S. Gorden - The Duce of Pentacles

Jim heard a car pull up. "Hi, Jim." Henry's voice said. "What are you

doing?"

Jim sat up. He motioned next to him on the fender. "Come on up, Henry."

Jim waited till Henry found a comfortable place to sit. "Jack Andrews and the school board made some promises today. I wanted him to know that I expected him to keep them. Did you know they were going to fire Lori? They implied that since Jones tried to kill her, there was something wrong with her."

Henry sat still, his anger building. He was back in front of Lori's apartment. Jones jumped through the window, landing on the lawn in front of him. He saw Jones cower in fear of what was behind him. Even when Jones saw the pistol in his hands, Henry knew he was more afraid of what was behind him. Henry never understood what had happened but he was satisfied. He had seen the pictures of Charlie Manson, Ted Bundy, and the others in jail. It had always bothered him that in all the cases he had seen about serial killers, they never experienced the terror they inflicted on their victims ... until Jones. Jones felt the terror before he died. Somehow James and Lori had brought retribution to Jones.

"Don't worry, Jim. I know what you and Lori did. Most of the boys who worked on the case know what you did too. They all liked Al and Frank. We'll

make sure Jack keeps his promises. You go home now. I'll talk to Jack."

After Jim drove away, Henry walked up to the door. Perversely, he knocked instead of using the doorbell. Mrs. Andrews answered the door.

"Is Jack home?"

"He's still at the office. Thank you for getting that man to leave.

Jack told me to call the police when I called him about it."

"Well, ma'am. You have nothing to worry about. That man was just waiting for your husband. He wanted to make sure he would honor the promises he made today. When your husband comes home you tell him everything was fine. My name is Deputy Sheriff Henry Hakanen. He can call me if he has any questions. I'm the one most people talk to if promises are not kept, so I will be checking up on things, making sure everyone lives up to their promises."

* 2 2 MYSTERY, ADVENTURE AND SUSPENSE FROM PAGETURNER E BOOKS* JERRY OSTER'S URBAN THRILLERS Nightfall (Best International Crime Novel Award 2001) Busted Valentine Kiss di Foxx When the Night Comes More titles in preparation... THE NICK BANCROFT MYSTERIES August is Murder-Bob Liter Death Sting-Bob Liter Murder by the Book-Bob Liter * *

_The dark figure enters the room. Instead of heading for the table with the cards the figure goes to the window. The shades are opened just enough to illuminate the interior of the room. The figure, backlit by the window, goes to a bookcase in the corner of the room. There, a new deck of cards is taken, still in its cellophane wrapper. It is placed on the table. The hands start to collect the open deck but stop. They pull the last card from the top of the deck._

A man juggles two disks with pentagrams inscribed on them up and down.

A continuous ribbon tied in a mobius strip signifying the infinite encircles both coins, while in the background two ships ride up and down the rolling ocean waves.

_PAGEBREAK_

She understood the official meaning of the Deuce of Pentacles, but both her mother and herself interpreted the card in a different way. There would be ups and downs, good and bad, love and sadness. The cards were refusing to tell what would happen next. You had to live with the joy of surprise, a life full of the infinite cycle of possibilities. In many ways, The Deuce was her favorite card.

A voice called through the doorway, "Lori, are you upstairs in your mother's room?"

The hands collected the used cards. She yelled back, "Yes, Dad. Just tidying up a bit before I leave." She put the used deck in the desk drawer, positioning the unopened deck exactly in front of the empty chair.

Her father came to the doorway. "God, how I miss your mother. You're a lot like her."

"I love you, Dad."

"The room will be waiting for you when you get back and so will I."

"I know."

"I think he's a good man."

"He is." She leaned up and kissed him on the forehead. She gave him a hug. Before the tears could start, she said, "I love you." Another hug and she ran from the room.

Jeffrey sighed and slowly closed the door. The silent room, the table and lamp, and the new tarot deck rested in front of the empty chair.

*THE END*

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