The Siege Read online

  “What do you remember?”

  Burt’s story was corroborated by what Ted had shown her on the tape yesterday, until the dining room incident. “I was investigating the garage with Dave and… He and I were looking at… I think Ted…” his voice trailed off. He moved his hand over his face as if it was a crystal ball and he could conjure up the lost memories.

  “Do you remember having an argument with me?” Mike asked.

  “No.”

  Mia took off a glove and asked him, “Remember yesterday as much as you can.” She placed her bare hand on Burt’s arm. After a few minutes, tears sprang to her eyes, but still she hung on.

  Mike watched the visible emotional pain Mia was experiencing and moved to stop her. “Mia, stop.”

  She looked at Mike briefly with such deep sadness that his heart broke. She let go of Burt’s arm and asked him, “Do you remember calling Beth?”

  “Why would I call her?”

  “To replace me. The two of you had a lot of fun on the phone discussing personal things you and I shared, Burt.”

  “Mia, I would never…” Burt looked from Mia to Mike and repeated, “Mike, you know me, I have never talked about Mia and my private times to you or anyone. I’m a gentleman.”

  “Do you remember calling her?” Mike asked.

  “No. Beth and I haven’t talked since I fired her. Why would I be replacing Mia? She’s pregnant not dead.”

  Mia put her glove on. “Burt, I don’t know what’s going on. But we’ve got to sew up this investigation first. Can you trust me and Mike with the Dawsons?”

  “I guess I have to. I’m in no shape at the moment.”

  “You can watch in the command center. I’ll have Ted put Jake in charge there, and he’ll take the camera in. Excuse me while I set this up.”

  Burt watched her walk away. He turned to Mike and found he had no words to communicate with.

  “I don’t think you have been yourself for quite some time,” Mike said.

  “Possessed?” Burt asked.

  “No. Are you still going to the shrink?”

  “Can’t afford it.”

  “We have insurance.”

  “Can’t afford the co-pay.”

  “We make enough. What have you been doing with your money?”

  Burt shrugged. “Just eating out, fast food mostly. I bought a few art supplies. I’ve been working on a new comic book.”

  “I’ll have a look at your finances after this. You need help. Perhaps Ma can subsidize you for a while. You can pay her back.”

  “I don’t want to… Shit, it’s coming back to me.”

  “Our argument?”

  “No, the phone call with Beth. Oh my god, what have I done?” Burt paled.

  “Tell me.”

  “I rehired her; she’s on the way with some sensitive called Heinz.”

  “I’ll handle this. Give me your phone.”

  Burt handed it over. Mike ran through the recent calls and dialed Beth’s number. She picked up right away.

  “Burt, I’ve just woken up. I haven’t had a chance to talk to Heinz yet.”

  “Beth, this is Mike. Burt’s had a breakdown of some kind. He’s no longer able to make decisions for PEEPs or himself.”

  “He sounded fine on the phone last night,” she argued.

  “Burt can’t hire without full board approval.”

  “Since when?”

  “Since I bought him out. I’m sorry this has happened. I’ll make it up to you, Beth.”

  “You better. You fucking people have ruined my life,” she spat. “That whore Mia is on my list. Are you fucking her now too?”

  Mike steadied himself. “I’ll have our lawyer call you, Beth.” He discontinued the call and pocketed Burt’s phone.

  Mia came back. She looked at Mike and asked, “What?”

  “I’ll tell you later.”

  “Okay, Burt, Ted’s got it all set up. Come with me.”

  Burt nodded and followed her.

  Mike watched them leave a moment before walking back over to Alan. “Sorry about that. We have some internal problems to sort out.”

  “Anything I can do to help?”

  “I think so. Let’s sit down after, and I’ll explain the whole thing. Right now, we have a maid to comfort, a family to heal, and an investigation to finish.”

  “Just your ordinary PEEPs day,” Alan said.

  “I wish. I could use a dose of ordinary right now,” Mike confided.

  ~

  Alan finished explaining to Carlotta Charlemagne the non-disclosure agreement she signed. He put his explanation in plain English, and when she had a little trouble, he spoke to her in Italian. She fired back questions, and he answered her slowly and completely.

  She looked at the Dawsons who were sitting across from her and asked, “This man, this lawyer, says that I can talk to you about your family.”

  “Yes,” Rosemary said. “You always could. I’m sorry if there was a misunderstanding. Douglas and I were only thinking of outside-the-house gossip. You see, before you came to us, we had a maid that told some very personal things to a newspaper reporter, and it hurt us deeply,” she explained.

  “I never would do that,” CC assured her. “I just want to help.”

  “We consider you one of the family, CC,” Rosemary assured her.

  Douglas Dawson looked at Mike and asked, “I’m glad we have this straightened up, but what does this have to do with our paranormal problem?”

  “I’m going to have my associate Mia Martin explain this to you. Mia?”

  Ted focused the camera in on his wife. He enjoyed the new roundness of her face. When she smiled, her dimples deepened, and if possible, she was more beautiful than the first day they met.

  “The paranormal entities that inhabited your home fall under the category of poltergeists. These poltergeists are attracted by extreme emotions. This is why paranormal investigators look at adolescent children first when searching out a source for these entities. In this case, it was coming from your loyal, loving maid. Carlotta loves your family so deeply that it was hurting her when she couldn’t enlighten you when you were not communicating with each other. She is of the old school where she not only takes care of your things but of you too. Carlotta didn’t want to break the agreement she signed by discussing the problems with each of you, so she suffered in silence. Her emotions attracted poltergeists, and they, in their odd destructive way, were trying to tell you what was going on. We won’t get into the personal aspect on film, and I suggest you all sit down and let Carlotta set you straight on a few things. What I can assure you is that the poltergeists are gone. Your home is free of these entities.”

  “So the house isn’t haunted anymore?” Rosemary asked.

  “Not by poltergeists,” Mia confirmed.

  Douglas picked up on Mia’s evasion and asked, “Is it haunted by something else?”

  “In my opinion, it is haunted by good memories, love and trust.”

  ~

  Mike waited until the Dawsons left the room with Carlotta before he said, “I like what you told the Dawsons.”

  Mia lifted an eyebrow.

  “The part about their house being haunted by good memories, love and trust,” he reminded her.

  “I guess I was envious. Trust is a hard thing to find. I hope they keep CC on. Some people would walk away from that kind of devotion without looking back.”

  “But I don’t get that from Douglas and Rosemary. They’re special people.”

  “I don’t know them as well as you, so I’ll take your word for it.”

  Alan shuffled his papers and slid them into his briefcase. “I hate to speak Italian and run, but I’ve got a deposition in an hour, and the traffic into town is unpredictable.”

  Mike shook his hand. “Send us a bill. It’s good seeing you. Don’t be a stranger.”

  Mia walked over and hugged Alan.

  He looked down at her and said, “You take good care of yourself.”
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br />   “I will,” she said.

  Ted cleared his throat.

  “Ted will be there to make sure I do,” she amended.

  Alan laughed.

  After he left, Ted leaned in and said, “Jake, no doubt, is driving Burt nuts. I think we have some housework of our own to attend to.”

  The three walked over to the command post. Burt stood there watching them; his face was devoid of emotion.

  “Is this good Burt or bad Burt?” Mia whispered.

  Ted climbed in and started to back up the digital camera feed. He disengaged Jake and suggested, “Burt, why don’t you go home, and I’ll clean up. I think we need to have a PEEPs meeting soon.”

  “Jake showed me the feed from yesterday,” he said quietly. “That’s not me there. I mean it’s me but not me.”

  “Come on, buddy,” Mike said from behind Mia. “I’ll take you home. Mia, can you drive Burt’s car to his place?”

  “I’ve never met a vehicle I couldn’t drive,” Mia said.

  “Okay then, let’s button this one up and collect the check,” Mike said. “Burt, are you up for this final meeting?”

  “I guess. If I go off topic, stamp on my foot.”

  “Hell, I’ll punch you in the jaw, just like I did Dave.”

  “You punched Dave?” Mia asked stunned.

  “The little shit deserved it. He kept picking on Cid.”

  “Cid can take care of himself,” she stated.

  “That’s what I was worried about so I got between the two, and that’s when the little snot called me old man. I just tapped him on the jaw to remind him that old men were dangerous. Lesson learned,” Mike said. “Come on, Burt, we have people waiting.”

  Mia let them leave. She knew Dave was a challenge, but she didn’t think that punching him was necessarily the right approach. She would talk to the kid and see if she could help him round off some sharp edges when she got back home.

  Ted finished packing up the camera and other devices they had used. He dropped down beside Mia and took her hands. “I know Burt hurt you, but I think there’s something wrong with him. If it’s not possession, it’s a personality disorder. Remember, he barely survived the attack at the hollow…”

  “When are we going to stop making excuses for him? You and I have certainly taken it on the chin enough times. Speaking of, did you know Mike punched Dave last night?”

  “Cid mentioned something this morning on the phone. You were talking to Alan at the time so I didn’t have a chance to tell you about it.”

  “Is he alright?”

  “Cid says he came around right away…”

  “He was knocked out?”

  “Glass jaw, I believe. That’s it. I’ve been searching for a nickname for Dave - I have it now, Glass Jaw.”

  “Do you think it’s wise to remind him of Mike’s brutality?”

  “Yes. I think the kid has to learn to censor himself. What if he mouths off to someone dangerous. Like you for instance.”

  Mia laughed.

  “You’d kill him. Take out your rock salt and pepper his behind.”

  “Nah, I believe in the power of citrus to make my point.”

  “Not the…”

  “Yes, the grapefruit,” Mia said deadpan.

  ~

  Dave walked up the hill looking for Murphy. The sky was cloudy, and although it looked like it would soon dump a lot of snow on them, the forecast was only for flurries. Still, it was cold. Dave pulled his Elmer Fudd cap down over his ears. He wished he had chosen to wear the hiking boots Ted had given him instead of the Converse that did nothing but ask the cold wind to freeze his toes. “Come on, I know you’re up here somewhere,” he complained.

  Maggie barked on the other side of the hill.

  “That’s got to be where the bastard is hiding out,” Dave said aloud.

  “Bastard?” Murphy asked from behind him. “Who are you calling a bastard?”

  “You, I ain’t met your ma. As far as I know, she wasn’t married,” Dave sassed.

  “Disrespectful little man, you better watch out who you are insulting,” Murphy growled at him.

  “Hey, I’m just being friendly. This is how my friends and I talk to each other. They know I don’t mean it as much as they mean their insults. Get used to it. It’s how I roll.”

  “You’re going to be pretty unpopular here.”

  “I’m leaving as soon as Mia gets back. I’m not cut out for this crap. I almost got tossed out a window. If it wasn’t for you and Ted, I’d be dead.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  “I don’t remember thanking you,” Dave sniped.

  Murphy looked at the kid and saw a bit of Mia in him, the bit that was brought out by constant ridicule by your peer group. He chose, instead of walking away and leaving the sensitive to stew on his own, to ignore the obnoxiousness and try to root out what was bothering the kid. “You were looking for me,” he led.

  “Oh yeah, Ted called, and they wrapped the investigation. He wanted to know if you were up for cutting some evergreens to make some garlands for the front of the farmhouse. Cid’s gone out for some outdoor lights. I mean, I think it’s a waste; no one drives by to see the house. Why bother?”

  “Mia will see it. That’s why.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “You make your house nice for the people inside of it, not to show off to the neighbors. Christmas is about families, and we’re Mia’s family. You too, if you stay.”

  “My ma is going to her sister’s in Florida for Christmas week. I was going to have the house to myself, invite Richie over and marathon a few video games.”

  “Give Richie my best,” Murphy said formally.

  “You’re a wicked dude, Murphy.”

  Murphy didn’t understand how being courteous was being wicked, but he left the jargon of his youth nearly a century and a half ago. Catching up to this era’s slang was too much trouble. Plus, it kept changing. Bad was good, now it’s bad again. Fat is good, but calling someone fat is bad. Brilliant meant smart and lame, depending on your tone. He decided it was best just to keep his mouth shut. Actions spoke louder than words, and his axe spoke loudest of all.

  Murphy turned to leave.

  Dave didn’t want to go back to the house and hang around Saint Cid, but he was lonely. “You want some help?”

  Murphy turned around and looked at the boy. “Boots, gloves, twine and sled.”

  “Sled? There’s no snow on the ground,” Dave pointed out.

  Murphy looked at the sky and said, “There will be, now get.”

  Dave took off running down the hill.

  Maggie walked up to Murphy and looked from him to Dave and back again.

  “He needs a firm hand, girl. He’s a bastard.”

  ~

  Cid watched Dave’s progression up the hillside carrying the sled. He’d insisted the boy take his backpack which Cid filled with twine, shears and a thermos of hot coffee. When Dave asked why, he said, “Murphy doesn’t feel the cold or get fatigued. This will help you keep up with him.” Dave seemed to accept this. He didn’t thank Cid; that wouldn’t have occurred to him.

  Cid was of a split mind when it came to Dave. Sure, the kid was smart and had a lot of raw potential, but he was far from likable. Burt had wanted a substitute for Mia, and she and Ted wanted to have a chance to try and save the kid, so they invited the former stoner into their lives. He hoped that all concerned didn’t rue the day.

  “So lost…”

  Cid turned around. He thought he heard someone speaking in the barn. He walked out of his apartment and stopped on the top landing to listen.

  “So lost, so lost...”

  The words were barely perceptible. Cid’s overdeveloped hearing skills, from years of near blindness, picked up the words. He moved quickly down the stairs and grabbed the parabolic dish and started the recorder.

  “They came for me, but I was not there, so lost…”

  Cid held onto the dish and followed i
t to where the sound was the loudest. He stopped and put on the spectrum glasses he still carried in his pocket. They hadn’t illuminated the poltergeists, but he found that it made seeing Murphy a bit easier. He looked around him and saw a thick column of mist. It seemed to generate from a crack in the floor.

  He watched the mist waver, and then it dissipated. He stooped down and touched the crack in the floor. It didn’t feel any different than the cement around it. He put his ear to it, but there was nothing to hear.

  Cid got up and put away the parabolic dish, taking the recorder with him into the office. He loaded the recording into Ted’s new program to take out the extra sound of the heating system and other electrical noise. Once he felt he had cleared enough of the noise away, he played it again.

  “Lost, so lost. Who wakes me from my nothing? Who walks upon my grave? Who ignores me when I call? Who are you, and who am I? I’m lost, so lost…”

  Mia stood inside the door listening. She heard the recording on her way from the truck to the house and had come in quietly, worried that the spirit had gained momentum while she was gone. She looked over at Cid who had his back to her with headphones on. She cleared her voice.

  Cid jumped in his chair.

  “Sorry, I was trying to prevent that but…”

  Cid put his hand on his heart. “I think I’ve had a heart attack.”

  Mia rushed over. “Sorry, so sorry,” she said again. “I just heard the voice and thought I’d sneak up on it.”

  “You’ve heard this before?”

  “I think it’s a he, and he visited me in the barn late last night when I was raiding your breadbox,” she explained. “I take it he’s come back.”

  “I heard a voice, you know me, big ears, and I followed it. I grabbed the dish and got this recording of it before it disappeared.”

  “How much did it manifest?”

  “Just a column of mist, and it had a hard time holding that together.”

  “Did Murphy see it?”

  “No, he’s out in the woods cutting evergreens with Dave.”

  Mia leaned back on her heels, surprised. “Dave’s working?”

  “He’s with Murphy, that’s all I know. Tell me about what you heard and saw.”