by Dirk Patton
“That doesn’t help!” Katarina shouted. “What do I do?”
“You do what is right. What you know in your heart is the better path. Sometimes that is in alignment with the laws of man, sometimes it is not. You must choose. And be prepared for the consequences.”
Katarina glared at him in frustration.
“So, I’m on my own. Make a decision and if it’s the right one, everything comes up roses. But if it’s not, I get a lecture about actions having consequences? That’s bullshit, Zophiel, and you know it is. Now help me or get the HELL OUT OF MY WAY!”
She was breathing hard after screaming, her eyes locked onto his. A long, slow silence passed, then he removed the pipe from his mouth and smiled.
“In the alley, you saved Liam. When you traveled to the abyss the other night, you slew a demon. Tonight, you stood against evil and the demon fled. Do you remember?”
“Of course I do!”
“Do you remember how?”
Katarina opened her mouth then paused in thought for a moment.
“Something... something in my hands. Then it becomes a sword and bursts into flames.”
He watched her closely with a hint of a smile on his face.
“Think, Katarina. Remember.”
“Anger. I was mad that Liam was about to be hurt. That I was going to die.”
“Are you sure it was anger? Or was it something else you were feeling?”
“I was...”
Voice trailing off in thought, her eyes suddenly flew wide in understanding.
“Very good, Katarina. You’re remembering. Now, if you are going to save Liam, I suggest you hurry.”
Katarina could suddenly move again. Gripping the broken broom, she flew out the door into the darkness.
***
As the beast’s claws reached for Liam’s throat, a searing light engulfed the forest with a physical intensity. There was a furious scream from behind him, then a broadsword burning with a terrible heat flashed past and slammed into the creature. The beast was flung aside, tumbling heavily across the forest floor and crashing against the trunk of a tree. A gaping chasm had been opened in its hideous skull, smoke rising from the charred flesh that surrounded the wound.
Unsure he had actually survived, Liam looked up. Katarina stood over him, holding the flaming sword. Seconds later, the fire vanished and she was kneeling over him, hands fumbling for his face.
“Are you okay? Liam! Are you hurt?”
“I’m... I’m okay,” he said, sitting up and looking around. “Baldwin!”
He scrambled to his feet and turned on the light mounted to the rifle, swinging it in the direction he’d last seen him.
“There!” Katarina shouted when she spotted a leg sticking out of thick bush.
Together, they rushed forward, carefully working his body out of the brush until he was lying flat on the forest floor.
“He’s breathing,” Katarina said, relief palpable in her voice.
“Nothing seems broken,” Liam said after running his hands over Baldwin’s limbs and ribs. “That’s amazing. That thing hit him like a fucking truck.”
“We need to get him inside so we can check him in the light.”
Liam scooped Baldwin into his arms. Katarina helped him stand under the burden, and he carried him into the house where Saul watched with concerned eyes.
“The demon?” he asked as Liam deposited Baldwin on top of a sleeping bag.
“Yes. But he seems okay. Just got knocked out.”
“Is the creature gone?” Saul asked, grabbing Liam’s arm.
“Dead,” he said, tilting his head at Katarina.
Saul turned to her, but she and Liam were already heading for the door. They returned to the area where she’d killed the demon and quickly located one of the Marines. He lay on his back, body torn open from pelvis to throat. The entrails had spilled out and blood soaked the ground around him. They stared in horror at the amount of damage that had been done by what appeared to be a single blow, then he moved to the demon’s corpse.
“Didn’t get penetration,” he said.
In the beam of his light they could see dozens of metallic glints from bullets that had lodged in the creature’s hide. None had managed to go in more than a quarter of an inch.
“Thanks for saving me. Again. That bastard was about to open me up and turn me inside out.”
“Or possess you,” she said softly.
Liam snapped his head to look at her, his mouth open in horror at the thought.
“You don’t think...” he began, but words failed him.
She reached for his hand, gripping it tightly in hers. After a few seconds he shuddered and turned toward the open pasture.
“Three more guys we’ve gotta find.”
They looked in every direction, then Liam hurried back to the dead man and took his radio. Returning to Katarina, he pressed the bud in his ear and began transmitting. After several tries, none of the three remaining men had responded.
“Better wait for daylight,” Katarina said. “We could walk right by one of them and not see him.”
The moon had set, and the only light was from the small flashlight attached to his rifle. Night Vision didn’t help him spot any of the missing men.
“You go on inside,” he said. “Take care of Baldwin. I’ll keep looking. If someone’s injured, they might not make it until morning.”
Katarina slowly nodded and leaned in to kiss him.
“Just watch your ass out here,” she said.
“As long as there’s no more of those ugly bastards running around,” he said, looking in the direction of the dead demon.
Fifty-Five
Katarina walked into the house as Saul gingerly climbed to his feet after checking Baldwin.
“How is he?”
“I can find nothing serious. It does appear that he was simply knocked out. Hopefully he will regain consciousness soon.”
She bent and gently touched Baldwin’s face. When she straightened, she paused under Saul’s intense scrutiny.
“What?”
“A burning sword, my dear child. You wielded the light of God!”
Katarina looked at him as if he were off his rocker, then shook her head dismissively.
“We’re alive. That’s all that matters.”
“That is not all that matters! There are ancient prophecies about a warrior. That he will reveal himself during a time of great danger. I am wondering if perhaps it is a she instead of a he.”
“I’m not some prophecy, Saul,” Katarina said with a smile. “I only did what had to be done.”
“Is that not a warrior?” he asked pointedly.
She looked at him patiently then shook her head.
“Don’t start thinking I’m a savior or something ridiculous like that. I’m a wanted fugitive and I’m far from virtuous.”
“I did not say savior. I said warrior. There is a stark difference between the two.”
“I’m not that person, Saul.”
“There is more to you than you know, young lady.”
Ignoring him, she went into the bedroom, surprised to find Pettigrew awake. He was seated on the floor and watched her enter with a haunted expression.
“Agent Daniels,” he said.
“How are you feeling, sir?”
“I... I’m not sure. Where are we?”
She hesitated a beat before answering.
“A safe place. Do you remember how you got here?”
He stared at her in a daze, then focused on her face and tears dampened his eyes.
“I remember everything,” he whispered. “Everything I did.”
Katarina almost prompted him to keep talking, but recognized he was about to unburden himself. She’d hoped for this but hadn’t held any expectations.
“Would you like to tell me what you did?”
He was quiet for so long that she wasn’t sure he was going to respond.
“I couldn’t stop myself,” he said a
s tears streamed down his face. “It was... a nightmare. Where you can see yourself doing something but can’t make it stop.”
He suddenly looked directly into her eyes.
“Oh, my God! I’m so sorry, Agent Daniels. I’m so sorry.”
His face dissolved as he completely broke down and sobbed. Not unaffected by the man’s raw emotions, Katarina forced herself to remain silent while he cried.
“Sir,” she eventually prompted. “Would you be willing to tell me what you did? On camera?”
He stared at his lap and she didn’t think he would respond, but he finally spoke so softly she could barely hear him.
“Yes.”
Rushing out of the room, she unboxed a small video camera she and Liam had purchased at Costco. Inserting a large capacity memory card, she hurried back to the bedroom and pulled the folding table across the room. Helping Pettigrew off the floor and into the chair he’d been tied to, she attached the camera to a short tripod and set it on the table, pointed at him. He watched disinterestedly while she worked.
She activated the camera and sat down in the folding chair out of its view. Pettigrew looked briefly into the lens. When she didn’t speak, he nodded in understanding. Facing directly into the camera, he took a deep, shuddering breath and began speaking in a haunted voice.
“My name is David Pettigrew. I am the Special Agent in Charge of the Seattle Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. I am making this recording of my own free will to document my confession to crimes I have committed. I am... I am guilty... guilty of the murder of FBI Agent Collins as well as Matthew Daniels, the husband of FBI agent Katarina Daniels. She is innocent and I have conspired to frame her for both crimes...”
He paused as his voice broke with emotion, then continued after several deep breaths. Katarina listened as he spoke into the camera. The import of the moment nearly overwhelmed her and she was constantly wiping her eyes. Her heart went out to Pettigrew as it was obvious that he was aghast at the things he thought he was responsible for. He was a broken man.
“I should tell him the truth,” she said to Saul and Liam nearly an hour later.
The memory card with Pettigrew’s confession was securely tucked into her pocket. She would have much preferred to make a copy in the event something happened to it, but no one had a computer to which the file could be transferred.
“What good would it do?” Liam asked. “It doesn’t change things for him. He’s going to prison.”
Liam had been unsuccessful in finding the three missing Marines and had called off his search until first light.
“But he didn’t do them,” she protested. “He only thinks he did because he’s unaware a demon had taken control.”
“And how do you separate that, my dear?” Saul asked. “Assuming you tell him, and he believes you. No one else will. What then? Demonic possession is not a viable defense. Unfortunately, the truth will not change the circumstances for the poor man.”
“It’s not right!”
“Many things in the world are not right,” Saul said patiently. “Is it right for you to be charged with murders you did not commit? Had we been unsuccessful in expelling the demon, what would your future be? Now, instead of an innocent woman going to prison, it will be an innocent man. Even though evil was cast out and ultimately defeated, it has still garnered a victory.”
“I still don’t like it,” Katarina grumbled. “There must be something we can do.”
“That something,” Saul said firmly, “is for you to do what you were apparently put here to do. Fight them. Defeat them. Stop them before they destroy not just one good person, but everyone and everything.”
Katarina nodded but wouldn’t meet their eyes.
“I need some air,” she mumbled.
Stepping onto the front porch, she looked out into the darkness and involuntarily shuddered. The door behind her closed softly, then Liam circled his arm around her shoulders and held her close. She wrapped hers around his waist and held on tight. He lit a cigarette and took a deep drag.
“We did it,” Liam said quietly, exhaling a plume of smoke that hung motionless in the humid air. “We’ve got what you need to clear your name.”
“I’m not sure it’s worth it. How many dead? Pettigrew’s life ruined. Why am I worth more than all of them?”
He smoked silently, finishing the cigarette before answering.
“It’s not about any one person’s worth, Katarina. It’s about doing what you think is right. Baldwin and those Marines didn’t have to be here. They weren’t doing it for the money, it was for love. You’re Baldwin’s family and so were they.
“And Pettigrew? It says a lot about the man that he just voluntarily confessed to a whole slew of felonies. Why? Not because he thinks you’re worth more than him, but because he’s doing what he believes is right.”
“What about you? Why are you doing this?” Katarina asked, looking up into his eyes.
He looked at her a moment before lowering his head and kissing her.
“I think I’m going to throw up,” a voice said from the dark.
Liam reacted instantly, but before he could push Katarina completely clear there were two loud pops and they both fell as electricity surged through their bodies and disrupted their nervous systems. Gripping a pair of Taser pistols, Angela stepped onto the porch and looked down at them with a smile.
“Never kissed me like that, lover.”
Triggering both devices, they clicked rapidly as fresh jolts of electricity were delivered to Liam and Katarina. Angela stepped closer and delivered a sharp kick to Liam’s head. He rolled to the side, unconscious and she smiled down into Katarina’s pain filled eyes.
“Hold on, sweetie. It’ll all be over, soon.”
She flipped Katarina onto her stomach. Pulling her quivering arms behind her back, she snapped a pair of cuffs in place. Slapping a length of tape over the helpless woman’s mouth, she jolted her again for good measure then dropped the Tasers and dragged her off the porch.
Katarina’s mind screamed for her to fight. Her legs were unfettered, but she couldn’t control them. Unable to resist, she was taken to the closest SUV and unceremoniously dumped into the cargo area. Her eyes flew wide in fright when she saw Angela raise a syringe, but there was nothing she could do to stop the injection that sent her spiraling down a bottomless, dark hole.
Fifty-Six
“Wake up!”
Liam forced his eyes open, then tried to bat away the arms that were shaking him. Icy water splashed across his face and he lurched to a sitting position. Baldwin and Saul looked at him in concern.
“Wha---”
He suddenly leaned to the side and retched long and hard.
“Liam! Where’s Kat?”
“Angela,” he gasped.
He heard Baldwin cursing as he tried to clear the fog from his brain. His head pounded and when he reached up, he could feel a large swelling just behind his ear. He flinched when Baldwin’s hand suddenly appeared directly in front of his face, then realized he was being offered help to stand.
Taking it, he was pulled to his feet and would have crashed back onto the porch if Saul hadn’t grabbed him when he swayed. Swallowing bile that threatened to come up, he gulped air and looked around.
“How long?” he asked, gently removing Saul’s helping hands from his arms.
“At least thirty minutes,” Saul said. “When you went outside, I was trying to give you some privacy and didn’t hear anything wrong.”
“Another problem,” Baldwin said. “Pettigrew’s gone and he’s got a gun.”
“I’m sorry,” Saul said, fingering a lump on his mostly bald head. “I tried to stop him, but he pushed me aside and I fell.”
“How?” Liam asked, ignoring the Rabbi and turning to Baldwin.
“I was still out. He took my pistol. Saul brought me around.”
Liam stared at him, processing the information much slower than normal. Before he could speak, there was a
single gunshot from somewhere behind the house. He and Baldwin traded looks, then took off, neither of them moving very fast. Going out the back door, Liam scanned with the night vision scope on his rifle.
“Oh, fuck,” he said, focusing on something lying in the deep grass.
“What you got?” Baldwin asked but Liam was already leaving the porch and moving as fast as his still wobbly legs would allow.
A hundred yards into the pasture, they found Pettigrew. He was on his back, vacant eyes staring up at the night sky. A neat, nearly-bloodless hole was in his temple and Baldwin’s pistol lay in the grass beside his right hand.
“Are you kidding me?” Baldwin grumbled. “All this and the asshole offs himself?”
“Katarina got a full confession. On video,” Liam said. “She said the guy was pretty broken up. Didn’t understand why he’d done the things he did.”
Baldwin stared down at the dead man.
“Saul said Katarina killed that thing in the forest,” he said.
Liam nodded, turning to look at the house. Saul stood on the back porch, peering out into the darkness where they stood.
“What the fuck was that thing?”
“Exactly what she told you, and it damn near gutted me like a fish. Would have, if not for Katarina. But... your team.”
Baldwin’s face fell when his words registered.
“I found one man,” Liam continued. “Couldn’t find the rest in the dark.”
Baldwin looked at him then started to turn away, stopping when Liam grabbed his arm.
“We’ve got to get her back! We can help her. Sorry, but we can’t help them.”
Baldwin thought about what he’d said, a war of emotions playing out on his face.
“Fine, but where the hell do we start? Bitch has a half hour lead on us. At least. They could be anywhere!”
“Come on,” Liam said, leading the way back to the house.
“What did you find?” Saul asked as they walked up.
“He killed himself,” Liam said.
Saul nodded and started to mumble a prayer in Hebrew, but Liam cut him off.