CHAPTER TEN

The weather had turned sharply colder, temperatures dropping nearly thirty degrees overnight. Although still not freezing, it was in the upper thirties with biting winds. It was going to be a cold winter at Belle Fleur.

Nell always enjoyed watching the other couples holding hands, hugging one another, always willing to show their affection. She looked across the grove to see Garr staring at someone.

"Who is that woman?" she asked. Sor looked up and shook his head.

"I'm not sure. I've never seen her before. Could be one of the older kids. I haven't met them all yet."

"I hate to break this to you," said Nell, smiling at him, "but that's not a kid. That's a grown, beautiful, sexy woman."

Before Sor could respond, Mama Irene and Claudette were walking toward him, calling his name.

"Sor? When are you gonna marry this girl?" asked Mama Irene.

"Well, ma'am," he started.

"What did we tell you about that? No ma'ams. Just Irene, Mama Irene, or Grandma. Claudette or Aunt Claudette. That's it."

"Yes, ma'- uh, Mama Irene. We were actually just talking about that. I asked Nell to marry me, and she said yes. We'd like to get this mess straight first, then set a date."

"Thanksgiving," said Claudette.

"Um, well, what if," said Nell.

"No what ifs. Ya'll need to get married before babies come. Thanksgiving week. This will be settled by then." The two women walked off, or what could be better described as stormed off.

"I don't think we get a choice," grinned Nell.

"No," laughed Sor. "I don't think we do, baby." While Ivy began developing the film, the others had breakfast. Cowboy and Garr walked in, frowning at their table.

"What's up?" asked Sor.

"I'm sorry, brother. Your friend Marshall is dead. Shot five times in the chest. Someone really, really wanted him dead," said Garr.

"Damn," muttered Sor. "What about my other teammates?"

"Command is trying to find them. Seems no one except you and Marshall were easy to find."

"What about the thing he said was on the wall of his apartment? What was that about?" asked Sor. Cowboy held up his phone, showing him the picture, and Sor looked confused, shaking his head.

"Do you know what that is?" asked Cowboy.

"No. But remember. I'm a rescue guy, so a lot of the shit around me went unnoticed. I was focused on bodies and keeping people alive."

"We've got the team looking into what this is. No one has a clue right now."

"I do," said Yori, gliding toward them. The others all stared at the elderly Japanese specter. He looked young and alive in many ways and, in others, every bit the ghost that he was.

"What is it?" asked Sor. "I don't remember seeing that at all."

"It's called a unalome and is a symbol often used in Buddhism and Hinduism. It's supposed to symbolize life's path, our journey, which is never straight. It shows how we twist and turn from start to finish. We awaken, we obtain focus and enlightenment, and then we move into the other world peacefully."

"That sounds like something that's intended to be beautiful," said Nell. "None of this feels very beautiful to me."

"No, it does not," said Yori. "I think someone is using this for another purpose. Perhaps to draw others in and do evil."

"Sor, if this is Asian in its origins, maybe this happened in Cambodia or Nepal," said Eric. "What was going on there?"

"As I said, Nepal was an avalanche. We went to help with casualties and injuries. The Sherpas are trained far better than anyone to get people off the mountains. We were at the bottom handling anything that came down alive. The only reason we were there was we'd just finished another deployment, and we were close, waiting on transport when they called for help."

"Okay. What about Cambodia?" asked Luke.

"It was the kids who were trapped in the caves. Several needed immediate attention. We went in with a Cambodian special forces team. We had to use dive gear, climbing gear, almost everything we had. I don't how those kids got into that fucking cave, but they almost didn't make it out."

"You must have seen something in that cave," said Hex.

"Brother, I don't remember anything except kids who were crying, bleeding, dehydrated, hypothermic, and scared out of their minds. There were thirteen altogether. Marshall and DeWitt were with me. The other three stayed outside the cave to man comms and our gear."

"Marshall is dead, which means we need to find DeWitt," said Cam.

"They think they found him," said Hiro, walking toward them. "He was drowned in his own bathtub, but his face was a mess."

"No," said Sor, shaking his head. "No fucking way. That dude is as big as Eric and an expert swimmer. No way."

"Sor, I'm telling you what the military told me," said Hiro. "I'm sorry, brother."

"I'm so sorry," whispered Nell. He looked down at her, seeing the tears in her eyes, and held her close, kissing the top of her head.

"I didn't see anything except cave walls. Dark, wet, nasty cave walls and sick kids," said Sor, shaking his head.

"Will you trust me?" asked Yori. Hiro stared at his grandfather, then back at Sor.

"Trust you? You're a ghost. Is there a reason I shouldn't trust you?"

"Yori, what are you going to do?" asked Hex.

"I'm going to look into his mind."