Evil Agreement (33 page)

Miss Beacon knew she had to provide a diversion to give
Korie
time to get the drop on both men.

The first man pointed his gun around the edge of the open
door. After a moment he poked his head around the edge of the door for just a
brief moment to check out the cellar area.

“Don’t shoot. Please don’t shoot. I’m unarmed,” said Miss
Beacon in her best pleading voice.

The first man now peeked around the edge of the door and
looked straight in the direction of Miss Beacon’s voice.

“Please help me. She’s very sick. I was sent here by Samuel
to give her some medicine and when I found her she was having a seizure. I
think she may be dying.”

Miss Beacon was gambling these men might be thrown off
balance by her referral to Samuel. She also was gambling that Kelley wouldn’t
speak out and tip off these men to her ruse.

The first man stepped out from behind the door. He held his
pistol down at his side. Miss Beacon recognized him as Junior
Fecteau
, a low ranking member of the church and a coven
wannabe.

“Why if it
ain’t
Miss Beacon? I
didn’t know Samuel had sent anybody else.”

Miss Beacon had to hold his attention until the other man
entered the cellar.

“Could you give me a hand so I can give her some medicine?
I’m afraid I can’t do it alone.”

“Sure. Bobby, get your ass in here, man,” said Junior as he
started to walk towards Miss Beacon.

Just then Kelley let out an eerie screeching sound. That
sound riveted Junior’s full attention on her. His younger brother Bobby now
stepped out from behind the door. He was obviously very nervous. He was holding
a pistol in his left hand, pointing only slightly downward. His hand was
shaking.

As Bobby stepped completely into the cellar his nervous eyes
glanced sideways. He half noticed
Korie
. Because his
brother had said to come on in, he allowed himself to let his guard down, just
a bit. It was enough.

Korie
stepped towards Bobby and put
the end of the barrel of her own pistol just inches from the side of his head.

“Freeze right there, you bastards,” she shouted.

Junior spun around bringing his gun up, ready to fire, when
he spotted
Korie’s
gun against the temple of his
younger brother.
 

“Don’t even think of it,” said a very tense
Korie
.

“Now Junior, you don’t want that nice young girl to shoot
your brother do you?” asked Miss Beacon.

“Shut up!” he shouted back.

“Junior, she’s got a fucking gun pointed at me.”

“I know, I know.”

Korie
cocked the hammer. “If you
don’t both put your guns down now, my finger might just slip on this trigger.”

“I’d get you next,” said Junior through clenched teeth.

“Maybe you will and then again maybe not. You see, Junior,
when you came in here I noticed you hadn’t flipped the safety off. Your gun’s
locked, Junior.”

Junior
Fecteau
wanted so badly to
take this bitch out but he couldn’t remember if he had flipped off the safety.

He decided in an instant to glance down at the gun in his
right hand. At that moment
Korie
used her left hand
to push Bobby towards his brother.

Junior noticed immediately that the safety was off. He began
to raise his gun when his younger brother stumbled into him. In the momentary
confusion Junior made a deadly decision. He stepped sideways to get a shot off.

Korie
now stepped to her right in a
circling move while at the same time crouching lower to the floor. Her gun was
poised to shoot.

Miss Beacon tipped over the chair with Kelley in it. Miss
Beacon half caught her as the two women fell to the floor.

Junior got off a shot. It missed wide.
Korie
returned fire with two quick shots. Both bullets hit their target. Junior fell
to his knees. He was hit in the right shoulder and also in the right side. He
tried to fire his gun. As he raised it,
Korie
fired
again. This time he was hit in the chin area of his face, as the bullet’s
slightly upward trajectory led to a complete severing of his brain stem. In a
single violent reaction, he flipped backwards onto his back from his kneeling
position. His legs remained bent at the knees as his lower legs remained
twisted under his now lifeless body.

Bobby was facing his brother during this split second
shootout. He watched in horror as his older brother, whom he loved and admired
was shot to death.

“Listen. Put your gun down. Don’t make me shoot you, too.”

Bobby looked at his own gun. Its safety was off. He had no
choice. He knew it. He turned, firing away as he did.

Korie
couldn’t take a chance. She
took aim and pulled the trigger twice. Both shots hit him in the chest in vital
locations. The first shot hit him in the heart, it caused his body to twist,
and the second hit him in the lower spine, shattering it, and shredding his
spinal column at the same time. His dead body convulsed backwards. He fell,
tumbling over Miss Beacon and Kelley in the process.

The quick succession of shots that had exploded in the closed
cellar rang in
Korie’s
and Miss Beacon’s ears. The
acrid smell of spent gunpowder filled the now smoky cellar.

In a moment, the room was about to be inundated by the smell
of the dead men’s bladders and lower intestines, as their bodies could no
longer control their normal functions.

Miss Beacon pushed at Bobby’s
Fecteau’s
dead body, rolling it off of her own.

“Where did you learn to shoot like that?” asked Miss Beacon.

“A few years ago I took a self defense course. I got a chance
to target practice at the police station firing range. I guess I was pretty
good.” Looking down at the floor she continued, “Afterward, I signed up for a
month’s worth of lessons at a local gun club.”

“Well, it sure came in handy.”

“Right,” said an obviously stressed out
Korie
.
Tears were running down her cheeks.

Miss Beacon went to her and gave her a big hug.

“You saved Kelley’s life. Look, we still have a chance to
stop this madness thanks to you. I know Aaron will be proud of you.”

“What now?”
Korie
said wiping away
a tear with the back of her hand.

“Well.”

Just then, they both heard a low moan. They turned to see
Kelley trying to sit up.

“Now, we get her out of here,” said Miss Beacon.

28

Aaron returned to Miss Beacon’s place. He parked the Land
Rover outside of the sometimes barn, sometimes garage. There was no one home,
so he decided to sit and wait in the kitchen. He turned off the table radio,
which had been left on. He sat in the dark listening to the steady rain. There
were occasional flashes of lightning, along with the rumble of accompanying
thunder. Sitting at the kitchen table, he could see out the side window, which
overlooked the road, that passed by the front of Miss Beacon’s place.

His mind was swimming with images. He put his hands to the
sides of his head, in a gesture to try and control the crosscurrents of his
mind. He hoped
Korie
and Miss Beacon would return
soon. He needed someone to talk to.

At that moment, he noticed the light from an approaching
vehicle shining on the road below. He stood up from the kitchen table and
stepped over to stand to the side of the window. The vehicle was moving along
the road at a very slow pace.

Aaron quickly slipped to the front room and looked out the
front window at the road below. A station wagon rolled into view. It never
quite stopped but moved at less than a walking pace. From the faint light
provided by the street light, Aaron thought he could only see one person in the
car.

Once past the front of Miss Beacon’s place, the station wagon
quickened in pace and pulled out of sight down the road.

Just as the car rear taillights disappeared from view, the
telephone rang.

Its loud ring startled Aaron.

It rang again and again. Aaron didn’t want to answer the
phone. It kept ringing. After the nearly twentieth ring he decided to answer
the phone.

“Hello.”

“Hello,” he repeated.

“Hello, Aaron. Do you recognize my voice?”

He knew who it was but chose not to answer.

 
“It’s me, Judy. How
are you, Aaron?”

“I’m fine.”

“Really. You left today in quite a hurry. Was it something I
said?”

“No.”

“Well, it couldn’t have been something I did because I never
got to, you know, hold you close,” she purred.

“Look, I’m not interested,” he said getting ready to hang up
on her.

“Aaron, there’s someone here who wants to speak to you.”

Aaron hesitated for a moment.

“Hello, Aaron. My name is Samuel. I would like to meet you.
We have so much to talk about.”

“I know,” said a nervous Aaron.

“I could have someone pick you up in a few minutes. What do
you say?”

“No, not tonight.”

“Then when?”

“Tomorrow. I’ll get in touch with you, tomorrow.”

“Fine. Let me give you a telephone number.”

“No need. I’ll find you.”

“Good. I’ll be waiting.”

Aaron hung up the phone. He was breathing rapidly, almost on
the verge of hyperventilating. His hands were wet with perspiration. The voice
of Samuel sounded young but deadly.

“Where are they?” said an exasperated Aaron referring to Miss
Beacon and
Korie
.

Across town, in the office of Reverend Mitchell, the coven
members were beside themselves. Their leader, Samuel had spoken with this Aaron
Powell. To everyone’s surprise Aaron had agreed to meet with Samuel tomorrow.
It almost seemed too good to be true.

“I softened him up for you Samuel,” said a beaming Judy.

“Bad choice of words,” said Chucky breaking into a raucous
laugh.

Everyone was in a celebratory mood, everyone that is, except
the Reverend and the Judge. They acted pleased as punch but inside, they were
fuming.

One by one they left until there was only the Reverend, the
Judge, Samuel and Ed Townsend.

“Ed, I want you to check up on the
Fecteau
brothers for me. I sent them to guard my sister. I don’t want any screw-ups now
that we’re this close. If everything goes well, we might have the calling
ceremony tomorrow night.”

“Why didn’t you tell me you wanted her under guard? I would
have called a couple of my men, reliable men. Those
Fecteau
brothers always manage to screw things up, somehow.”

“I made the decision, Ed. They are completely loyal to the
church and this coven. Anyway, how hard could it be? Are you questioning my
judgment?”

Ed wanted to say something in retort but decided to hold his
tongue. No need to piss off Samuel. Samuel was close to Moloch who is obviously
close to Lucifer. Ed knew where he stood in the pecking order of things and
right now Samuel was “the man.”

“No, it’s fine with me. You’re right. How hard could it be?
I’ll head over there right now and check up on them. Anything else?”

“No.”

Ed turned to leave. As he turned from Samuel he glanced over
at the Judge who seemed to be studying him. The Judge nodded to Ed who managed
a slight nod in return. Ed left the room.

“Well, Judge, Reverend, it seems that we shall be the ones
who deliver on the promise made long ago. We are the true Keepers of the
Agreement, our sacred Covenant. There will be much to do. I’ll need both of you
to help me organize our calling ceremony. I want to meet early tomorrow
morning. Plan on coming over for breakfast at eight.”

“Whatever you say,” said the Reverend, as eagerly as he
could.

“Do you need a ride home? It’s still raining,” asked the
Judge.

“No, Bob’s waiting for me outside.”

“Well then, tomorrow it is!” said the Judge.

With that, Samuel turned and left. He exited with a spring in
his step.

The room was silent for the moment.

“Whew,” said the Reverend as he slumped into his office
chair.

***

“Why don’t we take the car?” asked
Korie
.
The
Fecteau
brother’s car sat silent in the church’s
driveway.

“No. We could be stopped. It’s too risky. We’ll take her back
through the woods.”

“The woods, are you kidding? She’s not strong enough and we
sure can’t carry her.”

“Oh, I believe she’s strong enough. You’ll see.”

They went back down the bulkhead stairs.
Korie
helped Kelley to her feet. At first Kelley rocked a bit on her feet, and then
steadied herself by grabbing onto
Korie’s
arm.

Korie
shot a look at Miss Beacon’s
that seemed to say, “Look at her, she has trouble standing.”

“Let’s go. We can’t stay here any longer.”

Korie
, holding onto Kelley, led her
to the stairs. After a slight struggle Kelley made it to the top of the stairs.
The three women were now standing in the gravel driveway of the church. The
rain had slowed down a bit but was still steadily misting.

With Miss Beacon leading the way the women headed down the
driveway turned left and headed down to the end of the cul-de-sac. In a few
moments they entered the woods. After going just a few feet into the woods,
Miss Beacon stopped.

She bent over and said, “Good boy, I knew you’d be waiting.”

“Is that the dog?” asked
Korie
,
somewhat amazed the dog had waited for them.

“Yes, it is. He’s going to lead the way for us, aren’t you
boy?”

Korie
and Kelley could hear the dog
panting.

Korie
slapped at her arm. It was a
mosquito on a mission.

“Let’s get going before the bugs eat us alive,” said
Korie
.

“Oops, I’m sorry Kelley,” said
Korie
.

Kelley nodded and said “It’s okay. You guys saved me,
thanks.”

“Are you two ready?” said Miss Beacon.

“Yeah,” said Kelley.

“Yeah, we’re ready,” said
Korie
.

Miss Beacon tied her dress cloth belt around the dog’s neck
in a sort of collar and leash.

“Well then, let’s go.”

The three women headed deeper into the woods, led by the dog,
which earlier in the evening was prepared to take a bite out of one, if not
both of them.

As they moved deeper into the dark and wet woods, the rain
and fresh air seemed to refresh Kelley. She soon walked along without having to
hold onto
Korie
.

Minutes later a car slowly pulled into the church driveway.
It pulled to a stop behind the
Fecteau
brother’s car.

Ed Townsend got out of the car. He walked completely around
the
Fecteau
car. He noticed the car keys were still
in the ignition. Looking over at the church, he noticed the church cellar
lights were on and the bulkhead doors were wide open.

This isn’t looking too good,
thought Ed.

He drew his service revolver from his shoulder holster and
holding it in the ready position, he slowly approached the bulkhead. In a
quick, but highly trained move, he stepped in front of the bulkhead doors, and
pointed his gun down the stairwell, ready to fire.

Nothing threatened him from the cellar. It was eerily quiet,
except for the sound of falling rain.

He slowly descended the stairs. As he approached the bottom
he noticed the all too distinct odors of gunpowder and human excrement. He had
a good idea of what he was about to encounter. Still, he had to be very
careful. Someone could still be lurking in the cellar, ready to take him on. He
almost wished there was someone hiding in the cellar. He hadn’t plugged a
perpetrator in quite a while.

He leaned against the left side of the bulkhead wall. He took
a deep breath and then launched himself into the cellar rolling on the floor,
gun pointed hand sweeping the cellar. His FBI training had taught him that in
situations like this when you’re alone and facing an armed assailant, you have
to present the smallest target possible. And most important of all, identify
the target, confirm it as hostile, and shoot first!

His eyes quickly scanned the scene in the cellar and in a
moment he realized no one else was in the main cellar that could pose any
immediate threat. He spotted the
Fecteau
brothers and
concluded they were dead. He sprang to his feet and ran to the back wall. He
quickly stood up against the back wall, still with his gun held ready. He moved
along the wall and stopped, next to the opened door, which led to the back room
chamber where Samuel’s sister had been held. His ears couldn’t pick out any
unusual sounds. He moved quickly across the open entrance, pointed his gun
inside, ready to fire in an instant. It was obvious the chamber was empty.

Ed holstered his gun. He turned and surveyed the “scene,” as
he would call it.

Two dead men, both shot with a large caliber weapon. He
examined the bodies. One shot three times the other shot twice. Both men got
off shots of their own, but had apparently not hit anyone. At least there was
no evidence of anyone being wounded in this gunfight. There was a folding chair
sitting in the middle of the room.

What significance did it hold? How many were there? One or
more of them had to have been good shots,
he thought. He surmised where he
thought the shooter, or shooters stood, and checked the floor for any sign that
might give him some information he could use.

Whoever they are, they weren’t just lucky. No sir they
were smart. They had to have used some kind of distraction in order to get the
drop on the
Fecteau
brothers. Clever bastards,
he
thought, as his highly trained mind raced along in its typical analytical
fashion.

Two men dead and Samuel’s sister missing. Samuel isn’t going
to like this news.

Cocky little bastard is going to be pissed off,
thought Ed.
I can’t wait to break the news to that little know it all freak.

Ed turned out the church cellar lights and exited from the
bulkhead. He closed and locked the bulkhead doors. Ed also removed the car keys
from the
Fecteau
brother’s car. He tossed them into
his jacket pocket. Ed had a smile on his face as he pulled his own car out of
the church driveway. He turned right at the end of the driveway and headed
towards Samuel’s house.

Ed was thinking about how he was going to break the news to
Samuel. It had to be done just right. It had to be done with style. It had to
say, “I told you so” without coming right out and saying it.

No need in going too far with that little bastard. No
telling what he might do,
thought Ed.

Suddenly, Ed turned his car down a street that took him away
from Samuel’s house. On a hunch, he decided to first stop in over at the
Reverend’s place. He stepped on the accelerator.

In a few minutes he arrived at the Reverend’s place. He
quickly jumped from his car and ran up to the front door. He knocked loudly on
the door and rang the doorbell.

The door opened. The Reverend seemed surprised to see Ed.

“Ed, what brings you back here?”

“Reverend, you’re not going to believe this. Samuel’s sister
is missing and the
Fecteau
brother’s are dead. They
were both shot to death.”

“Come in. The Judge is here and I’m sure he would like to
hear what you have to say,” said the Reverend as he swung open the door.

Ed rushed in and headed straight for the Reverend’s office.

“Hello, Judge!”

“Ed.”

“Judge, it appears Ed has some rather disturbing news.”

“Do tell.”

“Yeah. I was just over at the Church. When I got there, I
noticed right away that things didn’t seem right. Anyway, I’ll cut to the
chase. I went down in the cellar and found the
Fecteau
brothers both shot dead. They got off some shots of their own, but hadn’t hit
anything that I could tell. Then I checked on Samuel’s sister, Kelley, and
found she was gone.”

The Judge leaned forward and looked Ed squarely in the eyes.