The Devil's Beat (The Devil's Mark) Read online

  “Dear lord! That's terrible. So, what are you going to do now?”

  Max frowned as he drove. “I guess I'm going to avoid saying bad things about the house while I'm in it.”

  She raised an eyebrow quizzically but still nodded her head. “Seems best.”

  Welcome 2 The Party

  Friday evening at quarter after seven, Max and Alice pulled up to the front of the Mayor's sprawling, modern house. Max eyed it dubiously through the window.

  “What is it?” asked Alice.

  “I don't know, I was just expecting something... more... you know.”

  “Southern?”

  “Yeah, southern. I was kind of thinking it would look like my house, only well kept, with a massive front porch, wicker furniture and, you know… southern...” He waved his hand vaguely. “Stuff.”

  Alice laughed. She said, “What were you expecting, Tara?”

  Max turned to look at Alice's merry face. He was momentarily distracted by her cute single dimple, but he forced himself back to the question. “What's Tara?”

  Alice's brows went up. “What's Tara? Are you serious?” Max's confusion showed plainly. “You know, Gone with the Wind?” Now Max's confusion was tinged with embarrassment because she was so plainly flabbergasted, but all he could do was shake his head again. “The Tara Mansion? The mansion where Scarlett O'Hara lived.”

  Max was finally relieved to know what she was talking about. “Oh! Sorry, I didn't know the mansion had a name.”

  She looked at him pityingly. “Max, every big southern mansion has a name.”

  He said, “Oh, really?” and got a thoughtful look on his face. “I wonder if my mansion has a name.”

  Alice said, “Your mansion is that big?”

  “Oh yeah, it’s huge.”

  “Wow, I had no idea.”

  Another thing occurred to Max, he said, “Hey, did I tell you one of my ghosts’ name was Annette?”

  Max looked at Alice's skeptical face. “No really, I'm not kidding! The ghost-man who wanted the house to burn and took the fire extinguisher away from me called her that. They fought, and after they stopped, he called her 'Annette.'” His face brightened with a memory. “That's what she was talking about! She called the house 'Belle'. That's my house's name!”

  Alice barely heard that comment. She'd gotten stuck earlier. “Your ghost tried to burn down the house?”

  “Yeah, I told you about it over lunch... Didn't I”

  “No.”

  “Oh, sorry. Well when...”

  Alice stopped him. “Max, we need to go in, but you have to tell me the whole story later. Promise?”

  He promised, and the two got out of the car and headed to the large front entrance to the house. Max shook his head again. This house would have fit in just fine in any newer New York suburb. Before he knocked, he glanced down at his suit. He looked uncertainly at Alice, “Are you really sure about this pink tie?” She'd had to practically beat him to get him wear it.

  “Yes! You look very handsome. I swear, you're lucky I came along. You have the fashion sense of a penguin.”

  “But penguins always dress in tuxedos!”

  Alice grinned. “My point exactly. They wear a tux to every single event. They even swim in them! They have no sense of style—just like you.”

  Max rolled his eyes. Truth be told, her assurances didn't help. He felt awkward enough going to a party in a seersucker suit, but the pink tie was blowing his mind. On the other hand, he was a big fan of the predominantly pink dress that Alice was wearing. He sighed and knocked on the door.

  From his earlier encounter and his preconceptions, Max was half expecting to have a black servant, in a formal butler outfit, answer the door. Instead, what he got was a short, round, white woman with a cherubic smile and twinkling gray eyes behind her round wire rim glasses. Her delight at seeing Max lit up her already happy face.

  Her hand went to her heart, as if to still it, and she said, “Why heavens above! Maximilian Faust, as I live and breathe! Big Al wasn't teasing me! He really did invite you to our little dinner party!” She took a deep breath. “Oh, Mr. Faust, I am your biggest fan!”

  Max tried to appear pleased at finding another “biggest fan,” but all he could think was that it was going to be a long night.

  The little energetic ball of a woman who'd greeted Max turned out to be Big Al's wife Eunice. Eunice wasted no time in grabbing Max's hand in her own small, chubby one and pulled him with surprising force into the house. She called out to her husband that their “special guest” was here, and the man himself came rolling majestically out to the cavernous, marbled entrance hall to meet him.

  “Ah, Max! Good to see you, sir! Ah was beginning to fear that you had taken ill and weren't going to make it.” He grabbed Max's right hand and pumped it vigorously. “Ah see you've met the Missus.”

  Max didn't get a chance to respond before Eunice locked arms with him and dragged him through a doorway into what appeared to be another oversized room. Behind him, Max heard the mayor say in a much less boisterous voice, “Evening, Alice,” and her equally unenthusiastic reply.

  “Mayor.”

  The cavernous room was brought down to human dimensions by the rich décor and furnishings. There were several people standing around talking. The talk stopped, and Max became the center of attention when he was dragged in behind Eunice. She released Max's arm and announced, “Everyone! I’d like you to meet our very special guest tonight, Mr. Maximilian Faust!”

  There were a lot of big smiles for Max from the women in the room, smaller ones from the men, and some polite golf clapping, but Max didn't notice any of it. His attention was completely consumed by one figure in the center of a group of four other gentlemen. He was dressed identically to Max, down to the pink tie, though Max was only vaguely aware of that fact.

  Lucian Black locked eyes with Max and, with his familiar sardonic grin, raised his Bloody Mary in mock salute.

  About this time, Alice again caught Max's momentarily free arm and latched on to him. Max barely noticed. His mind was furiously trying to simultaneously figure out why Lucian would be here and to find an excuse to leave.

  The old Max would have just turned and stormed out, but leaving proved to be a forlorn hope for him now. After his humiliation, Max's old need to be well regarded came back with a vengeance, so he stayed and smiled as Big Al formally took charge of Max and led him around the room, introducing him to each and every person with evident pride. Alice was a comforting presence at his side but was nearly invisible to everyone else.

  Max barely noticed the roll call of important people he was introduced to. If he had been paying attention, and actually had any knowledge of Mississippi politics and wealth, he would have been impressed with the power and money represented here.

  When Max was finally brought before Lucian, he was introduced by Big Al. “Maximilian Faust, may I introduce you to Sirius Black, politician's aide extraordinaire and my campaign manager. Lucian gave Max another sardonic grin. “Mr. Faust, your reputation precedes you. I knew that you could sing like an angel, but...” he gestured to Max's identical suit and added, “I never suspected that you had such a superlative sense of style.” The people around Lucian laughed at his amazing wit in light of such a potentially awkward wardrobe faux-pas.

  Lucian raised his hand to Max. “Sirius Black, at your service, sir.”

  Max looked at Lucian's hand as if it were a pit viper. He didn't take the proffered limb, he just looked at Lucian's face. “Sirius?”

  Lucian's eyes twinkled with mischief, and without moving his hand, he said, “I am very serious. No relation to Harry Potter's furry uncle.”

  At this point, Alice's fierce grip around Max's arm gained his attention. It felt like she was trying to squeeze through to the bone. As though reading his thoughts, Lucian's smile grew wider, and he turned his full attention to Alice while finally dropping his hand. “And who is this delightful creature with you?”

  Alice
showed no inclination to introduce herself so Max said, “This is Alice...” Max's face turned red as he realized that he still didn't know Alice's last name.

  Lucian appeared unfazed by the omission. He gave a small bow. “Mrs. Montgomery, so delighted to find a delicate flower of such beauty at our little soiree. I shall carry the memory of your beauty to my grave.”

  Everyone around the small circle gave uneasy laughs at this odd complement, but Alice met it with frozen silence. Her hands clenched around Max's arm even harder.

  Max was starting to worry for his arm, but he tried not to wince. His fingers below Alice's grip were going numb. The woman had some strength.

  Sensing the awkwardness of the situation, Big Al's political instincts kicked in, and he introduced the pair to the others in the circle. Max tried to unobtrusively extract Alice's fingers from his biceps. She suddenly seemed to realize what she had been doing to Max and released her grip. She stammered to the group in general, avoiding Max's and Lucian's gaze and said hoarsely, “Would you gentlemen please excuse me? I need to go and freshen up.”

  After pointing her in the right direction, Big Al took Max around and completed the few remaining introductions. When that was done, he left Max's side for the first time. “I've got to go check with the Missus to see when dinner will be ready. Bless her soul, she's been in that kitchen slaving away all day.”

  Max felt lost as he stared at the two people he'd just been introduced to. He thought they might have been introduced as husband and wife, but he wasn't sure. He tried to answer their polite inquiries, but knew he was doing a lousy job of it. He kept trying to understand Lucian's presence here. What was he up to, and why wouldn't he leave Max alone? After about ten minutes of growing discomfort, he realized that Alice hadn't returned from the bathroom. He grasped at this fact gratefully and excused himself to go and find her.

  He followed the directions given to Alice earlier and found himself standing in front of the closed door to what he hoped was the bathroom. He knocked tentatively at the door and said softly, “Alice?” There was no response. He called her name a couple more times with similar result. He started to think he had the wrong door, so he tried it and it opened easily. It turned out it was the right room. The bathroom was large and gilded. There was a puddle of water on the floor, but Alice was nowhere to be seen. Instead, the window at the back of the bathroom was wide open, letting in a nasty swamp-like smell and a horde of mosquitoes through a gaping hole in the screen. Max went in, just to be sure the room was empty and then leaned on the marble sill to look out the window. It opened onto the large, well manicured lawn gleaming in the summer moonlight. When he stood back up and pulled his hands away from the sill, they were covered with several long, coarse brown hairs. Obviously, the Mayor's dog had a shedding problem. He hadn't seen the dog, but it was probably shut away for the party. Max closed the window, washed his hands, and headed back down the hallway trying to figure out what had just happened.

  ***

  For Max, dinner was interminable. He originally planned to tell everyone that Alice wasn't feeling well and then go out and look for her but somehow was talked into staying. Throughout dinner, as he fended off the same old probing questions, he continually felt himself wondering how they had done that.

  It seemed like the guests were served a twenty course meal by the bustling Eunice. Every course, she would take special pains to give some to Max and ask for his opinion. Max could barely taste what he ate, but Eunice was so sweet and so eager to please that he assured her each course was the best food he had ever eaten.

  During the whole dinner, Max's anger at Lucian grew. It was obvious that Alice had recognized Lucian, and that he had done something awful to her. She was such a sweet, gentle woman, the thought of her being abused in any way drove him to distraction. After dinner, which had been followed by a large, complicated chocolate dessert, the group found themselves back in the living room where Lucian caught Max's eye just before Max could announce his departure. Lucian nodded his head meaningfully away from the group, and Max jumped on the implicit invitation. He followed Lucian out to the gilded dining room where the guests had eaten.

  When they were away from prying ears, Lucian stopped and turned to Max, whose tightly-held anger quickly blew, spewing all over Lucian. He yelled as venomously as possible when whispering. “What the hell are you doing here? What did you do to Alice? Why are you following me around? Haven't you had enough of destroying my life?”

  Lucian's reaction consisted of mildly raised eyebrows and a slight tilt to his head. In a normal conversational tone, he said, “My dear Mr. Faust, you must have mistaken me for someone else. My name is Sirius, and I most assuredly am not 'following you around'. It seems that you have moved into my town, and for some reason, you have been glaring at me all night.”

  Max gaped, “You live here?”

  “Just south of here actually, where it's a bit warmer, but this is one of my old stomping grounds. Now, who is this Lucian fellow that seems to have my face and has so kindled your ire?”

  Max scowled. “Cut it out. I damn well know that you're Lucian! What have you done to Alice?

  Sirius (it had to be Lucian!) looked troubled and confused.

  “What have I done to Alice? Why, nothing, I assure you. You have had me in your glowering sights all night. How could I have done anything to her?”

  Max felt like he was slipping into the twilight zone again. The smallest sliver of a doubt crept into his mind. After all, what would stop Lucian from using another man's face? He shredded that doubt. “If you just met her tonight, how did you know her last name?”

  Lucian's face split into a wide grin. He said, “Max! I just can't pull one over on you anymore, can I? See, our association has already borne unexpected fruit. Nothing is so precious as hard-earned wisdom.” He looked unperturbedly into Max's reddening face.” I never said I just met her. Mrs. Montgomery and I go way back. We are old friends.” He raised his finger and Max's rebuke was cut short by a sudden sharp pressure on his throat. Lucian said, “And what I did to her? It was nothing that she did not ask for. I am a gentleman, and I never force my attentions on a lady who does not desire them.”

  Max literally couldn't speak or even breathe for a moment. He started to panic when whatever had hold of his larynx relaxed. He gulped in some clean fresh air and then said in a more subdued tone, “Why are you here? Why can't you just leave me alone?”

  Lucian snorted. He said, “Not everything revolves around you, dear boy. I am here consulting for another client. It was just your good luck that you ran into me tonight.”

  “Good luck my ass! What's your game here?”

  “Max, Max, Max, you should know that I never kiss and tell. There is nothing going on here that you should worry your pretty, yet vacuous, head about.”

  He again stopped Max's response with a gesture. “Well, it really has been good catching up with you Maxy, but I have other things to attend to.” Lucian turned and headed back to the main room to join the others there. When he stepped through the doorway, Max's throat was again released, and he took in a huge breath of air. He was practically shaking with anger as he followed Lucian back into the room.

  Once he arrived in the room, Lucian was instantly back at his side and grabbed Max by the back of the shirt with one arm. Too everyone else, it looked like friendly hand on the back. Lucian said, “Everyone, may I have your attention please?”

  Everyone in the room turned to look curiously at Lucian and Max. Big Al and his wife were the closest. When the two of them turned, Max's overstressed brain noted that if they wore matching red suits, they would look like his grandmother's old Mr. and Mrs. Claus salt and pepper shakers. The thought was cut short as Lucian said, “I am pleased to announce that the one and only Maximilian Faust has agreed to perform for our upcoming fundraiser to make Big Al the next governor of our great and proud state of Mississippi!”

  The room erupted into cheers, and Eunice bounded happily ove
r to Max and gave him a big hug around his waist. She looked up at him with shining eyes. “Oh, you dear man! Thank you!”

  Max didn't have time to respond before Big Al was there with a similar grin on his face. Taking Max's hand in both of his own, he pumped Max's arms vigorously and gushed over Max's generosity. Max was so overwhelmed by their enthusiasm that he couldn't find it in his heart to object. It had been two years since he had picked up his guitar or just sung for himself. He certainly wouldn't do it in front of a large crowd.

  Lucian had not quite finished. “Big Al's bid for Governor will be formally announced at our fund raiser, which is scheduled to be the first week after Big Al's third election as Mayor of our fair town. We hope we can count on each and every one of you to spread the word and the wealth” (scattered applause and chuckling) “to make this the biggest landslide victory in the history of the great state of Mississippi!”

  There was raucous applause from the rest of the room, but that speech sealed the deal for Max. If Lucian were backing the oblate Boss-Hog wannabe, Max would bet his already-forfeit soul that Big Al was bad news. On the other hand, Eunice was so excited and happy, saying no now would be like kicking a puppy—best to do it over the phone.

  ***

  A short while after making his getaway, Max pulled up to Alice's modest little house. He got out, hurried to the door, and knocked. After seeing a couple of shadows at the peephole and hearing some shuffling on the other side of the door, a pretty girl of maybe eighteen with short brown hair, jeans, and a white tee shirt answered the door.

  Max said, “Uh, hi, is Alice here?”

  The girl's eyes widened in shock, and she put her hand on over her gaping mouth. From behind the door, out of sight, Max heard the condescending voice of Alice's eldest girl, Jayne Ann. She said, “See, I told you it was Faust.”

  The girl in the door started to make a high pitched little squeak and then slammed the door on Max's face. Max sighed—another angry fan. Before he could knock again, he heard the girl speaking through the cheap door.