LLOYD, PAUL R. (19 page)

The explosion blew Micah to the
floor on top of Barbara. He rolled off and raised his hands in defense against
the rain of debris, including the heavy timbers that formed the floor joists
above. A glowing shield appeared in his left hand. The lightweight and large
size of the shield surprised him. In his dreams, it was smaller.

Micah absorbed the force of the
beams and debris pummeling the shield from above. A cloud of dust surrounded
him and Barbara. As the debris landed, it formed into walls that defined the
space below the shield. The wall of shattered plasterboard chunks, broken studs
and bits of furniture supported the shield so Micah was able to slip his arm
out of it. The glow from the shield and his sword lit the tiny room that now
imprisoned him with Barbara.

He touched Barbara’s wrist and
sighed when he sensed the strong, steady thumps. He used his sword to cut the
rough cords around her arms, wrists and legs. When he began to pull the duct
tape from her mouth, Barbara eyes popped wide.

“Wha awe ew doin?”

“Welcome back.” Micah’s face
muscles relaxed into a smile.

“Wah doin, iot?”

“Let me help you.”

“NO! Do my sel.”

“Okay. The best way is to rip it off
like a bandage.”

Barbara tugged at the duct tape and
made slow, steady progress.

Tears began to flow down Micah’s
cheeks. “Thank God you’re alive.”

Barbara removed the last of the
tape. “Where are we?”

“In what used to be the basement of
Denise Appleby’s house.”

“What happened?”

“It blew up. Didn’t you notice?”

“I’ve been away.” Barbara passed a
hand through her red locks.

“You were out cold when I found
you. They must have drugged you.”

“Couldn’t catch my breath. I’m a
mouth breather. I must have passed out. I don’t feel drugged.”

“Are you okay now?”

Barbara patted Micah on the arm. “Good
as anyone trapped inside a collapsed house. Did you say we’re in Denise
Appleby’s basement?”

“Yep.”

“How’d we get here?”

“I walked in. How about you?”

Barbara snuggled closer to Micah. “Don’t
know. I was supposed to meet you and Bob for dinner. The next thing I knew I was
tied up in the dark and unable to breathe. Then you turned the lights on. Was I
out long?”

“Bob said you worked overtime, so
you must have been kidnapped right after you left work.”

“I worked until six. I was headed
for my car, and then I awoke here. They must have taken me in broad daylight. Was
that yesterday or the day before?”

“Yesterday.” Micah tapped the
shield to see if it was sturdy.

“How do we get out of here?”

Micah tapped another section of the
shield. “Not through this shield. We could call for help.”

“HELP!”

“I have a cell phone.” Micah
reached into his pants pocket.

“Help.” Barbara leaned into Micah.

Micah punched in the police
department and informed the dispatcher where he and Barbara were located. The
dispatcher told him rescuers were on the way. The firefighters were still
fighting the fire so they should sit tight for a while and be thankful the
flames didn’t get to them.

“So we have to sit and wait?”
Barbara hugged her knees to her chest.

“That’s the idea.” Micah tried to
gain a comfortable position but couldn’t find one.

“An explosion, huh?”

“Yeah.”

“Big boom?”

“Yeah.”

Barbara pointed to her ears. “How
come our ears weren’t affected? We should be deaf from the impact.”

Micah shifted his weight. “I don’t
know. How come I have a sword in my hand and a shield for a roof over our heads?”

“Don’t care as long as they keep us
from being squashed.”

“It’s a God-thing we’re still here.
No way should we have survived a house explosion.”

“Think it was a miracle?” Barbara
attempted to push over to one side to give Micah more room.

“I don’t believe in miracles.”

“What about the sword and shield?”

“Sounds like the name of some
radical Bible tract handed out by a wild street corner preacher.” Micah shifted
his weight again.

“Ouch! You’re on my arm.”

“Sorry.” Micah shifted his position
once more.

“Okay. But be careful where you
place your body. That sword and shield look handy at the moment. I’m glad you
brought them.”

“I didn’t bring them. Glory did.”

“Glory? The girl in your dreams?”

Micah shrugged. “Yeah. Strange,
huh.”

“Where’d she go?”

“I’m here.” The voice sounded from
above the shield.

“How come we can’t see you?” Micah looked
up at the shield.

“You don’t have eyes to see yet,
Micah. Pray. Ask God to show you his love so that you may see the way he wants
you to.”

A large crunching sound smashed
against the top of the little hideaway. The shield twinkled, sparked and faded
away.

Micah watched as one of the fire
engine’s pulled away from the scene of the explosion and fire at Denise
Appleby’s house. He placed an arm around Barbara’s shoulders.

“With regards to Mr. Wolonsky, you
say you stumbled across the body in the debris of your house?” Lawson poised
his pencil over his small notepad and stared.

Micah shifted his gaze to Detective
Lawson. “Yeah, we covered this already. Remember? Bob Wolonsky was my friend.
He was a great guy. I can’t understand why anyone would want to harm him.”

Lawson grimaced. “We don’t know
that anyone did, as yet. He died and you found his body under the remains of
your house. Maybe some debris fell on him or he had a heart attack and
collapsed on your property. Or maybe you know something you haven’t told me?”

Micah glowered at Lawson. “I
assumed with so many killings that he was murdered, too. Sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry unless you did
something wrong. It was a natural assumption given your involvement with the
other cases.” Lawson placed his hands on his hips.

“My involvement? What involvement?”
Micah scratched his ear.

“Take it easy.” Barbara tugged on
Micah’s elbow.

Micah allowed Barbara to pull him
in close to her. “Do you need anything else from us, Detective Lawson?”

“No, you guys are beat and so am I.
The strange part is how you two survived that intense blaze.” Detective Lawson
scratched his head with his yellow pencil.

Barbara’s fingers shook as she ran
them through her hair. She opened her mouth to speak, but closed it. She began
again with another swipe of a shaking open hand through her red locks. “Mi…
Micah… He s-s-saved us, Detective Lawson.” She shrugged, tilted her head and
smiled.

Lawson rubbed his jaw while gazing
in the distance. “Guess so. I still don’t understand about this sword and
shield thing, Micah. You say they disappeared?”

Micah twisted his right hand into a
palm-up gesture. “As soon as the backhoe broke through the roof of our space,
they both fizzled away.”

Lawson stared at Micah. “Like
special effects in a movie, huh?”

Micah inserted his hands into his
pants pockets and dropped his gaze to the ground. “More like, gee, were they
there in the first place, or was it my overactive imagination?”

“It happened so fast.” Barbara took
Micah’s elbow and leaned against him. “Straighten up, pal.”

Micah straightened his shoulders,
but returned his gaze to the ground.

Lawson shook his head. “You know
you two were in a dangerous, life-threatening situation. No one can blame you
for hallucinating your way out of it.”

“Um, Detective Lawson?” Barbara
raised her hand to get the detective’s attention.

“Yes?”

“How does one hallucinate oneself
out of a situation?”

“I guess I didn’t phrase that well,
did I? Let’s say it’s possible you two imagined the sword and shield. You have
to admit it’s farfetched for Naperville in the twenty-first century.”

Micah smiled and shook his head
without looking up. “Yeah, long way from Camelot.” He raised his head to meet
Lawson’s eyes.

 “You’re both
witnesses. Micah found several bodies. I’m not accusing you of anything, at
least not yet.” Lawson flipped his notebook closed.

***

“First he sends me to jail for
fifteen years, then he kills a bunch of teenage girls and burns my house down.
He sends a demon or faerie or whatever Ahlman Brown is. He moves me next door
to a real hag who’s like a hundred and twenty years old. What is God thinking?”
Micah rested his head in his hands, his elbows on his knees, and his butt on
the couch in the living room of the Oak Brook house.

“Want more pizza?” Barbara pulled a
slice from the box on the cherry coffee table and offered it to Micah.

“No.”

“Try some. It’s tasty.” Barbara
leaned against Micah and shoved the tip of the pizza slice into her mouth.

“I’m ticked off, if you haven’t
noticed.”

“I’ll be eating more. They use real
Portabella mushrooms. Yummy.”

Micah raised his head to make eye
contact with Barbara. “So you’re okay with God?”

“I don’t muddle in God’s affairs
and hope he doesn’t mess with me. I prefer it that way. And I like seeing you
ticked off. Makes you sit up straight and handsome. You still carry too much
prison life around with you. Straighten up. Try looking like a rich guy for a
change.”

“Yeah, people tell me that all the
time. I’m working on it. Maybe being angry at God will help. But like you, I’m
not into God much anyway, except now he’s the one screwing with me.”

“Most of your rant sounded like
other people, demons, hags and whatever messing with you. Didn’t sound much
like stuff God did. Why are you blaming him for everything?”

“It’s his world, ain’t it?”

Barbara rolled her eyes. “That’s the
lie the religious types tell us.”

“Why did he make it so screwed up?”

“Excellent question. Have any
answers?”

“He made the world, didn’t he?”

Barbara grabbed another piece of
pizza. “You sure you don’t want more?”

“I’m not saying I’m perfect.”

“Pervs are never the good guys.”

“Thanks.”

Barbara returned her pizza slice to
her plate. “Hey, somebody has to put a smile on your face. You had a bad day.
Think about how I feel. Somebody kidnapped me. I don’t have any idea who except
it must have been Denise Appleby and Ahlman Brown. I never saw anyone until you
woke me up in her basement where you saved me from certain death with your
sword and shield. You claim some dead girl gave those to you. My boss’s body
showed up in the ruins of your old house. Pretty creepy day wouldn’t you
agree?”

“Yeah.”

“You don’t hear me bitching about
it, do you?”

“I’m sorry. I was angry. When
somebody burns your house down, gets you accused of murder, kills your friend
and kidnaps your girlfriend, you get ticked off.”

“Hmmm. Did you say girlfriend?”

“Yeah, I did, didn’t I?” Micah
grinned.

“I like when you say that.”

Micah took Barbara’s hand. “I like
saying it, too, girlfriend.”

“Makes you my boyfriend, you know.”

“Sounds nice when you say it.”

“So you’re okay with me as your
girlfriend?”

Micah pulled Barbara to her feet
and the couple embraced before exchanging a passionate kiss.

Micah gazed into Barbara’s eyes as
she fiddled with his hair.

“You still angry?” Barbara asked.

“Yeah, Bob died.”

“Let’s channel your anger against
the bad guys.”

“Glory told me it was the armor of
God.” Micah slapped his coffee mug on Pastor Fromritz’s desk.

“Glory?” Pastor Fromritz put his
coffee mug back on his desk and picked up Barbara’s cup.

“Yes. How many times do I have to
say it?” Micah picked up his cup and sipped the last dregs before holding it up
for a refill.

“As many as it takes to get it
through my thick skull. You have to understand. To me spiritual warfare is…
well… it’s spiritual. It doesn’t take place in the real world. It’s more of a
euphemism for our struggle against sin.” Pastor Fromritz filled the empty mugs
from a coffeepot behind his desk.

“So you don’t believe in the devil?”
Barbara took her cup back from Pastor Fromritz.

“Yes, of course. I believe in the
Bible so I must believe in evil spirits as well as the good ones, but they
don’t fly around on gossamer wings. They’re spirits. Invisible beings.”

“So it’s not possible that Ahlman
is a demon?” Micah looked over his coffee mug and waited for Pastor Fromritz to
answer.

Pastor Fromritz fiddled with a pen
on his desk. “I suppose it’s theoretically possible or theologically possible,
but what would be the point? If something is going on, then it must be a case
of possession where a demon takes control of someone’s body. That’s biblically
based. Jesus cast out demons.”

“This puppy has gossamer wings.
He’s extremely powerful and dangerous.” Micah thrust his arm out like a sword. “I
put a sword into his stomach, and he laughed and walked away. He’s a demon. If
it was a case of possession, we’d be talking about a dead body.”

“But you’re the only one who has
seen the gossamer wings, Micah.” Pastor Fromritz smiled.

“So?” Micah asked.

“So what makes you special?” Pastor
Fromritz stared into Micah’s eyes.

Barbara leaned back in her chair.
She held her coffee mug on her lap. “Bob talked about Micah being on a quest
and chosen by God to defend Naperville against Ahlman. That’s why he felt
compelled to move back here.”

“Are you on a quest, Micah?” Pastor
Fromritz scratched the back of his head.

“I’d like to clear my name. I’m not
sure about the rest. I didn’t bargain for dreams where dead teenagers shove
God’s armor on me and force me to take that stupid sword. I can’t lift the
thing unless I pray first to a God I’m not sure exists. When I put on the armor,
or rather when it was put on me, a power surged through me. I was able to pray.
It wasn’t much of a prayer, more of a plea to get me out of this mess. As soon
as I prayed, the sword became light. You might say weightless.” Micah swung his
arm like a sword.