Forty-Four Book Eleven (44 series 11) Read online

  “Me, too,” I said. “It was nice. Muy lindo.”

  The old woman nodded and spoke again.

  “She says that it is important to have a strong belief in God, especially for someone like you,” Lupe said. “That is why she wanted you to come.”

  I smiled at her and watched her finish her food. Then she waved at some people at one of the other tables and went over to them. I looked up and noticed all the stars.

  When my eyes fell back down again, I saw him.

  Walking out of the church, the rucksack slung over his shoulder, his face intense as always with those blue eyes glowing in the night.

  CHAPTER 46

  I slowly made my way over.

  “Hello, Abby,” he said.

  “Samael.”

  It had been a while and I had almost forgotten the strength of his energy. It made me dizzy and hot and I took in several deep breaths to try to steady myself.

  “Let’s go inside,” he said. “It’s quiet and we can talk.”

  I looked back, worried that the bus might leave without me, but people were still eating and I spotted the driver in line at one of the food trucks. The tired priest was with José and the old woman was talking to a small group while she looked in my direction.

  I followed Samael through the door as he headed to the front of the church. He kneeled and looked up at the statue of Christ nailed to the cross before bowing his head. He took a seat and I sat down next to him.

  “You should know that the job ends Friday,” I said. “After that, I really am out of here.”

  He stared straight ahead and then said, “There is something you must do before then. You cannot leave until it is done.”

  “Are you going to tell me what it is?”

  He didn’t answer. I was exhausted, body and soul, and I wasn’t in the mood for Samael’s tired and vague mysteries. If he wanted my help with something, he was going to have to give me more.

  “What is it I must do, Samael? What’s here that’s so important? I can’t help you if you don’t tell me what it is. Does it have something to do with the young ghost? Is that what this is about?

  He shook his head.

  “No,” he said. “It has nothing to do with her or her dead mother. It’s bigger than that.”

  “Wait, she’s dead, too? Her mother?”

  “Yes, she recently passed.”

  I would have to think about what that meant later. Right now I had to try to get to the bottom of what Samael wanted from me.

  “So what is it then?” I said.

  “It concerns the old woman. There is something she must help you with.”

  I tilted my head and rubbed the side of my neck.

  “What are you talking about, Samael? Help with what?”

  “His darkness is spreading, Abby,” he said, turning toward me. “She can help.”

  “His darkness? Whose darkness?”

  His eyes grew large and serious.

  “Nathaniel Mortimer,” he said, his voice now like a feather falling to the ground.

  CHAPTER 47

  It felt like I had been punched in the stomach, the air all screaming out at once. The name alone was enough to produce a severe allergic reaction throughout my entire body, including my heart, which stopped and started and stopped again before beating like the wings of a hummingbird.

  “This is all about him?” I said, standing up, my knees and voice quivering. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner? Is that where you’ve been, watching him? Is he nearby?”

  “I don’t know where he is.”

  “Well, don’t look at me,” I said. “I don’t know where he is and I don’t care where he is either, just as long as it’s far away from me.”

  Samael stood and stepped close to me, whispering. His energy rocked me backwards.

  “You should care, Abby. You should care a great deal.”

  “Why? What’s it matter to me now?”

  “You see—”

  I cut him off, suddenly fearing the worst.

  “Wait, is he going after Ty or my sister?”

  “No, I don’t believe they are in any immediate danger.”

  “You don’t believe they’re in any immediate danger?” I repeated.

  “The people you love are safe for the time being. What I was going to say was that every once in a while a dark being comes into this world. During his lifetime Nathaniel Mortimer left death and destruction in his wake. And that would have been bad enough. But, as you know, it didn’t end with his death. His darkness continues to blossom, like a black rose. He is out there somewhere, refusing to leave things alone. Things that need to be left alone.”

  I sat back down and crossed my arms.

  “You need to think of the bigger picture, Abby,” he said.

  After the initial shock of hearing Nathaniel’s name, I was now starting to get angry.

  “Why doesn’t God think about the bigger picture, Samael? Where is He in all this?”

  It was the same question that had haunted me throughout my life. When my mom had suffered in vain before the cancer finally took her, when I found out Jesse was dead, when Ben was stabbed to death in front of me. I thought of all the sad stories of the ghosts I had tried to help along the way. Why did they all have to endure so much pain and suffering, pain and suffering that death didn’t even bring to an end? Where was the loving God the priests talked about during those terrible times, the times we needed Him the most?

  “That’s a good question,” Samael said. “But it doesn’t get us anywhere. The real question is, what are you going to do, Abby? You have it in your power to stop him and his evil. Are you going to look the other way?”

  I shook my head.

  “How am I going to stop him? He’s dead and he’s stronger than I am. And we don’t even know where he is.”

  “You’re right on all three counts,” he said. “But only for the time being. We can find him. And with the proper training you can become stronger, to the point where you can drive him back where he belongs. And it all begins with the old woman. She holds the key.”

  “The ancient woman out there who picks chiles in the field holds the key to stopping Nathaniel’s dark plans? Do you realize how insane that sounds?”

  “She can take you where you need to go. She can guide you down into the depths of the darkness. It is there you must look for him, with all the courage in your soul.”

  He kneeled again and made the sign of the cross. When he stood back up, he looked deeply into my eyes.

  “You must remember your faith, Abby,” he said. “It is time to continue your journey. And it is time for you to honor your promise.”

  I swallowed hard.

  “What promise?” I whispered.

  But Samael didn’t answer. He picked up his pack and headed out the door.

  CHAPTER 48

  I stepped out into the night still wondering what promise Samael was talking about when Lupe came up to me.

  “So you went back for more, I see,” she said, nodding toward the church. “You should pace yourself, D.”

  “Unfinished business,” I mumbled.

  “Well, the bus is leaving soon.”

  I noticed that the other buses and the food trucks had already left. We walked over to the old woman, standing alone under a tree and grasping her rosary, her eyes wide and her lips moving so fast she appeared to be shivering.

  “C’mon, Abuelita,” Lupe yelled. “Time to go. You can finish praying on the bus.”

  But the old woman wouldn’t move. She stood frozen in place. Lupe reached out and put her hand on her grandmother’s arm.

  “Estas temblando. ¿Qué pasa?” she said, and then turning toward me, “She’s shaking.”

  “ Abuelita, What’s wrong?” Lupe asked again.

  The old woman just stared past her and over at me, her whole body trembling now, her eyes as big as plates.

  “Abuela!” Lupe shouted. ¿Qué pasa?”

  She finally answered. />
  “Esta niña estaba hablando con el demonio,” she said. “¡Con el mismo diablo!, Lupe. El diablo. ¡Satanás! No quiero saber nada más de ella.”

  The old woman made a wide turn around me and headed quickly to the bus.

  “What did she say?” I asked as we walked after her.

  Lupe turned toward me, full of shock.

  “She’s scared of you,” she said. “She says she wants nothing to do with you.”

  “What? But why? What happened?”

  “She says that she saw you speaking to Satan. That you were with the Devil.”

  CHAPTER 49

  I sat alone on the bus ride back to the farm, thinking about everything that had just happened.

  It was all so crazy.

  The old woman had seen me talking to Samael and she believed he was evil. Evil with a capital E. I could only hope that she wasn’t right about him.

  It hurt me to see her so upset. She had shown me great kindness and I wanted to try to explain it to her, but not now. She wouldn’t listen. I would have to give her space and steer clear of her until the time was right.

  My thoughts returned to Samael and what he had told me in the church.

  Was it really true that he had been with me this entire time because he thought I could help him stop Nathaniel Mortimer? How could he really believe that? What kind of match would I be for someone who had not only returned from the dead but returned with the power to inhabit and control the bodies of the living?

  It was all lunacy.

  But it was also complicated. If much of what Samael said sounded like the ravings of a madman, other things rang true. Like when he spoke of Nathaniel.

  “His darkness continues to blossom, like a black rose,” he had said and I shuddered to think what that meant exactly.

  I had witnessed firsthand Nathaniel Mortimer’s capacity for evil for a long time now. The serial killings in Bend after my accident, the time he kidnapped me and then tried to drown me in the name of science. And most recently, the murder of his brother right in front of my eyes. I had no doubt that he was continuing his “work” somewhere. He had told me as much back in the hospital right before he had killed Ben.

  So I believed Samael when he said that Nathaniel wasn’t going to stop, and that he was growing stronger. Something would have to stop him. But it sure as hell wasn’t going to be me.

  The old woman only thought she had seen the Devil that night. But she was wrong. I knew what pure evil looked like.

  When I closed my eyes I saw Nathaniel Mortimer’s face.

  And he was smiling.

  CHAPTER 50

  Things didn’t improve when we got back to the farm. The old woman was distant, cold, and afraid. She kept her eyes to the floor when I was around, talking sometimes in urgent whispers to Lupe and the others.

  After I brushed my teeth I sat on the porch, looking up at the stars, wondering how, once again, things had gone so wrong so fast.

  Lupe stepped outside a few moments later.

  “She’s wrong about him, Lupe,” I said. “That man I was talking to isn’t evil. She’s made a mistake.”

  “I don’t know. I didn’t even see you with anyone at the church. But if Abuelita says you’re speaking with the Devil, I’m going to have to side with her. Family has to stick together. We only have a few days left here anyway. Just leave her alone and we’ll be fine.”

  She went back inside and I stayed out there until I heard the others go to bed.

  CHAPTER 51

  “No,” I whispered. “It can’t be.”

  A car had driven in slowly and pulled over. It wasn’t a police car, or maybe it was and it was unmarked. But when I saw the driver get out, the bucket I was carrying fell to the ground.

  I didn’t know whether I should run. Or in which direction.

  My heart switched places with my knees and I lost the ability to breathe and think.

  “Easy, D,” Lupe said, staring at my face. “She ain’t no cop. No need to go running for the sewer again.”

  I just stood there staring at the familiar figure scanning the field.

  CHAPTER 52

  Kate.

  What was she doing here? How had she found me? But at that moment, those things didn’t matter.

  She hadn’t seen me yet and I still might be able to get away, sneak off down the road toward the cabins and then cut over through the trees and... But I wasn’t going to do that. She had come all this way and gone through all this trouble to find me.

  I moved a few steps toward her and stopped. I took off my Dodgers cap and waved it. After a few moments, her sunglasses found me, but from her expression I could tell she wasn’t sure what she was looking at. I ran in her direction, dropping the hat, and saw her do a double take as she slowly mouthed, “Abby?”

  We hugged there under the New Mexico sun for a long, long time.

  CHAPTER 53

  “I’m not going back with you,” was the first thing I said, through the tears, my arms still around her. “You know that, don’t you?”

  Her reaction was almost as big a shock as her standing here in a chile field with me.

  “I know,” she whispered, her voice hoarse and full of emotion. “I know, Abby. There’s no way you can come back right now. I know.”

  When we finally let go of each other I said, “C’mon. We can talk over here.”

  I led her over to the cottonwoods. It was too early for a break and there was no one else around. When we stopped, we stared at each other for a few moments.

  “You look good,” I said, breaking through the silence.

  “Jesus, Abby, you look like… I wouldn’t have even recognized you if you hadn’t waved. How are you doing?”

  “I’ve never been so tired in my life. These people work so hard for so little. But it’s better than the alternative, if you know what I mean. At least I’m out in the fresh air and the job’s coming to an end in a few days and I’ll be moving on. Maybe the next one won’t be as bad.”

  She looked at me.

  “I finally get it, why you took off,” she said. “The evidence is just too overwhelming right now. I understand why you did what you did.”

  “I’m glad you see that. But how did you find me?”

  “I came this close to not,” she said, squeezing her thumb and index finger together. “I had basically given up, and then… Well, maybe I should start at the beginning. There was a story in the El Paso paper, which was carried by the wire services. It said someone had seen you at a Burger King and recognized you from one of those David interviews on TV where they showed your photo.

  “But these stories have been popping up all over the country, so I didn’t put much faith in it. You’re like Elvis. You’ve been spotted in places like Pocatello, Missoula, Fargo, Iowa City, and Little Rock. But then I remembered hearing something in the background when you called me. I heard something that sounded like Juárez. It was too much of a coincidence, so I caught the first plane out. Well, two planes actually.”

  “It’s so good to see you, Kate,” I said, still in a state of disbelief.

  “It’s so good to see you, Abby.”

  “Go on,” I said, wiping a tear off my cheek.

  “Once I got to El Paso, well, you know, it’s a big city. Anyway, that kind of took me by surprise, and it was that whole needle in a haystack thing. The few leads I found or thought I found all deadended into nothing. Your trail had gone ice cold, if you had ever been there in the first place. I didn’t know what else to do, so I went online and started looking for a return ticket. And just as I was about to confirm the purchase, my phone rang. It was David.”

  I shook my head and rolled my eyes.

  “No, but you see, I’m here because of him, Abby. He asked how it was going and I told him the trip had been a failure and then he said, ‘Have you checked the farms?’”

  “Wait,” I said. “How did he know?”

  “Well, he didn’t. Not exactly. But he said he figured y
ou might be running low on money and then he thought that there aren’t that many jobs someone can get without an ID. And then out of nowhere he screams at the top of his lungs, ‘Dr. Richard KIMBLE!’”

  I smiled again. When David was living with me, we would sometimes binge-watch episodes of the old black-and-white TV series.

  “He said he saw it once in an old episode of The Fugitive. Not the movie with Harri—”

  “I know,” I said.

  “He said there was one episode where the fugitive is working as a migrant laborer picking onions. I thought it was a little out there, but I figured I should give it a shot. Anyway, not even an hour later, I came across a shelter for farm workers and there was a woman there who remembered you. Then I did some leg work. And here I am.”

  “That David.” I shook my head. “He’s one of a kind.”

  “Yeah, they broke the mold after they made him, all right. Hey, I want you to know that I was very careful coming out here. I wasn’t followed. Even my editor thinks I’m working on a story on the rise of morally conservative liberals and morally liberal conservatives in the state of Texas.”

  “Sounds fascinating.”

  “I know, right? How did you ever think to come here?” she said. “Don’t tell me it was The Fugitive.”

  I wasn’t going to tell her about Samael.

  “I guess the wind just kind of pushed me this way.”

  “Too bad it didn’t push you a little farther,” she said, looking around.

  “How about you? How are you doing?”

  “It’s been hard, you know, with what happened. Losing Ben. You disappearing. But I try to stay busy. I told you on the phone the other day, but I want to make sure you understand that I don’t blame you for any of it. I know you didn’t do it.”

  “I tried to stop him, Kate. But by the time I saw what was happening it was too late. I’m so sorry.”

  “It was suicide, then?”

  I paused for a moment and was quiet. I wasn’t going to tell her what really happened. I didn’t want her to know that Nathaniel was still out there. It would just upset her more and it might even put her in danger.