by Alex Kava
“Cassie will begin to lead the prayer rally,” Reverend Everett said from behind her.
She looked over her shoulder without moving from her place in front of the open patio door. Reverend Everett had checked into a ritzy hotel in order to shower, shave and have access to a telephone to finalize their arrangements. Earlier, when she used the bathroom, Kathleen had been amazed at the wonderful luxuries: perfumed soaps, a shoe-shine kit, a real razor with a real blade instead of the disposable kind, a shower cap and even a jar filled with Q-Tips.
Now, while Stephen and Emily took notes and concentrated on everything Reverend Everett was telling the three of them, Kathleen stood quietly, enjoying the sunshine and the breeze.
She felt like she needed to learn how to breathe again after last night’s humiliating ritual and then the cramped bus ride. She hoped the fresh air and sunlight would help wipe away the feel of Everett’s hot breath, the sounds of his grunts and groans while he thrust himself into her over and over again. When he was finished, he had pointed to her clothes, instructing her to get dressed with a coldness in his voice that she had never heard before. He had told her she needed this cleansing ritual in order for him to be able to trust her again.
Without a word, she had slipped her clothes on over her sticky flesh, the smell of his aftershave so pungent she wanted to gag. And as she left his compartment to return to her seat, she couldn’t help thinking he had also cleansed her of every last remaining bit of her self-respect.
“The FBI will most likely be surrounding the park,” Stephen said. “Father, you can’t possibly think of showing up at the prayer rally.”
“What time will the cargo plane be ready?”
“It’s scheduled for a seven o’clock takeoff. We must be there early to board.”
“How can we be certain the FBI won’t be waiting at the airport?”
“Because I told them you would be at the rally. That you wouldn’t expect an arrest in such a public arena. Even if they do suspect something, they might be waiting at the international airport. However, they won’t even think to check a government relief-aid cargo jet leaving from Cuyahoga County Airport.”
Reverend Everett rewarded Stephen with a smile. “Very good. You’re a good man, Stephen. You will be justly rewarded when we get to South America. I promise you that.”
The reverend sat down to finish the platter he had ordered from room service; a platter with several different cheeses, fresh fruits, shrimp cocktail and a loaf of French bread. He made no offer for the others to join him. Instead, Kathleen thought he looked as though he enjoyed having them watch him, and before he had even gotten started on this tray, he had called down to place a whole new order.
None of them had eaten since yesterday’s lunch, and it was almost dinnertime. Was this yet another important lesson, another important sacrifice that they were supposed to willingly accept? She turned back to the tranquil view of the water. At the moment, it seemed to be the only thing that didn’t threaten to rip away at her sanity.
“You honestly don’t intend to go to the rally?” Stephen asked again.
“I suppose I can stay here until it’s time to leave.” He waved a hand as if making do with his current surroundings. “But the three of you will need to be my eyes and ears at the rally. You’ll need to gather those on the list when the time comes. Cassie will keep the rally going so as to give the appearance that everything is as scheduled.”
Kathleen turned at this, stunned by the realization. “You don’t want Cassie to come with us?”
The woman had attended to Reverend Everett’s every command and probably desire for as long as Kathleen could remember.
“She’s a lovely woman, Kathleen, but I’m quite certain there are many beautiful dark-skinned women in South America who would probably give anything to be my personal assistant.”
She turned back to the sunshine, wondering if it would have been any different had they been able to go to Colorado. If Reverend Everett would have been any different. Or had he always been this way, and she was the one who was changing, who was seeing things differently?
“Now, you all must go,” he said while still chewing. He took a drink of wine as if to cleanse his palate. It was certainly not to be polite, because he took a bite out of a huge strawberry, the juice dripping down his chin, his mouth full again as he said, “Go now. The rally will be getting started soon. No one will be suspicious if my faithful counsel is there waiting for me.”
Stephen and Emily didn’t hesitate. They waited at the door for Kathleen.
“Oh, Kathleen.” Reverend Everett stopped her. “Find Alice and send her up to my room. I have some things I need to discuss with her before the trip.”
Kathleen stared at him for a minute. Did he honestly have something to discuss with the girl or did he have another of his cleansing rituals in mind? Did she dare say anything? Could she afford to make him angry with her again? Did she even care? She decided she would conveniently forget to tell Alice, but she nodded and followed Stephen and Emily out.
She slipped her hand into the pocket of her cardigan. She caressed the metal razor she had stolen from the bathroom. It gave her an odd sense of relief and calm to know it was there, a comfort as if it were an old friend. Yes, an old friend, this simple metal razor with the real metal blade.
This time she would finally get it right.
CHAPTER 71
“Come in,” Everett yelled, not even bothering to check whom he was allowing to enter his hotel room. Could it possibly be any easier?
He smiled and rolled the room service tray into the room. Then he waited. The excitement, the anticipation was better than any homemade concoction the Zulu tribe could brew. After all, this was the moment he had been waiting for all along. And so he stood patiently and waited as if expecting a tip.
Finally Everett turned, his hand ready to wave him away, when his eyes swept across his face, then back. A quick double take.
“You? What the hell are you doing here?”
“Thought I might bring you a treat, a surprise before your last rally.”
“I would think you’d be down wandering around, looking for another young girl. Looking for ways to destroy me.”
“I can’t take all the credit.”
Everett shook his head, discounting him, unafraid as if he were one of his ordinary followers. “Go away,” he told him. “Go and leave me alone. I’m tired of your shenanigans. You’re lucky to have gotten away with only warnings.”
“Right. Only warnings. Is that because you wouldn’t dare hurt your own son? Is that the only reason I’ve been so lucky?”
Everett stared at him. But there was no surprise. Had he known all along? No. It was impossible. It was simply another one of his performances.
“How did you find out?” His voice was calm, steady.
Oh, Jesus! He did know. Did it make this more difficult? Or no, it would make it easier. The bastard knew. All these years and he knew.
“She told you before she died,” Everett said, as if he had known all about it, as if her death was something he shared. He had no right and yet he continued, “I read about her death. I think it was in the New York Times or perhaps the Daily News. You know I did care about her. Did she tell you that, too?”
He wouldn’t listen. It was lies. “No, she didn’t tell me that. She managed to leave that part out of her journal.” He needed to confine the anger, but the concoction had already begun to seep into his system, and Everett’s words felt like hot, liquid lava scalding his brain, contaminating his memories. “But she did mention what you did to her. There are pages and pages about that. About what kind of a bastard you really are.”
He felt his fingers twisting into fists. Yes, he’d let the anger fuel him. The anger and the precious words of his mother, that mantra he had memorized from her journal entries. Her words had empowered him throughout his mission. They wouldn’t fail him now.
“I wondered when you would find out.” Everett
’s voice still sounded too calm, not a hint of fear. “I knew it was only a matter of time. I thought perhaps that was what all this was about—all those young girls. You were trying to get back at me, weren’t you?”
“Yes.”
“You wanted to hurt me.” Everett smiled as he gave him a nod of confirmation, almost acceptance, as if it was exactly what he had expected from a son of his. “Maybe you even wanted to punish me?”
“Yes.”
“Destroy my reputation.”
“Destroy you.”
The smile disappeared.
“There’s only one thing left now,” he said, picking up the tray from the room service cart. He held it out to Everett, and with his other hand lifted the insulated cover. The tray was empty except for one small red-and-white capsule, sitting on a perfectly folded cloth napkin.
CHAPTER 72
Justin looked for Father or even his henchmen. Already, the pavilion was jam-packed with giggling teenagers mixed in between the others, an odd assortment with little in common except that they all looked like lost souls. They were fucking pathetic, is what they were. Though he had to hand it to Father. There were plenty who looked like they would be ideal recruits and gullible donors.
He had spent the night on the bus trying to plot a strategy and the entire afternoon scoping out as much as he could see of Cleveland. Someone had told him that Edgewater Park was on the west side of Cleveland. There was a circular lot adjacent to the upper section of the park, overlooking the downtown area. Still, he had no idea where the hell he would go. All he knew was that he had to escape while the rally was going on. He’d need to find a way to duck out without Alice or Brandon noticing. Where he’d go seemed a small detail at the moment.
He dug his hands into both his jeans pockets and made sure the wads of bills hadn’t disappeared. Then he pulled down the hem of his T-shirt to make sure the bulge couldn’t be seen. He wasn’t even sure how much he had taken.
While the men who were digging up the strongboxes hauled each box to the bus, Justin stole two fistfuls. He was in such a hurry, all he took time to do was open one of the boxes, reach in and grab and stuff his pockets. Later, he tried to pick out the mothballs and smooth the bills into a neat, folded wad. Then he helped the women at the bonfire, standing in the smoke so he would smell like burnt trash and not mothballs.
He couldn’t help wondering what good the money would do if he had no fucking place to go. He saw Cassie walking to the stage. She waved to the crowd, and the sight of the long purple choir robe she wore got them clapping. Soon she’d have them singing, too. This might be a good time.
Justin looked down at the bike trail and the beach below. There was a statue near the pavilion and some playground equipment. There wasn’t much cover, all the trees were back behind. But he’d already checked. There was a six-foot fence on the other side of the trees, a dead end.
Down by the beach he could see a fishing pier and about ten boat ramps, all empty this time of year. He wondered how hard it would be to take a boat without anyone noticing. Except on the bus ride to the park, he thought he had noticed a Coast Guard station not far from here. Shit! This wasn’t going to be easy.
“Hey, Justin.” Alice waved to him as she weaved her way through the crowd to join him.
Shit! It just got harder.
“I’ve been looking for you.” She smiled.
Why did she have to be so fucking pretty? And damn, she had on another tight sweater, this one blue, and he couldn’t help noticing how fucking beautiful blue her eyes were.
“Why were you looking for me? Do you need something?” He needed to play out the role of complete asshole, or he’d never be able to pull this off.
The wounded look in those blue eyes just about ripped his heart out.
“No, I don’t need anything. I just wanted to…you know, be with you. Is that okay?”
Shit! Double shit! He couldn’t do this.
“Yeah, I guess,” he said, and felt like he had just tossed away his entire plan.
“Hi, Alice, Justin.” The woman named Kathleen squeezed through to get to them. Justin couldn’t believe she remembered his name. She hadn’t been in very good shape last night during their introductions. “I’m glad to see you kids together.” She smiled at Alice, and Justin thought he saw Alice blush. Then suddenly, Kathleen looked sad, the smile replaced with almost a frown as she squeezed Alice’s shoulder and said, “You kids take care of each other, okay? No matter what happens.”
Then she left them, only she was headed in the wrong direction back toward the exit. Maybe she needed to use the rest room. Justin thought he had seen them back that way.
“She’s really a nice woman. We talked about a lot of stuff last night,” Alice said in her soft voice. “She helped me see a lot of things.’
“What kinds of things?” he asked, but his eyes were scanning the surroundings again, looking, hoping for a miracle.
“Things like how much you mean to me and how I don’t want to lose you.”
He stopped and stared at her. She reached for his hand and intertwined her fingers with his.
“I care about you, Justin. Please just tell me what I can do to make things right with us again.”
God, her hand felt good in his, like it belonged. Was she being straight with him, or was this another of Father’s tricks? Before he could say anything Brandon appeared from out of nowhere.
“Alice,” he said, scowling down at their hands with some kind of power that made Alice pull hers away. “Father wants to see you before the prayer rally. You need to come with me.”
She looked up at Justin, apologetic, almost pained. He immediately wondered if Father had yet another lesson for her. Nah, there wasn’t much time. Cassie already had the crowd all revved up.
He watched Brandon lead Alice away, taking some weird shortcut up through the trees. What the hell was Father doing up there, anyway? Probably some strange ritual he does to prepare.
He scanned the crowd again. How much time did he have before Brandon, Alice and Father came back down? Could they see him from up above? Shit! He was fucked.
Then, just as he turned, he recognized a tall blonde at the edge of the bike trail, waving at him. It took him a minute. He probably would have remembered who she was sooner if she was with her short, blond bookend. He smiled and waved, noticing that she was away from the stage and with an older woman who looked enough like her to be her mother. Maybe that meant they had come in a car.
He started toward them, feeling a surge of excitement again, starting to actually believe in miracles.
CHAPTER 73
Tully tried to blend into the crowd. It took him a minute to pick out the plainclothes agents from the Cleveland field office. They were scattered throughout the park. If Everett expected to find the place crawling with men in black, he wouldn’t be able to pick them out. All of them were in place, and they were ready. Tully knew most of the agents, though he could hardly recognize them in their ordinary, everyday disguises. He had worked with this group on plenty of cases before his transfer to the District. In fact, it felt comfortable being back home.
He looked for Racine and spotted her close to the rest rooms at the back exit of the park. He had to admit, in her baseball cap, worn blue jeans, a borrowed Cleveland Indians T-shirt and her leather bomber jacket, she looked like one of the locals, checking out the pavilion’s excitement. No one probably even noticed her mumbling into the cuff of her jacket or the bulge at the back of her waistband. Whatever O’Dell’s misgivings about Racine, the detective was doing a hell of a job. Maybe it was simply the threat of suspension or possible demotion. Chief Henderson was still adamant about a discipline review board. Perhaps Racine was trying to make up for past mistakes. Whatever it was, Tully didn’t care. The important thing was that she not screw this up.
The prayer rally had started without Reverend Everett, but according to Stephen Caldwell, the good reverend would be here anytime now. Although none of them
had seen Everett or even Caldwell, for that matter. In the meantime, a beautiful black woman in a purple choir robe had the crowd stomping, clapping and singing at the top of their lungs. Tully could barely hear the other agents, checking in. He tapped his earpiece just to make sure it was functioning properly.
“Tully,” he heard Racine whisper in his right ear. “Any sign of him?”
“No, not yet.” He glanced around just to make certain no one noticed he was talking to himself. “But it’s early. Any sign of Garrison?”
There was a buzz, then, “I thought I saw him when we first got here. Not sure if it was him, though.”
“Keep an eye out for him. He can probably lead us to the action.”
Just then, he noticed the kid, the tall redhead, going up the hill on the opposite side from him. He had a girl with him, a girl with long blond hair. Immediately, he was reminded of Emma.
“Here we go,” he said into his cuff. “Southeast end of the pavilion, headed for the trees on the hill. I’m going up. I’ll wait for backup.”
He glanced over at Racine, who seemed distracted, looking in the opposite direction toward the rest rooms.
“Is everyone clear?” Tully whispered to all the agents but meant it for Racine.
Hers was the only voice he didn’t hear check in. And now he couldn’t see where she went. Damn it! What the hell was she up to? He didn’t have time to rein her in. The kid, Brandon, was already leading his next victim up into the trees. Tully squeezed through the crowd, not taking his eyes off the pair. He remained so focused that he practically slammed into an attractive blond woman without stopping. It wasn’t until she grabbed his elbow that he turned back.
“R.J. What in the world are you doing here?”
“Caroline?”
Then Tully saw Emma and his stomach began to knot.
“What are you doing in Cleveland?” his ex-wife demanded.