Demonic Designs (To Absolve the Fallen) (21 page)

“No.
 
Nothing yet.”
 
She was too tired to be offended that he would even wonder if her people were that incompetent.
 
“What’s strange,” she added after a moment’s thought, “is that he didn’t leave behind the hammer or mallet it would have taken to drive these stakes through this boy’s appendages and through the studs in the wall.
 
It surely has blood all over it, and there probably wouldn’t have been fingerprints on it, either.
 
Now it’s just a liability.
 
If we find a bloody hammer or mallet, we’re going to run a DNA test and be able to pin it on him.
 
Why do you think he took it with him?”

Tony looked at Sara and nodded, finally getting the confirmation he needed.
 
He examined the spikes closely.
 
The ends were not rounded or dented at all—the way they would likely be if they’d been pounded.
 
No fingerprints anywhere.
 
The choice of victims.
 
The method of death, and the threat of more to come.
 
He was sure, now.

“I don’t know,” he replied.
 
“Maybe he didn’t use a hammer or mallet.”
 
He pulled out his wallet and handed her a card.
 
“If you find out anything, will you give me a call?”

She looked stunned.
 
“Sure.”

Tony left Sara looking after him as he walked out the way he had come.
 
His mind was spinning.
 
He got to the street and opened the driver’s side door to the old, beat-up, boat of a car he had been given.
 
He took one last glance at the building and shook his head.
 
Things were going to get harder from here.
 
There was no way to predict who was going to be next or where might be most convenient for the killer.
 

Jeremiah had contemplated telling Sara Card that he was, in fact, not a detective—that the façade with which he appeared to her was a precaution.
 
It was certainly no accident that she was on the case, but, with everything else that was going on, Jeremiah didn’t have the time or energy to let her in on a secret that could have caused him problems.
 
There was no doubt that she was a prophet, though she probably didn’t know.
 
He knew that there was an incalculable number of prophets who slipped past the radar of the Elder Prophet Council—the prophet governing body—and went through their entire lives without ever knowing what they were.
 
He pulled the car away from the curb and lit a cigarette.
 
Maybe, Jeremiah decided, if there was time, he could come back to Baltimore and tell her, perhaps convince her to join his side.
 
But right now, he had to stop a prophet-killer.

This was, no doubt, the work of Metatron or Patheus.
 
Possibly, it could have even been a lower demon, but Jeremiah thought that unlikely.
 
Whoever it was accomplished what he or she had intended.
 
This was a message for Jeremiah, and it left him dumbfounded.
 
The bad guys had finally decided to launch a crusade against any prophet they could find, and there were so many out there that Jeremiah had no clue where to go next.
 
As Jeremiah took a long drag off the cigarette, he recognized that the battle had officially begun.

***

After Alex had finished his breakfast, Marla took him into the basement.
 
There, she showed him the security headquarters for the mansion.
 
Guards opened the door for them, and without slowing down, Marla and Alex walked through.
 
There were screens everywhere with people doing all manners of different things on them.

“Obviously,” Marla began, “we can’t monitor every square inch of this compound at all times.
 
All of the important areas have cameras, but not even all of those areas can be watched continuously.
 
Consequently, we have guards patrolling all over, on foot and in ATVs.
 
Until last night, we’ve never had a problem.
 
And that problem doesn’t make much difference anyway because we couldn’t have stopped him if we had wanted to.”

“Who?”

“Oh, well if Jeremiah didn’t tell you, perhaps I shouldn’t either.”

“If Jeremiah isn’t going to tell me anything, I don’t know how much I can do.”
 
Alex replied with a hint of frustration in his voice.

“Okay,” Marla said, putting her hand on his shoulder.
 
“I never pay attention to what Jeremiah wants anyway.
 
Last night, a very powerful demon, Metatron, paid us a visit.
 
Although Jeremiah doesn’t know why he came and why he didn’t attack, he’s fairly certain that you’re the reason for the recent interest of other demons in his affairs.
 
That
is probably why he hasn’t told you much.
 
First, he doesn’t want to frighten you.
 
And he also doesn’t want to give you anything that the other side will feel justified in harming you to get.”

Alex remembered back to the night that Jeremiah had begun his story and cringed.
 
“I think they want to harm me already.”

 
Marla nodded.
 
“I agree, but none of us, except maybe Jeremiah, knows how important you are.
 
And, considering the extent to which he protects you, I would say Jeremiah knows something fairly significant.”

“What good does his knowledge do if I don’t know it myself?”

“I’m sure you’ll find out,” Marla answered.
 
“Besides, I doubt very strongly that Jeremiah is the only one who knows.”

Alex looked perplexed.
 
“Who else?”

“Abbie.”

“Yeah, Jeremiah talked about her, but he didn’t tell me much.”

“I’ll let you get your own impressions of her.
 
I’d hate to ruin the surprise.”
 
Marla grinned broadly and ushered him out of the security offices.

They ascended the same staircase that they had just come down, but they went past the ground floor.
 
They kept rising until they got to the third floor, and Marla began walking down a hallway.
 
They passed many rooms, but there were very few people on this floor.
 
Marla explained that this floor contained Matt and Liz’s bedrooms along with her own.
 
Additionally, there was an enormous computer center on this floor in which Liz and her cohorts kept everything running and up-to-date.
 
If there was any new kind of technology, Liz and her group would jump on it, learn how to master it, and then learn how to crash it.
 
Jeremiah’s finances were nearly limitless, and if there was ever proof of that, it would be found in Elizabeth’s toys.
 
Furthermore, Marla had offices up here.

“I’m in charge of keeping everything running,” Marla continued with a chuckle, “but even I can’t do it by myself.
 
I have a staff of fifteen assistants working in shifts at all times of the day.
 
My room is only a few yards away, so I’m always capable of making administrative decisions.
 
And that’s important in times when you three and Jeremiah are busy.
 
This is a big place, and Jeremiah has a lot to watch over that isn’t here.
 
I won’t bore you with the details of my work, but suffice it to say that if money were the only thing I was after, I would have quit a long time ago—and I make six figures.”

Alex was amazed.
 
“If that much money isn’t your driving factor, then what is?”

Marla looked shocked.
 
“I’m a Christian woman, Alex.
 
I do this because it’s the right thing to do.”

Alex didn’t know how to respond to that, so he thought he’d change the subject.
 
He mentioned that for as many people as were on this floor, it surprised him that he saw so few of them.

“Liz is installing some more cameras,” Marla informed him, “and her people, along with mine, work around the clock to ensure that we have everything in order.
 
I don’t know exactly what her assistants are doing at this moment, but the last thing I heard was that they were working on a more intricate firewall.
 
We wouldn’t want anyone sending us a virus or hacking into our network.
 
My people are coordinating with religious groups, politicians, corporations and other prophets to make sure our battle plans are sound.”

“And Matt?”

“Hmm...”
 
Marla contemplated.
 
“He’s probably out on the lawn.
 
He spends most mornings practicing martial arts and sparring with the guards.
 
He’s quite good.”

“I’ve gathered that much,” Alex replied.

“Well, maybe we’ll see him,” Marla said.
 
“We’re going outside next.
 
There isn’t much out there that you need to concern yourself with, but a few things might be of interest.”

Sure enough, as they walked out of the front door, they saw a lone figure who stood out in a sea of pairs and trios.
 
There were uniformed guards everywhere, but on a hill stood a very distinct individual.
 
He was distinct for several reasons.
 
The first was that he was obviously much younger than everyone else around him.
 
Another was that he was shirtless and had no weapon, in contrast to all of the uniformed men walking around with guns.
 
Finally, he was doing a strange martial arts dance all by himself.
 
Marla explained that an important part of Matt’s morning ritual was to run through several different katas.
 
He was moving very quickly, and it seemed so precise.
 
Again, Alex wondered if even thinking about Elizabeth might be a very bad idea.

“He wanted to speak with you, anyway,” Marla mentioned.

“Great,” Alex returned sarcastically.

As they got closer, Matt’s moves seemed to become even more rapid.
 
His appendages were flying at incredible speeds.
 
So much so that Alex would have hardly thought it possible.
 
Then, abruptly, he stopped and turned to them.
 
He was completely toned.
 
He wasn’t a big guy by any means, but if there was fat on his body, Alex couldn’t see it.
 
He knew that Matt’s slender frame was probably very misleading to his foes when he was wearing a shirt, but if they saw him without one, they might think twice about tangling with him.
 
He walked toward them.

“Enjoying your stay?” he inquired when he neared them.

“So far so good,” Alex replied somewhat sheepishly.

Matt scowled at the seeming sign of weakness.
 
“Good.
 
I won’t make you start your training yet, but there isn’t much time to lose.”

“Training?” Alex asked, his attention now fully focused on Matt.

“Absolutely,” Matt answered.
 
“I can’t have you totally defenseless.
 
I can protect you to some extent, but I can’t always be there.”

That was a relief.
 
Whatever Matt knew, he was apparently intent on doing a job.

Matt continued, sizing Alex up, “You may or may not like me, but your safety is of the utmost importance, and I plan to see to it to the best of my abilities.”

Alex didn’t like being bullied, but he knew when to be submissive in the face of obviously superior physical capabilities.
 
He read Matt’s message loud and clear.
 
He nodded, averting his eyes.
 
This also seemed to not fly well with Matt.

“Whatever,” Matt said with a menacing glare.
 
“Be ready at eight o’clock tomorrow morning, and we’ll start then.”
 
Matt walked back to his hill and continued his training.

Alex was slightly shaken by this encounter.
 
He didn’t want any problems with Matt, but he feared that he’d already done too much, and having seen Matt in true form, Alex knew that he didn’t stand a chance with Elizabeth.
 
Matt had too much to offer.