“August, that woman on the table was supposed to be the woman that visited you right? Who is she August?
August turned and left the morgue without answering Michelle.
Chapter 34
August stepped into the restroom directly across the hall from the lab. The antiseptic smell of the bathroom compared to truck stops and fast food restrooms he was used to stopping in on the road was numbing. He looked around the white tile walls, white waxed floor, polished porcelain fixtures all added to the feeling of loneliness.
His heavy breathing echoed off the walls.
August felt like he walked into a room where everything was covered with sheets as if someone was closing a house and moving away.
That’s what life felt like now.
He felt like he had moved away from his life.
Alone.
The control he thought he gained this morning was gone.
The bitter pre-taste of vomit came up his throat.
August barely made it to a commode.
August dropped to his knees in the cramped bathroom stall;
Bent over the commode all he could see in front of him was the image of the stained-glass window from the other night.
A passage from scripture kept pounding in his head, one he repeated over and over in a blazing jungle.
“My God, My God, why have you abandoned me?”
Just like Jesus in the Garden, August had sudden clarity of what his own destiny was.
The difference, unlike Jesus who accepted His outcome, August was going to make sure he avoided what he knew was ahead of him.
The mistake he made was the age-old trick of the devil. His new life made him believe evil didn’t exist anymore.
Here it was right in front of him.
Chapter 35
Susan was successful at gaining entry to the impound lot. Using her influence as mayor plus a promise to send the city crews down to fix some major potholes around the lot didn’t hurt her case. She quickly located Steve’s vehicle. Looking around the damaged SUV, she wasn’t sure what she was looking for.
Tinkering with one of the doors of the SUV and leaning in she spoke out loud,
“I am sure August saw something here that he didn’t see last night. I wish I knew what that was. Either Father kept a clean vehicle, or August worked it over pretty good.”
Susan knew from Stan the vehicle rolled more than once. It seemed to her that there was not enough blood on either side for such a traumatic accident; but maybe the rain washed much of it off.
She rationalized that August apparently took any clues with him he felt were significant. She slammed the driver’s door trying to make it latch. It swung back open and knocked her to the ground.
Once she recovered from her embarrassment she looked up and saw what August missed. It could only be seen from this angle. Wedged between the sun visor of the passenger side was a cell phone. It must have lodged up there during the roll and was just missed by the cutting jaws.
Knowing she was probably on surveillance, Susan worked her way into the car as if she was trying to secure the door in a different way. Pretending to reach in for support, she grabbed the phone and slipped it down in one quick motion. This was her prize for the day.
Now all she had to hope for was that Fr. Steve, like many, didn’t have a passcode.
Walking out of the lot, she said goodbye to the owner, gave him a wink that probably made his day, and drove off with her catch safely in her jean pocket.
Chapter 36
Omaha, NE
Faraday locked his office door and made his way through the main lobby of the Federal Marshals office. Few noticed him leaving. Dan was not the kind of guy that attracted attention, which was the way he liked it in his chosen career. He looked like an ordinary guy. Neat, but not overdone. Fit enough, but looking like on any given day, your average forty-year old might be able to out run him. It was all for show. He believed in keeping up this appearance. He wore clothes that made him look slightly overweight and one step behind fashion. Leaving the office this early in the day was of no interest to anyone.
No one except the new marshal recently assigned to the office.
Dan didn’t notice the marshal following him down the street. The marshal followed Dan almost all the way to his to his car.
Once the rookie marshal was confident Dan was in his car, he dialed his phone.
Morning Omaha traffic was brought to a standstill by the explosion. Store windows shattered for a two-block radius.
Next to Faraday’s car was a clothing store. Manikins were spread out on the street most of them melting from the heat of the car fire. All that remained of Dan’s car was a torch of black smoke and orange lips of flame. Car alarms sounded all around drowning thoughts and reactions and adding to the confusion and disorientation. People started running up the street away from the scene. The charging people looked like fall leaves blowing up the street bouncing and stumbling over each other.
The rookie walked down the street as casually as if he had just finished a day’s work. Two blocks down he climbed into a waiting SUV and drove opposite of the incoming emergency responder.
Chapter 37
Watercreek, NE
August composed himself in the bathroom and cleaned up at the sink. His pullover shirt had rings of sweat surrounding his neck and arms. The polo shirt fit tight on his biceps forming a collection point for much of the perspiration. He rubbed the serpent and tree tattoo and squeezed it hard with his free hand. Rage like he hadn’t felt in years was still bubbling in his gut. August forgot he was a sheriff and priest. All he wanted was answers that no God or law enforcement agency was going to give him.
He was on his own.
August made it out to the jeep without anyone stopping him. The news that Michelle shared with him pounded in his head. August knew the message someone was sending him. There are only three people that could make the connection to his past. One he helped put away in jail. Another was his handler in the marshal office. He ruled Dan out quickly. He trusted him with his life and the third was Steve who was stretched out on Michelle’s table. That only left the first.
Mumbling to himself, "so why is Angelina here."
Chapter 38
August turned out of the hospital parking lot and made his way to St. Mary's. He hoped by going through some of Steve’s things, maybe a clue would come to him. From there his plan was to run to the accident site to look for Steve’s cell. He knew from the voicemail Steve had it with him so if someone didn’t take it, then it must be in the field somewhere around the accident.
August needed a fresh shirt after the morning’s news, and he was finally starting to feel like eating.
He decided to stop by his house since it was on the way to the church.
At the house, August couldn’t stop the movie running over in his head as he stepped in his house. Visible scenes of Steve’s SUV laying on the side. Steve so unresponsive. The girl, whoever she was, laying out along the highway. In a burst of frustration, he kicked over the closest chair, then swept everything off the kitchen counter in broad swing of his arm.
“Damn it, Damn, it” was all he could muster now.
Looking at the mess that now surrounded him mirrored the mess he felt he made of people’s lives as well as his own.
August decided to skip the food and go right for the last three cans of beer in the fridge.
The demon was in front of him now. He had hidden in plain sight long enough. What haunted him all these years was hesitation. The events of the last hours and days awakened the fear and regret he carried through the darkness his soul had slipped into. It was obvious two things were coming to an end, his career and his life. At this point he was contemplating the latter.
August pulled at the inner corners of his soul for years trying to make sense out of the night’s actions so many years ago. As a priest, he was called to protect the souls of others. How was he to do this when he could not protect his sou
l from himself?
Many nights he sat with a gun in his hand thinking it could all be over in an instant, but something always stopped him from pulling the trigger. He couldn’t commit to either his heart or his soul.
Both dragged at him.
It was easy in this town to hide behind a badge in much the same way he hid behind a collar in the jungle. The witness protection he received from his knowledge of Hector’s cartel reinforced the burial of the past. He used it as justification for putting it all behind him. Now, his lack of commitment and hesitation cost the life of Angelina’s mother and now the life of his friend and an innocent girl.
The real casualty in the jungle fight was August’s soul. He left it in the smoke chocked jungle that night and replaced it with a new one. August joked with himself,
“There are probably few people in the protection program that receive a new soul along with a new identity.”
August knew the only way to redeem himself and save others was to start over and trace the path of evidence his soul left behind.
August always knew there would come a time when the past would catch him.
Now is the time.
August shook himself out of his brooding, went to his bedroom, and threw a few clothes into a mud-stained camo patterned backpack. He unlocked his gun safe and pulled three semi-automatics out. He grabbed shells from the bottom of the safe hoping through teary eyes he was selecting the right ones. He walked out to the jeep, threw his bundle on to the seat, backed up and drove out of town.
Chapter 39
Michelle wrapped up the autopsies on Jane Doe and Fr. Steve. She was convinced of her findings and was anxious to share with August those conclusions. Michelle was still baffled by the results of the tests.
She still had the fireman to work up but his case wasn’t nearly as pressing.
The poison that killed Fr. Steve had to be something he came in contact earlier in the day. There were no puncture marks from a syringe but there were toxins in his blood she just couldn’t identify. Someone went to a lot of work to make it appear they both died from the accident.
Michelle checked for toxins as part of a routine exam and then checked again. The idea that Fr. Steve caused the accident out of carelessness was next to impossible.
As the report printed she was gathering her keys to head over to the sheriff’s office to bring August up to date.
“Maybe I’ll try that cup of coffee again.”
Grabbing the report as the last page came out of the printer she stuffed it hurriedly in an official envelope and sealed it with the coroner seal and headed for the Courthouse.
As Michelle pulled away from the hospital lot she was too preoccupied to notice the van that watched and waited for her to leave intent on taking her parking spot next to the lab entrance.
Two men, both with ball-caps tipped in such a way that the lot security cameras could not record their face approached the entrance. Each was dressed in white jump suits typical of the cleaning service for the hospital. They walked casually through to the lab. Each carried a tool box and a manual sprayer like the type used for insecticide.
Chapter 40
Stopping just outside of town August switched on a cheap track phone and made a call to Dan Faraday.
August hated these things.
No answer. He would try him later.
Dust swirled behind the jeep as he headed down a country road forgotten by most people in the county. The heat dried the mud on the road from the rains back to its original khaki dust.
Only a couple miles down the road August turned the jeep into a field with a weather-beaten barn on the far end. The tall grass whipped the front of the jeep as he bounced across the open field. He parked beside the barn and made a quick check in the rearview mirror before he stepped out. He looked back again when he set his first foot on the ground and one more time when he reached the man door of the barn.
A new padlock secured a rusty latch holding the door closed. August fished for a key on his ring and finally found the one that fit the lock. Once open, the door hung crooked off a hinge that popped from the dry wood.
Inside the only light was what came through the door. The windows were covered from the inside with sheets of plywood tacked around the edges just enough to hold them in place.
August didn’t need any light. He knew his way around the barn. He pushed a heavy timber off an L shaped bracket and let if fall under its own weight. He took a few steps and did the same on the opposite end. Twin doors were now free to swing to the outside. When August pushed them, the morning light bounced off an old Ford F-150. The grey hood and roof had spots of rust and droppings from pigeons that somehow always find their way into a barn.
August grabbed a broom standing in the corner and swept the dust off the windshield then pitched the broom to the side. Pushing the double doors completely open he could hear the barn sucking in the fresh air. August walked back to the jeep, popped the hood and removed the battery. He carried the battery back to the truck in the barn and with little effort installed the battery in the old truck.
Back out to the jeep, August grabbed the bag he had thrown together and slammed the door on the jeep. Once in the barn he pitched the bag on the seat of the truck, stepped up on the running board and bounced down on the seat. One turn of the key and a little grinding of the engine and the truck came to life.
One key click and he was ready to leave another life behind. Driving out of the barn he stopped the truck in the field, took one last look at the jeep, and drove off with no plan of ever seeing it again.
He felt a little better.
Chapter 41
Mayor Park walked into her Courthouse office just in time to watch Michelle slip her little sports car in the space reserved for the county coroner. When Michelle was hired, Susan made sure her parking space was next to the mayors. Susan believed in the saying, “keep your friends close and enemies closer.” She wanted to make sure she knew when Michelle was in the building.
With one hand on the custom drapes of her office window Susan spoke her opinion to no one,
“She’s going to regret that vehicle once a Nebraska winter hits. That is if she is still here then.”
There was no hiding the fact that Susan was not a fan of Michelle especially after her incident when they were taking August away. Michelle was another woman of power in this county that Susan might need to deal with some day if she was to reach her goal in state politics. Also, Michelle had a pipeline of information that Susan wished she had. Susan would love to have the relationships Michelle formed so quickly with the people of the town. Trouble was, Susan didn’t know how to be a friend. She never developed that talent.
Watching Michelle make her way up the Courthouse steps she could see some of the local farmers, in town for morning business following her path with desiring eyes. Susan sat down at her desk and started shuffling papers just to look busy in case Michelle or anyone else stopped in.
Chapter 42
Michelle climbed the steps to the west entrance of the Courthouse and made her way to August’s office. She checked herself in the reflection of the doors as she walked down the hall. Normally not this vain, but she wanted August to see her at her best. She knew he was hurting and she was hoping she would be the comfort for him. Maybe she could put to rest their disagreement.
The cool air of the Courthouse lobby was refreshing, and it made her perk up even more as she approached August’s office.
Arriving at the Sheriff Office door she found it locked. A chill ran through as she remembered the last time she couldn’t get in. But, this time it was definitely locked.
“I wish he would hire a deputy and take a break. This job really is killing him.”
There was no place to leave the report. Michelle felt that August needed the information in the report today. If he would only get with today’s technology she could send him a text to meet her. She figured she could get the county radio operator to reach him. She turned in
the hall and walked down towards the emergency management office which took her past Mayor Park’s door.
Michelle walked past the door at the same time Susan was coming out. The two women met in the doorway. Neither one relinquishing any animosity over the events and encounters of the last two days but both put on a public display of respect.
“Madam Mayor, how are you this morning?”
“Fine, not so hot yet which is okay. What brings you around this morning?”
“I have some reports for Auggie,” she used his nick name knowing it would get under Susan skin a little.
It did the trick. Susan was not always good at hiding her reaction.
She turned on a cold tone.
“I am sure the old goat is in his office.”
“No, I just came from there he must be out already. The office is locked.”
“I would be happy to give them to him.”
Michelle was not ready for that play by Susan.
Susan won that round.
There was no reason not to leave the reports in her hands. After all, the report was sealed with the coroner’s crest and the mayor was a public official. If she protested, that would just raise more suspicion and she knew Susan would direct that towards August.
“Okay, just make sure when he comes in you give the envelope to him.”
With a sarcastic and sloppy salute,
“No problem, I will make it my duty.”
Michelle didn’t miss the sarcasm but what could she do. There was nothing on the outside of the envelope except the last four digits of Steve’s social security number, Michelle’s method of tracking cases and the other name, Jane Doe.
The two women parted and Susan returned to her desk, placing the report in her top drawer. As soon as the door closed it hit her. She pulled it back out. There right in front of her was a number she had not tried. The last four digits of Steve’s social. Pulling the cell from her purse, she typed in the 7296, the phone came alive with missed messages, texts, and emails.
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