Page 21 of Stronger Than Blood
After Mick left, I went back to the hotel and showered. Then I crashed out on the bed before calling Madam Bellamy. I told her what’d happened, and she actually gasped.
“You’re right. It’s transference. That’s rare, Rory, and it’s not safe either.”
“Yeah, it didn’t feel great.”
“You know the Bible even talks about it, about transferring an evil spirit between souls. Do you feel possessed? Can you feel something different?”
I paused and considered what she was asking. “No, not really. It’s more like for just an instant, I could see what happened, could feel the entity that was harassing him. It’s an evil dude, Madam, real nasty.”
She sighed. “Well, don’t touch him again, at least until I can get out there to meet him. Try to learn as much as you can about this spirit and what happened. I’m going to need to have a clear vision of what I’m working with before I try to take it on.”
“Really? You’re willing to come all the way here to help?”
“Rory, what a strange question. Of course, I’m willing to come and help. This is what I do… my calling. I thought you understood that.”
I chuckled. “Don’t get mad at me. It’s a long way from Memphis, and I didn’t expect you to come all this way just for me.”
“Aah, you’re not feeling worthy again. Well, that’s another conversation we can have when I get there. You know, dear Rory, you’re worth other people caring about you. We’ve had this discussion before.”
“Yes, Ma’am, and I do believe that.”
“Okay, well, I’m going to go have a beignet and some tea before I go put my feet up. You know I’m working my butt off without you here.”
I felt sad for a moment. I missed her too. She was like my auntie or something. I’d grown much closer to her than a boss or mentor relationship normally would’ve been. “I miss you too, Madam Bellamy.”
“Okay, prepare your man for my arrival this weekend. You do all the due diligence you can before I get there,” she reminded me.
My man, indeed, I thought, but one thing I’d learned from working a year with the woman was she only repeated herself when she wanted to ensure I understood the importance of something. So, I steeled myself to get as many answers as possible before she arrived.
The first line of defense was to search the local paper’s archives. Serial killer should be an easy search for a small town on this side of Chattanooga. I couldn’t imagine they’d had many of those through the years.
Chapter fourteen
Mick
“I’m fine, Granny,” I repeated for the fourth time. I wasn’t fine. Not even a little bit. Facing that fear again with such a vivid memory was anything but fine.
“Oh, I forgot to tell you, I’m gonna be working for Brenda. She’s hired me to bake for the fancy bakery in the hotel.”
Granny Ida studied me a moment before getting to the one thing I hadn’t told her. “I thought you had a job.”
I cleared my throat. “Well, Mrs. Milner and I came to an, um… well, you could say an impasse.”
“Oh, that bitch fired you?” she asked, and her face began to grow red.
“Now, Granny, don’t let this get you wound up. You’ll give yourself another stroke.”
“No, I’ll give that woman a piece of my mind, though.”
I laughed at how, even at her age, and bedridden after a stroke, she was still ready to go toe-to-toe with our community’s legendary Karen.
“I’m going to be so much better off working with Brenda. You know, that’s my dream job, and she approached me. I thinkthings are looking up for me, and I won’t be missing Mrs. Milner and her hateful attitude any, I can tell you that much.”
Granny huffed. “Well, you always were good at seeing the bright side of things. I guess I should just pray for that demon 'cause Lord knows her soul needs it.”
I couldn’t help but laugh and leaned over to kiss her on the forehead. “I’m going out to the house to work the garden tomorrow. Even got someone to volunteer to help me. Elias Kennedy’s cousin is in town and said he’s bored enough to volunteer for some hard, sweaty work.” When Granny burst into laughter, I immediately knew I’d stepped into it. “Not that kind of work. Jeez, Granny!”
“Hey, son, you’re the one who went there.”
