by Ann Simas
“If you’d let me finish,” he said, his own voice terse.
Libby threw up her hands and stepped back, planting her fists on her hips. “So, finish,” she snarled when he remained silent, watching her.
Trey drew an audible breath and continued. “FPD has access to databases, but Sentinel doesn’t have the backlog we do, so Darren will have his people tackle researching Vale Luna and the known leaders. By end of day tomorrow, we’ll know where every last one of them is, how strong their compound is, and which pot they all piss in. Satisfied?”
Libby’s mouth moved as if she wanted to speak, but nothing came out.
“In addition, Luca and I will talk to our LT about putting someone twenty-four/seven outside Sunny’s house. For all intents and purposes, everyone—and by everyone, I mean Sunny, you, the kids, and Angie—will be restricted to the grounds.”
Being summer, that didn’t present a hardship for the kids, but Sunny wasn’t up for the proposed restrictions, and she knew that Libby, a free spirit who was used to being on her own, would feel the same way.
“You’re not putting me under some kind of quarantine,” Libby retorted.
“Bet me,” Trey shot back, his hackles obviously raised.
“Someone has to go out and do the shopping and running errands. That’ll be me.”
“Hold up,” Sunny intervened. “I didn’t say I bought into this house-arrest plan, either.”
Luca stared her down with a frown. “This is non-negotiable and it’s not freaking house arrest!” His jaw flexed with obvious frustration. “Your parents don’t live on the property. They can get the shopping lists via email or phone, then someone from Sentinel will pick it up from them and deliver to your door.”
While Libby did another good imitation of a fish out of water, Sunny continued her argument. “There may be times when I need to go out to the art store or make other purchases. It’s not me who’s in danger, it’s my kids and my family.”
Libby, being the logical thinking aunt that she was, seemed to lose her steam.
Harry moved over to put his arm over Libby’s shoulders. “Trey’s right, sweetie.” He speared Luca with a stern glance. “Bebe and I can get whatever you guys need and it wouldn’t be a hardship for us, but in this case, I think Sunny is right.”
“I agree,” her mother concurred.
Sunny met Luca’s angry gaze with a steady one of her own. “You know I’m right.”
“Shit,” he muttered.
She took that as his acquiescence. “Thank you.”
Luca opened his mouth to reply, but must have thought better of whatever he’d been about to say.
Bebe said to Sunny, “How do we know which vision is the one that projects the actual events?”
Sunny planted her forearms on the table and clasped her hands together. “That’s the big unknown, isn’t it? Before, we knew that if we kept Carson and Maisie here, they’d remain safe. But now, here may not be where they’ll be the safest.”
“You could go up to the cabin,” Harry suggested.
“Cabin?” Luca asked.
Harry nodded. “Up near Medicine Bow National Forest.”
Luca exchanged one of those non-giveaway looks with Trey. “That’s in Wyoming.”
“Yeah,” Harry said. “Is that a problem?”
Something snapped inside Sunny. Yes, she wanted help from those present. And, yes, she wanted their support, but for crying out loud, once she’d asked for it, did they have to work around her like she wasn’t there, right in the middle of the entire fiasco?
. . .
Two days passed uneventfully. Luca had nothing to report back on Zach’s family or their Vale Luna cult.
Sentinel, employing some back doors that the police could not legally breech, had a little more success. Darren proceeded to fill everyone in as they sat at Sunny’s kitchen table.
Miriam, Ezekiel, and Zeb, along with Bill, occupied the top four positions within the cult. Ezekiel held the title Grand Astral Master. The Latin counterpart, maximus magister astral, resulted in his new moniker, Maximus. Miriam, with the title of Queen Mother, reginae, was called Mother Regina. She apparently serviced Benevolent Father, benignus pater, formerly known as Preacher Bill, as well as her husband. Preacher Bill, now called Benign Pater, and Mother Regina touted themselves the spiritual and astral advisors to their cultist flock.
Zeb, though he had no education beyond high school, was reported to be a financial genius. His job was to keep all the cult’s books and disburse funds for goods and services not provided internally. Along with his designation as the cult fornicator, he was tasked with recruiting new members who would bring financial security to Vale Luna. In keeping with the Latin theme, he had been dubbed King of the Numbers, rex de numerorum, or Rex for short.
Sunny absorbed the particulars about the cult, growing more nauseated by the second. Not only were Zach’s family members seriously deranged in their belief about the upcoming end-of-the world scenario, they were all freaking narcissists, too.
Darren left after he delivered his report. Trey and Libby wandered out to the patio and Angie moved into the family room to watch a movie she’d DVR’d. Luca remained seated at the table, across from Sunny.
“They’re eff-ing nuts,” she said to him.
He nodded. “This has all the potential of a shit storm. I talked to a guy I know at the FBI today. ATF told him Vale Luna has more firepower in their compound than the Colorado National Guard has statewide.”
Sunny digested that with a somber expression. “Why couldn’t they have stayed in Utah, where they first dreamed up this Armageddon crap?”
Luca frowned. “I haven’t heard anything about a Utah connection.”
“Zach told me he was from Utah. Unfortunately for his family, the state has a devout Mormon population and they weren’t able to recruit successfully there.” She rubbed her forehead with shaky fingers. “God, this is unbelievable.”
“I have to admit, it’s one of the strangest cases I’ve encountered in my career.”
“Is that all we are to you, a case?” she snapped.
Luca’s jaw flexed. “Don’t go scrambling my words. I only meant that the cop part of me has never dealt with anything like this before. The part of me that is deeply in like with you hasn’t, either. Both parts comprise the man I am. I can’t separate them.”
She stared at him, searching deep for a comeback.
“Don’t freak out now, Sunshine. We’ve contacted the FBI, Homeland Security, ATF, sheriff’s offices in four counties, police departments in those same counties, and Colorado State Patrol. Vale Luna is not going to get within a hundred yards of you or the kids.”
She gaped at him. “Really? Every law enforcement acronym in the state is involved and I’m not supposed to freak? Just exactly where is the Vale Luna compound?”
“Up past Estes Park.”
“That’s practically in our back yard!”
“It doesn’t mean that they can stroll onto your property any time they feel like it.”
“Not according to my vision.”
That stumped him for a moment. “Your vision can change, remember?”
“I’m not likely to forget.”
He reached for her hand. “This is going to have a successful resolution.”
“And yet you just told me this has the potential to be a real shit storm. Which is it? Another Ruby Ridge or Waco, or everything will actually turn out hunky-dory?”
“You know I can’t give one-hundred percent guarantees, but I can tell you that law enforcement, in general, is on full alert over this right now. No one wants international headlines about kids being sacrificed so cultists can get to Heaven or wherever the hell the goddess Diana supposedly resides.”
She tilted her head at him. “You told these people about my visions and they didn’t think I was some wacko nut job having a joke on them?”
Luca squirmed in his chair. “Not exactly.”
“Then what
exactly?”
“It was couched in terms of threats against you and your family.”
“Couched. That sounds nice and safe. How can you be so certain they even took you seriously?”
“Let’s just say that when the daughter of the Larimer County Sheriff went off to join Vale Luna, then decided it wasn’t for her, and disappeared somewhere between their compound and his house, it kind of became a personal issue for other law enforcement agencies.”
Sunny didn’t know whether to be relieved or insulted. Did it really matter why the police were on her side?
. . .
Sunny was cleaning her watercolor brushes the following day when the next vision hit.
Like the others, it varied in the details, but the end result was more or less the same.
This time, someone with a black ski mask entered the house. He slapped a piece of duct tape over Sunny’s mouth and forced her outside to the back yard, where two other masked figures waited.
Angie and Libby were goofing around with the kids in the wading pool. The two men approached them from the rear and each fired a shot into the backs of their heads. Angie and Libby collapsed into the pool. Carson and Maisie screamed as they were plucked from the bloody water.
The man holding Sunny leaned forward and hissed in her ear. “Should’a done this the easy way, toots.” And then he put his gun to the back of her head and fired.
Sunny jerked back to reality, her breath coming in heavy, labored pants.
Get a grip, get a grip, get a grip, she repeated over and over in silence.
Minutes later, her breathing eased. She’d managed to control her asthma. Mind over matter.
Even so, her legs wouldn’t hold her and she sank to the floor, devastated by the scene that had played out in the vision.
She scooted back until she pressed against the cabinet. Her body remained immobile while her mind frantically devised a plan.
An hour later, she pushed herself up off the floor and finished cleaning her brushes.
Tonight, she would begin to do what she had to do to keep her children safe.
For now, she needed to construct a list that would help her do that.
. . .
Sunny hadn’t been away from her children for weeks, so it was with some reluctance that she left the house that night after they were tucked into bed. It wasn’t like they were alone. Angie was there, and Trey and Libby were out on the patio, plus there was an FPD patrol car on the curb.
Sunny waved to the officer as she drove off. Tonight, she was headed to the grocery store, where she stocked up on canned and boxed goods. She would have preferred to shop for fresh fruits and veggies, but considering her plan, it wasn’t practical. She also purchased two twenty-four packs of bottled water, medical supplies, and batteries. She prayed no one was tailing her who would question the volume of her purchases while they watched her load up the back end of her SUV.
The next night, she went to ToysЯUs and purchased card games, DVDs, storybooks, coloring books, crayons, several board games, and a few toys suitable for a four-year-old and a two-year-old.
On the third night, she started pilfering from her own kitchen. She chose items that wouldn’t be missed, which were mostly backup supplies from the pantry: spices, tea bags, Jell-O, peanut butter, jelly. She also inventoried her frozen food supply and figured out what would fit in the cooler.
On the fourth night, her pre-flight preparation plans were thwarted when Luca arrived unexpectedly, stayed for dinner, and showed no signs of leaving early.
On one hand, she was more than happy to spend some time canoodling with him, but on the other hand, she had set her schedule, and she wanted to stick with it. In the back of her mind, she wondered if he suspected she was up to something. Something he’d try to stop her from doing, if he could.
Several times, she almost caved in to her desire to confess her plan and ask him to join her. He was not only strong, but he was smart and capable. It would be good to have a man around to help keep her and the kids safe.
Fortunately, her common sense took hold of her mouth and she kept it shut.
The next day, she had to venture out to complete what she hadn’t been able to do the night before. She would have preferred to do her subversive prepping under cover of darkness, but since she couldn’t, she was forced to figure out how to proceed unobserved.
As it turned out, she parked on the back side of the mall and traversed the promenade to the sporting goods store, where she picked out a rifle and stocked up on ammunition for both that and her pistol. She bought extra magazines for both, as well as a pair of night-vision goggles and a night-vision scope for the rifle.
Since she’d purchased her Glock at the same store, she was still in the system and her background check concluded by the time she’d done her other shopping. “I had to park clear on the other side of the mall,” she said to the clerk. “I know that you have a service door on this side of the complex. Would it be possible for me to pick up my purchases there?”
“Not a problem,” said the clerk. “This is definitely going to be a heavy load.”
Sunny flashed him a smiled and said, “Thanks. I should be there in about ten minutes.”
“Just ring the bell,” he said, handing over her receipt. “And present this claim check.”
“Thanks again.” Sunny left the store, relieved her plans were going well.
Halfway down the promenade, she got an itchy feeling that someone was watching her. Rather than turn around to scan the crowd around her, she veered into the candy store and wandered up and down the aisle facing the window. No one stood out as a Vale Lunatic, but as she made a small purchase for the kids and wandered back out, she couldn’t shake the feeling that someone still had eyes on her.
Though it would delay picking up her purchases, she climbed into her SUV and left the mall parking lot, keeping an eye on her rear view mirrors. A black Suburban pulled out several cars behind her. Sunny took a right and went three blocks south. The Suburban did the same.
She decided to alter her day’s itinerary a bit and headed to her bank. She spent fifteen minutes inside, withdrawing five thousand in cash, in hundreds. The Suburban, with its darkened windows, waited in the parking lot, three parking spaces down.
Sunny spent a minute searching her purse for her car key, though she knew darned good and well it was in the pocket of her shorts. Back in her SUV, she took her time removing the sunshade from the dashboard and folding it. Once she left the parking lot, confirming the Suburban had pulled out behind her, she ventured out onto College Avenue and headed south until she reached a gas station. The Suburban pulled in after her, but took a parking space in front of the attached market, rather than near a pump.
Sunny thought quickly and came up with a plan that she hoped would help her ditch her tail.
She approached the female attendant at the pay window with a twenty dollar bill and said, “I know this is going to sound strange, but see that black Suburban parked in front of the store?”
The woman nodded.
“He’s been following me.”
The attendant’s eyes grew round. “Really? You want me to call the cops?”
“Thanks, but I got his license number and I’ll report him. The thing is, do you think…that is, I was wondering if there’s any way his vehicle could be blocked when I leave so that he can’t follow me home? I know that seems like a strange request, but he’s starting to freak me out.”
The attendant smiled. “Go ahead and get your gas pumping and I’ll see what I can do.”
She handed the young woman another twenty and said, “You rock!”
“You don’t need to pay me!” the attendant protested.
“Yes, I do. Thank you so much!”
Sunny went back and started the gas pump, not expecting any clever results, but hoping for the best.
The nozzle feeding her tank clicked, signaling the tank was full. She holstered it in the pump and glanced toward the pay wi
ndow. The clerk lifted a thumbs-up at her.
Sunny climbed back into her vehicle, watching as a jacked-up Chevy Silverado roared around the building and stopped directly behind the black Suburban, blocking it from any kind of exit, since there were vehicles parked on both sides of it.
She turned her key in the ignition and left the lot, making her way back to the mall and the pick-up door for the gun store, where she apologized for being delayed. “Someone was harassing me in the parking lot,” she offered by way of explanation.
In return, she got her second offer of the day to involve the cops.
. . .
That night, after everyone had gone to bed, Sunny snuck out to the garage and began to organize the purchases she’d stored in the cargo space of her SUV.
A hour in, she experienced another vision. Her decision to take the children and flee was reaffirmed.
With nearly every inch of the cargo space utilized, she headed back into the house.
Days earlier, after the visions involving the wading pool, she’d told kids that it had developed a leak and she hadn’t been able to find another one to replace it yet. Being children, they grumped about it, but soon moved on to other forms of play. The net result of them not being allowed to use the wading pool had definitely resulted in a revised future.
Just the thought of a raid on her household in the dark of night unnerved her.
Was it significant that she had a night-time vision about a night-time event? Did it even matter? More frightening than that, the visions were coming at a faster rate. That scared the hell out of her.
Sunny decided to move up her departure date.
Twenty-four hours and counting.
Chapter 28
. . .
Sunny spent the day doing household chores. She caught up the laundry, cleaned all the bathrooms, dusted everything, and vacuumed last. It was something she did each time she planned to be away from home. She had a system and it all happened in a timely manner.