The Walks of Life

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Aiden clung to his grandmother. He wanted to know where Daddy was. Why had that lady just been staring. It was all very upsetting for a toddler. Aiden raised his head from his grandma's shoulder when he heard his grandpa's voice.

"They are bringing him in now."

Aiden began to wriggle in Aira's arms. He wanted Daddy. Why had he been gone so long?

"Daddy?" Aiden squirmed.

"Yes, Aiden," Aira did her best to hold the squirming child. "Hold still. Daddy was very hurt and you have to be very careful not to hurt him."

Aiden stopped wriggling and looked up into his grandmother's blue eyes, "ouchie? Ouchie, Daddy?"

"Yes," Lloyd held out his arms for Aiden and Aiden reached for him. "We have to be nice and quiet."

Aiden looked over as a big cart looking this rolled in. On it was his Daddy. He had a bunch of stuff sticking to different parts of him and he looked tired.

"Daddy!" Aiden tried to reach for him but Lloyd held tightly. Aiden looked confused and began to cry.

"It's okay, Dad," Haden said hoarsely. "Please, I want to see him."

Lloyd set Aiden down carefully on the side of the cot and Aiden looked with wide eyes at his father. "Ouchie."

"I'm okay, buddy," Haden winked at his son. "Just a scratch."

Aira turned away hiding the tears in her eyes and looked out the window. She had almost lost a son again.

"Dad, where is Delilah?" Haden asked weakly.

"Son-" Lloyd sighed and put a hand on his son's hand. "She-"

"She is gone. Isn't she?" Haden asked. A tear trickled down his cheek.

"I'm sorry, son," Lloyd squeezed Haden's hand tightly.

"I want to see her," Haden swallowed hard. "I need to say goodbye."

"Son, are you sure that's how you want to remember her?" Aira's eyes glistened with her tears.

"Yes."

******************************************

Haden took a deep breath. He was sitting in a wheelchair. They had talked a nurse into helping him get down to the morgue. Aira had stayed upstairs with Aiden. Lloyd had come with his son.

"Are you sure, Haden," Lloyd asked again before they entered the morgue.

"Yes, Dad," Haden nodded. "I loved her. I want to say goodbye."

Lloyd nodded and they entered. A worker opened one of the panels in the wall. Haden squeezed his eyes shut as the body was pulled from its spot.

"Haden!" Lloyd exclaimed. "What the-"

Haden's eyes flew open. The body on the gurney was not Delilah.

"It's-it's Veronica!"

****************************************

"I'm so sorry, Karloff," Aira put an arm around the seated man's shoulders and gave him a tight squeeze.

Karloff didn't say anything he just nodded and looked down at his big burly hands. He wasn't sure what Veronica had been up to since she left, but she had obviously made some unwise choices. He just wished she had reached out instead of doing everything on her own. Things might have been different.

"I still don't understand what happened," Lloyd whispered to Haden. He didn't want Karloff to hear. He had enough pain. "How did a dead Delilah become Veronica.

"I have a feeling our dear Robert had something to do with that," Haden shook his head. He sighed. He was so tired. It would be a while before he was back to normal. "If Karloff doesn't play along with Veronica being Delilah, I'm afraid she will still be in danger."

"We can't ask Karloff to bury Veronica as Delilah," Lloyd said almost incredulously.

"We don't have to ask. Leave it up to him," Haden closed his eyes. Lloyd patted his shoulder.

"I'll handle it. Get some rest."

Haden nodded, eyes still closed. Within a few minutes, he was asleep. Lloyd brushed a blond lock of hair out of his son's face. He sighed and turned towards Karloff and Aira.

"Karloff," Lloyd took a deep breath. "We need to fill you in on a few things and lay some cards out on the table."

******************************************

Delilah sat in the branch of the tree looking down at the cemetery. She was poised in a tall pine tree on the edge of a small cliff. A crowd gathered around a freshly dug grave. The headstone read Charlotte "Charlie" Barker, but it wasn't her. It was rather unnerving to see your own name on a gravestone when you're very much still alive. It was also painful to know her friend wasn't buried under her own name right now. She assumed they would change the headstone after enough time had passed. She could hear them talking. They were having a service for Veronica. Only close family and friends were there. The media wouldn't know the difference. HE wouldn't know the difference.

"Rather eerie isn't it?" Robert whispered from behind her.

"Shut it," she sight half heartedly. Delilah's breath caught in her throat when she saw Haden's blond wave of hair in the sea of people.

"You can't go back," Robert growled.

"Says who?" Delilah hissed.

"I saved you! If you go back, he will know!"

"Not if I've changed my appearance!" Delilah huffed. "I'm beginning to think you saved me because you wanted me to give myself to you in gratitude."

Delilah had only half meant the remark but as soon as the words passed her lips, her heart began to pound. She whirled around and saw the look in his eyes.

"What?" Robert asked in a deadly tone.

"You killed him. Didn't you?" Delilah tried to keep her breathing even. "You're the boss now. Aren't you?"

"That's ridiculous," Robert growled. "Remember, I said I was too far away from the line of succession to-"

Delilah grabbed him by the throat suddenly and pulled causing him to lose his balance. He yelped as he dangled from the tree branches, at the mercy of Delilah. She had in her a strength that seemed to have been hidden. Her eyes flashed.

"You wanted me to come back and be your little pet!" Delilah roared at Robert.

"No!" Robert gasped and clawed at her hands. "I wanted you yes but I also need you. You're the best I've ever trained."

"I've left that life," Delilah spat. "I had found my happiness."

"You'll never be able to have it! Once you're in the business," Robert kicked his legs trying to get a foothold somewhere. "You're stuck. I'll always come looking for you!"

Delilah knew he spoke the truth. She couldn't escape while he knew she was alive....or while he was.

"Not if the only other person I was in that life with is dead," Delilah's eyes held Robert in a deadly stare. It was in this moment that Robert realized he had made a gamble on Delilah's commitment to this way of life and he had put his bet on the wrong outcome. "Goodbye, Robert."

"Delilah! No!"

But it was too late. Delilah simply let go and Robert fell. Delilah watched him fall down the tree and fall down the small cliff face. She was watched until she heard the sickening crunch of Robert hitting the ground. It was only when she was sure he wouldn't wake again that she let out a guttural sob. What had she done?

Hello, hello! Let me know what you think! :)