The Messenger: A Novel

by Burke, Jan

  “Some were, but many then turned to raising sheep and cattle—they fed the miners. You could usually make more money selling supplies to the miners than being one.”

  “Were you a miner or a supplier?”

  He smiled. “I tried both, but I spent most of my time in the West as a doctor.”

  “A doctor!”

  “Don’t look so impressed. I wouldn’t try my hand at it now. When I first came to America, the requirements for a medical education were quite different from what they are today. Then, it just took a few months of study and an apprenticeship. I had decided on the profession even before I immigrated.”

  “I suppose a doctor could move around a lot?”

  “Yes. And I was often called to the bedsides of the dying.”

  “This was before anesthesia, right?”

  “And so much more. I tried to help my patients as much as possible, but when I think back…” He shuddered. “Let’s just say things have come a long way since then.”

  “Something else to be thankful for.”

  He tried to let go of his anxieties about her, about the new dog, about the ghosts, tried to open his mind to whatever the pages might offer. Shade insisted he stay here—why? Because of Amanda, the ghosts? No, he told himself, feeling worry return—relax, let go.

  Shade moved beneath the table and laid his head on Tyler’s feet. The ghosts were gone, then. As he studied the pages, he realized Amanda was right—the animal in the prints looked a great deal like Shade.

  A familiar sensation came over him, and he began to understand the sense, if not the word-by-word meaning of the text. “This seems to be presented as a folktale. It’s about a ghost dog known as ‘Wraith’ that was seen in local cemeteries. There were many indications that the dog was a ghost. No one could get close to it. Its black coat allowed it to disappear into darkness. No one knew who fed or cared for it, or where it lived during the day. But at night, it was known to protect graves from any who would try to rob or vandalize them. It was thought to have a special friendship with the dead. Once or twice it was seen in a home or a church. Some said that its appearance outside a cemetery presaged a death.”

  “I knew it was about a dog like Shade! I mean, they obviously made some stuff up, but it’s a dog like him, isn’t it?”

  Shade got up and sniffed at the book.

  “Well, Shade, did you ever know this Wraith?” Tyler asked.

  Shade wagged his tail.

  “I guess we needed to know this other dog’s name,” Tyler said, then frowned. “Which can only mean there’s no human, no Messenger available, to introduce us to it—it’s without a companion.”

  “I wonder what became of that person?”

  “Hard to say. All I know right now is that Adrian wants that dog.”

  “And he also wants that ring back?” she asked.

  “Yes, without a doubt. Given what Brad said about him, I suspect Adrian’s not yet mobile. He would have no need of these henchmen, and he wouldn’t be hiding in a foul-smelling basement.”

  “So the dog isn’t his yet?”

  “No. He’d be preening in broad daylight. But very likely he did send Daniel and Evan to look for the ring, and perhaps to search for some of his other former belongings.”

  “Former? Will he see it that way?”

  “I don’t care. Adrian’s descendants and others who lived on his estate paid a high price to ensure that he couldn’t reclaim those items.”

  Amanda paced. “I wish I had known all this when I saw the dog this afternoon.”

  Tyler carefully turned a few pages in the book, then took a long look at one of the prints, which showed a woman standing beside the dog. The woman appeared to be slightly disfigured by a mark or scar near one eye. Almost a replica of the scar on Amanda’s brow. He waited, hoping that some part of the accompanying text would become clear to him. It did not.

  He turned the page, unsettled. Shade protected him. Was he keeping Amanda from her own protector? Keeping Shade from a companion of his own kind?

  “Shade has been watching the woods at night,” he said. “I thought it was because of ghosts—even before you told me about your ghosts, Colby mentioned that the woods were haunted. Now I wonder if the dogs have been trying to get together.”

  “But the fence stopped Wraith?”

  “If it’s a cemetery dog, fences are no real barrier.”

  She shivered, then straightened her shoulders. “Well. Let’s go looking.”

  “Are you afraid? Would you rather I looked for it alone?”

  “A little, I guess—but I want to come with you. I’m more curious than scared.”

  “As you probably know, there’s a gate leading from the fence into the woods. I’ll get a pair of flashlights and we can look around. Whatever we do, we have to make sure Adrian doesn’t get his hands on that dog.”

  41

  As he drove, Evan complained about Adrian, which was nothing less than what Daniel expected. Still, it added to his depression. He looked out of the passenger-side window, hoping Evan would get the hint and shut up.

  He had no real hope of that. Or of anything else, he realized. Even when he had been in prison, he had not felt so trapped. There, at least, he knew he would eventually get out.

  As they continued up the now familiar road, he began to think of this woman they were after. What would become of her?

  He shook himself, as if to throw off the thought.

  Why should he care?

  Hadn’t bothered him to beat the crap out of Brad. That rich little snot. This was just another superwealthy useless bitch.

  He heard Evan mention the word “gun” and refocused his attention. “What did you say?”

  “Brought a gun. Picked it up this afternoon while I was running errands for His Royal Roachness.”

  “Are you nuts? You know what he said about guns! They’re too noisy, they’re not subtle enough. You can take a girl without a gun, can’t you?”

  “I know Adrian wouldn’t approve, but hell if I’m gonna try to stop that dog with a knife.”

  “Guns make noise,” Daniel repeated.

  “I’ll risk having to explain a few pops out of a gun if it keeps that dog from setting me on fire.”

  Daniel knew Evan well enough now to realize that argument would be useless.

  Daniel wondered if a bullet could stop the dog. If the dog came charging after him, he wasn’t so sure he would try to resist meeting Eduardo’s fate. Let the dog come at him. Let it free him.

  As Daniel thought this, Evan made the turn up onto the canyon road where the woman lived. In a few miles, they would be near the place where Eduardo had died.

  He felt a jolt of fear. Daniel quickly began to murmur a prayer, then stopped as he became aware of what he was doing. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Strange. He hadn’t prayed since he was really little. Where had that come from?

  He glanced nervously at Evan to see if he had noticed his reaction, but Evan was still talking about how much he hated the way Adrian looked now.

  A Lexus passed them. Evan called the driver a dickhead, but the car was too far ahead by then for the driver to have heard him.

  Other cars came down the canyon road. “Lot of traffic,” Daniel said.

  “Too many cars. We’ll never pull this off with this many people around. As usual, he’s screwed up the planning. He has no idea what the outside world is really like. We’ll have to wait. If he wasn’t such a control freak…”

  Daniel tuned out the complaints and focused on their surroundings. They had previously scouted out most of this road, so when they came to a narrow strip of asphalt marked PRIVATE DRIVE, Evan turned down it and stopped just out of sight of the road. Farther down the drive, still nearly hidden from their view by tall eucalyptus and pines, was a darkened house.

  Evan parked, lowered the windows, and turned off the engine. He turned off the headlights and the two of them sat listening, watching for any sign of life from the h
ouse. It remained silent and still, and no lights came on. Daniel pulled a map of the area from the glove compartment. They didn’t need it, but if someone should ask what they were doing there, they would claim to be lost, looking for a street in the next canyon over.

  After a few minutes, Evan lit a cigarette.

  “I thought you quit,” Daniel said.

  “I did. Started again today.”

  “You know that’ll kill you.”

  “I can only hope that’s true, but I doubt it. I’d prefer cancer to whatever Adrian has in mind for us.”

  “You think maybe he’s going to try to kill us?”

  Evan rolled his eyes. “Maybe? Try? I have no doubt that’s exactly what’s going to happen to us.”

  “He needs us as his slaves.”

  “Does he? Once that creepy-crawly thing has strength in his legs and a little bit of skin on him, we’re goners.” He took a deep draw on his cigarette and stared ahead in moody silence.

  Daniel went back to his own thoughts. He could not shake the memory of Eduardo and the dog.

  42

  Tyler and Amanda made their way down the steep slope below the deck and reached the gate without any sign of the dog, which they referred to as Wraith. Shade made his way alongside them, although at times Amanda could not see him in the darkness.

  Tyler unlocked the gate and they stepped through it onto more level ground. Amanda could now see her house. Every light seemed to be on, including the outdoor floodlights. “I guess Rebecca is all for global warming,” she said.

  “Perhaps she feels afraid, being there alone.” He glanced at his watch. “Alex will be sending someone to patrol in a few minutes.”

  Between the lights from the house and the light of the moon, Amanda’s eyes adjusted quickly to the darkness. She only used the flashlight because she didn’t want to trip over a root or step in a hole. Which, she reflected, would be just like her.

  The day had been warm, and the trees and shrubs that grew throughout this little patch of woods gave the air a sweet scent. As she looked out at the sea of lights that was Los Angeles, she sensed something odd. It took her a moment to realize what it was. “I wonder why the crickets are so quiet.”

  Tyler, who was a few feet away, stood still, as did she, listening.

  “It’s as if there aren’t any,” he said, frowning.

  When they started walking again, Shade began to circle them, as if trying to get them to move closer together. Once they were next to each other, they stood still.

  “What is he doing?” Amanda said.

  “Herding us.” He looked down at the dog and said, “All right, Shade, we’re together. We’re staying right here.”

  Shade sat and stared up at him.

  “What is it?” Tyler asked.

  The dog looked from Tyler to Amanda and back again.

  “Now?” Tyler asked. “Out here?”

  Shade barked, making Amanda jump.

  “You’re scaring her,” Tyler said.

  “I think I’m over being scared of him,” she said. “He just startled me.”

  Shade continued to stare at Tyler.

  “What’s going on?” Amanda asked.

  “I believe he’s requesting—or insisting—that I have a conversation with you.”

  Shade wagged his tail.

  “I don’t understand,” she said. “We’ve been talking to each other all evening.”

  “Yes, well…he wants me to have a particular conversation.” He turned to the dog. “Not now. Your timing couldn’t be worse.”

  Shade didn’t budge. When Tyler tried to take a step forward, the dog blocked his way.

  Amanda found she hadn’t completely overcome her fear of Shade after all.

  “Is the arrangement,” Tyler asked Shade in a low voice, “that you command me? Or even that I, in reality, command you?”

  Shade looked away for a moment, glanced back at Tyler, then moved out of their way.

  “Thank you,” Tyler said. “Now, if you don’t mind helping us find Wraith…”

  But Shade kept moving, and trotted back toward the house.

  “Shade!”

  The dog ignored him. He soon disappeared in the darkness.

  Amanda stared after him, then looked up at Tyler. She could just make out his features and thought he looked bereft. She moved closer to him and took his hand. “Maybe we should go after him. The ghosts…”

  “No, he’ll come back to me if I’m in real need, or when he’s decided he wants my company again. If he doesn’t care to be with me right now, we’ll spend the whole night running through the canyon trying to catch up with him.”

  “Has this happened before?”

  “Yes, but not very often. I suppose he needs a break from me now and then.”

  They were distracted from their conversation as, below them, the lights outside Amanda’s house were turned off. Next the indoor lights went off, downstairs first, then upstairs, until only one remained on. Oblivious to their presence, Rebecca was calling it a night.

  “Do you want to wait for Shade to come back?” Amanda asked.

  “This would undoubtedly be easier if he helped, but since he’s on strike or pouting or whatever, let’s do what we can on our own. Are the ghosts here?”

  She looked around. “Not at the moment.”

  “Well, we’ll do what we can. Let me know if you see them.”

  “Do you mind if we search up here first, away from my house? I want to give Rebecca a chance to fall asleep—I’d rather not have to explain to her what we’re doing out here.”

  He agreed to this. He kept hold of her hand as they walked. Not perhaps the most efficient way to search, she thought, but she was glad to have him at her side. She could not shake a feeling of foreboding.

  That feeling, she realized, probably had to do with this “conversation” Tyler had mentioned. She didn’t want to bring it up—if he was willing to be at odds with Shade over it, he clearly didn’t want to talk about it now. Not a good time to push.

  They found fresh tracks—prints made by a large dog—leading toward Tyler’s house, then realized they’d probably been made by Shade.

  They were again distracted, this time by the Danton’s Security car going down the driveway at Amanda’s house. They heard rather than saw the guard get out of the car, and the lights in and outside the house started going on again. Rebecca must have stepped outside to talk to the guard, because although they couldn’t make out what was being said, they could hear male and female voices.

  When traffic let up, Evan and Daniel drove the truck closer to the house but parked at the side of the road when they saw a security patrol car leaving the driveway. They got out of the truck and made their way on foot, even though both of them feared being so vulnerable to the dog. Lights were on all around the house—not good for their purposes.

  But almost as if they had wished for it, the lights started going out again.

  “Let’s not sit around out here waiting to get caught by that dog,” Evan said.

  Several of the windows upstairs were open, and Daniel could have entered by any of them, but sooner or later they would need to use a door, so he went to the alarm box. Setting up a bypass on the alarm system, which would make everything appear to be in fine order to the security company, took only a few minutes, and the lock on the kitchen door even less time. This was their old profession, and Daniel felt some comfort in returning to it.

  The woman was upstairs. Evan signaled that he would get her, for Daniel to keep a lookout. Daniel started to protest, then decided even Evan wouldn’t be such a fool as to do damage to a woman Adrian wanted for himself. Let him be the one to haul her down here.

  Tyler told himself that he had made the right choice in not talking to Amanda just yet. If Wraith was meant to be hers, then nothing he said or didn’t say would make a difference. He had been told, though, that he had a choice, and he would never choose to make her into what he was.

  Still, he
began to wonder what would happen if she called to the dog.

  They stood on the slope, watching as the lights at Amanda’s place started to go out again.

  “The ghosts haven’t shown up yet, have they?”

  She looked around and tensed. “Oh, no,” she said, “Tyler, they’re nearby! Maybe you should call to Shade—something strange is going on…”

  “What?”

  “My mom and dad are here. My aunt and uncle aren’t. They’ve never split up before. My dad is pointing toward the house. They seem to want us to go down there. Wait—they’re gone again.”

  In the next moment, they heard a sound—not quite a scream—coming from Amanda’s house.

  43

  Amanda!” Tyler said, grabbing her arm to keep her from running toward the house. He moved with her to a hiding place behind a large tree. “Let’s not give them three hostages instead of one, all right?”

  Reluctantly, she agreed. “Do you think it’s Evan and Daniel?”

  “In all likelihood. But they must have approached on foot, which gives us an advantage.”

  He took Amanda’s hand and began to cautiously move from tree to tree, until they were at a vantage point from which they would be able to see anyone leaving by either the front or the back door of Amanda’s house.

  “The back door’s open,” Amanda said.

  Tyler’s cell phone rang.

  Daniel heard the sound of terror the woman made, which Evan apparently quickly cut off.

  Daniel rushed up the stairs and found Evan struggling to hold her still. Daniel grabbed her feet. Evan took out his gun, and for an awful moment Daniel thought he might shoot her, but before Daniel could protest, Evan rapped it against her head. Her struggles ceased.

  “You moron!” Daniel whispered. “You hit someone on the head, you can kill them!”

  “She’s not dead, she was screeching before I even stepped into the room, and she won’t be out for long, so help me make sure she doesn’t yell her head off when she comes to—moron!”

  Daniel took a closer look at the woman. “This isn’t the one!”