“You okay, Mr. Bradley?” Jayna whispered.
“I am so good it’s scary, Jayna,” he said.
Keith stood aside from the crowd pouring off the bus. Talia joined him but the kids mobbed them.
“C’mon, Mr. Bradley, this is gonna be a long way to walk, Dr. Ramin said. You want me to push you in the chair?” Adam begged.
“I can do it,” Tom said, shoving forward.
“We could all take turns,” several kids said at the same time.
“I’m going to try to make it with the cane, guys,” Keith said, laughing. “Thanks. Move on and follow the tour guides to the museum, please.”
“Mrs. Bradley, we could push you around,” Rikki suggested. “And then you could sit on Mr. Bradley’s lap if all three of you get too tired.”
Talia glanced sideways at Keith. “You know, I have been having a lot of trouble walking lately. I would love a ride, ladies and gentlemen.”
“Are you doing this for me?” Keith asked, as the boys and even a couple of girls fought to get to the wheelchair first and set it up.
“No. I’m doing it for me,” Talia exclaimed. “Maybe your experience has taught you humility, but it hasn’t taught you enough empathy if you can’t understand why I would want to let these sweet children spare me the chore of lugging Baby Cherub around for a few hours.”
Talia lowered herself into the chair and waved her hands to stop the arguing about who would push. “Work it out. Rock, paper, scissors. The baby’s in a hurry to meet the jaguar babies.”
If Keith had to assign a Bradley Central report on this trip, he had an idea what the favorite part of this day would be. The museum had just added on a welcome center outside the gift shop where they could try small samples of cocoa as the original Olmecs might have drunk it. The kids loved the tiny versions of tecomates, the round, decorated pottery jars for drinking it.
They counterfeited cocoa beans?” Tom exclaimed, reading the various posters about the history of cocoa.
“Yeah, because they used them for money,” Rikki replied. “That is unreal. They hollowed out those little beans and filled them with sand.”
“They made their cocoa foamy!” someone else said. “How’d they do that without an espresso machine?”
The display included Inca and Aztec uses of cacao beans, since so little was known about how the Olmec did it. At first they made faces at some of the varieties, especially the unflavored brew, but most of them still tried the different dried flower essences, vanilla, honey, maize, and lime.
Keith watched Talia sneak out of her aunt and uncle’s lecture and tour three times to get more of the chili-flavored kind. He refused to even taste it, but it was fun to feel the baby dance extra fast after those multiple chocolate doses had hit Talia’s system.
“Maybe I should stop,” Talia lamented.
“Maybe you should.” Keith laughed.
“But they’re such little cups. And it’s so good!”
“I’ll never forget the faces on those babies! They are weird!” Gail said. They had left the museum and were walking around the grounds of San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán. Drew and Anne moved around the perimeter, heading up the team protecting the field trip group. David Sharon had been put in charge of the group, including Joshua Bradley, attending the Administrator Appreciation Gala.
“And the stone heads. You said they were big – but they are big!” Tom said.
“So, if they weren’t gods, who were they?” Rikki asked.
“Different people have different ideas,” Sophie said. “They could be rulers. A few have said they may be something as simple as ball court heroes. Perhaps they are sentinels to help the ruler keep watch.”
“Isn’t that still some kind of spiritual being?” Lisa asked. “I mean, a statue can’t see anything. Are you saying they represent angels or something?”
Keith shot a look at Talia and they locked eyes with Naddy and Sophie.
“They may represent a warning,” Naddy said after a moment’s hesitation. “The ruler was perhaps saying he had eyes watching and forces waiting to defend him or repel enemies.”
“Wow. They coulda just put up a sign,” Jayna said. “These Premises Protected by Olmec Security, Inc.” She got some giggles with that.
“Well … maybe making the statues gave people jobs,” Ruan ventured. “They could stay busy and do something that honored their ruler.”
“That is an excellent suggestion,” Sophie said.
“They could have been landmarks – maybe, no matter where you were, you could at least see one of them and have a place for people to rally to.” Lynette said.
“Also a good thought,” Naddy said.
“You’re just letting these children make up ideas,” Mrs. Holden complained. “This is not like any field trip I’ve ever been on. The guides presented them with facts. How can they learn anything this way?”
“Madame, they are learning to think,” Naddy said. “They are not making up things. They are presenting ideas that can be discussed, thought about, perhaps even rejected. But the truth they need to take away – the lesson to be learned – is not to blindly say, ‘These are gods. These are supernatural beings to be worshiped.’ In the earliest times, men worshiped one God. Later, men departed from that belief and created images. But they were merely objects that expressed selfish human desire. Never were they spirits. Never powerful.”
“Are you saying you don’t believe in spiritual beings?” Mr. Sheldon asked. “I thought you people were religious.”
“Certainly we believe in spiritual beings,” Sophie answered. “But only the true God is to be worshiped according to His holy Word. He condemns the making of idols, and says they are no gods. Such spiritual beings as there are, besides God, are inferior to Him. They were created to be His servants. Some still serve Him, and some rebelled. We know little about these beings, but it is very likely that those who rebelled have power to deceive men into thinking they are worthy of worship.”
“But there are good angels, right?” Gail asked.
“The Scriptures tell us about beings who are messengers, and helpers of God and man,” Naddy replied.
“Angel,” Keith said, unable to coax his voice above of a whisper. He looked around. The wheelchair sat abandoned as Talia herded some stragglers back to the main group. An overpowering urge to sit forced him down into the chair.
Drew’s body hurtled past him and Anne followed an instant later. Screams in Spanish filled the air and the rest of the security team surrounded the group. Someone grabbed the handles of the wheelchair and Keith felt himself propelled toward the crowd into a ring of men and women with guns pointed outward.
“Are you all right?” Talia asked, throwing her arms around Keith. Her gun was in her hand as well and he stared at it stupidly.
“Yeah. Angel,” he said, still feeling foggy.
“Yes,” Talia responded. “Drew saw him sneaking around that stone head right behind you and tackled him.”
The other security guards had herded Naddy, Sophie, and the kids back onto the bus. Talia wheeled Keith over to where Drew and Anne stood. Keith got up shakily but decided to sit back down again.
Drew dragged the young Mexican to his feet. He still spewed Spanish and Keith was pretty sure he knew what most of the words were. Drew bound his hands behind him with a zip tie. When Angel kept kicking, Drew bound his feet as well, hog-tied the straps together, and let him flail on the ground and scream.
Anne picked up a knife lying next to where Keith had been standing a moment before. He saw a cut on Drew’s cheek. Everything still seemed so unreal.
“He was … what? Getting ready to throw that at me?” Keith asked. “Why? And are you okay?” He pointed at Drew’s cheek.
Drew snorted. “He already killed Eva. Why not you too? I heard you say his name as I went past. If you hadn’t sat down –” Drew hesitated. “You knew, didn’t you?”
“They were talking about angels,” Keith said, “And his name popp
ed into my head … I mean, like … hit me in the head. I had to sit down.”
“Good job, human shield,” Anne quipped. “Deflecting that knife with your face.” She dabbed at the blood on her husband’s cheek. “So what do we do with him?”
“I’m in favor of shooting him,” Drew said. “He did nothing but lie from the get-go. We won’t get any useful information out of him.”
“He’s screaming for help, now, and saying he didn’t do anything wrong,” Talia said.
“Any reason on earth to believe him?” Drew asked.
“We have to get away from here,” Keith said. “This is too public for anything. Where can we take him?”
“Back to that safe house,” Talia said. “That way whatever happens, he won’t get any new information. Amu and Zanamu have always understood that they might need to shepherd the kids. Jiggly and Cindee are at the next stop, waiting to help out.”
They threw Angel in the back of one of the security jeeps. Drew put a hood over his head. Drew and Anne sat in the front seat and Keith and Talia climbed in the back. Another jeep with two more men followed behind them.
Chapter One Hundred and Four – Anne Means Grace
Talia snuck her hand into Keith’s as they parted ways from the tour bus and headed back toward Veracruz.. “Are you really okay?” she asked.
“Yeah,” Keith said.
“You have a weird look in your eyes,” Talia said.
“I have a weird feeling in my head,” Keith said. “Kinda like when Jenny Kaine was in the room at the hotel. This guy … is he demon-possessed, or what, exactly?”
“I’m not sure. Keith, you threw up and passed out with Jenny Kaine,” Talia said softly.
“Not gonna happen this time,” Keith said. “Feel … stronger. Ready … but not now.”
“Ready for what?”
“Tell me, why are we bringing these two?” Anne demanded. “Are you putting assets in danger again?”
“These assets happen to be, indirectly, my employers,” Drew said. “In spite of the fact that you and I would prefer to just put a bullet in the head of whoever is back there in the cargo bin, these two have bigger fish to fry. We need to know what the plan is, for … umm … all the sub-assets. The only possible source of information we have, since we can’t hog-tie any … anyone else … is Angel.”
“We have to try to question him,” Talia said. “He’s a wild card at this point. I don’t have any idea why he’s involved. I can’t plan how to protect against a threat if I don’t know who’s doing the threatening and why.”
“What do you expect us to do? Torture him?” Anne asked.
“We need him to talk,” Talia replied. “I’m praying for wisdom about how to make that happen.”
Spanish erupted from behind them. Talia said something sharp in reply and the words choked off.
“Do I want to know?” Keith asked.
“He said, using many more words, that we wouldn’t dare do anything to him,” Talia said. “I quoted part of a Psalm to him.”
“Which Psalm?” Keith asked.
“Psalm 35:7,8,” Talia replied. “Let their way be dark and slippery, With the angel of the LORD pursuing them. Let destruction come upon him unawares; And let the net which he hid catch himself; Into that very destruction let him fall.”
“Okay,” Keith said. “I’m just gonna pray now, too.”
The Jeep went silent. Even Angel did not speak again.
“You supposed to be Christians and love everybody. You have to let me go,” Angel spat.
Drew and Anne had pushed the kitchen table down the hall and Drew had tossed Angel onto the tile floor, still hog-tied.
“While you’re messing with me, you don’t know what’s happening to those people you left behind,” Angel said.
“Why did you pretend to be Eva’s son?” Talia asked. She sat on a stool on the other side of the breakfast bar from him, and avoided looking at him.
“I didn’t pretend. I am her son. I’m not your enemy. That blonde – she stabbed Eva, and she stabbed me too. I just wanted to get away.”
“If you’re not our enemy, why did you throw a knife at my husband?” Talia asked. She had been the only one doing any talking to Angel since they arrived.
Keith sat in the living room with Drew and Anne. Talia had kept her eyes on him the entire time. He still had the lingering weird look in his eyes that had been there since he sat down in the wheelchair. She had no inkling what insight might be coming to him after three hours in transit with a boy who had tried to kill him. Another hour had passed, and he still seemed to be trying to figure out how to support his very pregnant wife conducting a so far fruitless interrogation.
“I don’t throw it. It slip out of my hand when that bastardo jump on me!” Angel insisted. “I sorry I get mad. I sorry I say bad things to you. I sorry my mama die. But is not me! Why you believe that bruja?”
“Anne isn’t a witch,” Keith said.
Everyone stared at him.
“I thought you didn’t know Spanish,” Drew said.
“I don’t,” Keith said. “Why? He called her a witch, didn’t he?”
“”He called her a witch in Spanish,” Talia said.
“Oh,” Keith said, and got up from the chair.
“Where’s your cane?” Drew asked.
“In the Jeep, maybe?” Keith shrugged. “Don’t need it.” He walked into the kitchen without the slightest limp.
“What are you doing?” Talia got off the stool and reached for him, tentatively.
“Gonna talk to him,” Keith said.
Drew and Anne came alongside Talia and they circled the breakfast bar as Keith approached Angel.
He began to thrash and try to kick. “Don’t touch me!” he said in a shrill and panicky tone.
Have to.” Keith crouched, reached out a hand, and touched him on the top of the head. The boy stilled instantly.
“Just gonna hold my hand here, and say a name,” Keith said. “Whatever else happens is up to you, and … Jesus Christ.”
Angel went rigid. His body started to spasm, and a high-pitched keening sound burst out of him. Keith kept his hand where it was and his eyes drifted closed. Talia touched her husband on the shoulder. Even though he had looked and acted so calm, she felt sweat seeping through his clothes. She put her hands firmly on his shoulders, struggling down onto her knees, and closed her eyes also, selfishly praying for Keith more than anything.
After what seemed like a long time, the sounds stopped, punctuated by a series of loud pops. Talia risked opening her eyes. Angel lay as if he were made of wet pasta. The zip ties were broken on the floor around him.
“Is he – alive?” Drew asked.
“Yeah,” Keith said. He stood up and helped Talia to her feet. “You shouldn’t have done that. We might not have got you back up,” he said with a grin.
“Thank you,” Talia said. The weird look was gone from his eyes. All she saw was peace and weariness. She had to lead him to a chair and make him sit down.
“Was that some kind of exorcism?” Anne demanded.
“The house is swept,” Keith said, “but it’s empty.”
“I don’t understand,” Anne said.
“That makes two of us,” Drew said.
“That makes all of us, unless Talia’s got something to share,” Keith said. A weak laugh escaped him.
“Will he wake up? Should we tie him up again?” Drew asked.
Keith leaned back. “I have no clue. But I will tell you what I do know. He found Eva’s baby in that church when he was .. I dunno. Little. He thought if he pretended it was his brother, the people in the church would feed him and take care of them both. He’d been living on the streets since his junkie prostitute mother died … He doesn’t know how long.
“He picked the baby up … it was so heavy … but he was starving … and that’s when somebody grabbed him from behind. After that … he only remembers … bits and pieces. They put him in a room in a shack and
took the baby somewhere.
“After awhile they brought it back and held a plate of food … smelled so good … under his nose. Told him he could have it if he killed the baby. He did it, but before he got to eat … that was the first time the man … took his innocence.” Keith stopped, pulled in a lungful of air, and scrubbed at the tears running down his face. He closed his eyes. “I’m gonna go to sleep now.”
Talia got a blanket from one of the bedrooms and covered Keith up. Almost as an afterthought, she got another one and covered Angel. Drew and Anne stood there, watching.
“What should we do?” Drew asked.
“I think they are both going to be very hungry when they wake up,” Talia said. “I know I am, right now. Is there any food here?”
“You cannot be serious!” Anne exploded. “Lying on the floor in there is a person who killed Eva and tried to kill Keith. He just popped a set of the heaviest zip ties I have ever seen – and you want us to go pick up a pizza?”
“One of your guys could do it. You should probably stay here.” Talia replied. She collapsed on the couch and stretched her legs across the cushions. “My feet are starting to swell. If they could find something low sodium, that would be great. But these guys are both going to need some serious calories when they wake up.”
“Talia,” Drew began. He stopped. “Okay. You’re not going to explain any of this?”
“You can find quite a few times when someone cast out a demon in the Bible,” Talia said. “It happened a lot of different ways. There’s a passage that kind of explains what Keith was talking about – Matthew 12:43-45. It says when a demon goes out, if the person stays empty, he can end up with more demons, and worse ones. We need to pray very hard that doesn’t happen to Angel.”
“You mean Jesus doesn’t stick around and protect him?” Anne asked. “Sounds like he was an innocent little kid and horrible things happened to him. Where was Jesus?”
“Where were you when your husband gave up gambling and stayed away from it for five years?” Talia asked.
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