by Mary Eicher
Lucy awoke hours later and slipped from the bed. She was concerned for them both. She had to be. Artemis didn’t experience personal danger the way most people did. She took it as a challenge, and Lucy had never seen her back away from a challenge of any kind. Even if she could convince her to be cautious, living on an island didn’t afford one many hiding places.
Lucy climbed back into bed and let her fingers play with strands of her partner’s hair. Artemis looked peaceful. Obviously, she wasn’t worried. She could defend herself, Lucy knew. And she could sense danger if it came to that. Lucy suspected her lover had many talents yet to be displayed.
Waking, Artemis rolled toward Lucy, sensing her tension. She rose slightly, bending her elbow and resting her chin on the palm of her hand.
“Why don’t you take Angie and your mother on a trip for a while? You could go to Oahu or Kauai. I could…”
Lucy put her hand over Artemis’s mouth. “Stop it. I’m not leaving you. I’m never leaving you, no matter what happens. What would a hunter do without her light?”
Artemis pulled her close and gave Lucy the kind of kiss that always led to other things.
*
Jose handed out twenty-dollar bills to the boys and told them how they could earn more. He wore the monk’s robe when he dealt with them and adopted a persona he considered trustworthy. The boys thought him stupid and probably gay, but they took his money and spent it at the arcade with their adolescent buddies. It never occurred to them to be suspicious of the man’s interest in the black-haired woman. He was some sort of religious fanatic who told them he was interested in the woman’s immortal soul. Every time they saw her, they were rewarded for telling him, so they saw black-haired women a lot. They considered the man a fool.
Jose felt the first raindrops as he walked back to his rental car. It was going to be a big storm. One big enough to provide cover for what he had in mind for Artemis Andronikos. He had seen her himself twice already. Once she’d been in Lahaina, eating shaved ice, and once he’d caught a glimpse of her on a motorcycle, heading north toward Kapalua. He was certain she was stowed up in the West Maui Mountains.
He took off the heavy robe and tossed it in the backseat. Gunning the engine, he headed north to see what he could find. The wind began to buffet his small car before he’d gotten far, and he nearly turned back to Kihei to ride out the storm. But the road was clear, and he had his mission. And it was best if he could complete his assignment and take his leave from the claustrophobic island.
He sent a text to three men whose help he had purchased with funds from Jerry. It would take them an hour to reach Nāpili—maybe longer as the weather moved in. He wanted them armed and ready if his suspicions proved accurate.
*
Claire folded a page in the newspaper she was reading. “It says here they are finally going to break up Google. ’Bout time if you ask me. To coin an old phrase, Google is the real evil empire. I refused to use it even before Temmie disabled our computer.”
Lucy handed her mother a cup of tea. “Don’t let her see you’ve brought a newspaper into the house. She’ll be annoyed.”
Claire looked over the top of the paper. “She will not. She has your number, Lucy, but she’s always respectful to me.”
Lucy gave her a slight smile. “She has many moods. You haven’t seen the half of it.” She took the paper and stuck it in a plastic bag and then into the trash.
The rain was coming down in buckets, and the wind howled as it tortured and twisted palm trees in its path. The storm had arrived. Lucy raced out to secure the furniture on the lanai. She was soaking wet when she came back in and inadvertently left the door unlocked as she dripped her way down the hall.
The sky was a deep gray with streaks of purple, and the rain came in waves, heavy and then momentarily light on and off as evening fell. Angie was playing with her dollhouse, and Claire was working in the kitchen trying to improve upon a recipe she’d gotten on a box of lasagna noodles. Lucy stood at the window and watched the rain.
“It never came down like this in California. It’s mesmerizing.”
She was trying to convince herself she wasn’t worried about Artemis out there in all that wet. A car rolled by at the edge of the driveway and then sped off.
“Damn!” she said, remembering she’d forgotten to cover the motorcycle. Deciding it didn’t make any difference now, she thought better of going back out into the deluge again.
“Where did Temmie go?” her mother asked as she came into the living room. “It’s wicked out there.”
“She didn’t say. Just said she’d be back later. She took the car, so the rain won’t be a problem.”
Her mother listened to the pounding rain and shook her head. “Well, it’s later.”
“She’s hunting,” Angie said.
The women looked at the child and then at each other. Claire had long since stopped trying to make sense of such pronouncements, but Lucy was intrigued. She knelt beside Angie and asked what Temmie was hunting.
Angie twisted the legs on the doll she was holding and placed it in a tiny chair. “The bad men are looking for us. My angel says the storm is here.”
The wind whipped and a torrent of rain pelted the house.
*
Artemis crouched on the sturdy limb of a banyan tree and wiped rainwater from her eyes. She could sense he was near. She had seen the car pass and disappear beyond the turn. Then she had seen him stalking toward the house using the foliage for cover. He was slender but well-muscled, and the hate rolled off him. Uberdorf would never have sent such a man, she reasoned. But she had no doubt he was a Servant. She merely observed the man as he made his way to the overhang that served as a carport.
Jose pressed against the wall and waited, deciding whether to look inside or sort through the trash. He had already checked three other houses and found nothing. If he found no evidence of the black-haired woman here, he would call off his team. He was drenched to the skin, chilled, and getting hungry. He could smell something inviting cooking in the kitchen.
He went to the trash container and pulled out fistfuls of discarded papers. He sorted through them, seeing the name Breem repeated on envelopes and junk mail fliers. Then he found it. Ms. Artemis Andronikos was the addressee on a lovely piece of yellow paper. It was a receipt for propane. He stuffed the envelope in his pocket and replaced the trash container’s lid.
A quick call assured him the other men were close, and he texted them the address. He decided to check out the house until they arrived. The home was isolated from its neighbors and situated on a large lot surrounded by tropical growth and a six-foot fence. The sound of the storm would swallow any noise his victim might make. The motorcycle in the carport indicated his target had to be home.
He crept along the wall toward a window and dared a glimpse inside. There was a woman and a child. Not just a child, but a delicious little girl with golden curls. He praised his luck. The woman had light-brown hair that fell to her collar. She was pretty, but she was not the exquisite one he sought. He pulled back and considered his options.
*
Angie put the doll under a bed in the dollhouse.
“What are you doing?” her mother asked, watching her close the doors and windows, securing the little house.
“I want her to be safe.”
Angie stood up and ran into the kitchen. She grabbed her grandmother’s apron and pulled her into the living room.
“They are almost here!” she cried, looking at her mother. “We have to hide.”
Lucy’s mother wiped her hands on her apron. “Who? Who is here?”
Lucy knew it had to be the Servants. She picked up Angie and pushed her mother back into the kitchen. They heard a car rolling on the gravel driveway, and Lucy’s heart leaped into her throat. Without Artemis, she didn’t know what they could do. She set Angie down and began opening drawers, looking for anything they could use to defend themselves. Her hands shook, and she could hear her mother whispe
ring a prayer. Angie ran back into the living room.
*
Artemis steadied herself on the limb and brought the bow from her back. She positioned the arrow so it would strike the intruder in the chest. It had become very dark in the time she had observed the man. She blinked at the rain and tried to listen, but the noise from the storm was too great. A flash of lightning illuminated the scene for an instant and she glimpsed him standing beside the window unaware of her presence. “If he leaves, he’ll get to live for now,” she whispered. “If he does anything else, he’s dead.”
A car inched forward in a slow roll, grinding gravel as it approached. She saw three men inside when the headlights went out. They had burly Polynesian builds but did not brandish weapons, though she knew they must be armed. She watched the intruder motion for the men to go to the rear of the house. Artemis swung the bow to the left and loosed the arrow. It struck one of the new arrivals in the leg, a gust of wind having caught it in flight. She loosed a second arrow which hit the man again; this time in the upper chest. He fell back against the car while the others scattered.
Artemis shouldered the bow and climbed silently from the tree just as Angie appeared in the window and pointed to the intruder. Lucy grabbed her up, and Artemis could hear her yelling to her mother. The intruder broke the window with his elbow, ripped the frame off the hinges, and climbed through the opening. Artemis made for the house at a run. She veered through the overhang and opened the rear door as quietly as she could.
The man was standing in the living room, his back to the lanai door. He had a knife and smirked at the two women and the child cowering in the doorway. Holding Angie, Lucy began backing into the kitchen where Claire stood transfixed.
Angie whispered, “Temmie is here, Mommy.” She motioned to the hall that led to the carport.
“Shhh.” Lucy cradled the child’s face against her shoulder. “Be very still for Mommy now.”
Jose stepped forward and brandished the knife.
“Where’s the dark-haired woman?” he asked, his voice loud even above the thundering rain.
“Right here.” Artemis appeared from the hallway. She was crouched and tensed like an animal ready to strike, the loaded bow in her hands.
“Perfect.” Jose smiled. He knew immediately she was the one he’d been searching for. She was soaking wet, but that didn’t hide the intense blue eyes and long dark hair.
He adjusted his position and waved the knife, indicating for Artemis to join the others.
Artemis raised the bow and shook her head. “That’s not going to happen.”
The sliding glass door behind him opened, and two men stepped out of the storm. They leered at Lucy and then turned their attention to the dark-haired woman with the unusual weapon.
“She shot Nico with that thing,” one of the men told their leader.
Jose shrugged. “Dead?”
“Don’t think so. He’s still screaming.”
The men chuckled and began walking in different directions, circling the room. One of them pointed to the little girl in the kitchen doorway. “Looks like Jose has found a bonus.”
Artemis lowered the bow and stepped forward, grinning at Jose. He scowled at her defiance. Jerry had told him the woman was smart but thinking a bow and arrow could go up against a real weapon didn’t strike him as smart at all.
“I’m only interested in her.” He pointed to Artemis with the knife. “And the little witch. You can do what you want with the other two. Just keep them out of my way.”
The men started toward Lucy and Claire. Artemis loosed an arrow that struck one of them in the center of his chest. He dropped to his knees and then collapsed onto the floor. The remaining man drew his weapon. She dashed forward and swung the bow, catching him in the chin. He knocked the bow aside and aimed his gun.
“Don’t shoot her!” Jose yelled. “Just take her down.”
Leaving the man to subdue an unarmed Artemis, Jose directed his attention to the woman holding the little girl.
“Set the child down,” he instructed Lucy. “Back away.”
Artemis spun and kicked the gunman, knocking the weapon from his hand and sending him hard against the wall. He turned in a rage, and she pummeled him with well-placed blows to the torso. Then she grabbed him by the hair and smashed his face into her raised knee. She brought her elbow down hard on his neck, and he slumped beside his buddy on the floor. Three down. She spun and growled at Jose.
“It’s so hard to find good help, isn’t it?” she taunted him.
“Okay. You’re big and tough. I’m impressed, but that isn’t going to save you.” He pulled a revolver from his jacket. “I think I’ll save the girl for last. I like little girls, and I don’t like to rush with them.”
Claire uttered a strangled sob.
“They are witches, you know. They can see the future. And we can’t have that. The church used to burn them once they’d grown up. I think my way is better.”
Artemis moved forward, and Jose tightened his finger on the trigger. “They’d have burned you for sure, bitch.”
He fired twice. The first bullet grazed her shoulder. The second missed the fast-moving target completely. She jumped to one side, took two quick steps, and leaped at the man, blocking the gun with her forearm. The gun fell to the floor and slid toward Lucy.
Artemis delivered a fist to his stomach and another to his head as he doubled over. He roared and pushed forward in a crouch, almost knocking her to the floor. She twisted free and landed a kick to his head. He rose and took a wild swing at her, but she dodged and hit him in the chest with a round kick. He staggered back, and she attacked with three rapid punches to his gut. He went down on a knee. From behind, Artemis grabbed his hair and pulled his head back, exposing the man’s throat. She positioned her arm to deliver the fatal blow.
“Temmie!” Lucy yelled, holding the gun she’d retrieved from the floor.
Artemis lowered her arm and yanked the man to his feet by his bloody collar. They bound him with duct tape and waited for the police.
*
“I got a telegram from the infamous Miss Andronikos,” Assemblywoman Stone told the governor. “She’s in Hawaii.”
“So that’s what’s become of her,” Hemsley said, offering the legislator a seat. “She never responded to our efforts to reach her.” He sat in a chair next to Stone. “Is she all right?”
The woman shrugged. “She didn’t say. She gave me the name of a Harbinger Servant they’d arrested and said the man was a wealth of information. She must assume we are still investigating the Servants even though Uberdorf is dead.”
“You’re not?”
Stone shook her head. “When we couldn’t tie the Servants directly to either explosion, we decided to let things shake out. With Uberdorf gone, we thought they would just sort of drift away.”
Hemsley gave her a rueful grin. “I think people thought that about a fellow named Jesus once.”
She smirked. “And I thought you wanted to avoid taking a position on religions.”
“Touché.”
It had been nearly three months since the conference ended—more than a hundred news cycles. And after a frantic course of debates and slanders, the media had moved on. Things had settled into a new normal in which people had made their peace concerning the Harbinger. Even social media had calmed down. Calmest of all were the children, particularly the very young ones who acted like children but had a look in their eyes betraying the possession of a great secret their elders would never understand.
The president had ended his feud with Hemsley and was off on a war with tech companies, moving in to strip them of their power and have them declared public utilities. It was a fight in which both sides had great amounts of money and the chutzpah to claim the moral high ground. Hemsley was sitting it out as best he could, being governor of the tech giants’ home state. In his heart, he sided with the president but took no action. Hesitation was the watchword of the hour.
It
sometimes felt to him that the entire world was waiting to see what would happen next. No one seemed to really know. Perhaps the children did, but they weren’t saying although adults were more agreeable to listening.
Hemsley listened to Assemblywoman Stone present a litany of small laws she felt would strengthen law enforcement. He nodded. He wouldn’t object, but he did say there was no hurry other than to keep an eye on the still active Servant cult. She thanked him for his support and went off to legislate as legislators are wont to do. Hemsley listened as the bells of the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament rang out the noon hour and smiled at the photo of Sarah on his nearly empty desk.
Chapter Thirty-One
Strang greeted them in his inimitable, ebullient style. Angie gave him a hug about his legs, and Artemis brushed against his bristly cheek.
“We thought we’d join you for the day,” Artemis explained.
“We’re playing hooky,” Angie added in a whisper. “Don’t tell my mom.”
Strang crossed his heart. He inquired whether Artemis had any ill effects from her run-in with the despicable men, who had tried to harm them. She assured him she was fine and relieved that the child murderer was safely locked away. Angie meandered over to a table where she browsed the most recent photos of the Great Rift.
“Is this what you think about, Wolf?” she said, bringing one of the photos to Strang.
He took the photo and explained what it was. He told her about telescopes and how they could make pictures like the one he was holding. He didn’t mention the tiny aberration. He spoke casually yet studied her reaction. Angie tapped her finger on the picture, lingering on the image of the tiny object that had been consuming the scientist’s attentions. She frowned up at Strang and then moved on to examine the other things in his den.
Artemis caught the look of disappointment on his face. “If Angie senses something, Wolf, she isn’t ready to tell you or me just yet.”
Strang had to agree. He let out a heavy sigh and then turned to her, waiting to hear the real purpose for the unexpected visit. Artemis was taking her time to reveal it. They wandered out to the lanai and stood silently at the railing for a time.