Double Dealing (2013) by Linda Cajio Page B

parting to bestow a kiss. A light seemed to issue from her. It was dim at first, then it became brighter and brighter. It blinded him, its heat burning his face.…
    “Jedidiah Waters! You have been called!” intoned a deep voice.
    “No condos!” he shouted, bolting upright in bed. Young voices giggled, and he opened his eyes in bewilderment. The terrible bright light was shining directly in his face! He slapped it away. There was a clunk and a thump, and the light was gone. Nightmare over, he slumped in relief.
    “Master Randall, if you please,” said the voice.
    Confused that the voice hadn’t gone away with the light, Jed looked around. He couldn’t see a thing in the pitch black, but he heard someone moving about.
    “Who is it? Who’s there?” he asked sharply.
    “I am afraid we have awakened the gentleman too abruptly,” said the voice. “Terribly sorry, sir, but we must adhere to the ritual.”
    “What ritual?” He swallowed at a horrible thought. “Is this hell?”
    The young voices giggled again. They sounded suspiciously familiar. Shaking off the last of his sleep, he realized the voices belonged to Rae’s nephews. Huey, Dewey, and Louie, he thought furiously.
    “Dammit, guys—”
    The light was suddenly in his face again, andthe deep voice repeated, “Jedidiah Waters! You have been called!”
    He blinked against the pain in his eyes. “Burrows? Is that you?”
    “Yes, sir.”
    “What the hell are you doing?” he roared in outrage.
    “Calling you to a meeting of the Barkeley Club, sir—”
    “Geez, we thought you’d
never
go to sleep!”
    “Master Mark!” Burrows said in reprimand. The direction of his voice shifted back to Jed. “You have been nominated, sir, and now you must answer the call.”
    “I’m not answering anything except sleep, and get that damn light out of my face!”
    Suddenly the light was pointing toward the floor. Jed rubbed his eyes, trying to get rid of the spots spinning inside them.
    “Please,” Michael said, crawling into the bed next to him. “I nominated you to be in the club. You have to join.”
    Jed lowered his hands and looked at him—or tried to. All he saw was a small dark lump.
    “Please,” said Mark and Randall together.
    “It is quite an honor Master Michael has bestowed on you, sir,” Burrows added.
    Jed sighed in defeat. Between the “call” and his nightmare, he’d had the sleep scared out of him anyway. Condos and Rae. He shuddered. “Okay. What do I have to do?”
    The boys cheered, and Burrows thrust something into his hands. “Put on this robe and slippers, sir.”
    Getting out of bed, he fumbled around in an attempt to find the robe’s opening, then realized it was styled like a monk’s robe. Must be Merriman’s, he thought while pulling it over his head. He pushed his feet into the open-backed slippers Burrows had thoughtfully provided. His eyesight finally adjusted, and in the flashlight’s glow, he noted Burrows and the boys were dressed the same as he.
    “I thought Halloween was still two weeks away,” he said in amusement.
    “So it is, sir. Please follow us.”
    “It’s only a little scary,” Michael said, taking his hand.
    As he was led through the dark house, he decided that whatever the hell the Barkeley Club was, the meetings took place at a damned inconvenient time. His brain could barely function, and his body insisted he find the nearest bed and collapse onto it.
    “Wait here, sir. Master Michael will return for you, when everything is ready,” Burrows said, opening a door that was tucked under the arch of the back stairs. The narrow staircase faded downward into what seemed like a black hole.
    “Right,” Jed said in a flat voice.
    He watched them eerily vanish one by one into the hole. He waited impatiently and was about to go back to bed, when Michael finally returned. Although the boy only motioned for him to follow, he saw that the youngster had a huge grin on his face. As he stumbled down the steep