by R. R. Irvine
“Call the police. I think Varney has another target in mind.”
“Target?” Tanner said, his voice rising.
“He killed Earl Jordan. My guess is he intends to do the same thing to Jake Ruland.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Tanner said, no longer making any attempt to whisper.
“I told you before. There’s a rumor, probably true, that Jordan beat his common-law wife, Martha Varney, to death. What you didn’t know, and neither did I until just a few minutes ago, is that John Varney never stopped loving her. His motive was simple revenge. Ruland’s participation in Martha’s death wasn’t all that certain. But when you add Penny and excommunication into the equation, I think Varney is about to kill again. He’s an old-fashioned man. He believes in blood atonement.”
Enough silence followed to make Traveler ask, “Are you still there, Willis?”
“It’s all right. Leave everything to me.”
34
THE BLOWUP of Dr. Jake stood out front of the dentist’s Main Street office. Traveler pulled into a parking place next to an out-of-state car with Missouri license plates that proclaimed it the “show me” state. The sight of it brought a grim smile to his face. His grandfather on his mother’s side, a fanatic LDSer, had always referred to Missourians as “pukes,” a nickname they’d earned by driving Mormons out of their state back in the 1830s.
Traveler got out of the Jeep and started toward the door. Suddenly he stopped and looked up and down the street. Where were the police cars? There had been plenty of time, fifteen minutes at least, for Will Tanner to alert them. The light, midmorning traffic wouldn’t have been any problem.
Christ, he thought, patting his shoulder holster for reassurance. Up the street Brigham Young’s statue still had its back to the temple. Traveler would have liked something just as solid behind him.
With a shake of his head, he passed by the cardboard mockup and went inside. Penny was at her desk as usual, although her receptionist’s smile had been replaced by tears.
“What’s happened?” he asked.
“Daddy burst in here a few minutes ago. He was acting crazy. He called me names.”
Traveler looked around. No one was in the waiting area.
“I sent them home,” Penny explained through a sob.
“Where’s your father now?”
“Inside with Dr. Jake.”
“And Lehi?”
“He went out on an errand a little while ago.”
“I’m going inside. Call the police. If Lehi gets here before they do, warn me.”
He drew his .45 and crept down the carpeted hallway that led to Dr. Jake’s office. Even so, John Varney heard him coming.
“I’m not afraid of dying,” he called out before Traveler reached the open door.
“That puts you one up on me.”
“I know that’s you, Mr. Traveler. I’m armed.”
Traveler flattened himself against the wall.
“I’m doing God’s work.”
“How do you know?”
“I won’t debate with you, Mr. Traveler. Put your gun on the carpet and slide it in here.”
Better to retreat, Traveler thought, than to put himself in Varney’s hands.
“Do what he says,” Dr. Jake said, his voice brittle with fear. “Please.”
“He’s become very talkative for a dentist,” Varney said. “You might learn something.”
Shit, Traveler thought and knelt down. He set the gun on safety and eased it around the doorjamb.
“That’s fine. You can come in now.”
Traveler peeked around the corner. Varney had one foot on the .45. Next to him sat Dr. Jake. Cloth bibs had been used to tie his hands and feet to the dental chair.
“I want you there against the wall by the window,” Varney said, gesturing with his own revolver. “Sit on your hands if you don’t mind.”
Walking on his knees, Traveler crossed over to the location indicated and sat, his back to the window. He was facing a terrified-looking Jake Ruland.
Varney slowly backed up, carefully reaching behind to find the dentist’s work stool. Once seated on that, he jammed the revolver’s barrel into Dr. Jake’s ear and cocked the hammer. Throughout the maneuver he’d kept the .45 underfoot.
Varney sighed and said, “I’m going to pull the trigger sooner or later, Mr. Traveler. If you make any sudden moves it will be a lot sooner.”
Dr. Jake’s eyes rolled as he tried to get a look at Varney without moving his head. “For God’s sake,” the dentist pleaded. “Can’t you do something to help me?”
Varney’s lips curled in contempt. “If you’re God’s prophet as you claim to be, He’ll hear you and smite me down.” Varney looked up as if awaiting judgment. But his gun didn’t waver. “Well, I’m waiting.”
“Please,” the dentist said to Traveler. “You can’t let him kill me.”
“Give me a reason.”
The dentist’s jaw dropped open. “I—”
“You can start by telling me what happened at Blood Butte.”
“Confession is for Catholics,” Varney interrupted. “This man has destroyed the love in my life. First Martha and now my daughter.”
Where the hell are the police? Traveler wondered.
“Martha killed herself, just like I said,” Dr. Jake blurted out. “She climbed the butte and jumped off.”
“Liar,” Varney shouted, jabbing the gun barrel hard enough to draw blood.
Dr. Jake squealed. “I only wanted to protect my people. What else could I do? Earl Jordan came to me and confessed. He’d gotten drunk and hit Martha. He didn’t know his own strength. Her neck broke.”
“That’s not good enough. Earl was one of your apostles.”
“A false apostle. God punished him.”
“No. I did that. That’s how I know you’re lying.”
Fear widened the dentist’s eyes.
“Earl got down on his knees to me,” Varney said.
“I’ll do it, too,” the dentist cried.
“I put the gun in his mouth and told him to pray. After that, he told me everything. How you and he started drinking together after he killed her. How the two of you decided to make it look like an accident. I knew then that I would get even with you someday, somehow.”
In the silence that followed Traveler heard a noise in the hall.
“Please, Father,” Penny said. She sounded very close. “Let him go.” There was more fear than plea in her voice.
“Did you call the police?” Traveler called to her.
“I . . .” Penny began, then cried out in pain.
“Tell him, honey,” a soft voice said.
“Lehi,” Dr. Jake breathed as if his prayers had been answered. “My true disciple.”
“Go on, honey,” Lehi said. “Convince him before I do some real damage.”
“I didn’t want the police to arrest my father,” Penny blurted. “I . . . I’m sorry.”
“Give it up in there,” Lehi said, “or I’m going to kill her.”
“She’s already dead,” Varney answered. “ „And I say unto you again that he cannot save them in their sins; for I cannot deny his word, and he hath said that no unclean thing can inherit the kingdom of heaven.’ ”
Penny screamed.
Moving his foot slowly, Varney began edging the .45 in Traveler’s direction.
“Hey, Varney,” Lehi said, “you ever screwed a woman standing up?”
Cloth ripped.
“Daddy,” Penny cried.
“Throw out your gun or I’ll give it to her right here.”
In desperation, Varney kicked the .45. Traveler scooped it up and snapped off the safety.
“If that’s the way you want it,” Lehi said.
Penny groaned.
“My cock belongs on a seven-footer,” Lehi bragged.
Varney, his revolver pressing into the dentist’s ear, looked straight at Traveler and mouthed, “Save my daughter.” Then he pulled the trigger.
A piece of Jake Ruland’s head exploded through the window that looked out on Main Street. The man must have died instantly, though his spasming body didn’t seem to know it.
Despite the ringing in his ears Traveler heard a loud thump outside the door, followed by the sound of retreating footsteps. He crawled to the doorway, angling himself so that he could see some of the corridor without fully exposing himself. Penny lay crumpled against the far wall, her eyes dazed. Blood trickled from her mouth where Lehi had hit her.
Traveler clenched his teeth in frustration and began picking his way along the hallway. When he reached the reception area it was empty. The front door stood wide open.
He called the police.
35
JOHN VARNEY was sitting on the floor, cradling his daughter in his arms and softly singing a lullaby, when the first police units arrived. Will Tanner wasn’t far behind. Lieutenant Horne was with him.
“What the hell kept you?” Traveler asked.
Horne ignored the question and demanded to know what happened. As soon as Traveler told him, two uniformed policemen jerked Varney roughly to his feet and handcuffed him. While that was happening Penny kept reaching out to her father.
Traveler took her by the arms and gently raised her from the floor. Once standing she leaned against him for support. Her vacant eyes stared straight ahead.
“I don’t want you talking,” Tanner told Varney. “Not to anyone but our lawyer.”
As one of the chosen, a member of the Council of Seventy, Varney was assured of special treatment. At the moment, however, his only response was a perfunctory nod.
“You heard the man,” Horne said to the officers flanking Varney. “Take him to the jail. Don’t say a word to him on the way. Pass that order along to the booking sergeant.”
They nodded and led Varney down the hall, handling him much more gingerly than before.
Traveler slipped one arm around Penny’s waist to prop her up. His free hand tapped Tanner on the shoulder. “Did you call the police when I asked you to?”
Horne’s double take rivaled a silent movie actor’s. “Is there something I don’t know?”
Tanner raised a hand, motioning for silence. “I am speaking for the prophet now. For you to persist in questioning me at this time would be . . . unfortunate.”
“Damn you,” Traveler said. “You could have prevented this.”
“It’s better this way,” Tanner responded quietly. “Now we can round up Brother Ruland’s flock and bring them back into the fold.”
Penny’s limp body jerked to attention. “What does he mean, Mr. Traveler?” Shock was wearing away, being replaced by anger.
“I’m not sure,” Traveler said, though he had some nasty suspicions. It was quite possible that Tanner had waited deliberately, hoping for exactly what happened, the timely removal of Jake Ruland. On second thought, however, that didn’t seem logical. Wouldn’t the church be better off with Jake Ruland alive, and facing charges in the death of Reuben Dixon, than to have a member of the Council of Seventy stand trial for murder? Or maybe Tanner was praying for a quiet suicide to tie up all the loose ends. Traveler shook his head at the thought. A man with John Varney’s convictions wouldn’t go to meet God with that kind of sin on his conscience. Unless, of course, someone helped him along by pulling the trigger for him.
Traveler said, “There’s only one thing I know for sure, Penny. Your father is a sick man.”
Tanner jumped in. “He’ll be out on bail in a few hours. You have my word on it.”
“Are you speaking for the prophet now?” she asked.
“For all intents and purposes I am.”
Penny stepped away from Traveler. Lehi’s blow had left her lips puffy. She spoke without moving them. “Fine. You tell him for me then that I blame him for everything that’s happened. Him and the church. There’s no escape from it in this damned city. It sent my mother fleeing to her death, and now my father has to pay.”
She looked up at Traveler. “I should have known better than to ask you for help. No good can come from anyone named for that angel.”
Traveler took her by the elbow. “I’ll drive you home.”
She pulled out of his grasp. “I’m going to the jail to look after my father.”
“I’ll take you there, then.”
She glared first at Traveler, then Tanner. “All right,” she said finally. “I guess you’re the lesser of two evils.”
Traveler didn’t speak again until they were driving toward the center of town. “Reuben Dixon told me something before he died. It was a message for you.”
The lanes ahead were empty of traffic, so he took his eyes from the road long enough to check her reaction to such a revelation. But she remained inert, slumped against the passenger door, her cheek resting on the window.
“It was something about angels.”
Out of the corner of his eye he saw her shift position until she was staring at him.
“Dixon wanted you to know that he fixed it so the angel of God is ready to sound the word. Do you know what he meant?”
Her laughter was brief. “I win after all. He’s given me a way to bring down God.”
“I see,” he said, though he didn’t.
His tone must have sounded condescending, because she immediately responded, “I don’t care if you believe me or not. Brigham Young is coming down.”
“I thought you said God was.”
“Around here it amounts to the same thing.”
The police building was just ahead. He pulled into the lot and took the first available parking place.
“The funny thing is,” Penny continued, “Reuben was always careful to remain a member of the church in good standing. That way he had access to original scripture and the like. That’s how he knew Brigham Young’s handwriting when he saw it.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I overheard him explaining it to Dr. Jake. He had something in writing that would prove that Brigham Young was a murderer.”
“It must have been a forgery.”
“I don’t know. Dr. Jake didn’t seem to think so.”
Traveler thought he knew what was coming but asked the question anyway. “Who’s he supposed to have murdered?”
“Joe Smith, of course. That’s how he got control of the church. That’s—”
“I’ve heard that one before,” Traveler interrupted. “It’s one of those rumors that never seem to die.”
“The truth survives,” Penny said stubbornly.
“Not without a little help from Reuben Dixon.”
“That’s right. He told me once that he didn’t really trust Jake Ruland to use the document properly. In an emergency, he said, he’d stash it inside Moroni’s trumpet. So all you have to do now is drop me off in front of the temple and I’ll go get it.”
He started the engine. “Does anybody else know about the hiding place?”
“Dr. Jake probably did. It was his suggestion originally.”
“I thought you said Dixon didn’t trust him.”
“That’s the beauty of it. As a black bishop Dr. Jake would have never been allowed anywhere near Moroni without an escort.”
“And Lehi?”
“My God. I forgot about him. Dr. Jake always said he had no secrets from Brother Lehi. But don’t worry. They won’t let him in the temple. He’s not a member in good standing.”
Instead of heading for the temple, Traveler turned north toward Federal Heights. “I’m taking you home.”
“I won’t stay there.”
He didn’t argue; he just kept driving. When he reached the Varney house he took her by the wrist and dragged her to the door.
Pearl Varney opened up before he had time to knock. “The police just called,” she said. “My brother has been arrested. I was about to go to him.”
“We know,” Traveler said.
“It can’t be true.”
“But it is,” Penny blurted and threw herself into her aunt�
��s arms.
“There, there,” Pearl said, stroking Penny’s head.
“Listen to me,” Traveler said. “If you love Penny, keep her here. Don’t let her out of your sight for the next few hours.”
“I’ll do no such thing,” the woman said. “Our place is with John.”
“Dammit. She’s already been attacked once.”
In the face of Traveler’s anger, Pearl Varney backed up a step, dragging her niece along with her. Her hands went to Penny’s bruised lips. “Who did this?”
“A maniac named Lehi,” Traveler said. “He would have raped Penny if your brother hadn’t killed Jake Ruland first.”
“Dear God.”
“Now will you do as I say?”
Her eyes went wide. Her mouth opened as if she intended to say something, but all she could manage was a nod.
36
RATHER THAN waste time looking for a public telephone, Traveler drove directly home. He broke the speed limit all the way.
His father was still in his bathrobe. When Martin opened his mouth to offer greetings, Traveler charged right on by to the phone. He dialed Tanner’s emergency number. This time the operator gave him no hassle; she patched him through to Tanner’s present location, the police department.
“I have to see you, Willis.”
“I’m waiting for a judge.”
“This is more important.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Meet me at the temple. Better yet, make it my office.”
“What’s happened?”
“A problem’s come up. It’s not something the church would want talked about over the phone.”
“How soon?”
“Ten minutes.”
The moment Traveler hung up, his father, who’d crept into the hall to eavesdrop, said, “I’m coming with you.”
“You’re damn right. This is one time I want someone covering my back.”
******
Willis Tanner was waiting for them in front of the Chester Building, huddled in the doorway, his neck scrunched into the collar of a heavy overcoat. There was still enough snow on the ground to add bite to the breeze blowing off the lake. The sky had clouded over once again.
“It’s about time,” he said. “I’m freezing.”