The Belial Children

by R. D. Brady

  “And it brought up lots of memories?”

  Danny nodded, picturing the belt his dad liked to use.

  “Danny, we’re not our parents. Laney can probably explain to you better the genetic argument, but I’ll tell you what I think, okay?”

  Danny nodded.

  “I think we each choose our families and the struggles we’re going to go through before we’re born.”

  Danny opened his mouth to speak. “What—”

  Patrick put up a hand. “Just bear with me. I think we learn from every horrible situation we’re in. I think we can grow from every situation, although not everybody does. Look at you. You’ve found a new family with Henry, with all of us. One in which we love you and would do anything in our power to protect you.”

  “Yeah, but I didn’t—”

  Patrick took his hand. “I’ve met too many kids that have been abused, Danny. And I’ve seen them close themselves off. You didn’t do that. You kept reaching out for something to hold onto—something to believe in. And you and Henry found each other. You found someone to trust, even when your earlier experiences taught you that trusting was dangerous.”

  Danny was taken aback. He had always been a person of logic, not belief. Yet he recognized that Patrick was right: his faith in Henry was absolute. He might not like the barriers Henry had surrounded him with, but he never doubted, not even for a moment, that Henry was doing it out of anything but love.

  “But I didn’t do anything.” Danny said.

  “You need to give yourself more credit, Danny. You found a better situation. You found your true family. You’re not like your father. His life made him who he is. Your life made you who you are.”

  Danny tried to imagine his father as a kid. “Do you think…” He paused. “Do you think if my father had someone in his life when he was younger, like I have Henry, do you think he would be different?”

  “I do,” Patrick said. “I know that as people get older, it’s harder to change behavior. But if you provide them with that kindness early enough, you can change someone—for the better.”

  Danny’s mind drifted to the missing kids. What about them? If they were still alive, would this situation change them? Was there anyway it couldn’t?

  He glanced at Patrick out of the corner of his eye. Patrick was absentmindedly petting Moxy, but his face looked troubled, the creases around his eyes more pronounced.

  “Do you think they’ll be able to find those kids in time?” Danny asked softly.

  Patrick didn’t ask whom he meant by “they.” When he turned to Danny, his face was confident, with no sign of doubt. “I think that Laney, Henry, and Jake have done some amazing things. And I think finding those kids will be one more amazing thing.”

  More than anything, Danny wanted to believe him. But logic ruled his mind. “But statistically, the likelihood of those kids still being alive is really slim. And it’s getting slimmer each day.”

  Patrick put his arm around Danny and gave him a squeeze. “You’re right. But sometimes you just need to have a little faith.”

  CHAPTER 33

  Henry hung up the phone and stared out the window in his office. Not that he could see anything with the dark. But he knew his men were out there, patrolling the estate. He’d put extra men on duty. In fact, he’d called in every single member of his security force that wasn’t already on active assignment.

  The memory of Danny shaking when Henry wrapped his arms around him after the attack slashed through him. He curled his fist. He wasn’t an angry man. He prided himself on his ability to keep calm under almost all circumstances. But they went after the boys.

  He let out a breath, trying to find his calm. He tried to picture the men responsible, but that was the problem: there was no one to picture. They were in the dark. Jen and Jake had gone to get what information they could, but Henry hadn’t heard back from either of them.

  Henry stood up and stretched, his mind roaming over the operatives he had in the field, calculating how long it would take to get his people in place. He had put his operatives on notice that they might be needed. When they had a target, he wanted to be ready. He glanced back at his desk. But right now they had nothing.

  He felt a slight tingle along his skin, then glanced up as his doors burst open and Jen strode in. She had left an hour ago to see if she could encourage the medical examiner to speed up the autopsies. Anger punctuated her steps.

  Dread washed over Henry. “What happened?”

  Jen walked up to his desk. “The cops lost the bodies.”

  “What?”

  “The bodies of the attackers. They’ve disappeared from the morgue.”

  “What about the guy in the hospital?”

  “Died about an hour ago—and he’s gone too. Video was compromised and the guys were in and out.” Jen shook her head. “Damn it. I should have gotten there sooner. But I wanted to see that the boys were all right. I should have—”

  Henry walked around the desk. He reached out to take her by the arms but then thought better of it. Instead he shoved his hands in his pockets and sat on the edge of the desk. “What about the bodies? Did they get anything?”

  Jen shook her head. “Not even a fingerprint. How could they not have at least fingerprinted them?”

  Henry clenched his teeth. “So we have nothing?”

  “Not a damn thing.”

  Jake walked in. He took one look at Henry’s face and paused mid-step. “What happened?”

  “The bodies are gone,” Jen said. “All of them. And we have nothing on them. Not even fingerprints.”

  At Jen’s last remark, Jake smiled and walked forward, placing a piece of paper on Henry’s desk.

  “What’s this?” Henry picked up the paper and scanned it.

  “Whose fingerprints are those?” Jen asked, leaning over Henry’s shoulder.

  Jake took a seat in one of the leather chairs in front of the desk. “That’s our guy in the hospital.”

  Jen looked over at him. “How’d you get these?”

  Jake shrugged. “I rolled the guy’s hand on a soda can when I went to the hospital. Then I spoke with some of my friends down at the lab, had them expedite their scan.”

  Henry closed his eyes. “Thank you, Jake.”

  “Who is he?” Jen asked.

  “Lawrence Kelly, former military,” Jake said.

  “Rangers?” Jen asked.

  Jake shook his head. “No. Marines.”

  “One of the guys at the Watson abduction was a Ranger though, right?” Jen asked.

  Jake nodded. “That’s what we think. We’ve got guys from two separate branches involved in this.”

  “What’s Kelly’s story?” Henry asked.

  “Served two tours in Afghanistan, one in Iraq. Honorably discharged after being wounded by an IED on his last tour.”

  Henry raised an eyebrow. “Wounded? Did he need follow-up medical care?”

  Jake smiled. “Yup. First thing in the morning, I’ll head to the VA, see if they have a record of him.”

  “You can’t contact them now?” Jen asked.

  Jake let out a bitter laugh. “You ever dealt with the VA?”

  She shook her head.

  “Well, let’s just say they aren’t very helpful after hours.”

  They’re not overly helpful during hours either, Henry thought, but kept it to himself. “Okay. Which VA?”

  “Kelly’s from Stamford, Connecticut. There’s a VA there, so I’ll start with them. But don’t get your hopes up. The VA records are a mess. Then I’ll go meet with his family, see what I can come up with.”

  Henry pictured the rooms he’d seen on the news, stacked high with VA medical folders. Veterans sometimes had to wait more than a year to be seen by a doctor.

  “See what you can do,” Henry said. “Because right now, Kelly is our only shot.”

  CHAPTER 34

  Sacramento, California

  Nathaniel lay the phone down slowly, a tremble in his hand
. They had failed. He sat staring at the wall, not really seeing anything.

  How could they have failed? The Shepherd had specifically requested this target. Nathaniel didn’t know why this child was important, but he knew that he was.

  He stared wildly around the room, as if some answer was going to materialize in front of him. What am I going to do? I can’t tell him.

  His eyes fell on the crucifix on the far wall. The eyes of Jesus seemed to stare right into him. He died for our sins. Perhaps now I will die for my mistake.

  He shook the thought off as soon as he had it. The Shepherd had never harmed him, nor anyone he knew of. But there was something about the man that terrified him nonetheless.

  The Shepherd was the reason he had everything he had. Nathaniel liked to think he had achieved all of his success on his own. But down deep, he knew the truth. For years he had toiled away, trying to gather followers, but had met with little success. It was the Shepherd who had shown him the way, who had provided him with the tools he needed to gather his flock. It was only with the Shepherd’s help and guidance that Nathaniel had succeeded.

  And now Nathaniel had failed him.

  He sat in his chair for a while, dreading the phone call he knew he had to make. Finally, the clock on his desk warned him that he couldn’t put it off any longer. He picked up the receiver and punched in the numbers. It took him three tries to get the number correct, his hands were shaking so hard.

  The Shepherd picked up quickly. “Nathaniel.” There was a pause. “What a pleasant surprise.”

  Nathaniel swallowed, trying to get some moisture into his now dry mouth. “Uh, yes, Shepherd. Um… I have an update.” He went silent.

  “I’m waiting.”

  “Uh, yes, um. It seems the latest acquisition did not go as well as planned.”

  “Exactly how ‘unwell’ did it go?”

  Nathaniel took a breath and then blurted out the details. “They failed to grab the boy. Three members of the team were killed. A fourth was hospitalized.”

  The Shepherd spoke slowly. “Will they be able to trace it back to you?”

  “No. The team was disposed of before they could get any identities on them. The police have nothing.”

  “How did this happen?”

  “I’m sorry, sir. We thought we had enough men. We didn’t realize they had an abomination on the security detail.”

  The Shepherd paused, then sighed, his voice resigned. “Of course they did. I should have warned you of that possibility.”

  The Shepherd went silent again and Nathaniel racked his brain for something to say, but for the first time in his life, his golden tongue failed him.

  Finally, the Shepherd spoke. “No matter. We can still get him.”

  “But sir, they’ll put rings of protection around him now. We’ll never get to him.”

  “Oh, they’ll gather the wagons and not let the boy out of his sight, I’m sure. But we’ll get him.”

  Nathaniel waited for the verbal blow to come. “I’m sorry, sir,” he said again. “I should have—”

  “Don’t worry about it. It is not insurmountable, just a slight delay. We can go ahead without the boy and grab him at another time, if necessary.”

  Nathaniel felt a weight leave his shoulders. He sagged in his chair. “Thank you, sir. We won’t let you down again.”

  “Humans are fallible, my son. Mistakes are made. The point is not to make the same mistakes again. If an opportunity arises to take the boy, you will be better prepared, won’t you?”

  Nathaniel swallowed, wondering if the threat he heard was real or imagined. “Yes, sir. Of course.”

  “Good night, Nathaniel.” The Shepherd hung up the phone without waiting for Nathaniel’s response. But Nathaniel didn’t mind; he was still too relieved that the Shepherd wasn’t disappointed in him.

  Straightening his spine, he dialed Tyrell. “We need to take the boy. If there is any opportunity, you take it.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Make sure you have enough to take out the abomination. We cannot fail the Shepherd again.”

  “Yes, sir. I’ll need more men.”

  Nathaniel gripped the phone tightly. “Take all that you need.”

  CHAPTER 35

  Baltimore, Maryland

  Laney ran her hands through her hair. Crap.

  She was sitting in one of the offices off Dom’s living area, staring at all the data on the abductions—again. And nothing new was popping out. Adding in the information on Danny and Max only seemed to make it worse.

  She thought back to her conversation with Kati. Were Max’s abilities, if they were even real, related?

  And if Laney hadn’t known about them, how on earth could anyone else? Frustration welled up in her. She wanted to hit something.

  Jake had left early this morning to go speak with the VA in Stamford. She had thought about going with him, but she wasn’t quite ready to leave Max and Danny. She glanced at the clock; she had expected Jake to call by now.

  She looked back out into the living area. Danny and Max were playing Skylanders. Max’s face was lit up and Danny smiled whenever Max looked at him. But every time Max looked away, Danny’s smile disappeared.

  Maddox caught her gaze. He eased off the couch behind them and headed toward her. Laney swirled her chair toward him. “Hey,” she said as he stepped in.

  “Hey, back. How’s it going?”

  Laney shook her head. “It’s not. I can’t find a link between Danny or Max and these other kidnappings. I think we’re going down the wrong road. Can you think of anything about the attack that might give us another angle?”

  Maddox shook his head, taking a seat. “Not really. I mean, I was pinned to a wall by a van for most of it.”

  Laney cringed. “Ouch.”

  Maddox just shrugged. “Been through worse.”

  “Did they know you were a nephilim? Is that why they took you out first?”

  “I don’t think so. Honestly, I think they aimed the van for me because I was the biggest guard. They looked shocked when it didn’t kill me.”

  Laney thought back to all the other abductions, and her frustration built again. “But see, even that doesn’t fit. All the other abductions were, for lack of a better word, subtle: in and out, no witnesses. This was a gun battle in the middle of the street.”

  “But Danny and Max are different from those other kids. They always have security.”

  “True, but why target them at all? Neither is a Fallen or nephilim. Apart from Danny’s intelligence, they’re just normal kids.”

  Maddox glanced back into the other room, his eyes falling on Kati. She was in the kitchen mixing up a batch of cookies.

  Laney leaned forward. “She told me.”

  Maddox’s eyes grew large. “She did?”

  Laney nodded. “Yeah.”

  Maddox’s shoulders sagged. “Good. I didn’t feel right telling you, but I’m glad you know.”

  Laney’s gaze drifted to Kati, who was now scooping cookie batter onto a baking tray. Her normally upbeat expression was gone, her face was drawn, and there were bags under her eyes. Laney realized she’d even lost some weight. Damn.

  “Do you think that Max was the target? That it has to do with his abilities?” Maddox asked.

  Laney shook her head. “I don’t see how. No one knew about his abilities.”

  Maddox stood. “I know. But it seems like an awfully big coincidence.”

  Laney sighed. “I hate coincidences.”

  “Me too,” Maddox muttered as he left.

  Max’s laugh pulled Laney’s gaze back out the door. Max stood in his monkey pajamas, a giant grin on his face as he maniacally pushed the buttons on the video controller. With a yell he threw up his hands and did a little victory dance.

  Was it even possible? He looked so young, so innocent, so happy. Wouldn’t psychic ability make him more, I don’t know, serious? Mature? He looked just like any other five-year-old.

  Laney flip
ped through the notes she’d made on the missing kids. None had reported psychic abilities. But didn’t Dom mention something about including psychic abilities in their search?

  Of course, the science on psychic ability didn’t really hold up. So says the reincarnation of Helen of Troy, Laney thought wryly.

  Three hours later and one phone call from Jake and she was no closer to any answers.

  Jen stepped in. “Did Jake find anything?” she asked without preamble.

  Laney turned her chair toward Jen, who’d already taken a seat. “Um, not really. Just that Kelly’s family said he came home a changed man. He became really religious.”

  “How religious?”

  “He was convinced the end of days was near.”

  Jen raised an eyebrow. “Does the family know where he is now?”

  “No. Jake showing up was the first they’d heard of him in months. And Jake got the feeling that frankly, they’d rather not hear from him until he lets go of his new religious conversion.”

  “So we have nothing.”

  “Not necessarily,” Laney said. “I’m trying the religion angle. A lot of soldiers seem to find religion in the service, especially if they’ve seen combat.”

  “No atheists in a foxhole?”

  “Exactly. So I’ve been trying to find religious groups that focus on former military.”

  “Maybe those that have an end of days theme.”

  Laney nodded. “I’m working on it.”

  Laney caught sight of Kati and gave her a smile. Kati smiled back before heading to Dom’s kitchen area and pulling some snacks out of the closet. But every few seconds she would glance over to where Max was, her gaze worried.

  “Have you talked to her?” Laney asked, nudging her chin toward Kati.

  “A little,” Jen said. “She’s scared. She doesn’t know what to do.”

  “She thinks Max is in danger here. That she’d be safer elsewhere.”

  “Do you think she’s right?”

  Laney’s eyes traveled to Max, who was trying to tackle Maddox to the ground. Maddox picked him up and tossed him onto the couch.