Postcards: Chapter 29!

12:45 p.m.

After lunch, I asked my dad if he would drive for the last leg of the trip.

“Sure, Sam. Take a rest for a few hours.” He suggested.

Kate sat in the back with my mom, who slept most of the morning. I sat in the front passenger seat and sent some important texts, in lieu of not wanting to talk to anyone at the moment. Kate read one of her books she bought, which took her mind off of things for a while.

I texted Chief Williams to let him know we were on our way to Vegas, some five hours away. I mentioned the help from Detective Wilcox after the kidnapping. I then texted Lydia Tate and told her about my incident last night in seeing how they killed Celeste. Tate replied with a request for me to call her later in the afternoon so we could discuss it, to which I happily agreed. Needless to say, I didn’t want my parents worrying about my last night. I closed my eyes and sensed Celeste’s energy and concentrated on speaking with her. To my surprise, my parents hadn’t said much about traveling with Celeste, given what they saw she’s capable of. Kate and I were used to it. I asked Celeste about the mine incident all those years ago.

“You’d think those bastards would have at least told me why, but they didn’t tell me anything besides what to do. Brother Pete held a gun to my head so it was clear I was going to die either way. I just had to choose. Didn’t matter which one I chose if the outcome was my death,” Celeste said. “Come to think of it, I don’t think Pete had the courage to pull the trigger. That’s probably why he had Rhone light the fuse. And his cowardly ass ran for cover. Lily walked out.”

My mom turned to Kate, squinted her eyes and leaned to the right. “I thought I heard some whispering. Did you say anything Kate?”

Kate denied saying anything. “No, I thought you said something. I heard the whispering too. I couldn’t make it out though.” They both looked at me.

“What’s going on, Sam?” Mom asked.

I looked back, “Huh—sorry, I was talking to Celeste about her death. The whispers you heard were her talking.”

“Oh okay. You weren’t saying anything, Sam?” Mom asked.

“I’m talking to her with my mind,” I said, as he pointed to my head.

Mom shook her head and leaned back in confusion.

“It’s okay, Denise. We’re all still getting used to his gifts and powers,” Kate said.

“Maybe in this lifetime, I will,” Mom said. She took a drink of her soda.

Sorry about that, Celeste. I can’t imagine the horror you faced. Nothing I can say will ease your pain and anger. I am terribly sorry for what they did to you. You remind me of another one of their victims, Jill Sanders. She had the voice of an angel. Rhone switched a box of tea bags in her dad’s shopping cart when he wasn’t looking. That’s how Jill and her dad were murdered—poisoned, basically.

“That sounds like them. They’ll do anything their Master tells them to do, including hurting innocent people. That’s all I can remember really.” I had an inclination that Celeste remembered much more than she let on about. The last thing a spirit wants to relive is how they died, especially in a violent manner.

I didn’t ask her anything further. “Thank you for telling me all that. It was a big help. Celeste, I’m making the same promise I made to Jill Sanders, which is to find Pete and Lily and put them in jail.”

Celeste smiled at hearing my promise. “That’s the first time anyone has ever cared enough to do something about my murder. Every time I tried to tell anyone whose energy I was attracted to, I was ignored like I didn’t matter.”

“Our paths crossed for a reason, Celeste. I don’t question that reason. I just go with it,” I said. That’s all I could do. I didn’t ask for them to find me, let alone interact with me.

“You have no idea what that means to me, Detective Riley. To be seen. To be heard. All I want is to get justice. That’s only fair.” Celeste shook her head with a slight mix of both sadness and anger on her face.

She had a slight redemption in her soul. Maybe that’s all she needed to keep going? She was one tough cookie, I’ll say that. Most, including humans, would have given up by now. “We’re trying to do just that,” I said as I closed my eyes. I texted Kate that Celeste didn’t know why they killed her.

“We’ll find out soon, Sam,” Kate said.

I dozed off somewhere between Flagstaff and Las Vegas.

Dad woke me up about thirty minutes outside of Vegas when he stopped to get gas.

I brought up the GPS directions to Vegas for my dad, but he handed me the keys.

“Oh, no!!! We’re switching spots, Sam. You’re driving in Vegas traffic,” Dad said as he got out of the truck and went inside with my mom.

“Sure, Dad.” I decided to call Lydia later in the evening when we settled into our hotel room.

Ten minutes later, I got back on the Interstate. “Vegas—final stop.”

Kate was back up front, and my parents sat in the back.

Forty-five minutes later, I braved the traffic and took the exit onto South Las Vegas Boulevard and drove down to the Bellagio Hotel & Casino. I pulled into the parking lot and found a great spot near the front entrance.

“Welcome to Las Vegas,” I said to Kate and my parents. “Viva Las Vegas!”

Jester parked a few spots away and quickly joined us.

7:10 p.m.

“Finally here,” Mom said.

“Before we get out to go check in, we need to decide if we want separate rooms, in case they have spies watching us or do we want one suite with two bedrooms and a separate room for Jester?” I asked.

“One suite with two rooms is better for us. We can watch over each other better. That other guy, he’s better off on another floor, and so are we,” Mom said adamantly.

I looked out Kate’s window and saw Jester getting his suitcases out of his trunk. I thought about what my mother said. I figured Jester could be the wild card and keep his distance from any spies. Walk among snakes without being bit. God only knows who Dockson and Rhone shared my picture with. Certainly, the Master.

“We’ll go with mom’s idea for safety. This is our OK-Corral and we’re the Earps and Jester is Doc Holliday.” I realized that was an unfair comparison to Doc but maybe Jester could prove his loyalty in the coming days. If ever there was a time we needed it, it was now!

My dad laughed at my analogy of the situation. “Good one, Sam!”

“Thanks Dad!” I paused and decided to go in alone to get a suite and a spare room for Jester. “Come to think of it. I’ll be right back. Everyone stay put.” I walked over to Jester and told him to wait until I returned with his room key. I went to the front desk and got a two-room suite and a smaller, cheaper room for Jester, through Saturday with the option of staying another night or two.

“What’s your policy on guest privacy?” I showed Monica, the hotel clerk, my badge and told her that I was in Las Vegas for official police business.

“Absolutely. It’s hotel policy to keep guests’ information confidential, unless it’s important, such as inquiries from law enforcement.”

“Good. We need as much secrecy as possible for obvious reasons. It’s a matter of life or death.”

“I understand, Sir,” Monica declared, handing me my room key cards and receipt. “If you want, I can check you in under a false name for privacy.”

“You can do that here?” I asked curiously.

“Absolutely. We did that for a famous singer/songwriter last week in fact.”

“You don’t say?” I smiled at Monica. “Yeah, please do.” I gave Monica my alter ego’s name.

I put the four room keys in my left pocket and Jester’s keys in his right pocket. “Thank you so much, Monica. You’ve been such a great help.”

“You’re welcome Mr. Riley. My pleasure!”

“You have a nice evening, Monica.”

I took a short walk through the lobby and looked at the signs above to find out where everything was in the Bellagio. I overcame his excitement of being in such a luxurious and famous hotel and made my way back to my truck to get everyone to their rooms for the evening.

“Here’s your keys, Mac. Room 509.” I said, handing him his card.

“We’re in a suite upstairs. That’s all I can tell you right now. We have to be covert and pretend like we’re spies.”

“That’s a good idea, Mr. Riley. Thanks for the room,” Jester said.

“Meet us in the lobby at 8 for dinner.” I told Jester to go on ahead to his room to avoid suspicion.

“Alright.” Jester shook his head and walked to his room.

I hit the driver’s side of his truck, and everyone got out. I pulled the luggage out of the back and sat it on the ground. I locked up the truck when everyone got their bags and belongings out.

We slowly made our way through the lobby, admiring the decorum and elegance. We took the elevator to our suite and settled in for the night.

“Not bad,” Dad said. “Hope the food is as good as the scenery.”

“This is gorgeous. A real classy place,” Mom said.

Kate was all smiles as she looked around the room. “Absolutely beautiful! Better than the other hotels.

I brought our bags into the room and sat them on the bench at the foot of the bed. Kate and I settled in before going to dinner at one of the restaurants downstairs. I admired the view of the strip from the window. “What an incredible view, Kate!”

Kate joined me to see the view. “Yes, it is. I’m glad we get to share this moment, Sam. Another first for us.”

I hugged her as we enjoyed looking out the window. “How about dinner?”

“In a bit. Let’s just enjoy this moment,” Kate said.

My parents were busy in the other room putting their clothes up and plugging in their chargers. Finding their favorite channels on the TV. Setting up home away from home.

I changed from casual clothes to a purple dress shirt and black dress pants. “Alright, crew, dinner awaits. We’ll decide when we see all the options downstairs,” I said, as I put on my gray coat.

Jester saw us as we got off the elevator.

“Mac, let’s eat, man!” I said as I waved him over.

“Evening all,” Jester said.

“Evening, Mr. Jester,” Dad said.

“So, what sounds good? Seafood? The Buffet?” I asked.

“Doesn’t matter to me,” Kate said.

“You pick, Sam. You’re running the show,” Dad said.

“Prime Steakhouse it is,” I declared.

When I finished eating the best steak I’ve ever eaten, I placed my napkin over the T-bone steak bone on my plate and pushed it forward. “Thanks for coming with us to Las Vegas. I know it hasn’t been easy, but I do appreciate everyone sitting at this table. Tomorrow, we start doing our work before that damn dinner they want me to attend. I don’t want to go, but it was kind of my idea–jokingly, of course. It’s worth a shot to get the upper hand on them as they try to keep their upper hand against me. Besides, they want me, not any of you. If I don’t, I risk jeopardizing your safety and wellbeing.”

“That’s only fair, Mr. Riley. I’m here to help in any way I can.”

“Thank you, Mac. I’ll let you know tomorrow what we need to do. We’re here for a few days so we have time. We need to be ready in case anything happens, and I know it will.”

After dinner, everyone went back to the suite. After Jester got off the elevator, I got a sudden headache and was caught in another one of the spells as I call them. I froze against the elevator wall and looked to my left, at my mom.

“Sam, are you okay,” Mom asked.

Instead of answering my mother, I rubbed my head and looked at the wall.

“Not again,” Kate said as she grabbed my hand. “Sam, can you hear me?”

“Again?” Mom asked.

I started breathing heavy sighs and sounds, as I tensed up my neck muscles for about a minute. I saw visions of a body on the ground, surrounded by a couch and a coffee table. Someone with a black glove raised a hand up and cut off a thumb. I noticed the body didn’t move when the thumb was cut off. “George!” I said, in a muffled tone. I then saw the gloved hand open a small plastic bag and put the thumb inside. Betsy Riddle stood up and saw her reflection in the mirror but paused when she noticed something off about her appearance. The vision ended there in darkness as I came too and was back in the elevator with my parents and Kate.

Kate told my parents that I had one the night before in Albuquerque.

“Oh, really? Why didn’t you tell us, boy?” Dad blurted out.

Mom tugged my shoulders and called my name again. “Sam, what’s going on?”

Dad shook me out of the spell as I caught my breath and coughed.

“Stop, stop! I’m okay,” I said.

“What the hell was that, Sam? Your eyes almost rolled into the back of your head,” Mom asked.

I looked around at my parents and Kate. “Sorry you had to see that. I didn’t want anyone to worry. That’s why I didn’t tell you,” I said to my mom.

“Kate, you should have told us,” Mom said.

“I know I should have.” Kate shook her head. “Sam told me not to say anything.”

“Don’t blame her for this. I’m the one who kept it quiet for a reason, mom,” I said.

“What did you see this time?” Kate asked.

“Betsy Riddle cutting off George Nettles’ thumb. She looked in the mirror like she saw someone else, looking at her. That’s all I saw,” I said.

I caught my breath and told my parents I needed fresh air.

Mom gave me a big hug. “You want us to go with you, Sam?”

“No, Mom. I’m okay now. You two go on up to the suite and we’ll be up in a little while.”

“Okay, Sam. You call us if you need us,” Dad said with a serious look on his face. My parents got off the elevator and went back to the suite.

“We’ll see you later,” I said.

“I’m really worried about him, Gerald,” Mom said, stopping in the middle of the hallway.

“I am too, Denise, but what can we do? He’s going to do what he needs to do. We just have to be there for him. He’s our son, above all else.”

“I know. That’s what worries me,” Mom said. She looked back at the elevator and then at my dad. “Come on, Gerald. We need some fresh air too.”

“What are we doing, Denise?”

“We’ll take the stairs to another floor and get on the elevator,” Mom said.