're moving into Ronnie's little bedroom and she's moving into the master. You are not going to do anything to try to take any money out of the family. And you will be the family fucktoy going forward."

Ronnie leaned forward and grabbed Mona by the hair and pulled her forward. "I know the words of power, bitch. Step out of line and I'll be happy to use them on you. Now go get your shit out of our fucking bedroom and then go order takeout since I know you can't cook worth a damn. Yet."

Mona looked like she would appeal to her husband for help, but he was completely absorbed in kissing their daughter while mauling her perfect breasts. I think that was the point where she realized that it was all over, and she had lost.

I got dressed and went into the kitchen, looking for something to drink. Mona walked past me, carrying a load of clothes and shoes into her new bedroom. She was followed by Ronnie, who got me a glass for the beer I'd grabbed from the fridge. "So now what, el Diablo? Who's lives are you going to fuck with next?"

I grinned at her and said, "don't pretend that you didn't come out way to the good on this."

She nodded and looked at me, maybe with a little concern in her eyes. "But papi, I think you need to think about whether it's the demon or you that is doing this stuff. You say you're a good man -- and I think you want to be. But you've spent a lot of time and energy this week just fucking with people, for not a lot of reason. Just think about it, okay?"

I was touched a little by her concern, although I realized it was as much for my next potential... victims? Is that what they were? Maybe Ronnie was right that I had gone way overboard and, maybe even worse, had taken my eye off the research I was supposed to be focused on.

I promised her that I would take her warnings to heart and then she did the most surprising thing of all. She stepped towards me and threw her arms around me, hugging me tightly. "Take care of yourself, papi. Find what you are looking for and be the good man you want to be." With that, she turned and headed upstairs to her new bedroom and her new life.

I was a little stunned as I drove Mona's Land Rover back to the hotel. Ronnie had given me a lot to think about. I waved at the evening manager that I'd had fun with the night before but didn't bring her upstairs with me. Instead, I ordered pizza in and spent some time organizing my thoughts around the Codex that was the reason I was there.

A couple of hours and a couple thousand calories later, I had decided to head up to the mountains to clear my head and figure out my next move. So the next morning I checked out and rented a car for the drive to Asheville, with Ronnie's admonition ringing in my head.