Jarvis Street Chapter 16
James couldn’t sleep that night. He’d decided to just stay at Headquarters even though he wasn’t on call. After the day they’d had, he had stayed late to get most of the stupid bullshit work done and, once again, he had been legitimately afraid he’d fall asleep behind the wheel if he tried to drive home.
That didn’t translate to him falling asleep in bed, though. As soon as he’d said goodnight to Amelia and Madelyn, he’d laid down in the back bedroom and was instantly wide awake again. Thoughts were racing through his mind too quickly to catch, but they all revolved around the same things. The case. The spirit. Robin.
Madelyn had been the one to go track down Bradley afterward while James was in with Gabriella. James had considered it, it was probably the professional thing to do. But he was worried about what kind of fight would ensue. Bradley was clearly itching for a fight, and so was James. And something might happen that neither of them could take back. So he was safer delegating that conversation to someone with a little more patience. He hadn’t seen Bradley again until he was clocking out for the day. And at that point, neither of them spoke to each other.
That situation was as resolved as it was going to get for now. All he could do was hope that neither of them put in their letters of resignation in the morning. So that freed him to move on to the next worry on his list.
This case had no right answer, did it? Either they exorcised a potentially innocent spirit or they put themselves in more danger by alerting a demonic entity to their plans. And it was up to James to make that decision. Shit, this was why he’d never wanted to be captain.
And now the ghost of the previous captain was mocking him for it. Or else his brain was manifesting that captain to taunt him, which wasn’t any more comforting. James was going to lose his mind. Every time he rounded the corner, he risked seeing Robin there. And it couldn’t be afternoon meeting Robin, no it had to be mangled corpse Robin laughing at him.
Why had they sealed the school instead of cleansing it? After he’d sent Gabriella home, Madelyn had taken a look through all the resources Gabriella had found. She’d pulled James aside to say that the bad news was there was no explanation given. But the good news was that Gabriella had found some of the most detailed information on a case that she’d ever seen and a dossier like this could be an enormous help for future cases. James had taken that as the peace offering it was intended to be.
Screw it, he wasn’t sleeping right now. He stood up and walked out of the bedroom. As he opened the door, he could hear Amelia on the comms in the living room. She was laughing easily at something the other person was saying and he couldn’t help the small smile. If she was trying to be subtle about her new girlfriend, she was failing at it.
He walked out to the living room and saw her sitting at one of the computer desks with her headphones on. Madelyn was sitting on the couch, reading a textbook in the warm light of the desktop lamp beside her. She looked over when he came in.
“Hi,” Madelyn said, setting her book in her lap.
“Hey.”
“Hang on a sec,” Amelia said into her mic.
She slid off the headphones and looked at James. “Everything okay?” she asked.
“Yeah, I just couldn’t sleep.”
“I’ve got some melatonin in my bag,” Amelia said, nudging the little purple bag by her foot. “Help yourself.”
Nodding his thanks, he opened the bag and took out a bottle of gummies. He tipped two into his hand and tossed them in his mouth.
“Things slow?” he asked, sitting down in the chair next to Madelyn.
“Not even a potential call,” she said with a laugh. “I’m studying for the Foundation’s technology program and Amelia’s keeping Leominster and Palmer safe through teamwork.”
“Hang on, they’re talking shit,” Amelia said.
She unplugged her headphones. “Alright, we’re all on speaker,” she said.
“Tell Rosa thank you for her service,” Madelyn teased. “You too, Amelia.”
A tinny laugh came over the speaker. “I’m just devoted to the Foundation,” a woman’s voice said.
“Rosa,” James called over. “It’s nice to finally meet you. Amelia has told me a lot.”
Amelia turned red and threw a ball of paper at him. James grinned at her and she blushed even deeper, shaking her head and making a slashing motion with her hand in front of her throat as she hit the speaker button again to turn it off.
“What?” James mouthed.
Madelyn jerked her head to motion him over to the couch and he went, suddenly aware of a tension that hadn’t been there before. “What?” he asked her, voice low.
Madelyn leaned in to whisper in his ear. “You know they’re not dating, right? Amelia’s into her and too scared to say anything about it.”
Oh shit. James looked over at Amelia, who shook her head at him. Whoops, he’d just assumed that this woman Amelia was spending her night shifts talking to was her girlfriend. “Sorry,” he whispered.
Her face was bright red, but she laughed a little nervously, then turned the phone back on speaker.
“Things are silent here tonight,” Rosa said. “It’s me and Jonas tonight, so he’s out back with his garden.”
“Garden?” James said. “Wait, what kind of building do they have you in?”
“Ranch house,” Rosa said. “I imagine yours is the same?”
“Sure is,” James replied. “It’s raised though, so we’ve got some room in the basement.”
“I’d kill for a basement,” Rosa said with a laugh. “We’re keeping an eye out for a new location since ours is not in good shape. To the point that the Foundation is done doing repairs and wants to sell the property and be through with it.”
“I’ll never understand why they insist on just buying houses and using them as branches,” Amelia said. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, it’s not bad, but it’s a little weird, isn’t it?”
James looked around at the blend of cozy single-family home and paranormal supply shop that surrounded them. He was so used to it by now that he never thought about it, but yeah, this was weird.
“So can I take a wild guess what’s keeping you up?” Amelia asked him after a few minutes of small talk.
“I just can’t decide what the best plan of action is on this case,” James said. “If Bradley and Gabriella want to tear each other’s throats out, that’s their business. But there really is only one chance to get this right. And it’s driving me nuts, especially since I haven’t been able to go there myself and get a feel for it. So I’m planning everything based on what I’ve seen on everyone’s cameras. But it’s on me. Whether we exorcise an intelligent spirit or someone gets hurt later on, it’s all on me. And I’m so fucking tired.”
He hadn’t meant to say all of that, but he didn’t regret it as it came out. He tilted his head back and looked up at the ceiling. The light fixture had dust on it, just like everything else in this building. They’d have to clean that soon, wouldn’t they?
“Hey, James?”
Rosa’s voice over the speaker surprised him. “Yeah?” he said.
“Listen, I don’t want to overstep,” she said. “But it took me a while to settle in as leader here too. It wasn’t quite so…dramatic of a situation, but I was only supposed to do this for six months and it’s been two years.”
James opened his eyes, not realizing he’d had them closed. How had he not made the connection that Rosa was the Hampden County branch’s captain? “Did it get easier?” he asked.
“No.”
Well, that confirmed what he’d feared. “But it settled down,” Rosa continued. “I don’t love it, but I don’t lie awake every night worrying anymore.”
“Rosa, what do you think I should do here?”
He was aware of the line he was balancing on. Yes, Amelia and Madelyn were old friends, and it wasn’t like he hadn’t shown them any vulnerability in the past. But he was now a captain and he was talking to another captain. But he desperately needed someone, anyone (who wasn’t a malicious corpse) to give him some guidance.
Rosa was quiet for a second. “What do you need in order to make the decision?” she asked.
He thought about it. “Um, I need a better understanding of the space and what’s happening there,” he said. “It’s sealed, and I need to know how the seal was created and what kind of energy it’s keeping in. So I should probably go over there, shouldn’t I?”
“I can’t tell you exactly what to do because I know pretty much nothing about the situation,” Rosa said. “But yeah, it’s probably a good idea to go over and see it if you can do so safely. It might help.”
“Yeah,” James said. “I’ll do that tomorrow morning.”
“You know that whole thing about captains not going in the field is bullshit, right?”
He looked at Amelia, who also looked surprised at Rosa’s words. “What?”
“They put that in as a cost-cutting measure. But it used to be required that you take regular cases in the field. It helps you stay connected to what’s going on. And keeps you sharp.”
That made perfect sense. James nodded slowly. “Wow,” he said. “I really hate the Foundation sometimes.”
Rosa laughed. “Keep that in mind,” she said. “I know Amelia’s amazing in the field, but you don’t always have to stay back.”
James turned and winked at Amelia, who was bright red. “I like her,” he mouthed.
“Shut up.”
He yawned and covered his mouth. “Sorry,” he said. “I think I’m going to go back to bed. Um, nice to actually meet you, Rosa. Thank you for everything.”
“Nice to meet you too.”
“Wake me up if anything comes in.”
“I won’t,” Amelia said pleasantly.
James didn’t even bother to reply. He just rolled his eyes and walked back to the bedroom, letting the door shut behind him as he climbed into bed. Tomorrow morning, first thing, he’d head over to the school himself and see what was going on. Then he could make a decision about what to do next.
