Absence of Faith (39 page)

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

He sensed something behind him and
turned around. It was Linda. She was crying.

"Linda!" he yelled. "Where have you
been? I've been worried to death!"

"I know. Good-bye, Carson. I love
you," she said tears streaming down her face.

"Noooooooooooooooooooo!" he yelled.
"You can't go now!"

"Good-bye, Carson," she said and
pushed him out the door.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" he screamed
as he fell. The rocks moved toward him like rockets that knew where
to strike.

"Noooooooooooooo!" he screamed. The
rocks were only several feet away now.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Carson awoke in his bed just as he
was about to hit the rocks - the sheets were scattered onto the
floor and he was wet with sweat. The dusk colored light from the
window painted the walls a burnt orange.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Carson sat up and looked around the
room like an animal being stalked.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

He rushed to the door and began
releasing the locks. He opened the door slowly.

"A few more minutes and I was going
to break in," Frank Tessler said.

Carson waved on his feet and Frank
grabbed him in a bear hug to prevent him from falling. Carson took
hold of the floor again.

"What's going on? I haven't heard
from you in two days," Frank looked at his friend closely. "You
look like shit! What the hell are you doing?"

"Nothing," Carson said moving
nervously into the house.

"Gosh, you reek," Frank
said.

Carson walked into the living room
and sat down on the edge of the sofa. Frank sat on the love seat.
Empty glasses with dried liquid peppered the coffee table along
with a few empty beer cans. Several bags of potato chips and
pretzels lay opened on the table. The glass tabletop was stained
with watermarks and spilled sour beer.

"This place is a pigsty!" Frank
said. "Listen, I know it's tough with Linda missing, but you can't
just sit here and drink your life away. You've got to help find
her. People at the hospital are worried about you and we have to
find out what's causing this craziness."

"I have nothing without Linda and
you sound like my mother. What good doing anything without her? She
is everything."

"She's is everything and she isn’t.
You have to go on and especially now if you want her back. You have
to pull yourself together and fight back!"

"Oh what the fuck do I know? The
devil may really have risen up, taking people to hell. Maybe, it's
the end of the world. Maybe, we're all being punished for being so
greedy, and heartless, and unconcerned about our fellow human
beings! I don't know what to believe anymore," Carson said between
tears.

He watched his friend cry for a few
moments and then took a deep breath.

"But, if you want Linda back you
have to do something! Get out of this rut."

Carson looked at him and then
looked away in disgust at his surroundings.

"I know, but it seems so hopeless.
I really don't know what to do."

The two men sat in silence for a
few moments.

"Two women came by yesterday, and
they said they could find Linda," Carson said. "But, I didn't
believe them and threw them out. They were weird and I didn't trust
them. One said this cult kidnapped Linda and they planned to make
her the devil's bride. I just couldn’t take it."

"Can you get in touch with them?"
Frank said. "They could be the only lead we have right
now."

"I think so. Look around for a
small pad. It's around here somewhere," Carson said looking around.
"It has her number on it."

"This it?" Frank said picking up a
small white pad from under the coffee table.

Carson looked at it.

"Yeah, that's it."

"Chantress? What kind of name is
that?" Frank asked staring at the handwriting.

Carson shrugged.

"Maybe, she made it up. It’s nice.
I like it," Frank said. "What she look like?"

"I don't know," Carson said. "Tall,
thin, long black hair, clear skin. What else you want to
know?"

"Oh."

"Her friend is better
looking."

"Really? What’s her
name?"

"Yanni."

"Ok, now I’m convinced you’re on
something."

"No, really that’s her name, the
same as the famous musician. That’s how I remembered
it."

"Well, here. Call her!" Frank said
handing the pad to Carson.

"I sort of don't want to talk to
her. I was wasted when I saw them."

"You want your wife back or not?
Now call!" Frank said.

Carson walked into the kitchen and
picked the telephone. His head ached. He stared at the phone not
wanting to call, but he did.

P
eople who
met Jack Graham said he was like a cloud floating through life,
being pushed in this direction or that at the slightest breeze or
suggestion. But people who were his friends knew he was different.
Beneath his easy-going, fluid personality was an aggressive,
cunning, and clever predator, who held the record for the most deer
bagged in one season at the Red Bank Gun Club. Some said his
passiveness was an act, but his real friends knew he was staking
out those around him as if they were prey, and his easy-going charm
left them all the more unsuspecting. His modus operandi worked well
for him in the jungles of Vietnam, and it worked well for him now
in business. Jack was not malicious. His stalking had just become a
way of life for him, almost an unconscious habit that he sometimes
didn't realize he was doing. It was one of the reasons Jack wasn't
surprised when Homer Whitehead called him one evening.

"Hello, Jack. We need your help. It
may require two weeks of your time for a few hours each day. You
think you can do it?"

"Sure. Why not? What it is?" he
said in his usual agreeable tone.

Homer explained the details to Jack
and Jack agreed.

On the first night of his
assignment, Jack went to Stokes' office dressed in a light gray
suit. Big-boned and muscular with a full-face and a red beard,
Jack's presence had an intimidating effect on most people he
approached. It was one of the reasons he had done so well in his
own business selling security equipment. He literally scared people
into buying his equipment and services, he would say. Stokes told
other doctors that Jack was a new candidate for the hospital board
of trustees and that he had to give him a brief tour of the
facility, but the real reason was so he could point out Nurse
Janice Doherty to him. Jack memorized her face, her figure and
noticed her walk for several minutes as she moved between patient's
rooms and the nursing station. The whole time Jack talked and joked
with another nurse sitting behind the nursing station.

That evening Jack returned to the
hospital about an hour before Nurse Doherty would end her shift. He
parked his four-wheel Jeep Cherokee about 300 feet away from the
rear employee's entrance and waited. He turned on the radio to a
New York rock station and pulled out a Tom Clancy novel. While he
read, he kept a vigilant eye on the entrance watching everyone who
entered and exited. Around 7:10 p.m., a thin, willowy woman with
red hair pushed open the double glass doors and walked out into the
orange light of dusk. Jack watched her walk towards the left to the
end of the parking lot. He was sure it was her by the stance of her
walk. He opened the glove compartment and took out a small pair of
Nikon binoculars. He zoomed in on the woman and made a positive
identification. When the gray BMW pulled out of its parking space,
he watched closely through the binoculars. He grabbed a short,
black pen that was attached to a small clipboard secured to the
inside of his windshield and wrote the plate number down. Then he
put the Jeep in gear and followed.

After following the BMW for about
twenty minutes, the car turned off and entered a subdivision of
middle-class homes. The nurse drove through the subdivision and
then turned left onto a narrow paved road with thickly wooded areas
on both sides. Jack slowed down and let her car gain more distance
between him. There were no other cars on the road or neatly nestled
homes to distract her from spotting him. There were no connecting
roads he could turn off. He was like a sitting duck. He remained
almost a mile behind her following very cautiously. Then the BMW
turned right and disappeared. Jack saw brake lights so he knew that
she hadn't turned into a road similar to this one. She had turned
onto something smaller, like a driveway. Or she could have found a
clearing and turned off to wait for him. Jack immediately pressed
harder on the accelerator. The car bounced on the road like a toy,
kicking up a dust cloud as it accelerated. He roared past where her
car disappeared and quickly glanced to his right. It was a narrow
opening in the woods - a driveway. He continued down the road for
about a quarter of a mile and found a small clearing. He pulled the
Jeep in far enough from the road so it was completely hidden. He
turned it around so the vehicle faced the road for a quick getaway.
He opened a small cooler on the passenger side and took out a white
bag filled with several cheeseburgers and a small order of fries.
He opened the bag, pulled two burgers out, and then grabbed a can
of soda buried in a sea of ice cubes. His doctor had told him to
stay away from fast foods because of the high fat content, but he
figured a burger once in a while wouldn’t hurt. Besides, he felt
fine. He picked up the Tom Clancy novel on the seat next to him and
began reading.

Nightfall seemed to drop in quickly
like a giant shroud that had fallen over the area and Jack could no
longer read his novel without turning on the overhead, dome light.
He placed the book on the seat and stared into the darkness ahead.
He switched on the CD player and waited for the voice of Bruce
Springsteen to bellow out the words to the song,
Human
Touch
. Jack watched the road wondering how he would be able to
stay up most of the night. When the last light of the day vanished,
a small car roared out of the driveway and turned left heading away
from Jack. Jack started the Jeep and accelerated; the tires kicked
up a small plume of dust and rocks. He couldn't turn on the
vehicle's lights for the nurse would certainly become wary of it.
Jack drove as fast as he could desperately navigating in the dark.
He kept the vehicle centered on the narrow road but it was
difficult in the near total darkness. He opened the glove
compartment, took out a small flashlight, and directed the narrow
beam out the window to make sure he was on the road. He was sure
the nurse would not notice the tiny light. He watched the two red
beams of light as they bobbed and wiggled down the dusty road. He
was about a quarter of a mile behind the lights, when they flashed
brighter. Jack slammed on the brakes. Then the lights moved right
and the car disappeared. Jack quickly turned on his headlights and
floored the accelerator. The Jeep jumped forward and sprinted down
the remainder of the road. Stones and dust shot out from his rear
wheels.

When Jack reached the intersection,
he quickly glanced left and saw the car's taillights. He pulled up
behind the car and his eyes widened. The car was a silver Honda and
not the nurse’s gray BMW. Jack turned around and raced back to
where he first saw the BMW vanish. He drove past the driveway and
pulled off the road about 300 yards away. He turned off the car,
got out and walked towards the driveway.
I broke down
, he
thought. That's what I'll tell anyone who comes by and asks. Then
Jack started jogging. He often jogged after work to keep in shape -
he believed that being in good shape was a power, a power over your
physical environment and over others. He felt more alive when he
could keep up with younger people and his triumphs made him feel
that he wasn't getting old. The narrow road was quiet except for
the constant sounds of chirping crickets. He took out his penlight
flashlight and held it between his teeth as he jogged. The tiny
beam of light bobbed on the ground before him, illuminating his
way. Jack jogged for several minutes then stopped when he heard the
loud crack of a tree branch snapping. He stopped and listened. He
slowly moved away from his previous position to the side of the
narrow driveway. There was a rustling in the brush nearby. The
rustling continued and something whooshed across the road in front
of him and vanished into the woods. He immediately switched on his
penlight drawing the beam into the dark woods. Seconds later, a
second whoosh blew past him and he moved the light up in time to
see the large creature dance and sprint across the road vanishing
into the dark wood. It was two deer. Jack took a deep breath and
resumed his jogging.

About a quarter of a mile down the
road, the woods cleared slightly and Jack had reached the driveway
where the BMW had vanished. He jogged up the driveway; it was just
wide enough for a small car. By now, he was breathing heavy and he
hoped the driveway would end soon. Then a large black structure
loomed ahead, blotting out the few visible stars in the night sky.
It was an abandoned two-story storage shed. The gray BMW was parked
next to the large doors. Jack stealthily moved towards the car.
When he reached it, he looked at the license plate and confirmed it
was the nurse's vehicle. Then he moved away and hid in the nearby
underbrush. After a few minutes, the large shed door opened with a
rusty squeak and Nurse Doherty came out. She opened her car door,
took out a white plastic bag, and carried it into the shed. Jack
thought he heard something that sounded like screams, but he wasn’t
sure. She came out about a half hour later and took a yellow beach
towel from the trunk. She wiped her face and the front of her
shirt. Her hair was disheveled and wild as if she had just gotten
out of bed. She wrapped the towel around her neck, got into her car
and drove away. Jack waited a few minutes, and then approached the
shed. The large door opened easily. The air smelled foul, pungent,
like rotting meat. Jack used his penlight to examine the large
room. The wood floor creaked as he walked and some of the
floorboards were missing revealing the dusty dirt beneath. The
floor had a large pentagram painted in the center of the room.
Farther on was a crudely constructed table with a plywood top and
two-by-fours for legs. It stood about four feet high. Under the
table were several cardboard boxes. Jack approached the boxes and
opened them one by one. The largest box contained red candles
measuring about a foot long and three inches in diameter. Another
box contained a red satin sheet, a silver chalice and two crosses.
Another contained an old-fashioned brass school bell and a large
dagger with a curved blade. The knife looked rusted, but when Jack
picked it up, he saw that the dark color on the blade was dried
blood. Then he saw several photos on the bottom of the box; he
picked one up and gasped.