Page 40 of You Can Make Me (Carnival of Mysteries #28)

Twenty-Two

C ooper

Dane blew out a breath and let his fingers hover over the planchette. “What do we need to know? What do we need to end this?”

“Where they took Denny,” Kal said.

Walter reported in that they’d lost the signal on the panic button, but that it hadn’t traveled far. An officer was going to see what he could find at the spot where the signal dropped.

“We have to stop Evans once and for all,” Dane said.

The two men looked to me, and I blanched. “I…yes, of course.”

“Okay. Focus on the questions. Whatever happens, we stay together.”

I nodded, but as our fingers lowered toward the planchette, several thoughts shot across my mind like a comet.

Why is this happening? Where did it all begin? Why does Evans want the carnival so badly?

I hadn’t thought to ask the men how it would be different than my dreams. There wasn’t time.

I felt the plastic under my fingers and a sensation as though I’d stepped off a roller coaster onto steady ground.

A gravel parking lot.

Mom holding my hand.

The sun so bright I have to cover my eyes.

I’m bouncing on my toes and pulling on her fingers. “Please, Mom? Please, I wanna go.”

“Frank,” she calls to Dad as I tug her from the car.

“I’m coming, I’m coming.”

Dad puts the sun visor in the windshield of his prized Cadillac, combs his hair in the rearview, and then climbs out.

I take both their hands, but I don’t swing anymore. Instead, I do a twisty step that kicks up dust.

“This place is…interesting.” Mom covers her eyes and looks around. “Kinda run-down, don’t you think?”

“It’ll be great, Mom. I bet they have trapeze artists and games. Can I play games, Dad?”

Mom leads me to the gate, and I realize there’s not that many people out for a Saturday afternoon in April. I wonder why.

Dad gets the tickets for us and steps behind me, giving me a little nudge.

“All right, son. Hand the man your ticket.”

I take the ticket from Dad, and when I turn back, there’s a man standing at the gate. He has dark hair, rich tan skin, and he’s wearing a white shirt and a top hat, and a cape! He smiles at me, and his eyes…they’re majestic. So many colors.

He takes off his hat and bows to me, and it takes my breath away. He holds out his hat. “Tickets, please.”

But then an ominous cloud passes over, and his eyes go dark.

I reach out to drop mine into the hat, but he pulls it back.

“This place is not for you.”

My mother gasps. She yanks me back.

And I see red.

“Cooper, your nose! Here, Frank, hand me your handkerchief.” Mom frowns at the man while Dad shoves the cloth to my face and forces my head back. I choke and sputter as the blood runs down my throat. So much blood.

The man stands to his full height and gives me a sad smile, holding up his hand to wave goodbye.

Mom leads me back to the car, and I try desperately to keep looking for the man. Why send me away? I’ll stop bleeding and then I can come play, right? Why can’t I go inside?

We get to the car and Mom grabs some wet wipes from the back seat to clean me up. Dad huffs and plops into the driver’s seat. He turns on the radio—the news station, of course, he’s always gotta know what’s on the news—then he curses.

“Dammit. Deb, I have to get to the studio. Get Cooper in the car, please. This is important.”

She protests but does as he says, and I can’t tear my gaze away from the man.

“What? Frank, we need to get Cooper home. He’s bled all over his clothes.”

The view before me is yanked back like a rubber band and when it snaps back into place, I’m sitting at Granddad’s. We’re watching Dad’s news program and there are people rioting in the streets of LA.

“Why are they so angry, Granddad?”

He puts his arm around me and tucks me into his side. My nose isn’t bleeding anymore, so I can sit on the white couch in Grandma’s living room. She gave me clean clothes when we got to her house.

“Do you remember seeing the news a while back when a man named Rodney King was beaten by several police officers?”

“I do remember. Dad said it was important that everyone see the video many times or else we’ll forget his name and this’ll keep happening.”

“Precisely. And today, those men from the video received the verdict of their case in court. They were found not guilty.”

I frown up at Granddad. Now, I know he knows everything. He’s the smartest man in the world and everyone looks to him for the truth. “But…I saw it. We all saw it. We saw the video. They hurt that man. How can they be not guilty if we all saw it?”

Granddad lets out a big sigh and pulls me closer, pressing a kiss to my head.

“Sometimes the courts get it wrong. Sometimes two people see the same thing and each believe it’s something different. The truth is right there in front of us, but what we see is tainted by our beliefs and our experiences.”

“But why?”

“Well, Coop. Some people see Rodney King and they see a man who has done bad things in his past. Those people think he deserved what happened to him. Other people see a man who has made mistakes, a human being, and believe that no one deserves to be beaten, that it’s not the job of the police to beat people.

” He leaned forward and drank from a glass of wine.

Mom and Grandma sit at the kitchen table whispering to each other, but my focus is glued to the TV.

People run through the streets with TVs and boxes from stores, they break windows, they set things on fire, and I don’t understand.

If they’re angry, why are they hurting each other? Hurting the stores?

Granddad swears loudly and leans toward the TV.

“Frank, maybe Cooper shouldn’t see this.”

“Cooper needs to see this,” he snaps at Grandma.

“Cooper needs to know the truth. He needs to witness the world around him and learn to understand it.” He turns my chin so I’m looking at him.

“Honey, it’s our job to tell the truth. Always.

People do confusing things, they hurt each other, they hurt themselves, but if we ever hope to make this world a better place, some of us must make the choice to witness.

To share those stories. I have made that choice.

Your father…well, he helps others tell the truth on TV by being in charge of what happens behind the camera.

But you have always asked why. You’ve always asked the hard questions, and I know in your heart that you’re like me.

A witness. A truthseeker. That is your purpose. ”

“His purpose,” Mom says, raising her eyebrow at Granddad, “is to be a kid. To do kid things. If he decides when he grows up that he wants to be a journalist, you can tell him all this. But you’re not the one who holds him when he has night terrors and screams until his throat is raw.

You want to teach him something? Teach him how to stand up to bullies.

They terrorize him every day and the school can’t seem to stop it. He needs ? —”

“They bully him because he knows the truth. He sees who they are and they can’t handle it.

Cooper, you are stronger than you know. Sometimes life is going to be really, really hard, but we endure because we have a purpose.

Got it? Now, you come by tomorrow and I’ll invite Sensei Hernandez to come over.

You liked learning from him, didn’t you? ”

I clapped my hands together. “I did! I want to go to his school. When can I start?”

Granddad kisses the top of my head again, and when I look into his eyes, they’re red like he’s been crying.

“Let’s ask him tomorrow. Deb, why don’t you tuck him in upstairs. He can stay here tonight. I don’t see Frank coming home for a long while.”

She sighs and nods. “Okay, kiddo. Up you go.”

I hug Granddad, and as I stand, my attention is caught once more by the scene on the television. A group of men pulls a truck driver out of his cab and onto the ground. They kick him and beat him and there’s blood ? —

“Come on, Coop. You’ve had a big day.”

I say good night to my grandparents and follow Mom up the stairs. I look back, and the scene is pulled away once more like a rubber band.

When it snaps back, it’s the carnival again, but it’s nighttime…and there’s one man standing at the gate.

“So good to meet you, Cooper Harris. Not quite face-to-face, but close enough for now.”

A scent hits me in the face so strong it knocks me back a step.

Death.

He’s a deathbringer, an evildoer, and he shall not pass.

“Virgil Evans.”

He smiles, but the act looks painful. He’s not much more than a skeleton, his skin pulled tight over his bones. He’s not at all like the pictures I’ve seen of him. In the flesh, he’s nowhere near as menacing as he was in my dreams.

He’s a weak old man with not much time left.

“You’re right, Truthseeker. Time is of the essence, and you are going to get me to this carnival or people you love are going to die. I know, so cliché, but desperate times call for desperate measures.”

“If you have Denny, how are you here?”

“How are you here if you’re locked in that house? It’s all in the mind, and you have an active one, yes you do. I’ve enjoyed visiting yours, but now it’s time to meet in the flesh.”

“Where?”

He shrugs and gazes longingly at the tents a short distance away.

“Right here, of course. You’ll get me to the carnival.

Your friends can bring you. The three of you are tied by a common magic, and you’ll use it to get here.

Once you’re at the carnival in the waking, I’ll find you.

They will take me; I’ll make them an offer they can’t refuse.

” He chuckles. “I’ve wanted to use that line for so long. Cheesy, huh?”

“You have to let Denny go.”

The light dims in his dark eyes. “He was a gift to an old friend. A debt I had to settle. ’Fraid I have no control ? —”

“Bullshit. He’s mine, and if you don’t set him free, there’s no way I’m going to take you anywhere.”

“Oh, but you will. You have much more to lose than I do. Your parents, your dear friend Samantha and her bundle of joy. Oh! Did I spoil the surprise?”

He cackles, and it makes my stomach turn. Sam? Could it be true?

“I’m near my expiry date, see,” he continues.

“But with every last ounce of energy I have, I will torture you and your friends—hello, Dane. Yes, I see you, too. You can’t find me this time, I’ve made sure of that.

But you know what I’m capable of, don’t you, my sweet?

It’s too late for me to finish what I started with you, but I’ll make all of you suffer unless you get me to the carnival.

“Your detective,” he says with a nod to Dane, “your rock star,” he adds, looking at Kal, “and everyone else you love. I’ve still got enough power stored in my psychic bank to wreak a little havoc before I go.”

“You can’t go to the carnival, man. They don’t want you.” Dane’s voice is shaky but he stands his ground.

“You leave that to me.”

“We’ll never reveal the carnival’s location to you,” Kal says. “Never. We are its protectors.”

Evans’ eyebrows raise at Kal’s pronouncement.“That your final answer?”

I look to my new friends, and I feel the pull toward them. They’re strong, pure, good. They need to be protected. It’s my duty, my purpose to seek the truth, to witness.

The carnival must be protected, or people just like them will be hurt.

That is the truth.

“It is.”

As the words leave me, my heart is ripped to shreds.

Denny, I’m sorry. I love you. I’ll find you if it’s the last thing I do.

“Well, then. You’ve made yourselves clear, and there will be consequences for denying me. Take a look.”

He gestures with his hand, and when I turn to look, we’re standing in front of Dane and Walter’s house.

The police are spread out in front of the place and Dax is back on the porch once again. They have their weapons trained on him.

“Detective Brown, drop the device!”

“Dax. Please, buddy. Don’t do this. Let’s talk.”

“Walter, I’m sorry. I am. I can’t resist him.”

Evans snickers. “This was quite a setup. I’ve collected some talented people along the way, and they possess skills for all occasions. For example, when you need to have a good old-fashioned smoke out.”

He points to Dax, and I see that there’s a wire leading from Dax’s hand to the bushes in front of the house. In his other hand…

Dax holds a dead man’s switch.

“I’m sorry,” he calls out, his voice thick with tears. “I never meant to hurt any of you. I love you, Walter, like a brother. I’m sorry I’m not strong enough. Please tell my wife I love her.”

“Dax!”

Evans chuckles. “Three…two…one…”

Dax lets go of the switch. There’s an explosion, and he’s immediately engulfed in flames.

Walter runs forward, but he’s caught by two policemen.

I hear Dane and Kal gasp.

The flames travel along the wire and we all watch as they reach the potted plants on either side of the entrance and woosh! The front porch erupts, the fire licking up the door.

Walter falls to his knees and screams.

“Are we having fun yet?” Evans rubs his hands together. “Hey, how does it work when you’re on the scene, Mr. Harris? ‘Now, back to you at the station,’ or somethin’ like that?”

The depraved old man gestures the other way with his arm and a new scene travels toward us.

“And…go Camera Two.”

My heart sped up.

Denny. Crouched on a floor, his eyes wild.

Baby! I call out to him, but a man steps out of the shadows carrying a lighter.

He flicks it on and grins like the devil with a new toy.