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Part Nineteen: Chapter 134: A New Place To Hide

Joker's POV

I was able to take us to the estate as if I had been there a million times. Perhaps I had been, but I don't remember being here at all really. Maybe I've lost all my memories of this place. Or maybe I've managed to block them out because they involved my wife. I didn't like to think about her. It awakened an anger at her that I just couldn't let go of. It rekindled a pain I would be all too happy to forget. Betrayal and heart break.

All three of us stare up at the dark mansion as the car's headlights illuminated it. The once trimmed bushes were now shapeless and unkempt. A fountain that used to flow in the center of the driveway was now filled with stagnant rain water that didn't flow. The lawn was overgrown and winter had killed it and made it look hay-like. It looked like it had been a really really long time since anyone had been there.

But then, who could have been there? I had personally seen to it that every living Falcone had met a tragic end. Technically, this estate belonged to me. I gained ownership of everything belonging to the Falcone's after eviscerating them and taking their power. And if that wasn't ownership enough, the house became my wifes the minute I had her father killed in prison. Then, after my wife's death, it would have rightfully went to me anyway.

I opened my car door and got out. It seemed as if I had to struggle to find the nerve to go forward. It was as if my subconscious didn't want to be here. I stood just before the front porch and stared at the front door. I got a flash of myself holding a gun and approaching that front door with extreme caution. To be honest, I wasn't sure if it was a memory or some subliminal premonition. I heard Johnny cock his gun and he moved past me and approached the door. He did it just as I had seen myself doing it. He was just being cautious.

After a moment his hand carefully goes around the doorknob, he turns it and the door creeks open. He makes his way inside and Harley and I follow. There was no electricity in the house so Harley used the flashlight on her phone. The inside was fully furnished, but an inch thick layer of dust covered everything. Johnny moved on through the house, securing the perimeter.

"I'm gonna look fer sum candles or flashlights," Harley says as she walked out of the room.

I take out my own phone and turn on the flashlight. It glints over spiderwebs connecting dusty pictures on the wall. I started slowly down a hallway. Doors lined either side, each of them was wide open. I peered into each as I slowly passed. At the end of the hall I saw a shut door. I stared at the door a moment before I reached for the knob.

"Where's your parents room?" I could hear my own voice asking. As I stood there frozen, staring at the doorknob, I could see myself with her. Her legs were wrapped around my waist, we were kissing. It was so vivid that I could almost feel her hands in my hair. I could still remember the smell of her perfume. I could feel what I felt at that moment with her, even though it felt like a lifetime ago. I could feel my heart start pounding harder. I knew that I had stood in this very spot with her, there was no doubt about it.

My fingers twitch as they wrap around the cold doorknob. I turn it and give the door a little push. I shine my light into the room and could see a massive bed with a sheer canopy of drapery over it. I look at the pattern on the dusty comforter covering it. I got a flash of us lying naked across it, kissing and touching in a manner that made me feel as though it was our first time together in such an intimate way.

I shined the light on the bedside table, a picture frame sitting on it reflected the light back at me. I walked over to it and stare down at it. I wipe my palm across the glass to clear away the dust. My lips part as I saw what was under the dirt. The picture in the frame was of her, my late wife. I just stood there staring at her face. It was the only physical evidence I had that the girl from my memory had really existed.