The Road to Lazarus (The First book in the diaries of Lazarus House)

by Patrick T. McAlister

  Raven goes through every page of the website. Reading his blog she finds that he has published a few books she takes the titles down on the note-pad she keeps next to her computer. She makes a mental note as well, that she will try to carve out the time to read his books. Fred’s contact information is on the website. She taps the Bluetooth earpiece then gives it the verbal command to dial the telephone number. The phone dials and she hears the standard Verizon ring back tone of Bach playing. Then she hears a very soft “Hello”. “Is this Fred Jacobsen?” she asks. Yes. This is Fred. Who is this? He replies. Raven introduces herself. When she gives her name she is interrupted by a little laugh on the other end of the line. “What is so funny?” She asks. “I have been waiting awhile for this call. Dennis has told me a lot about you. How are you Detective Wagner?” He replies. “Quite frankly right now I’m a little pissed off and more than a little confused.” she answers. Raven takes several deep breaths to calm down. She could hear him laugh softly again.

  They talked for several minutes. At the end of the call he invited her out for a cup of coffee that afternoon near his counseling office. He gave her the address and she realized it was only about two miles from her apartment. They agreed to meet at 3:00 that afternoon. Before ending the call on a hunch, she decided to take a chance and ask if she could get the real last names for Gabriel and Michael. Her hunch paid off!! He provided the details without hesitation as well as the full name of the murdered son much to her surprise since she hadn’t wanted to press for that detail over the phone.

  His name was Francis Xavier MacAllister. The full names of the two older boys are Gabriel Samson MacAllister and Michael Elijah MacAllister. They are the sons to a full blooded Scottish father, who married a full blooded Apache wife that just happens to be a direct descendent of the great Geronimo. Fred told her one more thing before hanging up. “These boys are good. They do what is right even though it isn’t always what is legal. When you run their back grounds, and I know you will, you won’t find much.” With that he said he tells her that he looks forward to meeting her and hearing the questions he is sure her research through-out the day will bring. Raven tapped the Bluetooth again and sat there for a moment just thinking over what she had just learned. She is grateful that she now has actual names to work with. She begins to build her profiles from what Fred had given her. She turns back to her keyboard and types the names into the NCIC database. Nothing came back on any of the boys. Tapping her Bluetooth once more; she calls her old friend that works at the Dept. of Navy. After a few pleasantries, Raven asks her if she can get the military records for either of the men. Her friend tells her that she will try to help, but she will have to call her back. Raven thanks her for her help then disconnects the call.

  Becoming more focused by the minute, Raven grabs a second cup of coffee and returns to her computer. She decides she will take a different approach by digging into the murder of the sister while she waits for her friend to call her back. Raven jumps from LAPD’s servers to the Ventura County Sheriff Office hall of records. Once there she realized she doesn’t know the name of the sister. She tries calling Fred back but the call went straight to voicemail. He did mention he would be in counseling sessions until just before they met. Reluctantly she dials Dennis on his cell phone. He answered in two rings, when Raven asked for the name of the sister Dennis balked for a moment. After a little coaxing, he finally gave her the full name. Tonya Christine Pearson was her married name. Date of birth was June 13, 1980. Tonya had died four days after her twenty-eighth birthday was the last thing Dennis muttered before he cleared his throat. “Raven” He said. “I told you we are not going to be closing this case. Gabriel and Michael will take care of things!! Just let it GO! We don’t need the bullshit or paperwork” he grumbled. Raven quickly replied “I’m just doing the background Dennis.” After taking a deep breath she adds softly “I believe this has crossed into my personal life.” Dennis said nothing further. She thanked him and ended the call.

  Turning her attention back to the computer she types Tonya’s name into the database. Before she could blink a picture of the crime scene popped on the screen. Raven jumped back, Tonya looked almost like her twin. The only difference was the emerald green eyes she had. Her throat had been cut to the back of her spine with a hesitation gash right where her own scar was. Raven continues to read the Police report for about 30 seconds, when her phone rang. She notices the D.C. area code and picks up. Disappointed she realizes it is not her friend. The man on the phone identified himself as a Major in the United States Marine Corps. The he began demanding to know why she wants the information on the brothers. She quickly tells him the story in bullet point fashion, knowing this was someone who wanted facts and wanted them quickly. The Major clears his throat before telling her “all records for these men are classified.” He then informs her in no uncertain terms that she did not have the clearance to see any of the information. He did however give her some non-classified info. “They are registered recipients of the Navel Distinguished Cross. Michael has also been awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor but he refused to accept it stating that he wasn’t a hero. With that the Major ended the call.

  Sitting there listening to the silence she glances down at her watch. She realizes she has about a half hour until coffee with Fred. She stands, quickly sliding her feet into her running shoes as she grabs her keys and some of the stuff she had printed out on the murder of Tonya and Francis.

  Walking out the door she feels the presence again. Her scar was becoming warm again as it does each time she feels the presence near. She says “thank you” out loud as she closes and locks the door of her apartment.

  The drive is all of five minutes, she could have walked faster she thought, at least on foot she could have cut straight through the hills. Pulling in she parks her car, then sat listening to the radio. She is absolutely positive she had left her radio tuned to a hard rock station but the song playing has a country rhythm to it. She sits and listens to the words, when the song ends the DJ announces the name of the song is “All We Ever Find” by Tim McGraw. The next song started playing and she sat there perplexed as she listened to “Same Ole Situation” by Motley Crué. How does a radio station go from Country Music to Butt Rock without skipping a beat? She looks up and sees a tall thin man get out of a late model import car. She can see a Semper Fi sticker on the back window as well as an NRA sticker.

  That has to be Fred. Who else in this town is a member of the NRA or has a clue what “Semper Fi” really means? She gets out of her car and calls out to him. He stops and turns around then sees her calling him. He lifts his arm as if he couldn’t straighten it out and waves at her. He is dressed like he was heading to workout in a pair of black shorts and white T-shirt with the words “Don’t worry I am with the Government and we are here to help” hovering a group of ATF agents as they made entry into the Branch Davidian compound. She chuckled. Hell, Dennis dresses exactly like that most of the time. They walk inside together. It seems to her as if Fred knows most of the people working inside the coffee shop. They walk to the counter and she places her order noticing a couple of his books are on display for purchase. While waiting for her Mocha Frappuccino with an extra shot of whip cream, her favorite “out and about” coffee, she bought one of each book. Fred walks over and sees what she has ordered “Foo-Foo” coffee and asks her if she wants a “Foo-Foo” pastry to go with it?” She replies “A good old doughnut would do.” He begins to smile after her answer. He decides to give her a break over the fact she was drinking something other than black coffee. Fred led the way through the double patio doors to the outdoor tables. They take a seat at a table outside the shop looking out towards one of the original neighborhoods in town. As he set down his coffee she noticed a box on the table with a cigar lying on top. Before she could suggest they sit somewhere else thinking the table was taken by someone already, he moves the cigar off to the side, and opens the box, he offers her a doughnut. “Brought them with me, my
own stash” he says with a smile. Raven took the rainbow candied sprinkled one. He shook his head as he sat down. As he leveled his gaze at her he spoke softly. “So my dear what can I do you for?”

  Chapter 6

  Raven sat for a moment looking at his blue eyes, his features are of a man who has lived a lot of life. He is still handsome for being over seventy years old. A comfort began to settle over her as she contemplated what would be the best way to start her interrogation. “I would like to know about you and your ‘boys’ she begins. “And more about what happened to their sister” she added. “I’ve tried to research on the internet and our data-bases at the department but there isn’t much that I can find on your ‘boys.’ He chuckles for a moment. Smiling at her, he says “You can dig to China on any system in the world you won’t find anything on "my boys.” “They are so far below the radar no one really knows or cares what they do. As for their sister, sit back and I will tell you her story. She is the youngest of the four kids; her brothers looked after her in a way I had never seen in my family growing up."

  “I met all of them as I started counseling Michael. He brought them all to church with him one Sunday. They all grew up in that neighborhood” pointing to a hill to the west of their seats. “She did well and married what we thought was the right man. After a few years of marriage I would look into her eyes and see that her heart was beginning to die. She was never as open to talking as she had once been. When she gave birth to her son, Gabriel, we all thought things would change.” he said sadly. “She named him after her brother, the one that had always seemed to protect her” he added softly. Clearing his throat he continued after a moment. “Anyway, things just got worse. By the time her son was two years old, she had cut all ties to the family. She wouldn’t talk with Gabriel or Michael when they would drive over to see her. Right before she left her husband Gabriel and Michael did a little “sneak and peak” of her house. Gabriel called me that night. His voice was so intense I knew things were really bad for her. Gabriel and Michael had watched their sister get beaten as well as little G-2 by their brother in law.

  When Gabriel told me this I instructed them to do nothing and leave. I regret that decision some nights when I lay awake in bed going over my life. But I still believed that the police would handle it." His voice hardened as he continued his story. “The next day I went to the house. I saw with my own eyes how bad the abuse really was. She tried to hide the bruising on her face and arms. The damage to her son was harder to hide. He had stitches on his eye brow. That was it for me. I called my friends in the local police and set everything in motion. When pressure started to be applied her husband just up and left. And, well, you know what happened next. She was murdered. At the time of her autopsy we discovered that the abuse had been going on for a long time. She had bones that were broken that never healed properly because she, like most battered women wouldn’t go to the hospital.

  Her husband had even caused permanent damage to her reproductive system according to the autopsy. We drew closer in this time. The boys, as I’m sure you’re starting to see, are a rare breed. They have seen and done things in uniform that will never be read in newspapers or seen on the news. As cops, they were good at making the bust but finally just got sick of the bad guy walking away. This pattern began to repeat itself with their brother in law. He used every asset he had to cover his ass. He thought he was free and clear from any court prosecuting him, and in actuality he was in terms of our court system. But he was wrong when it came to judgment of the boys."

  Raven sat there in silence, hanging on his every word. After taking a slow sip of his coffee Fred continued. “As you know I left the force and became a Biblical Counselor. The boys followed that path years later. Michael was the first. In my years of counseling I have learned to use what I did as detective to help men and women deal with the wounds we all receive in this life. I do my counseling in an office or coffee shop, always cognizant of the people’s safety that I am talking to. Michael and Gabriel are different. They walk right into the houses of the abused.

  They calmly confront the abuser in a loving way to see if the families can be restored. When their sister was murdered they both “went off the reservation” as their grandmother would say. Although all three remained counselors they left the churches they attended. More than once they said to me “God wasn’t showing up on Monday morning for the people they knew in their churches that were being abused or the children being molested."

  They all began a journey to knowing God like they had never known before. Honestly, at times it scarred even me how they had turned around. They all know scripture; all of them are warriors in one form or the other. Francis had big shoes to fill when he was in the Marines. He never got decorated like his older brothers but he served with honor. The three of them would come have talks with me that would blow my mind. Then one day they came to me with an idea that I thought would never fly.

  Their idea was to create a safe house for the abused, using members of the military they had been counseling. Those they had helped deal with the traumas they had faced in war. You see, there is a fundamental truth the group new. “Any soldier or Marine has to have a fight to fight.” The three were great at bringing these men and women into the “Good fight,” you know the one between good and evil. Gabriel and Francis would walk straight down to the gates of hell and bitch slap Satan when needed. Michael, well, he has taken that journey many times. Each time he comes back more alive. He challenges himself and the others to be better at all they do. Michael being the oldest of the boys is married with three great kids, he does however have a story that would bring genuine emotions to the surface if you knew it.

  He struggled a lot with various demons from sex, drugs, infidelity and rage. He will tell you his life is the way it is because he has seen all there is to see when it comes to the evil man can do. Until he was ultimately betrayed by his wife, and an affair she had with a brother Marine. He and I grew real close in that time. He finally came to see his own heart and how much God loved his reckless way of dealing with truth and lies. As well as how he dealt with those that committed wrongful acts on women and children. His brothers joined him, always having his back and he always had theirs.

  I couldn’t help thinking that this idea they had just didn’t seem like it would work. Michael is resourceful and knows people from all walks of life. Especially musicians, He has a voice that when he does decide to sing, I personally think God stands back and just listens because he enjoys it so much. I know I sure do” he said with pride. “Anyway, he got all his musician friends together and within a month had enough money to buy two houses for their new venture. Soon after that they started to take the law into their own hands. At least that is what most outsiders thought.. Michael doesn’t give a shit what people think. He knows what he is doing is right by God. When a man knows that, and I mean REALLY knows that, you will not stop him.” She interrupted him for a moment and asked how Gabriel fit into all this. As she asked the question they both heard this primal sounding roar of motorcycles coming towards them. Not the sound of your standard Harley Davidson but bikes that sound like bullets on wheels. The harmonic balance of the bikes was almost deafening to her.

  She looked over Fred’s shoulder to see two bikes pull into the lot. “Damn, that is hot.” She says to herself. The bikes come right up to the parking space in front of them. Both riders dismount, quickly shedding the leather jackets in the ninety-three degree heat. They take their helmets off as they walk towards her and Fred. At the last minute she notices the bicep tattoos and takes a deep breath.

  It was Michael and Gabriel, and Gabriel looked badass handsome!! They are both dressed in tight fitting jeans with combat boots covering their feet. She watches their taut muscles moving fluidly under their tank tops as they come closer. She just sits in awe looking at the two of them. Michael was definitely the older and wiser of the two men.

  Raven about let out a loud gasp as she watched them moving closer an
d closer. Each had a road map of scars on their shoulders.

  Michael had scars on his neck and one angry red scar that ran down his shoulder to a few inches below his elbow. Gabriel had what seemed to look like a scar that ran from his shoulder down his left chest muscle to parts she couldn’t tell. She wonders why she didn’t notice these scars when she had met them the day before. Gabriel came up and patted Fred on the head. “How you doing Pops, you telling lies about us again to this pretty woman?” Fred laughed “Nope I am just sticking to the facts, just the facts.” This was his way of bringing humor to what seemed like an awkward situation. Gabriel then took Ravens hand and kissed it like gentlemen use to when they were in the presence of beauty for the first time.

  His eyes lock with hers, his mouth lifting into a slight smile as he saw her blush. He gently put her hand down, finally releasing her gaze “Can we join ya’ll?” He asks. They both say yes. Fred immediately offered to get them coffee. Both men declined with a grin. Michael chuckled “that stuff will rust your pipes old man." Gabriel gestured back over his shoulder “We’re going to run over to the store and get something better." With that they set out at a fast trot. Fred looked back to Raven. “What do you believe about God might I ask?” Raven looked down at the concrete for a long time, not sure how to answer. As she sat staring at the ground struggling to find the words to explain how she felt, or didn’t feel, she sees that both men have returned. They were just there beside the table having not made a sound until they both popped the tops of two ice cold beers.

  Raven finally looked at Fred ready to answer. Looking at Gabriel as he takes another swig of his beer she opens her mouth to speak. Before she could say a word Gabriel said “Is this where she tells us what she believes about God, Pops?” Fred gave him a look that clearly said “duh did ya lick a window on the way here!!” But instead of saying what he was thinking, he simply leaned back in his chair and said “why yes it is.” Gabriel grabbed a chair and spun it around; straddling the chair he folded his arms on the back rest and began looking intently at Raven. He asked, “Raven me lass, do you mind if I try to answer your question?” She sat there for a moment, lost in his emerald green eyes, not able to speak. Michael snapped his fingers to get her attention. She came back to reality and muttered a quiet “I guess.”