by Angela Horn
“Why would God want that to happen?” Roman asked, his temper threatening to erupt in his calm blue eyes.
Sophie shrugged. “It’s just one of those unknowable things. Like why did God give you a mate you couldn’t handle?”
Roman inhaled sharply and Sophie thought he might finally lose his temper. Instead he only stared at her with the mellow expression of a hunter with perpetual patience.
“Fine, I’ll do what I always do with Lila. Just try to keep up,” Roman said, scrutinizing his wife again. “We’ll be ready tomorrow.”
“Good. I’m sure Lila will be happy to have the help.”
Sophie joined Lila in the kitchen, feeling pretty confident. She stood up to both Karen and Roman. Sophie was beginning to think she wasn’t quite the baby they all assumed her to be. Chewing on licorice, Lila watched Sophie with a proud grin.
“You said the guys were training you. How’s that going?”
“Really well. I’m a natural, they say.”
“You ready to take out the Reaper on your own then?”
All her newfound confidence fizzled and Sophie could only stare horrified at a grinning Lila. Back in the restaurant when Lila said something similar, Sophie figured the statement was meant to scare her into acting like a hunter. Yet, it was obvious Lila was serious.
“Are you mental? I could train for a year and not be ready for this guy. Why can’t Roman kill him?”
Lila glared at the family room where the men were whispering in a heated discussion.
“Roman wasn’t even in my vision about the Reaper. It was always going to be you. I didn’t want to believe it either, but I can’t beat this guy in my present condition and the clock is ticking.”
“I can’t beat this guy in any condition.”
“God says you can. So are you going to believe that whiny little voice in your head over God?”
Sophie crossed her arms tightly and sighed dramatically. “I get to die again, huh?”
“Appears that way, but who knows?” Lila said, grinning widely while enjoying Sophie’s reaction. “Hey, maybe you have some secret talent that’ll take down a big dog hunter? It wouldn’t be the strangest thing to happen in the last week.”
Sighing again, Sophie wanted to bawl at the thought of the battle resting on her shoulders. Lila eyed her confidently though.
“I’m feeling good about this. How about you?” Lila said, bumping her playfully. “You feeling good? You look psyched. I know I’m psyched. Man, I wish we could go right now.”
Sophie smiled grudgingly. “Good times.”
“You know it. We came back from the dead. Two days ago, I killed a demon. In a few days, you’re going to kill a rogue hunter. I guess that makes us superstars. You feel like a superstar?”
“Oh, yeah, I’m feeling it.”
Lila threw her arm around Sophie’s neck and pulled her closer.
“Just remember you’re like me. A Tootsie Pop. No matter how chewy your center is, when trouble comes you always focus on your hard shell. It’ll help you take down a murderer like Joaquin. He’ll be powerless when retribution comes.”
Sophie nodded, not even a little bit confident about their chances of success. Lila returned to the family room where she ignored Roman. She made plans with Gus to supply the group with enough weapons to fight the Reaper and any villains he might have at his disposal.
Sophie studied the hunters as they put aside their obvious discomfort with each other and the situation. These hunters were her family, as all hunters were, bound by a common cause. If God thought she could stop the traitor who murdered her kind, Sophie was willing to run into battle, towards danger and death, to get it done.
Chapter Nineteen
The two cars traveled deep into nothingness. With each passing mile, Joaquin’s unease grew. When Karen turned her car down what could barely be categorized as a road, Joaquin studied Heidi and Maximo, neither of them showing concern at their location. Karen finally stopped near a river at the base of a canyon. Letting his car idle, Joaquin surveyed their surroundings.
“Why here?” he asked when Heidi frowned at him.
“I don’t know. She seems to know more than us.”
Joaquin sighed, scanning the hills for shooters.
“She is like us,” Maximo said. “She kills monsters.”
Heidi placed her hand on Joaquin’s bare forearm, causing him to shiver.
“We can ditch her, if you want. I won’t be mad.”
Joaquin sighed, turning off the car and scrutinizing Karen. The woman seemed innocent enough, but Joaquin still felt the urge to turn the car around. Heidi and Maximo were his to protect and he didn’t like the idea of their safety dependent on this stranger.
Joaquin wasn’t sure how to get them out of Mexico though and the demon’s threat still hung over his every thought. Sighing again, he decided to push aside his natural paranoia.
“If she is one of us, then it might be good to know exactly what that means.”
Waiting for them next to her car, Karen pushed her sunglasses back on her head and surveyed the canyon. Approaching her warily, Joaquin walked ahead of Heidi and Maximo who were whispering about candy. Their innocence did not rub off on Joaquin as he approached Karen.
“What are we doing out here?”
“God told me to bring you here before we made our move across the border.”
“Why the US?”
“We have a better network there. It’ll be safer until we can figure out what to do about the demon.”
Heidi came up behind Joaquin and took his hand. “Can’t we just kill it like those other monsters?”
“No,” Karen said, strolling deeper into the canyon with a basket in hand. “Demons don’t really move in our world. Those monsters from the hotel were human bodies inhabited by evil souls.”
Joaquin said nothing, instead watching Maximo who wandered towards a large dead tree. Heidi was watching him too and her gaze caught Joaquin’s and held it. In that moment, he knew his wife was also hesitant about Karen.
“Maximo come,” Heidi said, heading back to the car. “Let’s get some sunscreen.”
Joaquin waited until the two were out of earshot before he approached Karen with his questions. Yet instead of interrogating Karen about her motives, Joaquin was only focused on the demon.
“This demon doesn’t exist here, so can it hurt them?”
Karen glanced at Heidi, considering the question. “Demons fear angels, not hunters, and coming into our world leaves them open to angel problems. I doubt this demon will do the work itself. It’ll just send more dark souls to hunt you. In Mexico, they have free rein. In the US, they’ll have to be more careful.”
Grinning, Karen lifted the basket in her hand. “I think the boy would like a picnic. He’s a cutie, but this must all be scary for him.”
Instead of fear, Maximo was ecstatic about the food Karen spread out on a table cloth on the rocky ground. Maximo plopped down and smiled at Heidi.
“Families have picnics, yes?”
Smiling, Heidi nodded. Leaning against Joaquin, she kissed him. Yet her closeness seemed less about affection and more about secrecy.
“Do you trust her?” she asked, gazing up at him.
Joaquin scrutinized Karen who was speaking to Maximo in broken Spanish. Nodding, he could find no reason to doubt her, even if he still felt unsafe in this canyon.
“I think we should go to the US,” he said, pushing hair away from Heidi’s eyes and caressing her freckled cheeks. “Maybe we can stop running for a while?”
Heidi smiled, kissing him again. “We’ll go where God leads us.”
As Heidi joined Maximo on the ground, Joaquin kept watch over the nearby ridges. Karen soon noticed his concern.
“We’re safe here.”
“The low ground leaves us open to sniper fire.”
“Yeah, but it’s so isolated, we’d hear a car approaching. Trust me that no one’s going to walk here in this heat.”
&
nbsp; Joaquin wanted to believe Karen and the idea that his family was safe. Giving into his desire to enjoy the quiet with Heidi and Maximo, he tried to relax, even nibbling on a sandwich.
“Tell us about this network you say you have in the US.”
Karen shifted in her spot, clearly excited to share with the newbies. “Hunters like us can work in packs and do a lot more damage that way.”
“Damage to things like the ones at the hotel?”
“Yes. We call them villains. They might not seem like much to worry over. Like hunters though, they come in varying degrees of ability. Those at the hotel were small fry.”
“How do you plan to get us into the US? We might still have trouble with the cartel. Crossing the border could be difficult.”
“I’m still trying to figure that out,” Karen said, biting into a strawberry. “I thought we were just looking at villains and a demon, but humans complicate the situation.”
“How so?”
“Hunters don’t kill humans. Not even evil ones.”
Joaquin scowled, glancing at Heidi who showed no concern over this news. His wife’s mind was on their son who shoved a second sandwich into his little mouth and even smaller stomach. The boy collapsed on the ground, stuffed and tired. While Heidi rubbed the boy’s tummy, Karen stood up and stretched.
“I’m going up to that ridge to get a better look,” she said, turning to go.
“Why?” Joaquin asked, suspicious again.
“In my vision, I was standing on that ridge and looking out at the surrounding land. I think maybe I was supposed to see something, like what our next move should be? I’m going up there, so the Lord can show me. Would you like to come along?”
Joaquin studied the woman, trying to sense her plan. Maybe she was telling the truth? Or maybe she planned to leave them there to die?
Even if Karen was trustworthy, there was something altogether unimpressive about her. If trouble was coming and God wanted to show them something on the ridge, it made sense to send someone more talented than Karen.
Unwilling to leave Heidi and Maximo alone down by the road while he went hiking up the ridge with Karen, Joaquin realized his only real choice was to send Heidi. Having seen his wife handle herself at the prison and then at the hotel, he figured Heidi would be better suited than Karen for a fight. No matter Karen’s experience, she seemed a bit too slow on the draw for Joaquin’s taste.
“You should go, Heidi, and check things out.”
“I go too,” Maximo muttered, his eyes barely open. “I want to see.”
Heidi patted his head, playing with a dark curl. Joaquin stood and helped Heidi to her feet. She eyed Karen and the ridge then gazed at her husband. Kissing him, her lips lingered and her tenderness caused a hint of uncertainty in Joaquin.
Was Heidi the woman from a few days ago - the corpse waiting to happen? Or was she the Heidi from today who raced into battle like she had been doing it for years? He considered keeping her with him and letting Karen go on her own no matter the consequences. Then he felt Heidi’s lips curl into a smile against his. When she pulled away, Heidi glanced at the quiet road.
“I’m going to see what’s what up there,” she whispered against his cheek, “and you keep an eye out down here. Okay, hubby?”
“Yes, dear,” he said, stealing a quick kiss before she followed Karen.
If Karen possessed nefarious plans, she didn’t show it. The woman looked happy to have the company and she waved for Heidi to join her. Assuming all his years as a killer had made him paranoid, Joaquin tried to relax. For extra reassurance though, he leaned down to Maximo’s ear and whispered, “Do you feel any monsters nearby?”
The boy shook his head then burped loudly, causing the women to laugh nearby. Joaquin smiled, relieved by Maximo’s proclamation. In his own heart, he did not sense danger either. Relaxing against a tree, he watched as Maximo leaned over and took a potato chip.
“You should stop eating,” Joaquin said.
“I like chips.”
“Yes, but you have your whole life to eat them. No need to force a million into your stomach just to puke them up. Gotta learn to pace yourself, kid.”
“But I like them.”
Smiling, Joaquin shook his head. He watched the women make their way tentatively up the ridge. Heidi laughed as she lost her footing and slid slightly. Karen reached out her hand as they fumbled their way up.
The two women soon stood on top of the ridge, looking down at the canyon and river below. Waving at Joaquin, the women were interchangeable from this distance. He waved back, his mind still listening for approaching cars.
“I see from the eyes of a hunter,” Maximo said suddenly, startling Joaquin.
“What hunter?”
“I don’t know. I don’t see her. I see from her. She is God’s warrior.”
Maximo paused as his gaze focused on the road. “She has a dream. She sees herself walking into the backyard of her house. A yellow dog follows her. She sees neighbors waving at her. She sees her children playing on a swing set. She sees her husband mowing the lawn. She brings him a glass of lemonade. This is the life she wants, but can not have. It is the life she covets.”
“Go on,” Joaquin said, his voice hushed and fearful as he studied the road.
“She has tried to live the life of a human, but God punished her. She returned to her life as a hunter, still wanting what she could not have. The monster still whispers to her, promising her the life she wants. She only has to do one small thing for the monster and she can have it all.”
“She must forsake God.”
Maximo shook his head, his face lax. “She already did that, but the monster wants more now.”
“What?”
Maximo frowned, his eyes unfocused as he saw things normally unseen.
“She must do this one thing, it says, and she can have the dream. This one thing…”
“What, Maximo? What must she do?”
The boy’s eyes grew wide then began to blink furiously.
“Mama!” Maximo screamed, pointing to the ridge where the two figures stood.
Joaquin jumped up and ran towards the women, unable to tell one from the other in the heat of the sun. Maximo’s screaming grew louder, less coherent, then turned to silence as the first shot rang out. For that moment, even as Joaquin continued to run, the desolate landscape grew silent and the sun shifted, darkening the land.
More shots rang out, breaking the eerie silence. These shots were in quick succession and Joaquin saw one figure fall back over the ridge and into the river below.
Heidi was too smart, he told himself while running up the ridge. She had seen through Karen’s lies like Joaquin could not. Heidi had fought back and killed her assailant and Karen was the one who now fell into the water.
Joaquin believed those words in his head. Believed those words like he believed Heidi was his gift from God. Believed those words until the remaining figure on the ridge ran from him, not towards him.
Karen disappeared into the rocky canyon, slowed only by the harshness of the ground. Joaquin could have caught her, could have killed her then, but his mind was on Heidi.
At the edge of the ridge were large splashes of blood where the women had once stood. Studying the water below, Joaquin spotted the blonde hair of his wife as the water turned a corner and fell deeper into the canyon.
Joaquin was sure he could still save Heidi. She had healed before and God could fix her again.
Turning to follow the river, he found Maximo. The boy’s face was red from crying. Whatever hope rested in Joaquin about Heidi’s fate died upon viewing the misery on the boy’s face. Maximo knew the truth and his inability to show the least bit of hope forced Joaquin to give into his own despair. Holding the whimpering child, Joaquin moved slowly down the ridge, following the river until he found Heidi.
Joaquin dug the grave until almost dusk, concerned her body might be disturbed by the local wildlife if the hole wasn’t deep enough. For most o
f those hours, Maximo knelt next to Heidi’s battered body, holding her hand and whispering to her. Just before Joaquin finished digging, the boy wandered away to look for materials to create a marker.
When Maximo returned, he carried two twisted, yet sturdy tree branches, weeds to tie them together, and a handful of ugly desert flowers. Joaquin helped the boy craft a grave marker before moving Heidi into her resting place. Gazing down at her in the grave, Joaquin felt his desire to live slipping away with every shovel of dirt he lay upon her.
Once the sun dipped behind a hill, Joaquin and Maximo knelt next to Heidi’s grave, staring at it as if she might send them wisdom. Maximo finally spoke, his voice raw from crying.
“Karen is a murderer. She betrayed God. He wants her dead. You see this, don’t you?”
Joaquin nodded. “We’ll find her. She will be punished, no matter how long it takes.”
“I didn’t see,” he whimpered, clutching Heidi’s yellow sundress. “I should have seen.”
“It’s not your fault,” Joaquin whispered, wrapping his arm around Maximo. “I’m the reason she’s gone. I failed her, not you.”
The boy lowered his head and began to cry again, his sobs echoing in the darkening canyon. Joaquin tried to console Maximo, but no words could lessen their loss. Nothing could bring Heidi back to them.
Joaquin and Maximo remained at the gravesite until the moon was their only companion. Staring at the crooked cross and ugly flowers, Joaquin listened to the broken sobs haunting the canyon. He listened for so long and so hard, he never realized the sobs were his own.
Chapter Twenty
Present Day
Early on a chilly afternoon, Joaquin said goodbye to Maximo in their Houston hotel room. When Heidi died, Maximo was a scrawny kid, small in every way except for his saucer sized eyes. Now as Maximo clutched him tightly, Joaquin felt the boy’s curly hair tickle at his collarbone.
Watching Maximo get started on a math assignment, Joaquin wished he might give the boy a normal life with friends, school, and a real home. Even if Heidi had lived, that life would have never been theirs. Maximo was a child now, just as Joaquin and Heidi once were, but their paths always led to a life of hunting.